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March 17, 1979
“Hold me Moony, I feel like I’m in a sea of Slytherins!”
Remus had half a second to brace himself before his arms were full of his boyfriend and his highly weather-inappropriate leather jacket (which James had suggested charming green to fit the day more. Sirius was not happy with the suggestion). “Yes, but these people are happy, Padfoot, there’s no way they’re Slytherins. They’re Canadian.”
“But Moony! There’s green EVERYWHERE!” Sirius hopped back down and gestured around wildly, swaying a bit. Lily’s cousin who didn’t speak any English whatsoever started drinking at 7 a.m., and raised with the belief that no one should ever drink alone, Sirius had joined him. Remus had pulled up a chair, and a glass, as well. To supervise of course. Not to get drunk at 7 a.m. or anything irresponsible like that. “Wish you’d let me wear my Gryffindor scarf, then everything wouldn’t be so… green and Slytherin-y.”
“Shut up, Black, we haven’t even made it to the main street yet.” Lily was wearing a tall top hat slathered in green sparkles with her dark red hair cascading down like every Irish dream. Not to be outdone by his fiancée, James was wearing an identical one, although with his hair (and the red extensions he had Sirius put in for him), it actually had to be charmed to stay on.
“What exactly are we doing?” Peter asked, speed walking to keep up with the group. He was definitely getting better at it.
“The St. Patrick’s Day parade, of course,” Remus supplied, trying not to look too drunk or excited, “I was reading up on it—”
“Of course you were, my little book-Moony.” Sirius tapped the end of his boyfriend’s scarred nose lovingly.
“Thank you Pads—apparently Montreal has the longest continuous St. Patrick’s Day parade in North America.”
“Wow,” Sirius looked incredibly thoughtful for all of two seconds. “I’ve got no idea what that means, love.”
“It means there’s a really big parade and we’re going to stand out in the cold and watch it.”
“Oh, well that I understand!” Sirius glanced at something ahead of them. “Sweet Merlin. Smoked meat! Prongs—”
Now, Sirius actually said something rapidly in French before darting off down the street. Naturally, though not understanding what Sirius said in the least, James followed close behind with a grin. (Sirius could actually speak perfect French, “My overly posh upbringing actually has some perks, who knew!”, and while no one was surprised, it did make controlling him in front of muggles all the more difficult.)
Remus and Lily picked up the pace a bit. Peter fell behind and disappeared into the crowd.
“Wait, Lily, just how many muggles are going to be out here?”
“Umm…” Lily paled and walked faster.
“Lily, I understand that you thought this trip was going to be just you and James, but surely you know by now that one witch alone—however brilliant she may be—is not enough to stop James ‘I must do that semi-illegal thing right this very second’ Fleamont Potter. And now that we have two other idiots to deal with—” Remus paused and did a 360 turn. “No, scratch that, we’ve lost one already.”
“Well, at least Peter’s the least likely to do something incredibly stupid. Stupid maybe, but not James or Sirius stupid.”
“Lily-love!” James jumped in front of them. “Look what Padfoot found, it’s the most glorious thing I’ve ever eaten in my life—don’t tell my mother I said that.”
Lily tried her hardest to be angry at her fiancé for running off, but he was currently holding a large take away box of steaming poutine. “I’ve already had a plate of it this year,” she said, more so to herself. Remus was being fed by a gleeful Sirius. “Fine, but I'm only having a little.”
12:15 p.m.
Had Sirius not been overly concerned about his boyfriend’s physical condition, he definitely would have asked to sit on his shoulders. And had Remus not still been recovering from the full moon, he probably would have said yes.
Instead, Sirius hoisted himself onto James’s shoulders (stealing his top hat in the process). Lily was not terribly impressed (although Remus bought her a plate of smoked meat as an apology, and that made it a little bit better).
“Oi, is that Wormtail?”
Everyone looked at the passing float, which had a giant (very unrealistic) leprechaun. Several people were on it throwing candy into the crowd.
“Yes, that’s definitely him all right.” Remus and Lily exchanged looks.
“You were supposed to be watching him,” she hissed.
“Me? If you haven’t noticed, my boyfriend is a bit of a handful in these types of situations.”
“Your boyfriend?! My fiancé’s worse.”
“Yeah Wormtail, over here mate!” Sirius and James waved vigorously. How Sirius managed to stay upright was a complete and utter miracle, especially when he kind of dove a bit to catch the candy.
“Then again, maybe it’s the two of them combined that makes everything so stressful.”
“I will definitely drink to that,” Lily agreed.
“How the bloody hell did he get up there? Moony!”
“Oh hell, yes Pads?”
“Can I get on the float?”
“No, you can only get on at the start of the parade,” Remus replied smoothly.
Lily gave him thumbs up on the quick thinking.
“Bugger. Next year though, right?”
“Sure, Pads, next year.” Remus heavily considered using a memory charm on him later, but decided against it. He would still remember somehow, and they’d just be in the same spot again next year.
*One parade, six pocketfuls of candy, two green coloured beers each, and three plates of poutine (shared between them of course) later*
“This was an absolutely smashing vacation plan, Prongs, thanks for the invite!” Sirius clapped his best friend on the shoulder, then wrapped Remus’s arm around him
James pitched forward a bit. “You did kind of invite yourself along, but I’m bloody happy you all came. Marauders are better in fours.”
“Did you see me on the float?” Peter asked for the fourth time, just as excitedly as the first three times. “Was I, or was I not brilliant?”
“You were the best one on there! How’d you manage that, out of curiosity and pre-planning for next year of course.” Sirius ruffled Peter’s thin hair.
“I don’t really know actually, one second I was lost, and the next someone was handing me a bucket of candy while speaking rapid French, and I was shoved onto the float.”
The Marauders laughed as Peter acted out his adventures.
Lily groaned, holding her stomach tightly.
“Lily-love! You alright?” James wrapped a concerned arm around his fiancée.
“Just a bit queasy. I definitely stress-ate too much poutine, and smoked meat. Should be fine in a bit.”
“Are you sure you’re not pregnant?”
Remus face-palmed. Sirius (with his zero sense of danger) even shuffled closer into his boyfriend’s side. Peter (who had a much better sense of danger) hid behind the two of them.
Lily stopped and stared up at James.
“James.”
“Yes, Lily-love?”
“One more question like that, and you are sleeping over at Black’s for a month. Understood?”
“Yes my love.”
They walked in silence for a bit, and Lily did feel a bit better.
“So… anyone up for another round?” Sirius quipped.
Lily sighed. “Fine, but I swear to Merlin, I’m not eating any more poutine.”
They did go for more green coloured drinks, and Lily did indeed have more poutine. She only regretted it a little in the morning.