CHAPTER III

The Hall had been packed full when they entered, buzzing with excitement and loud noise. 

The space looked widely different than it did in the afternoon hours. Large, tall banners hung on the sides of the stone walls, each of them carrying the colours and crests of one of the Hogwarts houses. The rest of the room was decorated with low-hanging festival garlands that shone with  magical, colour-changing sparkles while others bloomed with golden leaves.

It was clear that whoever was tasked with decorating the hall, took their job very seriously.

There were -  to James’ disappointment and Remus’ relief -  no floating tables. Instead two new tables were set up by the teachers’ table, one on each side. They were both parallel to the door, turned to the sides instead of ahead like the long wooden desks for the Hogwarts houses, chairs already lined up around them.

The Marauders walked on the left side of the room to avoid the over-crowded section in the middle, passing by Slytherin’s snake curling on a large green field. It let out a quiet hiss, dark tongue peeking out between two sharp teeth, and Peter quickly scurried further away from the tapestry to switch his spot with confused Remus. 

Thousands of little candles floated above their heads, their dripping wax dissolving in the air with light shimmers. Headless Nick seemed to find that almost insulting. 

“In my time, torches were more than enough,” he complained as he floated above them, talking with a ghost that had an arrow wedged deep in his chest. 

“I once heard him say dripping wax builds character,” Peter informed them in a hushed whisper, then blanched when Nearly Headless Nick whipped his head around, and quickened his pace.

James almost stepped into the Fat Friar’s back when the ghost had suddenly appeared from the ground below them and was pulled back only by Sirius’ quick hand on the back of his robes.

Friar laughed when he heard the surprised yelp James had let out.

“My apologies, students!” he called out, before he disappeared again, his body passing through the table and moving toward the right side of the hall, where Hufflepuffs were sitting. The students greeted him with smiles, and quickly made space for his translucent body at the table, Friar looked touched as he tried to get his body to sit down at the wooden bench, lips pulled into a wide grin. 

He succeeded, mostly. No one pointed out the way his left leg passed through the bowl of fruit on the table, his knee sticking out next to the apples, the students closest to him wearing sincere smiles. 

They managed to squeeze past most of the Slytherin table, passing by Regulus who had his nose buried in a large, brown tome and dutifully ignored them. James suppressed the urge to ask Sirius if Regulus could read and instead exchanged a small nod with Lucinda Talkalot, the Slytherin team captain, as they passed by. He noticed a few other players also nodding at him and Sirius, some more begrudgingly than others. 

The trouble reared its head when they finally made it to the end of the Slytherin table, and James had the opportunity to glimpse some unfortunately familiar faces. If he could go another two months before seeing Crouch and his gang of loons again, it would still be too soon. Just seeing the way Crouch was sprawled over the bench had James rolling his eyes with annoyance. From the strong, hateful gazes from Crouch and his group, the feeling was mutual.

“Aw, look at the little rat running,” drawled out a tall red-headed one of Crouch’s friends that James never bothered to remember the name of, the girl sitting next to him snickering.

Keeping a calm face, James glanced over his shoulder, just in case that one of the idiots would try to corner Peter off again. Peter met his eyes with his own unsteady gaze from a few steps behind him, his shoulders raised high up, but otherwise fine. James was about to turn back again, when he noticed a sudden movement at the edge of his vision, Crouch’s leg moving from under the table.

Remus’ mouth  parted in surprise, but he didn’t manage to stop himself in time and tripped over the leg in his way, flying forward. His shoulder hit the wall to the side, a punched-out breath escaping from between his lips.

“Remus!” Peter exclaimed in worry and the Slytherins around them laughed, the sound loud and mocking. A flush spread across Remus’ face as he quickly pushed himself off the wall, pushing away Peter’s hand.

“I’m fine, Pete,” he said curtly and Peter hesitated, then gave a small nod. He moved a step backwards, though his face stayed worried, eyes jumping between Remus and the Slytherins. 

“You should watch where you’re going,” Snape jeered from his position a few seats over, and the pleased smirk on his face made James want to clench his jaw, except he didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of getting under his skin.

“You tripped him,” he accused instead, turning to glare at Crouch. The red-headed boy next to him gave a small flinch, quickly looking away.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Barney Crouch said easily, obvious to the way the rest of the Slytherins seemed to grow more uncomfortable, a condescending smile spreading across his face.  He frowned a little while he raised the leg he used to trip Remus up, carelessly propping it on the bench, then tilted his head. “Are you really trying to pick a fight with us just because your little friend doesn't know how to walk?” 

“Stop playing stupid,” Sirius said, his sharp eyes regarding Crouch with obvious disinterest. “You’re just wasting everyone’s time.”

Crouch’s cheek twitched, his innocent demeanour slipping for a split second before it settled on his face again. “Well,” he said, pursing his lips as if in thought, “I wasn’t the one who decided to make a scene and fall all over myself was I?”

