Are You Sure It's Love?
Chapter 4
"Hey, Remus," James said, practically falling out of the fireplace.
"Hi James," Remus said, barely glancing up from his book. Neither said anything for a while. "Fine, if I have to ask," Remus said, almost throwing his book down. "What is it like living with Snape?"
"Well, it's not as bad as you'd think," James smiled. "It's actually, and don't tell anyone I said this, I do have a reputation to protect, kinda fun."
Remus looked like he was about to faint. "Did you just say it was fun living with Snape?"
"Alright, not fun, but tolerable. At the moment, we're on the same side of most of the arguments. And I think he really tries to please his mum, which keeps him on better behavior. Add that to the fact that I've gotten in trouble already for not being nice and my dad and I hardly ever fight, yeah, we're going to work harder to keep things friendlier," James explained.
"Uh-huh, sure," Remus said.
"Oh, and by the way, I have been told not to camp or hike any time after nightfall. I have also been told not to go outdoors. Apparently, it's the full moon and werewolves are lurking behind every tree," James said, laughing.
"Oh ha ha," Remus said, going back to his book. "Very funny. I'm sure Snape just loved it when he heard you were coming over here."
"Ah yes, damn hard to convince him to let me come over. You see, he's very concerned. Especially since he didn't know until he walked in on my conversation with Dad and Paula. Most upset I didn't consult him first. You know how little you can do if you don't have the approval of the person who is going to be your step-brother," James said, grinning.
"Okay, okay, I get the point," Remus muttered. "Have you talked to Sirius?"
James sighed, and shook his head. "Not since school let out. I'm really worried. We saw his father in Diagon Alley earlier today, and he basically said he was going to hurt Sirius as much as he could." James sighed again.
They wasted the time until the full moon up in Remus's room, talking about this and that, although mainly how much James didn't want his dad to get married.
"We've got to go," Remus said about an hour before nightfall. "I can feel the pull already." Both ran downstairs to the shed Remus used to transform. They passed Mr. and Mrs. Lupin in the living room. They already knew that James, Sirius, and Peter had become anamagi. They were very glad that their son had such loyal friends, even if one had… But they didn't like to think about that.
The next day, James went home. He hadn't had any sleep in over 24 hours, and he was dead on his feet. He didn't even have enough energy to drag himself up to his room, he just passed out on the couch in the living room.
"Long night last night?" Jonathan asked his son, having heard him come home. James only mumbled something unintelligent. "You know, the typical, normal person sleeps when they sleep over at a friend's house."
"No, your thinking of the atypical, abnormal people," James smirked into the cushion his face was currently buried in. "Now please, no talking. Too tired."
"Alright," Jonathan laughed, leaving the room.
No one disturbed James until dinner, when they decided that maybe he should eat something, but then he could go back to bed. He did drag himself into the dining room, and managed to stay upright the entire time, but he was glad it wasn't like school, where there would have been a quiz on what all was said.
"James, are you listening?" Jonathan asked, amused, about halfway through dinner.
"Yeah, sure Dad, I completely agree," James answered vaguely.
"What exactly did you do last night?" Jonathan asked.
"Well, it sure wasn't sleep," James joked. Jonathan didn't look amused. "May I be excused?" James asked, not wanting to answer any questions.
"Not yet, we still have a few things to discuss, and it will go faster if you listen this time," Jonathan said.
"Fine, talk," James said, leaning back in his chair.
"Well, tomorrow, we finish the final wedding preparations, and then the wedding will be in two days," Paula started. Severus nodded as if he knew this, so James decided to keep his mouth shut, figuring that he would just get into more trouble for admitting that he hadn't been paying attention for what appeared to be quite some time. "Will you both be helping us?" She glanced at James and Severus, who both nodded, although somewhat reluctantly. "Alright, now that's settled, James, you may go to bed."
"Thanks," James said. He waited until he was out of the room to roll his eyes.
