"Hey guys" James sighed as he entered the compartment.
"Alright Prongs? Still have your manhood in place?" Sirius called from his sprawled position on the floor. Across from him Peter was studying the Exploding Snap card before carefully setting it in place for a card castle. As James had suspected, Remus had come off patrol and was buried in a book.
"So far Padfoot" James flopped onto a seat across from Remus. There was a small pile of sweets from the trolley and he gratefully picked up a Cauldron Cake.
"How did it go with Lily?" Remus inquired, lifting his nose from his book, smirking slightly. James gave him a half-hearted glare.
"I am going to get you for that. I was stuck in a compartment for two hours with a woman who has threatened the future existence of my family's name. Detention with Filch would have been better."
"You know you love her" Remus idly turned a page.
"Too bad his precious Lily Flower doesn't" Sirius commented, with a slight edge. Very protective of James, he often felt Lily was too harsh on James. He plucked up a card and sat it precariously onto the castle.
James rolled his eyes. "It went alright. We called a truce."
"How'd you do that?" Peter asked amazed.
James winced a little. "I uh, promised not to hex people anymore."
"Something you started doing last term" Remus commented.
"And promised I wouldn't hex Snape. And not behave like an immature prat, or something."
"All that for a woman" Sirius muttered shaking his head. "You are whipped mate."
"And promised I wouldn't prank as much" he muttered the last bit, but everyone heard and were staring at him, mouths open.
"You did WHAT!?" Sirius yelled the last bit, staring at James as though he'd never seen him before.
"I just promised I wouldn't target anyone specifically Padfoot" James said hastily, arms up. "I didn't say anything about pranking in general."
"Oh and that makes it so much better" Sirius growled. He threw the Exploding Snap card onto the almost finished castle with unnecessary force.
"Duck!" Peter yelled diving out of the way. James threw his arms around his head and Remus covered his face with his book just as the cards exploded with an almighty BANG! The windows rattled.
Cautiously, James peeked over his arms. A fine layer of smoke hung in the air. Sirius sat cross-legged on the floor, face streaked with soot and hair in disarray, looking stunned. He looked so much like Martin Miggs out of the Mad Muggle comics after messing with-dymate? Dymnite? - That James burst out laughing, clutching his sides. Remus roared with laughter while Peter rolled around on the floor with mirth.
The compartment door slid open, its windows having seen better days.
"Great look Black" a female voice said, sounding greatly amused. James, sides heaving forced himself upright to face the newcomer. Or newcomers, he mentally corrected, as standing in the compartment door was Lily, Nancy, Alice and Mary. It had been Nancy who had spoken.
Lily surveyed the compartment, her mouth twitching, but when she addressed James her voice was stern.
"We made a pact that you wouldn't muck about as much this year Potter less than five minutes ago and you're already causing trouble?" she arched an eyebrow.
"To be fair Lily" Remus had regained control of his laughter by now "it was Sirius that had forgotten he was playing with the new Exploding Snap cards; James had nothing to do with it." He turned to Sirius. "I told you those things were different to the old ones."
"I didn't realise they were that different thanks Moony" Sirius had finally recovered from his shock and was scrutinising his clothes before cautiously running his hands over his head.
Remus pulled out his wand and muttered "Scourgify." The soot and blast marks vanished as well as the grime on Sirius's face and clothes. James looked at his best friend's face for one second before he started laughing again.
"What?" Sirius asked bewildered, looking at James to the others, who started laughing, Lily smirking. Without a word save giggles Mary pulled out a compact mirror and shoved it under his nose. Bemused Sirius looked at his reflection.
"AHH!" His hand flew up to the area where his eyebrows should have been. "My eyebrows!" he wailed.
James, who had begun recovering, dissolved into laughter again, holding his sides. Sirius whirled to a gasping Remus.
"Moony help me!" he begged. "Please?"
Remus took great heaving breaths before waving his wand in Sirius's direction. Sirius's eyebrows reappeared rapidly. Too rapidly in fact and became an enormous bushy unibrow.
