A/N: Hello! Welcome to my new fic. Please read and enjoy! Constructive ciriticism will be appreciated.
Chapter One
Once upon a midnight dreary…
It was a dark and stormy night in the middle of June. I was incredibly hot under my thick duvet, and completely unable to sleep, which was another added stress of coming home after school finished.
The worst thing about being home was that I missed my friends: Sirius, Remus and Peter. Sirius had also gone home to London, Remus was in York visiting his grandparents, and Peter was home in Sheffield for the entire summer, instead of going to the seaside as usual.
Tonight my parents had gone somewhere for a long party. I knew they wouldn't be back until the early morning, but I didn't want to think any further on it than that. After all, partying until the wee hours was what I should have been doing. I had just finished my OWLs, after all. We did have a party in the dorm, in which I put Lily Evans further off me, Sirius…er…well, for some reason he couldn't sleep in his bed any more after that, Remus threw up but carried on drinking because he's strange, and Peter was a legend! We should get him drunk more often.
I tried not to think about that party, because I could hardly remember any of it and I would no doubt start trying to. I was trying to go to sleep, and how could I if my mind was full of thoughts?
Mum once told me that you can get to sleep by lying very still, and having counted 250 Golden Snitches to no avail, I felt I had no choice and tried to resume the perfect sleeping position. I felt my body relax, my thoughts clear and my head nod, and I knew that if I could keep this up, I would get to sleep after all.
I closed my eyes and smiled to myself, when suddenly there was a loud knock from the direction of the window. Was I dreaming? In any case, I had left my peaceful resting state, which meant I had either been disturbed or had fallen into a dream. The tapping continued persistently, but I ignored it and shifted my arms around my pillow.
"'Tis some animal," I muttered, "tapping at my bedroom window; only this, and nothing…"
"Prongs! James! James Potter!"
"…more."
My somnolent state was broken. My eyes were wide and alert, and I felt my heartbeat quicken. Something had to be up. None of my friends would come calling at…this time, for no good reason, unless they felt like spending a night in my front garden. I opened my curtain to face the bright light of a wand attached to the end of a broomstick. I squinted, realising I'd forgotten to take my glasses with me to the window.
"James!" My best friend was hovering outside, his expression as stormy as the weather.
"Truly your forgiveness I implore." I blurted.
"Sorry?"
"That's what I said. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I…er…" Sirius shifted uncomfortably, and I took in his appearance. He was soaking wet, and breathing heavily. Behind him was his schoolbag so packed with stuff that the broomstick was at an uncomfortable forty-five degree angle. His usual proud and somewhat stately look had left him. My heart sank as I got an inclination of what he was here for. I gestured for him to land in front of the door while I dashed downstairs and threw it open.
Sirius did not smile when he saw me, but I could see his relief as he stepped into my house, dripping all over Mum and Dad's new carpet. Ah, well, it was their own fault for putting a white carpet in the hall. He saw the stairs and immediately sat down heavily upon them.
"I've run away from home." he said, and I felt pained. Sirius had been threatening to run away for years, but most of the time his family were just about bearable. I didn't want to think what had finally persuaded Sirius to leave.
"I've had enough. I'm fed up of them and their attitude. I'm sick of being 'aristocracy'. I hate them and everything they say and do…."
He sighed, and looked at his trainers. I sat next to him and put my arm around his shoulders.
"You'll get none of that at my house. I'm pretty sure you know this already, but as long as you're happy to stay we're happy to have you. Dad didn't refurbish the spare room for nothing."
Sirius nodded, taking in everything I had to say. I realised that this pledge, versions of which I made every summer, had far more weight now that Sirius had nowhere else to go. But I meant every word I said, after all, he was my best mate and I wanted to deserve to be his best friend too.
"D'you want some tea? Or coffee, or hot chocolate?"
"Yeah, hot chocolate would be nice."
"I'll try and make a Moony's speciality." I smiled. Remus, being the son of a chocolatier, had invented his own kind of hot chocolate. It had double cream, and another mysterious ingredient that produces a beautiful amount of froth. It was also, interestingly, hardly hot at all. For some odd reason, it was quite nice when it was heated ever so slightly.
Some time later, I returned with a cup of lukewarm chocolate.
"A Moony's Speciality, sans le froth. But it is at the right temperature…you're not cold are you?"
"In June? Don't be ridiculous. It may be wet out there, but it's as hot as ever." I noticed as he received the chocolate that he was in a slightly better mood; in any case, he wasn't quite as dark and brooding.
"If you want more, just say so." I said, drinking from my own mug. "The kitchen at Hotel Prongs is open 24 hours a day. I'm not normally the cook, so don't expect much yet." Hotel Prongs…hey, that sounded good…
"So, who does do all the cooking here?"
"The House Elf, Chintzy."
"Chintzy?"
"She's Polish."
"You couldn't get her to make us…er…something nice, could you? I'm starving."
"It's the middle of the night! She'll be fast asleep."
"Can't you wake her up?"
"No! Mum and Dad would punish me for abusing the servants. I mean it; they get really angry about it and all. I'll get us a pie, that'll do, won't it?"
"Yeah…God, your family are so…nice to their house-elves."
"What, in that we let them sleep? I guess so."
Sirius and I raided the larder. I think for a second or two, he forgot that he wasn't running away from home, his family hadn't acted evil in some unbearable way, and began to believe that he was just at my house, hanging out with me. Which of course he was, only he wasn't going to leave any time soon. We hadn't discussed the permanent staying part, but I knew that was what he hoped for, and I rather liked the idea as well. Besides, what other options were there?
He was certainly hungry. We bounded up the stairs to the spare bedroom with a gooseberry pie, two packets of cashew nuts, some assorted toffees which were probably from Christmas, a jar of blackcurrant jam with bread and butter, and, most importantly of all, two bottles of Butterbeer. We threw ourselves onto the twin beds, put the food gently between them, and stuffed our faces.
"There'sh noffin ike pye en de earwy hoursh of de morwing!"
"Pardon?"
"There's nothing like pie in the early hours of the morning!"
"You can say that again."
"There's nothing like pie in the early hours of the morning… OK, now I'm bored of pie."
"Good, because I finished it while you were waxing lyrical over how good it is." He actually laughed, and so did I. I knew that Hotel Prongs had acquired its first regular.
It must have been very late when I returned to my own bedroom. I was appalled that my mother and father had not returned. God forbid that they be drunk, it wasn't decent for people that old to do such things. Before I went to bed, I assured Sirius that he was a very, very welcome guest at Hotel Prongs.
"You don't mind me sleeping here?"
"Sirius…you have no idea how bored I've been without any fellow Marauders amongst me. Seriously, though, you are absolutely my best friend and if I can't help you in times of crisis than we may as well give the whole charade a kick up the bum. Which we're not going to do, because neither of us wants to and it's currently not necessary."
"And your parents won't mind?"
"No, of course not, they love you more than Moony."
"Wow…"
"Goodnight, Sirius. See you in the morning, or rather, later!"
"James… but you're sure that I…won't be going home in the morning?"
"Nevermore, Sirius. Nevermore." I replied.