James: 24 March, 1972
"You really don't want to move there," Sirius told Peter. They were enjoying a few homework-free moments. In the morning, they would all be leaving Hogwarts for their Easter holiday.
Peter chewed on his lip a moment, staring at the chess board. His eyes swept back and forth across the board for long moments before asking, "Why not?"
Sirius leaned forward and moved his queen forward to take Peter's knight. "That's why."
"Dammit!" Peter exclaimed. "I didn't see that."
Sirius leaned forward again and moved his queen back, tossing Peter the knight. "No worries, mate. We'll call it a do-over." Peter reached up to pluck the knight out of the air the way Sirius would have done if their roles were reversed. He missed it by a full six inches. James reached out from his perch on the arm of the sofa and snagged it, handing it back to Peter.
Peter smiled. "Thanks, James." He put the knight back where it had been before he moved it into the path of Sirius' murderous queen.
"So, why did you move there?" James asked.
"Well, I was thinking I could take his castle next move."
"You can take his castle now with your bishop," James explained.
"But then I'll take his bishop with my knight," Sirius pointed out.
Peter sighed. "I really don't think I have a good mind for chess."
"We can play something else if you like," Sirius said carelessly.
"You do realize you can get check right now if you move your queen right there?" Remus interrupted.
Peter's entire face lit up as he smiled and moved his queen.
"No fair. I'm playing him not you," Sirius protested, a teasing smile on his face. "I wouldn't have gone nearly so easy on him if I'd known you were going to tell him what to do." He moved his king to safety and looked at Peter expectantly. Peter turned to look just as expectantly at Remus.
"Don't you dare!" Sirius warned.
Remus gave Peter a small smile. "You heard the man. I'm not allowed to help you anymore."
"Bother," Peter grumbled. He moved his queen forward to check the king once more.
"You don't want to do that," James told him.
"Why not?"
"His castle." James pointed to the offending piece.
"Would you two stop helping him!" Sirius exclaimed.
"No," James said casually. "It's a compulsion. I have to help the underdog."
"Seems to me it's three on one," Sirius said. "That makes me the underdog."
James laughed. "Well, considering you can whip all our arses at this game, I beg to differ."
"Oi!" Remus protested. "He's only managed to beat me twice."
"Move your knight there and you'll have checkmate," James told Peter
"Checkmate!" Peter called triumphantly, following James' instructions.
"Nice one," Sirius said with a smile. James thought it was awfully big of him not to mention that Remus and James had actually won the game.
"I'm going to bed," Remus announced suddenly. The others found they were eager to go to bed as well. They'd been up nearly the whole night the night before trying to figure out if putting Snivelly's hand in warm water would really make him wet the bed. They discovered it would not and had decided to fill his bed with frogs as a consolation prize, but frogs had turned out to be remarkably difficult to come by in Winter, and so they had settled for flooding the common room again, transfiguring a statue of King Arthur sitting on his throne to King Arthur sitting on a toilet to make it look as though he had been the one to flood the common room.
After breakfast the next morning, they all clambered into a compartment in the train, ready to make the most of their final hours before two whole weeks apart. Well, Peter and Remus would be apart. Sirius was coming to Potter Manor, something James was endlessly excited about. Sirius was as well. He had confided to James the day before that, even though he was a little disappointed not to be traveling with his family, he was really glad to be going home with James. He even said he wished he could spend all summer with the Potters. James told him he could if he wanted to, but Sirius shook his head sadly. "I miss my family," he confided in a whisper. "I haven't seen them since September. That's a long time."
James could understand that. He missed his family, too, and he'd only just seen them a few weeks before when they came to Hogwarts to fetch him and his friends and bring them to Potter Manor for the weekend to celebrate James' birthday. It had been a wonderful weekend and, best of all, it had all revolved around James. James best enjoyed things that revolved around him.
As the train approached the station, the Marauders began to look around their compartment, amazed at how thorough a mess they had managed to make of it in a few short hours.
"Ow! Come on, you stupid cat, you have to go in!" James said, trying to push Griselda back into her carrier while avoiding her claws. His arms were already sporting several scratches.
"You shouldn't have let her out in the first place," Peter said.
"Thank you!" James snapped. "That's very helpful! The moment I get a time-turner, I'll be sure to go back and tell myself not to let her out. Come on, Griselda! We're almost there."
Sirius reached over and removed her paws from the side of the carrier where she had put them and helped James stuff her in. He shut the door quickly. Griselda turned in the carrier and began to meow pitifully, reaching her paw through the wires of the door.
