Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, events and/or places that are recognized as being written and created by J.K. Rowling. J.K. Rowling owns all the characters and places from the Harry Potter books including the ones used in this story.
A/N: Hello lovely people! Took a little longer with this chapter, sorry. Anyways, as usual I want to give the biggest Thank You imaginable to everyone who read, especially: zippyfox,elsie777, Captain Oz (you updated! I hate Stromboli! Grrr...lol), K McNeely, kathaania, Siriusly Black Hearted, Kurai Shinigami, actually omnicient, mercutio-rane, Cassandra, patrioticangel, SlashyKitty, TE-Bag, Tanya J Potter, starcat13, Callista Wolfwood, Marauders Chick (Someone, I read on their post, got reprimanded by the website for posting individualized thank yous. But here I am giving you one...lol. I'm glad you find my story believable and thanks, (seriously) for watching my tenses:D ), mabeuf, and, HealerAriel.
I feel bad not giving everyone a personal thank you! So, just for the record: I appreciate all your reviews! And thank you soo much for thinking this story is half way decent, and a good laugh...because I do, lol! Enjoy-Nikki
James watched the rays of the morning sun dance across the walls of the compartment he was sitting in on the Hogwarts Express. The transparent, glinting rays stung the small, gold key Sirius was holding up and separated into a million, fine lines, coating the room in bright sunlight.
Sirius sat in front of James. He stared wistfully, frowning at the key grasped between his fingers. He turned it back and forth. It was the key to his apartment. He was giving it one last showcase before he would retire it to his trouser pockets, where it would remain for the next four months. It was a sad event.
James squirmed in his seat. The compartment was empty besides him and Sirius. The train was empty besides him and Sirius. James wanted to get there early, but he never planned on having Sirius with him. Sirius Black, notorious for Getting There At The Last Possible Second, agreed to come early with him. What kind of twisted game is Fate playing?
"Well," Sirius sighed, patting his now key occupied pocket. "This could possibly be the most boring moment of my existence, thus far." Sirius grinned, and bowed at James. "Congrats, Mr. Prongs."
James shifted in his seat again. This was an awkward moment. Normally conversation was abundant whenever he was in the presence of his best friend. Its not like this moment was really any different; it was just that James couldn't decided on what topic to start with.
James could discuss that fact that he was still in absolute, mind freezing shock that he, no longer than a week ago, was owled an official Hogwarts envelope containing his official Hogwarts Head Boy Badge. Him! Head Boy! He never imagined it. He thought it would go to Remus; Remus was a prefect, James wasn't! James wanted to tell Sirius all about his shock, all about his nerves, all about his excitement, but Sirius would hear nothing of it. Because inevitably that conversation led to Lily; she was made Head Girl. Oh, the possibilities…
He could talk about…all the other owls Lily sent him after the day she left Sirius's apartment. But, of course that conversation was entirely about Lily, and Sirius would probably lunge at James's throat mid sentence to make him stop.
Then there was the talk that James should be having with Sirius. This one was also about Lily. However, in this conversation, James was being strangled for a whole other reason.
It's been a month since that fateful night where James decided to let Lily believe what she wanted about Sirius and Remus, and to let Sirius and Remus believe that Lily knew the truth. James had been sick over this for the past weeks. He can't lie to his best friend. He definitely shouldn't be lying to his future girlfriend (fingers crossed). If he told them now though, either Lily or Sirius would stop talking to him and he couldn't have that. James ran his fingers through his hair and quickly convinced himself that no one will ever figure out the truth.
Sirius gave up on talking to James, and was staring out the window. James came out of his revere just in time to catch Sirius's face light up like a Christmas tree. Sirius pushed the window of the compartment open. "Moonykins," he screamed. "Moooonnnnyyyyy!" Sirius looked at James. "Aren't werewolves supposed to have super hearing or something?"
