"I am exhausted!" James flopped down on his bed. It was 2 in the morning and they just came back from Slughorn's party. He felt the comfort of his bed surrounding him and he closed his eyes. "I don't think I can move anymore." He heard his friends walk around in the room. Peter was humming along with some music that he heard at the party. "Why are you so cheery?" Sirius asked Peter. James couldn't bother opening his eyes, so he just kept them closed while he listened to their conversation. "I enjoyed myself. I didn't think I would, since I was so nervous." Sirius must have looked at him with a confused look. "You know I didn't get an invitation and that Slughorn doesn't like me. So why would he be happy that I showed up along with you guys?" Sirius shrugged his shoulders. "I wonder if he even noticed you, to be honest. And even if he did, he was probably just happy to have another waiter to give his guests food." Peter nodded along, agreeing with his friend. "Yeah true. Plus he was so buzzed at one point, that I guess if he would even had noticed if someone would have crashed his party." Sirius chuckled. "That is something that I will never forget. A slightly drunk Slughorn, stumbling around the room." Sirius closed his eyes satisfied, remembering that specific picture.
James knew his friends kept talking about that night, but he slowly drifted away. The warmth and comfort of his sheets made it impossible to stay awake since he was so very, very tired. The last few nights he didn't sleep that well, unfortunately. He kept waking up because of his dreams, but he could never remember them. James just hoped that there would be one night soon that he would have a dreamless sleep. Quidditch practice was starting soon and feeling exhausted, unable to concentrate wouldn't really improve his skills.
He felt someone tugging at his arm, slowly waking him up. Was this one of these weird dreams again? James groaned. "Go away!" He said while try to turn around, getting away from that grip. "No, wake up James. Come on." James slowly opened his eyes. He looked to the side of his bed and saw Remus standing there. James felt so irritated. "Why did you wake me? I was sleeping." Remus looked down on him. "Because you fell asleep on your bed with your clothes still on. If I didn't wake you up right now, you would probably wake up in a few hours, cold and feeling worse. Just get up, change into your pajama's and lie under the covers." James rolled his eyes, but knew deep down that Remus was right. "Fine." He got up and changed. "I will shower and brush my teeth in the morning." Remus, who just returned to his own bed, chuckled. "As long as you don't talk to me before you brush your teeth mate. You didn't go easy on those Dragon Tarts tonight. It was just as disgusting you watch you devour them as to eat them." James crept under the covers while smiling broadly and playfully said: "What? Don't attack me for liking Dragon Tarts. Did you even try them at least?" Remus snorted. "As a matter of fact I did once. Just taste just as disgusting as they look. Plus, how could someone even eat them normally? They are just a little to big to fit at all of it in your mouth, but if you bite it everything falls off and it all crumbles in your hand. Impossible!" James heard Sirius and Peter chuckling. He knew that his friends were feeling partly disgusted and partly impressed when they found out he liked Dragon Tarts.
"You like those things?" Sirius said in their first year after an evening of getting to know each other better. Sirius just told them the most disgusting thing he had ever eaten, which was Maggoty Haggis. James just confessed that he secretly enjoyed eating Dragon Tarts once in a while and his three friends looked at him with disgust. "Hey, don't judge. You just said you ate maggots, mate." Sirius put up his hands in defense. "That was for a dare! Somebody gave me 50 Galleons to do it. 50 Galleons, mate! I would even eat ear-wax from a troll for that." James stomach turned upside down even thinking about the substance that would come out of the ear of a troll. "You disgust me, Black. You would sell out for money?" Sirius laughed at that statement. "For money? You honestly think I do that shit for money? Nah! I just do it for the hell of it, the thrill. Shocking people is awesome. I didn't even tell you the best part about eating that. He vomited! Regulus vomited when I swallowed it! I would have done it for free, just for fun. But now I made 50 Galleons with it." Remus was frowning so hard at his friends right now, Peter looked slightly nauseous and James looked at his friend in awe.
Sirius didn't care about what other people thought of him and James was impressed by that. Sirius wasn't impressed by anyone else either, not even by the teachers at Hogwarts. He wasn't paying attention in class, did the bare minimum for his homework and still he received good grades. Sirius was smart. Not only in class, but also outside. He loved defying the rules. Nobody could tell him what to do. If somebody did, the chance was even bigger that Sirius would just do it for showing them they couldn't tell him a single thing. He was a little more compliant with teachers sometimes, but only because he knew he would probably need them one day with regards to his grades. But other than that he will just do his own thing at his own terms. James liked that about his friend and was learning great things from him. Sometimes he had the feeling that the expectations that society had from you were unable to live upon. Required to go to school and find an enjoyable job in the Wizarding community one day. But the one thing that was the most unbearable sometimes is being unable to do magic outside of Hogwarts before you're seventeen. Especially when he finally got his wand. So in order to ease the pain, or at least that is the excuse that James told himself, he just defied the rules once in a while. Roaming the castle in the dark, finding out about the shortcuts and the secret passages behind statues and paintings were the highlights of these trips.
