"Ouch, Sirius, don't do that!" Peter squealed and Sirius just laughed at him. They were in the back seat of the car Remus was driving. He seemed to be the only one of the four to think it would come in handy to get a muggle drivers license. He had rented the car for this occasion so they could get back to James's house faster without being noticed by muggles….

"Don't make me come back there!" Remus said looking through the rearview mirror.

"He started it, I swear!" Sirius said indignantly.

"I didn't do anything! He just started jabbing me with his wand!" Peter whined.

"Sirius…." Remus shook his head obviously thinking over why on earth he was friends with such an idiot.

"Why? Why do you always assume it's me?" Sirius said pretending to be hurt by this.

"Because…Sirius…it always is you." Remus laughed, knowing how completely honest he was being; It really was always Sirius's fault.

"Well, you know what they say when you assume?" Sirius said pompously, "You make an ASS out of U and ME! Get it? ASSUME!"

Sirius was preoccupied the rest of the ride laughing at his own joke. They pulled up to the curb and Sirius got out first, and then locked Peter in. Unfortunately, Remus caught him in the act and gave him a stern look.

"Fine…. Gosh you suck the fun right out of everything…."

"Thank you for that. Now, let him out."

"Fun sucker…."

Sirius did let Peter out and the three men walked up the drive to the Potter's new house in Godric's Hallow. It wasn't so new anymore, but still, the thought of James Potter actually living in a nice house stunned them considering he'd never really worked hard enough at anything to come up with anything to show for it.

James would remain at the hospital with Lily until later that evening. So, he had put his three best friends in charge of watching the house until he got back. Well, mostly Remus; Sirius's idea of watching the house was purposely trashing it just to bug James. That, and picking on Peter to no end.

Remus felt as though he was babysitting, not house sitting.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, would you too shut it!" He said finally looking up from his book. Sirius had got Peter into arguing over which drummer was better; Ringo Starr or Richard Starkey. (Sirius was fooling with Peter, because he didn't know that they were the same person.)

"Just turn back to your pretty little book, I'm watching the kid." Sirius said leaning back against the wall, sitting on the floor.

"You are horrible at this…" Peter muttered, hating that he was being referred to as 'the kid'.

"Jeez, Pete, you're a worse whiner than my brother was- and that is really saying something!"

"My, god, Siri! You are such an Ass!" Peter said rolling his eyes, grinning though.

"Nope, I would be a dog. They are much cooler. I can bite that little rat's face of yours off if you don't watch it."

"Right, and I couldn't just get James to tear you up!" Peter thought for sure he was winning this battle.

"Oh, yes, let's all cower in fear from a DEER! Bloody hell, Peter you need to come up with better threats! Get it through your think little head; Dogs eat deer, ya know?" Sirius was clearing having a good time with this argument. "Not to mention, I'd have the wolf on my side wouldn't I, Moony."

"Sure." Remus said bitterly.

Sirius dropped the subject after that. He knew when he had gone too far.

"You guys are horrible at this game!" Sirius shouted triumphantly. They were playing gin; a card game Sirius was particularly fond of (and not just because it was named after an alcoholic beverage.)

The trio sat at the kitchen table and, for once, they were all occupied with the same thing; Sirius was cheating, and Remus and Peter knew it. They just had to catch him at it. So, in all honesty, they weren't really playing gin. They were playing how can we get prove Sirius is cheating… It was game they played quite often.

Suddenly there was a noise outside; a faint pop. All three men were silent. The tension in the room built until they heard the lock turn in the key hole.

James walked into the room. It was clear that he was blissfully happy. They smiled at the sight of him. He walked into the kitchen and sat down beside Sirius.

"What are we up to?" James yawned and stretched where he sat.

"Nothing you can prove…." Sirius muttered smirking.

"Gin?"

"Yes, please." Sirius said, acting as though he was absorbed in the card hand he held.

James just rolled his eyes, "You guys still haven't got Sirius?"

They shook their heads. Remus didn't really seem to care, but Peter looked absolutely confounded that he couldn't figure it out.

James leaned back and surveyed Sirius for a second. Sirius met his eyes, and smirked, as if daring him to guess how he was doing it. James thought about it, then smirked right back.

"Remus…has he been second shuffling the deck?"

"Yes."

"Has he been winning by pairs, or by house?"

"House."

"He's hiding the Aces up his sleeve."

Sirius gaped at him. James just leaned back and put his arms behind his head pompously.

"Bastard…" Sirius muttered and shook the cards out of his sleeve.

"You ought to know better, Padfoot….I taught you that one." James chuckled.

"You did not! I remember coming up with that one, I just pulled it on you before, that's how you knew it! You came up with shuffling the deck with all suits on the top!"

"GREAT! Thanks for giving that one up, Paddy!"

"It's a stupid one, you'll get over it."

"Oh here we go…." Remus muttered, putting his head in his hands, knowing what was coming.

"Is that a fact, Black?"

"There's not need to rhyme, Potter…."

"Are you making fun of the way I smack talk?"

"Why yes, yes I am! You suck at it!"

"Well you're mum!"

"That doesn't bother me! We both know she's a bitch!"

"With you as her son, she can't help it!"

That was all it really took. Before Peter or Remus knew it, Sirius and James were wrestling on the ground like a bunch of boys, not men.

You would have thought they were really trying to kill each other, if it weren't for Sirius laughing hysterically every time James made an attempt at an insulting comeback. The only thing insulting about them was the fact that they were so bad.

"Oh I feel bad for this Harry Potter…." Remus said laughing.

"And why is that?" James stood and went back to his chair, as though he hadn't just been rough housing like a child a moment ago. Sirius had following in suit, gathering the card back together and shuffling them.

"This'll be a full house. What could be better for the kid? He'll have us, it'll be freaking awesome-!"

"Yeah…a full house, alright…a full house of idiots…."

"That may be…but what fun are the people who aren't idiots?" Peter pointed out.

"They often turn out to be fun suckers…." Sirius muttered, smirking…

"Ya, Remus, that's why we have you. You'll be the one influence in his life that's responsible. You and Lils." James said shrugging as though it were just so obvious.

"Ya, and leave you and Sirius to joke and cheat the rest of your lives away?"

"Yup…speaking of which," Sirius had split the deck of cards and he had the evil little grin on his face… "Anyone up for a game?"