Chapter Fourteen
James lay spread-eagled on the seat in the carriage, his hand fiddling with his hair as he absentmindedly chewed on a lollipop. As he watched the landscape pass outside the window Regulus passed by their carriage door once more and Sirius frowned. “Cocky sod,” he heard him mutter. “I wish my family would just get over themselves. The only half decent ones are Alphard and Andromeda… And now Alphard’s dead and Andromeda’s been disowned.”
“Are you complaining about your family again?” James asked over Sirius’ incessant muttering.
“I’m always complaining about my family,” he replied. “They’re rotten.”
James made a noise of agreement, saying, “I really don’t blame you Padfoot,” and turned over to where Remus wasn’t. “Dammit,” he frowned, “I forgot that Moony was up in the Perfects’ Carriage.”
“Don’t you mean the Prefects’ Carriage?” Peter interjected.
“It was a joke Wormtail,” he sighed as Sirius laughed, “because they’re all Prefects… and to be a Prefect you have to be perfect.”
“But you’re a Prefect Prongs…” Pettigrew replied slowly.
Sirius caught James’ eye and they both shook their head in indulgent amusement. “I know I am Peter,” he replied, “but I’m the Quidditch Captain, a place of high honour bestowed upon the coolest people in each house. The extreme athletic ability required to be the captain cancels out any possible undesirable social consequences of being a Prefect.”
“I don’t understand,” Peter replied as Sirius hit him lightly on the head. “Stop being obnoxious,” he laughed. “The only person who cares about you is you.”
James snatched the Snitch from where it hovered just above his head and pouted. “Now that’s not true,” he replied, “there seems to be a large number of girls who hang onto my every word.”
“Oh Merlin not this again!” Sirius moaned as he curled up on the seat. “Other girls may like you but only one who matters to you hates your guts.”
“I don’t think you’re in a position to mock me on these considering the fantastic dressing down that you got from Jones,” James said.
“Yeah but we’re friends now,” Sirius replied. “In fact, just to prove that, I might go and see her in her carriage.”
“I’ll come with you!” he cried, rolling off the seat and collapsing onto the floor on all fours.
“Down boy!” Sirius said, placing his foot on James’ forehead. “You can’t.”
“Why not? I want to see Lily,” he moaned.
“Lily probably doesn’t want to see you though,” he pointed out, “besides, she’ll probably be in the Prefects’ Carriage.”
“Fine, I’ll accompany you on your way because I am a wonderful friend,” James said, pushing Sirius out of the door and turning to face Peter. “What are you going to do then Peter?” he asked.
“Oh… I’ll just wait here,” he said as he eyed up the sweets James had left behind and wriggled in his seat.
“Okay then, if you say so,” they said as they left and ambled through the corridors of the train, ducking under Fanged Frisbees which pupils had managed to keep away from Filch, parchment aeroplanes which flitted from carriage to carriage, dodging a plant someone had stolen from the Herbology greenhouses which kept trying to grab their ankles and weaving through the few people who were milling around in the hall.
Sirius ducked into Cassie’s carriage with a wink at James and the door clicked shut behind him. Just before James continued on through the corridor the door opened again and Sirius stuck his head out of it, leaning casually against the door frame. “Come here Prongs.”
“No I can’t, I’m off to-”
“Oh don’t think I don’t know you were planning on going to bug Evans,” he interrupted, “but perhaps you should leave her alone for a while. After all,” he whispered, “it worked for me and Cassie.”
“Fine but only for a bit,” he said as he followed Sirius into the girls’ carriage and collapsed next to Cassie, who was currently buried under all of Sirius’ limbs. “Oh where’re Tuckfield and Evans?” he asked.
“Alice and Lily,” Cassie replied, her anger muffled by Sirius’ grasping hands, “are busy. Alice is with Frank and Lily went to the Prefects’ meeting which I believe you too were supposed to be at.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” he replied with a shrug as Cassie struggled to push Sirius off her. “I’m sure Remus will pass on anything important though.”
“What are you even doing here?” Mary asked.
“We just came to say hello and provide some quality entertainment,” Sirius answered brightly, wriggling in Cassie’s lap and wrapping his arms around her tightly.
“Get off me Black,” she said as she tried to pull his arms off her, “this is not ‘quality entertainment’.”