Not even Lily could hold in her laughter now. The four girls roared with laughter, Nancy shutting the door as they were attracting quite a bit of attention from other compartments. James was laughing so hard tears streamed from his eyes making them smart and difficult to see.
"Ahhh!" Sirius yelled in frustration before pulling out his own wand. Squinting James could just make out him waving it. Sitting up, he wiped his eyes before finally being able to see Sirius looking normal and also very peeved.
"Thanks a bunch" Sirius snapped. "Some friends you are."
"It was a great look Sirius" Alice teased, setting the girls off again. James chuckled and forced himself to calm down by breathing slowly. Remus took heaving breaths before settling down again, picking up his book, while Peter picked himself off the floor.
"Yeah yeah laugh it up Smith" Sirius grumbled, standing and throwing himself onto a seat, looking sulky.
"So what caused Sirius's fashion disaster?" Nancy asked, smirking. Remus picked up the card box.
"New Explosive Exploding Snap a real blast" he grimaced at the bad pun.
"Great something new to confiscate" Lily made a face.
"Evans" Sirius moaned "you need to get a life." Lily glared at him.
"Keep talking Black and you'll find yourself without the rest of your hair" she warned holding up her wand. Sirius shrank back.
"So why are you lot still here anyway?" he asked petulantly. Lily hesitated, apparently unsure of what to say.
"Well we followed Lily to see what the commotion was about" Nancy shrugged. "Also there were some Slytherin thugs annoying us in our compartment and Lily dragged us away before I got to curse them all."
"Good for you McKinnon" Sirius complimented, bad mood forgotten. Nancy grinned. Lily frowned.
"You should just ignore them Nance, they aren't worth it."
Nancy snorted. "They're slimy dark gits Lily and I'm not going to let them bully me around and neither should you."
"I'm not going to let them bully me into anything" Lily said sharply. "But they're not worth getting trouble over and that's what will happen if you take their bait."
"That's true" James spoke up "but some things are more important than getting in trouble." His eyes met Nancy's and she nodded to him.
"How was your summer?" he asked. Nancy's eyes narrowed a fraction.
"It was fine" she said. James didn't press the issue. "Yours?" she asked.
James didn't really no what to say to that and shrugged.
"So have you decided to try out for Quidditch, MacDonald?" Sirius changed the subject.
Mary started and blushed. "Uh, I might."
"You should" Sirius encouraged. "We need a chaser, keeper and seeker, right Prongs?"
"Yeah" James agreed. "Replacing the Prewitt's and Longbottom is going to be hard."
Lily fidgeted slightly, presumably because she didn't like Quidditch talk.
"What do you think of being Head Boy James?" Alice asked.
James groaned while his friends laughed.
"Dumbledore's finally cracked" Sirius said cheerfully. "Actually I can't wait to see Filch's face when finds out Prongsie here is Head Boy. He'd probably request a bed in St. Mungo's."
"Sirius!" Lily feebly protested while her friends cracked up.
James smiled a little at their antics, but inwardly he sighed. He really didn't think he'd be a great Head Boy; he hadn't even been made a prefect. Though the idea of him becoming a prefect was almost as ludicrous as becoming Head Boy. A thought hit him and he laughed.
"What's up?" Sirius asked blankly at his mate. James shook his head.
"Could you imagine my Dad's face if he found out I became Head Boy?" he managed to get out. Sirius understood immediately and burst out laughing. Remus chuckled while Peter and the girls looked uneasy.
"Oh Merlin" Sirius managed. "He'd have past out."
"Actually I think Caroline's face would have been funniest" Remus interjected, smiling. The other two laughed again.
*
Lily felt nervous as she watched the two. She leaned over to Remus. "Are they ok?" she asked hesitantly. She didn't want to see James get touchy about his parents death, something she was sure she would have been had she been in his place. Remus merely smiled.
"Talking about them helps" he murmured. "And he needs to talk about them, accept the fact they're gone."