The Slytherins around him snickered again, though the sound was less convincing than the first time. One of Crouch’s little gang, the one James vaguely recognised as Mulcifer or Mulciber, laughed for a little too long until a dark glare from Crouch shut him up. 

James exchanged a quick look with Sirius, smirking, while Crouch’s eyes narrowed in now unconcealed anger. 

“It was just an accident,” Avery suddenly butted in from Crouch’s right, his thin, pointy nose turned up as he rolled his eyes. The girl next to him nodded, then leaned over to cough something into her hand that had sounded suspiciously like ‘ blood traitors ’.

James moved his gaze to her, eyes growing sharp and pinning her in place. Some of the Slytherins shifted, and James noticed Snape’s hand in the corner of his vision, slowly itching towards his wand - 

“Mr. Potter! Mr. Black! What are you doing?” McGonagall’s loud, tense voice pierced the noise around them. “The feast will be starting any minute now. Get to your seats, immediately.” 

Crouch was still staring at them, his eyes intent, almost hungry. James let his eyes sweep over the Slytherins, uncaring, before he turned away. 

“Let’s go.”

Remus quickly nodded, leaving first, Peter following in his steps. Under the watchful eyes of Professor McGonagall they finally sit down at the Gryffindor table, Peter glancing over his shoulder. 

“Crouch is still looking here,” he mumbled as he sat down, teeth digging into his bottom lip. 

Remus made a strange aborted motion, as if he wanted to look back as well, but then thought better of it. “Don’t pay attention to him. It was good to leave, we’d just lose points like this.”

“I - yeah, you’re right.” Peter nodded, scratching at his elbow.

“You okay, Moony?” James asked and Remus gave a nod, fingers playing with the hem of his robe.

“Yeah, it was nothing, they were just being idiots.” 

“James and Sirius would have taken him out in a second,” Peter assured him as he reaches for his goblet, and Remus let out a gust of air, lips pulling into a small smile.

“I know.” 

As he slid into a conversation with Peter about their latest divination class, James shifted his attention to Sirius, turning his head to the side.

There was a noticeable tension in his back, his eyes dark and unreadable as he stared somewhere above Professor Sprout’s head.

James shifted slightly closer to move his hand to Sirius's shoulder, giving him a reassuring squeeze. After a moment, Sirius leaned against the touch, though the muscles in his jaw stayed clenched, his shoulders drawn tight. 

A quick glance across the table confirmed Remus was still talking about something with Peter and not paying attention. Good.

James turned his head slightly to the side, voice lowering. “If they try anything else, we’ll deal with them.” 

After a long second, Sirius finally teared his eyes away, a complicated expression crossing over his face as their gazes met. 

James understood it. Everything the Slytherin group did rubbed him the wrong way, from their snickers and jabs at other students to the way they seem to think the entire school should just bow to them and do their bidding. And now they dared to belittle Moony? 

He still had half the mind to stride back and hex that stupid entitled look off Crouch’s face, if only for the fact that he was pretty sure that was exactly what Crouch wanted. 

Whatever Sirius saw in his face, it seemed to help.

The tension in his shoulders started to loosen, the frown between his brows slowly disappearing.

James squeezed his shoulder once more before he retracted his hand, and Sirius glanced away, looking almost disappointed for a split second.

“I’m telling you Durmstrang’s arrival was the best!” Peter argued vigorously, slowly pulling their attention back to the conversation.

Remus shook his head. 

“They have a cool ship, I’ll admit that, but I’m still not sure if they were the best. I mean, Beauxbatons had Abraxans.”  

“But the ship can go through water ! You can fly on a broom, you don’t need horses for that, but to swim? I don’t think so! They basically have a submarine.” 

Remus furrowed his brows. “A what?” 

“Oh you know, that sea thing muggles have, it’s shaped like this” — Peter made a large circular motion with his hands — “It’s like, a special ship that can submerge into water and stay there for weeks.”

“Kinda looks like a dragon egg, Wormtail,” James commented and Peter made a frustrated noise, shaking his head.

“No, it’s like, from some kind of metal or something.”  

“Why would they need to submerge something that small?” Sirius asked doubtfully. 

As Peter hummed in though, Sirius shifted in his seat, suddenly closer than before, his side and arm pressing against James’.

James resolutely continued to look forward, but he leaned into it ever so slightly, ignoring the way the back of his neck suddenly felt warmer. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the way Sirius slightly lowered his head, hiding a smile. 

“Well...” Peter started slowly, tapping with his thumb on his mouth with a thoughtful look on his face. “The Professor in Muggle studies didn’t really say that. I just assumed muggles need it for some, you know, muggle things.” 

Remus stared at him impassively for a few seconds, then deadpanned. “Right.”

The expression on his face was so lifeless that James startled out a laugh, and Peter outright snorted, the noise causing Sirius to break as well. 

Remus’ mouth opened up into a wide, satisfied grin. 

