Sirius walked into the Gryffindor common room and instantly blinked.
Was he hallucinating? He had to be- oh. James.
He couldn't hold in the delighted chuckle that escaped his lips as he surveyed the room. The walls had been enchanted into mirrors, and the disco ball hanging in place of the normal chandelier made vivid light bounce from corner to corner. James had placed beams of light in strategic areas, making the whole room seem to glow with color. Sirius grinned. It was Friday afternoon, after all. He needed the party.
He headed upstairs as quickly as he could, wincing slightly- Snape had better hurry up with that potion. Peter, Remus and James were sitting on the floor, engrossed in an epic name of Exploding Snap.
"Sirius!" Remus said, smiling.
Sirius hugged his boyfriend, burying his head in the sandalwood scent of his hair. "Missed you," he mumbled- upon reflection, Remus didn't need to know how much.
"Break it up, lovebirds," teased James. "Siri, are you feeling better?"
"Yeah," Sirius said quickly. Remus caught his eye, concerned, but he brushed the glance off quickly. "So, what's with this party?"
"Figure we haven't had a real Friday night in a long time," James said, running his hands through his hair with a grin. "It's gonna be epic."
"Oh, yeah," Peter said. "I can't wait. It's gonna be so much fun."
"For sure," Remus said with a smile. "Aah, I love the day after a full moon. I feel like I could do anything. Do you guys always have this much energy?" It was ironic that he said this as both arms and legs were covered in plasters and bandages.
"Pretty much," James said.
"Hardly," Sirius said simultaneously, and the two boys laughed.
But as the night went on and the party got started, Sirius felt isolated, as though he was encapsulated in a bubble that his happy friends could not permeate. They danced, joked, laughed and drowned Firewhisky- Sirius only managed to fully engage in that last one. He had a good alcohol tolerance, though, and this proved to be for the best- as the party winded down, at around 1am, he remembered what Pomfrey had said about poor homework quality. He was seized with a sudden and frankly odd desire to get a head start on his Transfiguration paper. When he had these waves of motivation, he had to ride them.
With a wave goodbye to James- who was practically passed out on Lily's lap- he headed upstairs.
"Human Transfiguration," he started to write.
"Human Transfiguration is frankly, one of the most wondrous forms of magic imaginable. For those of us who have grown up around magic our whole lives, even, we are shocked and amazed by a person's ability to change their hair color or add gills to the side of their neck, simply because we all acknowledge how difficult-"
Crap. His quill had snapped.
He rifled through his trunk, hoping he'd brought an extra. Yes- oh, wait. This is Regulus's favorite.
Sirius turned the navy blue quill in his hands. How had he accidentally taken Reg's favorite quill? Immediately, he began to spiral; he was such an awful brother. He left Regulus in a house full of dangerous criminals and abusive parents and he didn't even have the decency to leave behind Reg's favorite fucking pen.
It was only 1. The Slytherins had Friday parties too. Reg was probably still up.
So without thinking- typical- he left the Gryffindor tower and headed to the Slytherin dungeons.
"Erm." He cleared his throat and straightened out, well aware that he towered over the first year Slytherin boy standing guard in the hallway. "I'm Regulus's brother. I'm here to drop something off. Any chance you could give me the password?"
The boy started. "Um, I'm really not supposed to."
"It's Friday, they'll change the password tomorrow. No harm done." Sirius flashed his signature charming smile, one that had even won Walburga over back when he was younger, when she knew him less.
And sure enough, the boy's face cleared. "Oh, yeah, you're right. Password's flobberworm."
Sirius had really lucked out in finding a Slytherin who didn't know who he was. "Thanks," he said, and headed into the glowing green room.
The remnants of a party that could've rivaled James's decorated the dungeon- streamers, lights, and a strong smell of Butterbeer. The tables were still heaped with food, and Sirius had to fight down the desire to grab a cupcake or a brownie. Knowing Slytherins, the sweets were probably edibles anyway.
"Oi!" said a boy with tawny hair. Rookwood. He glared at Sirius. "Get out of here, you filthy blood traitor brat. No one wants a fucking-"
"He's here to see me."
Regulus had stepped out of some invisible shadow, standing behind his brother. He was almost as tall as Sirius now.
Seeing the way Rookwood deferred to Regulus brought Sirius physical pain. He must be on the path to becoming a death eater. If only Sirius had done more to raise Reg when he was little… he could've been a Gryffindor, could've been set on the right path…
"Erm," he said, clearing his throat to pull himself out of his reverie. "I just brought your quill. I accidentally packed it."
"Oh," Reg said tightly. "Thanks." The word was empty, and crushingly impersonal.
"Anytime," said Sirius. And then, maybe it was the alcohol, but he kept talking. "I'm… I'm still here, you know. I'm still your big brother. If you need anything-"
When Regulus looked up, tears wobbled in his eyes. "Don't pretend that's true," he said in even tones. "You left. I didn't. I don't need you anymore."
Sirius felt his eyes fill with tears that mirrored Reg's. "Okay," he said softly.
