It’s the 17th of October, 1976. Peter’s sat in the lone couch by the windows in the Gryffindor common room, chess prince turning idly in his hand. He sighs for the umpteenth time in three minutes, eyes once again wondering over to where Sirius and James sit.
The fire crackles behind them as they compete in a conversation that could be referred to as a competition of fewer words. Suddenly, Sirius gasps, makes a few odd hand gestures, and sends James back into a spiral of silent laughter. Their backs bounce against the couch they take up the entirety of.
Peter sighs again, and places the queen back onto the abandoned board. He was going to let James win, given that it’s the only way to get him to play.
Drawing his fingers over the board, he glances at the clock on the wall, weighing up whether its too early to be considered a normal time for bed.
Remus sits on the arm of the couch the other two were on, a book in hand, and a tight line running down his spine. Peter can sense his nervous energy from where he’s sat. He wonders whether the other two boys have even picked up on it. Neither are too observant tonight, James now whispering avidly in Sirius’ ear, who’s eyes stare intensely at the ground, as though focusing on every word that spills from James’ mouth.
Peter looks back over to Remus. His eyebrows furrow with contemplation, and suddenly he’s locked eyes with Pete. His eyes questioning, and Pete isn’t touched by the fact that he seeking that help from him. Of course not.
“Wormy? I have to get something from the library, can you come with me?” Remus’ eyes are filled with a determination rarely seen, and Pete isn’t sure he could say no.
Sirius’ eyes snap away from James, and immediately focus on Remus, paying Peter no mind at all. He shifts forward and sits with his knees facing Remus, silently begging for his attention.
“Moony I can do it, honestly.” Sirius jumps in, trying to be the safety blanket that Remus is to him. Before he can finish his sentence, Remus is shaking his head, his eyes still trained on Pete.
“Thanks, but nah. Pete knows which book it is, and it’ll be quicker this way”
Sirius casts a withering look Pete’s way, but he barely sees it, focused solely on the underlying tension written in Remus’ eyes.
“Sure moony, let’s go now” and with that, he stands up and gestures to the common room door, to which Remus stalks over and begins to lead the way.
A grumble behind them proves his theory; Sirius is jealous of him. But why? It’s so obvious that Remus is gone for him. The way his smile dimples every time Sirius makes a joke, or the relaxed edge of his shoulders that can only be brought down by Sirius himself. Peter sighs, once again pondering how he ended up with the most oblivious best friends known to man.
They make it out of the common room, before Remus is suddenly taking his arm and swerving in the direction of the lake. They’re silent as he pulls Peter by his elbow, determination seeping out of each step he takes. They get to the old oak tree, and Remus suddenly drops, patting the spot next to him to where he obviously meant for Peter to sit. He does, in a gingerly manner, scared to cause the mood to shatter.
“Pete, you know you’re one of my best friends, right?” Remus bursts suddenly, his eyes burrowing into Peter’s. Startled, he nods his head.
“Of course Moony. Why, do you think I don’t think that?”
Remus’ eyes widen and he vividly shakes his head, before sighing. His shoulders drop, and he looks out onto the lake, obviously letting his thoughts catch up to him.
“You mean a lot to me. I don’t think I say that enough. It’s just…” Remus stops, licking his lips before continuing, and Peter can’t do anything except stop and listen, can he?
“I see the way you look at James. And Sirius-“
“Blimey Remus if you’re gonna ask if I’m in love with either of them, then you’ve got it completely twisted. I mean, sure, they’re both great, but there is no universe in which I would want to date either-“
“Jeez Pete okay!” Remus laughs, his shoulders dropping, Peter pleased that he dispatched some of the tension he was holding there.
He laughs to himself, before pulling it together and continuing.
