The next couple weeks were hard on everybody. Even after his talk with Dumbledore, Peter remained more withdrawn than usual. The Marauders were putting every effort they could into distracting him from his worries and cheering him up. Whenever one of them noticed their friend looking particularly downtrodden, they would fire a (relatively) harmless, albeit amusing, jinx at some unsuspecting student. Even the most creative ambushes, such as charming quills to follow a second year Hufflepuff girl around, splotching her with ink, however, hardly got more than a grin or a weak chuckle out of Peter.

The reemergence of the Marauder's mischievous antics were not, however, unnoticed by all. As their attempts to bring Peter out of his growing shell became more elaborate, Lily's angry glares towards the lot of them increased. After two weeks of growing chaos, Lily pulled Remus aside and demanded that he stop his friends' ridiculous behaviour at once.

"No, Lily," Remus said to her after enduring her near shouting accusations of his failure as a Prefect and his duty to keep his friends in check, "I won't tell James and Sirius to cut it out. We aren't doing this to entertain ourselves. We're doing this for Peter. We're trying to help our friend."

"And you think attacking innocent second years is the way to do that?" She demanded.

"I think that we know Peter a lot better than you do," Remus answered. "We aren't hurting them, either. Most of them laugh after they get over their initial anger or embarrassment."

"Fine," Lily said in a huff, "But if anybody ends up in the Hospital Wing, I will report you."

"You do that," Remus replied, surprising both himself and Lily. "But I know, and James and Sirius know, that making sure our best friend isn't hurting is definitely worth a couple of detentions. Besides, Lily, you should know by now that I usually do my best to put a stop to their more… ambitious schemes."

Lily, while not completely satisfied, had agreed. Even she had to admit that what they were doing wasn't that bad. At least, not compared to darker things going on both inside and outside of Hogwarts.

Each day, the Daily Prophet, brought more news of attacks, death, and disappearances. It was not uncommon to see the stricken face of a student who had just read about somebody they knew being involved in the strikes against muggles, muggleborns, and halfbloods. Each and every of the horrible happenings were being linked to Voldemort and the Death Eaters.

The group of Slytherins that everybody knew, though nobody had any evidence, aspired to become Death Eaters upon Graduation were also acting up. These first few weeks were not only sprinkled with the amusing pranks of James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, but also with darker and more sinister jokes aimed solely at muggleborns. It soon became worth a month of detentions and possible suspension to perform any type of painful or bordering-on-dark hex on another student. This, however, didn't stop the name calling, taunting, and malicious glares.

There was one thing, however, that managed to take everybody's minds off the looming darkness outside of the castle, even Peter's. That was the upcoming Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

The morning was bright and clear, again: a perfect day for Quidditch. James was optimistic as he addressed his team in the changing room, minutes before the start of the game.

"Okay, team," he said in a confident voice, "we have this match. I know we thought that we had Ravenclaw last fall, but we lost that match. This is our chance to redeem ourselves. And, if we win this by enough, we still have a chance at the Quidditch Cup! Don't give up. Fight for this game as you have never fought before.

"Hufflepuff is good this year. They are all excellent athletes and superb fliers. But, so are we. We are matched with them in every way. What it will come down to is who wants it more. We have to be the team that wants it more. They'll play fair, but they'll play hard. It all hinges on us playing harder.

"I want us all to focus on the game and nothing else. Kate, this is your chance to prove to your boyfriend which of you is the better Keeper. Kristi, Jade, listen for my calls during the game. We are going to put some of our new plays into use. Angela, we'll try to keep the score up as high as possible, but I'm not going to lie. The win will indubitably come down to your seeking ability. The Hufflepuff Seeker is a 3rd year, so you have four years of experience on him. But he must be good if he made the team. Eric and Jason, keep those Bludgers away from us and towards the players in yellow or else we have no chance of winning. This is a team effort, you guys. We all have to put in everything we have. We can win this. Let's do it."

