Caution: Mind the notices and warnings of chapter one.

"I still say the second week is excessive. One week carting thestral shit into the greenhouses? Harsh, but fair. Two weeks? Excessive."

"Definitely excessive. It's not like he got hurt or anything."

"We're playing Slytherin in, what, three weeks?" Sirius glanced around to verify that no one else was walking behind them in the corridor. "Don't tell James, but I'm pretty nervous. Having to miss all these practices is making it worse."

Peter adjusted the heavy rucksack slung over his shoulders. "How much time did you spend flying this summer? You'll be fine. Anyway, you play beater. See the bludger, hit the bludger. All there is to it."

"Honestly a pretty good impression of McLaggen. I just don't want to let everyone down, y'know? People are still talking about the way James played that last match in spring. If the snitch had stayed away another five minutes, he'd have put us ahead one-sixty, and Gryffindor would have taken home the Cup."

"You can't compare yourself to James. He's been on the team since third year."

"And after graduation he's going to sign on with United and take the league by storm, as he's been telling everyone for years." Sirius paused to look over at Peter.

"It's not really about James, though, it's about the team. Ravenclaw graduated all three of their chasers last year, so now we're the ones being tipped as Cup favourites. It's a lot of pressure to step into."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, you can hardly have a worse debut than James. The first house player in a century to score an own goal, wasn't it?"

Sirius laughed, finally relaxing into a genuine smile. "I don't care if he wins the World Cup, it's our solemn duty as friends to ensure that moment is never forgotten."

"McGonagall sure hasn't. I bet he'd already be captain if it weren't for that one match." Peter stopped short. "Wait!" he called after his friend, who had continued walking. "Looks like practice just got out too."

James Potter, freshly showered, but somehow still looking as if he'd stepped directly off his broom, came striding down the corridor to meet them. "How were the thestrals, then, Sirius?"

"A bit shit. How was training?"

James flashed his easy confident smile. "Slytherin is fucked. Me and Marlene are on another level this year. Slughorn tried to sabotage us with that detention of yours—we all agree it's his fault, right?—but that's just going to make it all the sweeter when we run up the score on them in the match. Remus in the library?"

"No, we were working in the dormitory," answered Peter. "He came across some references that he wanted to look into, so I've just been to the library rounding up old issues of Transfiguration Today. Ran into Sirius on the way back."

"Oh, that's a good shout. People used to write a lot more freely about the transformation than they do now. It really is too bad that your family didn't keep a few of the banned ritual manuals, Sirius. Our lives would be so much easier if we had actual instructions rather than having to work it all out ourselves."

"'Form-changing is beneath us,'" Sirius whined, in crude falsetto imitation of his mother."'A Black is already the finest thing a wizard can be.' Fucking bollocks."

The trio, having arrived at the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, gave the Fat Lady her password ("Unity") and proceeded through the portrait-hole. It was still too early for coursework to have begun piling up in earnest, so only a few seventh years were likely to be at the library, and the common room was full of the after-dinner crowd. A small group of their fellow fifth years had, nevertheless, covered a corner table in textbooks.

"Evans!" James called gleefully, "Already revising? O.W.L.'s aren't for months! Did you forget we had training? I could have sworn I mentioned it, but I didn't see you out there in the stands. You missed some of my best work tonight!"

"As if I'd ever go to watch you. Christ." Lily turned to face him, fury burning in that striking emerald gaze."For your information, I was visiting the hospital wing. Sev refused outright to tell me what happened. Which he's never done before, not once in his entire life. Now, tell me, what d'you think that means?" James goggled at her, which only served to further Lily's indignation. "That means it must have been really fucking bad, not that I'd expect anything less from you lot! I'd hoped you might have learnt your lesson, after what happened with Aubrey last year. I should have known better than to give you even that much credit."

Sirius moved forward from beside Peter to join James at the girls' table. "Come off it, Lily! Aubrey was perfectly fine, Pomfrey sorted him right away. And Snivellus wasn't even hurt!"

