A/N: I'm going to post yet another chapter and hope the lack of response is due to the issues the site has been having with alerts etc. I truly hope you enjoy and I am not just posting for my own fulfillment. :)

It's Not So Bad for The Others

"James-

I'd like to come, really. But I doubt my parents will let me out. It doesn't do for me to associate with the likes of half bloods and Potters, so you know... It's been a horrible month and I really wish these stupid holidays would end so I can have a bit of fun. It's a shame really, that you don't live in London, then we could sneak out with your Cloak. Heard from the others? I reckon I might manage a trip to Diagon Alley to buy school things next week. My brother is coming to Hogwarts, so my old bat of a mum will be fussing all over him. It's Peter's birthday soon, isn't it? Maybe we can see each other then. Find out will you?

Hope you're all right,

Sirius"

James read the letter for the second time feeling annoyed. Stupid Blacks, why couldn't they just let Sirius come over? James was bored silly, stuck in his house with not much to do. He'd been practicing Quidditch of course, but he thought he was good enough for the House team already, so wanted to do something else. He thought about having Remus and Peter over without Sirius but as much as he liked them, it wouldn't be the same without his best mate. It was even more hopeless to hang out with his old muggle friends from primary school now that he'd have to lie about where he'd been for the past year. He sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair.

"Don't lean so far dear, you might fall!" his mother called from the doorway.

He turned around and shrugged at her. "I've got great reflexes Mum, don't worry."

"So you keep saying! Now my dear, why the long face?"

James sighed. "Sirius can't come to stay."

"Oh, why not?"

"His folks are idiots."

"James Potter! Don't talk about people's parents that way."

"Well they are. All their pure blood nonsense. They hate Sirius because he's in Gryffindor and doesn't care about people's blood!"

Margaret Potter's lined face changed slightly but she shook her head. "I'm sure they don't hate their own son. Now stop your moping! Why don't you invite your other friends 'round?"

"It's not the same."

"Oh dear…well maybe we can go shopping. You did want a new broom, didn't you?"

James' face lit up.

"Really? Can I get a really good, racing broom? Dad promised. And I need one for the Quidditch team."

Margaret chuckled. "Of course pet, we'll just meet up with your father later on. He's better with that sports stuff anyway."

She smiled and blew him a kiss before walking downstairs to talk to the House Elves about dinner.

"Yes!" James said, pumping his fist and momentarily forgetting he might not see his friends for a few weeks still. He was still celebrating and looking at a copy of "Which Broomstick?" when his owl flew through his window and landed on his desk with a squawk.

"Hi Everyone!

Hope everyone is ok. My birthday is next week and my mum said I could invite you all to lunch with me when we go to Diagon Alley for my school things. Can you come? My mum said she could write to your parents if they're worried about parental supervision or anything.

Send me an answer as soon as you can,

Peter."

James grinned. At last! The Marauders would be reunited and then there would just be another week before they were all back at Hogwarts causing mischief. He pumped his fist in to the air again happily and thundered down the stairs to tell his Mum. She was humming along to the wireless and doing the ironing with one of their House Elves, Nippy while the other, Dippy dusted the curtains behind them.

"Mum! Peter's having a party next week for his birthday and I can buy my school things then too with my friends. Can I go?" James said, jumping up on to one of the breakfast stools and grabbing an apple from the bowl on the table. He polished it on his shirt and looked at his mother eagerly.

"Well that sounds lovely! But James, why don't we buy your school supplies when we go to town this week?"

"Aw Mum, no one else is going to be with their parents!"

"Well, obviously Peter will be because you are not going in to London all by yourself! Not with all those killings last week."

James pulled a face and rolled his eyes. "Ok, but can't I get my things with my friends?"

Margaret stared at her son's face fondly. "Oh Jamie, you're growing up so fast aren't you?"

"Mum!" he whined as she chuckled.

"Alright, alright, we'll see. Who else will be there? Sirius and Remus I suppose? And how about that girl, Lily you told me about?"

James went red and looked at the table. "Who?"

"The redhead muggleborn. Remember you told your dad she was the best in Potions and Charms?"

"I didn't say that! She's an idiot."

"James!"

"What? Sirius says she fancies me, but I don't think she does."

"Do you want her to?"

James looked appalled. "Mum! I'm not talking to you about this."

She laughed. "Oh alright, but be nice to her and I'm sure she won't be able to resist."

He groaned. "Stop! Hey Dippy, want to give me Chaser practice?"

Dippy, the male House Elf who was now hanging upside down from the high curtain rod, looked up and nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course Master Potter! Shall we go to the Garden or are you preferring to stay here?"

"No, here, catch!" James said tossing the Elf his apple and standing on his stool. "Throw!"

"James! Dippy! Not in the kitchen!" Margaret shrieked as James made a diving catch over the table and accidentally knocked Nippy and the iron off their respective perches.

As he sat up on the floor, holding the apple he looked at Nippy sheepishly.

"Oops, Sorry Nippy!"

"That's ok Master Potter. Nippy has fun when he is playing Quidditch."

"And Master Potter will one day be very famous!" Dippy agreed as he helped his sister up.

