Sirius's hands gripped the handlebars of his motorcycle, as he leaned forward into the rushing wind. The earbuds tucked under his helmet were playing 'Homeward Bound,' Simon and Garfunkel crooning in his ear as the wind flipped the ends of his hair in time with the guitar riffs.
Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing…
He sped up, whispering encouragement to his bike as he eased her around a turn. She wasn't what you would call 'finished' but she could run, so his perpetual adjustments had been put on hold for the summer. He pulled up beside a car, looking over through the window as he drew even with the front headlights. A wide eyed kid stared at him from the back seat. He smiled and waved as he pulled ahead, merging in front of them.
And every stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be, Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound…
The trees were rushing past him, the faint scent of apples on the wind as he passed an apple orchard he and James had frequented more times than they could count. The sun was still rising, but he felt more awake than he had in weeks. Each breath felt like it held too much air, like inhaling would lift him up and carry him away.
Home where my love lies waiting, Silently for me. Silently for me…
The guitar drifted off as Sirius pulled off the highway onto a dirt road, his smile widening with each bump in the road. He sped past the weathered sign with "Godric's Hollow' handpainted in capital letters, a warm feeling in his chest as he rounded the familiar corners. He whipped his motorcycle around into a patch of dirt, looking up at the white ranch style house and the boy waving, now running down the porch steps to greet him. He was home.
Sirius pulled off his motorcycle helmet and unzipped his windbreaker only to have his arms pinned to his side in a hug. "James," he laughed, "You're crushing me."
"Six months. It's been six fucking months." James Potter pulled back, taking in the sight of his best friend. "God damn you need a haircut," He said as he ruffled his hand through Sirius's roots.
"Hey, no touching." Sirius batted his hand away, draping his arm over James's shoulder as they walked up to the big house, James's parents waiting for them together by the door. Sirius got a hug from each of them as they went inside for breakfast.
"The new hires should be here around noon, so I'll need you boys to help me set up some training activities before they get here," Mrs. Potter explained, as she scooped eggs on to Sirius's already full plate.
"And I'll be out seeing if I can get that damn bus to run before the campers get here," Mr. Potter said, looking out the window at the faded yellow school bus in the backyard, before turning back to Sirius to say, "If you got that motorcycle to run, think you could help me with this?"
"Sure!" Sirius said, his mouth full of eggs and his hand reaching for another pancake. "I think I have some tools in the back of my bike."
Mrs. Potter headed up to the front desk after breakfast, to finalize reservations for the first week of camp and to start setting up for the new girl. They had been running the summer camp out of their house since James was in diapers. And with Sirius living only a motorcycle's drive away, he and James had been helping since high school.
After scarfing down a few more pancakes, James and Sirius went around back to start rigging zip line harnesses.
"I can't believe you're ditching me for ziplining this year," Sirius said as he strung a carabiner through the front loop of a harness. This was his third year officially working at Godric's Hollow summer camp, and for the past two years, he and James had been white water rafting instructors.
"Eh, they were short one this year, so I figured it wouldn't hurt." James smiled as he tugged on a harness strap, loosening it. "Besides, this way you have a shot at being the coolest water counselor, ya know, with your biggest competition removed."
"Oh, shove off."
They finished the rest of the harnesses, simultaneously catching each other up on their lives. Inseparable through high school, they had been going to different colleges for two years, and this was the first time they had seen each other since last Christmas break.
"Anything to declare in the love life department?"
"Nuns get more action than me, I'm afraid." Sirius smiled. Except for a few computer science majors here and there his love life was rather dry.
"Mm, just about the same over here. But," James elbowed Sirius in the side, "With all these new hires, hormones flying, ya never know…"
"Oh please. You know nothing ever happens here."
"Always so cynical."
Sirius threw the last harness on the pile. "You're ridiculous. You know that right?"
"Sirius! I need a hand!" Mr. Potter, on his back under the schoolbus, was calling to him from across the yard. Sirius gave James another playful shove before heading over to help, already asking about carburetors, and spark plugs, and oil levels. With his back turned to the driveway, and his hands wrist deep in an engine, he didn't notice the new hires start to trickle in.
Dorcas Meadowes arrived first, a tall girl with dark brown hair cropped above her shoulders. She chatted happily with James as his mother showed her the ropes at the front desk where she would be working.
