Chapter 10
After James stopped him in the locker room after quidditch practice, Sirius knew he would have to try harder to find some semblance of balance. James was right. Ever since their week alone at school, he and Remus had taken to sneaking off together any chance they got. They hadn’t done anything yet; he hadn’t lied to James about that. They mostly just talked or sat in silence, and they smoked. A lot. Sirius was starting to form a habit almost as bad as Remus’.
It was easy to be alone with Remus, to spend all his time with Remus, but they weren’t even dating yet and he was already casting his friends off to the side. James was practically family- he couldn’t do that to him. He missed Marlene, He even missed Peter now that he thought about it, even though he had started to annoy him more and more each year.
Sirius was starting to get excited for the night James had planned, and even convinced him to let him bring Marlene along. James had pondered the idea then shrugged, “She’s practically a bloke anyways, might as well make her an honorary Marauder for the night.”
“Don’t let her hear you say that, Prongs,” Sirius said, smiling.
James roped the other two boys in at breakfast that morning. Peter nodded along, “Brilliant, I’ll be there!”
Remus was more reluctant, taking James’ excitement as something to be suspicious of. “So how is this any different than any other Friday night?” he had asked with a raised brow after James had told them to clear their schedules because they were overdue for a night of bonding.
“Moony, I love you but shut up,” James said, and it was settled.
Sirius hadn’t planned on telling Remus what James had told him in the locker room or about his new determination to be more discrete about his apparently obvious feelings for the other boy, but Remus stopped him after breakfast, pulling him a few steps behind the others as they left the great hall for their first class. “I rolled a spliff this morning. Want to go to that spot behind the greenhouse?” he had asked him.
Sirius didn’t know what to say, his steps faltered, and he stammered out an awkward excuse. Remus gave him a weird look and Sirius knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it from him. “It’s just that Prongs said that we’re being sort of…obvious,” he explained. “And I know you don’t want people to know yet—”
“Oh, right, for the best then,” Remus mumbled looking at his shoes. They shared an uncomfortable moment before Remus mumbled a ‘see you later’ and turned and walked away. Sirius watched him until he turned the corner, cursing himself for how poorly he had handled the situation, and now, on top of that, he had to go to History of Magic sober.
Classes were slow and dull that day and they each heaved a sigh of relief once they were dismissed from potions. James was the only one who didn’t look dead on his feet. “Look alive,” he chastised his friends.
Sirius mustered up a smile and clapped his friend on the shoulder—it was his fault they needed to schedule time to hang out anyway; he might as well make it a good time. “You’re right, Prongs. Are you lads ready for a wonderful evening?”
Remus, still looking a little nervous since that morning, stopped when they reached the foot of the stairwell. “Why don’t I run to the kitchen for some snacks?”
“Good idea, Moony. Can’t have a party without snacks,” James exclaimed. Peter opted to go with him and the four split up.
Sirius and James took the series of staircases up to the dorm, running up the last one before it got the wise idea to change directions on them. James prattled on the whole way, overflowing with energy. He was used to sharing his every waking thought with his best friend and they had days of catching up to do. Sirius wasn’t much better, though he was quieter when he recounted everything that had happened between him and Remus in the past couple of weeks.
To James’ disappointment, they hadn’t done more than brush fingers every so often since school started back up and Sirius decided to keep everything that had happened during the break—the bed sharing, the brief hand holding—to himself. They deserved a little privacy, and besides, it was fun to have some secrets. What he did do was gush, and James let him. He gushed about his hands, his eyes, his freckles, even his scars— especially the new one on his lip that sinfully drew Sirius’ attention to his mouth every time he spoke.
They entered through the fat lady’s portrait and the common room was teeming with students just getting out of class, ready for the weekend. They spotted Marlene quickly, she was sitting on the window bench, tie loosened and reading a magazine. They rushed her, hauled her up by her elbows, and pulled her towards the stairs.
“Alright I’m coming, aren’t I? You don’t have to manhandle me,” she yelled. “What’s this about anyways?”
“Sirius’ intervention,” James answered cheekily.
Sirius rolled his eyes, “So I was a little preoccupied, sue me.”