Lily hesitated nodding. She sat back onto her seat, still feeling nervous. Why was she still here? Why hadn't they left yet? She'd hated Potter and the other Marauders, sans Remus for years and yet now she could tolerate their presence for over five minutes. The world had gone pear shaped.
"Your mum had a wicked sense of humour James" Nancy commented. Lily glanced at her. How did she know that?
"Uh-huh" James agreed, smiling a little sadly. Lily's heart contracted. "Yeah she was awesome. She actually thought all my pranks were funny."
Lily raised her eyebrows. "She did?"
James nodded. "Yeah Mum had a sense of humour, she liked things that made people laugh. She didn't like some of them" he admitted "but most of the fun pranks she liked. She didn't like it when we made fun of people." He made a face at that, looking vaguely guilty.
"Still at least she liked the fact you were a prankster" Sirius made a face. "It drove my mother around the twist, not that that's saying much, she always was nuts. She sent me so many bloody Howlers there's a permanent scorch mark at the place I sit at the Gryffindor table."
"When's the last time you got a Howler?" Mary asked frowning. "I can't remember the last time you got one."
"Well since I got disowned she doesn't bother acknowledging I exist" Sirius said darkly. "Not that I want her to."
Lily felt her mouth drop. Sirius was disowned? She had never known that. She felt chagrined. She apparently did not know him as well as she'd first thought.
"Your family lost out mate" James threw an arm over Sirius's shoulders. "You're a Potter now."
"Uh-huh" Sirius grinned looking happier. "Thank Merlin for that. I'm never going back to them anyway."
Lily felt her eyebrows rise again. "Your whole family disowned you? Why?" she felt like a heel asking but she was curious. The rest of the carriage didn't look too surprised by Sirius's statement.
"Well, there's the fact I'm the only Black ever to end up in Gryffindor, also I hate the Dark Arts, don't believe in their stupid pure-blood mania and hate the lot of them, need I continue?" Sirius looked really pissed now.
"No" Lily murmured softly, feeling ashamed. She had never known Sirius had such feelings about his family.
"Not all of them are bad" Remus said diplomatically "Andromeda's great and so was your Uncle Alphard."
"True" Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But what really pisses me off is that they tried to force me to go back at the end of last year."
"They did what?" Lily stared at him.
"I remember that" Nancy looked grim. "Your mother looked capable of anything."
"I always thought she looked like a harpy" Alice commented.
"She certainly acts like it" Remus murmured. Lily looked at him in surprise; he was never one for insults.
"When was this anyway?" she asked in general.
"End of sixth year when we were getting off the train" James answered. His face was hard. "Sirius and I were going home with Mum and Dad when Sirius's folks came waltzing up and tried to drag Sirius with them."
"She sounded like she was ready to use the Imperius curse if she had to" Nancy frowned, looking pissed. Mary looked horrified. Lily felt the same.
"So what happened?" she asked urgently.
"Mum stepped in" James grinned a little. "Told her in no uncertain terms that Sirius was coming home with us and she could take her over inflated opinions with her and shove it. Or something like that."
Sirius let out a bark like laugh. "That was absolutely brilliant. One of my favourite moments in my life. The look on my dear hag of a mother's face was priceless. My father's was too. Threatened to take legal action against them for taking their eldest child away." He snorted. "Mum was ready to hex us and Caroline pulled out her wand and dared her to try."
"It was actually scary" Peter shuddered. "Their mums looked ready to kill."
"It's true" Remus agreed, looking somewhat angry. "But Mrs. Black backed down eventually after a huge shouting match."
"They finally figured out that their undignified behaviour was not suitable for pure bloods of their standing" Sirius spat out the words as though they were a Stinksap Every Flavour Bean. James tightened his grip on his friend and Remus threw his arm over his other side as well.
Sirius cocked his head. "How'd we get onto this anyway?"
James paused. "No idea."
Remus chuckled.
"Let's stop talking about my family anyway, it gives me a strong desire to throttle someone" Sirius announced. James withdrew from Sirius in mock fear. Sirius growled and playfully reached for James neck.