"Perfectly fine?!" Lily jabbed back, rising from her chair to face up to the boys. "You two turned his head twice its size! That hex is illegal. And it's certainly not in any book we've got in the library—Pince was offended when I asked her about it. I'm betting you pinched it from some secret pureblood family grimoire."

James eyed Sirius nervously. Lily was essentially right about the hex, which Remus had picked out from an old diary of James' grandmother. They hadn't known it was illegal until McGonagall had finished giving them what-for. "It was just a prank. But we served our time in detention. We even apologised to him for it."

"And he had it coming,"added Sirius, "after the way he got James with that furnunculus right before the match. I bet James didn't tell you about that one, did he? Let's just say it would have been bloody uncomfortable for him to ride a broomstick."

"So what? I don't give a toss about these 'prank wars' you keep getting yourselves into. Why didn't you tell McGonagall or Flitwick? Or even just get it seen by Pomfrey, if Aubrey attacked you? Instead you took a schoolboy pimple hex and came back with something that could have killed him."

James stiffened. Lily was well and truly furious now. A hush had fallen over the common room, and it was obvious that all assembled were focussed on this latest explosive Potter/Evans argument rather than whatever diversion had previously occupied them. Even Sirius, Peter noticed, had stepped aside to let James and Lily take centre-stage.

"And don't think I missed how you still haven't said what happened with Sev, or even tried to defend yourselves. Fuck. It must be even worse than I thought."

"I've got news for you, Evans: Snivellus is a little shite. Everyone sees it but you. That's not to mention the horrid crowd he runs with. What a muggleborn like you sees in a pureblood bigot like him… Honestly. Can't you see that the only way this ends is with you getting hurt? What are they even teaching you in divination?"

"Sev isn't—" She cut herself off. "Never mind. You don't know anything and wouldn't get it even if I told you. Just remember that Slytherins don't have a monopoly on prejudice here at Hogwarts."

"Sure," replied James, throwing up his hands. "You're right, the Snakes aren't the whole problem. But they are the worst of it—and Snivellus has been best mates with the worst of them since he was an ickle firstie palling about with Lucius fucking Malfoy. Who, by the way, is a Death Eater. Merlin, don't you read the news?"

"Don't you dare start with me, pretending you know what it's like being muggleborn!"

"Give him a break, Lily, you know he doesn't mean it like that. Come on, James, let's go up and leave them be. I told Remus I'd be back half an hour ago."

"Oh, please. Stop trying to make out like you're some little angel, Peter, going about playing peacemaker. That stunt last week with Sev's robe and the unravelling charm had your fingerprints all over it."

Peter sighed, but he knew better than to deny it. "Ask Snape what he said to me while we were waiting for Slughorn, if you're so interested in defending him."

The tension in the common room was interrupted by the creak of the portrait frame.

"There you are!" called Marlene McKinnon, running over to join the gathered fifth years. "I was waiting outside the showers. I thought we were meeting up?"

Sirius turned to embrace the new arrival and accepted a peck on the cheek."We were—I mean, are," he replied, a little sheepishly. "Aren't we?"

She reached down and took his hand. "I was thinking you could take me to the kitchens. Some of us have been working hard, after all. Come on, I'll tell you about practice."

It was hardly a surprise, Peter reflected, watching the two leave the common room together, as quickly as they'd arrived. Marlene was a tall girl with long dark-brown hair, the strongest defence student of their year, and a fantasy in dormitories from Slytherin to Hufflepuff. Sirius was…well, he was Sirius Black.

Lily was first to find her voice. "Ugh, gross," she spat, shaking her head. "If that obnoxious prat does anything to her, there will be hell to pay. That's a promise. Please, tell him I said that. Pretty boys like you and Black think you can do whatever you want—but I swear to God it's 1975 and women aren't taking it lying down anymore."

"Evans—"

"James!" Peter cut his roommate off. They could go on fighting for an hour if no one put a stop to it, and Peter had already heard enough.

"Fine, fine. Let's go, Peter. At least Remus appreciates us when we try to help him out." They turned to go, but James couldn't resist the opportunity to chase the final word. "Study as much as you like, Evans, I'm still taking top spot in the O.W.L.'s."

