Remus dropped the thick book onto the coffee table unceremoniously with a loud thud that made both Lily and Sirius jump.

The cover was dark purple, accented with a dark silver foiling that curled in thin calligraphic embellishments around the corner so of the book, all meeting and twisting, weaving together to form the title across the top. Below that, a silver stamped image of the easily recognizable face of Gellert Grindelwald stared up at them, blinking in a bored sort of manner, pausing to inspect his finger nails every few moments.

Sirius stared at the book - as did Lily, James, and Remus - and then he looked up, eyes darting between James and Remus, who had come out from down the hallway together just the moment before. Finally, his stare landed on Remus. "What the fuck is that?" he asked, pointing to it.

"Now I know you don't read very often, but I did hope you'd at least recognize a book when it's presented to you," Remus quipped gently, hoping to break the already electrifying tension that was crackling around the room.

"I know it's a fucking book," Sirius said, then clarified, "Why is that particular fucking book on our coffee table?"

"That is a question which we will need to ask Peter," Remus said flatly.

Sirius's eyes widened and he looked at the book again, then back up at Remus, "Excuse me?"

"This came from Peter's room," Remus said. "Just now."

Lily, who was still staring at the book, murmured, "Why would he be reading Gellert Grindelwald's writing?"

"That," said James, "Is the question that I think we all need to settle down and discuss to get to the end of."

Sirius reached forward and flipped the book over, trying to cover up Grindelwald's face, only to find that there was another photo of him on the back by a little blurb about the author. Sirius scowled. "Why are bad guys so notoriously good looking? Like what is that? Is there some kind of like Bad Guy Hotness requirement I don't know about? You must be this hot to be certified evil. Like that fucking stupid wooden giraffe which measures your height to see you reach the minimum meter requirement at that muggle amusement park by the sea."

"You're still so bitter about that thing?" James intoned, looking at Sirius. "It isn't the giraffe's fault you're a bleeding smurf."

"First of all, I passed the test every time, and second -"

"Just bitter you had to prove you could, though, 'ey?" James smirked.

"Plenty of ugly people have been evil," Remus cut in.

"Thank you Rey, keeping us on task," Lily nodded.

"I'm on task!" James, who was not at all on task, said quickly. "I agree with Remus. There's loads of ugly evil blokes. Why... Just consider Sn----" James stopped mid sentence when Lily looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "...some of the death eaters," he said, twisting the Ssss into another word as quickly as he could.

"Smooth," Sirius teased. "None of us know what you were going to say." He smirked up at James.

James fought back a smirk.

"Besides, Grindelwald is ugly on account of his attitudes and beliefs," Lily said. "I think evil shows through the skin." She lifted the book up and turned it back over to the front cover, staring with distaste at the pale face of Gellert Grindelwald, who stared coldly right back up at her. "He caused so much pain and suffering for so many people for so many years... You can see it in his eyes."

James nodded, "I agree."

Sirius said, "Okay his eyes are kinda..." he made a face and waved his hands, then, "But look at his jawline, Merlin's third nipple!" Remus cleared his throat and Sirius said, "Don't worry Moony, I'm not really looking - at Grindy's jaw OR Merlin's nubbins."

Remus mouthed the words Merlin's nubbins and shook his head.

James said, "There's only so many reasons that I can think of that a bloke would have to have this book laying about. But I don't want to jump to conclusions about my mate."

Sirius sighed. "Me either."

Remus, Lily, and James looked at Sirius in surprise. "You don't?" Remus asked.

Sirius shrugged, "No."

James looked at Remus and Remus's brow cinched with concern. James looked to Sirius, "You've used every chance to bully up Pete you've ever had since we met him. Why the change?"

"Did you incorporate Peter?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged again. "And I see I've been rather hard on him over the years..."

"You were shouting you were going to murder him not even half an hour ago," Remus reminded him.

"You know I speak in hyperboles." He pronounced it like hyper-bowls.