A sudden hush fell over the Great Hall, the students around them quieting. James shifted his eyes towards the teacher’s table just in time to see Dumbledore walk up to the small podium in front of the tables. 

“Today we welcome friends from afar,“ he began, the sleeves of his purple robes sliding further up his arms as he made a wide, sweeping gesture. 

“As many of you have surely seen, the two wizarding school delegations we have been expecting have finally graced us with their wonderful presence. It’s with great joy that I can introduce you to them now. I believe each and every one of you will treat them with respect, in a way that is befitting of a Hogwarts student.” 

He levelled them all with a serious look from behind his half-moon shaped glasses. 

"Now, please welcome the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic!” 

He made a single, loud clap and the great golden door to the Great Hall opened wide. 

The Hall cheered as the Beauxbatons students entered, each of them carrying a beautiful shell in their hands. They took measured, even steps, yet moved with lightness that almost resembled a dance.

They stopped in the centre of the room, standing in two lines with their shoulders straight and heads held high, the shiny soft blue of their styled robes shining under the light of thousands of candles. 

The hall grew quiet as everyone waited with bated breath, their eyes not moving an inch away from the new arrivals.

For a moment, the students stood still. Then, the first girl on the left, tall with platinum blonde hair, stomped her heel against the ground. At the signal, the students turned to the side in unison and brought the shells to their lips, lightly blowing on the inside.

A clear, harmonised sound filled the Hall. 

James’ eyes widened with wonder as a radiant blue light spread from the shells in all directions, twirling and turning like waves of the ocean.

Tens of luminous fish appeared among the blue lines, jumping up and down as if playing in translucent water, their scales playing with hundreds of different colours. 

The students shrieked with excitement, the clapping growing louder. 

Sirius leaned out of his seat, grinning widely as his hands passed through the shining, translucent body of a dolphin that shines with a beautiful purple hue. 

James moved his own hand to trail it across the scales of a large, long fish with eyes that shined dark red, the scales changing colours as his hand moved through it.

Across them, Peter almost squealed with excitement as a sea turtle twirled around him before it moved further down the table. 

“Madame Charlotte Bellegrade, Headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy,” Dumbledore announced with a flourish, his amplified voice rising easily above the loud noise. 

The Marauders quickly turned their head towards the door just in time to see an older witch with dark skin and long, flowing robes the colour of ink stride in.

Her curly black hair bounced with each stride as she walked past her students, who pulled the shells back to their sides and joined her on the way towards the teacher’s table. 

The fish continued to swim in the air for a few moments longer before dissolving into bubbles, which caused disappointed sighs to echo among the tables, especially from the first and second years. 

As they came to stand before him, Dumbledore smiled warmly. 

“Welcome to  Hogwarts. I would ask that your students move to the table on the left and join in on our feast. We have particularly tasty pear tarts ready for tonight.” 

He winked at them in typical Dumbledore fashion, which made some of the students glance at each other with confusion, while one of the boys laughed out loud, the sound dying out when he realised he was the only one. 

“ Certainement , Dumbledore,” agreed the witch and Dumbledore moved to kiss the back of her hand while her students walked to their new designated table and sat down, their light blue uniforms a stark contrast to Hogwarts black. 

“This way, Madame, please.” 

Dumbledore offered her his arm and led Madame Bellegrade towards a new seat set up to his right. There was an empty seat on his left as well, which James assumed was meant for the other Headmaster.

Professor McGongall, whose usual place was by the Headmaster, now sat on the left side of the table, together with Professor Sprout and Slughorn, the latter of which didn’t seem to please her as much.

Professor Slughorn didn't seem to notice and continued to talk to her about types of toad's livers, gesturing widely in the air and almost knocking off her pointy hat.

“That was insane,” James whispered to Sirius, mind still full of the play of lights and colours.  

“Now” — Dumbledore interrupted before Sirius could answer — “allow me to introduce the second school that will compete with us for the Triwizard Cup! The Durmstrang Institute and their Headmaster Kerstin Eriksson!”

The Hall filled with the sound of deep drums. 

As the great gate opened, the sound amplified, resonating to every corner of the room. Twelve Durmstrang students marched in, their feet synchronised with the heavy beats of the drums that two students in front carried. 

Their uniforms were far from the soft, airy material of the Beauxbatons Academy. It was clear their clothes were made for much colder weather. Some of the students had fur hats on top of their heads and they all wore capes from matted fur over their dark red robes.

As they walked to the centre of the room with quick, strong steps, Hogwarts students clapped, watching with expectant, anticipating gazes.  

Alongside them walked their Headmaster, Eriksson, dressed in a long cape from what appeared to be bear’s skin. His face was made up of strong lines, green eyes the colour of moss scanning the crowd with vigilance. 