“I wasn’t going to say that, don’t worry. I was just going to say, I see the way you look at them together. I see it too; they’re in orbit on another planet to us, and it’s scary how in sync they are. I know you see it, because I see it too. They’re soulmates. And not in the romantic way everyone at this godforsaken school likes to ramble about, but true soulmates. They are each others better half, and, I guess what I’m trying to say is, it gets to be a lot. And I’m sorry” Peter startled Remus by laughing. Confused, he pauses to look at him, with Pete’s head thrown back and his shoulders shaking.
Peter turns to him, a smile still present on his face.
“Moony, god I love you. You weren’t seriously going to apologise for our two best friends practically being joined at the hip, because you aren’t allowed to carry that burden when you’re with me. Nope, I’m not allowing you to. Anyway, guilt for nothing you’ve done aside, please continue”
A sly smile creeps onto Remus’ face, and he coughs once before starting again.
“Okay, point taken. I guess I just wanted you to know that you’re just as much a marauder as the rest of us. James and Sirius have a shit way of showing it sometimes, but they care about you. I care about you. And as much as I love prongs and pads, you’re my best friend wormy, and i hope you know that.”
He finishes off with his head hanging, his eyes looking anywhere but Pete. And, gosh, what can Peter do? How has he lucked out with the best friend in the world?
Slowly, then suddenly all at once, Pete tackles Remus to the ground, careful to not hurt him.
“Rem you complete sap. For a second there I was scared you were gonna confess your undying love for me.” Remus chokes on a laugh, and Peter wrestled them back up to a seated position.
“In all honesty, it sucks. And I hate that it sucks, because with all the shit that Sirius goes through, and all the love James has to give, it should be obvious that their friendship takes precedence over me or anything I have to offer. I’m not talking bad about myself, I’m just stating facts. But it does suck. I’m glad I have you though.” He smiles and knocks his shoulder into Remus’.
“How’d you manage to catch me on the night when it’s really been affecting me though? Did you use some sort of legilimency on me, because that’s such an invasion of privacy.” Pete makes a show of whipping his hand to his forehead, mock betrayal written all over his face. That earns him a snicker from Remus.
“Nah, I was just sick of the two of them and their wordless conversations. I was gonna ask if you wanted to play chess, but then I looked over at you on the other couch and saw you had this look of stricken wistfulness in your face, and it struck me that you were probably feeling the same way I am. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
And if Peters heart stuttered, not used to feeling this looked after, well, nobody needs to know.
“Hang on, let’s just go back to what you said. Stricken? Wistfulness? Come off it, with your big meaningful words, you nerd. Just say I looked sad and move on.” Remus blushes and laughs along with Peters teasing.
“Sorry about that. Been hanging out with Evans too much recently. She’s got a vocabulary bigger than Sirius’-“
“Don’t you dare say it”
“Wormy, get your mind outta the gutter. I was going to say ego, but you’ve ruined the moment.”
This resolves into laughter from the both of them. Pete laughs until his ribs hurt, and his robes hold grass stains from rolling on the ground. He looks over at Remus, who meets his eyes. The tension in his shoulders finally gone.
Suddenly, Pete’s eyes harden.
“Wormy, you alright?”
“Sirius is gonna kill me when we get back.”
Remus’ eyes squint in a question, and Pete’s nearly bulge out of his head.
“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t see it?”
No response from Remus; not even a show of recognition. Pete laughs disbelievingly, before straightening and looking Remus directly in the eyes.
“Merlin, that boy is infatuated with you. And he’s gonna be mad at me for spending the time he wanted to spend with you.”
Remus blushes, and looks down to where his hands subconsciously started picking at the grass. He shakes his head, and then stands up, holding his hand out to help Peter up too.
“Well then, we shouldn’t keep him waiting for much longer. I’m too tired to think about what you said, but we will be having that conversation another day, you hear me wormy? It’s not over.”
Peter laughs along with Remus, feeling lighter for the first time since the marauders come to fruition. While he can’t see what the future holds, he knows that whatever happens, Remus will be in his corner, rooting for him.
“I’ll always be in your corner moony”
“Right back at you wormy”