Sirius found himself on all fours in a grassy meadow still blinking bright morning sun out of his eyes, and grinned at the potential for mayhem all around. With not a soul in sight.

Head still spinning like he'd just taken a bad tumble from a broom, he staggered to his feet and stumbled around for a few moments, right into someone's tent. Not his initial intention, but he shrugged and kept at it anyway, even if he would have picked a grander one to start. It's not as if this one was uninteresting.

Instead of supporting either of the current teams here, they seemed to have hung posters of the Tutshill Tornados around. The beddings were even done up in bronze and blue, and there was a Comet Two Sixty leaning against a twin bed at the ready, amusing him for a moment as he imagined whoever owned it had actually planned a pick-up game at the World Cup, he knew he would have.

After only a moments hesitation, he raided their cupboards and found a few things to eat, before eying the bed wearily. It had been a while since they'd taken a break, and he hadn't heard the book going yet. However, he wanted to meet up with James and Remus first, explore with a bit more daylight. Maybe he'd run into everyone and they could all agree to take a nap so no one got any surprise jerk aways.

The peacock cocked his head to the side, and James mimicked the pose. The bird extended its albino plumage and James waved his arms wide. Unimpressed, the other one snapped his beak impatiently to move him along, but James' grin only widened as he once again tried to pass them by, sure there would be something of interest in the tent they were guarding.

"Hey!" looking up and around in surprise, James grimaced at Regulus marching towards him, almost literally. It always fascinated him how much this kid looked like Sirius but acted nothing like him, his best mate hadn't held himself so straight since Filch once threatened to tie a broom to his back.

"Yes?" He asked unenthusiastically, noticing the book in his hand, and turning dismissively back towards the birds.

"Need to talk to you about something."

He was glad he'd turned away now, the resemblance wasn't so uncanny when he didn't have to look at him. "When I want your opinion on my friend's, I promise you, I'm not shy in asking for it."

"Some friend," he scoffed.

James clenched his jaw, but before he could respond he went on primely, "no, that's not what I was going to say. You're probably better at hunting down the lot than I am-"

"Some Seeker," he snorted.

"But I'm going to keep this with me and crash for a few hours," he went on, somehow his voice getting more snooty by the moment. "That way, no one has to worry about not knowing when we're leaving again."

"How considerate," he rolled his eyes.

"Just thought you'd like to pass along the message," his voice sounded just a touch surely now. "I say we meet up at the Weasley's tent, once everyone's there, then we'll all be ready to keep going."

"What an excellent idea," he snarked.

He heard Regulus blow air through his nose in what was too dignified to be called a snort, but felt him still standing behind him. Temptation won out, he glanced over his shoulder and saw him chewing on the inside of his cheek as he continued to eye him. Whatever he was considering saying, he was sure he didn't want to hear it, so finally abandoned the stately tent and walked off.

"I just hope your memory isn't as shallow as your gene pool," he finally called after him. James flipped him the bird and made a quick cut through more tents.

He tried to keep eyeing everything as he walked past with curiosity, but now he just kept expecting to see Regulus out of the corner of his eye following him. Then he grimaced as he'd swear he heard Sirius' voice and turned expectantly to still see nothing. He considered circling back out of spite and trying to get back into that tent, but it didn't hold much appeal without his friends around to go threw it with him.

The silence was beginning to ring in his head, he found himself pacing the same cloak propped up on sticks four times before he even realized it, and then when he finally made the conscious decision to turn deliberately left, he slammed full-face into someone.

"Sorry!" Frank said automatically, reaching out a hand to help steady him.

'Frank the tank it felt more like,' James thought to himself as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "S'alright, wasn't looking where I was going."

"You seen anyone else?" Frank asked with an uneasy smile. "I've, ah, been looking all over, this place is like a maze. Found myself in a sea of faces on tents, it was a bit spooky, but no one else besides you."

"No one you'd want to run into," he snapped.

Frank frowned at him, but James didn't want to deal with anyone else right now, certainly not the bloke who probably would have pissed himself if he'd run into Remus instead. He turned away without another word regardless and walked purposefully this time, now tapping his wand on his hip in thought. He considered throwing up some sparks, surely everyone would see it and they'd all meet up regardless and then be able to break off on their own.

