Disclaimer: JKR is the queen of the universe. Everything belongs to her.
AN: This chapter is dedicated to wehaveaproblem for being the first ever reviewer for this story. Thanks a lot!
Chapter 2: My birthday ends with a ….gulp?
And no matter what happens between this moment and then
I shall always be thankful to have had such friends. - Robin4, Promises Defended
The Marauders Map was an interesting thing. It showed every inch of Hogwarts and the people inside and was also the project I was most proud of; (aside from becoming animagi, that is) Peter helped find entrances to new passageways, Remus and Sirius did most of the charmwork, (my favorite part was where Sirius charmed the Map to insult anyone who tried to open it besides us) and I sat down and sketched everything out.
Yes, I, James Potter, Quidditch payer extraordinaire, liked to sketch. Not what you were expecting? Sue me and see if I care.
Anyway, I was sitting on my bed in our dorm in Gryffindor tower and examining the Map. I liked looking at all the labeled dots and seeing what different people were up to. Professor Dumbledore was pacing in his office. We'd noticed that he did that a lot. Professors McGonagall and Sprout were in greenhouse no. 2. In the Prefect's bathroom, Adrian Knight, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, looked like he was having a nice, long soak. Or trying to drown himself. It could be either one, considering the beating we gave his team today. I sincerely hoped that he wasn't drowning, because Knight was actually quite a decent bloke, he even took the trouble to wish me a 'happy birthday' after the match.
Just as I was about to find out which two unlucky Prefects had to patrol the dungeons today, the dorm door slammed open. Faster than a Snitch, I shoved the Map under my pillow. Merlin, I hoped I'd remember to smooth out the crumples before Remus found it.
Astonishingly, my two visitors were Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans.
"Oh my!" I exclaimed, "Are my eyes deceiving me, or has Ms Evans actually, willingly sought out my presence?"
"Believe me, Potter, it wasn't done willingly." Lily muttered, glaring at her co-visitor.
"James," said co-visitor declared, "My parents had to go on an emergency trip to France, so we, that is, Lily and I, will be spending Christmas at your house, since your mother invited us over."
"Okay."
"O…okay?" Marlene stuttered, suddenly confused, while Lily looked at me warily like she was expecting some kind of outburst. And maybe there was this tiny part of my mind doing a little celebratory jig, (Lily! In my house! At Christmas!) but I wasn't actually going to stand up and start doing it. I really wasn't in the mood for it.
I raised my eyebrows. "Okay. It's not like it's the first time you're staying over, or something."
Lily was still looking at me weirdly. I kept my politely confused expression on my face. Sometimes it was just so amusing riling her up, because I could never predict how she was going to react. And true enough, next second she had blurted out-
"That's it, Potter? 'Okay'? What, no smartass remarks? No asking me out like you do a dozen times a week? No offering to take me on romantic walks in the snow?"
I smirked. "Actually, no Lily, I'm not. In case you hadn't noticed, it hasn't started snowing yet. Very irresponsible of the weather, I think. And a walk in the snow? That's not romantic, Lil, that's just bloody cold. And currently I'm kind of refining my technique…"
Lily now looked highly mortified at her outburst in a cute, Lily, kind of way. Marlene, who had been giving her an incredulous look, turned to me curiously.
"Refining your technique?"
"Yeah," I grinned, "I'm taking lessons from the Giant Squid, you know, 'cause Lily here seemed so much more inclined to go out with him, rather than me."
Marlene snorted and Lily scowled.
"At least you admit you need help with something, Potter."
Unfazed, I replied blithely, "You should be happy it isn't the professional kind, my dear Lily."
But when they both stared at me blankly, I sighed. Seemed like I would have to coach them on the finer points of subtle self-directed humor when they stayed over during Christmas.
"Anyway…. Why aren't you downstairs being an obnoxious party host?" Lily asked.
Ouch. Touchy subject. You should have never gone there, Lily.
"Maybe I didn't want to be an obnoxious party host, Evans." My smile disappeared. "If you came here just to throw poorly veiled insults at me on my birthday, you can turn around and please leave."
"I never wanted to come in the first place. Happy birthday, Potter." Lily snapped, and flounced out of the room. Marlene gave me a slightly apologetic smile and followed Lily, shutting the door gently behind her in a total contrast to the way she had entered. Not too pleased with the way my latest encounter with Lily had gone, I went back to examining the Map.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Two and a half hours later, the door slammed open again. Once again, I shoved the Map under my pillow, but it was just Sirius.
"Oh. It's you." I muttered, pulling out the Map. I mumbled "Mischief managed" before proceeding to smooth out the creases.
"Don't you sound delighted?" Sirius asked, smirking slightly. "And after I got something especially for you and all..."
