Eye of the Serpent | HP MARAUDER ERA [2]

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"I..." I hesitated, not entirely certain about whether I liked the nickname or not. However, there was a more pressing question that I wanted to ask them, so I ignored James's question for the time being. I cleared my throat, unsure of how to go about asking this. "Wait... so this is basically my... Marauder nickname...?"

I had thought about it quite a few times: whether James, Sirius, Remus and Peter actually considered me one of them. I knew that they were my best friends and we had already established that, but sometimes I still wondered if being Marauders was their thing. I hadn't wanted to intrude, which was why I had never actually considered myself a Marauder.

But officially being considered a Marauder opened up many more questions, including ones pertaining to being an Animagus... I couldn't think about that at the moment, though, because there were many reasons why it was a bad idea.

"Of course," Sirius scoffed. "Duh. What else would it be?"

"Do you like it?" James asked eagerly once more. "If you like it: wonderful. If you don't like it: still wonderful. Like I said, none of us actually liked our nicknames at first. It also took us a while to establish what they would be. Sirius wanted to call Peter 'Rabies' for the longest time. In retrospect, you're extremely lucky we came up with a good name for you. What do you think?"

"Er... well... it kind of makes me sound cute and cuddly, doesn't it?" I said, frowning.

James rolled his eyes and threw his hands in the air to emphasize what he was saying. "Come on, Bianca, you're a lion. We had to make the nickname at least a little bit cute!" he yelped. Upon seeing my glare, he quickly added, "You know, to take away from the awesome scariness. Besides, I've already told you this: you are cuddly, no matter how much you fight the idea."

"I'm not cuddly," I said flatly, narrowing my eyes into thin slits.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are," he insisted.

"No I'm not."

"So stubborn. Moony and Wormtail agree with me. Right guys?" James asked the two boys, who had been quiet. He whirled around, finding that Remus and Peter were no longer standing where they had been a minute ago.

"I'm not getting in the middle of this," said Remus's voice.

Sirius, James and I turned to see that Peter had crawled back into his own bed, bringing Remus with him. Peter was sleeping again—it was a wonder how he could fall asleep so quickly, amidst all of the noise and loud conversations between me, James and Sirius.

"He reeled me in," Remus explained upon seeing the inquisitive looks we each sent his way. He tried to wrench his arm from Peter's tight hold, but to no avail. Finally, he sunk back into the pillow, looking annoyed and completely unamused. "This happens way too often. Help."

"Nah, I reckon I'll just let him squeeze you to death," Sirius mused.

Remus gave him a dirty look. "Bad boy. Guys, next time I have chocolate, remind me not to give Sirius any—it's poisonous to dogs." He continued to struggle in Peter's hold.

"Lupin with the sass," said Sirius, raising his eyebrows.

"On second thought, all the more reason to give it to him."

"Ouch. Maybe I'll go cuddle Peter too, he looks a little unhappy with his current, extremely uptight cuddle buddy."

James turned back to me, a smirk making its way onto his lips. "You're even cuddlier than Peter over there."