It was a bit before five at night, and all of the boys were already hyped up. The three of them were already waiting for me in the kitchen when I walked down the stairs.

I had chosen to wear a yellow bikini with green flowers on it. I had thrown a fluffy white robe over it. The boys were all in their swim trunks with their jumpers and hoodies still on.

They were deep in conversation with each other about their plans for the trip.

"I see you found the kitchen." I joked as I walked into the room. They all turned to look at me, surprised by my presence.

"I'm going to need a map of this place."

"Okay Padfoot," I laughed, "I will make sure to get you a map as soon as possible."

Remus laughed, "What's the plan for tonight?"

"Well," I began, "We could go out on the town, or we could get food delivered and then go out tomorrow."

"Do you have firewhiskey?" James asked in full seriousness.

Remus hit him in the arm, "I'm not dealing with a drunk James."

"Yes, we have a whole cellar of alcohol." I admitted watching the devilish glint appear in James' hazel eyes.

"Where?" James and Sirius chimed in unison.

I rolled my eyes, "I'll show you later, I thought you lot wanted to swim?"

After they all nodded in agreement, I led them down the corridor to the double doors that opened into the pool room. The back wall was all windows, which looked out onto the gardens. During the summer, the windows opened up to the patio, but in the winter, they stayed closed to keep the pool warm.

Sirius pulled his shirt over his head and cannonballed into the deep end, splashing Remus.

"Oh, you're a goner." Remus mocked.

He pulled his shirt over his head and jumped into the pool after Sirius. The two boys were flinging water at each other and attempting to dunk each other's heads under the water.

James and I laughed at the sight.

Merlin, they are so in love.

I pulled on the bow of my robe, undoing it. As I slide my robe down my shoulders, the warm air felt cold against my bare skin. I set my robe on one of the chairs and grabbed four towels from the linen closet.

When I turned back around, I caught James looking up and down my body. His hazel eyes lingered a bit too long, and I caught his gaze as his eyes met mine.

"Like what you see?" I teased.

James grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it over his head. I caught my eyes trailing.

I had always assumed that James had a good body, and I had seen him shirtless before-, but not recently. James had toned abs, and his body was slightly tanned despite it being late December. His abs led down to his v-line.

"I could ask you the same thing," James mocked, "Eyes up."

I scoffed, "And I could say the exact same thing. My eyes are up here." I pointed to my face and then pointed back to him.

"Oh yeah? Really?"

"Really."

I screamed as James flung me over his shoulder. He was dying with laughter as he got closer to the edge of the pool. My scream turned into laughter as Sirius and Remus started laughing as well.

"Nice arse, Vixen." Sirius yelled.

I flipped him off despite not being able to see him.

"Ready?"

"James put me down-"

The touch of his body against mine left as he threw me over his shoulder and into the pool. Luckily for me, I managed to grab his hand and bring him with me.

The cool water enveloped me as I broke the surface of the pool. The water was warm but felt cold against my skin which lingered of James's touch.

My head broke through the surface, and James followed momentarily after. I realized our hands were still intertwined and I quickly pulled my hand out of his.

James shook his head getting water droplets all over me.

"Nice one, Vix." Remus announced.

"I let her pull me in."

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Sure you did Prongs, and I'm a virgin." He shot a wink at Remus.

• • • • •

After messing around in the pool for about an hour, we all went to our separate rooms to change into some warm clothes.

"Dibs on showering first!" James yelled as he brushed past me to go to his room.

His fingers lingered on the bare skin of my waist.

"James, we each have our own bathroom."

He turned around and kissed me on the cheek, "I love this fucking house."

Just like that, James disappeared with the sound of his bedroom door closing behind him.

My hand grasped the cold knob of my door and turned it. The room I was staying in had oak herringbone floors, like most of the house.

The floor creaked softly under my weight as I walked over to my dresser to get some clothes. The dresser, nightstand, vanity, and wardrobe were all a pale antique blue, matching the bed. Like every other guest room, this one had a queen-sized bed. The headboard was the same pale blue, with some yellow, and the occasional flower.

This room was usually Bea's.

The furniture contrasted against the white walls, adding some much-needed color to the room. There was a small vanity pushed up against the wall, with a matching wooden bench. As far as decor goes, there was a white fur rug, a chandelier, and yellow curtains in front of the tall windows.

Much like the whole house, there was no wall decor. Mum wasn't one for filling the walls with art or family photos. She says it's tacky, but I think it adds character.

Wrapping my robe tightly around my body, I grabbed my clothes off of my dresser and headed for the bathroom.

There were two on this floor. One for James. One for me.

I could vaguely hear him singing Go Your Own Way by a muggle band, called Fleetwood Mac. James was a bit off-key.

