Binding Ties

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K.R, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended

It was late in the evening when James entered the castle and made his way to his dormitory. The Gryffindor vs. Slytherin quidditch match was coming up and James being captain, made his team practice hard everyday. Today's practice session had been good; for once the entire team had turned up on time and the injuries had been limited to only two bloody noses, but now all James wanted was to take a nice long shower and perhaps get a bite to eat from the kitchens, although with the pile of homework that was waiting for him upstairs that didn't look to likely.

Lost in his thoughts, thinking about his crush Lily Evans who refused point blank to go out with him and his OWLS and just in general about the war with the dark side that looked inevitable now, James didn't realize he had reached the Fat Lady's portrait and she was waiting impatiently for him to say the password.

'Are you going to keep me waiting all night long, boy?' she said irritably, her eyes narrowing.

'Wha- Oh sorry! Flibbertigibbet!' The portrait swung open and James hurried inside-he had homework to finish and it wouldn't do him any good if he was caught by Filch now.

As he entered the common room, he was greeted with the familiar sight of students lounging about, some catching up on last minute homework, others chatting with their friends. He scanned the room and found his friends, the Marauders sitting at one end of the room, no doubt planning a new prank. Well Sirius would be the one doing all the planning and Remus would most probably be trying to stop him. Peter would be doing what Peter did best; nothing at all.

'Hey guys, what's up?' James asked as he threw himself on a sofa, running a hand through his hair, making them stand up even more.

'Nothing just rechecking my transfiguration essay. Where's Sirius?' Remus answered, scribbling a few lines at the end of his already two foot long essay.

'What do you mean where's Sirius? Isn't he here with you guys?' James asked, confused.

'No he went out to look for you', Wormtail said, looking up from his essay and nearly upsetting an ink bottle. 'I thought he must have found you by now'.

'No he didn't. Well I'm going to go look for him, anyone coming?'

When no one replied positively, James sighed and got up from his place. He went up to his dorm and got his invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map and went down again.

'Don't let anyone catch you, you can't afford any more detentions now', Moony warned, not looking up from his work. James nodded absently, lost in his thoughts, not really listening to what Remus was saying. Where had Padfoot gone? He knew he hadn't really gone out to look for him; James knew his best friend well enough, probably better than anyone else and knew that the teen wizard wouldn't have wasted his time looking for him when he knew he was going to come soon.

As James stepped out of the common room, he threw the cloak on himself and opened the map. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good . He scanned the map, looking over the various labeled dots moving about, when he saw the dot labeled Sirius Black. As he looked closer he realized Sirius was in the Astronomy Tower. What the hell was Sirius doing in the astronomy tower? Was he with someone? No, if he was the map would have mentioned it. Curious, James made his way to the seventh floor, to the Astronomy Tower.

As he made his way up to the tower, he felt a sudden chill down his spine. Something was not right and James knew it. It was dark and there was no moon tonight. As most of the students and teachers were busy at the moment, there weren't many people in the corridors for which James was thankful as he did not want any questions asked right now.

It was quiet, too quiet when James reached the end of the stairs of the Astronomy Tower. He strained his ears for any sound, any indication that Sirius might be here but there was none. What was Sirius doing here? Was he really even here? Maybe the map was lying. No! The map never lies.

When he reached the end of the steps he heard someone sniffling. Since when does Sirius cry? James checked the map again, just to be sure and sure enough there it was; the small black dot labeled 'Sirius Black' in the Astronomy Tower.

As James went inside the Astronomy Tower he saw a boy of fifteen with dark black hair that reached up to his shoulders. He sat in a corner with his head on his knees and was shaking slightly as if crying. James' eyes widened as he saw this and a thousand n thoughts ran through his mind. Sirius never cries! What on earth was wrong? Tentatively he made his way over to him and put his hand on his shoulder.

'Sirius?' Sirius raised his head and looked around wildly, embarrassment clear on his face at thought of being caught. His eyes were red and puffy and his there were tracks of tears down his face. As he saw James standing over his head with a worried look in his eyes, his shoulders relaxed visibly.

'Prongs? What are you doing here?' Sirius asked getting up from his place and wiping away his tears.

'I could ask you the same question'.

'Nothing! Lets go to the common room, the others will be wondering where we are', Sirius said hurriedly, making his way towards the staircase when he was stopped by James.

'Honestly Padfoot! Tell me what's wrong'.

'Nothing's wrong, I'm-'

'Dammit Sirius! Stop lying to me!'

'I'm not lying! I told you I'm fine'.

'Look I want to help you but I can't really do that unless you tell me what's wrong. Is it your family-?'

It was at the word 'family' that something snapped inside Sirius.

'Don't even mention the word family!' he snapped looking livid. 'I hate them! I hate the whole bloody lot of them!' he took a step towards James looking so intimidating with his eyes blazing and narrowed dangerously that James actually took a step back.

Surprised by this strange behavior of his friend, James opened his mouth to ask what had happened when Sirius beat him to it.

'Do you want to know what they did?' Sirius said, his voice cracking in the end. 'They threw me out! My own mother disowned me!' he cried, his eyes watering.

'Oh Padfoot!' James said softly. He couldn't believe that the Blacks, strict purebloods and faithful followers of Voldemort that they were would ever do such a thing. He went over to his best friend and pulled him into a hug. He let Sirius put his head on his shoulder and held him tightly, letting him know that he was there for him, just like he'd always be there for him. They stood like that for a long time, none of them speaking for they didn't need to. It was a mark of their friendship that words didn't need to be spoken for they understood each other perfectly well without them.

Sirius started mumbling about not having a family when James pulled away from him and glared at him.

'Don't you start on not having a family or I'll really get upset with you!' James said glaring at Sirius. 'Aren't the Marauders your family? Don't we stick together through everything? And don't even get me started on where to stay for the holidays. I have a feeling my mother likes you more than me!'

Sirius smiled at this and put his arm around James. 'I know I was being stupid'.

James laughed and ruffled Sirius's hair, messing it all up. Together they went downstairs towards the Gryffindor common room, laughing, knowing that they'd always be there for each other. After all didn't the marauders have a bond between them stronger than any other?

A/N:Hey everyone! I know this probably wasn't the best story you've ever read but it's my first story ever and I suppose you can only get better with practice!

Please review! : )