Lily's scowl darkened further, but she held her tongue as the two boys made their exit. Peter could just make out the distinctive accent of Mary Macdonald fervently whispering "They're not worth it, they're just…" before he and James reached the sanctuary of their dormitory.

"Finally back. Any luck?" Remus looked up from the thick volume laid across the floor. "Oh, James, you're here too. Did Peter tell you what I found?"

"Only that you spotted some references to old journal articles. It's a good idea, though. I'd be happy to look them over if you're busy with that."

"That'd be great actually. What kept you, Peter?"

"Ran into Sirius on the way back, and then James. And then we ran into Lily and the girls in the common room."

Remus sighed. "What happened this time?"

"She's mental."James was clearly still agitated from their argument downstairs. "I can't explain it. No, really, I don't understand her at all."

Now it was Peter's turn to sigh. "Lily met up with Snivellus in the hospital wing and he apparently told her it was our fault. So she took it out on James."

A look of panic washed over Remus' face. "He didn't… He couldn't have…"

"No, no,"James hastily reassured the young werewolf. "It didn't sound like Snivellus spilled the beans. She was all upset because he wouldn't tell her what happened, actually."

Remus let out a shaky breath. "We should keep an eye on him anyway. I don't need to tell you what would happen if word got out."

"Much as I hate to admit it, if he didn't tell Lily, I don't think he's likely to tell his Slytherin mates."James shook his head, then sank to the floor beside Remus.

"She does love to defend that gross little wanker, doesn't she? Those two have never made much sense to me either."

Peter joined the others on the floor and began unloading the journal issues he had taken from the library out of his pack. "Well, Snivellus is easy to understand at least."

"What do you mean?" asked Remus.

"I mean, it's rather simple. He fancies her. Probably has done for years now."

James made a face. "That's disgusting."

"It's true! Though I don't think Lily's figured it out yet. Not exactly, anyway."

"You're telling me Snivellus is my rival."

Privately, Peter didn't think the scenario was quite so farfetched as James wanted to make it out. Snape was as brilliant in his way as James was—more brilliant, probably—and had the great advantage of their long friendship. Lily barely tolerated James in the best of times. And while James might be the poster child for a certain kind of athletic beauty—svelte and confident, yet also boyish and innocent—Peter had noticed that Snape was growing into a broody handsomeness of his own. He only needed someone to introduce him to shampooing potions for the game to become truly poised.

"Maybe I'm wrong. I mean, I could be wrong. It's not like I spend much time with either of them these days. The thing is, though—and I've been telling you this forever—they're friends. Haven't you noticed that whenever we prank him, she takes his side, every time?"

"Hey, I saved the greasy git from going into the Shack! Some thanks that's got me from her. You'd think I personally held him down to get bitten, the way she just went after me in the common room."

"I'd really rather you didn't joke about something like that. It was a close run thing. Much too close. Sirius really cocked it up this time. If you hadn't got there to pull him out of the tunnel, James… Merlin."

"Fair enough. But I refuse to let Snivellus walk all over us, Peter. Because he will. He's always given back as good as we've gotten him."

"I'm not trying to defend him," Peter replied. "All I'm saying is that you'd have better luck with Lily if you at least tried to avoid getting in fights with her."

James ran his hand through his messy hair. "I hate to say it, but maybe it's time to ask Sirius for advice. He is the only one of us who's got a girlfriend."

"A girlfriend?" Remus stared at James. "Sirius? You mean, Sirius Black? Our Sirius? A girlfriend?"

"I didn't know either, until just now in the common room. Marlene waltzed right up and gave him a kiss. Did you know about this, James?"

James shrugged. "They've been chatty in training all year. It's not like I was listening in or anything. But it's perfect don't you think? What with her being Lily's best mate, and Sirius being mine?"

~xx~

"Say, Will, look at this. Never thought I'd see the day."

"Looks like the rumours were a little exaggerated."