"Hey James, remember that time our grandmothers got together for tea when we were five?" Alice asked. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor along with Nancy and Peter, while the rest sat on seats.
"How can I forget? Discussions about my arranged marriage when I turn seventeen; it nearly scarred me for life."
"What?" Lily dropped a Pumpkin Pastry that Remus had handed her.
"You never told us that!" Sirius exclaimed sitting up straighter.
"That's because it was one of the most traumatic things I have ever experienced Padfoot" James shuddered, whether genuine of not, Lily couldn't tell.
"Your grandmothers talked about James having an arranged marriage?" Peter asked in disbelief.
"Yeah" Alice grimaced. "With each other."
Sirius, Peter and Nancy roared with laughter. Remus was chuckling and Mary was giggling. Smirking Lily addressed her crimson friend.
"You never told me that" she said pointedly.
"When's the date? I'll be sure to get an invitation mate; I can't believe you wouldn't tell your best man when you're actually getting married."
"Shut up Padfoot!" James threw a Cauldron Cake at him, who grabbed it and bit into it.
"How come you never told us you and James would be getting together? Does Frank know?" Nancy asked innocently. Alice glared at her.
"For Merlin's sake, it was years ago and it never went further than that. Did I ever thank you for that James?" she asked.
"No you were too busy trying to keep a straight face" James chuckled.
"What happened?" Remus asked interestedly.
"Well Alice and I have known each other for years 'cause of our families. Anyway when we were five our Grandmothers were at my house along with Alice. Dad wasn't there for some reason or another and poor Mum was trying to be as polite as possible to them but she was ready to crack when they brought up marrying me and Alice."
"I remember" Alice grinned. "If you hadn't done something I'm sure your Mum would have."
James grinned. "I sort of didn't like the idea of getting married, you know, who does when their five? So I sort of set off a Dungbomb underneath Alice's gran's seat."
Alice laughed along with everyone else. "She was in bits. She left in a hurry then, swearing that I would never marry such an insolent brat and how such a respectable family could get such a child."
"Gran wasn't much better; she threatened to cut me out of her will. Had no idea what she was talking about at the time and she calmed down a week later." James snickered.
"They were mad" Alice shook her head fondly. "Ah well she'd be pleased about who I'm with now. A respectable pureblood family." She shook her head wryly.
"Is that why our grandparents wanted you to get together?" Lily asked feeling a little surprised.
"Yeah" James made a face. "They're just from a different time, you know? Old teachings die hard and even though our families are pretty relaxed about Muggleborns and stuff, they can just be a little hypocritical."
"The Potters, Longbottoms, Smiths, Weasleys, Prewitts" Nancy ticked off.
"McKinnon's" James added.
She nodded. "They're the old wizarding families that are regarded as the newer families, the more tolerant and open-minded. Well supposedly. And the other families-"
"Like mine" Sirius said bitterly.
"-Are the old style wizards, the ones that believe blood purity matters. Again supposedly" she said looking at Sirius.
"How did we get here?" James scratched his head. "We were talking about Quidditch and that Dumbledore had finally gone mad at one point weren't we? And now we're talking about the stupid wizarding divide, how?"
Lily opened her mouth just as the intercom blared into life. "Attention all passengers we are arriving at Hogsmeade station in a few minutes, please be ready to board off. Please leave your luggage on the train it will be taken to the school separately."
"Excellent!" Sirius leapt up. "I'm starving."
"You've been eating since we came in!" Mary stared at him.
Sirius shrugged. "Yeah, but we had to share with you lot since you came in, that's not fair is it?" He grinned and turned to his friends. "Ready?"
Remus rolled his eyes, marked his book and stood up."Ready."
"See you guys later" James called to the girls as the Marauders left the carriage just as the train began to slow.
"Well that was different" Nancy commented.
Ok, sorry for such a long time to update, I was busy and I'm still not sure this is coming out right. Hopefully back at Hogwarts should liven things up a little. Please review and let me know what you think.
