"Hey Marlene," James grinned, waving at McKinnon as she entered the common room with Evans and McDonald. I looked up at them and smiled lazily as they wandered over.

"Care to join us for a game of exploding snap?" I asked them, gesturing at the cards spread out in front of us. Evans opened her mouth, and I was fully expecting her to decline the offer, but McKinnon got in first, sitting cross legged between James and I and dealing them each a hand of cards. Evans and McDonald looked at each other and shrugged, joining the circle as well.

"How was your day?" James asked them, and McKinnon started to tell us about a run in they had had with Peeves.
"So there we were, trying to study, while Peeves flew over top of us dropping library books on the tables. I'm not sure if he was missing us intentionally, or if he has worse aim than those two second years who tried out for chaser," James and I both broke into laughter at that and McKinnon grinned in acknowledgement.

"Anyway, we weren't getting hurt. Then the new cranky librarian, Pince or whatever her name is, came over and started throwing hexes at Peeves. Well that just got him more wound up and next thing we knew he started zooming along the shelves pushing off as many books as he could. We got out of there as quick as we could, but we still copped a book or two each," she flexed her wrist carefully, showing James the blooming bruise she had there.
"You'd better not be injured for our first match against Hufflepuff on the weekend," I warned her jokingly. "They're the team to beat this year I reckon."

"It's just a bruise, I'll be more than ok to play on Saturday," she told me.

James opened his mouth to add something but Remus rolled his eyes and cut him off. "Enough quidditch talk you lot, leave that for training. Are we playing this game or what?"

The game started again with the girls joining in. We went around without a hitch for a few rounds, laughing and chatting between turns. Just like our time in Hogsmeade a week and a half ago, it was surprisingly easy to chat with the girls and I wondered why we had never spent much time with them as one big group over our first six years at Hogwarts. McKinnon and I were chatting between turns about the upcoming match against Hufflepuff when we were interrupted by a timely answer to my pondering. Because Evans and James could go from being best friends to being at each others throats in about 5 seconds flat, was the reason we hadn't hung out much in the past.

"You can't do that Potter, that's cheating!" Evans was telling him.

"What's cheating, I did nothing wrong?" James asked, innocently.

"You put down two cards at once!"
"I didn't!" James argued back.

"They're like an old married couple when they argue," I said quietly to McDonald and McKinnon, shaking my head with a smile. I realised suddenly that that may be an inappropriate thing to say to James' girlfriend and opened my mouth to take it back but McKinnon was laughing.

"They really are. At least she can stand being in the same room as him now though, it's an improvement on two years ago," she said.

"I think you're helping to civilise them too, because they're forced to spend more time together," McDonald told her, the three of us tuning out of James and Evans' ongoing argument.

"I can try," McKinnon shrugged. "But I don't think they'll ever really stop arguing. They complain about each other but I think they enjoy it really."
"I'm just glad you're around to help me play mediator," I smirked at McKinnon. "And to give Prongs something to talk about other Evans. I was getting rather bored of hearing how shiny her hair is."
McKinnon blushed slightly, and looked towards me but didn't keep eye contact. "Does that mean he talks about me like that now?"

McDonald made a fake vomiting noise and I laughed in agreement with her, suddenly wondering why I had said that and gotten myself into this mess. "He's not that bad, he mostly just mentions something funny you said or a conversation you had," I told her awkwardly.

"Well that's good then I guess," McKinnon looked back at James and Evans who were still arguing, and I couldn't help watching her. It was true that James didn't rave on about her the way he had with Evans, but I had a feeling it was mostly because he didn't have actual conversations with Evans to talk about. Marlene was easier to get along with, she was funny and easy going and less likely to bite James' head off at any given time. I had never really understood James' obsessions with Evans, but having feelings for Marlene was much easier to understand. That's only because you like her yourself, an annoying, suspiciously Remus-sounding voice in my head told me. I pushed the thought down, trying to focus on what McDonald was saying. I vowed to stop thinking about Marlene like that; she was my best mates' girlfriend after all.

My musings were interrupted when McKinnon moved to sit between Evans and James, putting out her hands like a barricade. "Enough, you two. No one else cares, so stop your arguing and let's get on with the game, shall we?"

Evans looked annoyed at being told off like a child, but James started laughing.

"Sorry Marlene, and everyone else. I guess it's Evans' turn now," he said, moving over so McKinnon could squeeze into the circle next to him. They were uncomfortably close, so James slung his arm back along the couch he was leaning against, which meant McKinnon was leaning into him. She gave him a soft smile as he said something to her, too quiet for me to hear and I had to look away, feeling uncomfortable at witnessing their intimate moment.

It wasn't because I was jealous, I told myself resolutely. I just wasn't used to being so close to a couple when they were being touchy feely – none of the other Marauders had ever had girlfriends before, and lord knows my family wouldn't dare to cuddle anyone, regardless of whether other people were around.

Yes, I thought to myself, that was definitely why I felt uncomfortable – I'd never seen normal humans being affectionate before. I snorted in my own mind and turned my attention back to the game.