It was evening in the Gryffindor common room, only a few students lingered, most opting for an early night. Sirius lay with his head in Remus's lap by the fire. Remus had a book in one hand while the other absently played with Sirius's hair.

Meanwhile, James sat on the floor playing Exploding Snap, to which Peter was becoming furiously determined to win, failing each time. On the other side of the common room, Lily Evans and Alice Fortescue sat cross-legged on the sofa, questioning each other with flashcards.

In the corner of the room, Mary Macdonald was lying on the floor in deep thought as she wrote a letter, unaware of Peter's not-so-subtle glances at her. By the window, Marlene McKinnon groaned as she struggled to find the right piece in her jigsaw puzzle, running her hands through her hair and muttering something along the lines of, "Where's the bloody cat's tail?"

Suddenly, Remus let out a short bout of laughter. Sirius looked up at him quizzically. "Hm?"

Remus shook his head. "I was just thinking about what it'd be like if we played Monopoly. Chaos, I'd reckon..."

Sirius raised an eyebrow now, shifting to sit next to him. "Monopoly? What's that?"

"You don't know what Monopoly is? How? It's like... one of the most famous Muggle board games ever!"

"Nope, never heard of it."

"Really?! Hey, James? Have you heard of Monopoly?"

"Mono-what? Dunno what you're on about, mate."

"How...? Pete?"

"Heard of it, but never played."

Remus tutted. "Right, we gotta change this... Hey, Evans!" he called. Continuing when she looked up, "These idiots have never played Monopoly! Do you have it?"

"Really? Huh... pure-bloods are so clueless..." she muttered, ignoring Marlene's cry of indignation. "Uh, yeah, I think I have it in my trunk. I'll go get it."

She hurried off upstairs. Remus sat back as he waited for her to return. This was going to be chaos.

-•°•°•°•-

The game started simple. Marlene, Mary, and Alice had caught on to what they were doing and were all too eager to join in. Then they'd picked their game pieces. Sirius had smirked as he picked the dog, refusing to comment when Lily asked why James had broken down laughing.

Marlene had picked the battleship, a glint in her eye as she whispered, "I don't know how to play, but you're all going down..." Lily had chosen the cat, saying it had always been her favourite growing up. James had grinned as he selected the race car, saying it was the only one "cool enough" for him.

Alice had gone for the top hat, while Mary chose the wheelbarrow. Peter picked the boot, which left Remus with the thimble. Once they all had their tokens, Lily explained the rules. "Alright, listen up. You buy properties, pay rent when someone else owns them, and try not to go bankrupt. The cards throw in some random stuff, but that's the gist." She directed her gaze to James now. "I think it's simple enough that even you might get it."

A competitive smirk appeared on his face. "That a challenge, Evans?" And the game began.

Peter took a surprising lead in the early game, laughing as he bought the last of the four train stations. His smirk didn't last long, however, as Lily soon caught up, buying both blue properties in the first five minutes of the game.

James was cocky at first, buying everything he could get his hands on, though the glint in his eye dimmed slightly when he landed on the blue Mayfair, paying £10 to Lily with a dramatic sigh.

Sirius appeared to have a similar strategy as he bought almost everything he landed on. Eventually, though, his overconfidence came back to bite him in his butt. Rolling a six, he was forced onto Go to Jail, as he pouted, nearly begging Remus for his Get Out of Jail Free card, to which the werewolf steadfastly declined.

Remus's turn was next. He rolled a two, taking him to Chance.

Take a trip to King's Cross.

"Going to Hogwarts, Moony?" James asked as Remus rolled his eyes, shaking his head in resignation as he handed a proud Peter £200.

Marlene rolled next, frowning as she got a Community Chest. "You bought five chocolate frogs for James, lose £100? I thought this was a Muggle game!"

Remus could have sworn he caught James stuffing a wand back into his pocket as Marlene shrugged, putting the required amount in Free Parking. Mary's turn came next. She landed on... Hogwarts? And this time Remus was certain James hastily put away his wand. He shot him a suspicious look. "James... you got something to share with the class?"

James's grin didn't falter. "Whatever do you mean, Moony?"

Remus just shook his head, his Marauder instincts kicking in as he decided to simply let the chaos roll on. Alice was next. She rolled the dice and landed on one of Sirius's properties, paying him with an optimistic, "Oh well, better luck next time!"

The game progressed, and as it did, more and more players went bankrupt. The previously lucky Peter went out with a bang as he landed on... Hogsmeade... and paid Marlene all he had. She, of course, was very happy with this development. "Aha! I knew I'd get you! Victory for me!"

Her excitement was short-lived as Remus quickly built up his properties, leaving her to land on his hotels not once, but twice, bankrupting her from the game. Remus went out quick and simple, having spent so much money on his hotels and such. Even after selling them and mortgaging all the things he owned, he still couldn't pay Lily enough, leaving him to declare his defeat and bet on Lily winning to Marlene.

The losses stacked up until it was only James and Lily left, each owning the entirety of opposite sides of the board. By now, the entire game had been wizardified, leaving Lily to exclaim that the "arrogant toerag" was cheating.

Tensions were high as the losers traded Galleons every now and then. James leaned back, arms stretched lazily behind his head, a smug grin curling on his lips. "Evans, I'd be more worried if I were you. I've got hotels on half the board. You're one bad roll away from total ruin."

Lily's eyes narrowed, her fingers drumming on the edge of the board. "That's cute, Potter. I didn't know overconfidence was your strategy. How's that working out for you?"

"It's working just fine." He flashed a grin. "You know what they say-fortune favours the bold."

"More like fortune favours the reckless," she shot back, moving her cat piece forward with a decisive flick. "Go ahead, Potter. Let's see if luck's still on your side."

James glanced at the board, eyes narrowing as he weighed his options. "Careful, Evans. Don't want to pull a muscle from all that glaring."

"I'll take my chances. You just focus on not bankrupting yourself." She smirked. "It'd be a shame if all that bravado ended up being worth less than my pocket change."

He leaned forward, eyes glinting. "I don't know, Evans. Maybe I just like seeing you try so hard to beat me."

"Oh, don't worry. It won't be trying." Her smile was saccharine sweet. "It'll be succeeding."

James smirked, rolling the dice with a confident flourish. The piece clattered across the board. "Let's finish this, then."

Their eyes locked-green fire against hazel mischief-neither willing to back down.

Meanwhile, Mary and Alice were exchanging concerned glances. "Should we be worried that spells start flying?" Alice asked, watching the two banter back and forth.

"Nah," Sirius replied. "This is all just UST."

Remus couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.

A shout of defeat rocked them from their humour. The winner looked at the loser, eyes shining with victory. The loser pouted. "This game isn't fair!" they tried, crossing their arms.

"'Bout as fair as you made it," the winner snarked back.

"Oh, please! The universe just hates me!" the loser cried.

"I totally won!" James insisted.

"You did not!" Lily exclaimed.

"Yeah, I did!"

And the world felt small for a minute-just eight kids arguing over a game of Monopoly.

A/N
If you liked this, it'd mean the world to me if you checked out my other book 'Bound By Scales: A Dark Trio Story'