Disclaimer: I don't own James Potter, Sirius Black, or the song You May Be Right.
Author's Note: This story is now an AU, because it was written before OotP and has some inaccurate portrayals of James and Sirius's backgrounds. It's a pretty good read nonetheless.
- 1970 -
Friday night I crashed your party
Saturday I said I'm sorry
Sunday came and trashed me out again
I was only having fun
Wasn't hurting any one
And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change
James Potter heard a knock on the door over the noise of the gathering. He ignored it, thinking that the butler would just lead in whoever it was like he had with everyone else. But the knocking continued, and grew louder. No one else seemed to notice it, or at least they were better at politely ignoring such things than he. He moved his plate of hors d'oeuvres to the small table and stood up.
"Please excuse me, I must go grab something. I'll be back in just a minute."
They acknowledged his comments, nodding silent approval, just as he knew they would. He made his way around the legs of the others on the couch and out the large door, through to the front entranceway. He opened the door, expecting another stiff, polite, robed set of Ministry workers and child, with at least a mild drying spell keeping off the rain.
His expectations couldn't have been further off. Twelve year old Sirius Black, in blue jeans and a ripped shirt, was grinning broadly, despite the mud on his clothes and the rain pouring down his skin. He held an extremely old broomstick in one hand. "Hi, James. Sorry I'm late. I would have been here earlier, but I got lost and my broom gave out about five miles ago. I had to walk the rest of the way."
James shook his head a minute, trying to clear his head of all the niceties and polite training. He spoke barely above a whisper. "The bloody hell do you think you're doing here?"
Sirius looked at him oddly. "You've been complaining about this party for weeks. You hate these gatherings, and despise the mindless chatter. I figured I could come and keep you company, maybe make this so it wasn't quite so dreadful for you. What are you wearing?"
"Dress robes, and not one word about them, thank you very much. You really can't stay, not like that. It's an invitations only thing, and Father is quite strict about it."
"Well it's not like I can get home, not with this," he nodded his head to the broom that was twitching weakly in his hand. "Can I at least come in and clean up a bit?"
"Everything all right out there, James? Do you need a hand with anything?" a man's voice called out of the drawing room.
"Perfectly fine, Father. I'll be back in momentarily," James called. He grabbed Sirius's arm. "Follow me, and don't say anything. We are going to have to do this quietly." He pulled Sirius in and shut the door silently.
The two of them ran across the entrance hall, up the stairs, and through a maze of corridors to James's chambers. James opened the door, pulled Sirius inside, and slammed it shut. "I think we made it."
"Merlin, I never would have believed you were such a prissy boy at home. Is it always like this?"
James glared at him. "Don't you even start, Sirius. Not now, not ever. This is the bathroom," he said, gesturing to a door on the side. "Take a quick shower, the towels are on the wall, leave your clothes in the far corner for the elves. I will try to find something that you can wear, but be quick."
"Yes, sir," Sirius laughed, ducking out quickly before James could do anything. James quickly flipped through his wardrobe, picking out a pair of loose corduroys and a turtleneck, to go under a larger set of dress robes. Rolling his eyes, he also grabbed an undershirt, boxers, socks, and dress shoes.
Sirius came out of the steamy bathroom with just a towel tucked around his waist. He was still dripping, and his hair made a mess down his back, but at least the mud was gone. "Get dressed."
Sirius did without asking, and started talking as he dried himself thoroughly and pulled on the various layer. "What do I need to know?"
"Here goes. This is an assortment of various higher level Ministry workers, and their spouses and children. You will only be expected to talk with the children, but you need to do so politely. We will need to introduce you to the adults, and make up some sort of reasonable excuse for you being here. You'll recognize most of the kids, but they will be acting about as pretentious as I am. Blend in, take most of your cues from me, and we really need to do something with your hair. You look like you've got a run-over cat hanging onto the back of your head, honestly."
James opened a drawer to search for a comb and Sirius burst out laughing. "I can't believe you really are this much of an affected Ministry brat at home. And it's natural. I think I can manage that, though."
Sirius practiced his 'polite' voice while James ran the comb quickly through his hair and tied it into a low ponytail. Sirius tried to look at it in the mirror skeptically. "Hush up. It's only for one night, anyway, and you're the one who crashed the party."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry, thanks, and all that. We should probably be going. You've been gone an awfully long time."
James grabbed his arm and pulled him back through the corridors and halfway down the staircase. They walked from there, so Sirius would have a chance to see how he was supposed to walk and to practice moving right. James opened the door to the drawing room. Everyone was in mostly the same positions as they had been in when he left. He took Sirius's hand and led him over to his father. "I apologize for being out so long. Father, this is Sirius Black, an acquaintance from school. He shares the dorm with me. We had arranged, earlier in the summer, for him to stay over this weekend, before you told me about this gathering, and I forgot. He just arrived, and I thought I should bring him to enjoy the end of the event."
"Hello, Mr. Potter. I am so pleased to meet you. Thank you so much for allowing me to come and stay. It was so very generous of you." He was going to continue but at that point James kicked him in the back of the leg, hoping he would shut up.
