Agnomen: a nickname.

April 20, 1973

"Psst, Moony! Quit taking notes and participate in passing them," Sirius hissed in his ear, tossing a crumpled piece of parchment onto his desk.

"Black, if I have to tell you to be seated again, it will be detention," McGonagall snapped, not even turning away from the black board.

"How does she do that?" Remus heard James whisper as Sirius slid back into his chair.

"It is a gift, Potter. Now I suggest you make use of that fine eagle feather quill you received as a birthday gift and start writing things down."

"She doesn't even break chalk contact with the board!" James marveled, picking up his quill.

Remus kept copying down information as if he hadn't been aware of any of this until Sirius kicked the back of his leg impatiently. Casting an irritated look over his shoulder at James and Sirius, he quickly smoothed out the parchment that had been launched onto his desk.

Can we see your den tonight? was scrawled in Sirius's messy pen.

Forgetting McGonagall's gift, Remus whipped around in his chair to pin his friends with an angry look.

"Lupin! Eyes at the front, please."

Remus slowly turned around, all thought of note-taking out of his head. Instead he seized his quill and scrawled a furious reply, chucking the paper over his shoulder into Sirius's face.

"What's he mean by that?" muttered James, leaning over to read Remus's message as well.

"What?" Peter asked, swiveling in his chair to see what the others were tossing back and forth.

"Boys! Eyes up front and put that note away or I shall let the entire class in on your conversation!"

When the bell rang ten minutes later, Remus was almost the first one into the corridor, pretending he couldn't hear his friends' calls.

"Oi, Remus! What's the rush?" James demanded, darting between boisterous students to plant himself firmly in Remus's path. He might be four inches shorter than Remus, but he was quicker than a golden snitch.

"I have a lot of homework, James, okay? I need to get to the library."

Remus attempted to brush past, but Sirius and Peter had caught up to them by now and were effectively blocking his escape routes.

"We don't have anything due until Friday," Peter pointed out, picking, as ever, the most inconvenient time to be shrewd. "And we're in exactly the same classes."

"What's your problem?" Sirius demanded impatiently. "Ever since we brought up the Shrieking –"

Remus clapped a hand over his mouth, looking around in panic. A second later he yanked his hand away and wiped it on his robes in disgust.

"Ew, Sirius, did you just lick me?"

"Worked on Narcissa every time," Sirius smirked, cackling at the memory.

"The point is," James persisted, stepping forward and lowering his voice. "You promised to bring us to the shack sometime soon, and now you're freaking out over it. What's up?"

"You can't just talk about stuff like that in public!" Remus hissed, looking around at the students filtering around their huddled group. "What if someone heard you?"

"Who cares?" Sirius shrugged. "They won't know what we're talking about."

James nodded. "You're too paranoid for your own good. C'mon Moony –"

"Would you quit calling me that!" Remus burst out.

His friends recoiled a step in surprise. James and Sirius exchanged a taken-aback glance.

"What, 'Moony'? We've been calling you that all year!"

"And suppose someone heard you and started wondering how it got started?" Remus said between gritted teeth. "That's not who I am. I'm not Moony, your interesting" – he mouthed the word 'werewolf' – "friend, okay? I'm just Remus and I'm done being your entertainment."

Again he attempted to push past them, but James and Sirius each grabbed him by the upper arms and forced him backwards into an empty classroom. Peter scuttled in after them, closing the door as Remus wrenched himself free.

"Alright, what?" James exclaimed, gaping at Remus.

"Our entertainment?" Sirius repeated incredulously. "What d'you take us for exactly, Lupin?"

"It's just a nickname, Remus," said James quietly.

"No, it's a label," Remus corrected. "And I'm done with it. If all I am to you is another reckless stunt – Ow!"

He broke off, rubbing his forehead where Sirius had flicked him hard enough to smart.

"Are all your synapses firing again?" Sirius asked shortly. "In case it hasn't sunk in during the past two years, we happen to enjoy your company as a human for some unfathomable reason. Despite your hobbies being studying and going off on your friends."

"I mean, if you'd rather, we could call you bookie," James offered. "But that might attract some unwanted attention from the staff about your gambling problem." He met Remus's eyes earnestly. "Honestly mate. Just a nickname."

"Sorry," Remus muttered, shuffling his feet awkwardly. Jumping to the worst conclusion was just such a kneejerk reaction, a defense mechanism that he couldn't control. Why was it still so hard to believe people outside of his family actually wanted to hang around him?

"So… is that a no for going to the Shack tonight?" Peter piped up from by the door.

Sirius turned around to punch him on the shoulder. Peter yelped and automatically responded with a retaliatory elbow in Sirius's side. Sirius lunged at him, and Peter fumbled for the doorknob. A second later the pair of them had toppled out into the corridor.

"C'mon, Moony," James said, flinging his arm around Remus's shoulders with a sly grin. "Let's go join the party."

A/N: Some marauders' cheer for you :) I've actually wanted to write a scene like this for a while now. I've got a lot of ideas about the dynamic of this group that I just don't want to outright say in a story, but it will take a lot of show-not-tell to get it out there. I adore hearing from you all!