Introduction
The team was set up the next day. Mcgonagall texted James the address an hour before he was supposed to start. He had checked it and it was only a 15 minute walk from his flat.
Nervous was an understatement for how James felt about meeting the team. That morning he had woken up extra early, and showered for exactly 43 minutes. He knew this because he had gotten to the end of his playlist, at which point the scalding hot water had seeped deep into his pores, his back flushed pink, yet he still felt tense.
After his shower, he even tried to tame his hair, which he never did as he knew that it was hopeless - yet he was so nervous that today he had tried. Of course, it did not work. He had spent at least twenty minutes staring at himself in the mirror, pulling at his eyebags, stroking a thumb down his jawline, poking and prodding at his face in an attempt to make himself look more appealing, more professional. Yet, he still couldn’t take away that grey undertone that clung onto his skin. He knew he should rest more, but it was as though it was an alien concept to james. His mind was always awake, skin tingling, he was consistently moving, coming up with new ideas, new interests. But some days, it caught up to him, and today this everlasting energy that keeps him going has manifested into anxious, nervous energy.
He pulled apart his entire wardrobe before finally settling on a check-patterned blue suit and white shirt - he decided to leave the top two buttons open because he thought it gave him an effortless but still classy look. His golden necklace was just visible, resting in line with his subtly exposed collarbone. He slipped on a pair of old shoes he’d worn on his first day, and had worn them to work whenever he had a big meeting or an important investigation to do, he believed they’d given him luck - and they hadn’t failed him yet.
He’d left slightly early, he wanted to set up so that he could prepare himself before meeting the team. He knew Remus, obviously and Peter had been James’s friend since primary school, and although they weren’t as close and James and Sirius were, James admired him more than he did anyone else. However, he had never met lily before. Of course if mcgonagall had picked her then she must be good at what she does, but he just struggles in situations like this, where he is unsure of what he should do. Of course it’s only in his head and he’d be perfectly fine, but the thought of it builds up and he stresses himself out about it.
The building was the same as any other, not too far from the mi6 headquarters. It blended in perfectly with all the others, and James felt somewhat comforted by that fact. He made his way up to the seventh floor, where his office was. The lift was empty, thank god, and the sound of faint music, the kind that was easily tuned out, echoed in the small chamber.
The office was empty, to be fair to him he was twenty minutes early, so of course no one was there. There were four desks, each in a separate corner, opposite each other. There was hardly any space to move around, the only other place to go was the white board opposite the door, perfectly clean, with a pot of five different coloured pens attached to it. At each desk there was a computer, a pot of three pens and two pencils, a ruler, a mousepad and mouse, and a mug, each with their names on. James peered around the uninhabited office, there were no signs of life, other than the bag he had just placed down on his designated desk. Outside the door to the office there was a vending machine, filled with assorted crisps, energy drinks and sweets. Next to it there was a hot drink machine, a bit beaten up but he was sure it did its job - somewhat at least. He was sure that these would come in handy when he inevitably ended up working until ungodly hours overtime.
He decided to sit at his desk and set up all the things he’d brought with him as he waited. At 8:52, Remus arrived. He sat down behind his desk wordlessly, sipping at a flask as he closed his eyes and relaxed into his chair. James wasn’t sure whether the flask was filled with coffee or alcohol, but he wouldn’t put it past Remus to have either. At exactly 9:00 a woman, who James assumed to be Lily came in, she smiled and walked over to him shaking his hand.
“Heya, I’m Lily.” she said to each of them and took off her coat, before settling at her desk. Lily had bright flaming hair that hung in loose ringlets down her back. Her pale skin was littered with freckles, collecting around her nose and her wrists. She had long lashes that framed glistening emerald eyes, as breathtaking as the real gem themselves. James was mesmerised and had the distinct feeling of attraction that he was unable to deny.
His thoughts were interrupted though, as Peter came stumbling in through the door, carrying a tray of four coffees and sheepish grin as he muttered an apology and handed out the coffees to everyone. After a few brief introductions to each other, Mcgonagall arrived.
“Good Morning everyone, as you all know, you are here to continue the investigation on the string of murders throughout Europe that are now believed to have been committed by a singular individual. I know that James, Remus and Peter all know each other. But, as you must know by now, this is Lily Evans. She is the best at what she does, which of course is why I picked her. She will be in charge of all technological aspects of this investigation - such as: hacking, searching security cameras, things like that. Anything technological, she can do.”
Lily just sat there, a small smile and a line of blush across her cheeks. It was clear that Lily was going to be the smartest of them.
“Potter, as most of the research is your own, I am placing you in charge of this team. You will make the final decisions, okay? I am trusting you will do it well. I know how passionate you are about this investigation.”