"How's he going to be famous when he doesn't even have a good broom yet?" teased a deep voice from the doorway.

James jumped up from the floor, beaming as his hair stuck up in all directions. "Dad! You're home!" he said happily racing to his father and hugging him.

Charles Potter affectionately ruffled his son's hair.

"How was your day tyke?"

"Ok, I'm going to my friend Peter's birthday lunch next week. Mum said I could."

"Ah and isn't Sirius coming to stay with us?"

James pulled a face and sighed. "No, his folks won't let him."

Charles pulled a similar face. "I would expect nothing less from Orion Black. Poor kid," he said as he walked over to give his wife a kiss on the cheek. James, in the meantime excitedly noticed a long thin package leaning against the door frame.

"Dad, what's that?"

Charles, obviously having left the package there on purpose wore a secretive smile. "I don't know son, why don't you open it?"

James did so, ripping the brown paper with glee and gasped when he saw it. Holding it carefully, he turned the handle of the broom over to reveal the silver markings.

"Wow, a Silver Arrow! Dad, these are the best!"

"Only the best for my favourite Quidditch player!"

"I'll definitely make the House Team on this! Thanks!"

He ran over to where his parents were beaming at him and flung his arms around them both. "I'm going to try it out, right now!" he said before grabbing the broom and racing outside to the garden.

"Don't fly too high James, the muggles might see!"

Peter wrung his hands excitedly together as he and his mum, Karen stood waiting outside Florean Fortescue's ice cream shop. After a few letters back and forth, the general consensus was that everyone's parents wanted to buy their school things for them and would drop them off to meet Peter and Mrs Pettigrew afterwards. Then, Peter's Mum would safely see them all off by Floo Powder. It was now ten after two and Peter was getting impatient. He loved his mum but she coddled him a lot since his father had died four years ago. Peter barely remembered him, but he knew from his mother's stories that his father had been brave and cool when he was at Hogwarts and Peter wished he could be like him. Unfortunately his appearance had somehow taken after his less attractive uncle and Peter was portly with watery eyes instead of handsome like his father had been. Though his mother said he looked more and more like his father every day, Peter knew she was lying and wished he looked more like James or Sirius. It was good to be friends with them especially since they and Remus were far better at magic than he was but also, surrounding himself with popular boys made him popular too and he was glad that they were coming to his party.

"Hi Peter! Happy Birthday!" Remus called as he strode over to them. He'd grown an inch and he also looked much older than he should have. His hair had more greys and he looked as though he'd been ill recently. But he was smiling, so Peter happily high fived him when he came over. Remus handed him a small package wrapped in newspaper.

"It's not much, sorry."

"Hello Remus, where are your parents?" Karen asked, looking around.

Remus pointed at a man waving but apologetically running off towards Gringotts.

"He works a lot," he explained. "But he said thank you for looking after me."

"Not at all dear!" Mrs Pettigrew said kindly patting the boy on the back. She looked concerned at his appearance, a little too shabby and timid but he and Peter were talking excitedly which made her smile.

Shortly, an elderly woman with a kind smile and hazel eyes walked over, James beside her pulling a face as she tried to flatten his unruly hair.

"Mum, give it up!" he complained.

"You always look such a mess! I swear we just took you for a haircut too…Oh hello everyone! Happy Birthday Peter!" James' Mum said, looking at Peter and patting him on the back. "And hello there Remus! James has shown me pictures of you all. And you must be Karen Pettigrew, I'm Margaret Potter," she said introducing herself and plunging in to jolly conversation with Peter's mother.

"My mum really doesn't get out enough. She adores meeting new people to invite to her book club," James said rolling his eyes but grinning. "Happy Birthday mate!" And then he bumped fists with both Peter and Remus. He handed Peter a large red gift-wrapped with a yellow bow before looking around eagerly. "Sirius here yet?"

"No…but he should be here soon, it's almost half past!" Peter said, looking at his watch and eyeing his presents greedily.

They chatted more about their summers, excited to see each other again as Karen and Margaret began discussing her book club.

"Oh, look is that him?" Remus said, nodding to where two dark haired boys and a woman with long pale blonde hair stepped out of Madame Malkin's Robe Shop.

"Is that his brother? They look like twins!" Peter exclaimed but James shook his head.

"No way! See the look on his brother's face? Looks like he just swallowed dragon dung." The boys laughed at James' joke and waved happily to Sirius, who glanced at his mother before he gave them a quick, shifty grin as they approached.

"Hi guys!" he said when he reached them. "Happy birthday Petey."

"Which one of you is supervising my child?" Walburga Black said, stepping in front of Sirius, ignoring the three boys and staring at the two mothers.

"I am, Karen Pettigrew," the shorter and younger woman said, extending her hand. Walburga ignored it and Mrs Pettigrew let it slip back down to her side awkwardly.

"Pettigrew…of MacMillan roots?" Walburga asked, eyeing the woman critically.

Margaret rolled her eyes but Karen nervously nodded. "Yes...my husband's grandfather was MacMillian. And My maiden name was Mulligan."

Mrs Black nodded, satisfied by her heritage and then turned to Mrs Potter. "And a Potter."