"No trouble at all, Master Black. It was good of you to come. Do enjoy yourself." His voice was soft enough that the polite insincerity was only evident to James and Sirius. He shook Sirius's hand formally, and James led Sirius away to where the other children were sitting.
"I've returned, everyone, this is Sirius Black. A few of you probably know him from school. He just arrived."
Sirius was introduced to everyone, and joined in the polite chatter. He sounded as stiff as everyone else, but James could see him rolling his eyes and trying to hide laughter a few times. James crossed his fingers hoping he wouldn't actually laugh aloud and spoil the whole thing. It was over in another hour, after which they all politely shook hands again and feigned expressions of their desires to meet again soon. As Mr. Potter was leading the last guests out the door, James and Sirius politely excused themselves and walked back to James's room.
As soon as the door was shut, Sirius kicked off the stiff shoes and dropped the formal robes on the floor. "Thank the heavens that's over. I have never felt so pompous in my life."
James rolled his eyes and picked the robes off the floor, brushing them off absent mindedly and hanging them in the closet with his own. "I really didn't think you'd be able to keep it up when Severus started talking about his mother's attempts at divination. The expression on your face was so marvelously twisted, just trying not to let loose. It was even harder than not laughing at the story in the first place."
"What about you, when Miss Graham went off about her daring attempts on her father's broom? When she finally told us that it all led up to getting about three feet above the ground in her own backyard and running into the fence, I thought you were going to die holding it in, honestly."
As they talked they both stripped down to their boxers. James carried the pile of shed clothes to the laundry as Sirius continued to laugh. "I suppose you'd better stay here for the night. I don't think I trust you in a guest room alone."
Sirius crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out, but sat down on top of the large bed. He began twiddling his fingers anxiously. "I get the feeling I'm missing something."
James eyed him skeptically. "Did you come all this way without your wand?"
"Right-o," Sirius replied, bopping himself on the forehead. "It's in my pants." He raced back through the bathroom and returned a moment later, his short applewood wand spinning like a baton through his fingers.
"I really don't trust you doing that. Remember the time you lit Remus's hair on fire? And when you accidentally turned Lily's eyes black?"
"Yeah, yeah," he laughed, tucking it into his pocket. They both climbed into the large bed and James spelled the wall torches out. The room was still barely lit with the red glow of the coal in James's small fireplace.
"Sirius?" James's voice asked quietly after a moment of forced silence.
"Mm?"
"Does your mum know you're here?"
"She's away for the weekend. I left a note, I think, in case anyone checks by."
"All right."
They lay there quietly, feeling some sort of awkwardness that both wanted to banish from the room. They tried chatting for a while, but the conversation seemed full of big pauses that had never been there at school.
"James?"
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry I came over like that. I should have asked. I didn't really mean to make trouble. I was only having fun, wanted to give you a little excitement. You had been telling me all summer how these things were always dead boring."
"It's all right. I did have fun, I was just scared half to death of what Father would say, or that you would say something and I wouldn't be able to stop laughing."
After that it was quiet. The two of them fell into exhausted sleep. The next day, James and Sirius explored the house, trying to keep out of the way of James's parents. It was a huge house, and new corridors kept popping up out of nowhere, and a few staircases showed up and disappeared throughout the day, so they were kept busy without getting into too much trouble. That evening, Sirius took his rested broom and started flying back to his own house.
James was woken early Sunday morning by a tapping at his window. He was used to owls arriving at odd hours and didn't bother opening his eyes as he fished for the pole he used to open the window from his bed. Once he got it open, there was a loud thump, much louder than something any owl could have managed.
"Thanks, James," an unmistakable voice called from the floor.
"Sirius, what are you doing here?" James asked, opening his eyes and retreating to his bed.
"I got really lost, and then my broom died when I was in that town, whatever it's called, about 20 k from your house, and I really don't know anyone who lives there, so I just walked back, but I didn't want to wake anyone since it was around three thirty when I arrived. I was going to wait until you woke up but we both know I'm really not that patient."
James paused for a moment, absorbing the information. Then he swung an arm out, whacking Sirius on the shoulder. "You are such an idiot. Come on, I'll have to fly you home." He went over to his wardrobe and opened the compartment in the side, grabbing his broom.
"Oh yes, I'm James Potter and I have the latest edition racing broom because my father's filthy rich," Sirius mocked.
"Hey, as far as I know my father is very clean rich." He opened the window and climbed out, gesturing for Sirius to follow. "You'll have to take back, because I'm the one who actually remembers how to get to your house."
They both mounted the broom, Sirius behind James and holding on around his waist. After they kicked off the broom dropped ten feet down, but quickly regained balance only a little lower than usual. It was a long flight, because they had to avoid Muggle roads and settlements besides traveling halfway across the country. James realized about an hour into it that Sirius had fallen asleep, and was slumped against his back. It made the flying a little harder, especially since he didn't remember exactly where the house was.
They finally landed outside the cottage where Sirius lived with his mother. Sirius awoke when his feet hit the ground. "Ugh. Thanks, James. Didn't mean to fall asleep there, awful sorry. I'll be sure to write soon, okay? And maybe we could all gather at Remus's before school picks up again."
