Marauder Talk (Marauders, obviously. ;) )

[Sirius Black]

(Because a thread where the Marauders are getting ready for the dance would be really cute)

Some guys might have been nervous as they were getting ready for the dance, but Sirius Black was not one of them. Despite the fact that he was only a second year, his self-confidence was high, and he really wasn't worried about a thing. The same could not be said about his companions.

Sirius turned from the mirror, where he had been carefully arranging his hair to fall in just the right way (which was, of course, intended to look like he hadn't done anything to it at all), to look at James, Remus, and Peter.

"What do you think, guys? How do I look?"

[James Potter]

James was attempting to fix his own robes. He couldn't get his tie right and it was starting to annoy him to no end. He didn't even have to worry about his hair because no matter what he did, it would end up messy as it usually did so there was no use in even putting gel in it.

He was nervous. The thought of even going to a dance sort of made him nervous, but being the cool kid that he was, James did not let it show through.

After attempted to tie his tie again, James just gave up for a moment and turned to Sirius. A wide grin spread across his face. "Well, don't you look handsome," James said in a girly voice before cracking up.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah, whatever," he said, giving James a little shove. He looked a little embarrassed, actually, and he deliberately messed up the collar of his dress robes.

Then, he stepped back and looked appraisingly at James. "You, on the other hand, look like a sloppy git who just rolled out of bed. Seriously, can't you do anything with that hair?"

[James Potter]

After Sirius shoved him, James rolled his eyes. He couldn't help but mess with Sirius.

"Correction Sirius, I look like a handsome sloppy git." James gave his huge grin. "You can't forget the handsome part, gosh." He started to laugh again. "And my hair is fine. It doesn't follow what its supposed to do no matter how hard I try, so I just gave up on it and let it do its own thing." James wasn't even going to try anything with it.

"And do you know how to tie this thing?"

[Sirius Black]

Sirius shook his head. "Hey, I don't know if you're handsome or not. I don't look at other guys and think about whether they're good-looking," he said with a laugh.

He frowned as James mentioned the tie. He should have known how to do it, but he had no clue. He shrugged and shook his head. "No, not me. I wasn't planning on wearing one, actually. How about you, Remus? You know how to do it?"

[Remus Lupin]

Remus, meanwhile, was standing behind them, frowning at his own reflection in the mirror. Even though it was nearly the new moon, which was generally the time of the month when he was at his best, he was still deathly pale. At least the dark shadows under his eyes weren't as pronounced. But a few scars were still visible as white criss-crosses against his skin.

Even his dress robes looked a little unkempt. No matter what he tried to do, they still seemed rumpled and ill-fitting.

At Sirius's question, Remus sighed and looked at him. "And where would I learn how to tie a tie?" he asked, quirking his lip up in one corner. "I can't even get my stupid dress robes to fit me right."

[James Potter]

"Ah Sirius, c'mon, we'll just keep it between the four of us. No one else would ever have to know." James' grin returned.

He turned around and looked at Remus. He had noticed that Remus has been looking a little thinner than usual. "You know, we could always fatten you up," he joked. "And you just seem the type that would know how to tie a tie. Please tell me that you know how to. I don't want to have to go ask anybody else. Your dress robes look fine. At least they are not falling off of you."

[Remus Lupin]

Remus shook his head. He had already made up his mind to skip the tie for tonight. It wasn't mandatory, except for the dates of the house champions.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, James, but I have no idea. I never learned." Glancing behind him, his eyes fell on Peter. "Hey... how about you, Pete? Do you know how?"

[Peter Pettigrew]

Peter was probably more nervous than the other boys. He had never really cared that much about his appearance, but since he was going with Adelaide, Peter made sure that he was looking presentable. His hair was combed nicely and there was not a single wrinkle in his dress robes. Quite frankly, Peter looked the best he ever had. If he hadn't asked Adelaide, he probably wouldn't go at all.

After finishing up in the mirror, Peter shyly waited until the Remus, Sirius, and James were finished. When Remus spoke to him, Peter looked to him. "Erm, I don't know. I was just going to ask Adelaide if she knew how. If she didn't then I wasn't going to wear one," he said a little embarrassedly.

[Sirius Black]

Sirius shook his head. "I can't believe none of us know how to tie a tie," he said. "I really should know... but my dad never pays attention to me and my mum never had the patience to teach me."

Shrugging, he walked over and sat on the bed. "Well, I guess we're all going to have to go tieless. Unless we can get one of the older boys to show us how."

[James Potter]

"I never needed to know," he said with a shrug. James wasn't afraid to admit that he didn't know how, at least not to the boys anyway. "If we can't get someone older to show us how, does that mean that we have to find a girl that probably knows how to do it?" He didn't understand it. How come some girls knew how to tie a tie and they didn't even have to wear one?