James and I laid in bed for a while before we heard the front door open and slam closed soon after. The laughter of Sirius and Remus echoed throughout the staircase and along the corridor.

I looked over at James and slowly pulled the duvet cover off of my body. "I guess it's time to get up.

James pulled me back against his bare chest, "No-, please don't go."

"I'm going to at least go say hi, and I want a snack." I replied as I pulled my robe over my body.

He smirked, "Wearing that?"

"Does it matter?"

James sat up, letting the blankets fall down his body, revealing his exposed abs. "No, bring me a snack up?"

I pressed a kiss on his cheek, "Of course."

The chatter and laughter of the other two Marauders got louder as I reach the foyer. They were sitting on one of the couches, deep in conversation, both of their faces blushed from the cold.

Remus looked at me when he heard me walk in, "Hey, Vix."

"Hello, boys. Fun night?"

Sirius grinned, "Night's not over yet."

"Well," I laughed, "I'll leave you to it."

Remus furrowed his brows, "Nice outfit?"

"You look like you just got railed." Sirius joked.

My face flushed red, "I-, I just woke up from a nap."

"Oh, okay." Sirius laughed.

Remus just gave me another one of his knowing looks and turned his attention back to Sirius, who looked a bit confused.

"Where's Prongs?"

I quickly racked my brain for an answer, "I think he went to bed early."

Sirius shrugged, "Loser."

I crossed my arms as I walked down the corridor and into the kitchen. I had no energy to cook anything, and at times like this, I wished we had a house elf.

We do at our manor in London, her name is Jilley. After much convincing from Sebastian and me, she finally agreed to accept clothes from us after three years of asking. My family has always treated her well, we even tried paying her, but she got mad.

I opened the pantry to look at the never-ending snack selection.

Perks of magic.

I grabbed a big bag of crisps, and a few Twinkie's that I shoved into the pocket of my robe.

Sirius and Remus were quiet in the living room, and I could no longer hear their chatter. They probably went upstairs.

As I walked through the living room, in an attempt to go back upstairs, Remus and Sirius were still downstairs, which was unfortunate for me.

"Oi! At least wait until I was back upstairs." I yelled as I quickly ran up the stairs.

Sirius chuckled, "Don't be jealous just because you don't have anyone to snog, Vixen."

I flipped Sirius off, "For the record, I have plenty of people that I could snog."

Sirius let out another laugh and I quickly rushed upstairs with the snacks I had gotten from the kitchen. I got a quick look at the grandfather clock in the second-floor corridor.

11:17

I sighed in exhaustion and trudged my way up to my room.

James was still sitting on our bed, with only the blankets covering his body. He had a book in his hands and was reading until his head shot up to look at me as I closed the bedroom door behind me.

I flopped down on the bed, throwing the bag of crisps to James.

"What's wrong, darling?"

I laughed, "I wouldn't go downstairs for a bit."

"Why-"

James stopped talking as a wave of realization swept across his blood rushed face. He chuckled, "I will keep that in mind, at least you got food."

I pulled the Twinkie's out of my robe pocket, "I brought these too."

His beautiful hazel eyes widened, "I fucking love these-, I wish the wizarding world had these!"

"We do." I stated as I opened one of the cream-filled pastries. "They're called cream puffs."

James sighed, "It's not the same."

I rolled my eyes at my boyfriend-, it still felt weird calling him that. Boyfriend.

"Remus knows." I blurted.

James stopped eating and looked at me. Shit, he's going to be mad.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Moony is incredibly smart-, not to mention his werewolf sixth sense or something. He knew I liked you before I even knew that I liked you."

I grinned at him, "He knew before I did."

"Bastard." James muttered before he let out a quiet laugh.

"Does Sirius know?" I asked.

James pulled me close to him, and his bare skin felt warm against my legs. "I don't think so."

"He asked me if I was just shagging someone when I went downstairs," I admitted, "He said I looked the part."

James laughed, "Well you do-, for obvious reasons."

I playfully hit James in the arm.

He grinned, "I don't think he knows, I hate keeping secrets from my best friend."

"Then we'll tell him."

James looked at me, "I thought we weren't telling anyone yet?"

I bit my lip, "But he's Padfoot, he and Moony are our best friends."

"Us Marauders are quite good at keeping secrets."

I laughed, "Damn right, one of us is a werewolf and the other three are illegal animagi."

James' chest moved as he laughed. "At least we'll have a long-lasting legacy."

We continued talking for a while until the clock read midnight. Both of us were tired and in need of sleep, but neither of us wanted to go to bed.

The war is coming. We all know this, but we never talk about it. We are just sixteen, barely children-, not yet adults.

It was no secret that my sleep was always ridden with nightmares, and the horrors of the upcoming war, but James Potter is the only person who can distract me from these. He is the only person who is able to take away the nightmares, and falling asleep next to him makes me almost forget about the nightmares and fear that creep into my life when I'm not busy, I'm alone, or even when I'm sitting in class.