"We'll see. He didn't seem to think his parents liked visitors much."
"Hey, I'm sorry for dropping in on you."
"Don't be, it was worth it to actually enjoy the weekend for a change."
!!!
- 1973 -
I've been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain
And you told me not to drive
But I made it home alive
So you said that only proves that I'm insane
"Sirius, no! I know we've planned it, but you absolutely can not fly here in this weather. There is a hurricane here, for Merlin's sake! You barely made it in a drizzle. Besides, it's not safe. Dad's been hearing a lot of rumors, about things I do not want to get you involved in."
"James, I'll be fine. Remember how I told you last summer Mum and I got caught in the middle of the riot in Belfast? And when I had to go visit Da in June? Did I ever tell you about where he lives?"
"New York City, in America, but I know it's not as bad as they say."
"He lives in Bedford Stuy, the most dangerous ghetto in the whole city, which is most certainly worse than anything a little rainstorm can throw at me."
"Fine, but if you are going to come, go to the Madleys' and use their Floo. There is no way I will let you fly here in this with your broom how it is."
"Yes, Jamesie. It might take a little longer that way, though. I got lost last time."
"I'll see you tonight, Sirius," James sighed, breaking the connection. They had planned this since before term ended. Cassiopeia, Sirius's mother, was away for the two weeks over his birthday, and so he was going to come stay at the Potters' for a few days, and Peter and Remus were coming over on his birthday. The storm was heavy over the Potters', unfortunately, and the rain was thick enough that James couldn't see out the windows.
About five hours later, James was deeply engrossed in his transfiguration essay when he heard a loud roaring outside the door. It was followed by the door chime, so James went to check. He opened the door and was immediately engulfed in the arms of a soaking wet Sirius Black. "Jamesie! It is so good to see you again. I haven't had anyone tell me a decent joke since the train ride home. We are going to have so much fun the next few days."
He let go, and James pulled him inside. James was starting to push the doors shut when Sirius grabbed it beneath his hold. "Wait up. Where do I put my bike?"
"What bike?"
Sirius pulled the door back open. Outside was an enormous red and black motorbike. "Where'd ya steal that thing?"
"Da gave it to me, as an early birthday present, when I was visiting. I was going to tell you, but I thought it would be more fun as a surprise. Besides, you just said I couldn't fly here."
"I guess we could put it in the room through the coat closet. Can you carry that thing?"
"Of course." He stepped back outside, picked up the bike, and staggered behind James through a half-empty closet to an empty room behind it. James hurried out and shut the front door.
"You're a mess, you know," James commented as they started up the stairs to his room. "I'm not sure you've ever arrived at my house looking decent."
"Thanks for the ego boost as always, James," Sirius laughed, rolling his eyes. They entered James's room. The walls were now spotted with picture frames, the best snapshots of all the hundreds they had taken each year.
"Would you like a shower?"
"No, I think I'm already wet enough, thanks."
"I meant to warm up, twit."
"Do have one of those whatchamacallits, a jacuzzi or whatever it's called?"
"Actually, yes we do. That sounds really nice. Mind if I join?"
"Nah, it's your house."
They went into the bathroom together and stripped off their wet clothes. The water came out hot when they first pulled the faucet, and it only took a few minutes for the large hot tub to fill up. They soaked in the heat comfortably, relaxing and splashing each other a little. They closed their eyes and stretched out and allowed their muscles to loosen. It was lucky for Sirius that they were both in there, because it meant that James noticed when his head started slipping under the water level and James was able to wake him back up with a couple of light slaps on the sides of his face.
"Hey, Sirry, c'mon. Let's get you out of here before you drown yourself, all right?"
"Yeah, yeah." They stepped out slowly and toweled off in the misty air. James pulled them each a pair of pajamas from the wardrobe, and they slipped into bed and dimmed the lights almost immediately.
"Sirry?"
"Yeah?"
"You awake?"
"Almost."
"I told you to wait. You could have gotten yourself killed, you know."
"You don't know the half of it. I'll tell you tomorrow, but for now it only matters that I got here alive."
"The young Master Potter goes to sleep with further proof that his bed buddy and best friend is certifiably insane."
Sirius giggled sleepily, and it didn't take long for them both to slip off into deep slumber.
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic your looking for
Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
Sirius woke in the middle of the night when he heard the storm passing over. He lay thinking quietly for a few minutes before poking James awake.
"Sirry? What is it, what's wrong?" James reached his wand out and flicked on the light nearest him.
"Nothing, really. I can't sleep. I was wondering something."
"Sirry!" James groaned into the pillow. "Well, what is it, now that you've gotten me up?"
"What if you were right, earlier?"
"I'm always right. Why do you ask?"
"No, I mean," Sirius sighed heavily. "Ah hell, what if I am actually crazy? I wonder sometimes. It's just that I don't think things the same as the rest of you."
"What do you mean?"
