Sirius woke up and rolled over to look at his magical alarm clock. It was seven o'clock in the morning. Usually he wouldn't get up at a time this early, but today was special. It was his seventeenth birthday. He jumped out of bed and went over to James. Pointing his wand at his best friend he shouted, "Levicorpus!"
James was hoisted out form under his sheets by his ankle, kicking and yelling.
"What the Merlin am I doing up here?!" he shouted at Sirius.
"Being the victim of my newly authorised magic!" Sirius bellowed back, before lifting his wand and letting James fall back on his bed.
"Just because you've turned Seventeen today, doesn't mean you have to use magic any way you like", said James sternly, "It's irresponsible, you know".
"Good! I am irresponsible!" shouted Sirius excitedly, "And anyway, you're starting to sound like Moony, or even worse, Evans".
"I just don't like being dragged out of bed by my ankle at seven in the morning", James said quickly.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say Prongs", smirked Sirius.
Sirius got changed (levitating his clothes out of the cupboard) and walked out of the room, closely followed by James. He stopped at the top of the staircase.
"What are you doing?" asked James, who was stuck behind him, "Are you going to go down?"
"Yes, in a matter of speaking", Sirius said mysteriously, before turning on the spot and appearing in the dining room with a loud bang.
"AH!" shrieked Mrs Potter, "Oh, Sirius, dear, you gave me quite a fright!"
"Sorry Mrs Potter, it won't happen again", he replied, before sitting down at the table.
"Stop showing off, Padfoot", James chastised, coming down the stairs.
"You're just jealous because you're not seventeen until March", Sirius said to him.
"Am not, you git", mumbled James as he sat down for breakfast too.
"That's enough James, be nice to Sirius, it's his birthday", Mrs Potter told her son, as she helped Chalky the House-Elf lift a plate of sausages onto the table.
Sirius pulled a face at James before pulling some bacon towards him and piling it onto his plate. Mr Potter walked in carrying a stack of presents.
"Here's the lot, there's one from each of us", said Mr Potter, clapping Sirius on the back.
Sirius reached out and grabbed a present with sparkling blue wrapping paper. He pulled back the luminous wrapping to see a box of broom care products.
"That one's form me", said James.
"Thanks, about time too", joked Sirius, "I bought you one three years ago!"
Next Sirius unwrapped Mrs Potter's present, to find a scratchy woolen cardigan sort of thing. It looked awful, and was a dull pinkish colour. Sirius didn't want to be rude, but he didn't think that he could find anything nice to say about it.
"It's my size!", he smiled with fake sincerity, stating the only honest thing about it he could without offending anyone.
"I'm glad you like it", she beamed, "That leather jacket of yours gives the wrong sort of impression. A lovely young man like you doesn't need to go around looking like a ruffian".
"Yes Mrs Potter, I see what you mean", he put the woolly thing aside and opened the last present, it was from Mr Potter.
Inside was a watch made of some kind of black metal. The face had little symbols inscribed in it, and the hands pointed out roman numerals around the edge. It was tradition for a wizard to receive a watch from his parents when he turned seventeen. James had told Sirius that he would receive his uncles old watch when he came of age, as it was a family heirloom. This gift touched Sirius deeply. It was the Potters' way of saying that they were his family.
"Thank you all so much", he said brightly.
After breakfast James and Sirius went back upstairs to their room.
"Here's something else for you", said James, and tossed Sirius a book.
Sirius opened it to find it was a book about motorbikes, it had all the newest models and makes from around the world. Some were sitting on a road. Others on a racetrack next to a Muggle girl, or a driver.
"It's brilliant!" said Sirius, he flipped through the pages, taking in all the colours and smooth aerodynamic lines of the different bikes.
This would have had to be the best birthday he could remember having.
##
Remus arrived later that afternoon. A Muggle car pulled up out the front of the Potters'. It was old and a little rusty. Sirius knew that the Lupins didn't have much money, and this car was just another sad piece of evidence to the fact. The way Remus sometimes talked about it, it seemed that his parents, Lyall and Hope, had been doing okay before Remus was bitten. After that, they had spent their money trying to find a cure to their son's lycanthropy.
"Remus!" Sirius called to his friend, as the brown haired boy walked towards the front of the house.
"Hey guys!" said Remus when he reached them, he seemed particularly high spirited.
"Lucky you could come" said Sirius.
"Yeah, your furry little problem got the timing right for once!" laughed James, but Remus's smiled lessened by a fraction at the mention of his werewolfism.
"That rabbit of yours isn't still giving you trouble, is it?" asked Mrs Potter, who came out of the front door, pulling Remus into a tight hug.