James recognised him from one of chocolate frog cards, Eriksson was a duelling prodigy and under his guidance, the school was supposed to reach almost the same level of renown for duelling as it had under its second Headmaster, Harfang Munter. The Durmstrang Institute students were surely not good to underestimate.  

As the students came to stop, the drum’s pace grew quicker. A girl with short, dark hair and a scar on her cheek stepped forward and knelt on one leg, while her hand brought out something out of her pocket.

James watched as she mouthed an incantation that wasn't heard over the loud noise around, speaking to the palm of her clenched hand, then she tossed its contents up into the air.

A red dragon made entirely of fire emerged, soaring up to the Great Hall’s enchanted ceiling on giant flaming wings before erupting into fireworks. 

James joined everyone in clapping as the students moved towards Dumbledore, the two headmasters exchanging welcomes.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Eriksson moved to sit on the seat next to Dumbledore, nodding at Madame Bellegrade who sent him a warm smile. The students moved to sit on the last remaining empty table.

“It is great to welcome you all,” Dumbledore smiled at them. “I hope you will find your stay the most enjoyable. Now only a short word before we begin our feast. The selection of the champions will happen exactly three weeks from now. Everyone who wants to enter should keep that in mind and I advise you all to consider your abilities before making this large decision.” 

“The selection will be done by the Goblet of Fire itself, as it has been done for hundreds of years before. The chosen champions will compete for the glory of themselves and their school as well as the Triwizard Cup and a thousand galleons! Now, allow me to begin the feast with two simple words: toothflossing stringmints.”  

And with that, and confused looks from the newly arrived students, various plates of food and drinks started to appear on the tables before them.

The dishes looked as luxurious as they did for the Welcoming Feast, with full plates of roasted duck, salmon, beef and bowls of fried mushrooms and steaming stews with vegetables of all different kinds filling the previously empty wooden tables.

The savoury food was mixed with sweets, including numerous kinds of cakes, pastries and pies with different fillings ranging from simple and sweet to magical and questionable. 

“I wonder how they did that,” Remus remarked excitedly. “That was really impressive.” 

James nodded in agreement, but held up his hand to stop Remus when he started searching in his bag, no doubt looking for a piece of scroll to write on. 

“Moony, come on, you can research it later, eat first.”

“I’m not that hungry yet.” 

“Really?” James lifted his brow. “You spent most of lunch reading. At least try something and get to writing later.” 

“You’ll miss out on the best food,” Sirius joined in, and Remus sighed.

“Alright…” 

He bit into a strawberry tart, his dejected expression quickly slipping off his face as his eyes widened with pleased surprise.

His stomach gave a loud, long rumble and Sirius exchanged an amused look with James who rolled his eyes as if to say ‘ can you believe it? ’ 

Moony flushed, then chuckled around the mouth-full of food.

“I might be kind of hungry…” he admitted and they all laughed, Sirius shaking his head. 

“Do you think they’ll join us for lessons as well?” Peter asked after a while. His place was still almost full, since he continued to glance towards the two new tables at the front. The fact that he had to twist his body almost completely to the side to even see something over Remus didn’t seem to bother him.

“Maybe, but I doubt it,” Sirius said, biting into his potatoes. “They probably have their own curriculum to follow.” 

“That’s a shame…” Peter pouted. 

“I don’t really get why you’re so excited.” 

Peter stabbed some roasted carrot onto his fork. “I don’t get how you’re not.” 

Sirius shrugged. “They’re just people. The entrances were amazing though, got to give them that.” 

James smiled a little. That was one way to look at it. Sirius probably wouldn’t care if the visitor was Godric Griffindor himself after a few minutes.

He could almost see Sirius simply asking Godric to scoot over and hand him the roasted potatoes.

“What?” Sirius asked, and James shook his head, grinning to himself. 

“Nothing.” 

Sirius didn't pout, but somehow his voice sounded like he did anyway. “Prongs.”

James laughed. When he caved in and told them his suspicions, they all agreed, though Sirius admitted meeting Godri, as he called him, would be ‘pretty wicked’. Peter found it so hilarious he almost accidentally knocked over his goblet while laughing. 

The next few days passed in a bit of a blur.

The students from Beauxbatons and Durmstang took classes on their own, just as Sirius had suspected, though they could be often seen in halls or around the school grounds.

Each meal, they were also present in the Great Hall, though they stayed at their own tables, so there  wasn’t much interaction between the schools. From what James had seen, they mostly kept to themselves, moving around the castle in little groups or pairs.

By the third day, some of them had already put their names into the Goblet of Fire, though according to gossip, there were a few candidates who were more likely to succeed than others. 

The girl from Durmstrang that conjured the red dragon at the feast, Lenci Bokorova, was rumoured to be the best duellist in her year. Some even said she had been taught by the Headmaster himself.

The other champion from the Institute didn’t seem to be that obvious, as the students seem divided between three other candidates, and the Beauxbatons seemed to only agree on one champion as well, Apolline Verville. A half-Veela with silver blond hair, who James vaguely remembered walking at the front of the Beauxbatons group in the Great Hall.  

