Of Words and Laughter
cerasi

Sirius laughed and he laughed and he watched and he laughed. Regulus stood up indignantly, only to fall down once more. The dark brown mud sloshed around underneath them, but Sirius had grasped the fence while Regulus still struggled, slipping and falling on his bottom each time.

"Argh!" Regulus yelled when he fell again. It wasn't that it hurt, small boys of his age rarely notice pain, but he was getting angrier by the second at the way Sirius laughed at him. "Shut up!" He yelled, and he made for another attempt at standing.

"The funniest," Sirius laughed, struggling for breath "thing that I've…" he laughed again. "ever seen!"

Regulus yelped as he slipped over backwards and landed flat on his back, legs poking in the air and mud squirting out all round him. He paused for a second, and Sirius muffled his laughter so that for a moment it was quiet. Then Regulus looked up at Sirius, and Sirius raised his eyebrows at Regulus, and then they both laughed, Sirius leaping into the mud to roll around with his brother.


"Sirius!" James yelled as he bolted up the stairs. "Sirius!"

"Oi," one indignant third year yelled, but James ignored him and tore past three more people on his way up to the dorm.

"Damn it, Sirius!" James yelled, and he ploughed through the slightly ajar door, tripped over a sitting Remus and went tumbling into the dorm. Peter and Sirius watched from their beds while Remus tried to put his head back in place.

James stared at the ceiling for a minute, his breathing heavy and his heart a-pounding.

"I could hear you a bloody mile off, Prongs," Sirius chuckled. "What on earth is it?"

"It's…" panted James. "It's this."

He put his hand up into the air triumphantly, and they all peered at what appeared to be a small, red, leather-bound book. It was scuffed on the corners, and there was a tie that held it closed. From the looks of things, it was a very old book.

"What is it?" Peter asked, hopping up from his bed to get a closer look.

"I just-" James began, sitting up and gradually regaining his breath. "I just stole it from Snivellus."

The other three boys suddenly crowded around, much more eager to learn what this mystery book was, now that they knew its origins.

"Well?" Sirius asked. "What the bloody hell is it?"

"His diary," James said, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Haha!" Sirius whooped. He jumped up in the air, and pulled James up as well, and the two of them began the Marauder's Victory Dance. Remus and Peter leapt up to join in, and the four of them Victory-Danced their way around the room.

"Prongs," Sirius said, as he started giggling. "You're a bloody genius."

The four of them sat down to read the diary, and the laughter just kept on flowing.


"I, uh…" Sirius began. Then he stopped. He just plainly didn't know what to say. He stood there, at the doorstep of Remus' house and he watched the other man across the threshold.

Remus took a deep breath, still silent and with no idea of what to say. The two of them just watched each other for a while, and lazy clouds drifted across the sky, occasionally dimming the light on the sun and then moving on. Sirius swallowed and shuffled his foot.

"I was hoping that I, uh," he paused. "Well, Dumbledore mentioned that perhaps…" he paused again.

"He sent me a letter to say that you'd be coming."

Sirius looked up at Remus and tried to watch his reaction. Remus was still as unchanged as the moment he had arrived. Sirius could learn nothing of the man's emotions at the moment.

"Uh, well," Sirius started again. "May I?"

"Stay here?" Remus clarified.

"Well, uhm… yes."

Remus paused for a second, and then his eyes shone with laughter.

"Of course you can bloody stay here, Padfoot!" Remus said, pulling his old friend in for a hug. They embraced for a moment and then Remus pulled back, still grinning. "I don't think I've ever seen you so pressed for words."

Sirius grinned and chucked.

"True," he said, and they went inside smiling.