Chapter Text
It just wasn't fair. Peter didn't understand why things had to be different. Every year he, James, Remus, and Black had spent this day together, tormenting all the happy couples in Hogwarts with Stink Bombs and Cursed Cupids. But today James had Quidditch training with the new Gryffindor Chaser, whilst Black and Remus had spent their Valentine’s Days in Hogmeade with Mary and Marlene. Peter had spent his day alone.
No one had told him. No one had warned him that this year would be different, that he would be expected to spend it with someone other than his best friends. But everyone else had just seemed to know, without being told. Even James had tried asking Lily to Hogsmeade before he’d gotten roped into training. Of course, she’d said no. Peter thought she might have been planning to spend the day with Snape anyway, not that he could understand why.
So Peter was alone. He couldn't bear to listen to Black drone on and on about his date with Mary, how they had gone to The Three Broomsticks and he had sweet-talked Rosmerta into giving them Firewhiskey. Or how, after the Firewhiskey, Mary had let Sirius take her behind the pub and kiss her.
Remus wasn't as bad, though the more Black went on the more he talked. As if he was trying to compete. He had kissed Marlene as well, although there had been no alcohol involved with them. They had gone to Scrivenshaft's and Remus had bought her a quill with the sickels he had been saving up for their trip to Diagon Alley in the summer.
As Peter made his way down to the kitchens, running his hands along the wall beside him, he thought about how they had all spent this day in previous years. Black and James had seemed to have a constant supply of Stink Bombs since first year, and they had made good use of them all the way through their first term.
The boys had seemed to think they had become predictable by February however, as Stink Bombs were no longer causing the kind of chaos that they had in mind. Having had received plenty of Howlers since his sorting, Black had had the idea to send them to some of the people in their year with Valentine's Day messages.
James had been the one to suggest that they charm the Howlers to sing to their recipients, rather than howl. He and Remus had worked out how to do that, as well as how to make them repeat the song for hours, while Peter came up with the list of who they should send the Howlers to.
Of course, Sirius had his own opinions of this so the list grew from just their fellow first years, to include people from the student body and faculty. When Valentine’s Day came you could hardly find a spot in the castle where you couldn't see a poor soul walking down a corridor steadfastly ignoring the singing envelope that followed behind them.
Their second and third years had gone much the same way, and included a few more surprises for the castle. In their third year, they figured out a way to fuse a Fiibuster’s Firework with a mild love potion, so that anyone it came in contact with would briefly become obsessed with whoever they first laid eyes on. This had turned out to be a mistake, as the first person their victims laid eyes on tended to be whoever had just thrown a firework at them.
Black had dubbed these their Cursed Cupids and had vowed to use them only for good. This meant that he snuck into the Slytherin common room under James’ Invisibility Cloak and threw their entire supply into the middle of a crowd of wannabe Death Eaters, including Snape, Avery, and Muliciber.
“Oi, Pete!”
The voice brought Peter back to the present. He spun round to see James Potters' face floating towards him out of the darkness.
“What are you doing down here?” he asked, whipping the cloak off and throwing it over his shoulder. James had a large piece of parchment that had been folded over on itself many times, as well as his wand and a self-inking quill.
“Just going to the kitchens” Peter mumbled, kicking the ground.
James ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up even more than the cloak had done. He had started doing that recently but usually only when the girls were about. James looked at him for a second and then a slow smile started to appear at the corner of his mouth.
“Had enough of listening to Sirius’ bragging, had you?”
“I-” Peter started.
“I’ve been listening to it all evening. Couldn’t take it anymore so I came out to do some work on the map.” James explained.
“Oh.”
“It's really coming along. I think we’ve got most of the castle done now. Just need to find a way into the Ravenclaw common room and then we can start on the grounds.”
“You mean you've done Dumbledore’s office already?” he exclaimed. It had only been a week ago that he and Remus had been caught trying to get past the statue without a password by Filch and been given three nights of detentions scrubbing cauldrons.
“Yeah, I had to help Hooch take a dodgy bludger up there earlier today during practice. Looked like someone tried to curse it.”
“Who could do that?” he asked quietly. James looked at him worriedly.