"Hy-per-bol-le," Remus corrected.

Sirius grinned, "Those as well."

Remus shook his head, "Gods, I can't keep up with the roller coaster tonight." He turned and went for the kitchen after the chocolate milk.

Lily reached over and squeezed Sirius's hand.

James picked up the book off the table and sank into one of the chairs, flipping through the pages again.

This was the state in which Peter found them when he finally came through the door a few minutes later, expecting Remus and Sirius to already have gone to bed. He'd seen to it that Oni Lamm was safe in the curry restaurant's front door downstairs before he'd come up through the stairs 'round back and let himself in.

At the sound of the key in the door, James had sat forward and murmured, "Here we go..."

Peter looked about in surprise at everyone gathered in the living room, and it was only then, upon seeing James's raised eyebrow and the way Sirius sat up, that he remembered having left Nymphadora Tonks at the flat alone. His intention had been to return ages before anyone else arrived to find her alone, but the speech at Speaker's Corner and the subsequent conversation at the pub off Knockturn Alley had been terribly fascinating, and surely would have a huge impact on his and Oni's plans... He'd just completely forgotten about Tonks.

Nothing was blown up or anything, nobody was crying or panicked. There was no evidence that she'd been anything but perfectly fine.

"All my friends! How - how is everyone?" Peter stammered. "I didn't expect you to be awake!" he added, looking at Sirius, then, to Lily, "Or for you to be here!"

Remus came back from the kitchen carrying the bottle of chocolate milk and a glass. He stopped short when he saw Peter, then knocked back his glass of chocolate milk and refilled the glass. "Oh bloody hell," he murmured.

"What are you all still doing up?" Peter asked.

"Waiting for you," said James.

Peter twitched nervously, then spun around and shrugged off his jacket and kicked off his shoes. "For me?" he asked. "What for?"

"You haven't got to be afraid of us," Sirius said, sensing the anxiety going up in Peter's demeanor. "I mean, you're an arsehole that's endangered one of the only cousins I give a flying fuck about, but it isn't like I'm going to murder you."

Peter shivered. He turned back about to face them, his things hung up neatly in their places.

"We just have some questions is all," James said.

"Q-questions?"

"What were you bleedin' thinking, leaving a child her age here alone?" Sirius demanded. "And second, what the fuck is this book?" He reached over and yanked it out of James's hands, throwing it to the ground at Peter's feet. "Besides fuel for the next fire we burn, that is?"

Peter looked at the book, Grindelwald smirking up at him from the floor. "You - you went in my room?" Peter demanded, looking up, an expression of surprise or betrayal playing his features. "Why did you go into my room?"

"Tonks let herself into it, searching for something you were supposedly having her guard."

Peter bit his lips.

"Why would you have this book?" James asked.

"Educational reading," Peter said.

"You left school," Remus pointed out.

Peter scrambled, "Doesn't mean I got rid of all my books, does it? Doesn't mean I can't try at learning some stuff for myself. You lot studied loads of dark wizards at Hogwarts, why's it different that I am now? It just seemed relevant! With all that's going on --"

Remus sighed, "But Grindelwald, Pete..."

Peter shook his head, "You lot always think the worst of me. Every time. Every time, it's either you -" he pointed at Sirius, "- threatening to kill me and calling me a liar... or else I just get forgotten altogether. You lot barely know me. I live under your same roof and you lot barely know me. And I suppose that's a lot of my own fault, not - not trying hard enough but the rest of you don't have to try at being friends with each other. It's what I get, being in the middle of a load of lovers, isn't it?"

His face was red.

Sirius could feel the anguish and the frustration. He'd felt a large amount of it when he'd touched Peter's arm and the love magic had struck him and he felt it now and it reminded him of that funny, sticky feeling like a cold sweat on your back. "Pete, I'm sorry," Sirius said and he meant it, too, because if he'd made Peter feel like this... 