Lily Evans and Peter Pettigrew arrived next, having driven together. Lily, a rafting instructor, and Peter, a zipline guide were given their respective information packets by James, and then shown their cabins and told team training would begin in about thirty minutes.
Marlene McKinnon, another rafting instructor, sped up the driveway blasting music through her open windows. She screamed as she got out of the car, running over to hug Lily, her bright voice floating across the camp ground as she said hello.
And finally, Remus Lupin, the last zipline guide, pulled in three minutes before training was supposed to start, accepting his packet from James and introducing himself to everyone there.
James had them all gathered in the front yard, before he realized that they were missing someone. "SIRIUS!"
Sirius whipped his head around, wiping a greasy hand across his forehead, unknowingly leaving a smudge. "COMING!" He bent down under the bus. "I gotta go help with training. The engine looks ok though, I think you might have to check the ignition switch," He said to Mr. Potter before running off to join the group of teenagers in the yard.
Mr. Potter sighed. "Why didn't I think of that…"
Watching the other boy run across the lawn, Remus Lupin couldn't stop himself from raising an eyebrow. In basketball shorts and a grease stained fleetwood mac t shirt, the other boy did something to his stomach that he couldn't explain.
"Hey!" Sirius grinned at the group, flicking a hair tie off his wrist and tying his hair up in a bun.
Well shit, Remus thought, that doesn't help.
James babbled on about what they were going to do that day, mostly practice harness rigging, go over river safety, maybe run the course a few times, "but most importantly, ICEBREAKERS!"
And Remus, suddenly paying attention again, had to fight the urge to groan. The boy next to him whispered, "Can I just quit now?"
"We'll start." The boy in the fleetwood mac t shirt said. "We're gonna play two truths and a lie because it's easy. I'm going to say my name, then three things about myself and you have to figure out which one is the lie. Got it?"
The group before him nodded.
"Ok. My name's Sirius Black, I drive a motorcycle, I'm scared of heights, and," He pointed at James. "We're brothers."
Marlene spoke up first. "Well you work at a summer camp with a zipline course, so you're not scared of heights."
"Any other wagers?" Sirius shrugged, grinning, looking for the first time at the boy with the blonde curly hair staring at him. Every shook their heads.
James smiled. "Ha! Wrong. He's terrified of heights which is why he's a rafting instructor and not a line guide. I'll try not to be offended you thought I was related to that." He grinned as he stuck a thumb out at Sirius, the comment earning him a punch on the arm.
"You wish we were from the same gene pool." Sirius rolled his eyes, looking away from the boy who had so suddenly caught his attention. "Anyway, it's your turn."
"Ok Ok, my name is James Potter, I'm an only child…"
The redheaded girl with them scoffed. "Obviously." she grinned.
"Wow, ok. I'm an engineering major, and my parents own this place." He crossed his arms. "Well?"
The red head spoke up again. "Well, you're definitely an only child, and you have the same last name as the owners, which you seem to have forgotten that we knew. And with that inattention to detail I'm confidently guessing that your not an engineering major?" She spoke clearly and confidently but by the tilt of her head Sirius could tell she was teasing. Maybe James would get some action this summer.
James squinted at the girl, not wanting to admit she was right. "Ha." He scoffed. "I'm the owners' nephew so…"
"No you're not." Sirius clapped him on the back, smiling at the girl. "You're right, fantastic assessment. Why don't you go next?"
The girl brushed her hair off her shoulder. "My name's Lily Evans, I'm a chemistry major, I'm not an only child," she smirked at James, "and I've never heard a Fleetwood Mac song in my life." She gestured to Sirius's t shirt, making him gasp and clutch his chest.
"Please tell me that last one is a lie," Sirius begged.
"Hang on a second." James held up a finger. "I think you actually are an only child. It takes one to know one."
"Mm," Lily tsked, "wrong I'm afraid." She turned to Sirius, smiling. "Of course it's a lie."
Sirius closed spotify, relieved. "Thank God."
The rest of the new hires got their turn at the ice breaker game. They learned that Marlene couldn't whistle, but she could do a standing backflip, which she proudly demonstrated for them. Peter had four pets back home, but had never been out of the country. Dorcas could type 195 words per minute, but couldn't cross her eyes. Finally they learned that Remus was an English major, and that he had never made it all the way through a horror movie.