The next day passed in a blur. James didn't know that there were so many things that could be put off until the last minute. James decided that if he ever got married, he was going to elope.
When James woke up the morning of the wedding, he immediately knew he didn't want to get up. He dreaded the rest of the day. It was one of those days that might not be terrible, but that you really didn't want to experience.
"James?" he heard his dad call through the door. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah," James sighed. He climbed out of bed, and went downstairs to breakfast.
When he got down there, he noticed that Jonathan was the only one there. When he asked about this, Jonathan replied, "Paula and Severus already went to the church. She said that she had some last minute things to check, and he said he'd go with her. You really need to finish and get dressed. We have to leave in an hour at the latest." James nodded, shoveling food in his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in at least a week. He then ran upstairs, and put on the new robes, grumbling to himself the entire time.
"I'm ready," he said, coming down the stairs with about thirty minutes left to spare. They rushed out the door.
The rest of the day passed in a blur for James. It was a day when you could remember random muments, but not the entire thing. Before he really knew what was happening, he and Severus had went home, and Jonathan and Paula were apparating to the Leaky Cauldron for the first night of their honeymoon, before continuing on the next day. If James had understood correctly, which he was betting he hadn't, they planned on randomly picking places on a map, and then apparating to that spot. They were going to do that for at least a month.
The next morning, James was surprised to see that Severus wasn't up yet. He had been up first everyday since summer vacation had begun. James wasn't too concerned, until it got to be about 2 in the afternoon. He decided to go check on him.
"Severus?" he called, knocking on the door. Eventually, the door was pulled open, and a very sleepy-looking Severus was standing in the doorway.
"Did you need something?" he asked.
"Just wondered why you hadn't gotten up. You've gotten up earlier than me every morning up until now, and were still asleep at 2," James explained.
"Well, I was up very late last night making a potion," Severus answered, although James noticed that he wasn't really looking him in the eye.
"Alright, whatever, I'm going back downstairs. Natty made an amazing lunch. I think there is still some left if you decide you want some," James said, referring to the house elf.
They fell into an easy pattern over the next couple of days. At earliest, they would get up at noon, and wouldn't go to bed until at least midnight. All that changed one night, about four days after Paula and Jonathan had left.
Severus and James were sitting in the living room, watching a muggle movie that they had found on TV. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it," James said, getting up from where he was curled up on the couch. Severus merely nodded, being so engrossed with his book that he had barely noticed.
James glanced out the window to see who was at the door, even though he figured it was probably useless. If someone had really wanted to get in, there wasn't much to stop them. He couldn't really see the person. It was really dark, and the front porch was shadowy. He pulled open the door.
"Oh my God," he gasped, catching sight of his best friend.
"Sorry…no where else to go…probably hate me…I'll just leave," Sirius muttered, somewhat incoherently. He was covered in blood, and his arm was hanging at an odd angle.
"Don't be ridiculous, get in here," James said, helping him in the door. Sirius could barely walk anymore, having come the entire way from London. It was longer than James had ever realized, especially since the only time he really saw any of the distance was from the comfort of a car. Sirius made it into the hall, and then collapsed against James, unconscious.
At this point, Severus came out of the living room, wondering just what was going on to keep James so long. He gasped at the sight.
"Can you get Natty for me?" James asked, heading for the stairs. "Tell her to come to my bedroom."
"And why are you asking for a house elf instead of a MediWitch, or taking him to St. Mungo's?" Severus asked, even though he was already heading for the kitchen.
"Because, if we take him to St. Mungo's, then they'll ask a bunch of questions, and tell his parents. The only Mediwitch that I know that would normally come over probably wouldn't," James said, halfway up the stairs.
"And just who is that?"
"Mrs. Lupin. Although she would probably come if Remus asked her to. That might be something to think about tomorrow. Right now, however, Natty will do just fine."
Severus disappeared, in search of the house elf, while James continued to half carry, half tug the unconscious Sirius up the stairs to his room. He laid him on his bed, and waited impatiently for Natty.