James was bored and maybe even a little lonely. It had only been the summer holidays for one week and he was already missing his best friends. He was reading Quidditch Through the Ages and The Daily Prophet at the same time but still wasn't interested. He heard a knock at the door. It couldn't be his parents. They were out doing something for the ministry. He pushed away the paper and the book and bounded down the stairs to open the door.
"Merlin's beard mate, I'm soaking! What took you so long?" Without waiting for a reply Sirius crossed the threshold and entered the house. Reading the quizzical look James shot him he said, "Just a sec Prongs. Let me dry off a bit and I'll tell you everything." James noticed a rare look of sadness on the face of his best friend along with a not so rare look of anger. He hurried to the kitchen to get Sirius some tea, eager to here his tale. This wasn't the first time Sirius had shown up on his doorstep and he wondered what had caused it this time. Probably more family troubles. Sirius and his family had very different values and views on almost everything. Sirius remained in the living room, dripping a puddle of rainwater on to the floor from his wet clothes. His eyes burned with choked back rage and he felt like a powerful dragon about to explode. James came back with the tea and also a bottle of firewhisky he nicked from his parents.
"Here," he said placing the down in front of Sirius, who regarded it coolly, while eyeing the firewhisky. "Oh no you don't" he said as Sirius reached for the bottle. "That's for after you've told me why you're all troubled. It's your parents again right?"
"Yea… again. But this time I think I'm out for good."
"I'm really sorry mate." And the look in James' said that he really meant it. "What was it this time? Muggles? Dark Magic?
"Actually mate, it was you." James was shocked but blankly nodded urging his closest friend to continue. "They said if I wanted to stay a part of the Black family I should stop hanging out with blood traitors like you and start hanging around with the right crowd. You know, Regulus and all his death eater friends like Snivelly. I said, 'If that's what being a Black means I'm not sure I want to be one.' I stormed out and left. It was pretty bad. She tried to cruciate me as I hopped on my motorcycle to get here.
"Ouch! I'm really sorry." He said once again, " You didn't have to do that for me you know… But, I'm impressed that you did. I… thank you."
"OI! THERE'S A REASON I'M IN GRYFFYINDOR AND NOT SLYTHERIN LIKE THE REST OF MY LOT!" The said and tense mood was ended by the boys' laughter. "Now can we break open the firewhisky?"
One hour and one bottle of firewhisky later, the boys were a little drunk and feeling rash and reckless.
"And then," slurred James, " I pinned that pretty muggle girl up against a wall and kissed her for all I was worth."
"Good for you Prongs!" Sirius said happily, "I think it's healthy for you to get with even more girls this summer. Trying to forget Evans?"
"Nah! Not forget, just date other people until she comes around." The boys sat and nodded in silence for a few moments. "Hey Padfoot, how 'bout giving those muggle 'pleaze men something to be scared about on that motorbike of yours?"
"Prongs mate, never thought there would be a better time." So after a scribbled note to James' parents, the boys set off.
They zoomed down the highway at lightening speed on Sirius' motorcycle, which was going much faster than any normal motorcycle should go. James, sitting on the back of the motorcycle, was cheering loudly, "Come on Padfoot, can't this old muggle contraption go any faster? Ole' Prongs here is getting hungry!" Sirius, driving the motorcycle, gave a short bark-like laugh, and with the sound of a revving engine, the motorcycle sped on into the night, the hoots of the boys' laughter sounding behind them. After a couple more minutes of speedy driving, James and Sirius pulled in to a semi-deserted parking lot. Leaving the motorbike behind, they headed into the pub. "Are you sure about this James? I've never been to a muggle pub before… they seem rather…you know… dodgy." Sirius sounded slightly suspicious, his haughty tone made his companion smirk. "Yea Sirius! Don't get your wand in a knot! It's a good place. What's the harm in a little old-fashioned food cooked without magic?" They entered the pub and were almost immediately seated at a booth by a pretty blond waitress. Sirius ignored the menu the waitress handed him, and after letting his eyes follow her curvy figure back to the kitchen, he turned his attention to James. Who wore a startled expression and was gaping at the door. A family had just entered the restaurant. On first glance they appeared a normal family: there was a tired, work-worn, aging father, a skinny housewife mother, and two daughters. The older of the two daughters looked very upset, her very long neck supporting a horse-like face that looked quite unhappy. The younger daughter was very pretty. Long red hair framing a thing face with two green eyes popping out from behind ginger lashes. Sirius snickered, " James Potter, what am I going to do with you? The whole point of summer is to get away from school. Not run into the love of your life every so often." James blushed, an act that did not go unnoticed by his best friend Sirius Black. "Whatever…. The food… it's just really good here." His pathetic lie made Sirius smirk to himself; his long black hair was shaken off his face with his laugh to reveal stunningly handsome features, which wore a slightly haughty look. The family sat down at a table in the middle of the restaurant not far from the booth where James and Sirius were sitting. "Seriously mate, this is getting out of control. Why don't you just ask her out again? I mean… the worst you can get is another rejection!" James nodded, not really paying attention to his friend. His eyes were still on the back of Lily's head. "You're right, this is weird. Let's go before she notices we're here and starts yelling at me." And with a dejected air, the boys left the restaurant, leaving the disappointed waitress yelling after them to "Come back and get something to eat!" The fresh feeling of the outdoors seemed to have an affect on James. "Padfoot, why do you think she won't go for me?" He asked Sirius. "I dunno Prongs, maybe it's because whenever you're around her you act different… Just try being yourself mate, quit this stalking codswallop and let her notice you naturally. I mean, it might take years…" Both friends laughed at this as they climbed back on the motorcycle. Sirius figured James really must like Lily a lot as he spent so much time thinking about her. James had had other girlfriends, true, but he must really like her to, even in a drunken state, care about her enough to leave her with her family and not tease or embarass her. Sirius turned around to make sure James was secured on the motorcycle before taking off down the highway. James was silently thinking of Lily. True, whenever she was around he couldn't resist showing off, hexing Snape, playing with a Snitch; if only she would notice him. Whenever they talked it was just her yelling at him, "Potter, you are such an arrogant toe rag! Leave him alone!" or "I can't stand you! You think you're so cool when you're really just a stuck up prick!" His mournful reverie ended when Sirius cheered him up with a suggestion. He mentioned another bottle of firewhisky he got from some lovely young witch he met in a pub the week previously. The boys laughed at this remembering how Sirius and his good looks got an attractive seventh year at Hogwarts to go out him. Their relationship ended when the seventh year found out Sirius really only wanted a bottle of firewhisky for himself and his friends, and nothing more from their relationship. James thought of his old girlfriend too, one of Lily's friends. He'd hoped that in going out with her, Lily would notice him more. They broke up at the end of the school year. He wished that over the summer, all his and Lily's disagreements and fights would be forgotten, and that in the fall they could both return to Hogwarts arguments forgotten to start afresh and maybe even become friends for their sixth year.