Privity: participation in the knowledge of something private or secret.

September 25, `1972

"Oi, you git!" Sirius chucked his shoe across the dormitory, but James dodged it easily, laughing.

"Sending midnight love letters, are you Black? Who's the lucky lady?" he cackled, flipping through the handsomely embossed stationary he'd snatched out of Sirius's trunk.

"It's from my cousin," Sirius snapped, making a grab for James as he leapt onto Sirius's bed.

"Your cousin? I knew your family was messed up."

"It was a joke! She gave it to me so I'd have to write her more to get rid of it."

Sirius tackled James and the pair of them landed on the floor with a crash.

"Uh-huh, that's what they all say," James gasped through a painful smirk, even as Sirius dug a knee into his gut.

"Give it here, you little –"

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Gross, Potter. Do you want me to puke all over you, bringing up that image?"

They scuffled on the floor, hopelessly crushing the stationary underneath them as Peter watched in bemusement from his trunk, until the dormitory door opened and Remus slouched in. James and Sirius scrambled up at once, their tussle forgotten. All three boys stared as Remus collapsed on his bed with a groan, hiding his face in the pillow.

"You look horrid," James offered bluntly.

"Thanks," came Remus's muffled, sarcastic reply.

Sirius bounced down on the mattress beside him. "Rough weekend at home, mate?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Remus mumbled. "Mum's still ill."

"I think you caught whatever it is she's got," Peter piped up, climbing onto the end of the bed.

"Yeah, maybe…."

"You should go see Pomfrey," James advised.

"I will… just want to sleep for a bit…."

"You think it'll do any good?" Sirius asked doubtfully. "I mean if she couldn't fix you up last night…."

Remus's eyes flew open. "I was at home last night," he said, panicked.

Sirius exchanged looks with Peter. "Well, Nancy Brunswick says she saw you in the hospital wing."

"She's barmy," Remus declared, voice shooting up three octaves.

"Alright, alright," James interjected soothingly. "We believe you. You're our mate, so we trust everything you tell us. Because you're our mate. And that's what mates do. They trust each other. Trust, friendship. They go hand in hand."

"Because friends have your back," Sirius chipped in. "No matter what you are."

James and Sirius both turned to Peter. James punched him in the back.

"Er, yeah. You can count on us, mate," he said hastily.

"Because we're mates," James added. "No matter what."

Remus looked between them, all three concentrating hard on him. "Right. Thanks. I mean, I'd know where I was better than Nancy Brunswick anyway."

"Yeah, yeah you would," Sirius agreed, getting up from the bed and kicking the wardrobe.

"Well, we'll let you get some sleep then," James said, dragging Sirius to the door. Peter jumped up to follow as if he'd been burned by the quilt.

"I don't believe him!" Sirius complained the moment the door had shut.

"We should talk to Nancy, slip her some excuse," Peter said, scurrying along behind them.

"She didn't see him," James threw over his shoulder, rolling his eyes.

"But you said –"

"Eye-witnesses and he still won't come clean," Sirius exclaimed in frustration. "We practically told him we knew."

"When are we going to tell him we know?" Peter asked.

"Next month," James decided.

Sirius swung around to a halt and Peter tripped over the steps.

"When exactly did we decide this?" Sirius demanded.

"I don't think I can take another atrocious excuse," said James, continuing on down the staircase without a backward glance at his gaping comrades. "If he still feeds us some story next month, we're going to have to come clean ourselves. Put the poor sod out of his misery. It's pathetic watching him scramble for a cover story when it's obvious he's about to pass out."

"He's going to flip out," Sirius warned, jumping down three steps to catch up with James. "You know he will."

James shrugged. "He flips every time we get a detention."

"But this isn't a detention," Peter pointed out.

"Can't be that much different," said James with another shrug. "We'll wait it out like we always do, and he'll come back down to earth and realize we aren't running away in terror, and it'll all be out in the open."

"You make it sound like baking cookies or something," Sirius muttered.

James smirked. "I plan on writing a book. Befriending Werewolves Made Easy."

"Give away all our secrets and Remus won't have any reason to stick around. He'll have better friends than us in five seconds."

"That's ridiculous," James said haughtily. "No one can have better friends than us. We're top of the heap."

"Yeah, alright, Potter. You just keep thinking that."

"You know it's true Black. You wouldn't trade me for all the gold in Gringotts. I bet those love letters were for me."

"Shut up!"

A/N: James and Sirius everyone. It's been a very long time since I've written them, hasn't it? Sorry I haven't been on the ball with updates. My internet went out in Winter Storm Draco (lol). You never appreciate how much you miss something until it's gone. But it's back now, and since we're talking about friends and best friends, I'll take a moment to advertise my new competition over on the HPFC. The Yellow Rose Bowl: a friendship competition. Check it out :) And don't forget to drop me a line here! 59 reviews to go and 8 days to get them! Remember, four-digit reviewers get fabulous prizes!