Chapter Text
Wednesday the 20th of October 1976 Hogwarts
James POV
Remus and Lily are sitting together at their usual table in the library laughing over some joke Remus just told. Lily lightly swats at him playfully, her hand lingering on his forearm. James and Sirius are peering around a set of bookshelves pretending to look through titles, but in reality are both unable to look away from the scene ahead. Like a car wreck. It makes James’ stomach twist with jealousy. He doesn’t want to feel this way, especially towards one of his closest mates. Sirius cuts James’ laser gaze by grabbing him by the shoulders forcing him to look into his eyes. “You’re killing yourself.”
“She’s smitten! I stand no chance, Pads! I mean come on!” James gestures towards them with a grimace on his face. Lily is now leaning on her hand with her elbow on the table listening to Remus read aloud. James’ dramatically covers his eyes and turns away, “Gods! I can’t watch!”
Sirius pulls James’ hands away from his eyes, “Let’s just say something. Tell Moony to back off a little. He’s never had a big interest in birds before anyway.” Sirius squeezes James’ shoulders comfortingly, “I can almost promise you he’d back down if you just asked.”
“And what if he likes her? And I have to live a life of loneliness. Attend their wedding, watch them raise their kids, go to their no-doubt-bloody-brilliant children’s graduations.” He grumbles on turning back to watch them, “She’s never looked at me like that, I’m going to be sick.” He turns away again, covering his mouth.
“Do you want me to say something to him? I will.”
“No, no it’s fine. I’m overreact-” James’ then cut off by the loudest laugh he’s ever heard Lily produce. They turn to see Remus is failing to hold back his own laugh while attempting to quiet Lily down in the calm library. He’s looking around the other tables and muttering apologies to surrounding students who are trying to study while attempting to cover Lily’s mouth with his frantic hands. James’ gaze doesn’t move from the sight as he white-knuckle grips the bookshelf they have been hiding behind and mutters through gritted teeth, “On second thought, let’s have a chat with Moony.”
✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦
While waiting for Remus to return to their shared dorm, the three other marauders make a plan to confront him. James and Sirius explain what they saw in the library to a furrowed-brow-faced Peter.
“I really don’t think Moony likes her.” Peter frowns after listening to James and Sirius’ plan for their confrontation with Remus. “I’m like 95% sure he’s gay.”
“Wormtail!” Sirius hisses, “Don’t be rude!”
“Rude? He listens to almost exclusively Bowie, spends probably equal amounts of time in the girls’ dorms as he does here…just spending time with them, and is notoriously good at keeping a secret. The proof is in his chocolate pudding is all I’m saying.” He holds his hands up in a surrender-like position.
“Remus is not,” Sirius lowers his voice, “gay.”
“Pads, it's not a bad word, lighten up it’s nearly 1977.”
James laughs and chimes in, “If Moony is actually gay I think I’d be the luckiest sod on this side of the Atlantic.”
Sirius throws a pillow at James, “Moony is not like that!” He swoops his gaze towards Peter as if trying to prove a point when he is quickly cut off, “He’s not ga- hey Moon- Remus! Hi.”
Remus’ expression is highly confused as he’s carrying a stack of books, slowly entering the dorm room. “Hello.” He says suspiciously.
“Hi.” All three boys chorus in unison, each straightening their positions.
“Okay, what the fuck was that.”
“Nothing!” James walks forward and takes the books from Remus and gently sets them on the nearest flat surface. As he does so Sirius has taken Remus by the shoulders and is sitting him down on the nearest bed, which happens to be Peter’s, where Peter is already sitting. Remus is getting visibly more suspicious.
James and Sirius are now standing in front of a sitting Remus and Peter as if they are about to do a school presentation. With anxious body language and nudging each other for one of them to start. Remus just sighs, “What?”
Sirius starts, “So as you, I am sure are well aware of,” Sirius wraps an arm around James’ shoulders, “our little Prongsie here has a major crush on Evans.”
James elbows Sirius in the ribs, “‘Major’ is excessive.”
Peter mutters, “More like generous.”
“Anyway, so we are here to politely ask you to…uh… Back the fuck off?”
“Pads!” James reprimands.
“What?” Sirius exclaims looking back and forth between James’ and Remus’ faces.
