Title: The First Day of Autumn

Characters: James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew.

Prompts: [Colour] Pumpkin orange, [word] cursed, [emotion] ecstatic, [dialogue] "I really dislike that man", [word] stars, [random prompt] write about your character struggling to come to terms with something and [word] spoon.

AN: Written for the "One Character Only" Competition.

Warning: Peter is AU!

Word Count: 1, 389

Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew had since their first year at Hogwarts been surrounded by a certain level of mystery in lack of other words. Expectations were put upon them based on the things they did and rumours were spread due to the little information the other students had about them. The boys, they had named themselves the Marauders, didn't think they were that mysterious. They weren't putting any effort into keeping information about themselves hidden. But then again, they weren't the loudest of people either. They knew how to speak, they knew how to get attention, without sharing anything they considered personal.

Sirius Black, at the age of almost thirteen years old, had just lost his boyish appearance in favour of something that resembled a teenager. He had become much taller during the summer and his round cheeks had disappeared. His dark hair reached his shoulders and his stormy grey eyes became more prominent due to the clear contrast between his hair and his eyes. His cheekbones were more protruding due to him losing weight that he really couldn't afford losing.

James Potter, aged twelve, still had his round cheeks. His boyish appearance was very much intact and the glimmer in his eyes made people think that he was probably never going to fully lose it. Before the summer he had been the same height as Sirius but now he was shorter. His raven-coloured hair was messy as ever, his glasses kept slipping down his nose and that nervous energy were still running through his body as before. It was clear in the way that he couldn't sit still.

Peter Pettigrew, also aged twelve, was a skinny boy with brown messy hair that had been badly cut. Some parts of his hair reached below his ears and some stopped above his ears. Just like every year, his mother had cut it for him just before school started. And just like every year the Marauders would fix it for him. Every year he thought that this was the time when they wouldn't be able to fix the mess his mother had created and every year they proved him wrong. His brown eyes appeared deep and made most people uncomfortable. Looking too long at Peter's eyes sometimes gave people the feeling that they were going to drown.

Remus Lupin, aged twelve like two of his three friends, had a boyish appearance in spite of the small scars on his throat and his arms. He had sandy-blond hair and pale blue eyes. There was a certain calmness about him that made him out to be the calm centre of the group. The person who dealt with the issues that arose. Whether this was true or not remained unanswered. It was just one of the mysteries that surrounded the four boys.

The Marauders were amused by the status they had been given. They didn't think much of it but they did enjoy listening to rumours about them. The rumours, however, never managed to fulfil their purpose. Because the boys didn't feel any more inclined to spread any type of personal information about themselves. Why would they? After all, they had each other. The greatest trait of their friendship was not executing pranks; the greatest trait of their friendship were loyalty, support and love. They spent more days with each other, casually relaxing in their dormitory than they did causing mayhem around the castle.

The first day of autumn were one of those days that was dedicated to spending time with each other. Since, after much argument, the boys came to the conclusion that you could never determine which day was the first day of autumn they just took a random Saturday when the leaves outside had changed colour from green to pumpkin orange. They would stay in their dormitory the entire day and once it became night they would sneak to one of the towers and watch the stars. That day was always anticipated and the boys spent the entire week before it feeling absolutely ecstatic for reasons they couldn't explain.

"Pads, can you hand me a spoon?" the boys had put all their pillows and their covers on the floor where they laid next to each other. Peter and Remus had their legs directed further into the room while James and Sirius had their legs pointing in the direction of the door.

They had cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. Sirius, whom had brought the spoons, immediately handed one over to Peter who thanked him before digging into a piece of cake that he thought looked all kinds of tasty.

"Did you guys see Slughorn on the way here?" James asked and turned his head sideways so that he could look at Sirius.

The teenager frowned and nodded. "I really dislike that man."

"Me too." Remus answered while James nodded. All that could be heard from Peter was a humming.

Sirius turned his head so that he could see Peter truly enjoying the cake. It was a regular lemon cake. It was odd that Peter had never tasted it before but instead of saying that Sirius decided to keep his thoughts to himself. He shook his head as if trying to get them out of his head.

"He reminds me of my dad sometimes." Sirius commented instead and a shiver went down his spine.

James looked at him without any emotions on his face.

"That's just terrible," a few seconds went by when Sirius could practically see the wheels turning around inside his best friend's head as he thought. "And the worst part is that I can't say which one you just insulted. On the one hand… you dad" – James did some vague gestures which Sirius was sure only him and the other Marauders understood – "but on the other hand… Slughorn."

"Well," Remus said and caused both boys to turned their heads so that they saw him from an upside-down perspective. "One of them is cursed. That we can say for sure. The question is whom."

"My father would say that he's the one who's cursed. I mean, he was cursed with me." Sirius laughter didn't fool anyone.

"Yeah well," James began as he scooted closer to Sirius and put of his arms behind Sirius neck while leaning his head onto the older boy's shoulder. "Your father also happens to be a prick. If he's cursed, which he might be because… you know why, then you are more like a bloody blessing. You're the one good thing in his life and he doesn't even realise it."

Sirius ignored the way his eyes stung.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Remus said as he sat up and reached for the cup of hot chocolate. "You're like the sun after it's been raining."

Excited sounds could be heard from Peter. "You're like McGonagall when we've pulled a prank on Slughorn without getting caught."

They had promised to never speak of that time ever again. McGonagall could not have it be known that she supported her students for pranking the head of the Slytherin house. The four boys never spoke of it around other people. But that didn't stop them from talking about the moment when they were alone. It was no wonder really that McGonagall had supported them. Slughorn had been absolutely intolerable.

"You're one fourth of the Marauders and without you we would be incomplete, okay?" James playfully pushed his shoulder.

Sirius would never be able to understand why they were friends with him. He adored them for it but there was always this part of him, this insecure part whom believed in what his parents had told him, that would not be able to come to terms with the fact that they cared about him like he cared about them.

But spending the first day of autumn by talking and spending time with them would surely, at some point, make him come to terms with the fact that they did love him and they would never let anyone say anything bad about him or treat him badly.

Peter sighed happily as he laid back down in the pile of pillows and covers. "I love the first day of autumn."

"Yeah," Sirius nodded and could feel the warmth spread through his body. "Me too."

The end