"I'm sorry, kitty," James told her. "But it's only for a little while." Her piteous cries did not cease. James looked at his friends. "Do you think if I let her out, she'd behave at the station?"
"No," Sirius said authoritatively.
"But I hate to hear her cry." He turned to her and stuck a finger in the carrier, scratching her head. "Poor kitty," he cooed. "You don't think she'll hold a grudge, do you?"
"She'll forget all about it the second you get her home," Remus offered encouragingly.
"Cats have a brain the size of a walnut," Peter added.
"You have a brain the size of a walnut!" James retorted.
"No," Peter corrected casually. "I have a brain the size of a grapefruit. So have you."
"How do you know that?" Sirius asked.
"It's simple," Peter explained. "Look at James' head and figure up how small something would have to be to fit in there. After that, it's simple comparison."
"Are you saying my brain is small?" James asked defensively.
"No," Peter replied, exasperated. "It's the size of a grapefruit. Everyone's is."
"I don't think I'll ever look at a grapefruit the same way again," Remus said mournfully.
Sirius laughed. "I don't think I will, either. Luckily, I never liked them."
"I did," Remus said sadly.
"Is it odd that I really want some grapefruit now?" James asked.
The others heartily agreed that it was just as the train pulled into King's Cross Station.
The Marauders piled off the train, excited for their holiday.
"Dad!" James called the moment he caught sight of his father. The man was standing next to Remus' parents. The three of them were scanning the platform looking for their children. The moment Harry caught sight of James, he smiled broadly, walking forward to embrace his son. "Where's Mum?" James asked.
"She's at home cooking every dish you've ever liked. Hello, Sirius."
"Hello, sir," Sirius said, holding out a hand politely. "Thank you for letting me spend the holiday with you."
"It's our pleasure," Harry assured him, shaking his hand cordially. "You're welcome any time. Are you ready?"
James looked around and noticed that Remus was being smothered by his mother's affections. Then he searched for Peter and found him still standing by the door of the train, searching the crowd for his parents.
"We should make sure Peter finds his dad," James said. "Hey! Peter!"
Peter looked up and trotted over to where the others stood. "I don't think my dad's here yet," he reported.
"Well, we'll wait with you," Mr. Potter said amicably. "Shall we go and have a seat?"
An hour later, the four of them were the only ones left on the platform. The Lupins had waited with them a long while; but ten minutes before, they'd had to leave. They had family coming and had to go meet their train. They were apologetic about leaving, but James' dad had told them not to worry about it, that he was just fine waiting with Peter.
"My dad forgot me," Peter finally said dully. James thought he was handling it rather well. Were he in Peter's shoes, he would probably be furious with his parents for forgetting him.
"Where do you live?" Harry asked. "I'll take you home."
"I live in Cornwall," Peter groused.
Harry stood resolutely. James and Sirius followed. Peter did not. "Let's go, then."
"You don't have to take me," Peter said glumly. "I'll catch the Knight Bus."
"You will do no such thing," Harry said decisively.
Peter looked up at him. "I don't want you to take me," he said. "I'll go by myself."
James was sure his father was going to argue. He wasn't the sort of man to put a twelve-year-old on the Knight Bus with nothing but a rucksack full of clothes. But the problem was resolved by the timely arrival of a harried-looking woman. "Peter!" she called, arriving on the platform and looking around frantically. Her expression soothed when she saw him. She ran to him. "Oh, thank goodness, Peter. I'm so sorry." She sat next to him on the bench and hugged him. He did not hug her back.
"Where's Dad?" Peter asked, a hard edge in his voice.
The woman sighed. "He's at home with your mother. He wanted to come. He really did."
"He forgot about me, didn't he?" Peter accused.
The woman looked around at Harry, James, and Sirius. "Let's talk about it later," she said, standing to greet James' dad. "I'm Miriam Pettigrew, Peter's aunt."
"No!" Peter protested. "I want to talk about it now! He forgot me, didn't he?"
James' father cleared his throat. "It's really time we were going. It was lovely to meet you, Miss Pettigrew. Come along, gentlemen. Goodbye, Peter."
Peter didn't say goodbye. He was busy glaring at his aunt. James could hear Peter and his aunt arguing as they crossed the barrier. James hardly wanted to think of what his father would do to him if he ever spoke to one of his aunts the way Peter was speaking to Miss Pettigrew. Harry was a stickler for respect and good manners.
By the time they arrived at Potter Manor, Griselda seemed to have given up all hope of every getting out of the carrier. When they opened the door, she looked around tentatively and ducked back inside, protesting loudly at the change in scenery. Gwendolyn was waiting for them the second they stepped out of the floo. After fifteen minutes, James' dad had sent her a patronus, informing her that they would be late so she wouldn't worry.