James looked around at each of his team members. All of their faces were set in the same determination that James felt within himself. With one last nod, he led his team out of the changing rooms and onto the Quidditch Pitch.

"Captains, shake hands. Teams, take your positions," Madame Hooche said after releasing the four balls. James flashed a cocky smile at Caleb and shook his hand. All the yellow and red clad players fell into their places. Glancing to make sure all the students had listened to her, Madame Hooche raised her whistle to her lips and blew. Fourteen brooms rose into the air and dispersed. The game had started.

"Hufflepuff in possession!" the commentator's voice rang out. James searched the field until he saw a yellow blur with the muted red hurtling towards Kate. He leaned forward and sped up, but was too late.

"Mary Davis of Hufflepuff shoots! And it's blocked by Gryffindor Keeper, Kate Brown, who sends it nicely back to Gryffindor captain and chaser, James Potter!"

"Nice save!" James yelled as he turned his broom and headed down the middle of the field towards the other end. He could see Jade and Kristi on either side of him, watching him carefully and dodging any Hufflepuff players who tried to veer them off course.

"Ambush!" James shouted, instigating the first planned play of the game. He, Kristi, and Jade converged into a single flying mass. After a couple of seconds, they split, each flying towards one of the Hufflepuff goal posts.

"And, after a tricky little play by Potter, Gryffindor is still in possession. The Quaffle is with Potter, Alith, or Verden. I cannot tell."

All three Chasers were hurled around something, appearing to each hold the ball. Caleb looked back and forth between the three nervously. At the last minute, Kristi revealed that she had the Quaffle, but it was too late. Caleb had gone to block James.

"Gryffindor scores!" Cheers erupted from the scarlet clad fans.

"That's in, Prongs!" Sirius shouted, "Way to trick the birds!"

"They're badgers, not birds!" Peter shouted over the roar.

"But they're in canary yellow," Sirius replied with a wink.

Peter shook his head and turned back to watching the game with Heather. The Quaffle was passing between the players so quickly that, were it not for the commentary, he wouldn't have had any idea which team held possession.

"Potter, Alith, Potter, interception by Davis, Brookins, back to Verden, Altih, Verden, Potter, Potter shoots and scores! 20-0 to Gryffindor!"

The game continued like this for over an hour with no sign of the snitch, though both Angela and the Hufflepuff Seeker Joseph Anderson had made several feints and there had been several false alarms. As James had said, Hufflepuff's team was good. But, Gryffindor was just better enough. As the Quaffle passed from player to player like a timed dung bomb, Bludgers were sent with alarming speed and accuracy to attempt to knock Quaffle from arms and players from broomsticks.

"I wish they'd let me commentate," Sirius complained as he watched James score again, bringing the score to 170-140 to Gryffindor.

"What's wrong with the guy doing it?" Remus asked, glancing at the Ravenclaw fifth year standing in the stands by Professor McGonagall.

"He's just saying the names. It's boring." Sirius replied.

"I'm pretty sure that's the way it's supposed to be. The commentary isn't supposed to be more entertaining than the game." Remus laughed.

"I don't think that McGonagall would ever let you commentate," Peter pointed out, "Not after that cheer you led in the game against Ravenclaw."

"It was a good cheer!" Sirius protested. He turned to Remus, "It was a good cheer, wasn't it, Moony?"

Remus looked at his boyfriend and rolled his eyes. Sirius could be immature, careless, and quite the opposite of Remus in many ways. But, he was Sirius, carefree and wild. Remus didn't think there was anything that would be able to change this nature of his friend and lover. And he was glad.

"I wouldn't answer that, Moony," Peter said cheekily. "Or, if you do, I'd be very careful." Remus, trying not to blush, turned back to the game.

A few rows ahead of the two couples sat the 7th year girls. The three of them sported gold and yellow scarves and they were all cheering quite loudly for their housemates.

"Come on, James!" Allie shouted as loud as she could as James sped once more towards the Hufflepuff goal posts. His shot was blocked, however, causing Allie to swear loudly.