“I’m not sure. It would take some strong magic to do it right.” James perked up, “But luckily they didn't manage it. They did manage to fuck up a perfectly good bludger though.”
“Oh well, that's good then,” Peter said.
James was quiet for a moment, looking at him again.
“So the kitchens then?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m not really hungry. Just didn’t want to be around Black and Remus anymore.” Peter answered glumly.
“Well if you’re not hungry we shouldn't bother the house elves. They have enough to do.” James said. “Why don't you come with me instead?”
James folded up the parchment he was still holding and put it in his back pocket. Then he slung an arm around Peter’s shoulder and started to steer him away from the kitchens.
“I thought you were working on the map?” he asked him.
“Nah I’ve done enough for tonight I think. I want to talk to you”
“With me?” Peter felt his face heat up. “What about?”
“How are you?”
“What do you mean how am I?” Peter threw James’s arm off of him. “I’m fine”
James stopped walking and pulled Peter around to face him. “Are you? Because you’ve been weird with us for days.”
Peter looked at the floor, not answering.
“Ever since you found out about Sirius and Moony taking the girls to Hogsmeade.” James pressed on, trying to catch his eye.
“What about it?”
“Well, I want to know why? Why is it bothering you?”
“It's not.”
“Pete.”
“I just didn't know, ok? No one told me that that was what we were doing this year,” he said in a rush, still looking anywhere but at James.
“Oh”
“And I had been working on something. A- a spell.”
“What kind of spell?” James asked him.
“A spell to turn all the chocolates into soap,” he mumbled.
“Pete that's brilliant!” James laughed.
“Is it?”
“Yeah, it is. And really impressive magic too.”
A warm feeling started to spread through Peters's chest at the praise. It was so rare that he got a chance to talk to James like this, without Black or Evans stealing his attention away. It was like it had been before Hogwarts when it had been just the two of them.
“Yeah. Yeah, it took ages to get right. I kept just making the chocolate slippery and dropping it instead.”
They started walking again, cutting through the shortcut behind a tapestry of an enchanted forest that Remus had found back in second year.
James listened to him talk about how he had worked out the spell most of the way back to the common room. They fell into an easy silence before they reach it and Peter started thinking about what he’d said to James before.
“Is it bad? That I didn't know?” he asked.
James seemed to have been expecting the question. “No. I don’t think so.”
“It doesn't mean I’m behind?”
“I don’t think it means anything.”
“Should I have asked someone after you guys all did?”
“No, I don't think so. You shouldn’t ask someone just because we did.”
“No one would have gone with me anyway,” he muttered.
James stopped them and turned him to face him again.
“Don’t be silly.”
“It's ok. I know I’m not like the rest of you.”
“Lily didn’t go with me.”
“That’s because she’s Evans. You could have asked anyone else and they would have gone with you.”
“Evans is the only girl I wanted to go with. Doesn't matter what the rest of them would have done.”
“S’not the point though.” Peter kicked the ground again.
“It should be the point. Don’t go asking people out if you don't like them,” James insisted.
They were silent for a moment. Peter wanted to go back to the dormitory but something kept him there.
“I've never even kissed anyone” he admitted sulkily.
“Neither have I,” James said. “And Remus and Sirius only had their first kisses today. Sirius might act like he knows it all, but he has no more experience with girls than the rest of us.”
“No one would kiss me,” he muttered, looking at the ground.
“I'll kiss you.”
Peter wasn't sure he had heard him. He looked up at the boy in front of him. James was looking at him intensely as Peter felt his face heat up again and his palms started sweating.
“What?”
“I said I’ll kiss you,” he repeated.
Before Peter could think of a response James stepped towards him. He took Peter’s face in one hand and his waist in the other, drawing him in close. Slowly, James leaned in and their lips met. Peter closed his eyes and put his hands on James’ sides.
James lingered for a moment, and then pulled away slowly. When Peter opened his eyes he saw James looking down at him, smiling. When Peter didn’t say anything he took a step back and ran a hand through his hair again. Peter let his hands fall from his sides.
“There,” he said. “Now we’ve both been kissed.”
With that, he slung his arm back around Peter’s shoulders and started walking them back to the Gryffindor common room.