There was a pause for reply, and Peter looked up at the three boys who had just entered the loo. He quickly reminded himself of their names—Stephen O'Shea, William Davies, Robert Walters—but he had no idea what they were talking about, or indeed why they had spoken to him in the first place. Peter couldn't recall the last time he'd exchanged more than a passing word with any boy from Hufflepuff. He did know Davies played keeper for their house team. Maybe they wanted something to do with the upcoming match? Talking a bit of bollocks after the Badgers' narrow upset victory against Ravenclaw the previous week?

They were still eying him expectantly, so Peter reluctantly met their challenge. "What rumours do you mean?"

"You're saying you don't know?" asked O'Shea, sliding over past Peter toward the window on his far side. "I'd have thought you'd heard, surely. It's not exactly a big secret what everyone says about you famously inseparable Gryffindor boys."

"But I guess it turns out they don't actually shit together,"called Walters, leaning against the door a few paces back. "So maybe they don't really all sleep together either?"

"Maybe," replied Davies, "Maybe not. Care to enlighten us, Pettigrew? I bet it's true. Who's got the best cock? Is it the poncey chaser? That annoying swot? I've got my galleons on Black, personally."

Peter tried to steal another glance at his surroundings. Davies was directly in front, with Walters covering the exit, while O'Shea eyed him lazily from the opposite corner. The Hufflepuff trio had him surrounded, and the cubicle behind would give him no protection. He thought about what Sirius would do, or James or Remus. None of his friends would accept this abuse. But Peter had seen enough in class to know that he'd have been outclassed in a duel by any of the three individually, much less all together. It would have to be by wits, then. "Are you interested? I can put in a good word for you."

"There's only one of us here interested in blokes, mate," came the disdainful reply from O'Shea, now perching on the windowsill.

"You three aren't exactly my type."

This got a smile from Davies. "I'm not sure if I should be offended by that, or relieved."

Walters was less appreciative of Peter's comment. "'Course the fucking poofter's eying us up. Makes my skin crawl, just thinking about it."

"Nice one, Robbie, thanks so much for pointing that out."O'Shea gave a dramatic full-body shiver. "Now I can't stop thinking about it. Fuck you."

"I just thank Merlin none of them sorted into Hufflepuff. Imagine having to sleep in the same dormitory with those perverts. You'd never feel safe again."

"That's fucked up, Will."

O'Shea gave his wand an idle twirl between his fingers. "The hat's too smart to put a queer in the Sett. Even if it did, we'd get him straightened out in no time."

Peter wasn't fooled by the Hufflepuff's casual posturing. O'Shea was a skilled wizard. But, as he wasn't likely to get a better chance, Peter let his wand drop into his palm. "You're right, the hat's too smart to do something that dumb. It told me so way back in first year, actually. That you Hufflepuffs are a sad, closed-minded lot."

"Levicorpus!"

With an unpleasant lurch of his stomach, Peter found himself dragged up from the ankle and suspended in midair. Blood rushed to his head as his robes fell down to cover his face. So much for getting the first cast in. O'Shea had still been faster on the draw, for all that Peter had tried to catch him by surprise.

"No lace?" observed the slightly muffled voice of Davies. "A bit disappointing really. I'd heard the muggles have come up with some truly degenerate underthings, and I know Pettigrew here is only half."

A bark of laughter issued from Walters. "Just a ratty pair of y-fronts for the nancy boy, then. And here I thought he couldn't get any more distasteful."

O'Shea adjusted the spell and Peter felt himself rising higher in the air. Please don't drop it, please don't drop it, please don't drop it he repeated to himself. He was lucky to have kept his wand, though he couldn't see much use for it, at the moment.

"What do you say, lads, should we leave him here? Or do you think we could get away with a little parade?" O'Shea pushed another modification through the connection, and Peter felt himself starting to spin. He was going to be sick in very short order. "It would be public service to let the men of the castle know what they're dealing with here."

Peter was angry. In stories—not only the history they skimmed for Binns, but also the new legends of the current resistance—such charged moments were always spurring the heroes to great acts of magic. Peter had never thought himself part of the story, never dreamed of being in legends, and had never once considered himself a hero. He was just a boy, with a silly crush, like so many score of others. And he was worse at magic than most of them.

