Chapter Two: Piles of boxes

Sirius' flat was placed at the top of a four storey house on the edge of London. The three living spaces beneath it were being let by people who either only lived there part of the year or by people who lived in their offices - both of which suited James and Sirius very well.

The flat itself was made of the traditional red brick, with large windows and a strange, musty smell left over from the previous occupant – a witch with a fascination for magical creatures to rival Hagrid's. The carpets were a darkish blue and relatively clean, though it was hard to tell, covered as they were by cardboard boxes. There was a small kitchen, ready to use, and the wallpaper hadn't even begun to peel – though it was white with pink polka-dots. All in all, it wasn't in bad shape, though a few times there was a distinct rustling in the walls and cupboards.

By the time lunchtime rolled around, James could be found carrying the last box up the flights of stairs, staggering slightly under the weight and making groaning noises that the others all ignored. Remus could be found holding the door open on the top landing but apart from that, no 'one else could be seen. This may have been because James' vision was obscured by the large beaters bat poking out of the box, but that wasn't the point. The point was that he had to be led into the living room by his friend, complaining all the way.

"Why can't we just levitate it up through the window? We'd be done right now!"

"Oh yes, and I'm sure that wouldn't look strange to people innocently passing by."

Sirius looked up from where he'd been throwing books haphazardly onto the wonky shelf that Peter had put up hours before. "We could attach a rope to it." He threw one particularly heavy book onto the shelf and the whole thing gave a wobble. Sirius eyed it suspiciously, but when it didn't fall he relaxed and turned to say something else. The shelf took that moment to fall cleanly off the wall, causing books to scatter everywhere and the cold cup of tea which sat next to them to shatter and stain the carpet.

Sirius slowly turned from James and Remus and stared at the piece of wood on the floor. "Well. Bugger me."

As if cued, Lily Evans came in from the small kitchen, smiling broadly while dressed in an overlarge shirt and jeans. She was clutching a plate full of sandwiches. "I made food!" she called, sitting down crossed legged on the top of a particularly sturdy box and grabbing one off the top.

"Excellent!" Sirius jumped over the slowly spreading tea and piles of junk to sit down next to her, shoving a whole sandwich into his mouth. James himself promptly dropped the final box with a crash, narrowly avoiding Remus' foot, and settled himself on Lily's other side. The other two joined them shortly after, beginning to munch through the huge platter as they admired their handiwork.

The living room was fit to bursting, but nevertheless was beginning to take shape. The corners which Lily, Remus and Peter had been working on were especially tidy, with everything arranged according to height and type on top of various surfaces. James' and Sirius' were slightly less organised, but managed to give the place a 'lived in' appeal. That's what they said anyway. The only thing on that side of the room which seemed slightly cared for was James' broomstick, which was leaning up against the wall in pride of place.

After a few minutes hungrily chewing, there was a flapping noise outside one of the large windows. It made Peter jump and choke on a crumb, and as Sirius absent-mindedly smacked him on the back, the group looked up to see two big owls sitting on the windowsill. They had the dark plumage and serious eyes of the school owls, and clutched identical letters in their beaks. Slowly, Sirius stood and made his way across to the window, brushing crumbs off his hands onto the floor and leaving Peter spluttering.

"What is it?" asked Lily curiously. She craned her neck in an attempt to see the letters but decided against actually standing up, preferring instead to lean gently against James as Sirius took the letters from the birds.

"I think…" Taking another bite of sandwich, Sirius flicked the letter over. On the back was a bold crest showing a lion, serpent, badger and raven. Sirius nodded and swallowed, "Yep. NEWT results."

Lily jumped to her feet immediately, emerald eyes wide and expression horrified. She was quickly followed by Remus. "What? No! They can't be!"

"They're not due for a week!" squeaked Remus, in an unusual display of emotion.

"No, they're due today," corrected James, standing up and striding over to Sirius, who passed him his letter. He took it and inspected the address on the front.

"How do you know?" pressed Lily. James waved the letter in her face, one eyebrow raised, and she pouted in response. "Shut up."

James grinned, clamped another sandwich between his teeth, and opened the letter noisily. The envelope ripped messily and caught the edge of the parchment inside, which James whipped out and shook open. Holding it in one hand, he removed the ham sandwich from his mouth and skimmed the letter.

Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests – Results.

Pass grades:

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Fail grades:

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

JAMES POTTER HAS ACHIEVED:

Defence against the Dark Arts: O

Transfiguration: O

Charms: O

Potions: O

Herbology: E

More than enough.