"No don't be," Peter said quickly, and he shook his head, "Don't be. I'm sorry." He paused. "I'm sorry." He grabbed the book up from the floor and stared at it for a moment. "I need some air." He turned 'round and, carrying the book, went right back to the door and out it, leaving the other four there.

Lily got up from the couch hurriedly. "Pete, wait --" she said and she hurried after him.

James looked between Remus and Sirius. "That went spiffingly."

Remus rubbed his temple with two fingers and closed his eyes. "It's a night for deeply repressed emotions I guess... Anything you want to share with us James?" he was joking, but James took him seriously - at least in part.

"I don't want to learn how to drive the car," he said.

Sirius looked at James, then back to Remus. "I mean, he's not wrong. Peter, that is. Peter really has always been the fifth wheel," Sirius continued. "Even when there was only four of us, he was still the bleedin' fifth wheel."

"It's his own fault half the time," James said. "For example, that time we didn't take him camping and he got all angry about it. That wasn't completely on us. He'd been invited and he knows where we camp. He knows how to use the Knight Bus. He could've just come to the camp instead of assuming the worst of us and just deciding we didn't really want him to come along."

"To be fair," Remus interjected, "He turns into a rat. The two of you are much larger animals and you run a good way through the woods to get us to the campsite from the spot the Knight Bus would drop him off - he'd never make it walking that far as a rat. Or as a boy, for that matter."

Sirius murmured, "He'd probably have a better go of it as a rat, actually."

"He knows how to use owls. He could've written to us, then!" James wasn't ready to let go of his point.

****

Co Author's note:

kjjjjji

****

"What I don't like is that there was some implication to Tonks that something in Peter's room needed to be guarded and that she didn't think even Sirius or I were allowed to go in there," Remus said. "She thought she had to keep whatever it was secret from us. Then I go in there and there's a book about Grindelwald. That's disturbing to me."

"It's just a bloody book," Sirius said. "Like Peter said, he could be reading it for any reason."

James shook his head, "I don't know. I think it's something to keep our eyes on at any rate."

"I don't think he really means anything bad by it," Sirius said. "I didn't feel anything bad, intention-wise."

Remus sighed. "Alright," he relented. "We keep an eye on  it."

They stood there rather awkwardly for a few moments, then Sirius said, "Why the fuck don't you want to drive the car, Prongs?"

James said, "There's just such a lot of knobs and levers!"

"That's why you learn which ones to pull and turn 'til you know how to make her purr." Sirius grinned with a twinkle to his eyes. "Isn't that right, Moony?"

Remus raised his eyebrow.

James scoffed. "The car is not like - like whatever you're referring to."

Sirius's smirk only grew. "There's more similarities than you might think."

Remus titled his head like a dog, squinting at Sirius. "I ... I'm not sure what you're referring to, either."

"Well that's interesting, seeing as you're usually there."

"USUALLY?" Remus asked.

Sirius's laugh came out as a loud bark as he threw his head back.

James shook his head, "I think I ought to go out after Evans and Pete after all... you lot are getting into some dangerous territory."

Sirius's laughter increased.

Remus waved a palm at him.

Sirius finally composed himself and said, "Seriously though, Prongs, it really isn't as complicated as it seems, driving."

James scoffed, "Yeah, maybe once you know how to. It's the lessons I'm worried about."

"The lessons?" Remus asked, "Wouldn't Lily teach you?"

"That's what I'm worried about!" James said. "You remember what Lily's like in a car?"

Sirius nodded solemnly.

Remus said, "You poor bloke. May you rest in peace." 

James laughed.

"I'll teach you," Sirius volunteered.

"Yeah?" James looked interested in this.

"Yeah, why not?" Sirius said, "It'll be a jolly good time. Padfoot and Prongs on Tour." Sirius waved his palm as though admiring a marquee.

James grinned and the mischief was in his eyes, just like the old days back at Hogwarts.

"Merlin have mercy," Remus murmured and he went back to the kitchen for more chocolate milk.