"It's just that, oh, I don't know. I can't think things regularly in order like you're supposed to. Remember that test McGonagall gave us, where we were supposed to turn a chopstick into a quill, and turn it back? We had a chance to practice first, then when we got in there she just wanted us to write out how we did it? I transformed it perfectly, well, after the first try anyway, but I got in there, and she said what to do, and I totally bombed it! I took the thing out of my pocket and showed her, and I got fifty percent for being able to do it, but I couldn't tell a word of how I did it. I couldn't even think it."
"At least it worked for you. Lils got a hundred on the test, because she's memorized the book, but she couldn't have done the transfiguration if her life depended on it."
"It's more than that. Remember on the train ride home, how Lily was feeling sick? And Snape came in, and he said that thing about you and her? I slammed the door in his face so hard I broke his nose! But I didn't even think about it. It's like, I don't know, I can't explain this. It's like I couldn't help doing it, even if I hadn't wanted to break the greasy git's nose, hearing that I might've done it anyway."
"That doesn't mean you're insane, Sirry, just over-protective. You care about me, you care about her, you don't like hearing bad stuff about us. And you were looking for an opportunity to beat him up. And even if you are crazy, you're just the kind of crazy friend I need. Someone has to fly into a temper and go beat up the Slytherins. If you didn't do it, who would?"
"Thanks, Jamesie, that really helped," Sirius laughed, rolling his eyes. "Just turn off the light and go to sleep. For all I know, you could be right, maybe I am crazy. Maybe not, but this sure isn't going to help anything."
"G'night, Sirius."
- 1974 -
Remember how I found you there
Alone in your electric chair
I told you dirty jokes until you smiled
You were lonely for a man
I said take me as I am
Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while
"Dear Padfoot," James's letter read. "Help! Remember how excited I was when Lily invited me to stay with her over the summer? How I thought it would be so much fun to get to spend all that time with her, and get to know her family? Well, some things weren't mentioned before I made the agreement. Like how her two single aunts and aged grandmother live with them, and her dad works night shift, so it's a houseful of women. And how I am staying in Lily's room, so Lily had to move in with Petunia, who besides now having more reason not to like me, is making Lily's life hell, so Lil's out of sorts. And she's Muggle-born (sorry, Lils, no offence) so no house elves, and we have to actually do all the chores by hand. I try to get her out of the house as often as I can, but she really lives in a little nothing of a town. I'm not sure I can survive until it's time to meet up at Lupin Lodge. Her parents are nice enough, but they just have no sense of humor at all! She doesn't even get the Prophet, so I haven't heard anything all summer. Find some excuse to get me out of here! Your partner in the depths of St. Mungo's, Prongs."
Sirius laughed. Poor little James, alone in a house full of girls. He seemed so upset that he had even forgotten about the Cup this summer. It had been great fun. He had perfected five of the treats they had been working on, and would sell them outside the stadium until he had enough money to buy himself a ticket for the day's game. His mother was one of the Medi-Witches they had hired, but it didn't pay enough for her to get him tickets to more than the final match. So he had spent most of the summer in the nearest wizarding town, trying to translate his supply lists into French.
Beamer, James's eagle owl, began ruffling his feathers. Sirius quickly hunted out his bottle of turquoise ink and a piece of parchment. "Dear Jamesie, Sorry to hear about trouble on the home front. I've got a proposition for you. My birthday is next Saturday, on the 8th of August. The finals are the next day. I'm pretty sure the bike will be able to last that far, as long as I wait at Lil's for an hour or so, and then you can come join me and mum here for the weekend, then it's only two more weeks until we meet at Moony's. I will come to pick you up the afternoon of the 6th, just to be safe. Give Lils a hug from me! The one and only, Sirius Black."
He signed the letter quickly and fished out an envelope to put it in. It wasn't always safe to trust scrolls to longer flights, especially over water. He held out a handful of cereal to Beamer before using a quick charm to keep the envelope attached until it got to James. After Beamer had eaten and gotten a sip of his orange juice, Sirius sent him off on his way. The messages to and from France took a lot longer than he was used to, and he wanted the letter to arrive in time.
"I'll get it!" Petunia screeched, running down the stairs and almost tripping in the unfamiliar heels. She was expecting her boyfriend, and had spent the entire day primping. She was not expecting, however, the tall figure with the large red motorbike. She squealed in surprise when he reached out towards her.
"Are Lily and James here, Pet?"
"Oh, you're another one of her freak friends. How many times do I have to tell you freaks not to call me that?"
"Sirius!" a voice from up the stairs called.
"Lilylilylilylilylilylilylilylily!" He yelled back up to her, smiling broadly.
Lily ran down the stairs, brushed past Petunia, and jumped into Sirius's open arms. He caught her and spun her around in a friendly hug before setting her back inside the door. "Hey, beautiful, how are you?" Petunia, offended, pushed away and stomped back up the stairs.
She giggled. "Fabulous. James has been so excited about this. Yesterday we walked about a mile out of town and he took me flying in the country. Oh, it was so pretty. We've been having so much fun and then here you come and try to steal my boy."
"Speaking of the boy, where has he gone to?"
"Just off to the post office. Beamer is off somewhere and he forgot to tell his parents he was going away."
"Is it close? You mentioned that there are only two or three other wizards in this town."
