Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: Running the Gauntlet is something that I started writing many months ago, but have never posted. So here it is, based ever so slightly on William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Drunken Realisations

It was almost six years since Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had first been graced with the presence of James Potter and Sirius Black. They had instantly hit it off on their first meeting on the Hogwarts Express, and had been best friends ever since. They were the most attractive, charming and intelligent troublemakers that Hogwarts had ever seen. They were the ringleaders of the "Marauders" - a gang of Gryffindor sixth years that aimed to cause trouble wherever they went.

Their charm and stunning good looks attracted flocks of girls from across the school. The girls didn't exactly follow them around, but would always be there at the end of Quidditch practice, or flirting as they demonstrated new products from Zonko's. Succumbing to such attention earned them reputations, and everything that came with one- the good and the bad. But who could blame them, really? Who were they to pass up the opportunity of a good snog? Or, if they were lucky, a shag?

Clearly, they never had any problems with getting girls to go out with them. Most girls swooned in their arms if they so much as glanced in their direction. The fact was they had just about everything going for them. So one may wonder exactly why the most popular male figures at Hogwarts chose to spend a summer evening in the unhealthy surroundings of the Hogs Head, drowning sorrows over shot glasses of Firewhisky.

What is important to remember, of course, is the fact that nobody is perfect. Everybody, no matter how perfect their lives may seem, has problems. Whether they chose to conceal their issues or to show them is another matter. James and Sirius favoured the former; opting to hide their uncertainties under façades of perfection from everybody, save for each other.

The trouble Sirius was attempting to drown was, for the most part, the fact he couldn't hold a relationship down for much longer then a week. No girl he dated, he complained, held any mysterious aspect to them, no secrets, no uniqueness to keep his interest. He simply got bored of the same experience again and again, and was worried he would never find anyone to settle down with.

James' problem, however, wasn't that he couldn't hold a girl down. In contrast, he preferred long term relationships to short, meaningless ones. His problem was the fact he couldn't get a particular girl to go out with him, a girl he happened to be madly in love with, a girl he was convinced had the certain je ne sais quoi that Sirius couldn't find in any of his girlfriends. He had tried everything that he could think of to try and convince her to go out with him, but nothing had worked so far, and he was getting to a point of desperation.

The Hogs Head was crowded, but not with the law-abiding citizens you would find in the Three Broomsticks. Every now and then the door would swing open, emitting someone who would look round shiftily before pushing through the crowd to get to another part of the bar. The smell of stale beverages polluted the air - to anyone who was new to the environment, it was overpowering. The only noise in the pub was a murmur of whispers, the clientele choosing to conduct their conversations in private, rather than share them with the whole pub. That is, apart from two very drunk students.

"'S not fair!" James exclaimed, clumsily pouring another shot into his glass. Sirius, who was slouched into his chair, nodded slightly, before leaning foreword and seizing the bottle up off the table.

"Tell me about it," he grumbled, his dark hair falling into his eyes. Irritated, he brushed it out of the way, and then poured the contents of his glass down his throat. It left a pleasant burning sensation trailing down to his stomach. "Hey, Prongssy…" Sirius slurred, after a few moments of silence, "what do you think about love?"

James looked up from the glass he had been staring at, his glasses nearly falling off the end of his nose. He ran a hand through his hair and screwed up his face, thinking. "Love? I dunno, 's quite possible, i'n'it? To fall in love an' that shit … at least if the girl you wanted to go out with, wen' out with you."

Sirius snorted. "You fink you 'ave problems? Jus' look at me. I can't even go out with a gal fer a week! How'm I meant to find love if I can't even stay in a rel - rela'ship?" he asked, the drink clearly affecting him much more then he though it was.

"Maybe you'll find someone one of these days Padfoot an' you'll just fink 'wha' the hell' an' chase after 'er. It's impossible never to love someone in your life. There 'as to be someone out there tha' you'll find int'resting," said James, gesturing wildly with his arms.

"Maybe I will. An' maybe you'll finally convince Evans to go out with you. When that happens, there's hope for me!" Sirius said with a smirk.

James, who had been downing a mouthful of Firewhisky, glared. "Shurup!" he exclaimed, rather belatedly, causing Sirius to break into laughter. "I'm goin' to buy ano'ver drink," James muttered, staggering to his feet and making for the bar.

An hour or so later, Sirius poured the last of yet another bottle into the two glasses. "I fink this is the perfec' time to tell you Prongss…" he announced, "that I, Sirius Black, have bought a flat in Hogsmeade!"