Peter and Remus were met with a funny sight when they arrived at the dorm after getting food from the kitchens. Marlene had taken a quaffle from James’ practice kit and they were playing keep away from Sirius. Peter joined as soon as they walked in, immediately hopping onto the bed with his shoes still on and grabbing the flying ball out of midair just a moment before Sirius was going to finally catch it. James let out an obnoxious screech and tackled him to the floor.
Remus, rolling his eyes at his friends as James and Pete fought over the quaffle, set down the platter of curry chips he had been levitating all the way up from the kitchens. The elves had offered him anything he wanted, but chips always reminded him of home. James let out a low whistle. “Those elves will do anything for you, Moony.”
“Maybe because I’m nice to them.”
“We’re nice,” Marlene laughed.
“Alright,” James interrupted, “so we have food, great company, all we need is some music—” James barely got to finish his sentence before Sirius and Marlene were racing toward the record player. Marlene, who had been closer, made it there first and stuck her tongue out at Sirius as he pouted back to sit on his bed.
“Play Witch Sisters” Peter called out. It was a wizarding rock band he, Marlene, and James had been fond of since before any of them started at Hogwarts. Of course, that kind of music had been banned at the House of Black, and quite frankly, it just sounded odd to Remus who had grown up on muggle music.
“You got it, Pettigrew!” She said and put the record under the needle.
Remus knew he could be picky and decided not to say anything about the less-than-ideal music choice. Instead, he went to his chest and pulled out the bottle of fire whiskey he had picked up that morning. He had been on his way to slip outside to the smoking spot he had found with Sirius when he decided against it and went straight for the one-eyes witch’s passage instead. After his exchange with Sirius that morning, he couldn’t help but feel the sting of rejection and it brought up a bought of nerves about the coming evening— An “official Marauders bonding session, plus Marlene,” as James had christened it at breakfast that morning, and he would have to ignore his longing for Sirius lest he make their status (whatever they were at that point) obvious. Part of him just wanted to tell the world already, wanted to grab Sirius in the halls and kiss him in front of everyone, but something was holding him back. It didn’t feel like the right time.
“Holy shit, cheers Lupin!” Marlene exclaimed as she turned from the record player, the strange crooning of the singer’s voice starting to fill the air.
James threw his arm around him; happy that the night was about to be even better than he planned, and tried to ruffle his hair, but Remus ducked out of his grip before he had a chance.
“Way to go, Moony,” Peter joined in.
Sirius shot him a conspiratorial smile, the memory of Remus stealing a chocolate bar during their last trip to Hogsmeade fresh in his mind. “Did you knick that from the shop, Moons?”
“Shuddup, get us some cups will ya?” Remus said, cursing his past self.
“What’s all this about, Moony? Have you been shoplifting?” James asked, sharing a smile with Sirius as he transfigured the pile of hairpins on his nightstand for them to drink out of. Remus looked entirely put out by the whole conversation, but Sirius knew James would get a kick out of it and couldn’t help but share the newly acquired tidbit of information. Once he got over the initial shock himself, he found it quite funny. It was such a Remus thing to do— not the Remus that everyone else thought they knew, but their Remus.
“Lay off him, he’s just being a good host,” Marlene cut in. “He’s the most civilized out of your lot.”
“Right, but that also includes you,” Sirius said, then snickered as he got the finger from Marlene.
Marlene opened her mouth, probably to dish out her own comeback, but James beat her to it. “Sure, sure we know, Remus is the best of us,” he said dismissively, then, with much more enthusiasm, “Let’s play a game.”
“Exploding snap?” Peter suggested.
James shook his head, “no, it has to be a drinking game,” he said, winking an eye towards Remus. “Since Moony went through all the trouble of getting us a bottle.”
Remus groaned, “If I knew you would be so insufferable about it, I wouldn’t have brought anything.”
“I have a game we can play,” Marlene broke in. She looked around the room, critically, “We’ll need some more space, though.”
The boys cringed at the state of their dorm, suddenly seeing it through new eyes now that Marlene was there. They started pushing the piles of dirty laundry under their beds, where it would stay likely until the end of term, clearing a space for the five of them to sit in a circle on the floor. Sirius decidedly did not sit next to Remus, instead choosing to sit between Marlene and James while Remus sat on James’ other side.
Marlene explained the rules of the game, then explained them again when none of them understood. “Lily came up with it, of course,” she admitted when the boys still seemed confused.
“Figures,” Remus scoffed.
“You’ll figure it out as we go,” Marlene said with a wave of her hand.
