Falling // Wolfstar

Thirty Six

Peter, Remus, and Sirius stand in a huddle in the middle of their dorm. It's broad daylight, but they're all dressed up in black head to toe. Peter claims it keeps them hidden from plain sight, though Remus argues it will only make them stand out while everybody else is dressed in the school uniforms.

"This is ridiculous why don't we just ask him?" Remus whispers.

"He won't admit it," Peter insists.

"I don't think that -" Remus stands up from their huddle with a huff. "Why are we whispering? There's nobody in here but us!"

Sirius pulls Remus back down and shushes him. "Moony, don't blow our cover," he reprimands.

Remus rolls his eyes. "Yeah, because three guys dressed like ninjas won't stand out at all."

Ignoring him, Sirius carries on with their plan. "Operation stalking Prongs until we catch him snogging Evans is a go." He sticks his hand in the middle and the others pile theirs on top. "Four on three."

"On three or after three?" Peter asks.

Remus is about to protest when Sirius starts to count, "One, two, three-"

"Four!" Peter and Remus chant.

"Alright we all know our positions." Sirius swings open the door and they all file out. "He should be getting out of practice soon. And Evans -"

"Evans what?"

The boys freeze on the spot when they come across Lily standing outside of the portrait. They exchange worrisome glances, but not one dares to speak. Lily stands with her arms crossed; her blue painted nails drum against her elbow. She gives them all a once over, noticing their ridiculous attire. Her skepticism only grows.

"Is looking absolutely gorgeous today," Peter finally says. The others nod along in agreement. "Where are you headed?"

"The quidditch pitch if you must know."

The boys move to surround her as the stairs shift. "What for?" Sirius inquires.

Lily turns her head to face Sirius and raises an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me so many questions?"

"Answering a question with a question!" Peter exclaims.

Lily snaps her head to the other side and rolls her eyes. "You think you three are in a position to think I'm being suspicious? Have you looked in the mirror lately?"

When the stairs stop moving, Lily breaks free from the boys; her long emerald cloak drifts behind elegantly and disappears around the corner. The second Lily is gone, the boys take off in the opposite direction. Sirius sprints down the corridor with Peter and Remus hot on his tail, racing to get to the quidditch pitch before Lily can.

They come to a halt at the archway, peering around the corner to make sure the coast is clear.

"I shouldn't have eaten that muffin for breakfast," Remus gasps, clutching his stomach.

"Don't throw up on me," Peter whispers. "This is cashmere."

Not too long after, they finally make it to the quidditch pitch just in time. It took a bit longer than anticipated due to Peter's spontaneous desire to make snow angels and Sirius' frolicking around in the piles of freshly fallen snow.

A few Gryffindor players carry their brooms in hand as they leave, passing the Marauders with odd glances. Peter crouches behind the doors and pokes his head out. Straight ahead is the entrance to the locker rooms.

"Evans alert!" Sirius whispers.

They flatten their backs against the wall when Lily walks past. The moment she passes, they stack on top of one another to get a clear view.

"There he is!" Peter announces, waving his finger excitedly.

Remus slaps his hand over Peter's mouth. "Any louder Wormtail!" he quietly scolds.

Sirius chuckles when realization hits. A soft smile settles on his face. That was the first time Remus had called one of them by their nicknames since the accident.

Lily stands outside the locker room patiently. Snow flutters down from the sky and kiss the top of her head before melting away. James appears from the locker room dressed in a sweatshirt with his jersey over it. He leans against the doorway with his arm propped over Lily's head in a flirtatious stance. They exchange a few words when James moves his head  to face their direction.

The three boys scramble on top of each other to stay hidden.

"You think he saw us?" Sirius whispers.

"Oh he did."

Slowly, they trail their eyes from the dirty boots all the way up to the rats nest of a hairdo. James rests against his broomstick when his mouth gapes open. "You guys wore matching outfits without me?" he whines.

Remus sinks into the floor. "I was opposed to it," he murmurs.

"Lily said she saw you making snow angels too. Why were you following her anyway?"

"We think you're keeping a secret from us," Sirius says as he gets to his feet. James stares back in perplexity. "A secret lover, if you will."

James takes his glasses off and wipes them with his sleeve. "Sorry, I was just making sure I wasn't imaging this. You think I'm having a secret relationship with Lily?"

Peter points an accusing finger at James. "We never said anything about Lily!" Remus puts his hand on Peter's shoulder to pull him back.

"Mates, as much as I wish I was, I'm not." He slings his arm around Peter's shoulder and leads them back up to the castle. "For the record, you lot make terrible spies."

"So if Lily wasn't going to see you, what's she doing here?" Sirius asks.

"Believe it or not, I'm not the only person on the quidditch team."

"Mhm." Sirius scoops up a handful of snow hanging only a few feet behind the others. He rolls it into a tight pact snowball and smirks mischievously. "Oi Prongs!"

James turns around and is smacked right in the face with Sirius' snowball. Without missing a beat, he bends down to make his own, but instead chucks it at Remus. Dumbfound, Remus wipes his rosy cheek with a laugh. The four disperse on the grounds, gathering snow as fast as they can. Madness ensues and snowballs are being bombarding on one another with no mercy.

Remus ducks just in time from Peter's attack and launches his own at Sirius' back. His hands are shaky from the cold, but he manages to collect enough snow for another snowball. When he searches for his next target, three snowballs pelt him right in the chest, causing him to fall back.

His body is sunken three inches deep in the snow and he does nothing but stare up at the white sky. The sheer vastness is hypnotizing. Three heads appear above him with identical grins. James' glasses are displaced on his nose, Peter's face is red as a tomato, and Sirius' hair has seen better days. They look utterly ridiculous.

"You alright?" James asks.

A laugh builds its way from his stomach all the way to his chest, and he erupts into a fit of laughter. Remus presses a hand to his forehead and sniffles; his body is numb to the touch and snow is in places where snow should never be, but he's still laughing. Happiness consumes him. "I've never been better."