"About a ten minute fly. He left just a bit before you got here, so he might be a while. Want to come in?"
"That sounds great. Mum and I have been living in a tent most of the summer."
"A tent? Doesn't it get a little crowded?"
"A bit, but she picked up a couple good chairs for it now, and we figured out how to work the fireplace again."
"Huh?"
"I'll have to show you our tent sometime. You see, wizard tents are a bit different from Muggle tents. They look sort of like them on the outside, but inside, they have a few rooms, furniture, beds, and some put on all sorts of junk. Honestly, some of the tents I've seen this summer are bigger inside than my whole house."
"I guess since you are in that huge crowd no one really notices if you use magic."
"One of the nice benefits to large crowds of wizards. Though I haven't been doing too much, mostly a bit of potion brewing and a few small charms that you taught James and me how to do, honest."
"Sirius?"
"Yes, Lils?"
"Am I really supposed to believe that?"
"Only if you want to."
"Sirius!"
"No, ma'am. It was only one, though, and it was a very little curse."
"What did you do?"
"You remember Evan Rosier, that Slytherin who was Head Boy two years ago, the one who was always bothering the Hufflepuffs?"
"Vaguely."
"Well, he was talking to one of the younger ones, Victoria something, I think their mums are friends, and he called her a, well, a you-know-what-James-and-I-are-always-in-trouble-for-Snape-calling-you, and she started crying, so I cursed him."
"Sirry, I appreciate your motives, but what did you do to him?"
"I hit him with a jellyfish, okay? I meant to just do a feather charm or something, but I was really annoyed so I wasn't concentrating, and I accidentally conjured a jellyfish, and it got him in the face."
For about five seconds, Lily looked very stern. Then, slowly, the corner of her mouth turned up, and it didn't take Sirius long to realize she was biting her lips to try to keep from laughing. Finally she gave up, and chuckled loudly, then Sirius started, and when she had almost stopped he tickled her lightly right under her ribs, and she started again, and Sirius had almost fallen to the floor when the loud thump announced James's entrance through the window.
"What's the joke?"
Lily took a deep breath and managed to regain her composure. "Can't you ever enter a room like a normal human being?"
"No," he replied casually. "What was so funny?"
She was about to answer when Sirius, who was sitting at an angle behind James, mimed the throwing of a jellyfish, and she started laughing again. "Aw, c'mon!"
Lily barely got the words out between chuckles. "Sirius hit . . . Rosier, with a . . . jellyfish."
James's face gained a perplexed expression, and Sirius started laughing again. James turned around. "Padfoot! You're here!"
"You better believe it!" Sirius laughed, launching himself onto James and knocking them both to the floor. They rolled around eagerly, laughing harder as Lily squealed and jumped on top of the couch. Sirius won out, pinning James to the ground and poking him in the ribs as he squirmed.
"Okay, okay, I give! My bag's upstairs, just let me run and get it and I'll be ready."
Sirius pushed himself up, and James crawled out from underneath before dashing off up the stairs. "Hey, it was nice seeing you, Lils. I'll just be stealing him for a few days, though I can't guarantee what the return traffic will be like, especially if the game goes on a while."
"It was great seeing you too, Sirry. Watch out for James. I want him returned in one piece."
"Aw, where's the fun in that?"
Lily laughed and Sirius hugged her before heading to the door. James thundered halfway down the stairs before tripping and rolling the rest of the way. Sirius couldn't help laughing. "Well, that was graceful."
James shook his head and brushed himself off, grabbing his bag. "Somehow, that's a lot easier when the stairs are moving."
"Be careful, James!" Lily scolded.
He turned his head down before grabbing his bag and giving her a quick peck on the lips. The boys dashed out the door and got themselves seated on the motorbike. Sirius grabbed the handlebars and pushed off the ground, as James waved goodbye off the back with the hand that wasn't wrapped around Sirius. They were out of the neighborhood before either of them spoke.
"C'mon James, two hands, it's a lot harder to catch someone when they fall of this than a broom, and we are going to have to go up pretty high."
"Yeah, yeah," James groaned, before bringing his other hand around Sirius's side and clasping them both in front. "Merlin's beard, it feels good to be out of there. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been able to come get me today."
"Get a one way trip to St. Mungo's escorted by the men in the nice white robes?"
"Ah, shove it."
"Hey, what was that back there with Lils? When did that start?"
"I don't know. I've done it before, but only once or twice, and it just felt like I should."
"James, James, James. Never kiss anyone because you think you should. The only good reason so kiss someone is because you really like kissing them. Or you lost a dare, but I try to stay away from those. And never kiss anyone with facial hair."
"Sirius?"
"Yes?" he replied innocently.
"Where did that come from?"
"Da's kind of the touchy-feely type."
"And I bet I know exactly how much you enjoyed that," James laughed.
Sirius bit his lip, and there was a long pause before he spoke. "Hey mate, you probably ought to get some rest. It's a long flight and we'll be arriving really early tomorrow morning, and I'm not sure if we'll have time to run off for a nap. Besides, it's going to be a nut house when we get there, and you aren't going to want to miss a minute of it."
