Boys in Pieces

"Nearly!" James said as he pushed the center of his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Has anyone told you that you're bloody mad Padfoot?" He stared to the left at his long-haired friend in awe, as their multiple-month-long debate over the best muggle band still surged on.

"How can Pink Floyd be the best muggle band when fucking Queen exists James? Explain that one to me." Sirius stood there, arms crossed, basking in the glory of his internal win as he stared his best friend down. "Or Led Zepplin, or The Beatles James! You better have a bloody good explanation in order for Moony to agree with you." He wrapped his arm around Remus' shoulder making them both profusely blush.

"Both of you wankers are obviously wrong. The best muggle band is Fleetwood Mac." Remus stood there not looking away from the scrambling first years, his arms crossed and sandy hair covering faded scars along his forehead. James and Sirius looked at each other before silently nodding in agreement, knowing not to argue with Remus.

"Okay fine, the second greatest muggle band is still Pink Floyd." James stated before winking at Sirius and walking towards the newly arrived train. "You coming boys?" He turned back to his two best friends as they scrambled to catch up to him.

The train filled quickly, first years piling into carts with unknown bodies, older years filing in with their own cliques. The three boys piled into a cart with Lily Evans, Peter Pettigrew wandering in moments later.

“You boys owe me, I shooed away three first years to save you this cart.” She looked at James with eyes filled with demand and promise, “Especially you James Potter, especially you.” The fiery Gryffindor walked out of their cart, turning towards the left on her way out.

“You got something going on with Evans now James? It’s been forever.” Sirius snickered as he sat down, resting his legs atop Remus’ lap.

“Eh, she’d never go for me, not after I’ve pined her for four years straight. Plus I uh- I have my eye on someone else.” Sirius’ eyes went wide, Remus’s following suit immediately after.

“James setting his sights on someone other than Evans? Fuck James! Who is it?” Sirius flipped himself off of Remus, leaning forward, listening attentively to what James was about to say.

“Oh, nobody.” He slid his hands through his hair, crossing his legs and staring aimlessly into the center hallway of the train.

“Oi Moony, I don’t think it’s nobody. He’s swooning over there mate.” Sirius smiled and laid his head in the crook of Remus’s legs, sending a bright blush to the scarred boys cheeks. “Why’re you blushing Moony? Someone make you swoon too?” Remus’s mouth opened, but nothing came out.

“It’s just warm in here is all.” Remus sent a half smile across his face, concealing the truth from his long haired friend. That he, Sirius Black, made him swoon.

“Alrighty Moony.” Sirius booped the taller boys nose, sending a blush across both faces. “I think I’m gonna fall asleep yeah? We still have a ways to go based off the fields in front of us.” Sirius looked as if he was analyzing the fields outside to his left, trying to decipher which of the hundreds of grassy fields this one was.

“And you, the all knowing Sirius Black know where we are?” Remus raised his eyebrow at the older boy in his lap, licking his lips before biting the bottom one. “Because bloody hell, it seems like we’ve passed the same field about 100 times.” A small smirk taunted at Remus’s lips, his eyes lighting up with a happiness Sirius was familiar to- one he loved to look at.

“Well, not exactly where we are,” his voice sounded unsure, trying to play off the fact that he wasn’t the All knowing Sirius Black. “But within a 300 mile radius.” He scratched his leg before laying back down on Remus’s lap, silently. Remus’s eyes darted away from his book, staring at the one and only Sirius Black in his lap. Sirius looked uneasy, the frown lines on his faces defined the more he stared at James in the seat across from them. His hair fell slightly in his face, masking his pierced ear and partially bloodshot eyes. Remus stayed silent, but instinctively he began to rub the boy’s back, forcing him to fall asleep sooner or later.

“Moony,” the tall boy looked at Peter tucked away next to James. “Do you think something’ll happen this year? Something bad? Sirius seems bloody distraught and James, well, he’s in love with a Slytherin and who knows how Pads will take that.” Remus’s breath hitched, Peter was right. Padfoot was quite protective of James, he didn’t want James falling in love with his brother or anyone in Regulus’s close circle of friends. That would mean lots of trouble. And Sirius did not look okay, he looked far from it. But in this moment, both Peter and Remus knew that nobody could possibly understand how this year would go down, so the best thing he could do was reassure his worrisome friend.

