James' smile was vague, although not embarrassed. "Not everyone else," he pointed out, half heartedly. There had definitely been a handful who had thought he and the rest of his friends, Sirius especially, had been Grade A arses. It was just his bad luck that a couple of them happened to be stuck in the castle now.
He was glad that the Regulus conversation seemed to be coming to a close. Even if Peter was the only one he felt he could really run his mouth off to, he still got the feeling that it could turn into a 'thing'. James didn't have the patience for yet another 'thing' right now. Merlin knew he had enough going on.
Anyway, it turned out that maybe, possibly, potentially forgiving Peter was a lot easier than the mere idea of rethinking his opinion on Regulus. Perhaps that was what ten years of friendship earned you, even if it did make it even more painful when things went wrong.
"Well, I'll have that chat with Sirius or Remus when if it comes to it," he decided shortly, turning down another corridor. "I doubt Black is losing much sleep over me in the meantime."
Speaking of... they were almost at the research rooms now. James sighed, then stepped back a bit, allowing Peter to take the lead through the door. "Go on, you better go in first. In case the Tosser-in-Chief is there and I accidentally turn him into a piglet or something."