And they did, for the most part. It was a fast-paced game that required a lot of concentration and brain power, and the biggest loser of each round had to down the shot of fire whiskey that lay in the middle of the circle. Marlene beat them by a landslide in most rounds, but after a few games, Remus started to catch on. First coming in second place then winning some rounds altogether. Then came Sirius, and Peter even won a few rounds himself. All of them, except James, eventually got the hang of it.
“You’re rubbish at this, Prongs,” Sirius said when he lost yet another round.
James groaned. He was already looking a little green around the gills, but he took a deep breath and reached for the glass.
Remus beat him to it, throwing it back before any of the others had a chance to protest. He was the most sober out of all of them, and, while his nerves had mostly dissipated, he had intended to let loose that night, had even walked all the way to Hogsmeade to get them liquor.
“Remus,” Marlene let out a faux gasp, “You’re breaking the rules.”
“That’s it, you’re officially my best friend, Moony,” James slurred. Sirius let out an offended ‘Hey!' At his declaration and James leaned to his side to smack a sloppy drunken kiss on Remus’ cheek. Remus, seeing the movement from the peripheral of his vision and afraid he was about to be barfed on, turned his head at the last moment and their lips connected in an unmistakable kiss.
The room was silent with shock, and the tension was tangible. James quickly shuffled away from Remus and turned around, hesitantly, to gauge Sirius’ reaction. He was red-faced and his mouth was agape with disbelief. James had a million apologies on the tip of his tongue, sorting through them in his liquor-addled brain to find the one that would make Sirius not hate him for too long.
Then Marlene erupted in a fit of laughter and Peter followed shortly after. A beat later Sirius’ face broke into a grin, to James’ relief, that he attempted to hide behind his hand. Even Remus chuckled a little while wiping his mouth on his sleeve. A flush was rising to Remus’ cheeks as Sirius met his gaze, and it made Sirius laugh even harder, clutching at his side when he had forgotten to breathe.
James recovered quickly and turned towards Sirius. “Oh, don’t be jealous, there’s enough of me to go around”, he joked and smacked a loud, wet kiss on the side of his head, then turned to Peter and did the same.
“Blegh, you slobbered on me,” Peter called out, rubbing at the spot where James kissed him.
“Don’t even think about it, Potter,” Marlene said through wheezing laughter when it was her turn. James didn’t dare go closer but blew her a kiss from across the circle.
When their laughter died down, James declared the game was boring and threw himself down on Sirius’ bed, almost tumbling off in the process. “What should we do now?” The rest of them just shrugged.
Sirius got up, staggering a little as he stood, and went directly to the record player to change the disk. Marlene threw a sock at him as he went, but he just snickered at her and changed it anyway, putting on something that he knew Remus would like, proud of himself when he saw the other boy nodding along to the opening song of The Man Who Sold the World.
“I know,” James called out as Sirius turned the volume up and cast muffliato around them so they wouldn’t get caught drinking with a girl in their dorm. “Let’s go to the Forbidden Forest”
“No way,” Marlene said through a mouthful of now-cold chips. “We’ll get killed.”
“Nuh uh, we go there all the time and we’re obviously alive to tell the tale,” James argued.
“Sure, you do.”
“No really, we do go there all the time. We’re animagi,” James said proudly, not realizing that he just outed them. Although it was just Marlene, they had all promised to keep it between themselves to protect Remus’ furry little secret. It was part of the conditions Remus had set when they begged him to let them come along with him on moons, not to mention they could be kicked out of school and likely sent to Azkaban for being unregistered animagi.
Peter, Remus, and Sirius shared a nervous glance, but Marlene just laughed. “Your poor grades in transfiguration would beg to differ.”
“You’re drunk, Prongs,” Sirius said, chuckling, glad that Marlene didn’t seem to believe him. He walked past James to sit beside him on his bed, pointedly stepping on his socked foot and shooting him a warning glance as he did so.
James gulped, swallowing a grimace as his brain caught up with his mouth. “I’m wasted,” he agreed.
“Yeah, sounds like a load of nonsense to me,” Peter added, although a little shakily, but they would be able to pass it off as him being drunk too if Marlene were to question him.
Remus felt like he had to do something—damage control if you will— and he had been craving a smoke for some time now, so he pulled his stash box from its hiding spot in his trunk.