Everyone, his mental voice repeated, and guilt began bubbling to the surface as he pictured it. Would it be worse if he didn't see a glimpse of Peter, or better? He'd respected his wish and stayed away, but James hadn't tried much to figure anything out since then, every time he even considered thinking about all he'd heard he just wanted to throw up again.

Shouldn't he have tried anyways though? Come around and been badgering the lot of them to hear his side again? 'Sirius hadn't,' he mentally reasoned, 'he was probably taking his cue from him.'

'And look how well that turned out,' he argued back with himself. How long had they been fighting before they made up in that future then? If this hadn't happened, how long until the four would be friends again? Long enough that the mistrust would never truly fade and that's what started all of this?

'He'd been the best mate at your wedding!' He yelled at himself. 'Surely the four of them still meant something to each other!'

"But not enough," he sighed aloud, before wincing and covering his mouth in shame.

"Prongs?"

Shaking his head and finding himself somewhere new once more, surrounded completely by moss apparently, he still called back, "Moony? That you?"

"Yeah, finally," he came jogging into sight, Alice Smith of all people trailing along behind him with a nervous yet excited smile. "Thought I heard you, we've been looking all over for anyone!"

"Oh yeah, me too," he said quickly, easily putting a smile back in place, more for Smith than anything. "I ah, ran into Longbottom and Regulus already, but, obviously they couldn't handle my charm."

"I'm so sure," Remus rolled his eyes, while James continued gesturing over his shoulder.

"Err, that way, sorry I didn't get you a map."

"A shame," she grinned, "you seem so good at those." He smiled genuinely in surprise at how comfortable she apparently was, or at least, she didn't dart off in that same second.

Remus was still studying him, so he was quick to keep going, "seen Padfoot?"

Moony clucked his tongue and gave him an obvious look. "Yes, I absolutely spotted him in the distance but didn't hail him down, instead I just kept wandering around wondering where you lot were."

"Always keep us guessing Remus," James nodded.

"I haven't heard the book yet," Alice said when the silence started to grow.

"Oh, ah, yeah," James was quick to cobble his mind back into place. "Regulus, er, found the book and said something about crashing before reading it. Said he wanted us all to meet up at the Weasley's tent when we were ready to get going again, so no one had to deal with a surprise pull away."

"How sweet," she grinned.

James scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck, and Remus shuffled his feet for a few more moments before Alice cleared her throat. "Right, well, guess I'd best go find Frank and Lily. It was, nice talking to you Remus."

"Yeah, you as well," he said quickly.

She smiled one last time and waved before taking off.

"You two find something of interest to talk about?" He asked curiously.

"Not really," he shrugged, "she mentioned she was a quarter Irish or something, but who isn't really."

"Oh, and you two seemed to be hitting it off," he smirked.

"You and Evans create enough love drama, don't go trying to start more," Remus rolled his eyes, before adding shrewdly, "and changing the subject. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he said quickly. "Let's go find Sirius." Finally, with one of his friends back around to chat with, the voice in his head quieted down.

Lily sat with her feet hanging into the well, swinging them about and wishing the water was high enough she could dip her toes into it. She could just magic it, she supposed, but even after five years in school where that was accepted as the norm, the look on Petuina's face when it came up had her hesitating to do it casually. She knew what Sev would say if he was here at least.

She sighed as her eyes started to droop down heavily, but clung stubbornly to the sunlight keeping her warm and eyes wide open. Harry lingered in her mind once more, somehow a son she had no wish to have with Potter was less painful to think about than other thoughts that so often consumed her. What did that say about her? He was here with his friends, having a gay old time, which she was surprised to not be hearing about yet.

Quidditch had never been particularly endearing to her, but she was almost looking forward to the coming game anyways. It always seemed a topic that everyone could enjoy, and she was so tired of fighting.

The warm sun continued to beat down, causing a sheen of sweat to appear. She closed her eyes and kept soaking it in, letting it seep down to her bones. She hadn't realized she was nodding off until she jerked uncomfortably, and found herself nearly toppling down the well. Clutching painfully tight to the bricks and her wand, she swung herself carefully around and decided it really was time for a nap, she'd look for Alice and Frank later. Meandering over to the nearest cluster of tents, she hesitated for a moment before picking out a simple, smaller one. Inside was a flowered dress hanging on a hat stand and sparsely anything else but a bed. She hoped that meant this was an elder woman's tent who wouldn't mind offering Lily the bed she crashed in.

