Dedicated to Moony, on her day of birth. May you live to see the ripe old age of one hundred, and may I be there with you.
Sirius Black sat down heavily in the battered old armchair, flinging his legs over the left armrest. He used the right as a pillow and slung his right arm up and over the back of the chair. His left hand grazed the shaggy carpet below.
James Potter, meanwhile, stood about twenty feet away. In one hand were two darts,
while the third dart hung limply in his other hand, dangling by his side. He lifted it, taking
aim, and threw it at the board on the wall nearest the chair where Sirius sat.
Sirius let his head hang upside-down over the side of the chair. His deep gray eyes flew from James to the board. "Ooh, nice try, Jamsie-boy," he smirked as the dart made contact with its goal, "but I don't quite think that a one and a twenty are equal. Better luck next time, mate."
James groaned. "Yeah, I'm glad you told me. I get those two numbers confused all the time. It's a good thing I have someone here to straighten it out for me."
"No problem," Sirius simpered.
Rolling his eyes, James threw the last two darts, both just narrowly missing the twenty.
All the while, on the other side of the gigantic room, Peter Pettigrew Dan Remus Lupin sat playing the Muggle game Scrabble. Sirius and James looked over to them as Remus cried out: "Take that off! I wanted to make liver!"
"No," Peter said simply, his face cool and collected.
"Come on, liver's a cooler word than eel! Please, come on!" Sirius tried to suppress laughter, but failed.
James looked from the two on the floor to his half upside-down best mate. His mind
wandered, collecting random thoughts that had not graced his mind in what seemed like
ages. It seemed, to him at least. that he was dusting off layer upon layer of dust,
uncovering memories that he never knew he had: memories of past train rides to
Hogwarts; of days spent in the Common Room planning mayhem and mischief; of
evenings spent at either Remus's house, or Peter's house, or James's house, but never at
Sirius's (in fact, James wasn't sure if either of the remaining Marauder's had ever even
seen his house); of moments just like this, where he appeared to dreaming, head stuck in
the gutter. In truth, he was trying to preserve each moment spent with his closest friends.
After all, once their final year of school ended, James wasn't even sure if he would see
these three again. He wasn't about to tell them of his fears, sure that he would poked fun
of, but he was sure, when the time was right, he would reveal his concerns, and seek the
comfort they were always there to give.
"Yes!" Remus whooped, jerking James from his silent reverie. He looked over to where the game was still going on, then glanced at the smiling face of Sirius.
"What the . . . ?" James nodded his head in the direction of Remus and Peter, hoping for an explanation.
"Pete let Remmy have his spot on the board, but decided to keep his original points on the
word, or at least, I think that's what happened. I don't really get these Muggle games, but,
well, you know."
Remus got to his knees and began punching at the air. He pointed his finger at Peter enthusiastically, nearly hitting him in the face. "I told you liver was a better word then eel was!" Peter continually smiled nonchalantly and pointed down at the board. Remus jerked his head down to see what Peter was pointing at. "No fair! You can't get thirty-nine points from the word beaver!"
Laughter once more swelled from Sirius, but this time, spread to Peter and James. Remus however, scowled, and settled back into his seat on the floor.
This, James reminisced, is what life should be about. Spending time with those you care most about, no matter how queer, or demented even, they are.
A/N: Dedicated to my sisters, who inspired the Scrabble game, and to Amber, who kindly gave me the demented line. Happy birthday, Moony. May your years be filled with the dementedness of friendship.