“Come on Wormy, we know Sirius doesn’t care about that stuff anymore,” Remus could feel himself telling the lie and it felt gross. Everyone who knew Sirius knew of his distaste for Slytherins. His family and their close circle of “friends” were practically all Slytherins and when he was sorted into Gryffindoor, well it didn’t go over well. Things suddenly became worse when Regulus was sorted into Slytherin, Sirius was now seen as an outcast and a failure- the only Gryffindoor in his family. Sirius didn’t talk about his family much, and it was never good things when he did. He rarely mentioned Regulus, as bringing his little brother into the slander violated everything he stood for.

Peter nodded, returning to staring aimlessly out the window. Remus sighed, the weight of a good, drama free fourth year at hogwarts resting on his shoulders. He knew avoiding all drama would be difficult, it would leave him at an impass, but some could be avoided. Bloody hell, they were the Marauders and there was always drama with them, but nothing like what Peter had mentioned. They were growing up and that meant that there would be changes to their friends, to whom they loved.
Sirius snored on Remus’s lap, his chest rising and falling with every breath, and Remus couldn’t help but stare. He was stunning. The long black hair that slightly curled on the end, he had been growing it out since his first year. It fell on his face, the tickle causing his nose to twitch every now and again. His eyes, a dark brown hadn’t opened in about an hour, and Remus was practically undressing Sirius with his eyes at this point. Sirius was a complex man, one nobody could fully understand- ever. He overthought on a constant and felt too deep, not a good combination. Sirius Black was the way he was- carefree, funny and kind, only because he was constantly treading underwater; struggling to hold himself up. Sirius Black was beautiful, something Remus wished to be.

Time was etching by slowly, and Remus was the only one awake. Lily stopped by at one point, but left just as quickly when she saw that three of the four boys were sound asleep. Sirius is notorious for moving quite a bit in his sleep, so he ended up no longer facing James, but his face nuzzled into Remus’s stomach for warmth. James had curled up into a ball, resting his head on Peter’s lap as Peter rested his head on the jumper he had turned into a pillow. Remus admired this moment, taking it in with great detail. His friends were the northern stars for him, right now, burning ever so bright.

The train made a sharp stop, jolting Sirius to fall forward a bit and for Remus to catch him. James was forced awake by the sudden comotion, the sudden emptiness in Peter’s lap waking him up too.

“Thanks Moony, for uh letting me fall asleep on you. I er- know you probably wanted to sleep and get up and-”

“Pads, it’s alright. You kept me warm.” Remus flashed a small smile towards Sirius, grabbing their bags from the compartment above as he did so.

“Your lap was quite comfortable too, so a win for the both of us I guess.” Sirius turned a bright shade of pink, his ring filled hands running through his hair as he took his bag from Remus. Remus chuckled at the boys remark, smiling and joking as the two of them walked out of the compartment with James and Peter shortly after.

The dock was filled with students, first years following Hagrid while everybody else headed in the direction of the carriages. The number of first years has been declining by one or two each year since 71’ and it felt weird. Everyone knew there was a war coming, nobody knew when or how many years from now it would be, but everyone could feel it. Pureblood Sytherins were changing, older years becoming more distant, an everpresent darkness looming around them. Nobody chose to aknowledge it because in the moment, enjoying the moments is what they needed to do. Being 15 meant pranks, skipping class, sneaking firewhiskey from their parents liquor cabinets during the holidays; not watching the storm as it rages, rain pouring down from the heavens in hope that watering the earth would change the outcome.

A storm cloud lived over Hogwarts throughout dinner and during the night, claps of thunder and the occasional lightning strike terrifying first years as they anxiously awaited their first day of classes. The Gryffindoor was comforting late at night, deep red hues and dark yellows throughout the room as the fired roared. Remus sat in the armchair across the fire, his body leaning against the back cushion with his copy of The Lord of the Rings being held up by his left hand. His eyes closed themselves every so often before he would realize he fell asleep and prop himself back up. Sirius was sitting on the floor in front of the fire, shooting fire out of his wand every now and again until he was bored. Peter and James studied the map, watching students of every house and professors in every subject wander aimlessly around hogwarts. Students stayed in their respective rooms for the most part, with prefects and a professor roaming the hallways in search of stragglers.

