The Next Great Adventure (A Marauders Fan Fic)

Chapter Forty Nine

“I don’t doubt it,” Lily giggled. “And they would have caused a heap of trouble while doing so.”

“What’s this?” a voice asked from the doorway. “I hear the words ‘trouble’ and ‘they’ and I can only presume that my beautiful girlfriend is talking about her dashingly handsome boyfriend.”

“Don’t forget witty and intelligent,” Remus added from behind him.

“And also, you know, don’t forget your friends,” Sirius said as he threw himself down in a nonexistent space on the seat.

“You’re sitting on me you oaf,” Cassie protested as she wriggled her legs free.

“Where’s Peter?” Alice asked.

“He got cornered by a fifth year,” James replied with a smirk.

“Obviously, now that the best member of the Marauders is taken, people need to find another candidate who can help them enter the… esteemed ranks of our society.”

“Obviously,” the four girls echoed drily.

Sirius kept talking, ignoring their sarcasm as he ignored most things. “Course I don’t blame you for choosing Prongs, Lilybud, because I always knew his whining would wear you down eventually and, to be honest, he’s the worst choice. Someone had to be lumped with him but I would just like to offer my sincerest apologies that it was you.” He leant over the gap between the two seats, perilously close to collapsing onto the floor, and tried to shake Lily’s hand.

“Oh?” James had a dangerous smirk on his face and Lily instinctively reached for her wand, in case she needed to take any… preventative measures against whatever was about to happen.

“Well yeah. Not even the most desperate girl would be able to withstand his mooning for more than a week - at most. And of course he’s… well he’s not exactly a charmer, is he?”

“Or a looker,” Remus sighed sadly.

“And he’s really not intelligent. Or brave.”

“He’s terrible at Quidditch. Embarrassingly bad, now I come to think of it,” Remus continued as an enormous grin loomed on Sirius’ face and the corners of his mouth twitched. “Merlin is he bad at Quidditch!” Sirius exclaimed. “So you know… out of him, Moony and Wormtail… Well you can see why she chose Wormtail.”

“He is an easy target,” James said.

“Hang on, why wouldn’t you go for me?”

“Moony, Moony, Moony, light of my life and sun of my eyes,” Sirius said, patting him on the head, “I love you, really I do, but you are just not boyfriend material. Also you don’t really talk to girls and I have it on good authority that that intimidates people.”

“Whose good authority?” he asked warily. Sirius shook his head, shrugged and tried to look casual. “Oh nobody you know. No one you need to worry about.”

“Sirius?” Remus’ voice had turned sharp all of a sudden and, if anyone who had ever wondered why he was friends with them had seen it, it would make more sense than it ever had before. Remus wasn’t weak, he just didn’t agree with showing his strength all the time, and there was an undeniable strength in that. They hadn’t kept him around for seven years just to amuse themselves; he was perfectly capable of holding his own against them and Sirius quailed. “Moony!” he moaned, drawing his nickname out for at least a minute. “You know how much I hate it when you use your Prefect voice on me!”

“Sirius?” he repeated again. “Who told you?”

“Nobody told me,” he admitted, “I overheard some girls saying something last week.”