"Volare!" James shouts, confidently pointing his wand in the face of his victim.

Peter covers his eyes as purple sparks shoot across the dormitory and Remus raises a transfiguration book to protect his own face from getting hit. James watches the dog sitting on his bed with baited breath, waiting for a sign that the spell works.

When there's no immediate changes to his physical appearance, James groans and flops backwards onto Sirius's bed. Padfoot yelps and he raises his head hopefully, only to see colorful feathers leaving the dog's mouth

"I don't think that's supposed to happen," Remus muses, finally lowering his book to laugh at his friend's predicament.

"No shit!" James snaps, running a hand through his messy hair as Padfoot starts to bark continuously and feathers begin to amass in a large pile. He's been practicing this spell for hours and yet another major setback is the last thing he wanted to see. "How do I make it stop?"

"Let's watch the fucking language, for starters."

Peter laughs and even James cracks a smile, relaxing enough to see the humor in the situation. The only person who is not amused is Sirius, and he makes this very clear by barking more aggressively.

This, however, does not have the effect he wishes it to. Instead of intimidating the three boys, he only causes them to laugh harder as the feathers surrounding him make him look like an oddly shaped tropical bird.

"You messed up your wand movements," Remus says through a grin, scanning over the open textbook pages for answers. "That's what's causing him to cough up feathers. He'll be fine. We just have to wait it out."

The intention of the spell is to transfigure an animal to grow a pair of wings. Though it seems relatively simple, James has struggled to cast it successfully for the past three days.

When Remus shared the devastating news that there are no longer pigs on Hogwarts grounds, the bespectacled boy nearly cried over the fact that Lily will never agree to a date if he can't show her a flying pig.

Though the girl most certainly had no intentions of him taking her seriously when she spoke these words at the beginning of the year, he remained determined nonetheless to do anything she asked if it meant getting to spend time with his self-proclaimed soulmate.

Upon remembering that all of his closest friends can turn into animals - two being able to do so willingly and illegally while one has no desire nor control over his animalistic abilities - his mood was saved and the group set to work on his latest scheme to win the red head's heart.

The incessant barking ceases and all eyes fall back on the dog, watching amusedly as he finally changes back into Sirius. Before anything can be said, his nose scrunches up and he sneezes, causing one last bright green feather to fly out of his mouth and sending the others back into hysterics.

"Hilarious," he grumbles, moving to drop down next to James on a feather-free bed.

"We thought so too," James agrees, earning a rough shove.

"Why aren't we doing this to Wormtail?" Sirius asks, gagging when he still tastes feathers on his tongue. "He's smaller!"

"Girls don't like rats," Peter states matter-of-factly, beyond eager to have a valid excuse not to be subjected to James's dangerous trial and error process. "I once snuck into Ema's room in my animagus form to steal back my licorice wands and she nearly killed me."

"Fine, but we're done with that spell," he decides. "Find a different one."

James takes this change of plans in stride, having expected a much more dramatic reaction from his best friend. "Back to the drawing board, lads."

The four boys move in unison - James and Peter grab books discussing aviation spells while Remus and Sirius stand and move to the one window their dormitory offers.

Sirius cracks the window slightly and a brisk evening breeze swirls into the room, bringing with it the reminder that winter is close. The two boys clamber onto the small ledge, their legs intermingling seamlessly and bodies pressing up against the cold glass in sync to allow each other to be able to sit comfortably.

Reaching for a cigarette, he can't help but to recall how much easier it was for them to smoke together in this spot only two years ago, when all four of them could fit on the ledge and have room to spare. Now, the only way they'd all fit in the same spot is if they all pile on top of each other.

Remus wordlessly lights a joint with a snap of his fingers before doing the same for Sirius's cigarette, grinning when his eyes widen in amazement as though he hasn't performed the same trick countless times.

Peter glances at James to make sure he's still distracted before leaning so far he's practically on top of his night stand and stretching his arm out to the windowsill to silently ask for a hit. Sirius nearly laughs, for Remus hasn't shared in nearly a month, except the lanky boy throws him for a loop and actually obliges.

"What the hell!"

"Don't start," Remus says with a roll of his eyes. "You lost your privileges when you threw the last one we shared onto the quidditch pitch."

"Oh, come on!"  Sirius throws his arms up in exasperation, causing ashes to fall onto TBS cushioned ledge instead of outside. "That was weeks ago."

"I can't afford to forgive and forget." He shrugs his shoulders, taking the joint back as Peter starts to cough. "Prices have been higher than hell recently."

"Why? Does Cordelia not give you a discount?"

"I don't buy from- wait a fucking second." Remus narrows his eyes and, for a brief moment, Sirius genuinely fears that he's about to shove him out the window. "What makes you think my sister smokes?"

"I only assumed," he quickly backtracks, immediately throwing his hands up in defense. "She's a Hufflepuff. It's practically a requirement."

"She's fifteen!"

"We were in our fourth year when you started-"

"That's different."

"Hypocrite."

"What about this spell?" James begins, looking up to ensure everyone is listening. Remus expertly hides the joint behind his back as his gaze sweeps from Peter's bed to the windowsill so all James notices is the cigarette in Sirius's mouth. "Throw that disgusting thing out."

"Don't listen to him, Moony. I think your sweater is dashing."

"What's wrong with my sweater?" Remus asks, feigning a wounded expression.

"Nothing, I love it," James reassures him, standing from his bed and striding over to stand directly in front of Sirius with his arms folded like a mother about to scold her child. "You know that's not what I was talking about."

"Do elaborate," Sirius mocks, though it's hard to be the picture of innocence when smoke escapes his mouth with each word.

"Throw the cigarette out."

"No."

"Sirius!"

"James!"

"Padfoot!"

"Prongs!"

"Wormtail!"

James and Sirius pause, turning in unison to stare questioningly at Remus. He doesn't notice though, too busy laughing alongside Peter as though he's just told the funniest joke in the world.

James lunges for the cigarette while Sirius is still distracted but he jumps back before he can grab it, hitting his head against the window in the process.

"That wouldn't have happened if you didn't have a nicotine addiction," James points out smugly, though not until after he's certain the injury isn't serious.

"Remus is smoking too!" Sirius snitches, rubbing the back of his head. "Why aren't you yelling at him?"

James takes in this new information and spins on his heel, prepared to include the true bad influence in his anti-smoking lecture.

"And another thing, Moony-"

"Full moon is tomorrow."

"Fair enough."

James promptly turns back to Sirius and he splutters indignantly as the werewolf cackles silently behind the other boy's back.