Betting on the Future
"Five galleons that Padfoot actually buys that motorbike."
Four boys were sitting around a dormitory, drinking Butterbeer and betting on the future. One was athletic, one was charming, one was brilliant and one was dependent, but they were best friends.
"Only five? Moony I'm shocked at your lack of faith, I will be buying that bike," Sirius Black said, laughing as he shook his head at his friends. "Ten galleons Prongs'll get Evans to marry him."
"Ooooh!" two of the other boys let out hoots of laughter, while one only rolled his eyes.
"Hah, hah. Fifteen galleons Wormtail is the most successful out of all of us," James Potter said, leaning back against the wall and smirking. Remus Lupin snorted in amusement while Sirius let out another bark of laughter Peter Pettigrew glared.
"Prick. Twenty galleons Moony finally gets up the nerve to date a girl he actually fancies." Instead of the roars of laughter Peter had anticipated, the three other boys grew quite. Each looked down at the bottles of Butterbeer they'd nicked from the kitchens.
"Moony…" James started, but Remus shook his head.
"No, Prongs. You know I can't do that, what with my…condition. And anyway, let's not talk about that tonight," Remus said, looking around at his three great friends. James was sitting on his bed, leaning against the wall behind him, with Sirius leaning up against the bottom of the bed and Peter sitting cross-legged in the middle of the floor. Remus was lying on his stomach across his own bed. "This night is supposed to be strictly about good things."
"Mmmm," Sirius said, leaning his head against James' mattress. "Odd to think about it, isn't it?"
"Think about what?" Peter asked, confused at the vague comment. Before Sirius could answer, James spoke.
"That we're graduating tomorrow."
"I've never been able to imagine myself out of this school," Sirius said, gazing up at the ceiling. "I can see you, Moony, living in your own flat holding down a job, and once I had a nightmare about Prongs being happily married to Evans with a vegetable garden and white-picket fence; hell, I can even see you Wormtail, living at home with your Mum still—" James snorted "—but I can't see myself. Maybe it's because this is the only place I can remember feeling truly accepted at, or maybe it's because I've still got a lot of growing up to do. I just can't picture my life after this place."
The mood was unusually somber, for it was rare that Sirius ever spoke about such serious matters.
"I dunno, Padfoot…" James said, and all eyes turned to him. "I can see you pretty clearly after school. You'll be living in that apartment in London your Uncle left you, and you'll be borderline obsessed with a sleek black motorbike you love almost as much as my mother's cooking. You'll be working at the Ministry—in the Sporting Department, of course—but you'll still wear those bloody black biker boots, and you'll have these bloody amazing three friends around all the time," James said, grinning. "What more could you ask for?"
"Nothing," Sirius said quietly; almost too quiet to be heard. Then he grinned a mischievous grin. "Twenty-five galleons Potter still goes back home every Sunday for his mother's brunch."
"Hey!" James cried out, chucking a pillow at Sirius while the others erupted in laughter again. "Sod off, because we all know you'll be there too."
"We've had some good times here, haven't we," Peter said, smiling.
"I'd say so," Remus said, a grin plastered across his face. "It's been nothing like I expected."
"Only because you came here with the absurd notion we'd let you stay a loner for seven years," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "Honestly."
"Excuse me for not being able to imagine I'd find the likes of you here," Remus said, motioning first to James and Sirius and then to Peter. "Believe it or not, there aren't too many people out there like you lot."
"We know," James and Sirius said together, grinning wickedly. "That's why everyone loves us," James added, running his fingers through his messy hair.
"Nuh uh uh, I don't think so, Prongs," Sirius said, shaking a finger at James. "What would Evans say if she could see you right now?"
"'James, you're damn sexy.'"
"Or maybe 'Potter, you're an arrogant git,'" a feminine voice said from the doorway. All four necks snapped around to look at their visitor, and three of them burst out laughing. The fourth cringed.
"Well, hey Lily…" James said, glaring at his best friends before smiling sheepishly at the redhead. "I love you?"
"Yeah, yeah," Lily Evans said, rolling her eyes. She looked strangely at the carton of Butterbeers on the desk beside her, as though she was debating asking where they got it but then decided against it. "I just came up here to see how you lot were spending your last night in the castle."
"We're betting on the future," Peter said, and Lily laughed.
"I don't think I want to know what you all think you'll be doing," she said, turning to the door again. "I'll see you four tomorrow morning," she said, stepping out the door and closing it behind her with one last smile.
"Well, at least she had the decency to not invite herself to stay," Sirius said reasonably, and James chucked a second pillow at him. "Hey! All I'm saying is that this is our time, and I respect that she recognized that. Fifty galleons Wormtail decides he likes life better as a rat."
"Piss off!"
And so the night slowly became the morning, and four boys stayed awake, drinking Butterbeer and betting on the future. In the years to come two would die, one would turn against them, and one would be left behind, but in those hours together they still believed they would always be best friends.
A/N: You've taken the time to read it, I'd really appreciate it if you took another quick moment to write a review and tell me what you thought. Thanks!