the_debt_of_time

"What nicknames?" the four Marauders chorused, their tones innocent despite the
identical smirks adorning their faces.
Mia began to chuckle quietly, intrigued to see how the boys got out of this. Playing
stupid was not something Mary would likely tolerate.
"Moony," Mary said. "Why do they call you that, Remus?"
"Once, during summer hols after third year, Remus pulled his pants down in front
of a group of Muggles," Sirius joked.
James and Peter burst into laughter.
Remus punched Sirius in the arm, indignantly shouting, "I did not!"
Mary snickered, red-faced. "Okay, and Padfoot?"
"I have very delicate feet," Sirius said, winking at her as though stating the texture
of one's soles was the ultimate pickup line.
Mary, in turn, rolled her eyes and moved on to Peter. "Wormtail?" she asked with a
scrunched nose. "Honestly, how do you even like that name?"
Peter meekly shrugged. "I'm not exactly a fan. They picked it."
"Why?" Alice asked.
"Peter was born with a tail," James said. "They had to cut it off. His mum keeps it
in a jar on the mantle."
Both Remus and Sirius howled with laughter, while Peter, wide-eyed, vehemently
denied the story in its entirety.
"Care to know why we call James, Prongs?" Sirius asked Mary, a strangely seductive
tone in his voice as he waggled his eyebrows.
"Not with that look on your face." Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes. "It's probably just
as equally disturbing as the rest of your stories, and there'll be just as much truth to it.
Honestly, Mary, you shouldn't believe a word they say; it's nothing but sarcasm, arrogance,
and exaggerations."
"I exaggerate nothing, Evans." James winked at her, the firewhisky clearly helping
him shift his love-struck antics into genuine flirting. Neither, however, worked on Lily, as
she folded her arms and scooted closer to Mary, further distancing herself from James. He
scooted closer to her in response.