Nox (The Marauders, Wolfstar, Jily)

3: this chapter is so long and i have no regrets

"James, I swear on..." Remus paused: not entirely sure as to quite what he could swear on that would successfully convey the meaning behind his words to James Potter. They were sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, having just witnessed the sorting of the new first years and made a vague attempt to welcome several first year Gryffindors.

"On quidditch?" Sirius offered in suggestion, having paid great attention to the one of the most ridiculous arguments he'd witnessed taking place between two of his friends, because not only was it ridiculous, it also incredibly half-hearted and for the most part, just couldn't help itself when it came to being pathetic.

Sirius was sat beside Remus, being generally thankful that the height difference between the two was not so immediately obvious when they were sitting, which was largely due to the fact that Remus had this habit of slouching over a table and looking ready to curl up around it, but in earnest, the guy never seemed to have gotten enough sleep, and that was fault of nothing other than his furry little problem, or as James had once described it 'his man period that involved just as much blood and just as much fur, and maybe just a few more murderous tendencies' - Lily, had however overheard him one time and slapped him over the head with the nearest book: successfully putting the use of the nickname to a rather firm halt.

"Yeah, but Remus doesn't care about quidditch - you've got to have something we mutually care about." James spoke with a mouth full of food, which was only something the other three had gotten used to over the years.

Peter grimaced a little: sat next to James on the opposite side of the table, before finding that the perfect solution had sprung to mind. "Lily!" He proclaimed just that little fraction louder than necessary, and in consequence, catching the attention of the redhead herself, who was sat just a few spaces down the table next to Marlene McKinnon, Alice Longbottom, and Mary Macdonald, who she shared a dormitory with.

Lily turned in response to her name, however quickly let out a sigh and found herself ready to turn away when she caught sight of the dumbfounded expression upon James' face, accompanied by Peter's somewhat guilty look.

Sirius, however, decided it would be insanely amusing to see just how much he could make James blush in the space of a minute or so, and with this in mind, caught Lily's attention again. "Hey, Evans!" His voice was a little quieter than Peter's had been yet still succeeded in capturing her attention, and a few odd looks from the girls around her.

"What is it?" She called out in response: making a point of looking directly at Sirius, as not to give James false hope that she'd actually willingly partook in a conversation with him, because doing so would only lead him on, and really that was the last thing she wanted to do, yet of course, it had been a long four years, and James still hadn't got the message.

"Can you confirm that 'the hug' was a simply and strictly platonic concerned kind of hug so James doesn't end up jinxing Remus on the grounds of treachery?" He let a smirk fall back onto his face as he watched James glance in disbelief between Lily, Remus, and Sirius.

Peter continued to eat his chicken, which left Sirius assured it would be quickly solved and nothing would come of what he would in time inevitably deem one of the most pathetic arguments ever.

Lily rolled her eyes a little, inhaling deeply before turning to look James Potter in the eye - which she knew even in that moment would be something she'd come to regret. "James, stop being such a prat, it was just a hug, and hey, it's not like I'm going to be even considering hugging you any time soon, is it?"

"Lily..." James let out an odd kind of lovestruck drawl, sounding an awful lot like he'd just downed a bottle of firewhiskey, and all in all, creating such a great impression of Gryffindor house for the few first year students that had turned their heads in all the commotion. "This is our first conversation of fifth year, so I think you should at least try to be nice to me, I'm only-"