"You've been laid!"
James looked down at himself, then back to Sirius. "How the bleeding hell can you tell?" he asked, so flabbergasted he forgot to even try to cover up for dignity's sake.
Lily was laughing as Sirius jumped over the fencing and punched James in the shoulder, "You - you git! You didn't mirror me to tell me? WHEN?" Sirius looked at Lily, "And it's obviously you who's boinked him. I expect all of the details. I'll get you a quill and parchment if you want to give a go at illustration..."
"Oh stop, you pervert," Lily laughed, her face pink. She pushed Sirius's arm. "Mind your own business, you nosy fool."
"But really, you'll tell me later, won't you?" Sirius asked conspiratorially.
"You'll have to wait until next Tuesday... or a bank holiday."
"Damn it," Sirius muttered, but he was grinning. "I should hate you, hogging all the James to yourself... and we all know he's plural... What wouldn't I give for just one wild night of passion..."
Remus cleared his throat.
"Sorry, babe," Sirius whirled about, "You know I love you most. But I had a gander at Prongsie's pecs in the mirror and you'd be jealous of Evans, too, if you'd seen'em..." Sirius mimed grabbing at James's pecs and James swatted his hand away, ducking back behind Lily, who laughed so hard she snorted, and Sirius jumped after James anyway, flinging himself upon him so that James had to catch him and Sirius wrapped his legs 'round James middle, laying his head on his shoulder. "And I thought I was going to be your first!" he fake-cried.
Lily rolled her eyes, "Get a room."
"Evans, you're supposed to defend my honor," James said, muffled by Sirius's body.
Remus was shaking his head as he walked forward to join them by the fence, "Bleeding glad I love you, or else I'd call the whole thing off..." he muttered as he ducked 'round the gate.
"But really, how did he know?" asked Peter, glancing to Regulus with questioning eyes. Regulus shrugged. "But really - how?" Peter insisted.
James shrugged Sirius off him finally, "Alright, alright," he said, "Later - there's plenty of time for this later. Right now, we've got things more important to attend to..."
"More important than appeasing your forgotten lover?" Sirius teased, but he stopped with a look from James, the moment for joking about it having come to an end.
James's eyes landed on Regulus. "Hey Reg." He held out his palm to shake hands. Regulus took his hand and James pulled Regulus into a tight hug. "I'm bloody glad you're alright."
Regulus looked surprised. "You're not cross with me?"
"Why would I be?" James asked.
Regulus looked down, "Because of the duel..."
James shook his head, "You didn't have a choice, mate, I know. Voldemort was there. You had to play your part. I'm glad you did. And blimey, that was a great Flippendo! Really excellent."
Regulus flushed. "Yeah? Sorry about that, though."
"Yeah, you were really great. And very convincing."
"Very," Lily spoke up quietly from behind James, remembering the rage that had been in Regulus's eyes when he'd played the part of hollering at her for being a mudblood... the intent that had weighted his voice as he'd started to cast the interrupted crucio... "Never thought I'd be happy to hear You Know Who's voice, but when he interrupted you... well, thank gods."
Regulus said, "I wouldn't have done it..."
"You would've," Lily said, shaking her head, "And you should've. You can't be found out - he'd kill you for certain. I was really impressed how brave you were." She grabbed James's arm. "Both of you were so bleeding brave."
Regulus smiled shyly, looking down at his feet.
Sirius's head was bouncing from one to the other as they spoke, as though watching a sporting match. "Am I going to get more details or are you lot just going to go on talking in code?"
Remus elbowed Sirius, "Hush."
James laughed, "Forget who you're talking to, did you Moony? I'm surprised he's been hushed as long as he has already."
Remus shrugged, "I've clearly misplaced myself."
Lily reached over and patted Sirius's arm, "It's alright. You're just a curious good boy, aren't you?"
Sirius eyed her.
Remus smirked.
James looked about, "C'mon, we'll go back to the Shack. I didn't expect you lot to bring Regulus out or I would've said we ought to meet there to begin with. The woods aren't safe, we know that already..." he said darkly, thinking of Severus Snape and Fenrir Greyback meeting in the forest back in the autumn.
They all trekked their way back to the Shrieking Shack as the moon, bright though it was waning, lit the world in it's pale blue ethereal light. James held Lily's hand, keeping her from tripping on stones and rough ground. They arrived in the Shack and James waved his wand to lock the door behind them. Sirius plowed his way up the stairs to the boys' clubhouse, and the others followed, Regulus stepping gingery over the rickety stairs.