"Allie!" Lily exclaimed, turning to her friend in shock, "Since when do you care about how we do in Quidditch this much?"

"Since I made a wager with Josh over which team would win," Allie replied, not taking her eyes off the field.

"Since when do you bet?" Maia asked surprise.

"Since Josh told me there was no way Hufflepuff would lose," Allie answered. "Come on Kate! Block it! Yes!"

Kate had once again blocked the Quaffle from passing through the hoops, this time with her foot, and she kicked the ball to Jade who caught it and sped off.

"What did you bet?" Lily asked.

Allie hesitated, but was saved from answering as a hush fell over the crowd. Angela and Joseph were, once again, racing towards ground at the far end of the pitch. But, this time it was clear that it was neither feint nor false alarm. Joseph had seen the snitch. He was a good three yards ahead of Angela. She was gaining on him by the second, but she wasn't doing so quickly enough.

Joseph was five feet from the fluttering golden ball; Angela was a yard behind.

Four feet; a foot was between Joseph's broom and Angela's.

Three feet and he stretched out his harm; Angela was at the tail of his broom.

Wham! Eric had shot a Bludger towards the Hufflepuff Seeker and it hit the front end of Joseph's broom. Angela swerved out of the way as her competitor was knocked off course. She reached out her arm.

"And Angela Miller catches the snitch for Gryffindor's win! Three hundred and twenty points to one hundred and forty!"

***

The week following the Gryffindor victory was probably one of the best ever, for the Marauders and their fellow Gryffindors. The mood around the castle had been hostile and sullen for weeks as tensions grew and death toll was rising, but somehow, when you're at Hogwarts, everything can seem safe and good. Especially if you're best friends with a Quidditch star or happened to make a bet with your boyfriend about who would win.

Nobody was more pleased than James, however. The team he'd been working so hard all year had played better than he´d hoped. As they had over a month before their final match against Slytherin, James gave his team the week off from practice, promising that they'd resume with full force as soon as everybody was rested up.

Allie and Josh were quickly turning into the school's favourite couple. Perhaps that is what led Sirius Black to talk to his secret lover in their dormitory that night. Or perhaps he was just getting impatient.

"Moony, it's nearly time to go down for supper! James and Peter said they'd meet us in the Great Hall." Sirius called as he walked into the quiet dorm.

Remus was lying on his bed with a book and the rest of the dorm was empty. The werewolf smiled and placed his book on his bedside table. He stood up and grabbed his boyfriend by the tie, pulling him to topple on top of him on the scarlet bed spread. The two boys pressed their lips and bodies desperately together. Remus nipped lightly on Sirius' bottom lip, eliciting a sigh of delight.

"Hello," he whispered, smiling at the scarred and beautiful boy beneath him. "Having a good day?"

"Yeah," Remus answered sneaking his icy hands up Sirius' white oxford. "Pretty good,"

Those cold fingers made Sirius shiver as they ran across his toned muscles. Sirius was used to Remus' poor circulation and somehow, those cold hands always warmed him up immensely.

"I love you, Remus," Sirius sighed, grinding his hips down.

"I…" Remus pulled back and bit his lip. Sirius knew that, for some reason, it was hard for Remus to say. It hurt a bit, but Sirius was so happy with just being together, that he didn't need to hear it. He wondered why Remus was pausing this time, as if the statement was a shock. Sirius was constantly whispering reminders, they usually just made Remus smile. Hoping to avoid disaster, he leaned down to kiss Remus. The other boy kissed him back passionately, but then pulled back again.

"Sirius," Remus whispered looking up at intense grey eyes. "I love you."

"Really?" Sirius asked. "You don't have to say it if you don't mean it."

"That's why I haven't said it yet. I wanted to be sure. I am. I love you. I am seriously in love with you."

Sirius grinned and squeezed his lover closer to him. Remus rolled him onto his side so that they were lying facing each other. After simply staring at each other and letting their hands wander across each other's bodies, Sirius sighed and started talking. At the same time, Remus also started to say the same words.

