James and Sirius wanted to be the best. The best at pulling pranks, the best at dueling, and the best of friends. Of course the first and third things were easy to do on their own, or with some guidance. And they did get some guidance on mischief from Patricia Rakepick, however, when it came to dueling, the best way to become better was through experience. So when they weren't preoccupied with other things, James and Sirius often practiced their dueling skills.
However, one couldn't be a good duelist if one always fought the same one or two people, so Remus and Peter were often roped in. Remus, who was gifted at wandless magic, was convinced to go along with the practice by the need that they should learn self-defense. Peter, who apart from being able to dodge, maneuver, and manipulate, was rather cowardly. Of course James had sold him on the idea that he and Sirius wanted to help his magic, but Peter came to understand it as them getting better at defending him.
On one particular sunny day, James and Peter were dueling by some trees. Watching them were a small crowd of students, eager to watch the fun. Among them was Remus, who was sitting against a tree, and Sirius, who was resting his head against Remus's chest. This wasn't unusual, Sirius had grown a habit of using his friends as pillows and foot rests. In fact, the other day, while the four were in the Gryffindor Common Room, Sirius used James as a pillow while his legs rested on Remus's lap.
Also among the crowd was Mimi Moon, a werewolf and Vampire obsessed Ravenclaw girl whom the Marauders had befriended and was trying to set up with Remus. Although she was flattered by their friendship, she didn't think the detention-prone James Potter and Sirius Black would be good friends. But still, her roommates were all crushing on Sirius, so she decided to stick around. Also, Remus she thought, was a lot like her.
Then suddenly, a gang of Slytherins, who included Evan Rosier, Julius Avery, Augustus Mulciber, and Severus Snape, approached the edge of the crowd. While watching the duel, they were in earshot of Remus, Sirius and Mimi.
"Aw look, Potter's trying to toughen up Pettigrew." Rosier smugly teased to his friends.
"Doesn't look like it's going well." Avery added, "Looks like some people just can't be tough."
Sirius scowled at the comments, and he shot the boys a dirty look while Remus grit his teeth.
"Look, we made the Blood-Traitor upset!" Mulciber mocked while pointing at the pair.
Sirius felt the anger boil inside him as Remus squeezed his arm.
"Looks like we interrupted something." Rosier commented on seeing how Remus and Sirius were resting, "Is that how you two normally behave?"
"It's none of your business!" Sirius shot back, he was already getting enough flack about choosing a future bride. The last thing he needed was for Remus to get dragged into this. There were already rumors about his relationship with James.
"Given how close our families are," Rosier replied, "and how you're the heir of House Black," a menacing smirk spread across his face, "yes it is."
Sirius narrowed his eyes.
"We're part of the Scared 28." Rosier added, "We need to make sure that we stay pure. That's even your family's motto! You can't be romancing the son of a muggle who goes missing whenever there's a full-moon!"
"Who I choose to be friends with, or who I want to date, should be my choice!" Sirius almost yelled, "All that should matter is that the person respects me and we like being with each other! Blood-status be damned!"
"Those are fighting words!" Avery decreed while reaching for his wand.
Sirius sat up and stared Avery dead in the eyes, "Wanna duel? Cause I'm pretty good, and Remus is excellent in wandless magic."
"The half-squib?" Avery teased.
Sirius growled.
"Oh look, the Dog Star is really going to attack." Mulciber mocked.
"Maybe with the help of his wolf." Rosier added, "Or is it, feral wolf child?"
That did it. Sirius lunged at Rosier, the boy who had been his friend before they started Hogwarts.
Rosier fought back, and Remus spied Avery seconds away from hexing Sirius. Needing to defend his friend, Remus, without using his wand, covered the boy in feathers.
Mulciber's eyes widened, then looked at Remus. The pure-blood supremacist couldn't fathom how the half-blood was able to hex his pure-blood friend with such ease without a wand. Remus looked back at him, daring the boy to make a move.
Around this time, James and Peter had finished, and upon seeing what was going on, rushed in to help. Well, James helped, Peter just made sure things didn't get out of hand.
Mimi felt impressed with the loyalty and skill Sirius and Remus showed. Sirius didn't hesitate to defend his friend, and Remus hexed someone without a wand to defend Sirius. She liked them. They were all good friends, and they wanted her to join them. Although she knew she shouldn't, Mimi felt herself grabbing for her wand.
As the fight wore on, Remus made sure he didn't scar anyone, for although he couldn't infect them at that particular moment, he could still give them Wolfish behavior. That behavior would surely tip the others to his condition.
Soon, McGonagall arrived with some other teachers and broke the fight up.
"This is no way for you to behave!" McGonagall scolded.
"They started it!" Sirius protested, "Rosier called Remus 'feral wolf child', and Avery called him a 'half-squib'!"
"And is nearly breaking his nose the best way to respond?" McGonagall questioned.
"Maybe." Sirius answered.
"It is not!" McGonagall sternly replied, "15 points from Gryffindor, 20 from Slytherin, and 5 from Ravenclaw."
"What?" Mimi protested, feeling as though she'd been wronged.
"Miss. Moon, you didn't get a faculty member, and I saw you casting a spell at Mr. Avery." McGonagall answered. Then she assigned the Marauders, Mimi, Rosier, Avery, Mulciber, and Snape detention. Mimi was lucky to only have to help the house elves for a few hours, while the others weren't so lucky.