The Other War // James Potter & Lily Evans

expecto patronum;

James woke, mouth dry and eyes swollen from a lack of sleep. Familiar satin curtains surrounded him, sunlight shining through a small gap where they met. He scrambled blindly for his glasses and fell out of bed with a solid thud. He rubbed his shoulder absently. It didn't hurt - it felt like it was numb yet tingly. His tattoo didn't do much, apparently. It just sat there.

Remus awoke as James changed out of his sweat soaked pyjamas.

"Morning," he said drowsily. Remus nodded. Peter snored. It was just past seven am but their late night escapades had drained them all of sleep and were tired to the bone. James fumbled with his tie as he nudged Sirius with his foot to wake him.

"Rise and shine, Padfoot. It's Friday."

"The only thing keeping my blood moving is the knowledge that tomorrow is school-free." Sirius remarked, getting up off the ground. Remus frowned.

"If I'm not thoroughly mistaken, your heart keeps your blood pumping," Remus said.

"Eh, details." Sirius shook his pyjamas off and slipped on a shirt, not bothering with his tie. Remus went and shook Peter awake.

"So, Evans, Potter, one common room, something's ought to have happened," Sirius grinned. James scoffed.

"Yeah. sure, sure," James replied. "That girl hates me with every fibre of her being."

Sirius shrugged. "There's always a chance."

The four of them walked out of the dormitory down to the common room where Lily was already awake, balancing a book on her knee. She looked up as they stumbled into the sitting area. She said nothing.

"Morning, Evans," Sirius chirped cheerily, as they passed her on the way out. James felt an urge to hug her. She looked up from her book momentarily, catching James's eye.

Lucky for them, sir Cadogan, the portrait who guarded the entrance to the head dorms, was asleep when the Marauders left. He didn't even stir as the door swung open.

"So the tattoos?" Peter asked as they walked towards the great hall.

"Mhm, yes," Remus said. "James, yours works."

"Yeah," James said quietly, obviously proud of himself.

"Can I see?" Peter asked.

"Nah, Peter, just wait. I'll show you later. Besides, you've already seen it." James replied.

"Oh, come on James," Peter whined. "I didn't get to see it last night because I fell asleep."

James exhaled shortly. "Alright, alright." He said with a grin. He wanted to show it off as much as he could - which didn't really work out that well given that the only people he could actually show were Remus, Sirius and Peter. "Mooney-" James began.

"Defence. Our next class is defence." Remus said, answering his unspoken question.

James laughed. "Thank you, Remus."

Remus bowed "I try my best."

The four of them made a detour from breakfast and clambered through the nearest hole behind a tapestry that took them straight to the DADA classrooms in the east wing, with James leading the way. When they reached one of the classrooms and had the door firmly shut behind them, James pulled off his shirt and turned his back so they could see the tattoo plain as day on his back. He scratched it absently. It ran from just below the tip of his shoulder down to his shoulder blade and looked exactly like the wand he owned.

"Cool," Peter fawned. "What does it do?"

"It moves," Remus replied.

Taking his cue, James whipped out his wand and pointed it at the pile of chairs, muttering something that made it levitate. He could see in the mirror behind him the wand on his back mimicking his exact actions. He moved his wand left and the one on his back did the same. James smirked, placing the chairs back down and turning to the others.