The teachers didn’t have much mercy for the tournament coming closer and instead proceeded to give them more and more homework. James wasn’t even surprised.

On Wednesday the following week, Professor Sprout welcomed them to her class with unexpected excitement.

“Today we’re dealing with Snargaluffs,” she told them when everyone had gathered inside the greenhouse. “They’re tricky little plants, so be careful, but I believe this is a great opportunity for all of you to learn to work with them. We’re incredibly lucky that so many of them have grown so well! I haven't had this many of them in years!”

She paused, obviously trying to push down her elation, but the smile on her face stayed strong. One of her hands went up to fix the hat on her head that had begun to tilt precariously to the side, some of the dirt from her fingers staying on the brim. 

“Each of these amazing little Snargaluffs has valuable pods on the inside which are used in many ointments and potions. The method I’m going to teach you will ensure they keep most of their properties. I'll show you different ways to do it first, so make sure you’re paying attention.” 

After a demonstration that took about a quarter of the class, she paired up the students at the desks next to each other, grouping them by four, though she strayed away from mixing the houses. 

“James?” asked Marlene McKinnon when she noticed his frown. James blinked, then shook it off. 

“Yeah?” 

Lily Evans, who was probably mentally cursing the fact that she and Marlene had chosen the table next to them instead of their usual in the corner, levelled him with a sour expression.

“I told you he wouldn’t be paying attention, Marlene.” 

Marlene rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Lily, while James gave her a wide smile.

“Oh come on, Evans. How could you say that? You’re insulting my student honour, you know.” 

“Your student honour?” she repeated, lifting her brows. “I didn’t think you had something like that, Potter.” 

James let out an exaggerated gasp. “That was too far, Evans! Now I have to absolutely obliterate you in this exercise.” 

“It’s not a race,” she said, her left eye twitching ever so slightly, which made him grin wider. 

“It’s not a race to you.” 

Marlene sighed as she flipped a stray, curled strand of blond hair away from her face. “You do realise we’re supposed to work together, right? I wasn’t the only one who heard that?”

“We were supposed to work together,” James corrected her, lifting his chin. “Now it’s different, Evans declared herself the enemy.” 

Lily opened her mouth just as Sirius returned to their group, bringing their protective gloves. He threw them each a pair, then started to put on his own.

“Sprout just said whichever group collects the most of the pods won’t have to do homework,” he mentioned casually, then froze a little when he noticed the way all their heads snapped to him with sudden interest.

“What?” he asked as Evan’s green eyes grew wider.

“It is a race,” she mumbled and James snickered. 

“Well, change of plans, newly-formed team. Evans, our war is postponed -”

“War?” she questioned incredulously, but James ignored it. 

“-and it’s time to come up with a plan.” 

Sirius nodded, the expression on his face turning into pure determination. Marlene mirrored him and came closer, then turned to Lily, beckoning her with a quick motion of her hand.

Lily stood still for a few seconds, her expression conflicted, before she sighed and moved closer as well.

“Do I really have to be the one reaching into that thing?” Marlene grimaced when they get to her part in the plan. 

“Come on,” Sirius told her, as he leaned his side against the table. “Pull your weight, McKinnon.”

With a huff of breath, Marlene rolled her eyes, but didn't protest anymore. 

The Snargaluff they were dealing with was a sizable stump with vines curled around it. It looked perfectly docile, harmless really. Until, of course, someone entered close enough to it.

They got to work.James managed to immobilise a few of the vines that suddenly flew out of the trunk with a quick stunning spell while Lily took care of the rest of them, making them freeze mid-air. 

As the vines continued to slowly sway, suspended in the air,  Marlene jumped closer to the tree and pulled two bright green pods from the inside of the plant.

Just as she was pulling her hand back, a second wave of vines shot out, going for her, but Sirius was ready and diverged them with a quick spell, then reached inside the new opening and pulled out another pod. 

“It worked! That’s all of them!” Marlene called out in triumph as she and Sirius jumped back from the range of the vines. James and Lily released the spells, lowering their wands.

 It took less than a second, and the vines sprang to life again, going haywire and trying to hit whatever they could.

“Good job everyone,” James praised with a grin and Marlene and Sirius both smiled, while Lily shot him a slightly puzzled look. James half expected her to say something, but she didn't and instead turned away, looking back at the stump.

“I see you’re done already,” Professor Sprout called out to them, her hat swaying widely. “You can move on to the next one then.” 

She pointed to the other Snargaluff only a few paces away from them. The Greenhouse was filled with them and judging how wild the plant had been, going through so many wouldn’t be an easy task.

Then again, James thought, there wouldn’t be any fun in that. As he looked around the greenhouse, he noted that their group was so far the fastest, their plan obviously working. They could definitely win. Remus’ and Peter’s group was only slowly making progress, with Mary McDonald snatching first of the pods, her face blooming into a victorious smile. 