She attacked James the second he was through the floo and kissed him. "Mum!" he protested, thinking of Sirius standing there watching. He was twelve now, after all. That was far too old for a chap to be smothered in his mother's kisses. Gwendolyn ignored him. Harry laughed. James glared in mock annoyance. He didn't really mind his mother's kisses. If Sirius weren't there, he'd have kissed her back, but he didn't want Sirius to think he was a baby.
When she had finished with James, Gwendolyn moved on to Sirius, hugging him tightly and kissing him as well. Unlike James, he offered no protests. Indeed, he seemed to soak up the affection. Sometime over the Christmas holiday, the two of them had become friends. James wasn't exactly sure when it had happened, but he was glad it had. He was glad Sirius had someone to hug and kiss him. If what he said about his family was true, his own mother never did.
James still wasn't quite sure what to make of Sirius' stories. He wanted to believe his friend; he certainly didn't want to believe his best mate would ever lie to him, but he found it difficult to believe that any parents could ever be so cruel to their own child. Still he had seen the letters. He had even seen the scars on his back the day they went swimming in the forest. At the time, he reckoned Sirius must have just fallen or something. But then when he heard that his father had done it, James almost couldn't bear the thought of someone hurting Sirius. He still sometimes wondered if he ought to tell his parents, but he had promised, and James Potter was not a promise breaker. So he kept his silence.
"Dinner's on the table," Gwendolyn reported. James and Sirius didn't need to be told twice. They both dropped their bags where they stood and raced to the dining room.
"Hungry, I take it?" Harry teased as he and Gwendolyn entered the dining room. James nodded emphatically, looking longingly at the feast spread before them. He was so hungry he could have even eaten liverwurst. It seemed he was always hungry these days. He'd go to dinner and eat enough for three people: eat until he was so stuffed he was afraid his friends were going to have to roll him to the common room, but then fifteen minutes later he'd be famished again, as though he hadn't eaten a bite in days.
James piled the food high on his plate and tucked in as though he hadn't had his fill of sweets on the train. Beside him, Sirius tucked in as well. They ate quickly, eager to get outside to play a little quidditch. Not being allowed to fly at school was brutal, and thus far Remus had managed to talk them out of it every time they decided to forget about the rules and do it anyway. It was probably a good thing, though James hated to admit it. Without Remus' clear head, James hated to think of how many hours they'd have spent in detention, or in McGonagall's office getting shouting at.
As soon as their bellies were so full that James wasn't sure he'd be able to get his broomstick off the ground, they ran out the door, not able to wait a second longer before they got into the air.
A week and a half later, James and Sirius stared dejectedly out the window at the pouring rain.
"I'm so bored!" Sirius complained.
"Me, too," James agreed. "I'm too bored to even think of anything to do."
"Is it always this boring at your house?"
James shook his head. It never had been before. Maybe knowing that their holiday was ending and their homework was still hanging over them was part of it. The never-ending rain had probably had something to do with it as well. They'd played more games of chess and gobstones and exploding snap than James even cared to remember. Once or twice they had managed to sneak out to play quidditch in the rain before Gwendolyn came out and told them they'd catch their death flying in the stuff.
"Want to go to Remus' house?" James asked. "Maybe something exciting is happening there."
"I don't think that's a good idea, mate," Sirius said. "Your parents will go mental."
James sighed. "They're a little overprotective."
"I'd noticed," Sirius replied sarcastically. "But at least you know they love you."
James sighed again. "Sometimes I wish they'd love me a little less."
"You don't really mean that."
"No, I don't. I hate that."
"Besides, we don't know where Remus lives."
"He lives in Tinworth. It's not that far. We can be there and back before my mum ever notices we're gone."
Sirius curled his lip as he thought. "Well, I am bored," he allowed.
James grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the broom cupboard where he took out his own broom and his father's. They decided to sneak down the street and take off from there so Gwendolyn wouldn't see.
"But we still don't know where Remus' house is," Sirius suddenly remembered as they tiptoed to the front door. That roadblock only slowed James for a moment.
"We'll use Athena."
"Athena?"
"Our owl. She knows the way to Remus'. She took him his presents at Christmas. She can lead us there."
Sirius smiled wide, congratulating James on his great idea, and they went to rescue Athena.
The rain was colder than James expected it to be, slashing down on them from the heavens. It was a warm day for early April, but still James was shivering within twenty minutes of going outside. It didn't take him long at all to decide this adventure had been a mistake. Part of him wanted to turn around and go back, but he didn't want Sirius to think he was chickening out. He turned to look at Sirius flying along behind him.