"Sure, I could use it. I had trouble sleeping last night, so I was talking with Lils until about three."
"Silly boy, silly boy. Just lean on my back, but be sure you hold on tight. This is going to be quite a trip."
James scooted further forward on the seat until he was right behind Sirius, and leaned onto his back. Sirius flew on through two of the greatest feelings in the world: the cloudy wind whipping through his hair, and the warm comfort of James Potter up against him.
- 1975 -
Now think of all the years you tried to
Find someone to satisfy you
I might be as crazy as you say
If I'm crazy then it's true
That it's all because of you
And you wouldn't want me any other way
"I'll see you on your birthday, Padfoot," James called, as his mother pulled him toward the exit. "Be sure to write!"
"Of course, Jamesie," Sirius yelled back across the din of the hundreds of students being picked up.
James glared and rolled his eyes in parting glance, then turned to avoid hitting his head on the side of the barrier. Sirius called out his final good-byes to Lily, Remus, and Peter before leaving to find an empty place to re-grow his motorbike. Now that he was old enough to take care of himself, and since his father had stopped sending the money orders, his mother had started taking on shifts at Mungo's over his school holidays. The house got quiet, but it meant that she didn't really notice as much when he went off with his friends, and it gave him time to work on some of his more experimental mischief without her over his shoulder. Besides, sometimes when the house was silent he actually did his homework.
Not that he would ever admit to it. If any of his friends guessed he'd deny it strongly enough to near convince himself, but it was something to do. With all the rumors that had been going around school, he had taken to jumping at small noises, and he didn't feel quite safe alone in the empty house. It was worse when he didn't have anything real to do.
Sirius purposefully pushed away these betraying thoughts and concentrated on the breeze flying through his hair, and the look of the earth beneath him. It was a long fly between King's Cross and his house, and a longer drive if too many people were around. He started singing some of Lily's love songs just to keep himself from becoming hypnotized by the land below.
The house was empty when he arrived. So Cass was at work. She had Spell-o-taped a piece of parchment to the back of the front door, telling him her hours and which Floo zone she would be in today, just in case of emergency. He set off to the kitchen and spent a few minutes conjuring himself a bowl of mashed potatoes, and set on a record to listen to while he snacked and unpacked his trunk. He spent the rest of the day going around the house and picking up Cass's mess, listening through half of his extensive Muggle record collection.
He ended up crashing from exhaustion on the couch with all the house-lights blazing. Cassiopeia Apparated home near two in the morning, and did a series of detection spells when she first saw the lights, before she remembered Sirius. She laughed when she saw him, since the lights had led her to expect him up and gallivanting about the place. Such an adorable boy. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and summoned a sheet from the linen closet to lay on top of him.
It was there, days later, tha Sirius was woken by a frantic, heavy thumping sound. It took him a minute to realize it was coming from the front door. He ran out to open it up.
James Potter was on the other side, but Sirius had never seen James looking this disheveled, or this wild-eyed. "Is Cass here? I'm hurt," he managed to croak out, before passing out into a crumpled heap in the doorway.
"James? James?" Sirius asked worriedly. He bent down and scooped James into his arms. It was difficult balance, since James was almost as large as he was, but he managed to set him down in the couch. After a quick inspection he realized that James had a broken arm, a possibly broken ankle, and his head had been thumped pretty hard against something. He found her note from the night before when she left. Wing Three, which was usually full of people who'd managed to lose arms or legs for a variety of reasons. He grabbed a pinch of Floo powder and threw it into the eternally active fireplace before stepping in himself.
"St. Mungo's Hospital, Wing Three!" He closed his eyes tightly, and a moment later arrived at the waiting area of the wing, in front of the receptionist desk. "Julia, have you seen my mum?"
"I'm just the receptionist, sweetie," she answered patronizingly.
"You think I can't bloody see that? I'm looking for Cassiopeia Frewin, she's one of the Healers. Pretty short, load of black hair she keeps pinned up. This is an emergency, have you seen her?"
"Slow down, let me check. You won't get anywhere talking to me like that." She turned away from him to a chart with a bevy of moving dots. "Room 35. It's through those doors, take the first left, second door on the right."
"Thank you," he called before hurrying away.
She was just leaving the room when he found her. "Mum! Cass!"
She turned around quickly. "Sirry? What are you doing here?"
"It's an emergency! At home! It's James, and he's hurt pretty badly, I think he's bleeding and has at least one broken bone, and he passed out when I opened the door."
"Why didn't you just bring him? I'm sure you're strong enough, and the Healers in the emergency ward are much better at this than me."
"I don't know! He asked for you!"
"Whatever you say, Sirry."
"Hurry up, Mum!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the fireplace in the lounge. He went first, and ran over to where James lay on the couch before she even got out. "Is he all right? I think his arm's broken, and it looks like he hit his head pretty badly. I got to you as quick as I could, but I'm not sure how long it took him to get here." He continued to talk, repeating himself and making less sense as he went.
"Sirius!" Cassiopeia barked, hitting him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Shut up! Just go into the kitchen and grab me some bandages and a warm washcloth."