“What’s that?” Marlene asked. Remus just smirked and held up one of the spliffs he had rolled early in the morning, the one he didn’t get a chance to smoke with Sirius. “You’re bloody brilliant!”
The night went much more comfortably once they had passed it around a few times, and they were reminded that they didn’t have to do something special or crazy in order to bond. All it took was for them being together. They cracked some jokes, Peter did a string of impressions that were unintelligible but funny nonetheless, and they all demolished the tray of chips the elves had made them.
They decided to call it a night when they noticed Marlene had fallen asleep, curled up on the floor. “Should we wake her up?” Peter asked.
“No point,” Sirius said behind a yawn and wedged his extra pillow under her sleeping head.
None of the boys bothered to get ready for bed or even close their curtains. Remus laid on his bed, on his stomach with his head resting on his folded arms, and kicked off his trainers. They fell dangerously close to Marlene's sleeping form, but she just went on sleeping. Peter fell into bed with a ‘harumph’ and started snoring as soon as his head hit the pillow.
James was balancing on one leg, trying, failing, to take his socks off before he went to bed, as even in his state he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep with them on when Sirius shoved him. He floundered for a second then fell unceremoniously onto his bed. “What was that for?” He whispered trying not to rouse the others who were undoubtedly half asleep by then.
“You know what for,” Sirius said, his pink cheeks, and a glance towards Remus told James everything he needed to know. James just laughed at him and was so loud that Sirius was worried he would wake the others up, but when he whipped around to check, they were all in the same place they had been. He was laughing still when Sirius closed his curtains and nodded off into a drunken slumber.
***
It was another Saturday, only two days after the May moon and James awoke with the realization that he had to make some real changes to his life. Despite his attempts to distract himself, he was still focused on Lily. The official Marauders bonding session had been a good start, and the four of them had gone back to their old antics, but he still felt the lingering disappointment in the back of his mind.
He had also been thinking too much about himself and his potential soulmate, worrying himself over a person he likely didn’t even know yet, when his friends needed him. Besides, it wasn’t like he was in a race to find his soulmate before graduation. So, as he woke up, he decided he would put the search for his soulmate on the back burner and focus on what really mattered— his friends.
Sirius and Remus’ beds were both empty and the dorm was quieter without them. The May moon had been tough on Remus, and he had to stay in the hospital wing for an extra day. Sirius, as stubborn and doting as usual, likely spent the entire night with him. He wasn’t sure if he had taken the cloak or if he had somehow charmed Madam Pomfrey into letting him stay, though he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was the latter. That old bat always had a soft spot for the two of them.
The night of the full moon had gone as well as usual, but things started to go awry when it was time for him to turn back into his human form. The wolf howled in pain per usual—it was always a heart-wrenching thing to watch their friend go through, but that morning he sounded worse, a panicked note creeping in through the guttural sounds of the wolf.
Padfoot whimpered, yawning in the way that he did when he felt distressed, and James followed his eyes. Even to James’ untrained eye (he was no medi-witch), Remus’ knee seemed off. It was still halfway between a werewolf and a human knee, the coarse fur receding back into his skin, but it was wrong—too far to the left and now setting in the wrong spot as his transformation came to an end.
Remus usually passed out from exhaustion after the full moon, but that morning he stayed awake, panting in pain. Sirius refused to leave him, and they all had to hide under the cloak when Pomfrey came. The medi-witch had to reset his leg so it would heal properly (James would never forget the screams that pierced their ears), and now, two days later, he was still in the hospital wing.
So, that left Peter. “Up and at ‘em Petey,” he said, throwing open his roommate’s bedcurtains.
“It’s still early,” Peter complained. “And we don’t even have class today, Prongs.”
“Yes, it’s early Pete, but we are on a mission today. So, get up won’t you?”
“What’s this mission then? Besides making me miserable?”
“We,” James said. “Are going to find you a girlfriend.”
Peter looked at him, bleary-eyed with the last remnants of sleep clinging to him, but he didn’t protest so James took that as a good sign.
He took the liberty of going through Peter’s wardrobe to find a clean pair of clothes that would work for the occasion. “Don’t you have any muggle clothes in here?” he complained as he riffled through his friend’s belongings.
“Not much. You know how mum feels about muggle fashion.”