"You cold?"
Sirius was shivering, but still he shook his head and shouted, "No, you?"
James was shivering as well. "No," he shouted back, his voice almost lost in the howling wind.
Athena led them to a small brick house on the outskirts of Tinworth. They landed deftly in the back yard, and James started toward the house. Sirius grabbed him. "Wait. We can't just go knock on the door. What if his parents answer? We should go to his window."
James wiped the rain out of his eyes, thankful that his glasses kept out the worst of it. "Which window do you reckon is his?"
"Athena, which window belongs to Remus?"
The owl blinked as if in annoyance and flew toward a window. A moment later, Remus opened it to let her in. Sirius and James mounted their broomsticks and kicked off from the muddy ground. A few minutes later, they were shivering and dripping on Remus carpet as he scolded.
"What were you thinking about coming here? You could have been hurt! You're going to be in so much trouble."
"Dry up, Remus," James ordered. "We wanted to see you. We missed you. Didn't you miss us?"
"Of course I missed you, but I wouldn't have flown to your house. What's going to happen to you when your parents realize you're missing?"
"My parents won't realize I'm missing," Sirius said with a mischievous grin.
"Okay, James' parents then," Remus allowed.
Sirius shrugged. "What can they do to me?"
"Adults can always figure something out," Remus snapped. "They're experts at that sort of thing."
"Do you ever think it's a conspiracy?" Sirius asked suddenly. "That all the adults are out to get all the kids and they sit around having secret meetings about it after we've gone to bed?"
James laughed.
Then Sirius laughed.
Then Remus laughed.
Before they knew it, they were all three rolling around on the ground laughing at nothing in particular until they couldn't breathe . James loved that they did that so often. If only Peter were here too, it would have been perfect.
"You really should go," Remus said when he had caught his breath. "My mum's out shopping, but she could be back any minute."
"We can't fly back in that," Sirius said indignantly, motioning toward the window, where the rain had picked up. "Can't we play a game or something? Just until we catch our breath?"
Remus reluctantly agreed, but one game turned into two, which turned into five. James found that playing chess at Remus' house was much more fun than playing it at Potter Manor. He also found he didn't want to go back out in the rain. "You reckon we should get Peter over here?" James asked suddenly, tossing a piece of bread into his mouth. Remus had brought them sandwiches for lunch when they started getting hungry.
"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "We should go get him."
"How are we going to get there?" James asked. "I'm not going back out in the rain."
"Use the floo," Remus said quickly, before clamping both hands over his mouth as though hoping to pull the words back in. "Forget I said that, you have to go home."
"It's boring at home," James said with a shrug. "Come on, Remus. Show us where the floo is. Think how glad Peter will be to see us."
Remus thought about it for a moment, but James already knew he'd be going. "We're going to get into trouble," Remus said with a little pout.
"If we do, we'll tell everyone we dragged you along," Sirius offered.
Remus chewed on his lip for a moment. "I really hate getting in trouble."
"You won't get into trouble," James assured him. "Because we're not going to get caught."
Sirius nodded his agreement.
"All right, but we can't stay long. Come on." Remus led them through the house and to the parlor.
"I like your house, Remus," James said, looking around approvingly. "It's very cozy."
"We used to have a bigger one," Remus said reluctantly. "Before I got sick."
James looked at Sirius. He thought it was high time they asked Remus what was wrong with him. He worried sometimes that whatever it was, it was contagious, and the Marauders should be careful around him. He worried more that whatever it was, it was serious, and Remus was going to waste away. Sirius shook his head sharply, the message clear. Sirius was of the opinion that Remus would tell them about his mystery illness when he wanted to and that it was no one's business until then.
James clamped his mouth shut just as Remus threw some floo powder into the fireplace.
"We don't know Peter's address," Sirius said suddenly.
"Oh, that's a pity. I suppose you'll just have to go home then," Remus said. He didn't look like he thought it was a pity.
"We can't take the floo home," James declared. "We'd be caught for sure."
"I'm tired of flying," Sirius said. If he were anyone else, he'd have been whinging, but Sirius was not the sort of person who whinged. He was the sort of person who registered complaints.
James thought about that for a moment. "Peter said he lives in Cornwall. Maybe it's not raining there."
"I really think you should go home," Remus asserted.
"Come with us to Cornwall," James begged. "Please. We'll follow Athena again. We'll see Peter. Then we'll all come straight back. No one will ever know."
Remus shook his head. "No way."
"But you're smarter than us. What if we get lost or hurt? Do you really want that on your conscience?" Sirius asked.
