Work Text:
“Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Scales, Padfoot, and Prongs present The Marauders Map .” The five boys stand crowded around the table in the boys’ sixth year dormitory, eyes wide as they stare at the newly finished map that slowly unfurls before their eyes.
“Wow” Peter breathes in amazement.
“And it's completely finished, Remus? You’re sure?” asks Regulus.
“Yup!” Remus replies. “I also made it so we could still add more if we needed to. I’m sure we still haven’t discovered all the secrets this castle holds, new passages or secret corridors. So that way we can always keep our map accurate.”
James reaches down to touch it, then hesitates and looks worriedly back at Remus. “Wait, can I touch it to shift the view point now? Or will it still spray ink in my face again?”
Sirius bursts into laughter. “Your face when that happened was priceless! Moony, please tell me you programed the map to shoot ink at James whenever he touches it. That was so fucking funny, mate.”
“Not to me!” James shrieks. “I was washing ink out of my hair for a week!”
“Don’t worry, James. Your days of being sprayed with ink are over,” Remus snorts. “I worked through the last few bugs last night, so it’s all good to go.”
“That’s not the only thing he worked through last night,” Sirius says with a shit-eating grin on his face. The other boys all groan loudly at this, used to his comments by now. Remus elbows Sirius sharply, a blush starting to cover his cheeks.
“Come on Padfoot, no dirty talk in front of the child,” James says, covering Peter’s ears with his hands.
Peter twists out of his grip, fake pout on his face. “Hey hey, Regulus is technically the youngest one here, not me! Why aren’t you calling him the child?”
“Because I can’t call my boyfriend a child without harsh repercussions,” says James, throwing a wink at Regulus.
Regulus laughs at him. “Good call, Prongs.” James leans over to kiss Regulus, who pulls him in and starts snogging him noisily.
“Bleghhh,” Sirius yells, covering his eyes. “I love you Prongs, really, but that’s still my baby brother! Don’t do that disgusting stuff right in front of me!” James pulls away from Regulus, smirking.
“What’s wrong Sirius? I thought you and Remus-” Before he can continue, Sirius is tackling him to the bed.
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence” Sirius yells. James tries to speak again, but his voice is muffled from behind Sirius’s hand. James tries to push Sirius’s hand away, to no avail.
Then- “Ahh! Did you just LICK me, you absolute heathen?!” Sirius yells, and wipes his hand on James’s jumper while looking disgusted. James laughs and tries to roll away, but Sirius grabs him by his foot and pulls him back.
“Don’t you dare run from me, Potter! I will defeat you!” James lunges forward and pulls Sirius into a headlock, and they fall off the side of the bed while wrestling each other.
“You’ll never defeat me!” James cries. Remus and Regulus roll their eyes at each other and back away, knowing it’s better to let them roll around for a bit before separating them. Peter catches up with them as they walk down the stairs.
“You treat them a bit like dogs, you know?” Peter says, laughing. “You let them play with each other to tire them out before bedtime.”
Remus snorts and covers his mouth, and Regulus giggles on the other side of him. “You put it into words perfectly, Wormy.” Remus says.
“They really are dogs, aren’t they,” Regulus says, glancing back over his shoulder as he hears a loud THUMP and a squeal following.
“Bets on which one of them that was?”
“They both sound like girls when they fight each other,” Regulus says. “Could be either one.”
Peter snorts loudly. “Don’t let them hear you say that, or they’ll gang up on you.”
Regulus grins. “It’s my brother and my boyfriend. They’d kill each other if the other one even touched me.”
“I knew you had a trick up your sleeve, Reg!” Remus says. “There's no other way you would feel safe pulling them off each other whenever they fight.”
They all flop down on the couch in the common room.
“Alright, lads. What’s the plan? Anyone up for chess?” Peter asks.
“How ‘bout we go exploring?” Remus counters, pulling the map out of his pocket.
“Suppose they’ll notice we’ve gone?” says Peter, shooting a look back up the stairs again.
“Nah,” says Regulus. “It’ll be an hour till they're worn out, at least.”
The three of them laugh at that, because it’s so true.
“Merlin, that sounds bad out of context,” Remus says. “Good thing we love them, huh Reg?”
Regulus smirks. “You remember that time they had to kiss during spin the bottle? I thought one or both of them were going to barf!”
“God they acted like such babies about that,” Peter laughs.
Remus grabs his jumper, Peter grabs the cloak, and the three of them sneak out of the common room, tiptoeing past the portrait of the Fat Lady.
“Alright, Filch still has my self inking quill,” Regulus says. “Mind if we go get it back?”
“You mean the one you charmed to cheat?” Remus asks.
“Oh come on , Remus! With the map, we’ll be in and out before Filch notices a thing!”
“Can we stop by the kitchens on our way back?” inquires Peter. “Remus’s chocolate supply is running low.”
“And how would you know about MY chocolate supply, Peter?”
“What? I always forget to stock up, and yours is right in your sock drawer! If you didn’t want me taking from it you should have hidden it better!”
“He does have a point, Remus.”
“Fine, we’ll stop at the kitchens!”
Peter cheers.
“You know, the cloak and the map won’t be useful if you yell loud enough to wake the whole castle.”
“Sorry, Reg.”
“What’s the magic words again, Moony? I promise I’m up to no good?”
“Give it here, I’ll do it.” “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
Their voices fade as they make their way down the hallway, away from Gryffindor tower.