Foul

Two months. That’s how long Peter, Barty, and Evan managed to keep their relationship a secret.
Barty and Evan hadn’t cared about keeping it a secret, glad to shout it from the rooftops. But Peter had asked them for some time. He wanted to know what they had before telling people, especially his friends.

Marlene had pressured him for details after the date, but he had been able to give her a vague answer and then avoid any follow up questions until she forgot about it.

They had gone on a few more dates, once they even went to Hogsmeade (they snuck out on a non-Hogsmeade weekend to avoid students), and had established what they were to each other.
No longer was Peter just a fuck for Barty and Evan. No longer was he the single, lonely friend. He had two partners, ones who called him their “darling boyfriend” and “thief of our hearts”.
And Peter was ready to show them off.

It was a lot easier to tell their friends. Regulus, Pandora, and Dorcas were a very accepting group, and after explaining and interacting more with Peter, they took a liking to him.
“You would fit in in Slytherin Pete, have you wondered at how you ended up in Gryffindor?” Peter didn’t take offense at Dorcas’ throwaway comment, but it did make him question his loyalties slightly.
It worried him that others could see the doubt in his sorting, what if the marauders thought that too? What if they took his relationship as a step towards the “other side”. He knew that the marauders didn’t have high opinions of Slytherins, and he was worried that they (especially Sirius) would see this as a betrayal.

But eventually, they had to tell the marauders. It was too big to hide, and it was getting harder and harder to hide what they had.

Peter slowly introduced them to the idea of Peter dating. “Lads, I have something pretty big to tell you.” He told them one afternoon, lounging in the dorm.
Sirius’s head perked up from where it had been laying on Remus’ chest. They were laying on Remus’ bed and James and peter sat on the floor next to it.

“What’s up Pete?” James asked, turning his smiling face towards the boy. “I’m, not single anymore.” He said shyly, avoiding the others’ eyes.
Sirius laughed, “Of course you aren’t, you’ve been sneaking around for months. We figured it out already.” He lied his head back down.

Peter sighed, “Well, it’s also not just one person.” He glanced up at Sirius’ reaction, “Its two boys.”
James snorted, “well done Pete.” Peter blushed at this, “You aren’t upset?”
“Not as long as you all know what you’re getting into.” Sirius shrugged.

Well, that was easier than expected.

A week later, he found himself telling them the houses. He hadn’t intended to, but Sirius could pressure.

“Pete, you never told us the houses of your partners.” They sat on the couch around the fireplace in the common room. “Yeah, I guess I didn’t” Peter subtly said, hoping they would breeze over the comment.

A moment passed before Sirius pressed more, “well? Are you going to tell us?”
Peter sighed, “One is a Ravenclaw.”
Another moment, “And???”
“The other is… a Slytherin” there it was. The bombshell. He waited with halted breath.

But nothing happened, no one said anything. He risked a glance up and realized the boys weren’t staring at him. They weren’t freaking out or anything.
They sat contently, done with the interview.

Peter realized that he had been building this up in his mind, putting crazy ideas in his head. He let the “what if”s run rampant.
When in reality, it wasn’t that big of a deal that he was dating a slytherin. It didn’t matter the house of his partners, just that they were happy together. And they were.
It might matter a bit more if they knew which Slytherin and Ravenclaw he was dating, but that was a problem for a later date.

A date that happened a lot sooner than Peter was expecting.

Peter had been walking to the common room after an afternoon of studying alone in the library. He was in a quiet corridor, no one else was around.
“Oh Peteeeey” he heard a familiar sing-songy voice call. He turned to see his Ravenclaw boyfriend leaning against the wall in an alcove nearby. Peter felt his face light up and walked towards the other boy.

“Hello B, stalking me now, are you?” Peter laced his arms around Barty’s neck and pressed his lips against the taller boy’s.
Barty smiled down at Peter, “Can I not memorize my boyfriend’s path back from the library to his common room? I thought that would be a good attentive trait” Peter chuckled and laid his head against Barty’s shoulder.

“where’s Ev’?” “Oh, I don’t know, can’t we spend time by ourselves?”

“No.” Peter and Barty shot up and turned to see the boy in question stalking towards them. “Ev! We were just talking about how much we miss you!” Barty quickly reassured, blushing at having been caught.

“Sure, B. I definitely didn’t hear what you were saying.” Peter felt Evan press against him from the back and watched as Barty and Evan shared a heated kiss.
They had a dynamic that had initially confused Peter, but as he spent more time with the two, he realized it was just pure love. They were best friends first, partners second. And they could work things out together, sometimes with words, more often than not though they just used their bodies and physical love.

The trio sat on the bench in the alcove together, talking over their individual days and their plans for the rest of the day.
Peter realized as he finished talking that he had told the Marauders he would meet them for planning in the dorm at 4. He quickly checked his watch, realizing it was already 4:45. How long had he spent with Barty and Evan?

“How long have we been here!?” He asked incredulously, “I needed to meet up with the boys 45 minutes ago!” He stood up, turning to look at his partners, “I hope they aren’t looking for me”
As Peter leaned down to kiss Evan goodbye, he once again heard a voice speaking to him from behind. “We were looking for you, looks like we found you.”

Peter spun wildly to find James, Sirius, and Remus standing behind him, having just arrived at the alcove where Peter had spent an hour with his secret boyfriends.

“Peter Peter Peter…” Sirius crossed his arms and shook his head, “you told us you were dating a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw, but you never told us who.”
Barty and Evan stood up and stepped in front of Peter, as if to protect him from his friends.

“Crouch and Rosier” “Black” “I’d say I’m not surprised, but that’d be a lie.” “We love him Black, get used to it”

Peter watched as Sirius’ face slowly relaxed, seeming to accept the boys’ words set in. James still had a confused look of almost betrayal on his face, it hurt Peter to see. He smiled at James, trying to reassure him.

“Pete… Why didn’t you tell us?” Peter looked down, “I didn’t want you to freak out. I knew how you feel about Barty and Evan, and I didn’t want you to worry.”
He met James’ eyes, “I know what I’m doing James, we’ve been together for two months.”

Throughout this whole interaction, Remus had been silent. Peter looked at him, he didn’t seem surprised, “Rem?”

“I’m the one with the map, I’ve known for a while.” Sirius turned stunned to his boyfriend, “What?! Why didn’t you tell me!”
Remus shrugged, “It wasn’t mine to tell.”
“Thank you, Remus.” Peter was grateful for Remus keeping his secret, even if this wasn’t how he had planned for the boys to find out, he was glad it hadn’t happened earlier in their relationship.

Peter left with the marauders after giving Evan and Barty both a kiss goodbye. They worked on the plan for a new prank and Peter marveled at how not strange it felt. Their friendship hadn’t changed, and they were still best friends.
Nothing could change that.