“Well let’s see what we can work with, then.” He pulled out a simple white button-up and a pair of his school trousers. He thought for a moment, holding both garments in his hands, then grabbed his wand from where he left it on his bedside table and transfigured the clothes into something that would work.
“Why is everything black?”
“Pads wears all black and girls seem to fancy him,” James shrugged. Peter made a face but put the clothes on anyway. They did resemble something Sirius would pick out—a black shirt and something that resembled black denim but wasn’t quite right. Of course, he could master the hardest transfiguration technique known to the wizarding world, but denim was too hard.
James helped his friend cuff his shirt sleeve to his elbows, then regarded his friend with a critical eye. He had never thought too hard about his friend's looks before; he never had a reason to. He knew a lot of girls liked the way Sirius looked, and Remus was the tallest in their year, so he had that going for him, but he had never really thought about it. Peter still had some lingering boyishness clinging to him, but he had a lot of potential. He had a nice smile and soft blue eyes. He looked good in the outfit James had picked out, but they would have to do something about his bedhead.
James licked his fingers and tried to smooth a section of hair that was sticking up at the crown of his head, but it sprung back up stubbornly. James sighed, he struggled with his own hair most days even with the potion his father developed specifically for his hair, “I’m going to need some help,” he muttered.
Downstairs, In the common room, he found Marlene, Mary, Lily, and Alice sitting at one of the tables with books and scrolls laid out before them. Alice was the first to acknowledge him as he approached. “Good morning, James,” she said sweetly. He bowed to her dramatically, which made a giggle burst past her lips.
“What’s up, tosser?” Marlene said, hardly looking up from the parchment she was writing on.
“I’m in need of a woman’s eye for detail.” The girls looked at him confused. “I’m giving Peter a makeover and, well, it’s not going so good,” he explained.
“We’re a bit busy, Potter. Doing homework, I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of it,” Lily said, though she had a small smile on her face that let James know she wasn’t trying to be completely standoffish. He had been no stranger to her sass.
“Good luck with that,” Marlene snorted, going back to her work.
“I think that’s a nice thing for you to do,” Alice said sweetly.
“So, you’ll help me?”
“No,” she said. James’ face fell at her short answer.
“Sounds like you’re in desperate need of my magic.” Mary stood, “Let’s go, Potter.”
“Mary-“ Lily protested, but she bounded up the stairs anyway.
Peter, who had laid back down in his bed to get a few more minutes of coveted sleep while James had gone downstairs, jolted awake as Mary threw the door open. Mary took a long critical look at him, cast a de-wrinkling charm on his clothes, then went straight into their bathroom to rifle through Sirius’ hair products. “This should do the trick,” she mumbled to herself, coming back to the two of them with an expensive-looking bottle from the fancy apothecary in Diagon Alley. Mary poured a glob of the stuff onto her palm and started running her fingers through Peter’s hair, spiking it this way and that way until she was satisfied. It made his blonde hair look more like a mousy brown color, but it did look much better.
“Thanks, Mare,” James said. “You’re a miracle worker.”
“Hey!” Peter protested from his bed. Then, “I feel like a bloody doll,” he mumbled to himself.
“I’m not done yet,” she interrupted. “We need to accessorize.” She looked around the room until her eyes fell upon the spot where Sirius had discarded his once-silver rings. “Bingo!” There were three of them, though Sirius probably had more somewhere. “You’re more of a gold, but this will do.”
Peter was reaching for his shoes, the ones that went with their school uniform, when James stopped him. “How about these?” James said, handing over his pair of red high tops. He had hardly had any chance to wear them yet, so they still looked as fresh as the day he took them out of the box.
“If you’re sure,” Peter shrugged.
When they were all done, Mary led him in front of the bathroom mirror and made him do a twirl so they could see his new look from every angle. “I do say I did a fine job,” she said, proud of her work. “How do you feel, Pete?”
Peter shrugged, “fine, I guess.”
“Well, you look great!” She then looked to James who nodded in agreement. “What brought this on by the way?”
James opened his mouth to answer, but Pete caught his attention in the mirror, widening his eyes to communicate not to tell her. “Sorry Mare,” he said instead. “Super-secret Marauders business.”
Mary rolled her eyes, “Alright, that’s my cue to leave.”