"Remus, we need you," James said, doing his best impersonation of Sirius' puppy dog eyes.
"You two are going to get me killed one of these days," Remus said with a sigh. A few minutes later he was in a traveling cloak and had gloves and a broomstick.
"Traveling cloak! Why didn't we think of that, Sirius?"
"Because we're stupid, stupid men, which is why we need Remus so badly."
"I might have an extra," Remus offered. "And one of you can borrow my dad's."
The trip to Cornwall was much longer than the trip to Tinworth had been, but the traveling cloaks and gloves made a big difference. This trip wasn't nearly so miserable. Indeed, James found he liked flying in the rain. It made sense; he'd always enjoyed playing in the rain provided it wasn't too cold. He'd never once met a mud puddle he couldn't conquer. His mother sometimes complained that she couldn't understand how it was even physically possible for a child to get as dirty as James did.
This time they had Athena fly straight to Peter's window, and so they were able to fly straight to it as well. Sirius tapped on the window. Peter's face appeared, his eyes wide. He opened the window. "What are you doing here?" he hissed.
"We came to say hello," Sirius explained.
"Well, you have to leave," Peter said quickly. He closed the window. Sirius and James shared a look of purest confusion with one another.
"Why isn't he happy to see us?" James asked. He couldn't imagine anyone not being happy to see him, except perhaps Snape. But that was only because Snape was a git.
Sirius tapped on the window again.
"I told you, you have to go. I'll see you Sunday. Good bye."
"Wait just a minute," Sirius said indignantly. "We just flew all the way here from Godric's Hollow. The least you could do is offer us some tea or let us come in to dry off or something."
Just then a woman appeared behind Peter. James recognized her after a moment as Peter's aunt.
She screamed and dropped the clothes she was carrying. "What in the world?" she asked.
"We came by to say hello," Sirius explained.
Miss Pettigrew approached the window and opened it wide, letting the boys come inside. "You're soaked," she observed. "Let me get you a towel."
"No need," James assured her. As one, the three wet Marauders did the complicated wand trick Harry had taught them last term and began drying their own robes.
"That's not easy magic," Miss Pettigrew said approvingly.
Another woman appeared suddenly at the door. This woman had short wispy hair that looked as though it hadn't been brushed in ages. Her face was deeply lined, and James could see why. She was furrowing her brow so deeply that James was surprised her grapefruit-sized brain wasn't leaking out her ears.
"Damn it all," Miss Pettigrew sighed. She went to the woman's side. "Come on, Delilah. Let's get you in bed."
The woman pointed at the Marauders and whispered, "vampires," before beginning to scream.
"Peter's mother's having a bad day," Miss Pettigrew said apologetically as she ushered the screaming woman out of the room, assuring her that the Marauders were not vampires and would not be killing Peter. Judging from Peter's mother's screams, she didn't believe it.
"Merlin's beard, Peter," Sirius exclaimed.
"That's your mother?" James asked.
"I think we should go," Remus said suddenly. He grabbed his broomstick and put on his cloak.
"Why was your mother screaming like that?" James asked.
"Get out," Peter said softly.
"Why? Peter?" Sirius asked, his confusion showing in his face. "We don't care."
"I said get out!" Peter screamed. It happened so abruptly that James jumped. Peter had never screamed at them before. Next thing James knew, he, Sirius, and Remus being pushed out the door and down the hall. They were all so surprised they didn't even fight back. James opened the front door to keep from being slammed into it.
"Peter, we just wanted to-" Sirius tried to explain, but Peter cut him off.
"You shouldn't have come here. Just leave! And never come back here! You hear me? Never come back here!"
He gave them all a final push out the door and off the front porch. They landed in a muddy heap. James was thankful for the rain for the first time because it meant at least their landing was soft. Peter slammed the front door.
"Merlin's beard," Sirius whispered, clambering to get off James and Remus. James had found himself at the bottom of the heap.
"Remus, did you know his mum was like that?" James asked as they stood forlornly on Peter's lawn.
Remus gave a small, terse nod. "I knew. He said she's been like that since he was five."
"Since he was five?" James repeated. He could hardly imagine such a thing.
"His aunt takes care of him mostly, and his dad takes care of his mum."
"Poor Peter," Sirius moaned. James couldn't help but agree.
"We should go," Remus said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.
"Do you think he'll forgive us?" James asked. He hated the thought of his little friend being cross with him for long.
"I think he will," Sirius said. "I mean, we didn't mean anything by it. How were we supposed to know?"
James had no answer for that, so he mounted his broom and, with a heavy heart, began the trip back to Tinworth to take Remus home.