Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Thanks for those who reviewed, favorite, and alerted.

The Secrets of Friends

Chapter 2: The Meeting

A bored eight year old boy with messy black hair that stuck up in all directions, despite how hard he tried to tame it, and bright hazel eyes that were behind a pair of circle glasses tugged at the collar of the dress robe his mother had forced him into. She was having a dinner party tonight so he needed to be clean and dressed appropriately.

Apparently his father had invited two wonderful and famed Aurors over for dinner and his mother invited her niece and her family over. Though, there were difficulties with her family, Walburga accepted the invited because the Potters had some power in the Ministry. Maybe she was hoping to convince Dorea and Charlus of something. It got even better for Walburga when she heard the two Aurors joining them were John and Maria Lupin. If she could convince all four at once, it would be even better.

"Do I really have to wear this, Mother? It is so uncomfortable." James asked tugging more fiercely at his collar.

"Yes, James. Maria and John are both respected Aurors and we have to show my dear niece and her family that I have a good family." Dorea explained, slapping James's hand away to readjust the collar. "Now behave. They were be here soon."

Sighing, James resigned himself to an extremely boring dinner that would last for hours on end and he would be forced to sit at that table listening to boring conversations with a stiff back as he attempted to keep from slouching. How bothersome and boring.

When the fireplace flared with life, James sighed and stood in front of his parents as he watched as a tall, dark haired lady came through. His first thought when he saw her dark eyes that scanned over everything was that she was not someone to be messed with. She looked like a horrible person as she stuck her nose up in the air after seeing the room. He wondered what her problem was. The living room looked perfectly fine to him. It was clean, big, and had some expensive stuff in it so he had no idea of what her problem was.

Following her was a tall man, and then to James's surprise, but pleasure, a boy that looked about his age. He wouldn't be alone then!

Like his parents, the boy had the charming good looks that must be a trait of their family. He was a bit taller than James, but not by much. His black hair was combed neatly, obvious more tamable than his own hair. It was curly and went down to below his ears. Unlike his parents though, the boy's grey eyes shined with kindness and amusement. He smiled at James and his parents, while his parents scowled. It seemed the boy was nicer than his parents.

"And where is your second son?" Dorea asked kindly. "I believe his name was Regulus."

"He has come down with a terrible cold so he will not be coming." Walburga answered shortly. "Are the Lupins here yet?"

Dorea smiled. "Not yet. I expect they will be here within the next few minutes." She looked down at her son. "James, these are the Blacks. This is Walburga Black, my niece, Orion Black, her husband, and their eldest son, Sirius Black. He is your age so you two will be going to Hogwarts together in three years."

James's eyes lit up with excitement. He looked back to the Blacks and gave them a short bow. "It is nice to meet you, Mrs. Black, Mr. Black, and Sirius."

Walburga sniffed disdainfully. "At least you taught him manners."

Dorea let out a low huff so Walburga couldn't hear. "Thank you, Walburga."

"Sirius, this is Charlus Potter, his wife and my aunt, Dorea Potter, and their son, James Potter, who you heard that you will be going to Hogwarts with." Walburga explained to her son.

Like James, Sirius gave a short bow to the family before him. "It is nice to meet you, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Potter, and James." He mocked James.

Just as he finished, the fireplace flared to life with green fire once again and a man with kind amber eyes that were filled with mirth, a nice smile, and short brown hair stepped out of it. "Ah, I see we are the last ones here!" He said cheerfully with a bit of a chuckle in them.

"Ah, John!" Charlus greeted just as the fireplace flared to life once more and a beautiful, but short woman came through. She had long amber hair that was tied back into a ponytail. Her crystal blue eyes were filled with kindness and a bit of laughter at something. She smiled at James's parents before she looked down at him with a smile.

"Maria, it's very nice to see you. What has got you two so amused?" Dorea asked curiously.

Maria didn't answer, but she didn't have to because a moment later, the fireplace was filled with green fire again and a boy whose face and hands were covered in scratches and wearing slightly burnt dress robes came stumbling out of the fireplace. James had to smile when he noticed the boy was smaller than him. At least now his dad couldn't call him small anymore. Besides the smallness and scratches, the boy had light brown hair that was someway between long and short and bright amber eyes that were sparkled with a bit of the crystal blue that were like his mother's. It was actually really cool.