“Alright,” James said as he turned his body to face his three friends. “I have thought about our first prank of the year, and drumroll please…” His hands waved themselves up and down as he pretended to hit a drum before the others followed suit. “We shall put a stink bomb in Snape’s bookbag, you know the weird mysterious one he carries everywhere.” He smiled as he looked at the boys faces awaiting their reactions. Sirius laughed and agreed eagerly, Peter having his respective worries on consequences and such, asking many questions about how well James had planned this out, he reluctantly agreed. James smiled and looked at Remus who rolled his eyes and nodded.

“That sounds like a great prank Prongs.” Sirius got up and jumped up and down like a child awaiting their dessert after dinner. He was giddy, all excited and soon James was up on his feet too. Remus may have had doubts about this year earlier but he couldn’t help but wonder if things could be the same as they’ve always been.

Soon enough the Gryffindoor common room was quiet and nurturing, an empty home. Remus had always had trouble sleeping but the night before their first day of classes was always the worst. Sirius had come to understand why his friend had such a difficult time sleeping, which is why when Remus couldn’t sleep, Sirius would sit in the common room and read to him. Remus loved it, his head in Sirius’s lap while the raspy night voice of his friend reading aloud his book to him.

“He trotted through the sand, enduring the sun’s enmity,” Remus’s eyes were collapsing in on themselves now, sleep approaching quite quickly. “Crossed the platform and found his scattered clothes. To put on a grey shirt once more was strangely pleasing. Then he climbed the edge of the platform and sat in the green shade on a convenient trunk.” Remus’s breathing had slowed, his hands hugging Sirius’s leg and his face nudged in the crook between the boys thighs- Sirius took in every moment of it. He admired the features on Remus that the boy hated, the way his scars go through his lips, (which Sirius always thought of as badass, but Remus disagreed.) His sandy blonde hair and how it curled slightly on the ends, and the way his mouth was slightly agape while he slept.

Sirius had always admired Remus, his looks and who he was, he loved him. But this year, it felt different. He loved Remus differently, not in the way he would love James, Peter or Lily but in the way he used to love Marlene, but his love for Remus- it was something beautifully different. He couldn’t figure out what it was, but everytime he saw Remus Lupin his stomach fluttered- his heart lifted into his throat and all he could he could muster out was a cheeky remark. He didn’t get much of a childhood, let alone the ability to play on a playground but Remus made his heart play hopscotch over his ribs, daring to fly out of his chest- he felt like a kid again.

Most of the 4th year Gryffindoor’s classes were with Slytherins, simply because McGonagall hade made an attempt to force them to get along this year- a horrible attempt. James and Sirius liked some of the Slytherins, it was the ones they didn’t like that they dreaded seeing every day.

The rain still hadn’t cleared by mid-morning, students running through the courtyard in an attempt to get to their next class minorly wet. Remus loved the rain, the way it sounded on the windows and the way it left the plants looking.

“Moony, do you have your potions book?” Sirius leaned over to his potions partner, whispering softly in his ear.

“Yeah, do you not?” Remus spoke quietly, doing his best to prevent Professor Slughorn from hearing.

“Nope, let James borrow it.”

“Where is James’s?”

“I don’t know, said he lent it to someone.”

“Bloody hell Pads,” Remus put his textbook in the middle of them, his hand brushing Sirius’s. “Oh um sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, your hand feels nice.” Sirius smiled warmly as he stared down at the textbook.

Their first day of classes went by quickly, as it was mostly introductions and review of who everybody was- along with class rules.

The Gryffindoor common room never had too many people in it, so the Marauders had deemed it the perfect place to hang out.

“Wait so you’re telling me that you lent your potions textbook to a Ravenclaw, a Ravenclaw?!” Remus was dumbfounded, he saw the irony in it- James didn’t seem to.

“Yeah, and?”

“James, do you not see the irony in that? She’s a Ravenclaw. Ravenclaws are supposed to be smart.” Remus smiled softly towards James, locking eyes with Sirius as they both understood how harrowing that truly is.

“Oh, now I get it.” James turned his head slightly, pushing his glasses up as he nodded.

