Chapter 118

Flash Flood

James was pretty sure they'd never be invited back. Mr. and Mrs. Lupin would likely never recover from this spring break, they'd sit in St. Mungo's traumatized by what had happened to them and Remus would visit them and apologize at least twenty times each visit.

All James could see was doom in the future for the Lupin family as he stared at the shopping cart full of candy, popsicles, and a general load of unhealthy things.

"You might want to say goodbye to your parents now, Moony," James warned as he picked up a package of Mars Bars.

Remus did a strange moan that also sounded like a hidden giggle.

"How did you convince them to let you pay for it all?" He asked clearly still torn between hysteria and dread.

"Because I'm good. That's how." Sirius boasted peeking out the car window and making the piece of crap car look like a mustang by his mere presence.

"Most of this stuff is yours! You get out here and help us put it in the trunk." James glared at him though he was holding back a smile. The headache from Saturday was still there (though it was only a shadow of its former self) but he chose to ignore it. Smacking Sirius for being lazy was more fun.

"Can't, you lot parked the cart right outside my door," He smirked, as though he thought he could get by with it.

"You climbed in the other side just so you could say that, didn't you." Remus rolled his eyes. He looked well enough, but James could see signs of the approaching full moon. And if James could see it then it must have been obvious to the others. He liked to think he was getting better at noticing the little details that tell you how a person is feeling, but he never saw those details on anyone but Remus and Sirius. And Remus had to be too tired to hide it before he noticed.

It was different with Sirius. Less that he noticed details and more that he just knew. He didn't need to see Sirius eat slowly to know he felt safe, or to notice the way he kept his hands in his pockets when he felt self-conscious. He just knew. He didn't know how he knew, but he did.

Sometimes he wondered if Sirius knew him that way too. But would ultimately decided that Sirius probably didn't. Sirius saw him differently than he saw Sirius.

At least he thought so.

"You boys haven't put that stuff away yet?" Hope said as she and Peter walked out of the store, having taken longer due to a bathroom break.

"Sorry." Remus and James said in unison beginning to unload the cart, Sirius eventually got out and helped though James thought that he was using it as cover to swipe a chocolate bar.

He'd learned something in this little excursion to the muggle grocery store. Well, multiple things really.

One, Sirius had the potential to be an adrenaline junkie. James had to pull him in from his position of halfway out of the window every few minutes and he'd already asked if they could go faster.

Two, James learned that his ability to ride a broom was based solely on the broom's steady ride. Remus said it was more because the car was old, but James spent most of the ride trying to keep from barfing.

One more thing he learned, muggle medicine was surprisingly effective. Remus' dad was very talented with healing magic (a necessary skill when your son is a werewolf,) however he was at work when they returned. Mrs. Lupin's home remedies worked wonders with his upset stomach and by the time she finished making lunch James was just fine eating it. Which was perfect because Mrs. Lupin's cooking put his own mum's magical recipes to shame.

It wasn't as quick and effective as a spell, but maybe it wasn't as surprising that muggles managed to survive without magic.

James was surprised when Sirius volunteered to help clean up but knew that it wasn't as out of character as Remus and Peter seemed to think. Padfoot's rebellious nature tended to mask the neat freak, chivalrous side to him, but it was something his family had instilled too deep for him to realize it was there, let alone to actively remove. It was strange thinking of the Black family as chivalrous, but they really were, he'd even looked up the definition when he and Remus were debating about it once. James' own family even didn't fit the mold quite as well.

Peter, however, wobbled off to nap his full stomach away. Which was probably the least chivalrous thing you could do after dinner, just below leaving the area altogether and stowing away in the bedroom hoping to not get stuck with any of the chores. Which, naturally, is where Remus and James found themselves. Or, at least, James was hoping to not get stuck with any chores. He wasn't exactly sure if that was Remus' intent or not.

Knowing Remus though, it probably was. Remus hated anything to do with cleaning, he was good at it, though, of course. McGonagall was very much aware of Remus' loath for the activity, resulting in Remus always getting a cleaning job for detention. She wasn't spiteful, but she did look like she was getting desperate to find ways to keep them in line.

"Disney movies!" James flopped himself on Remus' bed and sitting cross-legged. He had a smile plastered on his face at the idea. Between Remus' fond memories of watching them as a child that he'd tell them every once in awhile, and the Muggle Studies teacher praising the animation company for their use of imagination when dealing with magic, James really wanted to watch them.

Remus quietly considered it. James knew they were a good bit older than the target audience, but he didn't care. He cheered when Remus shrugged.

"Eh, why not. It's been forever since I've watched Disney," Remus chuckled at James' enthusiasm to watch kid's shows. "I'll call dad and ask him to pick up the ones we don't have at the library on his way home."

"Sweet!" James followed Remus out of the room and Remus pointed at the bookshelf of VHS tapes and told him which ones to look for, his mum reminding him that one called Peter Pan was broken and Sirius asking if that's the one about the mermaid causing both Remus and his mum to laugh. Mrs, Lupin chatted about the one about the mermaid while James searched for the movies Remus had directed him towards and Remus called his dad. Sirius got distracted by the telephone and even asked to use it though he really had nothing to say to the man on the other side, but eventually all their tasks were done and the commandeered the living room, waking Peter up in the process, to watch the movies.

Sirius and James fought over which one they would watch first. James wanted Sleeping Beauty, ("There's a dragon on the front, Padfoot! A dragon!) and Sirius wanted The Sword in the Stone, ("Forget the dragon, this one's about Merlin of all people! Merlin could kill dragons with his pinky!" This James couldn't deny, of course, but he was still adamantly supporting Sleeping Beauty.) They stopped when Remus put in The Jungle Book and they heard his mum giggle from where she'd been hiding in the dining area pretending to be reading. Remus' cheeks went pink, but he didn't say anything, Sirius flat out invited her to join them. She just shook her head and went back to her book.

James' would never be able to describe the memory of that night. He saw moving pictures, that wasn't a big deal every picture they took moved, never in color, but there was movement. As cool as the television was it was his friends that he would have trouble describing when telling his parents about it later. It was watching Sirius tease Remus when the former caught the latter singing along to a few of the songs, it was hearing Peter remind himself that the good guys always won when Shere Khan looked to be getting the upper hand, it was laughing till he cried along with Sirius at one thing and then again with Remus at another, that was what he'd never be able to put into words years later as he tells his wife exactly why he bought every Disney movie, a TV, and VCR player, and why Sirius was trying to figure out a way to make it all work in a house without outlets. It could have been any movie really, but it was the experience he treasured above it all.

James Potter was shallow: appearances mattered more than just about anything, he would judge you on how much money you have until he knew you, and if you weren't in his circle of friends you had a very high chance of being target practice...

But his most prized possession wasn't his overly expensive mahogany wand or even the Map that was the physical representation of his and his friends own brilliance. James' most prized possession was the reason he would later learn to use the Patronus charm as easily as he could breath.

It was also the reason he'd never doubt his friend's loyalty to him and to each other.

Because how could they betray him when the precious experiences they'd shared were so wholly unforgettable?