"Tell me again, Mother, why did you have to get that dratted cat when you knew, before you bought it, that it wants to kill me for no apparent reason?" The boy asked, scowling at his mother.

Maria chuckled and ruffled her son's hair. "It has a reason, Remus. You kicked it across the store!"

"That was an accident, and it should learn not to hold grudges!" Remus retorted.

His mother sighed. "How do you accidentally kick a cat, Remus? And don't call Luna an it. She is a girl cat, not a thing."

"I'll call it what I want!" Remus growled, waving his hand in the air. "Look at what she did to my face and hands! And she caused me to step into the fireplace and set my robes on fire!"

Maria rolled her eyes and turned to the Potters and Blacks. James and Sirius were unsuccessfully trying to hide their chuckles at Remus's dramatic antics. "Well, I believe introductions are in order. I am Maria Lupin. This is my husband, John Lupin." She waved to the man next to her that was watching their son in amusement. "And the dramatic one there that manages to get beat by a cat is my son, Remus."

Remus stopped talking angrily about a cat when he realized no one was listening. He turned to his mother, fire in his eyes. "Beat by a cat?" He hissed. "That thing did not beat me! It was an unprovoked ambush! I swear it knew I was going someone and needed to look nice which is why it attacked me!"

Maria sighed and rubbed her temples. "Remus, dear, Mrs. Potter here is a wonderful healer. I'm sure if you ask nicely, she'll heal your scratches and maybe even fix your robe for you. I have acquaintances to make."

Remus watched in shock as his mother turned to the other family. "Not helpful, Mother." He grumbled before turning to the Potters. The boy standing in front of them was still laughing. When he saw Remus looking, he stifled his laughs enough to give him an amused grin. "Um….Mrs. Potter, could you please help me look appropriate for you dinner party since my mother has deemed me to look good for it, but I find that you may disagree."

Dorea laughed at the boy while Maria shook her head. "Dorea, I am sorry about my son. He can have a sharp, witty tongue sometimes when he is feeling brave. He is usually not like this. Perhaps, it is because someone gave him sugar." She shot her husband a glare.

"It is quite alright, Maria. Come with me, Remus, and I'll get you cleaned up." Dorea replied, holding a hand out for the boy to take.

Smiling, Remus took the woman's hand and was led out of the room.

Charlus clapped his hands. "Well, let's move this to the dining room."

James and the boy called Sirius sat at the end of table while Charlus sat at the head. On the right side of the table was an empty seat for Dorea, than Walburga and Orion. On the left side was John and Maria. Sirius sat next to his dad and James sat next to him. The sit across from him would most likely be Remus so the boys could talk. That was the way James's dad explained it since James would usually sit on Charlus's left.

"That Remus boy sure is amusing." Sirius commented to James. "I should have made a dramatic entrance like that, but my mom would have been really mad if I did."

James snickered. "Well, I don't think Remus liked it all that much. He seemed rather upset about the whole cat thing."

"His parents are cool though. They were amused by it and didn't seem to care he came here as a mess. Your parents too." Sirius said curiously. "My parents are real strict about that kind of stuff so they probably found it disgraceful."

James nodded. "I do no wrong in my parents' eyes, and it seems that Remus's are cool parents that can have a good time. I think that's how they are. My dad talks about them often. He says they are famed Aurors and are powerful. They can be real serious when on the job, but off the job, they keep their guard up, but still know how to have a good time."

"Wish my parents were cool like that. All the strictness drives me crazy." Sirius replied quietly so his parents wouldn't hear him. He needn't worry though. They were too deep in their conversation with the Lupins and Charlus.

The door to dining room was suddenly thrown open and a smiling Remus walked in with Dorea following him. She gently closed the door, said something to Remus, than moved to her seat. Now blushing, Remus came to his seat next to his mother and sat down.

"Feel better?" Maria asked amused, brushing the bangs out of Remus's eyes.

Remus nodded. Maria bowed her head and kissed Remus's forehead before turning back to her conversation with the adults. With her head turned, she didn't notice Remus scowl and wipe the salvia from his forehead. He looked up at the sound of snickering from across the table. At the sight of the two black haired boys from earlier, he raised a brow. "And you two are? I'm afraid that I was so busy with ranting to no one about that vicious cat that the introductions were never finished."

"It's alright, mate. It was really entertaining." The boy with long hair said. "I'm Sirius Black."

"And I am James Potter." The boy with glasses stated. "Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Charmed." Remus muttered.

