Continuation
James:
When he got back to the Great Hall he saw the other Marauders sitting at the table. Peter was talking with Mary enthusiastically while munching on a piece of toast with marmalade. Sirius was clearly still half asleep with his head resting on Remus’s shoulder. Remus was piling food onto his plate, he always got hungry near the full moons. James slid into a chair next to Peter throwing an arm around Peter’s shoulders, “Marauders! A brand new day, a brand new start. So much to do, so little time!”
Remus shushed him, pointing to Sirius who was starting to drool onto Remus’s shoulder. James laughed as he grabbed a new slice of toast and some eggs, remembering the toast he had forgotten earlier in his haste to follow Regulus.
Remus started patting Sirius’s shoulder, “Hey, you gotta wake up now?” Sirius just mumbled something and burrowed into Remus’s shoulder deeper. Lily started walking towards the table and stopped when she saw Remus and Sirius. She looked at James and pointed to Remus and Sirius. James shook his head. He thought she was asking if they were together and the answer was sadly no.
Lily sat down next to James and started spooning oatmeal into her bowl. She whispered to James making sure that Remus couldn’t hear, “Still not together then?” He shook his head, “I don’t think they’ll ever get together at this point”. She sighed, “We’ll probably have to get them together ourselves at this point”. They both paused to look at Remus and Sirius across the table. Remus was still trying to wake Sirius up and Sirius was burrowing deeper and deeper into Remus’s sweater. Remus looked like he was dying every time Sirius moved closer to him so James decided to help him out. “Oi Sirius'', he bellowed, “Wake up or you’ll be late to Transfiguration again.”
Sirius sat up with a start, “What?” Remus looked at James with appreciation in his eyes while Sirius put himself back together, “What the fuck Prongs”. James laughed, “You were asleep on Moony, had to let him eat his breakfast somehow.” Sirius blushed a crimson red and avoided eye contact with Remus, “Oh, er sorry Moony.” Remus’s face turned a similar shade as he sipped his tea, “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it”. Sirius looked down at his plate and started eating. Lily and James looked at each other exasperated once again as Remus and Sirius snuck glimpses of each other while the other wasn’t looking. Lily started talking with Remus, something about prefect schedules. James thought this was the perfect time to tell Sirius about what had happened with Regulus earlier. He recounted the events and Sirius laughed, “Sounds like him to just leave, the little shit”. Even while Sirius was insulting his sibling you could tell he loved him a whole lot. As James finished his story he ended with saying, “I told you, he doesn’t want to be friends with me”. Sirius scoffed, “You still have to try until spring break. Don’t forget we made a deal”. James sighed, which was becoming a common trend with this topic, “I’m not even winning anything out of this.” Peter, who had overheard this conversation and had the whole bet told to him last night, patted his arm sympathetically as he continued to talk with Mary. Marlene walked in arm and arm with Dorcas before planting a kiss on her cheek and sliding into the chair next to Lily with a sickeningly sweet expression on her face as she gazed at Dorcas across the hall. James sighed, “Date went well then Marlene?” She leaned forward and rested her head in her palm, “She took me to a spot by the lake. You know that one hidden spot? Anyway she had brought some extra food and we snacked on that before she gave me this necklace.”
Marlene pulled a necklace that had been previously hidden under her shirt out for them to see, “It's Ruby, my birthstone since we couldn’t hang out over the summer.” Lily, who had been listening to Marlene let out a gasp, “Marlene it’s so pretty.” Marlene held it out so James could see it. It was a gorgeous silver circle on a silver chain with a Ruby in the center. “It’s gorgeous Marlene”, James said. Marlene blushed a little and tucked it back under her shirt, “She’s just the sweetest. I need to plan something epic for her now.” Lily turned to Marlene to plan some ideas and James turned to his breakfast, he was starving. Trying to be friends for about five minutes really takes a lot out of a person.
—————————————————————
The rest of the day passed normally until James was leaving Quidditch practice. It had gone really well, leaving him in good spirits. He felt prepared for their next game against Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw was a tough team, but predictable.
As he headed to the locker room to change he suddenly ran into a shorter boy with short curly black hair and a green jersey. Regulus.
Regulus looked up at him for a second before trying to shove past him, “Shove it Potter. It’s Slytherin’s practice time now” James grinned, “Oh is it now”. Regulus scowled, “Yes it is. Now let me pass”.
“What’s the magic word?”
“Fuck you”.
“Don’t think that’s it love”
Regulus managed to scoot past James and walk to the field over to his team with his head held high. James’s smile stayed through the shower, the walk back to the dorms, and was still there when he flopped onto his bed.
Sirius looked at him weirdly, “What’s got you so happy”
“Your brother.”