“And  do keep away from the Venomous Tentaculas on the side!” Professor Sprout called after them as they moved towards the plant she had pointed out. “They just started to grow their teeth.” 

“Sirius, Sirius, wake up,” James shook Sirius’ shoulder, but the older boy only groaned in protest and pulled the sheets over his head. 

James chuckled at his antics, though it was true it was still unfairly early. The sun hadn’t even started to come up yet, though it wouldn’t be that long now before it did.

“Come on, Pads,” he tried again. “You know we have training.” 

He was already dressed in the familiar red and gold of his Quidditch uniform, the weight of it resting comfortably on his shoulders. 

“Who in their right mind scheduled training so early?” Sirius protested with a muffled voice from beneath the red sheets.

He sort of sounded like he’d been re-evaluating every single of his life decisions that had lead him to this point. 

“It’s been like this for two years, Padfoot,” James said, trying to ignore how the corners of his lips keep twitching at the way Sirius tried to further hide under his pillow. 

“Can’t be true,” Sirius whined. “That’s too cruel, how did I ever agree to this?” 

“Stop being so dramatic,” James chuckled and promptly jerked the covers off him.

Sirius shrieked in betrayal and tried to lunge for them, but James side stepped with a wide grin on his face and Sirius ended up on the floor instead, frowning. 

In the left corner of the room, Peter didn’t even stir.

“ James ,” Sirius whined again, this time louder and James shushed him, quickly squatting down to his level.  

“They’re sleeping, Padfoot, keep it down, alright?” 

Sirius pouted and James couldn't help the quiet laugh that bubbled out of him. Sleepy Sirius was a different type of precious. He looked way too adorable. 

“There, there,” he said, patting Sirius’ lightly on the head.

It seems to help, a little. The pout on Sirius’ face didn't fully go away, but it lessened as he leaned into the motion, closing his eyes again. James counted that as a win. 

“Come on, up you go. We need to hurry, or Kimura will skin us for being late. You know how angry she gets in the mornings.”

“But I want more James pets,” Sirius mumbled, though he did start to get up. James pulled him up by his hands, ignoring the way his face flushed at the words. 

“I’ll give you all the pets you want, but after practice, okay?” 

He felt a little ridiculous saying that, especially since it was true. 

“Yeah…” Sirius sighed a little, rubbing at his eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

They made it to the bathroom and James pushed a toothbrush into Sirius’ hand, closing his fingers around it when Sirius failed to comply. 

“Pads, come on hurry -” 

He caught a glimpse of something in the reflection of the mirror, a dark shadow appearing behind them.

“Moony!” James startled loudly.

Remus stared at him with a soul-less expression, the eyebags under his eyes prominent in the light from the candles. 

James’ eyes widened.

“Ehm, you’re…still awake, buddy?” 

Remus nodded, somehow managing to look like his head was completely disconnected from his body, limply moving on its own.

The three of them were now crowded in the little bathroom, Sirius still with his eyes mostly closed and mouth full of toothpaste, James in his Quidditch gear and his hair even more messy than usual and Remus looking like he hasn't properly slept in a week. The whole situation was so absurd James had to grin. 

“You look dead on your feet, Reme.”

“So as usual?” Remus asked, the corners of his lips lifting up into a small smile. 

James chuckled, shrugging.  “Your words not mine. You should really try to sleep again, mate.” 

“Yeah, I know.” 

Remus turned to leave with a yawn, then stopped. 

“Prongs?”

“Yeah?”

“I think Sirius fell asleep in the sink.” 

James cursed.

Their Defence Against the Dark Arts class came with a surprise that week. 

James was just sitting on his desk, playing with a quill and listening to his friends argue about the best tasting Bertie Bott’s, when the door to the classroom squeaked and an unfamiliar figure stuck their head in. 

“Sorry, is this Defence Against the Dark Arts?” asked a short boy dressed in Durmstrang's blood-red robes. He had short light brown hair and green, friendly eyes. 

“Yeah,” Sirius told him and the boy nodded in thanks, turning in the doorway. 

“It’s here,” he called out, waving his hand to bring someone on the outside closer. “Hurry up.” 

He held the door as two other students entered, nodding in greeting at the intrigued faces of the Hogwarts students. They were all dressed in Durmstrang uniforms, one of them even wearing boots with thick white fur. James kind of wondered if he’d be willing to tell him where he got a pair.

Even as the two new students entered the room, they continued to linger close to the boy who spoke, almost as if they were hiding behind him. 

“Headmaster Dumbledore said we could join you for a subject of our choosing,” explained the boy who spoke before, speaking with a slight Norwegian accent. “Hopefully you won’t mind. Could you show us where to sit?” 

Snape pointedly turned away, even though the rest of the front row was completely empty.

“You can sit here.” James gestured to the empty space next to them.