So it was with great surprise that Peter found himself being lowered softly to the floor. He clutched his wand uselessly in his sweaty palm and prayed that the three Badgers hadn't come up with some new torment. Slowly, hoping to be unnoticed, he pushed his robe away from his face. A familiar silhouette now stood between him and the bullies: a tall boy, in finely cut robes, and an uncombed snarl of beautiful shoulder-length hair. It was Sirius Black.

"What the fuck are you fucking twats doing to my friend?"

Sirius had cultivated a reputation for his temper as much as for his prodigious skill in magic. Where Remus did things with textbook precision, and James with intuited cleverness, Sirius preferred the simple tactic of bull-headed brute-force. The Badgers quailed. It was one thing to pick on Peter Pettigrew coming out of the toilet, and quite another to face the enraged scion of a pureblood house famous for its dark magic.

Davies raised his hands to show he was unarmed. "Only a little harmless fun. Nobody's any the worse for wear, just a brief levicorpus, nothing else."

"You say 'harmless fun', I say my friend was dangling from the ceiling. Fuck that."Sirius raised his wand. Peter winced. Sirius could do a lot of damage when he was in the mood for it."Incarcerous!" Ropes shot from the tip of his wand and wrapped themselves tightly around O'Shea, who had been doing his best to sneak his own wand into position to cast. Sirius repeated the incantation, taking down Walters and then the unarmed Davies.

Not turning his back to their subdued opponents, Sirius returned to where Peter lay still on the stone floor. "You alright then?" Peter nodded, and Sirius reached down to grasp his shoulder. "There's a good lad. Do you want to go to Pomfrey, or back to the dormitory?"

Peter rolled himself into a sitting position. "I'm fine. Nothing Pomfrey can do about it. Not that I'd give these shites the satisfaction even if she could." Sirius cracked a smile at that, though he didn't take his eyes off the Hufflepuffs. "What are you going to do about them?"

"Just give it a moment."

Sure enough, the doors were promptly burst open by the Hufflepuff prefect, rapidly moving to take command of the scene. "Davies! O'Shea! Walters! Ten points from Hufflepuff each! Explain yourselves, or it's going to be more." Wand drawn, blonde plait swinging, every inch authority—Amelia Bones was a born auror.

The trio looked at each other, briefly speechless at the presence of a girl in the boys' toilets. Davies, struggling against his bonds, was interrupted before he could reply. "Explain to Professor Sprout. Up! We're going to see her now. And no, before you ask, I am not undoing those bonds. Actually—petrificus totalus!"

Sirius looked over at Peter, still smiling. "Amazing, isn't she?" He reached down, offering his hand to his friend, and pulled him back on his feet. "Tell James and Remus when you get back. We'll show these Hufflepuff plonkers what happens when you fuck with the Marauders."

"Aren't you coming with?"

A flicker of something unplaceable passed over Sirius' face. "Afraid not. I've got to bring this lot down to Sprout. But we'll catch up later."

Amelia looked back at the pair of Gryffindors. "You're coming, aren't you Sirius? Keep up the spell until we reach the greenhouses." She gave him a coy smile. "Then maybe we can stop by the quidditch pitch on our way back. You mentioned a suspicious parcel in the locker rooms, remember? No one's practicing tonight, so it should be a good time to investigate together in private."

Peter glanced back and forth. The Houses of Black and Bones: old, proud, and pureblood both, yet following essentially opposite political traditions. Sirius could hardly have found a better way to thumb his nose at his family. It didn't hurt that the lovely Bones heiress was commonly regarded as the biggest prize in their entire year. "So, you and Amelia now?" Peter asked. "When'd that start? I didn't realise you and Marlene had broken up."

That same unplaceable flicker returned to Sirius' face. "Look, Peter, if you want to know, just ask Marlene about it. She'll probably tell you." Sirius reached out to grasp Peter's shoulder again, then suddenly pulled him into an embrace."I've got to go. See you back in the dormitory later."