Grinning broadly, James passed the letter to Lily, who read it avidly several times before looking up at him, a wide grin ripping across her face. She looked back down at the letter, then gave a squeak and threw her arms round him. "I knew you'd do it!" She smiled into his ear, "I knew it!"

James laughed and hugged her tight, his blood pounding in his ears and almost drowning out his thoughts, which were spinning in circles. The school would send the results to the ministry, so hopefully he would hear from them tomorrow... would these be okay? Would the Herbology grade be a problem?

Lily pulled slightly away and kissed him gently, but he was too lost in his own head for it to register properly. She pulled away and smiled at him, "Erm… hi?"

"Oh! Sorry," James smiled down at her and tried to pull his mind to the present, "Just thinking." He looked down into those brilliant bright eyes and felt the familiar feeling in his chest – like his heart had been doused in warm water.

Sirius' voice cut through the moment like a hot knife through butter. "I know! I'll make us a celebratory cake! It'll be awesome! I'll put almonds in it, and…"

James pulled away from Lily, rubbing his forehead and smiling slightly – though against his better judgement. "Sirius, maybe you've forgotten, but you're a terrible cook. Terrible."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Remember that time you made Peter a cake? He had to go to St Mungos to have his stomach drained…"

"Well, he did eat three quarters of it!"

"…and the rest of us were throwing up for three days." James finished, slipping an arm round Lily, who looked sympathetic but didn't stay to console Sirius. Instead she kissed James one more time on the cheek and grabbed her bag from the new sofa, still covered in plastic. James was reluctant to remove it in fear that Padfoot, in animagus form, would have an 'accident' on it as a hilarious drunken joke. That and he kind of liked the way it felt when he sat on it. He pondered these things while Lily slipped the bag over her shoulder, before noticing and slipping back home with a thud. "You taking off then?"

"Yeah," Lily stepped over yet another box (they seemed to be breeding) and stood with her hand on the door handle. "I want to see if mine have arrived."

"But we haven't finished unpacking!"

Lily rolled her eyes, "Knowing you two, it'll still be here tomorrow."

Remus took her lead and stood, climbing over the boxes and stumbling a few times on his way to the door. "I'll join you."

"And me," added Peter, "Can't put it off forever."

"You're all leaving?" Sirius moaned, "How is this supposed to be a party pad when there's just two of us?"

James glanced across at him from where he was re-reading his letter. "Nice to know I'm appreciated. And I live in a party pad now?"

"Shut up James. You know you love it."

A few hours later, after the sun had set and stars had started to peer shyly out of the night, James made his way to the open window. He glanced down onto the empty street below before climbing out onto the broad window ledge. His strong hands grabbed hold of the gutter and he swung himself out onto the tiled roof a couple of feet above him. Small patches of green and brown moss were huddled under the grey slate and James avoided them as he sat down next to Sirius, who was already crouched on the cold rooftop.

In the distance, the hundreds upon thousands of lights which made up muggle London shimmered and were reflected slightly in the water of the Thames, dyed black by the night. The sky itself was a rich blue, with grey clouds hovering threateningly in the distance while Sirius passed James a firewhisky. James accepted it with a nod of thanks, popping the top and slipping it into his jeans pocket. He pulled his knees up to his chest slightly, resting his forearm on it casually while he took a sip. The liquid flew swiftly down his throat, burning slightly and boiling in the pit of his chest for a second before settling in his stomach. James gave a contented sigh.

"This is what I thought it would be like." He took another gulp. "You know… growing up."

"Me too." Sirius flopped onto his back, one hand under his head and his bottle balanced on his stomach. "I figured it would be just hanging around, having a good time and getting drunk. Guess I didn't consider that there'd be a war on at the same time."

James gave a hum of agreement, staring out into the heart of the city. "No, I guess not." Even from here you could hear the hum of life carrying on as ordinary, completely unaware of the two young men crouched on the roof. Below them a group of people walked down the street, laughing and shouting, on their way back from a bar and heading for their next Saturday night destination.

Sirius glanced after the group of people and watched them enter a house at the end of the road. The door opened for them and blew a gust of heavy base and bright light onto the street, before smothering it again. Lights and shadows danced behind the thin curtains on the ground floor.

"Party," commented Sirius. James nodded.

Sirius downed his bottle, before shuffling down the pitched roof so his feet were dangling down past the gutter. He looked over his shoulder at his best friend of seven years, "Fancy crashing it?"

The bespectacled man swallowed the last mouthful of alcohol thoughtfully, before nodding and smirking at Sirius. "Yeah okay."