"I wish—" They both cut themselves off. Sirius gave a short bark of laughter and motioned for Remus to continue.

"I-I was just going to, to say…" Remus stumbled over his words, "I wish I could hold your hand in public. It's torture only touching you when we're alone."

Sirius looked at the other boy with amusement and astonishment.

"Go ahead!" Sirius laughed aloud as he sat up. "I wish I could scream to everyone how in love I am with you. I would snog you in bunch of a ton of Slytherins! I would… make Remus flowers float around the Gryffindor table! I would tell my mother that not only am I a Gryffindor, but I'm a GAY one at that. One in love with a WEREWOLF! I would—"

"Okay, okay," Remus chuckled as he too sat up to calm down the over excited other boy. "Let's not go crazy. But… I am ready to come out."

Sirius jumped off the bed and took Remus' hand. He then, pulled the other boy out of the dorm. They did not let go of each other's hands as they walked past the few students who were in the common room.

"Where are we going?" Remus asked, amused by the huge grin on Sirius' face.

"Where do you think?" Sirius answered. "I already said we're meeting the others in the Great Hall for supper."

"Oh," Remus blinked and stopped walking suddenly in the middle of the corridor. "So, are we just going to… be out now?"

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged. "I guess so. Is that okay?"

"Y-yeah," Remus stuttered. "I mean, I just said I wanted to, right?"

"Are you sure?" Sirius checked. "I don't want you do something you aren't comfortable with."

"No," Remus assured him. "I'm sure. The whole point is being comfortable, right? But… don't make a dumb announcement, okay? Let's just be us. They'll just work it out on their own; the same way they worked out that Heather and Peter are an item. The way we all deduced that Allie and Josh are together."

Sirius nodded happily and they walked off to the Great Hall, fingers still intertwined.

Throughout the rest of the week, word spread. Everyone saw them holding hands as they walked through hallways, or as they shared kisses in between classes, they openly referred to each other as "my boyfriend". Most people were indifferent, albeit surprised, but others were more hostile. There were a few girls whose hearts had broken when Sirius coming out the previous year who were devastated yet again, by another good looking boy being off limits. They were harmless enough; all they ever did was look pouty and perhaps mutter disappointments.

Maia and Allie could be found comforting these devastated girls, as Allie was finally over being dumped by Remus, and Maia, embarrassed though she was to admit it, had had a huge crush on Sirius in her 3rd and 4th years, before he came out as gay. Needless to say, they understood the trauma of liking a gay guy.

What were really angering though, were the really hateful people who just couldn't keep their opinions to themselves. Remus got hexed regularly in the corridors for the first few days until people realized that it was the same as when they had tried to harass Sirius. The attackers would find themselves bombarded with hexes sent by the other Marauders.

Lily would take tons of house points from anyone saying mean things and would take the time to lecture the offending students until they wished their ears would fall off. She even told off Severus and then went on to treat him like all of the other "immature, bigoted idiots." And Remus was happy. Gryffindor was looking good to win the Quidditch cup, the school at large knew about his relationship with Sirius, and he had the best friends a boy could want.

"You know," James said one evening to Peter, Sirius, and Remus as they sat sprawled around their dormitory, "I think that we should make use of the fact that I don't have Quidditch practice this week."

"It's your own fault you have practice every night; you're captain," Sirius pointed out, earning him a swat on the head.

"That is completely irrelevant, Padfoot," James retorted. "While I am aware that the lack of evening Marauding time we possess is my own fault, that doesn't mean that I cannot revel in open hours to which we can dedicate ourselves."

"What did you have in mind?" Peter asked, eagerly.

