Marauders - Always - Part One

Educational Reading

Remus mouthed the words Merlin's nubbins and shook his head.

James said, "There's only so many reasons that I can think of that a bloke would have to have this book laying about. But I don't want to jump to conclusions about my mate."

Sirius sighed. "Me either."

Remus, Lily, and James looked at Sirius in surprise. "You don't?" Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged, "No."

James looked at Remus and Remus's brow cinched with concern. James looked to Sirius, "You've used every chance to bully up Pete you've ever had since we met him. Why the change?"

"Did you incorporate Peter?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged again. "And I see I've been rather hard on him over the years..."

"You were shouting you were going to murder him not even half an hour ago," Remus reminded him.

"You know I speak in hyperboles." He pronounced it like hyper-bowls.

"Hy-per-bol-le," Remus corrected.

Sirius grinned, "Those as well."

Remus shook his head, "Gods, I can't keep up with the roller coaster tonight." He turned and went for the kitchen after the chocolate milk.

Lily reached over and squeezed Sirius's hand.

James picked up the book off the table and sank into one of the chairs, flipping through the pages again.

This was the state in which Peter found them when he finally came through the door a few minutes later, expecting Remus and Sirius to already have gone to bed. He'd seen to it that Oni Lamm was safe in the curry restaurant's front door downstairs before he'd come up through the stairs 'round back and let himself in.

At the sound of the key in the door, James had sat forward and murmured, "Here we go..."

Peter looked about in surprise at everyone gathered in the living room, and it was only then, upon seeing James's raised eyebrow and the way Sirius sat up, that he remembered having left Nymphadora Tonks at the flat alone. His intention had been to return ages before anyone else arrived to find her alone, but the speech at Speaker's Corner and the subsequent conversation at the pub off Knockturn Alley had been terribly fascinating, and surely would have a huge impact on his and Oni's plans... He'd just completely forgotten about Tonks.

Nothing was blown up or anything, nobody was crying or panicked. There was no evidence that she'd been anything but perfectly fine.

"All my friends! How - how is everyone?" Peter stammered. "I didn't expect you to be awake!" he added, looking at Sirius, then, to Lily, "Or for you to be here!"

Remus came back from the kitchen carrying the bottle of chocolate milk and a glass. He stopped short when he saw Peter, then knocked back his glass of chocolate milk and refilled the glass. "Oh bloody hell," he murmured.

"What are you all still doing up?" Peter asked.

"Waiting for you," said James.

Peter twitched nervously, then spun around and shrugged off his jacket and kicked off his shoes. "For me?" he asked. "What for?"

"You haven't got to be afraid of us," Sirius said, sensing the anxiety going up in Peter's demeanor. "I mean, you're an arsehole that's endangered one of the only cousins I give a flying fuck about, but it isn't like I'm going to murder you."