The Next Great Adventure (A Marauders Fan Fic)

Chapter Forty Five

Meanwhile, in the road outside her house, James glanced back up at it one last time before heading out into the unwelcoming gloom and Apparating home, where he was met by his curious parents and Sirius, who proceeded to interrogate him about every aspect of his trip. James, finding the humour in the evening’s events now that they were over, recounted with hilarity their conversation with Vernon, including his complete ignorance of their world and his refusal to believe anything that James told him.

For Sirius, who had had little experience of Muggles, this merely confirmed his suspicions of their idiocy and for James’ parents, who were well-educated and open-minded, Vernon’s narrow-mindedness infuriated them, especially since he was insulting their life and their son’s life. They still, however, managed to find James’ retelling hysterically funny and the Potter household was filled with riotous laughter until late in the night.

Lily and James didn’t succeed in meeting up with one another again that holiday, so instead their rooms were filled with a flurry of owls as hundreds of letters passed between them at all hours of the day, including, as Lily later moaned, so early in the morning it may as well have been night.

“Your bloody owl woke me up at two o’clock!” she complained to him when she saw him on the train. “And he wouldn’t stop tapping until I let him in.”

James merely laughed and ruffled her hair. “Sorry about that Lily,” he replied, not sounded particularly penitent. “If it makes you feel any better though Sirius kept dropping buckets of water on me at about three so I didn’t get much more sleep than you and I’ll warrant it was a worse awakening.”

“You asked for it Prongs,” Sirius replied.

“Well you should know by now that that’s what Sirius does,” Lily said exasperated, “you’ve only had him living with you for about four years now.”

“Oh I couldn’t abandon my dear Padfoot,” he gasped. “How could you ever suggest leaving him to fend for himself in the cruel world? You horrible person Lily.” She threw her hands up in the air and curled up into a corner, rummaging around in her bag for the book which she was reading. “I give up,” she muttered, “you two are morons.”

“You love us really don’t you though?” Sirius pouted.

“I tolerate you I suppose,” she sighed.

“What about Moony?”

“Moony is so far ahead of you two on the evolutionary scale that in comparison to him you and James look like amoebas. Lovely amoebas, but amoebas nonetheless.”

“Thanks Lily,” Remus chuckled from the opposite corner of the carriage while James and Sirius looked at her with utter incomprehension across their faces. “What did you just say Lily?” James asked.

“Amoebas,” Remus said, agreeing with Lily more than explaining what she had said.

“I heard the words Moony you moron,” he said as he aimed an empty packet of Bertie Botts’ Every Flavour Beans at his head, “but none of them have any meaning for me. Apart from ‘lovely’,” he amended.

“I can only assume that it was a compliment,” Sirius said sagely as he grabbed another Chocolate Frog.

“I think you can safely assume the exact opposite,” Mary said. “Honestly didn’t you two ever go to school?”

“We’re on our way there now,” James pointed out, making the majority of people in the carriage roll their eyes.

“To Muggle school then?” she clarified.

“Merlin no!” Sirius exclaimed. “Do I look like I ever went to a Muggle school? My parents would rather send me to Azkaban than to a Muggle school… or maybe to Durmstrang.”

“I thought your cousins went to Durmstrang?” Peter asked.

“Yeah… I take back what I just said because they wouldn’t have a problem with sending me to Azkaban or Durmstrang,” he muttered. “I stayed at home before I went to Hogwarts. Everyone does.”

“No I went to Muggle school,” James said.

“Really?” Lily asked intrigued.

“Yeah. I stopped after I was expelled from my fourth one though. My parents were running out of lies to tell the teachers when my magic showed itself so then they just let me stay at home and play Quidditch while they worked,” he shrugged.

“I’m almost certain that I don’t want to know why you were expelled,” she said.

“Some of the stories are quite funny… Most of them are funny actually,” he replied, “there was one time when-”

“No one cares Prongs,” Remus interrupted with a sly grin.

“Watch out or I’ll throw something else at you,” James chuckled.

“Oh please do,” he said, “but if you do I’d quite like you to throw an unopened Chocolate Frog at me.”

“Catch then.” The purple package flew through the air and landed neatly in Remus’ lap; he picked it up and smirked at James, who winked back, before opening it.

“How did you know what she was talking about Remus?” Peter asked after a small pause; Remus swallowed the frog quickly and said, “I read about lots of things Peter.”

“We know,” Sirius chuckled, reaching over and ruffling Remus’ hair.

“Well the library has a whole aisle of Muggle books… It’s really not hard to do as long as you’re not an utter idiot.”

“Guess that rules me out then,” Sirius sighed as he leaned back against the chair and spread his arms out along the back cushion. Just then the door to their carriage opened and Cassie appeared in the doorway, her Muggle clothes slung casually over one shoulder. “We’re going to be there in about twenty minutes,” she said as she picked her way through the mess and sat down on Sirius’ lap. Outside snow fluttered lightly through the air and the white blanketed countryside passed by quickly as they neared Hogwarts again, growing wilder and wilder the nearer they drew to it.