"Remember that map we are making?" James asked his friends. They all nodded. Since James had suggested it several months earlier, they'd compiled all their knowledge of the castle, its secret passageways, and trick staircases onto several pieces of parchment. The four boys had tried to work on it consistently, but what with the increase in coursework, James' resumed Quidditch matches, and Peter's father's death, it'd been pushed to the side of late. After looking around at his friends, he continued, "Well, I think we've really drawn out this process for too long. I think that it's high time we finished the task we have painstakingly been working on all year."

"Can we do it, do you think?" Peter inquired.

"Can we do it?" James repeated, a shocked expression on his face. "But of course we can do it, Wormtail! We have all the information we need. All we have to do is make the final sketch and charm it!"

"Well, then," Sirius said as he stood up, "What are we waiting for?" He grabbed the cloak from its hiding place under James' four poster bed and the four of them hurried down the stairs and through the Common Room to the portrait hole, too excited to notice the curious glances sent their way by Lily and Maia who sat studying by the fire.

Within ten minutes James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus stood in the Room of Requirement. The room had made itself into the perfect place for the four boys to work on their map. In the center was a large oak table with many quills and ink wells. The chairs at the table were practical, but comfortable: perfect for sitting in for long periods of time. One bookshelf sat against the wall. Upon entering the room, Remus walked over to it and saw that it contained several charms books as well as Hogwarts layout plans.

"We should allocate tasks," James declared.

"What do you mean?" came Peter's question.

"Well," James explained, "two of us should work on copying all of our rough sketches into a final draft on clean parchment and the other two should looking into spells to enhance it's features."

"Sounds good, Prongsie," Sirius grinned. "Who should do what?"

"I think that you should definitely not work on the copying," James answered. "Your handwriting isn't that great and you can be messy. We want this to go as quickly, and neatly, as possible."

"Then you should probably do that," Remus said. "You have the best handwriting of all of us."

"Indeed he does," Sirius agreed, doing his best to mimic James' carefully structured speech. "I do believe it's a product of his pureblood upbringing."

"And no attempts to rebel against it," James added.

"So," Peter continued, "That leaves me and Moony. Moony should do the research, I'm no good at that type of thing."

"Excellent," James concurred. "And that means that you'll help me with the layout! We just have to make sure that Padfoot and Moony actually do research."

"But, Prongs," Sirius complained, "I'm no good at research. I'd much rather snog my boyfriend."

"And I'd much rather finish this map. Just read whichever book Moony puts in front of you," James directed. "And, please, for Merlin's sake, don't get too distracted."

For the rest of the week they spent hours each night in the Room of Requirement. James, utilizing patience he didn't know he possessed, had perfectly hand-copied each and every sketch onto a single piece of parchment while Peter carefully dried the ink to prevent it from smearing. Remus and Sirius had been good about staying focused, but only after James had looked up to see them snogging passionately and asked them, in a very serious tone, whether they'd rather not be able to claim their ownership of the map. After that they'd been diligent as well, only stealing quick kisses when both James and Peter were thoroughly absorbed.

"Done!" James exclaimed on Friday night as he set down the quill and looked at his handiwork.

"Excellent," Remus said eagerly as he and Sirius came over to admire the lined parchment. "We've found some charms that we think will be useful. The first one we figured out how to track people so that we can see who is where. It's actually the most complicated charm, but I think we can manage it. Can I have the map?"

James hesitated.

"If it doesn't work, it's not going to mess up your pretty drawing," Sirius assured him.

"Okay, fine." James said, handing over the parchment, "but careful not to tear it."

Remus nodded and took the map from James.

"I'm going to do a modified tracking spell," Remus explained. "I have to charm it so that the physical locations are modeled accurately on the map. Then, a second charm allows the object, in this case the map, to locate every person within the vicinity selected and show their movements." He lifted his wand and waved it over the map. The parchment seemed to shimmer for a second before returning to its original muted brown.

"It looks the same," Peter said dully.

"That was the modeling spell," Sirius said. "If it looked different, that would've meant that Moony here had messed up."