James was my best friend, and he always will be. But now, it's just more. The more that I had been wanting since fifth year when he was blindly in love with Lily Evans.

• • • • •

The light was shining in through the windows, peeking in through the drawn curtains.

The first thing I noticed as I woke up was that I was alone.

James' side of the bed was empty, and I was left with only the memories of his arms around my waist.

I stretched as I stepped out of bed, pulling on my jumper from one of the dresser drawers, along with a pair of leggings. My feet slid into my slippers, and I trudged down the corridor to the bathroom.

The boys were being loud downstairs, and I assumed that's where James was. I could faintly make out the sound of his laugh along with Remus and Sirius's.

I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and pulled my messy hair into a ponytail.

When I reached the main floor, the sounds of the boys wreaking havoc in the kitchen became louder with every step I took towards the kitchen.

"Good morning." I mumbled as I walked into the kitchen.

Remus was making a cup of tea, Sirius was sitting on one of the barstools at the kitchen island, and James was making breakfast with the apron on.

They all turned to look at me.

Remus smiled, "Morning, Daph."

"Coffee?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, please." I replied, my voice groggy from sleep.

James was staring at me, a smile plastered on his face, and his eyes lit up as he saw me. He gave me a look and ushered me over to the stove.

"Good morning, love." James whispered, quickly kissing me on the lips.

My face blushed.

Well, I guess this is how we're telling them.

"What're you cooking, love?"

Sirius stood up, his mug slamming against the counter. "What the fuck is happening?" He questioned, his voice loud and extremely confused.

"Um-, we're dating." James replied, his voice sarcastic as if Sirius should have already known this piece of information.

Sirius rubbed his eyes dramatically and walked closer to James and me. "Am I seeing this shit?" He turned to Remus, "Is this a dream, Moony?"

I let out a nervous laugh, "It's not a dream, James and I are dating."

"Did you know about this?" Sirius asked, turning to look at Remus, who was stifling a laugh.

"Yes, it was quite obvious."

Sirius looked back at us again, "How long?"

"W-, what?" I stuttered.

Remus's brows furrowed, "I'm not even going to ask."

"-Have you been dating, Vix?" Sirius added.

"Since Christmas." James grinned before he turned around to check on the scrambled eggs that he was making.

A look of confusion crossed Sirius's face as he put all the pieces together. His grey eyes darted between James and I, before settling on me.

"Wait-, wait, so last night-"

"Yes, Padfoot?"

He squinted at me, "That's why you looked like you you had been shagged! Because you were."

"Good job, darling." Remus muttered as he took a sip from his mug.

James, who had turned off the stove and was now giving his full attention to the conversation, was turning red in the face as Sirius's accusation.

"T-, that's not true." I argued, crossing my arms.

Sirius looked at James.

"Prongs?"

James' face blushed darker, and he was trying not to grin.

"You dog!" Sirius exclaimed.

"No, you dog." I joked.

Remus starting laughing his arse off, despite trying his best not to get involved in the conversation.

James looked at Sirius, and mouthed something along the lines of 'I'll tell you later'.

I hit James in the arm, "Can we just eat breakfast?"

"Oh, hungry are you?" Sirius questioned.

I scoffed, "I think I should be asking you that, Padfoot."

Now it was Remus's turn to blush, and Sirius's turn to deny the events of last night.

We ate breakfast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes, and then discussed our plans for the day.

Tomorrow is New Year's eve, so we could either go out tomorrow or go out tonight and stay in tomorrow.

"I say we go out both nights." Sirius admitted as he bit into his bacon.

James glared at him, "You're going to get way too crossed tonight, be hungover all day tomorrow, then be too tired to go out tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow is New Year's eve," Remus announced, "Clubs will be more fun tomorrow."

"They'll be busy, though, almost too busy." I replied.

Even though I hadn't lived in Paris since I was younger, we still went on holidays here, so I knew how crazy tomorrow night would be.

After about ten minutes of bickering, we decided to stay home today, but go out for dinner, then go out on the town tomorrow.

"I'm going to shower." I said as I stood up from the table and brought my dishes to the sink.

James winked at me.

Remus nodded, politely.

Sirius had a slightly evil glint in his sterling silver-colored eyes.

"Prongs, aren't you going to go with?"

James scoffed, "Daphne is perfectly capable of working a shower by herself, plus I'm going to wash the dishes."

I rolled my eyes, "You cooked, someone else can do the dishes."

He dropped his fork on his plate. "I-, is that an invitation?" James looked a bit flustered now, which was hilarious to watch.

"Of course-," I smiled, "Not. I was just saying someone else can do the dishes because you cooked."

James groaned, letting his head rest in his hands.

Sirius and Remus were having a laughing fit as I slipped out of the kitchen to go upstairs.

I quickly grabbed my robe from my bedroom, and walked to the bathroom, closing the door, but not locking it.

Just in case.

The pipes squeaked as I turned on the shower, turning it to the hottest temperature.

I was beginning to strip out of my clothes when there was a knock on the door.

James.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?" James asked, his voice muffled behind the door.