Remus looked confused at her odd question, then remembering the cover-up story replied, "Yeah, well, Fluffy is getting better. He's a bit older now. But it seems he's becoming more senile and agitated by the minute".
"Bit like Sirius, really", said James quietly, making them all laugh.
"You're one to talk, you wear glasses!" said Sirius in his defense.
"But I'm so much better looking", smirked James, earning himself an elbow in the ribs form his best friend.
"Now, now, boys. Stop that nonsense", said Mrs Potter, as she lead the three boys back into the large house.
"Yeah, you're both just as ugly as one another!" Remus cracked a rare joke.
Remus left his suitcase in the hallway and followed Sirius, James and Mrs Potter out to the back of the house. They were now on the small wooden patio that had no roof, and opened on to the exquisite garden, filled with roses of every colour and variety, Sirius saw that Mrs Potter had left out a jug of Maxwell's Pink Lemonade, which tasted like a different pink coloured food with every sip, on a little white painted table, with matching beach chairs. Mrs Potter left the boys and went back inside.
Sirius poured himself a glass and leaned back in his chair. He sipped the lemonade, it tasted like-
"Urgh! Raw meet!" he cried in disgust, making James and Remus cackle with laughter.
"Fairy-floss, for me, because I'm awesome", said James, sipping the pink lemonade.
"Mmmm, watermelon", said Remus.
"Shame that chocolate isn't pink Remus", smiled Sirius, "They should invent a brown coloured drink and make it taste like brown things".
"Not such a good idea, Padfoot", said James, "I can think of something brown I wouldn't like to taste".
"Yeah, like what?" asked Sirius.
"Dragon dung, you idiot", James answered, before starting to chuckle through another sip of lemonade.
"James! Peter's here!" Mrs Potter's shout interrupted the sound of James's choking.
"Hey guys!" said Peter excitedly.
The smallest of the friends came through the back door and joined them on the patio. He poured himself a glass of lemonade.
##
"And then you ended up falling down the stairs!" laughed Sirius loudly.
"Classic Lily", smiled Remus.
They were currently sitting down the back of the Potters' estate, sharing some Butterbeer and joking about. They were in a small meadow, with long grass that reached up past their ankles, and a short but steep drop to where a small stream wound around some rocks.
"Yeah, well, I've still got one more year to make her say yes!" said James in retort to Sirius's teasing.
"Really, Prongs", Sirius stood up and moved towards his friend, "Why don't we make a bet".
"Alright", said James.
"I bet, that by the end of the year, Lily will hate you even more", he threw his arms out to demonstrate just how much Lily would have to hate James, "If that's possible".
"I bet she will!" said James, "I mean, she will go out with me".
"Whatever you say Prongs!" Sirius smiled, "Ten galleons!"
"Your on", James said.
"Good", agreed Sirius.
"Wait! You don't even have ten galleons!" James exclaimed, right before he stumbled over the edge off the cliff.
"James! No!" cried Peter.
"James?!" yelped Sirius.
"James?" called Remus, edging towards the end of the cliff.
"Moony, there's nothing we can-" started Sirius.
"Oi! You lot, I'm still alive you know!" called James's voice from over the cliff.
"James!" Sirius ran towards the cliff edge and looked over.
He saw James lying a few feet below, sopping wet, in the middle of the stream. Sirius reached over the grassy ledge and grabbed James by the arm in an attempt to help him up. He was leaning down quite far, and before he knew it, James had hauled him into the stream as well.
"Prongs!" cried Sirius, trying to stand in the water but falling over with laughter, "These are my favourite shoes!"
"Shut up", said James, "You sound like a drama queen."
"But Mr Potter, I am a drama queen!" Sirius put his hand to his forehead and pretended to fall backwards into James's arms, who quickly recoiled, leaving Sirius to land in the water.
"Alright ladies, having fun?" asked Remus from above, "Get back up here."
"Fine Moony", moped Sirius.
"Are you afraid we're going to get a cold?" asked James, faking a worried look as he clambered up the steep bank behind Sirius.
"You could", said Peter as an afterthought.
"Not you too Pete", sighed Sirius, "He's been corrupted by Moony's anti-fun campaign."
"Alas", James shook his head, "Another poor soul lost."
"He was too young", Sirius grabbed Peter and held his head, "Too young!"
"Geroff!" mumbled Peter, his voice muffled through Sirius's hug.
The small boy pushed his friend away, as Sirius and James laughed.
"Yes, I absolutely hate fun, which is why I wanted to be friends with you lot..." Remus sighed.
"We have to cure Remus, Prongs", smiled Sirius.
"I agree", said James slyly.
Before Remus knew which way was up, he found himself tumbling down the cliff and into the stream, Sirius and James having just pushed him.