He nodded, and half ran into the kitchen. She took out her wand and began to mutter a soft incantation as she held it over James' limp form. A blue light began to eminate from his body, particularly bright around his left foot, right forearm, and the back of his head. She used a careful severing charm on the leg of his pants around the knee and removed his shoe and sock as carefully as she could. The ankle was swollen to nearly twice its proper size, and was an angry red-purple color, besides the heat that was almost visible through the blue light. His foot wasn't even at the proper angle, so she'd have to pull the foot out of whatever it was set on to get it back into place to let it heal. "Sirius, I need you!"
He was at her side in an instant. "What is it, Mum?" he asked, deliberately not looking at James's bare leg.
"His ankle's misplaced, we're going to need to realign it if he's ever going to walk again. I'll hold his leg steady, but I'm going to need you to pull on his foot until it disjoints itself again."
Sirius paled, but nodded. He backed around the arm of the couch and gently picked up James's foot.
"Get ready, all right, when I say, you pull it out, turn it a little to your left, and let it slip back in. One, two, three, pull!" she cried. Sirius pulled. James's eyes opened and he started whimpering.
"Oh, oh, oh, pain, lots of pain, ow, ow, ow, ow, that bloody hurts! oh, oh, ow, ow ow ow ow!" Acting quickly, Cass stunned him before he could feel anything else. Sirius was looking mildly sick, and she made him go sit down. She summoned the cloths from the kitchen, and wrapped the ankle loosely with bandages and the washcloth before starting the spell that would help the bone fuse itself back together properly.
She repeated the inspection on his arm, which turned out to have a bad fracture that was almost poking through the skin. Luckily that one was mostly healed with spells, though it took a lot of concentration to stop the internal bleeding. She wrapped it in a wetted towel before moving on to his head.
He wasn't actually bleeding, but there was a good sized gash on the back of his head that looked like it had just dried with bits of dirt, plaster, and hair all through it. With some difficultly, she managed to clean it out, though it started bleeding again before she could get the bandage on and she ended up having to trim the hair off a wide area of his head. The blue glow had mostly receded, though he was glowing faintly all over. She had to get back to work, but Sirius promised he knew how to use the bruise salve properly.
Cass Floo-ed out while Sirius was in the kitchen mixing up the salve. He was thankful for James's Stunned state, since it looked like he'd have to remove most of James's clothing to get it done. He started with a strong levitation charm so it wouldn't disturb the wrappings when James had to be rolled over. James was wearing the semi-formal black robes that he always had for everyday wear around his house. Sirius unhooked his cloak and ended up having to take James shirt to pieces, as the sleeves wouldn't fit over his bandage.
What he saw scared him. James's back was covered in bruises, enough so that it just looked like one large purple blob. Trembling, Sirius scooped up some of the potion with his hands and began spreading it across James' back and sides, with as little pressure as he could manage. He got some on James's left arm, and around his neck before moving down. Luckily, James pants could still slip down over his ankle coverings, since he wasn't sure he trusted the accuracy of his severing charms that much. His legs weren't as bad, and Sirius just had to rub a little around his knees. He lowered James until he was almost touching the couch, so the potion could dry before he set him down properly.
Anxiously, he began cleaning things up out of a need to do something. He straightened up that room and his bedroom by hand, because most of his magic was going to holding up James. By that point the salve had soaked in and dried, so he lowered James back to the couch before attempting to wake him. "Ennervate."
James responded slowly. He moved a little, and took a few tries opening his eyes before he looked decently woken up. "Sirry? What happened? Did you find Cass?"
"Yeah, James, I did. You broke your arm, and one ankle, you've got a bloody big gash on the back of your head, and you're mostly covered in bruises. She's gone now, but I mostly know what to do. Does anything hurt?"
"Even from you, that's a dumb question. Really, if I could move I'd hit you with something. Of course it hurts. It hurts worse than the time I tripped down the stairs on my way to the hospital wing after taking a nose dive at practice."
"Right, right, sorry. Hold still for a second, I haven't really done this one before, but I know how it goes."
"Words to inspire confidence."
"Just shut up and don't move for a second. I'm going to have to concentrate really hard on this one." He closed his eyes and held his wand out over James. "Asceticitis."
A white light shot out of the tip of his wand and into James. He glowed white briefly, then the light all disappeared back through his skin. "Well, at least that one looked pretty cool, though I'm not feeling anything much yet. Wait, wait, hey Padfoot, you may have actually gotten that one right!"
Sirius smiled. "Thanks. You're going to have to tell me, though. What happened to you? I'm not going to believe you were really this clumsy. Who did this to you?"
"Stop it, Sirry, there's nothing you can do about it. And I'm not going to tell you while you have that look."
"What look?"
"The look that you're about to go beat something up. You really can't, and I won't tell you until you promise you won't."
"Fine, I won't immediately, irrationally go beat up the bastard that hurt my friend," Sirius scowled, seating himself on the arm of the couch by James's feet.
"I suppose that'll do. See, I got home, and he started asking me about my friends and what I'd been up to at school this past year. He never does that. And then he started asking about some of your families. I told him about you, and your dad, thank Godric I didn't tell him about Lily too."
"Well? Then what?"
