Gryffindors' Bet

The problem with James, Remus and Peter team-up has always been the same. Mostly James was thinking about doing pranks, wishing there was someone who actually shared his passion for jokes, not only doing pranks with him, because they liked to follow him (Peter) or pretended they feel obligated to (Remus). Sure, his friends wanted to do things together, and they came up with ideas, too, but it wasn't the same. Their group has been missing someone from the start, and James started to think they needed something bigger to engage them more. James decided he wants to help Remus and Peter to find reasons why pranks are actually the coolest experience throughout their school days. And he wished there was the fourth person, who would be equally enthusiastic about the whole thing. But since there is no one, who will squeal with excitement next to James, he wanted for Remus and Peter to be that person.

Now, though, when they officially started their last year at Hogwarts, James has no idea what to do.

And this way, James, Remus, Peter and quite a lot of people from Gryffindor are sitting in the common room, talking, laughing and taking advantage of their time together before the classes begin.

"Since you are so not against Slytherin, why don't you just befriend one, huh?" asks Peter. James, being back to earth, notices Peter is looking at Remus.

"I'm not quite friends with Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw either, am I?" Remus murmurs, and James looks in time to see how his friend is rolling his eyes. During their Hogwarts friendship, he saw Remus doing this enough times to know it's one of his favourite reactions. Especially to him or Peter.

"You know, Moony, the older you get, the more you roll your eyes. I'm actually concerned about the condition of your eyes in a few years, with you rolling them so much and focusing your sight mostly on books." Peter stretches his legs and yawns. "Though without it, we wouldn't believe you are Remus, so maybe that's good you are so constant."

"And I would think you are already an elder of some kind, seeing how you stretch your limbs and looking at the hours you are sleepy."

"In my defence," Peter yawns again. "I don’t really have time to sleep with you and James gossiping at night. I don't really know how you find energy the next day. Especially you, James," Peter looks at him. "You are the most morning person I've ever met."

"Though it's not me who has energy to study so much," James shrugs.

"That's because all this energy you have, you're using on quidditch practices," comments Remus and James can't disagree.

"Maybe that's why you're so tired all the time, Wormy. You need a goal. We can find you a goal," James grins. "I can find you a goal."

Peter snorts. "No, thank you. You would probably give me a quest of coming with ideas of pranks, but I must admit, since it's our last year and N.E.W.T.s are coming soon, I'm going to focus more on studying. You should, too, James."

"You say it, now. But every time there is a quidditch match against Slytherin, you are the first person to nag me about practising my broom-flying more. Like I don't have it mastered already."

Remus looks at Peter curiously. "I'm actually surprised, you are so against Slytherin. Didn't you have a Slytherin girlfriend last year?" Then after he says that, Lily comes to sit next to Remus on the couch.

"Are we talking about a poor Slytherin girl who had a misfortune of being girlfriend of Slytherin most fierce hater?" she asks and lies her head on Remus' shoulder. He doesn't react, but they are doing it since year one. Even when James had a crush on Lily, they still were in a full-cosy mode with each other. It's good, though, that they are so relaxed together. James is thankful, really. And Lily really fits to their group. She could be the prankster number four, if not her… sense of responsibility. 

"I'm not a hater. I just don't like the way they hiss at everyone and their general attitude. They are mean, and Sorting Hat tells Slytherin is all about ambition, right? I don't like this. It's like you can't really trust them."

"And your relationship with this Slytherin girl was actually booming, right?" James nudges Peter's foot and grins.

Peter blushes. "Yes, so as you can see, Lily, I don't hate all the Slytherins. I could even befriend them if I wanted to. I just… don't. But I actually have a controversial opinion about Slytherins. Ask me, when I'm drunk enough to tell you."

Lily nods and talks no more.

It is James who actually gets an idea. And he thinks it's a great one, something to get his boys moving and get them involve in an activity. Maybe it's not a prank, but…

"Why won't we…" he starts. Remus and Peter look at him, waiting, and even Lily seems to be curious. "Why don’t we bet?"

Remus sighs, though James knows him well enough to see he is interested. "What bet? Weren't we saying that we are going to study for N.E.W.T.s?"

"I said no such a thing," James smiles. "It would be about us befriending someone in Slytherin. I think it's a great idea, actually. Look, no one will get hurt. It's not like we want to get someone fall in love with us, right? We just want to befriend someone and it's not that we will break off things with them after, you know? We get a friend, maybe even for life. You don't know, maybe we will even find the fourth Marauder?"

And James just loves this idea. It gives them all occasion to broaden their horizon and break some stereotypes. It's something bigger for their last year, because if everything will go smoothly, maybe some of other Houses would come to conclusion that befriending Slytherin does not equal befriending an enemy. Big project, not even a prank. Just encouraging inter-Houses friendships. Maybe even some Slytherin students will see they don't have to be separated from the rest. If they only want to.

"James, I know you are noble, and you have reasons behind this idea, but it's still weird to bet on something like this," Remus tries to argue. Before he says something more, James interrupts.

"But wasn’t it you, Moony, who said it's not Slytherins fault they are perceived the way they are? It's the perception of Slytherins that made them this way?"

"I'm not saying, it's bad to befriend Slytherins. I mean, the bet is still a bet. It still can hurt."

This time it is Peter, who speaks up. "I don't really know if it's hurtful, though? Look at this differently. We are not betting on a person. We are betting on Slytherins. If we chose someone, doesn't it make it less a bet? It's more like we choose someone to befriend."

James beams at Peter. "So you want in?"

"No," he answers and furrows his brows. "I have to study."

"C'mon Pete, you always say you're going to study this year, and year after year your motivation decrease."

"But we didn’t have N.E.W.T.s for the last six years?" Peter looks at James like he can’t understand something important.