Remus’ concern quickly fades into laughter. He smiles when he asks, “That’s it?”
James’ and Sirius’ faces snap back to Remus at the same time with furrowed brows.
“I will gladly- How did you put it? ‘Back the fuck off’?” Remus seems as though he can’t help but keep laughing. As if they were being ridiculous. “I assure you I do not like Lily like that. She’s just a friend.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes! I would never. And I obviously wouldn’t do that to you, Prongs.”
James lets out a relieved exhale that flows into a laugh. He escapes Sirius’ hold and launches forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Remus’ neck and folding him down against the bed, landing them both halfway into Peter’s lap, “THANK HEAVENS! Moony! Have I ever told you I love you? Because I do! Tremendously!”
Remus laughs but adds many refusals through his giggles, “Prongs! Enough! Enough!”
Sirius dog piles on top of the mess of boys and, after a string of groans from Remus and Peter have quieted down, adds with a huge grin, “I felt left out.”
James plants a huge loud kiss on Remus’ cheek. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am!”
“I feel it, don’t worry.” Remus forces out through squished cheeks as if he has no air left in his lungs.
James roughly shoves his way to standing up, effectively flinging Sirius to the ground. “OI!”
He stands before a now much more disheveled looking Remus who is slowly sitting back up and trying his best to straighten his shirt, “You are 100% sure?”
Remus holds back a groan. “Yes.”
“110%?”
“110%.”
“120%?”
Remus sighs. “James, I assure you I have absolutely zero interest in Lily Jane Evans.”
James gasps and sounds terribly sad as he whines, “You know her middle name?”
Remus rolls his eyes and groans, “Christ.”
Peter chimes in with, “You know, Moony while we're asking you things-”
Sirius, who is laying on the ground watching Remus and James with his hands under his resting head, sits up in record speed, “Wormy, no!”
Remus looks between the two of them and them back to James before taking a deep breath. He wipes his sweating palms on the fabric of his trousers and licks his lips. He knows his nervousness is visible, but he clears his throat, forcing it to fade as he decides, “Wormtail, you know I uh- like your style.” Remus cringes at his own words.
Peter snorts, “What?”
“I just mean I’ve always agreed with you on a lot of things. Book taste. Choice of candy.” Remus clears his throat as he continues wiping his sweaty hands on his dark trousers before forcing his hands to keep still.
All three of them are side-eyeing each other with confusion as to where this is going. Peter seems to catch on first as he beams, “Ah, yes, mhm.”
“And I too, am about,” He pauses with an awkward chuckle, “95% sure I’m gay.” Remus almost flinches at his own confession.
The silence is deafening. Remus can feel and hear the blood pumping in his ears. The sentence hanging in the thick air.
It is finally broken with, “I knew it!” Peter laughs and rocks Remus by his shoulders back and forth, roughly. Remus’ mouth cracks a smile as relief flows over his entire body. From his ears to his ankles.
James seems to be still catching up but his shoulders rise and he raises both hands to cover his mouth dramatically as he shouts, “No! You’re yanking my chain!” James falls to his knees in front of Remus and roughly grabs either side of Remus’ face forcing him to look into his eyes. “Are you having me on?”
Remus is now smiling widely and shakes his head “no”.
James starts running around the dorm in celebration, “I need to buy a lottery ticket. Fuck, I need to buy three. Can you win the lottery three times in a row? I feel like I could today.”
Remus’ eyes start to tear up as he watches James’ excitement and take the moment in for its reality. Peter turns Remus so they’re looking at one another and lowers his voice as James’ cheers continue. In a genuine but still playful tone adds, “Proud of you, Moony. Thanks for telling us.”
James stops abruptly and looks back at Remus, “Yes. Yes! Thank you, Moony, for being gay. And of course trusting us enough to tell us or whatever.” James jokes and Remus lets out a wet laugh, but blushes at James’ immediate acceptance.
Sirius has been noticeably silent for this whole show, so Remus swallows and simply asks, “Pads?”
Sirius seemingly snaps out of the strong hold his gaze had on the wooden panels of the floor. He lets out a humorless chuckle, “Yeah, thanks Moons.” He clears his throat and stiffs while wiping at his nose before standing up. He walks into the bathroom without another word. Remus would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a pull in his stomach.