“It is for us,” he replied with a grin. “Besides we’re friends now which means you have to put up with me.”
“Merlin’s pants,” she muttered, “I’d take you being an obnoxious pain in the arse over this any day.”
“Oh come on you know you love me really,” he said as James chuckled and Mary shook her head in exasperation. James stretched his arms out and spread out on the carriage seat, spread-eagling himself and winking at Mary. “Oh wonderful,” he said as he spotted a Chocolate Frog on the floor and lunged for it, “I was just thinking that I was a bit peckish.”
“Put it down Potter,” Mary frowned as James ripped into it, “go and buy yourself one if you’re that desperate.”
“Can’t, sorry,” he shrugged, “trolley’s already been and gone.” He caught the frog in his hands before it escaped and shoved it in his mouth, groaning slightly as the taste of the chocolate suffused across his tongue. “My god that tastes good,” he mumbled through his mouthful of food as he bared his now brown teeth at Mary who glared at him before sighing huffily and returning to her book. “Oh come on Macdonald don’t be like that,” he entreated as she lowered The Vanishing Vampire and eyed him warily. “I’m reading Potter,” she retorted sharply, “even if Cassie has managed to fall under your spell and I have to get used to having you around I still want to read uninterrupted.”
“Sorry!” James said, lifting his hands into the air defensively. “Can you ever forgive me?”
“We’ll see.”
“Oh Padfoot,” he cried suddenly, “we forgot to set off all of the fireworks!”
Sirius shrugged loosely and said, “Eh we’ll do it later. Could always keep them and do it another time. At the very least give me a few more minutes of tormenting Jones.”
“Ugh Potter you’ve created a monster,” he heard Cassie mumble from behind Sirius’ back. “Can you please get him off me?”
“I’m not sure I can.” Sirius gave him two thumbs up and stretched his arms out, completely hiding Cassie behind him.
“Please Potter! – Get your hair out of my face Black; even if half the girls in the school want to run their hands through it I’d rather not have it in my mouth – please Potter, help me! I’ll leave the team otherwise.” Her words, albeit mumbled, were enough to elicit a shocked gasp from James as he sprang to his feet. “Why I must help you, poor maiden!” he cried, raising an invisible sword above his head. “I wouldn’t want to lose one of my Chasers to the notorious Sirius Black!” James pulled Sirius off Cassie and they tumbled to the floor, laughing as they high fived and James whispered in his ear, “I’m sorry Padfoot. Quidditch always comes before girls, you know that.”
Sirius just shook his head at him in mock dismay and pulled him up onto the opposite seat, stretching his long legs out across the gap and resting his feet on Cassie’s lap. She looked down at them in exasperation before shoving them away; when he put them back on her lap she gave up, knowing she would be fighting a losing battle, and merely rolled her eyes. Her appearance of anger was softened, however, by the tiny chuckle which she let escape as she did so and so Sirius wriggled slightly, settling himself down.
They hadn’t been there very long when the carriage door opened and Lily appeared in the doorway, already changed back into her Muggle clothes. “Oh,” she said, “what are you doing here?”
“Padfoot came to torment Jones and I was fighting him valiantly the whole way here,” James replied as Lily stepped gingerly over their legs and settled herself down beside Cassie. “Of course you were Potter,” she said with an amused shake of her head. She was surprised by how easy it was to like him and his friends when one just gave them a chance; granted they were complete idiots half of the time but it was a pleasant surprise to see the other side of them.
James and Sirius had left to change an hour or so before the train pulled into the station and the loud bangs and screams, both of surprise and delight, which rippled through the corridors as fireworks flew through the train announced the beginning of the summer in the typical Marauder style.
As they clambered down from the train Sirius greeted Mr and Mrs Potter enthusiastically, promising to visit them for as long as they would have him before he clapped James on the back, wished Lupin and Peter all the best and trudged towards where his family was fussing over Regulus. As he watched Sirius leave James was already planning the earliest time he could invite him over and free him from his horrible family; as his father loaded his trunk onto a trolley and they strolled through the entrance to King’s Cross his mother sighed wearily. “One day James, one day we are going to save him from Walburga and Orion Black,” she said warmly as she kissed him on the temple and began asking him about his year at Hogwarts.