They'd finally found Padfoot examining a squashed slug, he'd greeted them enthusiastically and then dared Prongs to eat it. Now they were wandering around fighting off itchy eyes and slowing conversation. Exhaustion was setting in, but none of them seemed ready to call it quits and get some rest.

None of them said it, but when they walked into a tent with four beds at the ready, they froze.

Sirius turned to leave, trying to ignore his skin twitching in unease. What would be worse? To pretend the bed was filled with the usual snores, or be grateful it wasn't? Before he could make it out though, James cleared his throat. "Ah, actually, maybe we should-"

"I'll go kip under a tree," Sirius muttered without looking at them.

"Actually Sirius, I was going to say maybe we should talk about-"

"I want some bloody sleep Prongs!" Sirius snapped without turning around.

"I don't think I can," he whispered back.

Sirius inhaled the air still coming through the tent flap, he still didn't want to turn around. "Shall I knock you over the head then? Can't hardly whip up a sleeping draft."

"Padfoot, I mean I can't just go to sleep without thinking-"

"Right, a nice concussion charm it is," he began mock digging through his robes.

"Sirius! I mean it!"

He saw Remus out of the corner of his eye taking a few uneasy steps back, like he expected a bomb to go off between them. He turned slowly, trying to force himself not to glare at Prongs, reminding himself whose fault this was. "And what exactly is having a little powwow going to do? Help you cry yourself to sleep we're never speaking to him again?"

"I never said that-"

"And why haven't you?" His voice still sounded painfully calm. "You really haven't said much of anything, either of you. In case you've forgotten-"

"I think you're the one who's having some damage to your brain," James said a bit coldly. "I just wanted to say we've all had a chance to cool down and maybe we should go find him to talk-"

"I'm not speaking to him!" Sirius flared in disgust. "Not unless I can hex his ruddy face off! He-"

"I know perfectly well what those books say he did, to all of us," James crossed his arms to hide his shaking fists, the only sign of his anger. "And we need to talk to him about it, after five years and all we've been through, he deserves that-"

Sirius spat on the ground, turned about, and walked out.

James blinked in hurt, and surprise. That wasn't like him at all, he would have normally decked someone before just walking away.

"I'll ah, go talk to him," Remus muttered lamely.

"Right, yeah," James whispered without looking at him either. His eyes blurred with exhaustion. He didn't know who he hoped would come back through that tent anymore.

Sirius was no easier to track down a second time. He just caught sight of him walking as fast as he could and tried calling after him, but he either couldn't hear him or was ignored. He only just stayed in sight, and by the time Remus caught up to him panting slightly, Sirius had his face pressed miserably to an invisible barrier.

They were at a trailhead now, lanterns sitting unlit in the trees. Remus couldn't help but be mildly impressed for a moment how far he'd come so fast. He was still injured, even the shadow of the Devil's Snare was still visible on his neck, but Sirius was nothing if not resilient.

"Sirius we really should-"

Sirius' hand lashed out, he caught the collar of Remus' shirt and pulled him in for a searing kiss. Remus responded for only a moment before pulling away, "that's really not-"

"I don't want to talk," he clearly enunciated every word. Keeping a firm hold on him, he began pulling him back towards the nearest tent. Remus reluctantly let himself be dragged along, beginning to wonder if that's all this was to Sirius, another way to avoid everything for as long as he could.*

Peter hesitated over every step he took as he eased himself slowly towards the tent. He'd been doing so all day as he'd landed quite close to Remus, had watched protectively, then curiously as he came across Alice and they'd had an awkward yet cordial few moments before finding Prongs. He should have taken off then, what did it say about him he was already ease dropping on them? Was this why he'd become a spy for Voldemort, it was the one thing he was good at?

He shouldn't have been listening in on them all day, it was only making him more guilty, but the smallest flair of hope kept him shuffling closer as Sirius stormed out and Remus followed. If James really, finally, wanted to talk, he was more than happy to.

With one last dragging breath to build up what little nerve he had, he changed form and poked his head around the side. Then let it out miserably as he saw he'd waited too long.

Prongs had set himself on the bed, and fallen into an uneasy sleep. His face was resting uncomfortably against the frame, his glasses skewed and about to fall to the floor with his next breath. Dancing on the spot for a few moments more he finally moved forward and took them off for him, lest they fall under the bed and they spent another memorable few moments laughing as his butt wiggled around while he dug them out.