Sirius’s face morphed into a confused look, “My brother?”
“Yeah, I ran into him when I was leaving to shower after Quidditch”.
“Still doesn’t explain why you’re all-“ Sirius used his hands to gesture at James’s grin, “Like this”.
James shrugged, “ I don’t know”. Sirius tilted towards James, “ And? What’s the verdict for now, friends or not?” James smirked, “What do you think? Obviously a no”. Sirius leaned back onto his pillows, disappointed, “Ah, explains your grin then. You’re the winner right now. But rest assured my dear Prongsie; Soon I will be victorious”. James rolled his eyes, “In your dreams”. Sirius got up and started stretching, “Wanna head down to the common room? I’m pretty sure the girls are there with Pete and Moony.”
“Sure”
James got off of his bed and he and Sirius headed downstairs.
Peter lay on the ground next to Marlene and they both seemed to be comparing astrology notes. Remus was chatting with Lily and Mary while Mary was painting Remus’s nails. Sirius announced himself loudly, “It’s your favorite person!” and then as an afterthought said, “Oh and James is here too”. Mary released Remus’s hand and told him to blow on his nails, before starting on her own. Suddenly there was a knock from outside. They all looked at each other confusedly before Marlene sprung up and went to open the portrait. It was Dorcas and she greeted Marlene with a kiss on the cheek before walking in and greeting everyone. James flopped on the couch with a sigh and Sirius collapsed onto Remus, who suddenly turned red. Dorcas sat on an armchair across from James and Marlene sat on her lap. Dorcas looked at James, “So, James. I hear you’re trying to befriend our Reggie.” James nodded and sat up straight, “Yup”. She grinned good-naturedly, “What are your intentions with Regulus?” James grinned, “To become his friend ma’am”.
“That’s all?”
“Yes”.
She looked at him puzzled, “You definitely have my blessing, not that you needed it- but if you hurt him”. She drew a line across her throat for emphasis. James gulped, “Noted. But I assure you, all I want is to become friends with him”. Marlene sighed, “Enough with the boring fancy talk, I’m hungry. Anyone want to go down to the kitchens and grab some food for us?”
The Marauders had shared the secret passageway to the kitchens with the girls ages ago. The other passages they had discovered while making the map were still secret but they decided it would be easier for parties if the girls could help get food. Peter stood up, “I will take any excuse to stop doing these boring notes.”
“Fair enough”, Marlene said, getting up from her girlfriend's lap and kissing her cheek, “Bye, Dee”. Dorcas smiled after Marlene as sbe and Peter headed towards the portrait hole, “Bye Marls”.
During the time it took for Peter and Marlene to get back from the kitchens, Mary had painted her nails and Lily’s as well, Remus had lost his blush after Sirius moved over to the couches, and James, Sirius, and Dorcas had joked the whole time- with Dorcas conveniently not bringing up Regulus. Marlene and Peter finally burst back into the common room, arms full of sweets, which they dumped on the table. Normally a crowd of people would appear wanting food, however the seventh years spent their time studying and most of the younger years were asleep. Everyone crowded around the table- fighting for who got what. After they had all been stuffed full of food they went back upstairs to their dorms. Sirius and Peter fell asleep immediately but James and Remus were still awake.
James and Remus had started a tradition a while back where whenever Peter and Sirius fell asleep before them, they chatted. It was how James had found out about Remus being in love with Sirius and how they had both come out to each other. James made his way to Remus’s bed and flopped onto it, casting a silencing charm with a flick of his wand and whispered spell. He turned to face Remus and smiled. Remus grinned back, ‘I hear it went well with Regulus today.”
James smirked, “I’m winning for now. Sirius swears that soon Regulus will begin to crack but I’m hoping he’s wrong”.
“Just have to make it to Spring break right?” James nodded, “You and Sirius seemed pretty cozy earlier”. Remus rolled his eyes, “James, I’ve told you, he doesn’t like me like that. He’s touchy with everyone.” James shook his head, “I’ve never seen him act like that with Peter, or Lils.”
“Well he’s less close with them. He’s touchy with you”. James sighed, “Yeah Remus, as a joke. He’ll jokingly be touchy with me but there are times he only wants to touch you, and those times are getting more and more common”. James looked at Remus with a knowing look. Remus slowly shook his head, “James I can’t. I know he doesn’t like me, he’s straight, he- he doesn’t like guys and especially not me”. James grabbed Remus’s shoulders, “Remus, everyone likes you. You’re a bloody Casanova. I swear half of the castle swoons when you walk by”.
“Not him”.
“There’s no getting through to you, is there?”
“Nope”
James and Remus kept blabbing on with each other until they were both too tired. Then James went to his bed and they both fell asleep almost instantly.