"Did you just call him Moonykins?" James rubbed his temple. Of course if the whole school began to think that Sirius and Remus were dating, then it's out of his hands.
Sirius started wolf whistling. "Ah, thought that get your attention," he laughed. "We're in here." Sirius slammed the window shut and sank back into his seat. "I told Moony to come early too."
"Why?" James asked, a little to fast.
Sirius looked at him like he'd never seen someone who wore glasses before. Luckily, James was spared any comments from Sirius, as Remus quietly appeared at the door of their compartment. "Hey there," Sirius greeted Remus. He stood up and helped Remus put his trunk up over the seats.
"Hi, Prongs," Remus said. Remus and Sirius sat down on the bench opposite James. Sirius looked at Remus and started bopping happily, expecting entertainment. Remus was too focused on James's chest to pay any attention to his bored friend. "Well," Remus said, his eyes dragging up to James's face. "Why aren't you wearing it?"
James swallowed. He knew this was going to be a rough subject. "Padfoot told you-" Sirius grinned at him. "-obviously." Remus nodded. "Sorry, mate. I was going to owl you."
Remus shrugged. "Why aren't you wearing it?" he repeated.
"Oh," James started. "I didn't want to seem too eager."
Sirius leaned over to Remus. "He slept with it under his pillow-"
"Sirius!" James threw a book at Sirius's big head, but he missed. "You're the worst secret keeper."
"Evans is Head Girl," Sirius said to Remus. "Welcome to Hell."
"Not for me," Remus laughed back at Sirius. "I'm not the one that's going to be yelled at by his best friend every day for causing trouble."
Sirius furrowed his eyebrows. "If I'm going to Hell, Moony, you're coming with me!"
"That's not fair!"
"You're right," Sirius said. "They probably don't have a library and I'll never hear the end of it." Remus laughed, throwing his head back, making Sirius giggle with delight that he finally, that morning, had someone normal to converse with.
James was too busy trying to shake off that wave of sickness that again came over him, when Remus said that James would have to be the one to scold Sirius for being out of bed at night and causing all kinds of havoc. He could just see that look of smug defiance on Sirius's face; the look that he and Sirius threw at Head Boys of yore. Maybe it wasn't too late to give Remus the badge after all.
"Are you all right, Prongs?" Remus questioned, peering at James through his honey brown fringe. "You look green."
"I'm fine," James squeaked. He shook his head and repeated his statement again in a normal voice. "Fine."
The three boys sat in an ear-ringing silence. James looking like he was being led to the torture chambers. Remus looking mad because if he got the Head Boy Badge, then he would be the happiest person on Earth. Sirius looking bored out of his mind.
Sirius sighed loudly, and dramatically. He slumped against Remus and looked up at him with wide, liquid eyes. "Moony? My love?" he whispered.
"Yes," Remus whispered, back.
James's ears perked up immediately. He quickly grabbed a book from his bag, and pretended to read it. He really wasn't sure if he wanted to see where this was going. Lily's a smart girl, James thought. Would she really be wrong about something? Probably not.
"You know I love you right?" Sirius asked Remus.
Remus nodded his head and stared down at Sirius. James gulped.
"Then…" Sirius snuggled his shoulders against Remus's chest and grabbed Remus's hands.
Oh, Gods! Not here, James's inner voice panicked.
"Will you massage my head?"
"No!" Remus laughed and pushed Sirius off of him. "You're insane."
"Please," Sirius begged through his laughter. He grabbed Remus's hands again. "But, you have piano player's fingers! And my head hurts."
James put his book down, and smiled. Lily's so dumb, James thought. He threw his hands on his head. Oh, I hope she didn't hear that. I bet she could read minds, she's so smart!
"Sirius," Remus said, ripping his hand out of Sirius's grasp. Remus started laughing. Three months ago, after he read The Note, behavior like this made Remus uncomfortable and nervous; but he's decided that having Sirius's friendship was better than worrying about what Lily Evans thought. Plus, James assured him that he set Lily straight, so that helped him relax too. "Sirius, I don't care how good of friends we are. I am not giving you a head massage." Sirius frowned. "Why don't you ask Margaret?"