With a final look behind, Sirius turned to follow his girlfriend, floating her three reprobate housemates out into the corridor, leaving Peter to think over this odd parting remark. Marlene was probably studying, either in the library or the common room. As Peter wasn't particularly keen on running into strangers from other houses at the moment, he started hurrying along through the corridors back toward Gryffindor Tower.

Peter met no one on his brief journey, aside from the baleful stare of MrsNorris, and shortly found himself standing before the Fat Lady. She looked down at him from her portrait with concern painted all over her features. "You don't look quite yourself, dearie. Are you sure you don't want to get anything looked at?"

"Thanks for asking. But no, I'm fine, I'll manage on my own. Rebirth."

"If you say so…" allowed the portrait, swinging open on her hinges.

Peter stepped inside and found he was in luck. Marlene and the other fifth year girls were spread out across the couches in front of the fireplace, evidently taking a break from their revising, which lay unattended at the corner table.

"'Lo, Peter," called Mary from her armchair. "Coming back from the library? How's studying going for you and the boys?"

He favoured her with an exaggerated grimace. "Miserably, obviously. I think I've given up on potions. What's the point driving myself crazy just for the outside chance at an Acceptable? Morgana knows I'm not touching the N.E.W.T. class with a barge pole. No offence, Lily."

Lily made a point of crossing her arms and huffed in good-natured exasperation while the other girls laughed. "There's no accounting for taste. Or the lack thereof. We're taking a break, but want to help us with transfiguration in a bit?"

"Please,"Louisa begged, twisting to face him over the shoulder from the couch. "We need you! Vanishing spells have got us all stumped."

"It's so dumb," complained Marlene from her position sprawled on the floor. "It's not even transfiguration! I swear McGonagall is lying to us. There's got to be a trick somewhere."

"You do know I don't carry James' notes around, right?"

"Don't be silly, Peter! You're one of the best students in the whole year for transfiguration! When's the last time you got below an Exceeds?"Mary paused, taking a shy glance at Lily, "But if you did happen to get a copy of Potter's notes before the exam, well…I wouldn't mind taking a look…"

"Alright, fine, I'll see what I can do. Can I borrow Marlene for a bit first, though?"

Marlene rolled over and pushed herself to her feet. "Fine by me. They're just talking about what boys they like, anyway. I was getting bored."

She followed Peter back out of the portrait hole and into a neighbouring abandoned classroom. Marlene hopped up to perch casually on one of the desks. "So, what's going on then?"

Peter pulled out the bench and sat down across from her. "It's about Sirius." He was apprehensive about bringing up what must be very fresh wounds, though Sirius had told him directly to ask. Taking Sirius' advice at face value was, of course, normally a mistake. But something in the way Sirius had looked at him told Peter that he had meant the suggestion in earnest.

"What makes you think I have anything to say about that tosser?"

"It's just—well, I just saw him and Amelia Bones. Together. Did you know about this? I hadn't even noticed you and him were quits. Sorry if this is out of line, but he said specifically to ask you about it."

Marlene looked at him carefully. "Can you keep a secret, Peter?"

"I like to think I'm pretty good at that, sure."

"The thing is, with me and Sirius, and with Amelia and Sirius… Well, the fact of the matter is that Sirius was never really my boyfriend. And he's not really Amelia's boyfriend either."

Peter felt his picture of his friends shifting rapidly into clearer focus. He thought of how elaborately Amelia had described the proposed visit to the quidditch locker rooms. It had not seemed out of place in the moment, but when Peter considered how often he had seen Marlene making a show of dragging Sirius off to their assignations, it started to look rather like a pattern. "Does that mean…"He trailed off. "You…and Amelia…? Since when?"

Marlene nodded. "We started fooling around a little at the end of last year and then kept writing each other over the summer hols. But we were worried about what people would say, if they'd figure it out. It was Amelia's idea. For us to be seen dating some bloke, just to put people off the track."

"So why pick Sirius?"

"We weren't exactly spoiled for choice. Potter's got his idiot heart set on Lily, so he was out, and obviously it was never going to work with you. Then Remus, well, he's always so serious about everything, making sure things are done the right way. You know, the whole prefect business. And Amelia said the Hufflepuff boys were an absolute no."