“And your table partner, Peter, couldn’t let you borrow his book?” Remus looked towards Peter who held his hands up in defense.

“Er- uh, he let the Hufflepuff he’s friends with borrow his. Susan’s her name, yeah?” He looked towards Peter who was tracking people on the map.

“Oh uh n-” James sent Peter a look, reminding him of the plan everybody but Remus had created. “Yup. One hundred percent.” Peter quickly looked back down into the map, tracking Severus Snape throughout the halls.

“I swear, sometimes you guys amaze me.” Remus chuckled as he returned to the homework McGonagall had assigned earlier that day.

“I still can’t believe she assigned us homework on the second day of classes!” Sirius chirped as he looked up from James’s paper.

“Well, the old bat is a firm believer in making Sirius Black suffer.” James laughed at his own remark, still not realizing his best friend was stealing answers.

“Very true, and Pads it’s not too much. C’mere, lemme help you.” Sirius looked up and saw Remus smiling and scooching over to make a bit of room for his struggling friend.

Sirius grabbed his papers and walked backwards towards the couch, mouthing yes to James as he made a hand motion.

“Thanks, I just don’t understand the need to give us homework on the second day of classes! Does she really miss me that much?”

“She missed you so much Pads, I mean that’s why you earned detention tomorrow!” Peter looked away from the map for a moment, loosing his follow on Snape.

“Or maybe, just maybe, it was the other way around. Sirius just missed her so much!” Remus nudged the boys side, laughing as Sirius sarcastically mocked him and Peter.

“She’s only got three more years of us, make it last I guess.” James shrugged, his brain too busy trying to understand the work assigned.

“Guys, why is Snape roaming the corridors again?” Peter got up from his seat, shoving the map in front of Sirius and Remus who looked at each other with curiosity.

“Not sure? Does it really matter though? That blokes been doing weird shit for years, and as much as I hate him, I promised I’d stay away from him.”

“Who’d you promise Jamesy? It wasn’t Lily was it?” Sirius batted his eyes at his friend, Remus laughing as Sirius mockingly twisted his hair.

“Uh, yeah sure.” James still hadn’t looked up from his papers, an odd and rare occurrence.

“You alright James?” Remus had concern in his voice now, he was worried- James was never this focused on work assigned by McGonagall.

“Mhm, just trying to get this done before I head to the astronomy tower.”

“What’s up there?” Peter was sitting back on his chair, twirling his wand in his hand with the map folded on his lap.

“Nothing, I just like it up there. I guess you could say it’s refreshing?” His voice rose an octave at the end, unsure if he used the word right.

“I mean he’s not wrong, I go there to smoke at night sometimes, it’s nice.” Remus leaned against the back of the couch, his arms sprawled on the bone of the chair.

“Moony you got to stop smoking so much, it’s bad for you,” Sirius spoke up, seriousness in his voice. He’d been trying to get Remus to quit smoking for a while now, a habit he just refuses to break.

“I think I’m good Pads, but thanks for the suggestion.” Remus’s snarky remarks made Sirius melt and his stomach flutter- and he loved it. Remus winked at the boy, sending a quick blush to Sirius’s face.

“Oi Sirius!” James snapped in front of his friend's face.

“Whoa! Yeah?” He shook his head, staring his curly-headed friend in the face.

“Peter went to bed, Remus is just grabbing something from his trunk, and I’m headed to the tower. You alright?”

“Yeah, just-just,”

“Thinking ‘bout Moony?”

“W-what? No! Pshh, I mean- shut up.” His face turned bright pink at the mention of Remus. He had confessed to James before school began that he thought he may fancy Remus, and little did Sirius know, Remus had done the same thing last year during dinner one night. “Have fun mate. Doing whatever the bloody fuck you do in that tower.” James laughed as he shook his head and grabbed his cloak.

James walked the corridors, stepping past many prefects as he hid under his invisibility cloak. The truth is, well it’s half of what he told his friends. He loved going to the tower because of its calm and quietness- but it had also become his place. Late at night during his first year he’d wander up to the tower, doing his best not to get caught. He’d lean against the railing, staring at the land beneath him and the stars above him- and when it rained? Well, he’d do his best to get wet.

Steps echoed behind James, soft ones. He turned around to be greeted by a familiar face, one he only wished he could see more often.