And then, from the quiet chatter in another corner of the room, he heard a soft, familiar giggle, one he'd know anywhere.
Peter.
He wheeled around.
Upon eye contact, Peter looked terrified. "Siri!" he said. "I was just- uh…"
Sirius scanned the group of boys surrounding Peter. Avery. Mulciber. Nott, and another scrawny kid he didn't recognize. Death Eaters, part of Rookwood's crowd- Reg's crowd, now.
There was no explanation where Peter came out looking good.
"You were just…" he prompted, voice laced with cold sarcasm.
"What are you doing here, anyway, Black? Blood traitors aren't allowed in the Slytherin dorms," Mulciber drawled, tucking a wayward strand of greasy brown hair behind his ear. The intimidation factor was significantly reduced by the fact that Mulciber was more than half a foot shorter than Sirius, and had to squint up at the Slytherin chandeliers to insult his target.
"See, they tell me idiots aren't allowed either, but here you are," Sirius replied easily. "Peter, come with me."
"Don't reckon he will," said Nott with a well-practiced sneer.
"Yeah," Mulciber agreed eloquently, stepping closer to Sirius, who wrapped his fingers around the wand in his pocket.
Quickly, Peter diffused the tension. "Erm, well, I do have to go to bed, so I should-" he said, clearly very flustered.
Sirius scoffed. "Yeah, so. Come up with me."
When they stepped out of the hallway, Peter's entire demeanor shifted. He started to sniffle, a couple fat tears leaking out of his watery blue eyes.
"What the fuck were you doing?"
"Y-you don't understand, Siri. No one would mess with you, but- those guys, Mulciber, Nott, Avery, they've been- stopping me in the hallway and hexing and jinxing me since third year-"
"Yeah, and we hexed them back," Sirius said, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, you don't anymore!" Peter looked Sirius straight in the eyes for the first time that night as he said, "so I have to act like I'm friends with them. You wouldn't get it, but it's the only way to stay safe."
"Yeah, you're right, I wouldn't get it," said Sirius. He waved his cane at Peter, lifting it as high off the ground as he could without toppling over. "Maybe I don't get hexed in the hallways, but this is what I fucking get for standing up to my parents, and it didn't make me cave. 'Date a woman, Sirius, or you're a shame on the family name,' they would say, and I told them if that's a disgrace to the family, then they're not a family I want to be a part of. 'Muggleborns aren't real wizards, Sirius,' and I'd argue with them till the wands came out. Bullying isn't something you take lying down, Pete-"
"You never told me," said Peter, looking at Sirius in shock.
"That I was being abused? All it takes is a little deductive reasoning." If not for the firewhisky, Sirius wouldn't have admitted any of this at all, and he knew it. But it was something Peter needed to hear.
"It's different, though, when you've got somewhere to go-"
"I mean, if this school sucks all that much, go to fucking Beauxbatons."
"That's not what I meant. You have friends who will always be there-"
"And so do you! What the fuck do you think being a Marauder means!"
An odd shadow moved across Peter's face. "It absolutely does not mean the same thing to me as it does to you. You're a Marauder like… like an apple is a fruit, like that's your defining characteristic. But you, and James and Remus will always matter more than me, I'll always be walking behind you guys in the hallways…" He grimaced before straightening his posture. "If you tell them- James and Remus- that I was in the Slytherin common room…"
Sirius felt the adrenaline pound through his veins. What was Peter doing? "There is nothing you can threaten me with," he said, voice dangerously low.
But Peter proved him wrong when he said, "I'll tell everyone Remus is a werewolf."
Sirius felt his heart drop into the bottom of his stomach. "What happened to you?" he asked.
The freckled teen's face was flushed as he said, "Maybe I'm tired of being the least favorite!"
"What, and this is your revenge? Remus never did anything to you!"
"Remus, all of you, have made me an outsider for so long, and I don't- I'll never forgive you for that."
Sirius put his head in his hands, running his fingers through his hair. "So what do you want me to do, just not talk about it?"
"Yeah," said Peter, "look, I'm not doing something terrible. It's not like I'm turning into one of them, the Slytherins, I just need somewhere else to go sometimes. I can have any friends I want!" he said, his voice rising pleadingly, and Sirius knew that it wasn't him that Peter was trying to convince.
"Sure, well, in that case," said Sirius, "why keep it a secret?"
"Because I can't have them alienate me any more than they already do," said Peter, nodding with the conviction that he was in the right. The guilty expression was entirely off his face now.
"Okay," said Sirius softly.
"Okay?" Peter looked at him, face breaking into a genuine grin. Sirius had never noticed how rodent-like Peter's smile looked, emphasizing his two overly-large front teeth. "I've always liked you, Sirius," Peter said confidently, "the way you understand, about secrets and things. I know you won't tell."
"No, I won't," Sirius confirmed. But it was only for Remus's sake, and he knew he'd make sure that his fellow Marauders discovered Peter's new friends as quickly as possible.
AN: Sorry for the inconsistent updates! Things have been hectic lately, but I'm going to try to start posting every Wednesday. Please leave a review if you've been enjoying the story; I'd absolutely love to hear what you think!