James grinned his signature lopsided grin and nodded at her, “You got it Aunt Minnie.” She only rolled her eyes.
“Your first task goes as follows: A politician has been killed, the only witness was her husband - Benjy Fenwick. He lives here, in London. You are to send two of you to meet him and it is your job to get as much information out of him as possible. But, he is very paranoid and uncertain, of course he watched his wife's murder. So, be approachable and don’t scare him. Got it? Good. I have set up a meeting in a cafe called The Three Broomsticks tomorrow at two. I will send you more details later. Good Luck.”
And with that she walked out, leaving only a file on James’s desk. He grabbed it and opened it. Inside were the details of the murder in Italy. She had been stabbed through the ear, a rather strange place to stab, but dramatic nonetheless - James thought. It was a clear component of all of his kills. He was extremely extravagant, but still got the job done. He was skilled at what he did, James could give him that. His kills never ceased to amaze him. As much as a murder could amaze one.
“I’ll go.” James announced. “As the leader of this team I believe it is important that I am the one to go on this first mission. Lily, It would be nice to have you here to keep track of cameras, and track down anything suspicious in the area. I would like Remus to come with me, can you be the one to check out the area and make sure we aren’t being followed or listened in on. Peter, you stay here and help out Lily, keep track of any information we get.
After a moment of pause, Remus started a round of applause, Lily and Peter following suit.
“Wow Prongs. Congratulations on that wonderful first speech. I can’t wait for the many that are yet to come.” Remus smirked as he turned to his computer to start reading through James’s research.
“Prongs? What the fuck is a prongs?” Lily asked, a disgusted look on her face.
“You see James’s untameable hair, well he used to do some weird hairstyle with it that he thought was amazing in school that had the tendency to stick up like deer antlers.” Peter informed her, mindlessly without looking away from his laptop.
“Oi, that hair attracted loads of fit girls.” James defended himself, “And they were stag antlers, not deer antlers wormtail.”
“Wormtail, do I even wanna know where that comes from?” Lily rolled her eyes.
“He likes cheese.” James and Remus said in unison, at the same time Peter said, “I like cheese.”
Lily scoffed, “What about you Remus, you got a stupid nickname as well?” Lily turned on him.
“Ahh you see that’s a good one Lily, for Remus’s nickname is a special one. Remus here is our Moony.” James said fondly.
“Moony? Where the fuck does that come from?”
“Well,” James began, as if telling an old story, “When moony here, orgasms, he makes this very special sound. See our moony here howls like he’s a wolf howling at the moon. And therefore, moony was born.” James had a shit eating grin plastered on his face.
Lily however, looked absolutely mortified. “And why on Earth is it that you know what he sounds like when he orgasms?”
“Bit presumptuous Evans. You don’t think Moony could be sleeping with me?” James sarcastically put his hands over his heart.
“No, I don’t think you could ever be up to ‘moony’s’ standards.” Lily Smirked and winked over at Remus.
“You wound me, Evans.” James pretended to have been stabbed, he clutched his hands over his abdomen and pushed back off into his chair. Peter cackled over in the corner as James struggled to keep his balance, nearly throwing himself off of the chair.
“So now that I’m a part of the team does that mean I have to have a stupid nickname too?”
“Ahhh well it will have to be discussed with dear Padfoot I’m afraid. After all, we may not want to adopt you into our inner circle.” James retorted.
“Oh dear god please save me. There’s another one. How many marauders are there?” Lily threw her head into her hands.
“What?” James spluttered. “Who told her?”
“I did. You know the nickname ‘The Marauders’ is stupid. You sound like a bunch of dumb school boys.” Remus shook his head.
“To our defence, we were a bunch of dumb schoolboys when we made it up, before we met you. Excuse us for being creative.” James threw his hands in the air in mock surrender.
“Hold on a second. Sorry to interrupt the lover’s quarrel, but can we circle back to the fact that James knows what you sound like when you orgasm?”
“Here it goes. James has a best friend, Sirius (who most people think James is dating) James’s other best friend, colleague and work husband Remus (who most people also think James is dating) is actually dating Sirius. Sirius and James are roommates and Remus practically lives at their apartment; most people aren’t quite sure why he still has his own flat at this point. Also, James has absolutely no idea what privacy is, boundaries, or crossed lines, and neither does Sirius. So, there are a lot of blurred lines and James does in fact know what Remus sounds like when he orgasms.”
“Brilliant.” Remus sighs.
“Oh wormy, you're gonna make me cry, you know us so well.” James fake gushes and rushes over to give Peter that sloppiest wet kiss on the forehead. Lily just watches, astonished by the dynamic between them.
“Oh god, I am in for a ride.”
“That you are Evans, that you are.” James winks at her, of course she rolls her eyes and completely ignores him.
How right he was.