Remus is not like that all. Sometimes James felt a bit of guilt that whenever Remus joined them on their nightly escapades. He knew Remus wouldn't really do something he didn't want to. But sometimes James had the feeling Remus just joined them to make especially James and Sirius stop nagging. Remus loved rules and structure. And the lack of respect for authority that Sirius had, Remus definitely made up for. Whatever a teacher would tell them to do, Remus would do it without questions asked. Of course there would be a limit of his willingness at point, but James is convinced that Remus would go quite far without asking questions or disobeying if somebody with a higher rank asked that of him. But this never scared James truly that much. Because he knows his friend and Remus would never, ever hurt anybody if somebody with more power asked that of him. And that is exactly the point where he wasn't so sure about with Peter.
Peter is a great guy and a loyal friend, but James knew that his first instinct is going with the strongest ones of the group. Sometimes James was thinking about what would have happened if all of them would have been sorted into a different house. Remus would also fit perfectly in Ravenclaw with his grades and brains. Sirius would have fitted into Hufflepuff as well, just as James, based on their loyalty towards their friends. But sometimes James wasn't so sure of Peter. His instinct is protecting himself by seeking cover behind or with a larger, stronger group. If Peter was sorted into Slytherin and not into Gryffindor, he would definitely hang out with those gits like Snivellus, Avery and Rosier. But the thing about Peter was that once he found that kind of safety, his loyalty would never waiver. James was sure of that. Peter was just insecure about his own abilities and needed to surround him with people that could and would save him. And the only way those people would save him, is when they would be friends. James felt convinced in the fact that all of his three best friends were loyal and supportive. They would always stick up for each other and have each others back. Why else would they all end up in Gryffindor? House of the braves, courageous and determination. The best house in Hogwarts if you would ask James. Traitors and self-centered people ended up in Slytherin.
XXX
The upcoming months kind of flew by James. Quidditch practice was even harder than it already was. Their upcoming and final match is against Ravenclaw and Alistair came down on the team harder than he had ever done in this year. "Come one, Potter!" He yelled at James at point during their most recent practice. "You know you can do this maneuver in your sleep. Where is your head at? Do it again!" James groaned, but he steered his broom back around. He knew Alistair was right. James was able to do this maneuver. So why couldn't he pull it off right now? "How big is the stick up his butt, right?" Minnie said while she appeared right next to James. "I get it that he wants to win, it is his last year. But still.." James laughed. "I get it to be honest. My head is all over the place at the moment. I need to get my shit together." He smiled at Minnie and took off, giving this maneuver another shot.
The rest of the practice went very well. James was able to gather his thoughts and keep his head in the game. He was happy with the result, just like the rest of the team. Even Alistair climbed off his broom with a small smile playing around his lips. "Okay, this was a good one. We have two practices left before the game, which will be next Saturday. We can do this, okay? If we win, we win the Quidditch cup! I know Hufflepuff still has a game against Slytherin after that, but that won't matter anymore. We will be too far ahead of Slytherin to come for us then." Alistair's voice got louder and he was now radiating with power and leadership. "I know you guys will me make proud. Don't let the fact that this is my last chance to win the cup at all distract you or put pressure on your shoulders. Just practice like tonight until game, give it your 110 during the game and I know for a fact that we will win!" Everybody on the team was now roaring and stamping. "Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" Alistair was a great team captain. He knew the game and the tactics. But even better than that was the fact that he knew how to train a team, he knew enough to make sure they won the last two games.
James quickly changed into his regular clothes in the changing room. He had to return quickly to the common room, since he was going on another nightly adventure with Sirius. Sirius would be waiting for him with the cloak ready. This time they were trying to get outside and to see if they could find something amazing at the grounds. The plan was that James would return as quick as possible, before anyone from his team. He knew that Alistair was usually the last one to leave the changing room, due to the fact that he double checked every single thing. That meant that Pringle would be waiting for Alistair to tell them that he is the last one back before he would lock the doors. James and Sirius couldn't risk opening the doors themselves or finding another exit that would lead them to the grounds. So they had to use this opportunity to quickly leave the castle before Alistair came back.
"Why in such a rush, Potter?" Minnie said while James was putting on his last shoe. "Is your boyfriend waiting for your goodnight kiss?" She teased. James ignored her, but couldn't help to smile. He knew that there were rumours in the other houses that James and Sirius were an item. James also knew that the source of the gossip were the Slytherins. The first time it had reached the four friends they were working together on a plant during Herbology. The four of them were stunned when a Hufflepuff asked how long Sirius and James were already together, since she thought it was so romantic how Sirius kept swapping roots that were trying to strangle around James his arms. First they didn't fully comprehend the question. But after a few questions it became clear that people were really thinking that James and Sirius were in a relationship together. Sirius was so shocked that he forgot to keep the roots away and James arm was being pulled back, making sure that he couldn't touch the core. Peter and Remus quickly overcame their shock and couldn't stop laughing. They laughed so hard that they distracted everybody and after five times of asking, Mrs. Sprout had no other choice than to deduct 10 points from Gryffindor and give them detention for one evening.
"But every now and then James and Sirius just played along with the rumours and even fuel them. Especially when the Slytherins were around. They knew that the Slytherins had started those rumours in the hope of rattling and irritating James and Sirius. But they weren't bothered at all. They both knew they liked girls, but just to mess with the Slytherins they would stare in each others eyes a few second longer than needed. And every single face they saw made it absolutely worth it. It was clear to Minnie now that James wasn't bothered at all. "You know that I don't have a problem with that, right?" James looked up while he grabbed his broom. "I know! And neither do I!" He added with a cheeky grin. He swung his broom over his shoulder, left the changing room and walked in a fast pace towards 'his boyfriend'.