There was something about the other boy, where Sirius found himself unable to look away, even though prolonged eye contact made his head feel as if it were about to explode.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Right, well we better start the tour, I suppose."
The next few hours involved Sirius and James explaining how to put someone in a zipline harness, how to properly fasten a life jacket, how to carry a raft, how to paddle and steer efficiently, how to switch harnesses from cable to cable.
"Here." Sirius grabbed Remus's wrist and angled it slightly up, moving the boys thumb so it rested at the base of the carabiner clip. "If you hold it like this, you can hook it on in one motion instead of two."
Remus, inexplicably feeling heat in his ears, squeezed the clip a little too hard, the metal slipping out of his hand and onto the ground.
"Oh, shit sorry."
"That's it, you're fired." Sirius laughed at the boys mortified expression. He picked the clip up off the ground. "I'm kidding, just try it again."
The tour ended and the group headed back up to the house, laughing and already feeling like they had known each other for weeks instead of hours. The Potters greeted them at the door, letting them know hamburgers were in the kitchen so help themselves. They would be out front setting up a bonfire.
Plates were made and they headed outside, food in hand to sit around the bonfire. Marlene had grabbed an armful of capri suns, and was handing them out as they all plopped down into chairs.
"Take a fucking sip babes." Mrs. Potter waited for the laughter to die down to gently remind Marlene that she wasn't allowed to use that kind of language when the campers got there tomorrow.
As their voices grew louder, the air around them grew darker, their faces illuminated only by the light of the fire. Mr. and Mrs. Potter retired to the big house early leaving the group to themselves.
"Let's try not to stay up till dawn ok?" Mrs. Potter reprimanded sleepily as she walked away. "Camp starts tomorrow."
They promised they'd go to bed soon, but nobody was tired. As a group, they made a lively bunch.
Marlene was sitting in Lily's lap, as Dorcas leaned in way too close to listen to a story she was telling, even though you could hear the bubbly girl clearly from across the yard. James was talking to Peter about school. Apparently they were each in their school's chapter of the same fraternity. Remus stood close to them, but didn't contribute anything to the conversation. He seemed content to just sip his capri sun and exist.
Sirius smiled. There was something about the image of a 19 year old boy drinking a juice box that was just always going to be funny. Doing his darndest to look nonchalant, Sirius walked over to him.
"Pacific cooler. Bold choice."
Remus looked up from his drink. "Yes, it's much more full-bodied than the…" He squinted at the pouch in Sirius's hand, "Tropical punch. It has a rounder palate, if you know what I mean."
Sirius laughed. He swirled his pouch like it was wine and not liquid sugar encased in plastic. "I didn't know I was speaking to an expert." He straightened his back and brought his shoulders down, channelling his inner wino.
Remus couldn't keep a straight face, and his mouth cracked into a smile. "Sirius, right?"
"Yeah. Remus?"
"The one and only."
"Excited about tomorrow?" Sirius asked, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.
"Oh yeah." Remus said, a little sarcastic this time. "Can't wait to spend my entire summer with shrieking middle schoolers." He slurped the rest of his pacific cooler down.
"Well you also get to spend it with us." Sirius gestured to the rest of the counselors. "I mean I can guarantee that we're gonna get one or two monster kids every week, but we get weekends off to do whatever the hell we want." Sirius smiled, something that even in the dim light of the fire, made Remus feel a little shaky.
"I guess I can be a little more positive," Remus quipped, tilting his head to the side. "Also, is this a good time to let you know you have something on your face?"
"What?" Sirius's face grew hot as he remembered working on the bus earlier in the day. He rubbed his forehead, completely missing the smudge. "For fucks sake, it's been there the whole day hasn't it."
Remus laughed. "You're- you're missing, just let me get it." Moving a little bit closer, he steadied Sirius's face with one hand and used his thumb to wipe the smudge away. "See? Gone." He stepped back.
Sirius's breath caught in his throat. A hissing sound behind him made him jump.
"Chill mate," James said, "just putting the fire out."
Well past midnight, the counselors decided it was probably time to retire, so they made their way back to the cabins. The girls split off, Marlene's arm draped around Dorcas. The boys drifted off to their beds, James, always energetic, still cracking jokes.
Soon they were all in pajamas and under covers. Sirius could hear the faint chirping of crickets from outside, as he lay there with the middle of his forehead still burning.
It was going to be one hell of a summer.