He bit his lip to stop himself laughing at the memory, Remus hiding James' wand up his sleeve and trying to blame Sirius for it, Padfoot on the ground laughing his butt off all the same. He'd just been witness to it all, like so many times in their life. How soon until they forgot he'd been there altogether?

Should he wake him? If James finally wanted to talk he was more than happy to, his words had sounded promising, but not altogether reassuring. Like the coward he was, he hesitated. What if James just wanted to talk to the other two about keeping him out for good? Like a child, he clung to the notion that maybe, if he just gave it more time, it would work itself out?

Placing the glasses on the table, he eased himself back out without making a peep.

Regulus stretched and rolled over uncomfortably in the borrowed bed, glaring moodily at the light still around him. The fact that the sun hadn't seemed to have changed position disturbed him, as if he hadn't slept for nearly as long as his body said he had. Then he spotted something even more odd in the bed across from him.

Why Peter had decided to bed down here was a bit of a mystery, it's not as if there wasn't an abundance of other choices. He was an only child as well, it's not as if sleeping alone should really bother him. Most of the time he'd spent crammed around this lot he'd longed for the nights in his fourposter bed at home. Even if what home meant to him was now a question hovering above his life, he liked to think the little changes like his room being undisturbed by dormmates would stay the same.

Yet he couldn't resent waking up to the company either. He also understood more than anyone what it felt like to feel alone surrounded by others.

Moving about quietly so as not to disturb him, he eyed the teapot sitting ready on the stove for a moment, wondering idly what would happen if he called to Kreacher. Would he appear from his timeline, whistling while he worked? Was he even alive now to be summoned if it would work?

Storing the questions away for later, he finally threw the blankets off and set up for a small morning breakfast. He was stirring sugar into a chipped mug that had some American school logo plastered on the side and flipping idly through the blank chapters of the book when Peter awoke.

He groggily stumbled forward and muttered a sullen thanks as he spotted the second cup, sipping noisily at the still steaming liquid.

"What do you think would have happened if two others had started this?" He finally asked one of the idle questions floating through his mind.

"Eh?" Peter's watery brown eyes were still half-lidded as he began rummaging through a biscuit tin.

"I mean, if Lupin and Evans had somehow accidentally stuck their hands in that potion instead of Potter, or you even, or, me."

"Oh," Peter had to blink a few more times before it seemed he'd even caught up, seemed he wasn't a morning person. "Erm, well, I'd suppose we wouldn't strictly be hearing about some love child, except maybe if it had been Longbottom and Smith perhaps, but ah, perhaps something the same. Maybe we, would be hearing about other futures."

"You think?" Regulus asked enthusiastically. "You mean our points of view on this future, or something else entirely?"

"Like?" Peter looked intrigued at the prospect.

"Just, what we were talking about, I can't get it off my mind," Regulus shrugged. "That, the future isn't set in stone, especially not this one."

Peter slurped the last of his drink and smacked his lips for a few more moments before answering, "well I certainly hope so, but exactly what stakes are you hoping won't occur?"

Regulus spooned a few more cups of sugar into the dregs, creating a lumpy mess more than anything and began pushing that around instead. "I don't know yet, and that's been bothering me as much as anything."

Peter snorted softly. "I wish I still didn't know, take it as a blessing while you can mate."

He got up then to rummage through the rest of the cupboards, missing the surprised look he'd left behind. Were they mates now?

Lily was smiling up at a banner for The Salem Witche's Insitute when they finally found her.

"I've been looking all over for you guys," she said with chipper as she all but skipped over, still clutching a pamphlet for the place.

"We haven't been avoiding you, we swear," Frank grinned.

"We've been looking for you too, but when we finally found each other we nearly fell asleep over this purple fire-"

Lily laughed and waved off the rest of the apology. "So, how should we move forward? I'd feel bad summoning the book and waking up anyone else, but I don't fancy waiting for those layabouts to spend twelve hours sleeping either."

Alice was still some sleep out of her eyes while Frank explained what he'd been told about meeting up at the Weasley's camp when ready.

"Great," Lily actually clapped her hands together. "Any idea where that is?"

"Let's, ah, start that way I guess," Frank pointed in a direction he'd yet been, and she more than happily took the lead.

"Someone's a morning person," Alice smiled.