The classroom was made up of six long rows of tables, and their group was only occupying a part of the last row, with plenty more space to offer. There was still the space next to Snape of course, and three spots left next to Avery, who was about as pleasant as a drunk goblin. James would not wish those two on anyone. 

“Great, thank you.” The boy sent him a relieved smile, and practically pulled one of the other students towards them while the last of the trio walked behind them, an impassive expression on his face. 

James introduced himself, and shot them his best friendly smile, hoping to put the still nervous looking boy at ease, the rest of the Marauders followed.

“I’m Theo Cinege,” said the brown-haired boy, the previously held tension in his back visibly loosening at the warm welcome. “This little rascal is my boyfriend, Yasen.”   

The other boy, Yasen, shoved Theo’s head to the side, which only made him huff out a laugh.

“See? He’s a menace," Theo gestured with a chuckle. “He’s only shy with strangers, but won’t hesitate to drown me for a piece of pumpkin pastry.” 

“Shut up,” Yasen mumbled, face growing pink. “I’d only  drown you for three pastries.” 

The group laughed and Yasen seemed to grow bolder, lifting his eyes to look at them. The sight reminded James of young, unsure Remus back in first year and their attempts to get him to trust them. It was a bittersweet memory, if he was honest, thinking back to the trembling look in Remus’ eyes and the way he had fumbled over his words as he spoke about having to leave each month to go to the infirmary. 

“I’m Bogdan,” offered the remaining boy, speaking in a strong accent that sounded northern as well. Though still impassive, the expression on his face looked slightly more welcoming than before.

“We had the, uhm, pleasure to meet some of your classmates,” Theo said as if sensing his thoughts, his tone apologetic. “Not all of them were very welcoming.” 

James frowned. “Yeah, well some of them are jackasses. Don’t pay them any attention.” 

At that, Bogdan and Theo chuckled. 

“I think you’ll like this lesson,” Sirius offered. “Professor Evergreen is the real deal. She even has a hippogriff on the premises.” 

Yasen’s mouth fell slightly open and Theo laughed when he saw it, his expression going soft. “Seems like we made a good choice then.” 

The sight made something in James’ chest clench. Almost involuntarily he glanced at Sirius only to startle when he realised his gaze was already on him, the deep grey of his eyes unreadable.

James’ lips curled into a small smile out of habit before he looked away.

“We can sneak you out to meet her sometime,” Remus offered easily, and how the teachers thought he was the only one of them not getting up to trouble was still a mystery to James. Maybe it was because he’d perfected his innocent face? 

Yasen smiled a slow, shy smile, “That would be amazing.”

The week continued, days passing by. 

At Divination, Professor Inkwell had them looking deep into crystal balls and trying to make sense of the weirdly twirling shapes inside while randomly bursting into prophecies about great danger and incoming storms.

The whole Quidditch team had a running bet on how many scarfs she owned, the numbers steadily climbing. It  was even more ridiculous for the fact that not all of them even had Divination, yet they all seemed incredibly invested. 

Lucas Alvarez, one of their beaters, has his bets placed in high hundreds while Flinn Darington claims she only has one that she somehow magically changes each lesson. His sister always loudly disagrees with his theory, though James thinks that’s simply because it was Flinn who came up with it. The twins seemed to disagree with each other almost on everything on pure principle alone. 

Sirius bet on her secretly being a crow that collected scarfs instead of shiny objects. A bet which technically shouldn’t be allowed - because it didn’t relate to scarfs at all - but after a passionate speech in which he tried to defend his stance, his bid stayed. 

And maybe also because James thought it particularly hilarious and refused to not include it whenever the bet got talked about. 

Professor Slughorn had them cleaning their equipment so well that James actually saw the bottom of his cauldron for the first time in two years.

He didn’t remember the surface being so clear since the Great Elixir Explosion, or as Remus likes to call it, ‘ the day James confused his roots and blew the whole classroom up ’. James protested against it, even though that was exactly what had happened. The book was just so slow and obstructive with the instructions, it was not his fault that he got bored and wanted to experiment, really.

The school kept them so busy he almost forgot about the Tournament for a moment. That was of course, until the day McGonagall informed them that all students should gather in the Great Hall at ten o’clock sharp to watch the sorting of the Champions. She seemed to regret her words soon after when she realised most students wouldn’t be paying attention to her lesson anymore, eager to get it over with and go see the sorting.

“Anyone who hands in wrongly transfigured dice will have to redo them in their free time,” she warned them, which calmed the discussions in the class, though James noticed many students still didn’t pay attention, some of the dice still clearly spotting a pair of ears. 

By the time they made it to the hall, it was already packed, the whole room buzzing with excitement. Dumbledore for once, didn’t waste any time, his long strides carrying him through the sea of the students before he came to a stop in front of the teacher’s table.

"I see you’re all excited, ” he smiled, voice amplified by his wand resonating around the packed Great Hall and interrupting the ongoing conversations.  “Good. Good. Now without further ado, let’s choose the champions, what do you say?”