"And now for the location and tracking part," Remus said. He pointed his wand at the map and, with a complicated figure eight spiral motion, said the incantation. Hundreds of dots appeared, each with a name by it. Mostly, they were clumped together in the common rooms at such high densities that it was difficult to make out single names, but there were some dots moving along the corridors.

"This," James whispered, unable to take his eyes off the map, "has got to be the most amazing thing I have ever seen."

"I could watch it forever," Peter said, eyes wide.

"Good job, Moony!"Sirius exclaimed quietly. "I have the best boyfriend in the world."

Remus rolled his eyes, "Come on you guys, we'll have ages to stare at that. But it's getting late and we have to finish it."

"What else are we doing?" Peter asked.

"Well," Sirius answered, pulling his eyes away from the map, "the way it is right now, any loser can see it. So we have to password protect it. It's an easy spell, but I figured that Prongs should be the one to come up with the password."

"Why me?" James asked in surprise.

"Because," Sirius said, "nobody talks the way you do half the time. If you make it up, it will be harder to guess."

"You're a prat," James retorted. "Do we want a password or a passphrase?"

"Probably a phrase," Remus said.

"And something to do with marauding," Peter added.

"Okay…" James said pensively. "I am a marauder… No, that's no good… I swear to mischief… I swear that I'm a marauder…No, that's no good either… No good… I swear that I am… no good? No… I swear that I am up to no good! That works! Well… I firmly swear… I indubitably swear…"

"Solemnly?" Peter suggested timidly.

"Yes!" James exclaimed. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good! Thank you, Wormtail!"

"Okay," Remus nodded. "That will open the map. Then, to close it?"

"Mischief managed," James replied easily.

"You're a smart one, Prongs," Sirius said in a mocking tone. "If only you'd apply, think how far you could go!"

"Oh, sod off," James retorted. "You're exactly the same, and you know it. Plus, I'm leading our year in half the classes!"

"And he's so humble, too," Peter laughed.

"Have I ever claimed modesty to be one of my several endearing traits?" James asked as he crossed his arms.

"Point," Peter agreed.

"I've password protected it," Remus cut in. "Now, if we want to see the map, all we have to do is tap it with our wands and say the pass phrase. When we're done, we wipe it with 'Mischief managed.'"

"Is it done?" James asked excitedly.

"Not quite," Sirius answered, and a glint came into his eyes. "We need to make sure that, on the sorry chance that our beloved map falls into the wrong hands, it cannot be used."

"We thought about charming it so that only people we give permission to may use it," Remus continued, "But we thought that, if many years down the road, it comes to future marauders that we have no knowledge of, they should be able to use it. If they can figure out the passphrase, then they're worthy of our map."

James and Peter nodded their agreement.

"However," Sirius said, "We still need to put one last touch on it. Remus found a charm that will work. If anybody incorrectly tries to open the map three times, they will receive personal insults from the four of us. Messers Padfoot, Prongs, Wormtail, and Moony."

"Excellent," James breathed. "Go on, Moony!"

Remus obliged. The four of the boys stood staring at their completed master piece and knew their brilliance.

***

"Alright men," James announced to his friends as they lounged in their dormitory. "Tonight is the night to take our map on a test run. I say we take the cloak just in case, but I doubt we'll need it. Now, Remus you got the map? Great. Let the Marauding begin!"

After they took a roundabout way through the castle to avoid teachers or Peeves, they went through the hunchbacked witch and town the tunnel towards Honey Dukes. They snuck out of the closed Candy Shop and headed merrily down the dimly lit cobble stones. The streets were silent and the night air was brisk. Nobody was walking around them and most of the shops were closing early, far before night fell.

With light hearts, they ignored the abandoned, fearful atmosphere that Hogsmeade had been developing as the war progressed as they approached the cheerfully open yet, moderately empty Three Broomsticks.

"Hey Rosemerta," James winked as the four of them approached the bar. "You look absolutely gorgeous tonight. Is that a new jumper?"

The barmaid giggled and nodded. Remus rolled his eyes at James' antics and asked, "You have eyes for women besides Lily? Tsk tsk."