"And what about you, Lily? Are you in?"

"No, James. I have better things to do. I encourage your idea, though." She is getting up and getting ready to go to girls dorms, but before, she looks James straight into his eyes. "Still, I think you should tell the person rather earlier than later, that you planned this whole befriending plot. Make sure it's all upright, yeah?" And after this, she leaves the common room.

"Remus?" James looks at his friend anxiously. "You know what, it won't be even that subtle, right? If the three of us will suddenly try to talk with Slytherins, they will know it was planned. It would be expected. No one will believe that Three Marauders unexpectedly want to befriend Slytherins at the same time. It stinks from kilometre. And if not, we could just choose one family that has the most wizards to chose from, and they will surely know we want something, right? Then it would be even harder to accomplish, so we will have a true challenge."

"Well, it is rational, what you are talking about," admits Remus, thinking about something intently. "But what family has so many young wizards that we can choose someone?"

James imagines Slytherins table in the Great Hall. And it isn’t so hard to see all these black hairs dining next to each other. Or completely far from each other, but interacting by casting hateful glances to their family members.

"House of Black," James whispers and then repeats it louder. "House of Black."

Peter and Remus look at him like he lost his mind.

"You don't really believe it's a good idea, right?" Peter asks incredulously.

"I think it's a brilliant idea!" James grins. "I bet you can't befriend a Black, mates. If we are able to do this, then we can do everything else, right? And who knows, maybe they won't be so bad after all?"

And it is the truth, that House of Black has many wizard and witches in Slytherin. There is Sirius and Regulus, Bellatrix, Narcissa and Andromeda. And though most of Blacks are crazy, or they look this way, James believes not all of them are so bad. Well, he hasn't met anyone, yet, but wouldn't it be wonderful to find out what is under their mad outer layer? James believes there is something good in everyone. Maybe they could prove that there is good in Blacks, too. Because there must be something more in them, than this hatred and a sense of superiority. It's just no one has tried to find out.

"Yes, sure. They surely wouldn't spit on me, knowing I am a werewolf. I mean, after trying to destroy my life and kicking me out of Hogwarts."

"You don't know it!" James furrows his brows. "No one tried to befriend them, really. Even most Slytherins are afraid of them. Maybe they want to get new friends."

Peter bursts out laughing. "Mate, you thought that, maybe, I mean there is a fat chance, they just don't want to have friends besides their family and a few Slytherins? And that maybe, just maybe, they don't want to befriend anyone being inferior to them?"

"So what?" James asks. "You're afraid? I mean, like I said earlier, we don't want to hurt anyone, and we also count. So if it happens to be a bad idea, then we will just change Slytherins."

"To whom?"

"We will think about it later. Because I believe we will manage to befriend Blacks. Or maybe it's not about Blacks, it's just that you're cowards, huh?" James provokes. He tries not to smile, but seeing how Peter gets grumpy and Remus is shaking his head exasperated, he knows it works. And of course, he grins.

"Let's bet, then," announces Peter. "Let's prove we can do the impossible."

And despite their earlier disagreement, despite the fact they all know that James provoked them, despite everything that could get in the way or the wrong way, they are Marauders. And what's more important, they are friends. So they all smile, and the bet is on. Because if there is some kind of mischief around… It's them.

***

The next morning, Remus is sleeping peacefully, when he feels someone touching him. One time, second, third… Actually, the touching, nudging, stroking is continuous, so Remus groans and opens his eyes, to see James beaming at him and Peter yawning, but smiling doing this. Remus missed this sight. Two months without his friends are not that joyful as holidays could be for most people. Because he misses his friends, even though during these two months, they visit each other, and they are not completely apart. It is still nice to see energetic and animated James during their mornings, and Peter, who complains a lot, but he doesn't really mind. Hogwarts for Remus was always magical for wrong… or maybe right reasons. It wasn't the magic, though surely Remus wanted to learn. It was the people. Always the people. He dreamt of meeting friends for life, and he founded them, in the most natural way he could. Living in Hogwarts, he's been spending more time with his friends than with his family, and it actually frightens him, that it will change someday. That he won't be woken up by James and Peter, that they won't tease him when eating breakfast in the Great Hall, that they won't be coming to him pleading to copy his notes. Hogwarts is his home, his friends are his family. And he would love this all to last longer than these seven years. 

"Five minutes," Remus groans and covers his head with a pillow. He feels like someone grabs it and uncovers his face.

"We already gave you your five minutes, get up, you sleepyhead. The sun shines and breakfast will not wait for us," James says, pulling the quilt off Remus.

"I don't need any breakfast," Remus mumbles, but James don't get his greater need to sleep. He never really did.

"Yeah, I still remember how we once let you sleep in and skip breakfast. You were grumpy until you finally ate something. We are not doing this mistakes again." And it is really admirable, in Remus opinion, that James has so much energy to try to get Remus up. But if Remus has energy for something in the morning, it is aimed to not let James wake him up.

"Uhm…" he mutters.

"Aguamenti," James says, and Remus hearing the word, opens his eyes widely, and is ready to get up, but it's too late. A conjured jet of water from the tip of James' wand is showering Remus' face, before he can avoid it.

"Merlin's beard, what are you doing, James!" Remus jumps out of bed and is truly annoyed seeing how James is smug and grinning. Someone could think living with a jokester is funny, but it is not, when said jokester likes to test some of his ideas on his roommates.

"You got up, didn't you?"

"Just wait for the revenge, mate. You won't escape your fate," Remus says as ominously as he can, and goes straight to the bathroom. He is accompanied by James' laugh and is sure, Peter is trying not to laugh, too. And what else can Remus do?

He rolls his eyes.