The hall erupted into loud cheers and Dumbledore brought up his hands, quieting the crowd before turning to the side, his purple robes rustling. “Professor McGonagall, if you would be so kind.” 

With a sharp nod, McGonagall rose and moved towards the entrance to the hall, her heels clicking loudly against the stone floor. With a quick movement of her wrist she flicked her wand and the Goblet of Fire flew up, levitating above the ground.

Her poison-green cape swished in the air as she turned on her heel and marched back, wand held out and shining with dim white light, the Goblet hovering behind her. 

Dumbledore motioned for her to place it down just before the podium on the slightly raised surface between the two additional tables.

The Goblet set down with a small noise of stone grinding on stone, its flames flickering. 

James watched as McGonagall brandished her wand and moved back to her seat, or rather to the new one between Professor Sprout and Slughorn. She kept a passive, calm expression on her face, though the glint in her eyes betrayed her interest.

The other teachers were more openly intrigued. Professor Evergreen even seemed to lean slightly forward in her seat as Dumbledore walked to the goblet, and professor Slughorn’s eyes a few seats over were opened wide. 

“Now,” Dumbledore said, his gaze sliding across the sitting students with a twinkle in his blue eyes. “It is time for the Goblet to choose the first pair of champions.”

The tension in the Hall was so thick it felt almost suffocating, only a few students talking in hushed whispers, no doubt debating on who’ll get chosen. 

"First the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic!" 

The Beauxbatons students tensed, exchanging expectant glances. 

Suddenly, a bright burst of red fire emerged from the Goblet, bathing the Hall in warm light. A small, rolled piece of paper flew out of the flames and into Dumbledore's outstretched hand, quickly followed by another. 

“Apolline Verville” — he read out loud — “and Clarisse Toussaint.” 

The Great Hall erupted into polite claps, the Beauxbatons being the loudest. James spotted wide smiles around their table, the students patting the two girls who must be the new champions on the back.

James recognised the silver blond hair of Apolline Verville, which meant the second girl with the low ponytail must have been Toussaint. She was smiling at Apolline, her round face shining with obvious happiness.  

Dumbledore coughed, bringing the noise in the Hall back down. 

“And now, the chosen champions for the Durmstrang Institute…”

Of course, he's saving Hogwarts for last, James thought with a sigh. Dumbledore just loved to torture them, didn’t he? 

The blue fire flickered red again and spit out another pair of papers, singed dark with flames. In  the hushed quiet of the hall, Dumbledore unhurriedly rolled them out, then lifted his gaze to the expectant eyes before him.

At the Durmstrang table, the students seemed frozen with tension. James caught Theo staring at the desk of their table, eyes downcast.

It was such a different look to his cheery demeanour from class that it made James stop for a second.  

"...Lenci Bokorova and Theodor Cinege!” 

The Durmstrang students pounded the table until it shook as they cheered, the sound loud even against the claps of the surrounding students.

Theo looked up, the expression on his face stunned. Next to him, Yasen beamed, leaning to speak to his ear. Bogdan was there as well, his calm face breaking into a small smile, though James noticed those two were the only ones.

All the other students at the table seemed to be congratulating only Bokorova, their gazes turning colder whenever they glanced in the direction of the other champion. 

James frowned, but then Dumbledore spoke again and all thoughts disappeared from his head. 

“And last but not least, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” 

The fire crackled loudly, turning bright red as two last pieces of rolled parchment flew out. 

Dumbledore let them fall to his hand and rolled them open, his lips slightly pursed.

Across James, Peter was clutching onto the cuffs of his robes while Remus was holding tightly on one of his books. 

Sirius appeared to be unbothered, though James noted the way his fists were clenched under the table.

He himself was not better, teeth digging into his lips with vengeance as he watched Dumbledore walk around the stone Goblet with the parchments firmly in his hand, taking his time. 

He made a long pause and James thought he saw his mouth twitch under his large white beard as he watched them all squirm with anticipation. 

“James Potter and Sirius Black!” he finally called out, voice booming across the hall.

The Gryffindor table exploded with loud cheers, the other students also politely clapping. Over at the Hufflepuff side, Frank Longbottom stood up from his seat and loudly whooped, grinning. 

Peter screamed with excitement, practically leaping on the table while Remus’ lips pulled into a beaming smile as he clapped his hands. 

“You did it!” he shouted at them over the noise around them. “You’re really in!” 

James blinked in a rapid session. They were really chosen? Both of them? 

A wide smile spread across his face as he turned to look at Sirius, who gave a short laugh of disbelief, his whole face shining with excitement.

“As for the champions, we will be expecting you in the courtyard tomorrow at eight o’clock in the morning.” Dumbledore spoke above the cheers, his eyes trailing across each of the newly chosen champions. “It's time you learned a bit more about your First task.”