Sirius rolled his eyes, but smirked. James looked from Sirius to Remus. "Who's Margaret?"
Sirius and Remus adopted identical looks, staring wide eyed at James. "Who's Margaret?" Sirius repeated. James nodded. Was he missing something? "I told you," Sirius said.
"Told me…?" James's eyebrows knotted at the middle. "You didn't tell me anything."
"In the letter I sent you."
"All you said in that letter was that Moony was coming back to visit, and that you learned how to make falafels. And that a bird pooped on your bike."
Sirius stared unblinking at James. "I can't believe I didn't tell you."
"You tell me everything." James's voice was low, hurt.
"I didn't do it on purpose."
"Wow, Pads," Remus spoke up. "Good thing I met her, or we'd all be thinking that you made her up." Remus laughed.
"To prove Evans wrong," Sirius laughed back.
James could feel steam rising out of his ears. He hadn't even done any thing Head Boy related yet, and all ready Remus was replacing him. "Who is Margaret?" he shouted over Sirius's and Remus's laughter.
"Oh sorry, Prongs," Sirius said, turning back to face James. "She's the granddaughter of the man who owns the bakery below my apartment? We made out a couple of times."
"She smelled like sugar cookies."
Sirius smiled. "Moony liked her."
"No, I didn't," Remus blushed.
"Anyways," Sirius continued, looking back at James, but elbowing Remus in the arm. "She was nice. We snogged a lot. I didn't really like her, though. She went back to Leeds, and that was that."
"Oh," James said, through his seething anger. How could Sirius forget to mention that he had a quasi-girlfriend for a while? "So, Evans is wrong," James added, more to himself. Perhaps he shouldn't have said that out loud, then
"What?" Remus asked, burning holes into James.
James mentally smacked himself. "Nothing."
"What do you mean, Evans is wrong, then?" Sirius asked. "I thought we settled this!"
"Hello!" James's restatement that the Lily situation was all settled, (liar, liar), was gladly interrupted by Peter who came bustling into the compartment, making all kinds of noise. Peter threw his trunk up above the seats, and plopped down merrily next to James. Peter had a bright smile on his face, but as he glanced from friend to friend, the light in his eyes slowly dimmed. "Is everything…alright?" he asked, knowing full well that it wasn't.
"Yeah, yeah," Sirius dismissed. He sat back, pulling Remus with him. The two shared a quick look. James kept his eyes on Peter.
"Oh, good," Peter said. "Because I have something to tell you guys, that I didn't want to say in a letter." Peter was more than really curious about what just happened or almost happened before he came in, but he needed to talk and he was rarely given the chance too.
Remus sat up, and turned attentive eyes to Peter. "Are you dying?"
"No," Peter chuckled. "No. I failed Transfiguration."
"What?" Sirius laughed. He stopped abruptly when he noticed that Peter wasn't. "You're serious?"
Peter nodded. "I found out when I got my list."
"Wormtail," James began, his voice spiked with hidden laughter. "We, you included, have conquered one of the toughest Transfiguration spells in the book! Becoming animagi! How can you not be superior at the subject?" James bit down the want to add 'like me' to that question.
Peter shrugged. "You know how nervous I get on exams."
"So," Remus spoke up. "What are you going to do? Isn't Transfiguration one of the N.E.W.T.s you're taking?"
"I've been assigned a tutor," Peter sighed.
"Ooh," Sirius teased. "Extra lessons with McGonagall?"
"No." Peter and James looked at each other, and then burst out laughing.
"I'm not sure why you find that appealing, Padfoot?" James laughed.
"I have my reasons."
"Anyways," Peter continued. "It's some Slytherin. Our year." He noticed the look of horror on all three faces. "Not Snape." There was a collective sigh of relief.
