James Castle

Chapter 20: The Calm

James blinked as the light hit his eyes in the early morning. He groaned as he rolled over, still feeling the taste of centaur mead in his mouth. He stopped in his roll as he realized where he was and who he was with. He smiled down at Hermione who still slept, mumbling in her sleep, gripping his torso in a death grip, using his chest as a pillow. He reached for the table next to her bed where he had left out some anti-hangover potions the night before, drinking his down quickly.

"Mmmmfff…." Hermione groaned, feeling him move, opening her eyes slightly. "Give," she ordered, reached to where he held the other potion out of his reach. "Give," she frowned, hitting him roughly in the chest.

"And this is why we don't go to nice places," he teased her as she drank the potion, clearing the headache. "You okay?" he smiled, brushing the hair from her face.

"Remind me to kill your godfather," she yawned releasing James. "Where are our clothes anyway?" she frowned, noticing their lack of clothing under the sheet..

"Well, I think you threw my pants in the fire," James smirked thinking back to last night.

"Good, they were in the way," she laughed, giving him a quick kiss, hopping out of bed. "Come on, I want to see what kind of shape the others are in," she walked to the bathroom giving him an eyeful "You coming?" she poked her head out when she realized he hadn't moved from the bed.

"Absolutely," James grinned, jumping to his feet following her, making sure to silence the door behind them.


Sirius Black growled at the Gryffindors at the breakfast table, wishing they would not talk so loud. He drank his coffee slowly, nursing the headache from the night before. He gritted his teeth, blinking away the pain when James and Hermione took seats on either side of him, talking loudly on purpose.

"Good morning Sirius, wonderful day isn't it?" James clapped him on the back forcefully.

"Indeed it is James, birds singing, sun shining, wonderful morning to be here all bright eyed and bushy tailed," Hermione agreed with him, giggling at the dark looks Sirius was shooting them. "Oh look, it's Luna," Hermione waved at her friend as Sirius groaned and rested his head against the table. "Good morning Luna!" Hermione greeted her friend. "Sirius here was just telling me he wanted to hear some stories about the Crumple-Horned Snorack," Hermione laughed as Sirius banged his head on the table.

"What did I do to deserve this? Just so I can make sure I don't do it again," Sirius grabbed his head in his hands, trying to push back the headache.

"I have to agree with Sirius," Luna frowned at Hermione, sporting a bad case of hat hair and looking like she had slept in the woods, rather than stumbling back to the castle with the others around four in the morning. "I am not in the mood for any foolishness, just hand it over," she glared at James.

"Hand what over?" James smiled innocently.

"The hangover relief potion, give it to me now," frowned at him as Sirius' head jerked up.

"Oh thank you pup, please, please tell me you have extra," Sirius wrapped him in a hug, begging.

"Now why should we share?" Hermione poked Sirius in the side. "As I recall some of you thought it would be a good idea to get James as I as drunk as you could last night," Hermione mocked the two of them.

"Come on, we were just trying to get you two to loosen up, maybe get a shag out of your systems before you graduate," Sirius growled.

"Sirius," James patted him on the back. "We're seventeen years old and she has her own room," he laughed as Hermione gave Luna a dose of the potion. "I haven't slept in my own room since before Christmas," he grinned at his godfather.

"James!" Hermione reached across Sirius to hit her boyfriend. "We are not going to be discussing our sex life in public," she scolded him. "Drink this and stop talking," she glared at Sirius, giving him a potion. "Honestly, is that all you boys thing about?" she frowned.

Sirius relaxed immediately after drinking the potion, the pain in his head disappearing. "Yes, yes it is," he smirked at Hermione. "So…how was it?" Sirius winked at James.

"Padfoot," James glared at him.

"Yes, witches here are dying to know about his wand skill," Luna added dreamily.

"Luna!" Hermione shrieked at her friend.


"Hey there Moony, looking a bit rough there," Sirius greeted his friend at a side entrance to the school later in the morning. Sirius held back the laughter as he took in his friend's haggard appearance. "Now what was so important that you and young Nymphadora decided to stay out there all night instead of coming back with the rest of us? You had us worried sick," he overacted the part of a worried parent.

"Why?" Lupin frowned, shaking his head at his friend as Nymphadora pushed him aside so she could come through the door.

"What? I can't be concerned for my cousin, little Nym here?" Sirius laughed, grabbing the confused woman in a hug. "There could have been a big bad wolf out there, she could have been in danger," Sirius continued overacting.

"Dear god," Remus shook his head, leading Tonks with him past Sirius. "Just keep walking, when he gets in a mood like this, you need to just ignore him," he explained as he pulled her along.

"Oh come on Moony, be a sport," Sirius begged following behind them. "I made a list, granted all the jokes aren't fit for polite conversation, but still, I have some good ones," Sirius complained as he followed closely behind the couple.


"I need to speak with Luna Lovegood," Frank glared at the painting in front of the Ravenclaw common room, about ready to draw his knife on the stubborn painting.

"And I cannot allow you into the common room, unless you give the password," the painting replied before it swung open from behind.

"Hello there," the girl in questioned smiled at him. "Can we go for a walk?" she hummed happily, skipping down the hall, not waiting for an answer. "There, we should be alone here," she smiled as she led him into an unused classroom. She walked over to the window of the classroom, smiling up at the stars and the night sky, as Frank closed the door behind them.

"I had a Colonel, back when I was in the military," Frank joined her at the window, looking out at the calm night. "He was a bit of an ass to us, always talking down to us, doing everything in his power to make us hate him," Frank continued. "The point was, he could be a fun guy when times called for it," Frank smiled. "Before every big mission, he's commandeer us the mess hall and some booze, giving us one more night of fun before all hell breaks loose, as he put it," Frank glanced at her.

Luna hummed to herself looking out the window at the stars. "Smart man, your Colonel," she nodded after a while. "Do you know what the hardest part of seeing what I see is Mr. Castle?" Luna asked, resting her head on the cool glass. "Seeing everything, all the time, I… I can't stop half of what I see, all I can do is help pick the right path and hope everything works out for the best," she wiped some tears from her eyes.

"That bad?" Frank frowned wrapping his arm around the girl as she cried. "What can I do to make it go better, to help James?" he asked her.

"You'll know when the time comes," she hugged him tightly.

A/N: Once again, a short one, I planned on making this one all action, but got off track. Action next time, I swear.