The Marauders had set a disillusionment charm over the room they'd fixed up so that when Regulus turned the corner and looked about he found a quite dismal scene rather than the comfortable beds and decorations that they'd redone the room with. Instead, Regulus watched as Sirius flopped himself into a broken bed with shredded, dirty drapes hanging from a busted canopy. He raised his eyebrow. "This is where you lot hang about?" he sounded doubtful.
James looked over at him, then around the room, "What's the matter with it?" he asked.
Remus said, "He can't see it." And with a quick rap of his wand on Regulus's scalp, the room revealed itself to him and his eyes widened as everything magically became so much nicer and more like he might have expected from the Marauders.
"Whoa," he murmured, looking about the room. "Cool!"
Remus smiled, "Good to know our charm worked." Sirius was laying across the bed he was in, stretched out and feet up on the headboard, his hair hanging over the foot as he stared up at the others. "Shove over," Remus demanded, sitting next to him.
James waved Regulus to a seat as he and Lily sat on the edge of the second bed side-by-side, and Regulus sat on the big plush chair opposite the beds. He tried not to look at Sirius and Remus, still a little uncomfortable with their relationship. He didn't care that they were gay, it wasn't that, he just wasn't sure how to act about them just yet, even though he knew it had been years that they'd been together. He didn't get much exposure to homosexuals, and it was still awkward for him. Add on that the more he thought about it, the more he worried that they thought he was judging them, even though he wasn't... and he cast his eyes away, since it was just easier.
James cleared his throat and Regulus looked up, meeting his gaze. "I wanted to thank you, Reg," James said sincerely. "If it wasn't for you..." he nervously clutched Lily's hand. "Well, I reckon that whole situation would have gone a great deal differently."
Regulus nodded, "I reckon..."
"And thank you for taking care of the locket," James added. He looked to Sirius and Remus, "As soon as Regulus knew what was going on, he sent the locket to me via his elf and kept it safe from getting into Voldemort's hands." He looked meaningfully at Sirius, who had rolled over and was sitting up now that the more serious talk had begun. He looked at Regulus as James spoke, describing how Regulus had gotten the locket and the message of Lily's predicament to James via Kreacher, and all about the duel and Regulus's bravery and deception in the presence of the Dark Lord. "Ruddy brilliant, and very convincing," James concluded.
Sirius looked down at his boots, studying them rather hard.
"Anyway, I plan to call an Order meeting once holidays are over and everyone's settled back at the castle, but I reckon this whole thing pertains more to you, Reg, and you, Lily, than it does anyone else at the mo', and I think that you lot need to be the ones to decide how we proceed with the locket."
"Proceed with it?" Regulus asked, confused.
"Well yes," James said, "I mean, I've got it -not on me but I know where it's at, of course - but I'm not sure that's the best solution."
Lily spoke up, "Your mother said she knew how to destroy it."
Regulus and Sirius glanced at one another, Sirius's eyebrow raised. Regulus said, "Well... I mean, she might. I don't know for certain. She says that's why she's hunting for it - because she needs to destroy it, but I don't know that she knows how to." Regulus paused, then offered, "I mean, Sirius's reducto spells were really good, and they didn't even leave a mark on it..." He looked to Sirius again, hoping the compliment would make Sirius happier and more accepting, but Sirius seemed to be busy studying his fingernails and didn't even look up.
"Well, what are you suggesting, Lily? That we give the locket to Mrs. Black?" Remus questioned, confused.
"Not give," Lily said, shrugging, "But maybe... destroy it with her help, sort of."
Sirius snorted, "Help from mother? Good fucking luck."
Regulus started to react but James cleared his throat, cutting them off, "I actually... I might have an idea. And, well, it's sort of why I wanted to meet with you lot, I wanted to... see what you thought of it, and - and I have a question for Remus that needs answering to see if it'll work at all."
They were all looking at him expectantly.
James launched into the description of his plan, and the others listened with rapt attention, their eyes wide at the daring it involved. Peter squeaked and rubbed his wrist, afraid of what it would take, and Lily shivered and argued a bit with parts of James's idea, and Sirius said bold things about killing Voldemort and ending the war... Remus alone listened in utter silence until the very end of the plan. James looked directly into Remus's eyes as the final words fell from his mouth. James asked, "What do you think, Moony? Is there a way for it to work, given the contract, without anyone getting hurt? And if there is, do you reckon the curse you've set falls on the right person?"
Remus drew a deep breath, "I think you're an absolute nutter."
"We established that a long time ago, Moonpie," Sirius said, smirking.
Remus shook his head, "Bloody insane..."
"But do you reckon it'll work?" James pressed.
Lily looked tearful and afraid, glancing between James and Remus, and Peter had his eyes closed, his hands clasping one another... Regulus pale and avoiding Sirius's gaze, which had fallen on him as Remus considered.
"Yeah," Remus said finally, "I reckon it just might."