"Yes, and I daresay you know all about my bloodline," Margaret said tensely.

Walburga rolled her eyes and turned back to Karen.

"Will she be staying?"

Margaret let out a whoosh of annoyance and said, "No, just here to see my son off. I must get going. Thanks again Karen, I'll Owl you. Happy Birthday Peter and have fun boys!" she said pushing past a sneering Walburga and patting Sirius comfortingly on the shoulder before she disapparated with a pop.

"My eldest son is extremely badly behaved, so I urge you to watch his every move. I must take Regulus home now for his Piano lesson and Sirius must be home in exactly two hours for his. Have I made myself clear?"

Karen nodded, shivering a little though the air was warm. Walburga then, took Regulus' arm and walked away without a glance at her son or the rest of the boys Regulus glanced back wearing an unreadable expression before disappearing with his mother. Karen looked at Sirius wearily.

"Er, hello Sirius."

"Hi Mrs Pettigrew," Sirius said, his face ashen faced.

"Let's go to the Leaky then," she said, rounding the four boys up and gesturing to the restaurant pub.

"Mum, you promised you'd let us sit on our own!" Peter complained as they started to occupy a big booth.

"Oh alright, but I'll be at the bar. Goodness knows I could use a tonic for my nerves after that…." She glanced at Sirius and tried to hide her grimace. "I'll be right over there when you're done. You'd better make sure you're finished by four fifteen so that Sirius will be home on time."

"Really, Mrs Pettigrew, it's ok if I miss my lesson," Sirius said, using his most polite tone.

"Nonsense. Your mother was very specific. Ok boys, have fun!" she said, not looking at Sirius and heading over to the bar.

Sirius frowned but pulled something from his pocket and held it out to Peter. "She didn't give me any pocket money so I had to make do with something from home."

Peter glanced at the very expensive looking eagle feather quill and gulped.

"Wow!"

"Yeah, my dad has a gazillion of them. Wish I could've gotten you something cooler."

"No Sirius, it's great!"

"Open our presents then!" James said eagerly as they sat.

Peter grinned as he reached for Remus' small gift, he unwrapped it producing a pocket sneakoscope and gasped convincingly.

Remus smiled. "It's from a Second Hand Shop and the last lady who had it thought it didn't work 'cos it kept going off around her husband, but it turned out he'd been cheating on her."

The boys laughed.

"Great! We can put it at the door of Marauder Headquarters!" Peter said, referring to their dorm room.

"Mine! Now Mine!" James said, bouncing in his seat. He glanced at Sirius with a conspiratorial smile and Sirius raised an eyebrow in question.

Peter unwrapped the large box to find a full swamp inside an atrium with cool gadgets for the inhabitant to play in.

"Something for your toad, so you can bring him this year," James said wearing a gigantic smile. Sirius coughed back laughter as Peter looked on in glee.

"James! This is the best! I can't wait to put Plumpy in it!"

When Jack, the elderly barman brought over their meals, the boys sat eating and chatting about their summers. Only Sirius really kept quiet, though Remus' stories often ended with a vague explanation too.

"Is everything ok at your house then mate?" Remus asked Sirius as they waited for Peter's Mum to go get his birthday cake.

Sirius shrugged. "Whatever. What we should really be talking about is our annual start of the term prank!"

"Definitely!" James agreed, excitedly.

"But we didn't do one last year…" Peter said.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Well, of course we didn't, we were new. Now we're seasoned Second Years, we have to make it a tradition."

"But what can we do? The Sorting has everyone's attention at the Start of the Term feast," Peter said doubtfully.

"So I suppose we have no other choice…" Sirius began, grinning at James.

"Of course! We have to mess with the Sorting!" James laughed.

"No!" Remus argued. "Absolutely not. Think about how nervous we were…we can't ruin the First Years on their first day at Hogwarts!"

"I wasn't nervous," Sirius shrugged.

"Me neither," James said quietly.

"Who cares? It's still not fair."

"Oh don't be such a spoil sport Remus. It's a laugh…we'll only do it to the ones that look snakey," Sirius said nudging his shoulder.

"I can't do that. I won't," he responded stubbornly.

"Remus, it'll only be something small. Please? Just a trip jinx or something," James goaded.

"Or a chair leg breaking, I suppose?" Remus said sarcastically, scowling.

The other three boys gasped and Remus' eyes went round with horror.

"That's perfect!" Peter exclaimed.

"No! No!"

"Ok, look at it this way. We pick one kid from each House, including Gryffindor. Spread the love evenly," James said lowering his voice as Mrs Pettigrew set down the cake and hurried away to find candles.

"Yeah, then it'll be fair," Sirius reasoned.

"We'd definitely get in trouble," Remus said putting his head in his hands.

"One detention, we've had worse," Peter whispered urgently before his mother returned.

Remus stared at his three friends hopeful faces and sighed.

"Fine, fine. But one of you is going to do it, not me!"

And then Mrs Pettigrew led them all in a cheerful round of Happy Birthday.

A/N: And alas, the end of First Year. Next chapter they will be seasoned Second Years (with firsties to mess with ;) ) Please review!