When James Potter entered his dorm after breakfast to slob around like he usually did on Saturdays, the first thing he noticed was how quiet it was. He knew that Remus was still at breakfast but he also knew that Sirius had gone back to the dorm and probably wouldn’t have left already. That was why it was odd, James didn’t think Sirius had been quiet for a moment in his life, it was probably why they got along so well.
Frowning at the uncharacteristic silence, he scanned the room and saw Pete, who was sitting on his bed, already looking at James.
‘Hey Wormy, erm, where’s Pads?’
Pete hesitated for a few seconds before silently mouthing ‘sorry’.
Before James had a chance to ask why, Sirius dramatically appeared from behind his own closed bed curtains holding something green.
‘Hello there Mr Potter. Take a seat.’
‘Uh, okay?’ He sat on his own bed and waited for Sirius to stop acting weird and explain what was going on. He looked to Pete for an explanation but only got a shrug and an apologetic smile.
‘It has come to my attention that you are in possession of a suspicious object, Mr Potter!’ He held up the green thing, which appeared to be a tie. A Slytherin tie.
James didn't own a Slytherin tie, wh- oh.
‘Mr Pettigrew here kindly pointed it out to me just moments before you arrived.’
‘Uh, yeah, sorry about that, I spoke out loud by accident and sort of…didn’t realise it…’
Sirius fell into his own bed, placing his arms on the back frame and leaning his head against them, the tie now at his feet, where Peter picked it up and awkwardly handed it over to James, this clearly being an excuse to say ‘good luck’ to James without Sirius noticing it. He walked into the shared bathroom and locked the door, though it was clear he was still listening from the other side.
‘Would you like to inform me as to why you have such a thing?’
‘I mean sure, if you stop talking like an old politician.’
Sirius pretended to be offended but eventually shrugged. ‘Fair enough. Go on then, tell us your little secret.’
James nodded, desperately trying to come up with an excuse as to why he did have the tie. ‘Yes, well..funny story, um, yes, so, actually, you see, I- um, it’s…it’s mine…?’
Sirius raised an eyebrow in that Sirius way and stared at his best friend. ‘Yours?’
James paused. ‘Yup.’
‘Prongsie dear, I am sorry to break it to you…but you are a Gryffindor…’
‘That I am.’
‘Right…are you colour blind? This,’ he waved the tie in front of James's face. ‘Is green.’
‘That it is.’
‘So…’
‘Well….’
‘Well?’
‘Well…I…made it green?’
‘You…made your Gryffindor tie green…? The colour of Slytherin…?’
‘Yup.
You turned your tie…into the colour…of the house…we hate more than anything…? The house with such people as my crazy cousin, my stuck up little brother and Snivellus…? That Slytherin?’
‘The very one!’ Oh fuck, what had he gotten himself into?
‘May I ask why?’
‘I- um, be- because, uh, prank. Yes, I was for a prank.’
‘...A prank?’
‘I- um, yes! I was practising the basic theory on my tie! I plan to do it the other way round so…all the Slytherins have Gryffindor ties! Yes, that. I wasn’t going to tell you until I had it mastered! Which I uh, almost have!’
‘Almost? Seriously Prongs, I’ve seen many a Slytherin uniform in my time and that,’ he pointed to the tie ‘Is perfect!’
‘Ah, well, yes, I just need to sort out some…specifics…?’
‘Oh, alright. Well, I could always h-’
‘No! No thanks Pads, I’m uh…good! Thanks though.’
Sirius frowned but stood up and patted James on the shoulder as he left. ‘Sure.’
‘You’re seeing his brother, aren’t you.’ Pete was leaning against the doorframe to the bathroom.
‘Wh- PETE! Keep your voice down Wh- How-‘
‘Oh, come on, he’s not here anymore. Besides, it isn’t that difficult to figure out.’
‘Wh-but-’
‘Number one: It was clearly not for a prank, the Prewetts did that exact same thing when we were in first year. You don’t ever copy pranks. Number two: That tie has R.A.B sewn into the back of it. Number 3: This morning at breakfast, I noticed that Regulus didn’t have a tie. It seemed a little odd seeing as he is always perfectly presented. I guess he didn’t have a spare after he left that behind or you stole it, who knows. You should probably give it back to him by the way, before he gets in trouble for improper dress or Sirius hears about it.’
James stared at his friend with his mouth hanging open for a solid 30 seconds before Peter spoke once more.
‘Oh, and one time I was wandering around the castle in my animagus form and I saw you two snogging in the prefects’ bathroom. Anyway, I promised Lily and Marls I would meet them in the library to do the astronomy homework and I don’t want to be late.’
He walked to the door to leave but turned around to face James one last time. ‘Oh, and if you want to go and give Regulus his tie back, you may want to take the map with you, you never know when Sirius could come back and get the wrong idea when he sees your names particularly close to each other in the dungeons. Bye Prongs.’