"Where's James?" Sirius asked Remus and Peter.
They had been waiting for him down by the lake for little over a hour. During that time Peter had gone to the kitchens for more food, Remus had pulled out a worn book, and Sirius, well, he had gone to the loo, but James had yet to show. They were growing worried, though, no one spoke up about it.
"He's still in there changing," Peter replied before biting into his second cookie.
"Still?" Sirius groaned, throwing himself on the ground next to Remus. "What the hell is he doing?"
"Potentially drowning himself," Remus responded as he turned the page of his book. A small frown creased his forehead, and he flipped back a page.
"What do you mean?" Sirius yelped, vaulting to his feet."We've got plans! He can't go on and drown himself first."
Remus looked up at him in surprise. "I wasn't being serious."
Sirius scowled. "I knew that."
"Whatever you say, Padfoot," Remus soothed.
"I did."
Remus shook his head in that very annoying way that said he didn't believe a single word that left Sirius' mouth and continued to read.
"You believe me, don't you?" he asked, rounding on Peter.
Peter nodded in agreement without hesitation. Cookie crumbs dribbled off his chin onto his shirt. Sirius sighed in annoyance.
He began to pace, agitated, but unable to pinpoint why. James loved to shower, every boy in Gryffindor knew it. The prat spent precious minutes shampooing the black mop he called hair. He taxed the heating charms on the pipes and made them all late to breakfast every single day. After Quidditch he was doubly bad. Usually though, he didn't spend hours. It wasn't an unfair accusation.
Every few seconds Sirius would shoot a glance towards the empty Quidditch Pitch, waiting for the berk to show his stupid face, but the illustrious James Potter didn't show.
"He should be here by now."
Remus sighed, marked his page and placed the book gently on the grass. "If you're so intent on him being here, maybe you should go and find him."
Sirius stopped mid-step, embarrassed. He should have thought of that. Without giving Remus a real answer, he took off toward the Pitch at a run, determined to find James and give him a sound telling off for not keeping to the plan.
They lost.
James refused believe he'd let that priggish Slytherin Chaser steal the Quaffle from him, because Gryffindor never lost, especially not to Slytherin. He gazed around the now barren pitch, stricken. The silence was deafening where there had once been hundreds of cheering fans. He climbed the stairs of the stadium, making his way to the back row of the stands before sitting. He'd blown it. The chance to secure another Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor had fallen through his fingers along with the stupid Quaffle. He bet Sirius had a great laugh over that. And Evans. Evans probably busted her rib cage falling over herself with laughter. She was always looking for an excuse to poke fun at him.
It hurt.
Facing the rest of his school mates filled him with dread. He was doing the smart thing: hiding.
"Prongs!"
Shit. James stood and slowly made his way down to the railing. He bent over it, resting his elbows on the cool metal and offered Sirius a weak wave in greeting. Sirius' expression was unreadable from his position, but he waved back.
"Can I come up?"
"Sure."
James bowed his head and pulled back from the railing. He might have lied to himself. He didn't want to avoid his classmates. He wanted to avoid his friends. Sinking onto a bench, James dropped his head into palms and tugged a bit on his hair in frustration. It was easy to see what he had done wrong. Sirius moved faster than James anticipated, or honestly, wanted him to.
"Hey," Sirius greeted. The bench dipped beside James as he took a seat. A beat passed, and Sirius wrapped an arm around James' shoulders."Talk to me, Prongs."
James resisted the motion, but only for a few moments, before caving and collapsing sideways against him. He told himself he didn't need comforting otherwise he'd over think this, which wasn't something he enjoyed doing.
"About what?" His smile was strained and unconvincing."James-"
"Don't, all right." James shrugged out of Sirius' hold and fell back into his earlier position. "Just bugger off," he muttered through his fingers.
Sirius tugged at James hands to uncover his face. "I'm your best friend, you prat. Don't pretend you thought that could get me to leave you alone."
James sighed and raised his head meeting Sirius' gaze. "I know."
"Then talk to me already."I can't fix it if you won't tell me."
"That's just the thing," James lowered his gaze and examined his fingernails. "You can't fix this."
"You didn't get some bird pregnant, did you? Catch an disease?" Sirius eyed him warily. "You don't have syphilis, do you?"
"Shut up, Padfoot." James laughed and the sound carried out across the Pitch. The triumphant glint in Sirius' eyes made his heart flip. So much for his worries. Maybe he ought to be more concerned about everyone else, but everyone else could go and piss themselves in anger. He leaned heavily into Sirius with a crooked grin.
For the first time that day, James found it easy to breath again.