He dropped a bottle of Firewhiskey into my lap.
"Nice." I grinned. "This is the kind of birthday gift that requires immediate appreciation. Let's get sloshed."
Sirius pulled out a couple of plastic cups. "You better enjoy that. It was damn hard to get hold of, with so many people rushing about on the last trip before Christmas." We didn't usually drink Firewhiskey, elf-made wine was easier to get hold of, not to mention much milder and not illegal for us to be drinking.
"Happy birthday to me," I mumbled, raising my glass. "Cheers, mate" Sirius said, and we both took a large gulp.
When the others came up, Remus just shook his head at us, and then proceeded to pour himself a cup. We offered Frank and Peter some, but they both declined. Frank said he was too full of Butterbeer. I couldn't blame him, that stuff was awesome. But Firewhiskey is awesomer.
Peter just crashed onto his bed fully dressed and was out like a light. Sometimes I really admired his ability to fall asleep within seconds. Frank too looked pretty done in. I liked Frank. He was a cool guy who got along well with us Marauders. He understood our jokes and didn't criticize our every action, unlike a certain beautiful redhead. We respected him because he had the ability to laugh at himself and yet didn't take any shit from us either. He even knew to leave us alone on Elf-made Laropoly nights. Smart guy, Frank was.
"So." Sirius turned to me. "What did McKinnon and Evans want?"
Remus looked over curiously, probably due to Lily's name being mentioned. After I told them, Sirius raised an eyebrow.
"Interesting… Christmas with a twist."
While Remus snorted, I had a sudden thought. Turning to Sirius, I asked, "How do we know that the Giant Squid is a 'he' and not a 'she'?" Sirius stared at me before replying slowly, "That, James, is an excellent question."
Remus snickered. "I think the Firewhiskey has addled your wits" he said, and then paused. "How do you tell a squid's gender anyway?"
I snorted. "If you don't know, how will we?"
I poured us all another cup of Firewhiskey. The room was slowly starting to spin.
"Here's to James' birthday!" Remus raised his cup in a toast.
"Yes, here's to James!" Sirius added. "May Evans go out with him one day."
"May he win this year's Quidditch Cup!"
"That's not a maybe, Remus, that's a certainty. May he get married to Evans and have many troublemaking green eyed babies."
"And may he never make you godfather of any of them."
"Remus!"
"Okay, okay. May …..may we be friends forever."
"May the Marauders' legacy never die!"
"May James live to be a hundred and seven!"
"And may his birthdays stop sucking one day."
"How much of this is actually going to happen?" I grumbled at them, but then I smiled."But thanks anyway." And we emptied our cups.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next morning, I woke up and groaned. My head was throbbing and Peter's and Remus' voices sounded like they were using sonorous charms. Without opening my eyes, I waved my hand about, trying to search for my bed hangings so I could close them.
"Ahh, he stirs. Good morning, James." Remus said. Bloody Merlin's Pants, nobody had the right to sound that happy on a Sunday morning.
"Go away!" I groaned, my eyes still squeezed tightly shut.
"As you wish," Remus said, and I could just tell hewas smirking, the prat. "I'll just have to put this extremely helpful hangover potion away, then. What a pity."
Peter snickered somewhere off to my left.
"Gimme that!" I cried, sitting up. Opening my eyes an infestimal amount, (owww, the light) I grabbed the vial and drank the mixture inside.
The potion was something we had concocted ourselves; last year, Sirius had discovered that if we added a few extra ingredients to a common headache potion, it made a quick and easy cure for mild hangovers. Brilliant discovery, that was.
After the throbbing subsided and my ears returned to normal, I got out of bed, putting my glasses on at the same time. On my right, the lump that was Sirius was snoring softly under his blankets.
"I tried already," Remus said dispassionately, "But he refuses to wake up."
Frank and Peter, both fully dressed, were standing at the window, their faces pressed against the panes, through which I could see a lot of white and grey flurries. I then noticed that the dorm was much colder than it had been the past few weeks. It made me think of how our small lake would be freezing over back at home, and my ice skates under my bed.
"About time it started snowing." Peter declared, his voice muffled by the glass.
"Great," I muttered. "Someone tell Evans. She wanted to take a romantic walk."
AN: Here's the new chapter! Like it, love it, hate it, have an opinion? Tell me in a review. And James was a little subdued because- you'll find out what was bothering him soon, don't worry.
Important note- Peter will be doing things in this story, talking and being part of the Marauders and everything. If he was all evil and absent right from the beginning, they would have never trusted him. I apologize to the people who hate him, I don't like him either, but there won't be any Peter-bashing, sorry.
Thanks for reading,
Llj.
