The Furry Little Problem || The Marauders (Book 2)

5. PETER

The ride to the castle was rather dismal with the air so stiff with tension that Peter was finding it quite difficult to breath.

Since they were not in their first year anymore, Peter, Sirius, James and Remus had to take the self drawn chariots to the school. Peter had at first been excited about the chariot ride, but the feeling had dripped away quietly as he looked on at the faces of his friends.

Sirius, of course, was still furious. After waving goodbye to his brother, he had joined them back near the gates of the station only to complain audibly about the unfairiness of the chariots for having enough room to seat four- they would have to let Remus tag along with them.

James of course tried to laugh off Sirius's rather mean remarks, though even his efforts seemed half-hearted. Peter suspected it was because of Sirius's little brother. Sirius had introduced Regulus to Peter once they all got off the Hogwarts Express and Peter had noticed that Regulus very obviously and strongly disliked James- a fact that bothered James quite a lot. And the fact that Sirius laughed and brushed it off when James asked him about it only seemed to make the matter worse.

Remus, to his part, seemed perfectly composed, that is if you ignored his sagging shoulders and glassy eyes. He was also quieter than usual as he tried his level best to pretend that he couldn't hear Sirius.

So in all, the chariot ride to the castle was sad and grey even though the sky outside was clear and the winds merry.

Peeves certainly didn't help. The poltergeist was floating upside down over the Hufflepuff hourglass and just as James spotted him and alerted the rest, he pelted them with a dungbomb. They barely made it out of the nasty fumes to the Great Hall for the start of term feast.

The feast turned out to be incredibly eventful. 

Regulus was sorted into Slytherin, just as Peter had expected (he was a Black after all). This seemed to make Sirius even sourer and his remarks at Remus only grew worse and worse.

When, for the third time, Sirius asked Jasper Mathews for a spell to enlarge their dorm so that he could sleep as far away from Remus as possible, Remus Lupin, who was sitting diagonal to Sirius, stood up so suddenly that every head that had heard the bench creak turned toward them. He then proceeded to lift up his plate and move to the end of the table for the rest of the night.

Peter had thought that maybe James would subdue the situation but it seemed he was having troubles of his own. He had had five different cutlery thrown at him from five different directions. Peter first thought that it must have been Snape's doing but Snape seemed busy in his conversation with Malfoy. As if that, on top of dealing with Sirius and Remus wasn't enough for the poor lad, Lily Evans somehow charmed James's pudding bowl to smack him in the face.

By the end of the night Sirius was more miffed than ever, Remus seemed close to tears, James had two spoon shaped bruises on his forehead and pudding on his robes, and Peter was extremely confused and lost at the sudden turn of events.

After the feast, they walked up to the common room with their spirits frayed, legs tired and eyes droopy. As they crawled through the portrait hole, Peter thought that it was the end of the night, but apparently that was not the case. Just as they were about to climb the staircase up to their dorm, a first year ran up to James.

"Are you James Potter?" he asked innocently.

James, the poor soul, who perhaps thought that may be he was getting famous for one reason or the other, broadened his pointy shoulders as much as he possibly could and replied- "Yes."

The eleven year old boy then proceeded to kick James in the shins and then run up to his room slamming the door shut.

"What in the bloody hell?" said Sirius as James doubled over in pain.

"Alright, I'm done! This day sucked as much as it possibly could and now I want it to be over," Peter said. He heaved a big sigh and started walking up the stairs with the others in his wake. 

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A/N: I know it has really been a looong time since my last update and I promise faster updates as an apology. 

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