They were heading down to the courtyard where there were bound to be a lot of students hanging out due to the lovely Spring weather when they passed Remus and Sirius leaving the corridor that led to the hospital wing. Peter had seen them first, waving at them. Remus was limping. It was subtle, though, just slightly worse than usual, and someone who didn’t live in the same room as him might not have noticed he was limping more than normal. Sirius of course wasn’t far from him, ready to help him walk if needed.
“Alright, Moony?” James asked once they were in earshot.
“Peachy,” he said through gritted teeth.
“You clean up well, Wormy,” Sirius said, taking in Peter's uncharacteristic attire. “Is that my stuff?” he asked when his eyes landed on his rings. He would know them anywhere— he practically wore them every day.
“Mary made me wear them,” Peter replied, a bashful look on his face.
“We’re going to find Wormy a girlfriend,” James cut in, explaining Peter’s new appearance.
The corners of Sirius’ lips twitched upwards, but Remus shot him a warning glance, telling him he better be nice. He schooled his expression. “That’s great, just put my stuff back when you’re done with it,” he said as he and Remus started inching toward the staircase that led back up to the dorms.
“Aren’t you coming with us?” James called after him
Sirius looked to Remus, who hadn’t bothered to turn around and was still hobbling towards the dorm where he could lay down, then back at James. “No,” he said, “we’ll be down for lunch.”
James nodded and the two shared a knowing look. Sirius had been trying his hardest not to abandon his friends again, but James’ knew Remus’ injury had taken a toll on the both of them. He wasn’t even sure if Sirius had slept since the night before the moon, and he knew Remus had only slept under the haze of a Pomfrey’s dreamless sleep potion. He had been knocked out on the stuff when he and Peter had gone to visit him.
So, he would let them rest and he trusted Sirius enough to know he wouldn’t fall back on bad habits. James waved them off, then set off with Peter to complete their mission.
They sat together under the colonnade that overlooked the courtyard. James rummaged through his bookbag, looking for the scrap of parchment and quill he had insisted they bring down with them. “We’re going to have to brainstorm, Wormy,” James had explained.
Peter looked around. There were plenty of students hanging out in the courtyard, enjoying the nice weather, just like they had thought. And there were plenty of pretty girls. Hogwarts was full of pretty girls; the problem was that hardly any of them gave him a second glance. They were nice to him, of course. He had gained a fair bit of popularity from being a Marauder, but he was shy and barely talked to anyone outside of the 4th year Gryffindor class.
“Alright Pete,” James said, finally pulling the parchment from his bag. “What qualities are you looking for in a girlfriend?” James wrote the ‘qualities’ at the top of the page in his messy handwriting and underlined it with his quill.
“What?”
“Describe your ideal girlfriend,” James explained. “What’s she like?”
“Pretty,” Pete shrugged.
“All girls are pretty,” James said, smacking the other boy on the back of the head.
“I like it when girls have long hair?” he said it like a question, unsure.
James nodded, “Long hair,” he mumbled to himself as he added it to the list.
“Not too tall,” Peter continued, feeling more sure of himself. “Smart, and a good sense of humor.”
James added them to the list. “Anything else?”
Peter thought for a long moment before speaking. “Someone I can be friends with,” he said. “Someone who we could all be friends with,” he then added.
James tapped the point of his quill against his chin, leaving a spot of ink just below his lip. “What about Mary?” James suggested. He knew it was a longshot, but she fit Peter’s description, they were already friends with her, and there was the added bonus of her being in Gryffindor.
“No,” Peter sighed. “I heard she’s dating a muggle.”
“Where’d you hear that from?”
“Marlene. Heard her talking to Alice about it in the common room.”
James’ shoulders fell. Of course, Mary was already taken. They would have to go back to the drawing board. James knew a lot of people, but he didn’t want to set Peter up with just anyone. It had to be someone he knew was cool. Someone who wouldn’t take him away from the Marauders and would fit in seamlessly with the group.
James thought for a long moment as Peter sat beside him gazing up at the cloudless sky. Then something occurred to him like a lightbulb flickering on above his head and he suddenly knew the perfect girl for Peter. “What about Marlene?”
“McKinnon?”
“Who else? She’s short, smart, funny,” James said. “Her hair is sort of long, parts of it anyway.”
“Alright,” Peter said, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced. James ignored the hesitation, and chocked it up to his indecisiveness.
“Perfect,” James said. “Let’s come up with a plan. This has got to be big.”