"He dismissed me. Some of his friends were over, and he went to talk to them. I normally try to get away from these as quickly as I can, but I stayed, and I listened. They were planning, I'm not sure exactly, something bad though, on the Muggle-born and half-blood students. Dad found me, and he started inviting me to join them, and I opened my big mouth and told him exactly what I thought about that, and he led me out of the room and pushed me down the stairs into the dungeon. I know I was unconscious for a while, I'm not sure how long, but after a while I used my good arm to pull myself back up the stairs. I managed to summon my broom, and I flew all the way here."
Sirius had a look of bloodlust on his face, but managed to suppress it. "I can't believe it. Just think of how many years you've spent behaving and dressing like a ninny and everything just to please that idiot. Too bad there was no satisfaction guarantee. I'm not sure how long it took you to get here, but by the looks of it, you were out for a good few hours before you started flying, which means it will probably take you a few weeks to heal properly."
"Bloody hell. Sirius, I know this is asking a lot, but do you think Cass would mind taking me in for the summer? I really can't go back home, and I'm sure I can manage some excuse for Mum over Christmas hols, but even if he would take me back I can't go. You know that."
"Of course not. You think we'd let you go back after this? I'd tie you down if you hadn't already done me one better. Where's your broom?"
"I think I left it outside when I passed out."
"I'll go grab it." Sirius pushed himself up and disappeared through the doorway. He returned a moment later with the broom in his hand. "I'll just leave this in my room, shall I?"
"Yeah, thanks Siri. Ah, thought I'd ask, where're my clothes?"
"Right. Um, you should probably just borrow some stuff of mine. Your shirt was kinda bloody, and I had to practically shred it to get it off you so I could work on your bruises. And Mum had cut off most of the leg of your pants so she could work on your ankle. Your cloak's right over the back of the couch, though."
"Great, just what I need right now, the Potter family crest. Another reminder of my destiny and my proper place in my wonderful family of Death Eaters."
Sirius backhanded James across the face. "Shut up. You happening to be talking about my best friend in the world, and he means more to me than that."
"Idiot, you're the one who just slapped me."
"Well, it wasn't half as bad as what you said."
"You're crazy."
"It's your fault."
"Oh yeah? Just how is it my fault that you're crazy?"
"Had it not been for you, I probably would have ended up a Ravenclaw. Or even a rambunctious Hufflepuff."
James interrupted with a snort.
"Hey, you're the one that wanted to hear this," Sirius rolled his eyes, sitting back down.
"I'm just trying to imagine you as a Hufflepuff."
"Would you just let me finish my story?"
"Yes, sir."
"Thank you. And you, you just couldn't be the perfect little ambitious Slytherin your father wanted you to be. So that day in Diagon Alley, just after I got my wand, when you saw me drooling over the Cleansweep 4 in the store window, you just couldn't resist. You offered to buy it for me, as long as I promised I'd play with you. You said you were lonely, but we all know how true that is. And then you had to go and be such a great friend. Always available, always sacrificing, always ready with some new plot that could get us both killed. But everything did always will fall right around your feet. The Fates love you, James Potter, and so the world loves you. The teachers love you. They try not to show it in front of the other kids, but it's obvious they like you best. You and Lily. Yeah, Lils. She'd die for you in a second, Prongs, and don't even try to tell me you wouldn't do the same for her. So you're going to graduate and run off with your perfect wife and your perfect family and then maybe we can visit sometimes. But you forget James, I love you too. I can't help it. No one else can, either, but what would I be without you? You'll leave, and I'll just be Sirius Black, that boy who used to hang around with James Potter. But it won't be enough, because I need you, James. I need you, and I won't be able to have you, and when you're gone I will lose whatever sanity I have left!" Sirius crumbled and started crying into the back of the couch.
James used his good arm to pull himself up and grabbed Sirius around the waist, holding him and trying to share what comfort he could. Sirius turned around quickly, kissed James on the forehead, and ran away out the front door.
- 1976-
You may be right
I may be crazy
But it just may be a lunatic your looking for
It's too late to fight
It's too late to change me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
"Sirius, I can't believe you. Who in his right mind would sabotage his own graduation?" James whispered to Sirius as the huddled on the couch in the back of the library.
"It's not that I want to sabotage it, it's just that we haven't pulled off anything good for almost six months now. I want to have something to remember about graduation!"
"Not many people forget their own graduation. I've heard a bit about it from Dumbledore, it's supposed to be pretty great on its own."
"We wouldn't have to do anything bad."
"Padfoot, by definition anything we would add to this would be something bad."
"Not necessarily. We could do something along the lines of, I don't know, charming the words on the diplomas so the letters make anagrams?"
James stared at him skeptically.
"Okay, maybe that's dumb. But I want to do something! Please, Jamesie?" Sirius begged with puppy dog eyes.
"Oh, fine, but we'll have to do it quickly. Graduation is in two days, and I am not going to make them both all-nighters."
Sirius gave a wicked grin and they both set off to the shelves of advanced charms books.
A/N: I hope you liked it. I haven't done any songfics in a while, but this one was just calling my name. Please review if you have anything to say.