"Oh shove off," James laughed. "I'll be all Lily's as soon as she demands it. For now, I like to think I'm as good at flirting as Padfoot here."

"As good as moi?" Sirius huffed. "Unlikely."

Rosemerta, greatly amused with their conversation though she was had other people to serve. "So, boys, do you actually want to order something, or are you just here to see me?"

"Yes, Madam" James answered politely. "You're the reason, but I guess as we're here, we might as well order..."

"Cake!" Peter cheered. "It's celebratory."

Remus chuckled. "The map's first birthday?"

Peter nodded enthusiastically.

"And for the possible Quidditch cup!" James bobbed his head like a hyper little kid.

"And for Remus' coming out," Sirius added, sliding his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders.

"How about I get you something to toast with, as well?" Rosmerta suggested knowing full well that these boys would ask her for firewhiskey any moment. The boys nodded eagerly and settled into comfortable companionship.

"So, what are we going to do now that we aren't making the map?" Peter asked excitedly after they were served a large chocolate cake and numerous mugs of firewhiskey.

"You guys could actually study for once," joked Remus looking meaningfully at the two black hair boys. The two of them put on their most charming grins and shrugged.

"But, Moony," Sirius started.

"We don't have to study. We're geniuses." James finished. Remus raised his eyebrows in return.

"So, you're giving up on impressing Lily with your newfound maturity, then?" Remus asked as Rosmerta handed them their drinks. James shrugged.

"I'm maturely prioritizing." Sirius ginned and slapped his best mate on the back.

"Good for you, Prongs, we don't really need another Moony in the group," Peter piped. "Besides, you are a genius."

"And Moony, he's saying that we don't need another you, because nobody could ever be like you!" Sirius inserted, leaning in to kiss Remus.

"Oh, get a room!" James groaned, jokingly. Sirius, pleasantly buzzed at this point, hopped up and grabbed Remus' arm.

"Good idea!" he said as he pulled the amused boy outside into the cool March air.

"God…" James said gulping down firewhiskey. "Why does everyone insist on being so… cute. I never would've thought those two would ever turn into one of those couples."

"So in love they make you want to vomit?" Peter asked, chuckling. "They aren't so bad. It's not like they use pet names or anything. And they don't Eskimo kiss as far as I know."

"I guess…" James sighed. "But you're hardly one to talk. You and Heather are like… cotton candy flavored dungbombs. You're so sweet it makes me sick."

"I take offense at that!" Peter laughed. "But you wouldn't know. You've never been able to be cute with the person you love."

"Thanks for that Peter," James scowled. Peter smiled apologetically and tried to make up for his stupid comment.

"But, everyone likes you!" James looked unimpressed by this information. Peter continued. "And Lily will eventually give in. If only because you're rich and powerful."

James' glare deepened and Peter bit his tongue. His eyes darted around in a way to fix the mistake. Avoid issue the little voice(that sounded suspiciously like his father's) in the back of his head told him. Distract him! Convince him you're completely loyal. Think! C'mon Peter, you can do it!

"Maia and Kingsley!" He spouted. "You saw how they were earlier today. Not so cute anymore, right? I bet they'll break up soon. Not everyone but you is happily in love."

James rolled his eyes but smiled. Peter was a bit bluntly honest sometimes, but he tried to be a good friend. The two of them switched to talk about all the great uses of the new map and Peter decided to go through yet another play by play of the previous Quidditch match, for he knew there was nothing to mend a bruised ego and sense of loneliness than high praise and the comfortable topic of Quidditch.

Just outside, the other two boys were pressed against the side of the building, snogging and resisting the urge to tear each other's clothing off.

"I'm so happy, Remus," Sirius mumbled against the other boy's lips.

"Yeah?" Remus asked amused. "Me too. We should probably get back inside with the guys though."

"Yeah? Okay, fine." Sirius slurred. The two boys grinned and went back into the bar to drink, plot and be merry with their friends.