james had been called many things in his years at hogwarts. wether it was something insulting, something that should've made his blood boil, yet he always kept calm...somewhat.

yet other times he got called less hurtful names, the good ones, like prongs and jamie, he loved those.

but never did james think that his blood would be boiling for someone else getting called insulting names.

there was a large group of people in the corridor, gathered around remus lupin as they laughed at him and called him a disgrace.

all five of them went back to their dorms injured.

now you were sitting in his dorm room, along with sirius, remus and peter. remus still looked a little tense, but the company was helping.

you sat on james' bed and cleaned his cut up and bruised knuckles.

“hold still, james,” you muttered, carefully dabbing his knuckles with the cloth. he hissed at the sting but grinned at you anyway.

“you don’t have to play healer, you know. they deserved it.”

“you’re impossible,” you said, shaking your head. “next time maybe try using words instead of fists?”

“words wouldn’t’ve made them shut up about remus,” james replied firmly.

sirius, lying sideways on his bed with his boots still on, barked out a laugh. “you should’ve seen his face, though. prongs went in like a bloody knight in shining armour. except less armour, more… stupid bravery.”

“i’ll take that as a compliment,” james said, holding his chin high.

remus, however, sat on the edge of his bed, shoulders tense, eyes fixed on the floor. “you didn’t have to fight for me,” he said quietly.

james whipped around to look at him. “yes, i did.”

remus’ brow furrowed. “it’s not your fight, james. i can deal with it.”

“no,” james said, shaking his head. “they mess with you, they mess with me. with all of us.” he gestured around the room. “that’s how it works.”

“damn right,” sirius added, sitting up now. “we’re marauders. we don’t let one of us get cornered.”

peter nodded quickly. “yeah, remus. we’ve always got your back.”

remus finally glanced up, meeting james’ stubborn expression. his lips twitched, almost a smile. “you’re all ridiculous.”

“ridiculously handsome, you mean,” sirius said, smirking.

“ridiculously brave,” james corrected.

“ridiculously loud,” peter mumbled, earning a round of laughter.

the heaviness in the air seemed to lift, and for the first time since the corridor, remus actually smiled—small, but real. you finished wrapping james’ hand and gave it a pat.

“there,” you said softly. “try not to go punching anyone else for at least twenty-four hours.”

“no promises,” james replied, grinning. “but only if they keep their mouths shut about my friends.”

remus shook his head, but his eyes were warmer now, filled with something unspoken—gratitude, trust, and maybe even a little relief.

and as sirius started tossing jokes around again and peter’s laugh filled the dorm, it felt like the world outside didn’t matter. not when they had each other.