Stifling a laugh, I walked over to the bathroom door. I could hear the sound of the shower running and his god awful singing.

"If I could, baby, I'd give you my world-"

I banged on the door, and a scream followed.

"Bloody hell, I almost slipped!"

"You're a wonderful singer, Prongs." I teased, leaning up against the wall outside of the bathroom.

James laughed, "I know, wanna sing a duet?"

"Later, I have to shower."

There was silence.

"James-"

The bathroom door flew open, making me stumble a bit. James was standing in the doorway with a towel hung low around his hips. His curly wet hair dripped water droplets onto his forehead.

"It's better for the environment to shower together, you know?" James laughed, winking at me as he brushed past me to go to his room.

I stood in the doorway.

What the fuck is happening.

I huffed and stomped down the hallway to my bathroom.

The bathroom had checkered floors and sparkling white counters. The lighting was always brighter in here.

I untied my robe and hung it on the hook, next to my towel, as I turned the shower on. Peeling off my damp swimsuit I stepped into the shower, letting the water run down my body.

Thankfully, I had locked the door, because the shower was all glass so if anyone walked in right about now-

The hot water warmed my body as I went through my shower routine.

After I was done, I turned the water off and wrapped my plush white towel around me.

I quickly dried off and got dressed, eager to meet the boys downstairs.

As I walked down the stairs, the sound of yelling echoed throughout the foyer. I could distinctly hear Sirius yelling something about "Complete bullshit", and Remus replying with, "How do you not know what a VHS is?"

I walked into the living room and saw Sirius in complete amazing mixed with irritation, Remus just shaking his head, and James laughing his arse off on one of the sofas.

"Daphne, can you please explain VHS to Sirius?" Remus begged as he heard me enter the room.

I let out a small laugh, "It's a Video Home System, so you record something, with a camera, edit it, with a muggle computer, and transfer it to a VCR."

"I still don't understand what kind of witchcraft this is!"

James chuckled, "How have you never seen The Godfather!"

"As much as I enjoy this lovers quarrel, what should we do for dinner?" I asked, taking a seat across from James.

"What are my options, ma chérie?" James questioned, glancing over at me.

I thought for a second.

"There's a French restaurant not far from here, it's in a wizard neighborhood."

Remus stood up, "Good I'm hungry, can we walk, or should we Floo?"

"It's less than half a kilometer."

Sirius pulled James off of the couch, "That's splendid, we should be going."

"Coats!"

James turned around, "Thanks for reminding me, Moomy."

Remus just rolled his eyes as he handed me my coat from the hook. I shrugged on my long wool coat, my Gryffindor hat, and began out the door with the boys in tow.

I locked the door behind us, and we were off to dinner.

• • • • •

Being quite tired from the day of traveling, the four of us decided to go sightseeing tomorrow when it's actually light out. We settled on watching movies at the house for the night, where it was warm, where there was a never-ending pantry filled with all sorts of snacks-, courtesy of magic.

I had brought out bottles of absinthe, cognac, and of course wine.

"What the fuck is this?" Sirius asked, eyeing the green liquor.

James grabbed the bottle, "It's absinthe you moron, read the label."

"It's not like firewhiskey, it's extremely strong, and some people even claim it has psychedelic properties."

Sirius yanked the bottle from James, "I will definitely be trying this."

As Sirius and James argued over alcohol, Remus helped me set up the VHS so that we could watch movies. I was familiar with most muggle technology, but that doesn't mean I actually know how to work it. Seb, my older brother, was always the one to get movies started for us.

Sirius insisted on watching Romeo and Juliet, because it was the only movie that he had heard of, and James insisted that he was the one who told Sirius about it.

After settling in, Sirius and Remus were cuddled up on one couch with a blanket, leaving James and me on the other couch.

James tugged on the corner of my blanket. When I didn't react he did it again.

"What?"

"Can we share? I'm cold." James pouted.

I rolled my eyes and lifted the blanket as he moved closer to me. After a little bit of shuffling, James and I got comfortable and got back to watching the movie.

Romeo and Juliet reminds me of my own life.

Despite not being blood supremacists, my parents have still brought up the idea of an arranged marriage, particularly because it's the 70s. I, however, think it's complete bullshit because it's 1976 for Merlin's sake!

I don't want an arranged marriage, I want a romance. Even if it does end tragically like Romeo and Juliet's does.

The characters on the screen moved back and forth as Father Laurence gave the potion to Juliet.

I glanced over at Sirius, who was wide awake in Remus's embrace, his full attention on the movie. He was watching as if his life depended on it.

The sound of television began to fade out as I laid on James's chest. It's quite funny, this was the only way we were both comfortable and could both share a blanket, all the while having a good view of the television.

James' steady heartbeat lured me into sleep as the sounds of the movie faded out, along with the world around me.