"So, Remus," James started, eyes shining mischievously. "How do you accidentally kick a cat?" He shot Sirius a grin. "You know, for future reference if we ever meet a deranged cat."

Sirius howled with laughter, while Remus grumbled under his breathe.

In the end, the three eight years were allowed to leave the dining room after they ate dinner instead of being forced to sit there all night and talk. It was because the six adults could no longer handle the loud voices and laughter coming from the three. They were hitting it off quite well. The cat incident seemed to have destroyed any worries the parents had about their children not getting along.

So with being dismissed from the dining room, James led his new found friends to his bedroom, chatting the whole way. "I am really glad you two came along with your parents. I was worried I would have to seat in that room all night and listen to those people talk about work and politics and stuff. It would have been sooooo boring. My parents never mentioned that their guests were bringing kids."

"Well, my parents never told me there would be kids either." Sirius said.

"Same." Remus added from behind the two boys. His eyes took in all the pictures and antiques around the houses.

"I'm glad I have friends at long last." James added before stopping in the middle of the hallway and turning so he could see both boys. "We are friends, right?"

"Course, Jamesy." Sirius said with a grin.

James shot him a glare. "Don't call me that. It's James."

Remus hummed thoughtfully as he looked at a picture of a younger James on the wall. "How did it end up like this? We have Sirius here with a unique name that no one else will possibly have. Then you have me, Remus, with an equally unique name. And then there is James, such a common name. How many James will we possibly meet in life? So boring."

"Hey!" James snapped. "I happen to like my name, Lupin."

A grin was flashed at James. "Course, James, course you do. We're friends."

Smiling, James led his new found friends to his room. His room was big, much bigger than a kid needed. His carpet was tan and his walls were red. He had two windows facing the backyard with black curtains hanging on them. His bed was pushed against the wall, adjacent to the wall with the windows. Quidditch magazines and books were thrown upon his desk which sat in front of one of the windows. James's dresser was adjacent with the wall with windows, opposite the bed. Leaning against the wall was a broom.

"Do you fly, James?" Sirius asked excitedly. "I absolutely love flying. It is so fun to have the wind whipping at your face like that! And I love being so high in the air."

"Yep, I love it. What about you, Remus?" James looked around to find that Remus had already made himself at home on his bed. "OI! That's my bed!"

The boy lying on the bed lifted his head. "Got a problem with it? I'll move."

Shaking his head, James bounded over to the bed and hopped on it too. "Nope. So, flying?"

"Never flown a broom before." Remus said with a shrug.

"Never?" Sirius and James gasped dramatically.

Remus looked between the two boys. "Creepy."

The boys laughed. Sirius collapsed onto the bed with them. "This has been the most fun I've had in a long time."

"We have to hang out again, kay?" James told them.

Both boys nodded.

"Good, and next time, we have to pull a prank!" James announced.

"Prank?" Remus muttered while Sirius's eyes lit up.

"A prank?" Sirius asked excitedly. "I love pranks. It is so fun to pull them and cause chaos when my parents host dinner parties at the house!"

"Prank?" Remus muttered again.

James nodded in agreement. "They are really fun. I love pulling them on my neighbors. They never know what hits them."

"Pranks?" Remus asked again.

The two black haired boys shared a glance before turning to the only boy lying down. "Yes, Remus, pranks. You do know what those are, right?"

Remus nodded.

"Good!" James exclaimed. "At least you are that far. We'll teach you how to prank when we get together next time."

"Flying too." Sirius added, mock scowling at Remus. "Honestly, you don't fly or prank. What is it that you do?

Remus smiled almost shyly. He hated to admit what he liked doing because most people didn't want to hang out with him when they found out that he was bookworm. "Well, I like to read…."

Sirius gasped. "Oh, the horror! Not a book lover!"

Rolling his eyes at the dramatic antics, Remus reached back and grabbed James's pillow, which he tossed into Sirius's face. "Not just that. I like to explore too. There is a forest behind my house that I like to go into. I really enjoy exploring."

Sirius sighed in relief. "Thank Merlin for that! He's not a total bookworm."

"There is nothing wrong with liking to read." Remus huffed.

"Of course not." James said placated.

Remus nodded. "Thank you."

"But we're still going to make you learn to fly and prank with us." James continued, causing Remus to just roll his eyes. He would make friends with two crazy pranksters.

A/N: Please Review!