Peter had to agree that the two girls had been right on nearly all counts, except perhaps about Remus. But then, did anyone really know Remus, outside their little group? "Amelia wasn't kidding about the Hufflepuffs. What'd Sirius say when you asked?"

"He agreed right away, no funny comments, no questions asked. It was a bit of a shock, truth be told, you know how Sirius is. Then he said it would help him out too. We had no idea."

The picture sharpened another degree further into focus. Peter again considered Sirius' behaviour with his supposed girlfriends. He had looked a little uncomfortable with Marlene's small displays of affection, which rather contrasted with all the time they were said to be spending in broom closets. Then there was the way that Sirius always seemed more interested in James' flailing after Lily than talking about his own apparently successful relationship. Still, no matter the evidence, it was hard for Peter to believe. "So Sirius is…also…?"

Marlene blanched unexpectedly. "Wait—you didn't know? You two aren't together? I just assumed, I mean, you do everything together. So I thought, surely…?"

"He's never mentioned anything before. It all sort of fits though, once you start putting the pieces together."

"Shit. I can't believe I gave out his secret like that."She straightened out of her slouch and gave Peter a hard look. "You can't tell anyone. Promise!"

"I would never! Give me some credit!"

"Sorry, no, you're right. Maybe I overreacted. You probably understand better than any of us what's at stake, why he'd keep it secret."

Peter exhaled, then stood up and joined her on the desk. He fidgeted nervously with his robe. "I guess it doesn't really change anything. It's not like I have any better chance with him now than I did when I thought he was straight."

"Don't talk like that! You're a good lad, Peter, I've always thought so."

"That's kind of you to say, but let's be serious here." He grimaced. "Don't say it."

"Merlin, is he still doing that joke?"

"Afraid so."

"Berk."Marlene nudged Peter gently with her shoulder."Look, I don't know if Sirius is seeing anyone or interested in anyone or whatever. We never really spoke about things like that, even when we were pretending to snog in the astronomy tower."She chuckled at a passing memory. "Mostly we talked about quidditch."

"Can't say I'm surprised by that bit, at least. Sirius and James never shut up about it these days."

"Of course they don't! We're winning the Cup this year. Ravenclaw already lost to bloody Hufflepuff. How long's it been since Gryffindor lost to Hufflepuff? Before our time, that's for sure."

Peter smiled at her. "James says McLaggen's even found you a decent seeker."

"Emma's our secret weapon. The Eagles won't know what hit 'em." Marlene hesitated. "Just so you know, Peter, I'm rooting for you. With Sirius. I dunno if it's ever gonna happen, but, y'know, I think the two of you'd be cute together."

Peter could only roll his eyes. Fat chance of any of that. At the same time, he had a pretty good feeling that this shit day with the shit Hufflepuffs had ended up breathing new life into his friendship with Marlene. Not that he'd let that silver lining get in the way of the Marauders' prank vengeance, of course.

~xxxx~

A/N: The ongoing war is not the only source of villains. Our endless stream of conversation finally eases, allowing a glimpse at the petty evil of small minded bigots within Hogwarts. I can't imagine it's especially pleasant to read. It is, however, necessary. Teenagers have been cruel in every era, and the 1970s sadly do not admit a queer boarding school utopia.

Magical fashion is a bit of a mess because JKR's fabulous "wizards can't dress like muggles" joke is betrayed by the films. Trousers are muggle dress, which makes levicorpus particularly humiliating for wizards (as Harry sees in Snape's pensieve memories).

It's natural to write Sirius as gay, with his famous Hogwarts dalliances as beards. Then his rebellion gets a little too loud and his old-fashioned family kicks him out, and he has to move in with his more liberal mate from school. This is all rather on the nose, and fans have rightly picked up on it more or less from the beginning.

Let me reassure impatient readers: I promise the next chapter is cute and optimistic and everything this one was not. The story, in my ever unbiased and always humble opinion, is about to go from strength to strength until its conclusion. Please look forward to the next instalment…