"Where did you go?" she asked, and Peter nodded.
"Yeah, you just upped and left us! Where did you go?" he echoed.
"No where," they answered in unison, and Peter looked at Sirius and Remus with his eyebrows raised.
"Like, a threesome?"
Remus' jaw dropped and Sirius laughed, loping and arm around his two friends.
"That's right, Pete," he grinned as Remus flushed and James looked at him oddly. "We had a grand old time without you two spoil-sports."
"You weren't supposed to say anything," Lily hissed at the smaller boy. Peter blushed and James stood up.
"What are you talking about?" he asked as he glanced to the clock, and his face paled. "Never mind, I'll be back later. I'm late for –" But he never finished the sentence, and Lily watched him run out of the common room with a put-out look on her face.
"Is he an arse lately, or am I crazy?"
"How could you blow that, Pete?" Sirius scolded, ignoring Lily as Remus got up and went to the dormitory without saying anything. "We have bets on! You can't just –"
"He didn't notice though," Peter countered. "And your boyfriend just went upstairs."
Sirius looked from Peter to the dormitory stairs and back again. "We'll settle this later," he finally muttered.
Peter laughed and Lily turned to him.
"Is he cheating on me?"
Peter shook his head, grinning. "Not at all – I mean, good night, Lily." And he too left up the dormitory stairs leaving Lily in a huff and waiting for James.
"Oh," he added as he reached the top and called back down to Lily, "I'm supposed to make sure you have a nice dress or something."
"I do," Lily said crossly. "When is he –?"
"Good night, then."
The door slammed as the portrait opened and James looked into the common room.
"Go get dressed up," he said, not letting more than his head show. "Quickly. Or like that. Whatever works for you."
"Moony, did you wake up James?"
Remus shot a quizzical look at Sirius as he sat down. "James? There was no James to wake up. I thought he was already down here."
Peter looked between the two of them before speaking up. "Where do you think he is?"
"Why do you think we're so quiet?"
Peter frowned at Sirius. "Maybe you shouldn't be quiet then."
"Alright you two, that's enough," Remus interrupted as Sirius opened his mouth again to argue. "This isn't getting us anywhere. Are we going to look for him on the last Sunday morning of the year, or just wait for him to show up?"
Peter shrugged and returned to his eggs silently. Remus looked at Sirius who winked roguishly at him.
"I actually have some research to do," he said, piling eggs on his plate. "And I need to get it done soon, seeing as there's no way I'm actually going home."
"Finally going to get your own place?"
"James! Where were you?" Sirius exploded, moving over on the bench to make room for him.
James looked completely windswept. The boys could not decide whether he looked like he had just rolled out of bed, been running around the school, or had a good shag. Either way, it seemed as though he was positively glowing with – something. A mixture of pride, accomplishment, and sheepishness filled his features as his friends looked at him for some sort of explanation. But all he did was shrug, and the other boys let out exasperated sighs.
"You can't just go wandering off and not tell us where you went!"
"Or come in here looking like the hippogriff that ate the – the –!"
"What did she say?"
Both Sirius and Remus looked around at Peter confused. James let out a bark of laughter though his mouthful of sausage.
"I've been planning this for ages and you don't know what I'm talking about? Honestly, you'd think you two were – I don't know – shagging or something." James rolled his eyes.
"Well?" Peter prompted him as Remus and Sirius blushed.
"She didn't need any time to think about it, that's for sure."
Peter nodded and returned to his eggs. James looked at the other two.
"Honestly, what is wrong with you two?"
"I have research to do," Sirius said abruptly standing up. "Congratulations, mate," he added, smiling and slapping James on the back.
Okay. I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everone who is reading and reviewing. So... THANK YOU! It maked me extremely happy. And I'd like to apologize profusely for the super long wait, and to reassure everyone that it won't be that long before the next chapter. And also, "stuff" will be happening soon, so stick in there!
THANK YOU!