"'Bout time as well! Now I can get some peace and quiet!" James replied, with the air of one who had been waiting for him to make the announcement for a long time. Sirius hit him playfully.

"Not quite Prongsh, I'll still be visiting you regularly for food an' … an' … stuff." He trailed off lamely before tipping the contents of his glass down his throat.

"Oh no you won't Padfoot my friend. I will be coming to see you."

At closing time they were practically thrown out by the bartender. Drunkenly, they staggered through the streets of Hogsmeade towards Hogwarts castle, not caring if a teacher saw them - it wasn't as if the teacher was going to give them a detention on the day they went home, was it? Luckily there appeared to be no one wondering around the school at that late hour beside themselves.

The common room was crowded. As it was the last day of term, many had decided to use up left over Filibuster fireworks, dungbombs and sweets. Heads turned automatically as James and Sirius entered raucously. It was obvious that they were drunk, much to the amusement of many students. Others however, including the Head Girl, were less amused. She stalked over to them and stood her hands on her hips, in front of them.

"Where is it?" she asked in a dangerously low voice, her eyes no more then slits.

Sirius composed himself, drawing himself to his full height. "Where is what, my beautiful Sarah?" he asked charmingly, making James laugh. She glared at them both.

"The alcohol! You're absolutely pissed out of your heads. Where did you get it from?" she demanded.

"Tut, tut, did Sarah just swear?" James said with mock horror, to the laughter of many people nearby. "Now that isn't setting an example, is it?" he continued smugly.

Sarah let out a small noise of frustration. "And I'm sure you'd know all about that, wouldn't you? Coming in at one in the morning, reeking of alcohol! A fine example you're setting! Both of you disgust me!"

"Do you think I'm disgusting?" Sirius asked James, batting his eyelashes.

"Not at all. In fact if I were gay, I'd date you myself!" James said dramatically. "But, unfortunately Siri, I'm not…"

"You two are impossible. Why don't you just grow up! There are things more important in the world then the two of you! Just because you two are so perfect doesn't mean the rest of us are!" she snapped. "I am warning you, one more snide comment out of your mouths and I'll put you in an early morning detention!"

Sirius and James both saluted her as she stormed off, before laughing heartily. Sirius wiped his eyes. "Brilliant! Excellent Prongs! 'Tut, tut, did Sarah just swear?' I almost wet myself trying not to laugh," he said, clapping James on the back in congratulations.

"I know, I know," James said, a satisfied smile on his face. In good spirits, they made their way up the boys' staircase, ignoring the many calls for them to stay awhile.

As they entered their dormitory they found both Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin sitting on their trunks, a game of chess balanced on their knees. Remus looked torn between amusement and disgust at the sight of them. Sirius collapsed onto his bed, pulling the covers over his head, and with a muffled "G'night" went straight to sleep.

James too made for his bed, yawning and rumpling up his hair. However, he could not fall to sleep. He tried in vain to calm all the random thoughts drifting through his head - which felt as light as air. James had trained himself to have a higher tolerance of alcohol than Sirius.

He had told various people it was for his own good. He didn't want to get so drunk one night he didn't know what he was doing. Others believed it was just an excuse to drink alcohol. They weren't wrong.

Lying on his bed, he came up with a solution to his problem. James decided that, as a final attempt to get Lily Evans, his unobtainable girl, to go out with him, he would write her a letter. Yes, it made perfect sense! With a letter she couldn't storm off, she couldn't slap or hit him, nor could she shout. If a letter didn't work … nothing would, he might as well give up altogether. It wasn't a half-bad idea, he thought happily, taking out the necessary equipment to write a letter.

Half an hour later James straightened up looking particularly pleased with himself. "Wormtail!" he called, gesturing Peter over to him as he rolled up the parchment. Peter hurried over to him, his round face shining with delight. James handed the roll of parchment to him.

"Take that to Evans for me," he commanded. Peter nodded, heading towards the door and the spiral staircase that lay beyond. All James had to do now was wait …

Peter came back looking particularly apprehensive, glancing uneasily at James as he closed the door shut behind him. "Well?" James asked impatiently.

"I - I h - had to give it to McKinnon - she said she would give it to her though!" he added hastily at the look on James's face.

"You mean she didn't read it?" Peter nodded slowly, swallowing nervously. "Well that's no good! You are such an idiot Wormtail," James announced, glaring at Peter before yanking the hangings closed round his bed. He turned over, burying his face into his pillow. She had to reply … she just had to. It was, after all, a last act of desperation that Sirius was sure to laugh at in the morning, even if he did have a hangover.