James POV

After checking for my Head Boy badge on my robes, I sauntered down slowly to the Great Hall for breakfast. Since none of the other Marauders were around, it was likely that they were already in the Great Hall for breakfast.

As I reach the doors leading into the Great Hall, the decibel levels of students talking and laughing rise. Upon entering, I quickly scan the Gryffindor table and immediately spot my favourite fiery-tempered redhead. Just then Lily looks up from her plate and catches my eye. Annnnnd any second now Lily will display her mood gauging ticks. Widened eyes? Check. Stink eye? Check. Scowling? Check. Wait a minute… her face seems really flushed. So much so that it almost resembles her hair. Now that's a first.

Looks like it's going to be an ignore Potter - the toe rag day. Bloody fun. The flushed face is a dead giveaway of what she's really thinking though.

Oh Lily…. give up. We both know better now, don't we?

I know that acting cheeky will get her even more flustered so I wink at her. She reddens even further and sharply turns her head away. I smirk inwardly at her reaction and walk down further to join my friends. Remus was reading the Daily Prophet; Peter was vacillating between quickly eating and protecting his plate while Sirius was …there's no other word for it…pigging. The man might be the self-proclaimed heartthrob of Hogwarts (total Hippogriff shit!) but his table manners were extremely entertaining. It's a surprise dear Aunt Marelia Black hasn't corked it already from such "horrendous Pureblood-lacking" etiquette! The bloody banshee…

I sit down besides Remus and mutter a 'morning all' before reaching out for the food on the table. The guys look up to respond when owls carrying daily mail swoop in, adding to the din. As I am about to spoon my first bite of eggs, Moria lands in front of me.

Moria is our ancient, cranky family owl and in the family pecking order, holds a higher position than me. So much for being the Potter heir. As a kid, I once tried to make amends with Moria but nooo.. the dratted thing scratched the magic out of me. I swear if owls had facial expressions, Moria would be perpetually scowling at me.

Huh, what do you know? In that case, the ancient pile of feathers and Evans could probably be best friends. Stupid bloody avian.

By now, all the Marauders were paying attention to my upcoming interaction with Moria. Unwillingly I enter into a staring contest with the feathered menace and she looks back at me with her fierce, scowling yellow eyes – unblinking. I then sweetly say, "Moria, can I please have my letter?" After staring for a few more seconds, she blinks and extends her left leg for me to remove the attached letter. Once I successfully remove it, I mutter, "I swear I'll have you stuffed one of these days." when she screeches like Sirius's mother and scratches me with her talons before flying away. Bloody hell! That hurts!

The Marauders burst out laughing at this and give me consoling pats on the back before digging into their breakfasts again. As I open my letter and start reading, Sirius interrupts me to ask, "What's mom saying in the letter?"

After Sirius was blasted off from the Black Family tapestry following his escalating differences with his family regarding the Black Pureblood ideology, my parents took him in and treated him as their second son. To Charlus and Annabelle Potter, there were no differences between Sirius and me. My parents always wanted more kids but they were unable to have any for the longest time. They had me pretty late and maybe that's why they spoiled me rotten from the very beginning. As for me, Sirius with all his crazy behaviour was the brother I always wanted and my best mate. He called my parents 'mom' and 'dad' and treated them like his own too.

As I scan the letter, my face pales when I come across the phrases 'Potter family duty' and 'marriage'. The guys see my reaction and immediately converge to snatch the letter from my hands to read it for themselves. One …two… three…four….five… the gits start guffawing so loudly that everyone in the vicinity turns look at us. Sirius was laughing so hard that he starts crying and Peter fell off the bench. I just wanted to sink into the ground as my face reddened further. On seeing my face, even Remus….. supposedly the most composed and matured among us Marauders becomes hysterical and bangs his fist on the table.

Bloody gits.

I huff and snatch the letter out of Sirius's hands, before heading towards the Great Hall doors without eating a single bite of my breakfast.

Mom, why are you embarrassing me like this?! Ugh. I am too bloody young to be even thinking about marriage! Bloody stupid Pureblood practices.

Just when I turn around the corner of the Charms corridor, I get tackled down by the three idiots I call my friends. I know there is going to be no end to this ribbing for months to come.

Bloody fucking hell.

I'm really sorry for the super late update. I've been away from Fanfiction for so long. I promise to keep up more and hopefully entertain all my readers. Take care and please review!