Lily smiled without remorse and began enthusiastically asking if they'd seen any other interesting sights.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Peter muttered as he spotted James heading slowly their way.

Regulus grabbed his elbow before he could poof out of sight again, drawing the other threes attention. The five of them had been managing to chat so pleasantly that the blanket tension settling down as he spotted them but ruffled his hair instead of slowing his stride felt odd.

"Morning all," he called, doing a goofy little spin on the spot for a moment before just plopping down on the grass, only slightly farther away than would be considered casual.

"I expected the other two to be with you," Frank called with a forced neutral voice.

Peter's uneasy smile turned to a snort of mirth. "Please, if Prongs isn't around, it'll take a riot to wake them up."

"Well, they're up somewhere around here," Regulus noted, as words had appeared ages ago, he'd just been politely waiting as he'd said he would.

"I'd get started then," James said just a bit sullenly.

Regulus wanted to protest, he'd said he'd wait until everyone got here, but Peter nodded along eagerly and the others were starting to look restless. He hesitated a moment longer, looking between Peter and Potter, the latter of whom had pulled out his wand and was transfiguring the grass at his feet to weave itself into complicated figures and looked sullen.

Glancing one last time at Peter, he decided he was missing something and took the bit of peace while he could and said, "Bagman and Crouch."

"Not Ludo Bagman?" Sirius tied his shoes up and glanced at the jersey still lying on the floor.

"Unless he had a kid," Remus grumbled, face still pressed into the pillow. It didn't matter he was technically awake, it didn't mean he wanted to get up. "Even then, I don't know what that has to do with the other name."

"Crouch, Crouch," Sirius repeated as Regulus' voice continued to filter into the tent about Harry getting his first glimpse of this place. He wasn't bothered he hadn't kept his word and waited for them to appear, his timing was actually rather fortuitous, best he started now before Sirius changed his mind and crawled back into the bed. "Haven't we heard that name already?"

Remus garbled something about him being Percy's boss, proving once more he'd been listening much better than Sirius had bothered.

Sirius began bouncing impatiently on the bed as nothing he was hearing was too interesting. The book was dragging out every detail it could of Harry walking around, meeting a muggle, building a tent. It was maddening, he wanted to hear about the cup!

"Padfoot!" Remus whined, reaching out blindly to grab him and hopefully still him.

"Come on Moony, rise and shine," Sirius grabbed his hand and began pulling on him to drag his face back from underneath the pillow. He felt a little bad when his eyes barely opened and he could only muster a pitiful glare in response. Remus usually slept the whole day after a full moon night. His sleep in particular kept getting harassed during these massive time skips. If he let him doze back off though, someone might really come looking for them, Prongs might be now.

"I know Remus," he squeezed his hand gently. "I really am sorry, I know you're tired, but let's try exploring a little more. Maybe Bagman's got a tent around here! Oh, and we could find that Muggle's house, I do love looking around those."

Harry and his friends had gone out to get water and back already by the time Moony had finally been roused from the bed, and even then he reluctantly set off again with Sirius. Slow to wake, but boundless once he got going, he did indeed drag them all along the rest of the campsite for the rest of the chapter, never staying in one place too long even when they did come across something he took an interest in.

Bagman's tent was solid gold, a yellow wasp banner flying proudly above it, but not many details inside except for an odd little book full of scribbles. It took them a while to makes heads of it, and finally concluded the letters were acronyms for different names, money placed, and statistics for the coming match. A bag of gold was stashed under the bed, and the two whistled in longing as they realized they'd been missing out, never realizing the money they could make if they started betting on their own house sports.

At least he was fun to hear about, Sirius almost pissed himself in excitement Harry got to meet the player! Hearing about Crouch wasn't nearly as fun, they almost wished he hadn't made an appearance at all he was so stuffy to listen to, let alone be around.

Mr. Roberts house was just inside the barrier on the edge of the property. It was a sweet little home, he even apparently had two kids, a boy and a girl. Remus flipped fondly through the boy's artbook while Sirius closely inspected a unicorn doll and muttered they'd gotten the details all wrong, he'd never seen a purple one.

It seemed to take ages, Remus even seemed to be finally awake by the time Arthur announced the game was about to begin. The two hardly shared an eager smile before they were teleported away.

HPHPHPHP

*Separated out do to I know some people don't enjoy it, but any time there's an excluded lemon I'll mark it and it's available in my separate fic on my profile Moon and Stars