James turned and stared at Peter. His eyes were sharp. It made Peter feel uncomfortable, he wanted to squirm and hide. "Almost all of the Slytherins are tied somehow into that new gang…the one with that Voldemort man." James clapped Peter on the shoulder. "Just be careful, alright?"
Peter nodded. Though he didn't know what all the fuss was about. He didn't like being saddled with a Slytherin anymore than them. If it wasn't for his Mother's pestering, he would have just dropped the subject all together. But, she gave him some speech about making her proud, and doing something with his life, so he felt obliged.
There was nothing to say now, it seemed. All four boys took turns staring at each other. They felt different this year; like lines were drawn between them all. Sirius instinctively shifted closer to Remus. At least he wasn't going off to get tutored, or to be Head Boy.
Sirius was just getting into scowling at the floor, when the reason for his misery stuck her stupid red head into their compartment.
"Hi," Lily said, cheerfully.
"Hello, Miss Head Girl," James replied with an air of teasing. Lily smiled and stepped into the compartment. Her shiny badge was attached to her lapel, where it would remain for the rest of the year; never once seeing the inside of a pocket or the top of a dresser. Sirius was meaning to start a bet with Peter and Remus on how fast it would take James to lose his badge. He was thinking a week, maybe two.
"Hi, Remus," Lily said. Remus nodded and tried to ignore Lily's look of resentment. "I'm sorry…for assuming that you'd get the…I hope I didn't get your hopes up."
"Don't worry about it, Lily," Remus responded, smiling.
"She should major in ruining people's lives, aye?" Sirius whispered into Remus's ear. Remus pursed his lips and nodded. They both missed the fact that Lily was staring at them.
"Why don't you sit down, Lily?" James shoved Peter over, so that there was now an empty seat next to him for Lily to sit.
"We only have a few minutes, James," Lily said, sitting down gracefully. James couldn't stop himself from staring with lust at the way she tucked her skirt under as she sat down, crossing her legs at the ankles, like a lady would. "Before we'll be needed to make sure everyone is on the train and not running around like maniacs." As she said the last part, Lily threw a venomous glare at Sirius. Sirius winked back and threw his hands behind his head.
"Don't worry about Padfoot," Remus said, turning to look at Sirius. "I'll watch him."
"Oh you will?" Sirius leered. Remus waggled his finger in front of Sirius's face. Sirius opened his mouth and pretended to bite Remus's finger off.
Peter leaned over next to James and pulled at his arm. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. They both were staring at their two giggling friends who were in their own little, strange world. "Make them stop," Peter hissed at James.
Lily on the other side was laughing at Sirius and Remus. James couldn't help but notice that she looked oddly…was it jealous? James glared at Sirius and his long, silky black hair that hung like a rebel over his sparkling eyes. All the more reason to make Lily think he's gay, James thought.
"Padfoot," Peter shouted suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"Oh, um." Peter's head whipped around the room, trying to find some sort of conversation starter. Then he looked out the window. "Hey, isn't that your Mum? With Regulus?"
Sirius lunged for the window. Sure enough standing with all the aristocracy and importance that he was supposed to stand with, was his family. Sirius slammed back in his seat and refused to look at the window. "Thanks for ruining my day, Wormtail."
"I'm sorry," Peter squeaked.
"Talking about that gang," James said, peering out the window at the pair. They looked so much like the boy he grew up with, but different at the same time. "Isn't little Regulus..."
"James," Remus warned. Lily jumped, surprised to not hear Remus using that nickname, surprised to hear this conversation coming from them.
"It's alright, Moony," Sirius said, patting Remus's leg. "What Regulus does is none of my concern."
"Moony," Lily called. Remus snapped his attention to her on instinct of hearing his name. The other three turned slowly to her, adopting looks of bewildering amusement. Lily giggled. "Sorry," she said. "Just trying it out." All four boys laughed. Sirius would normally be angry at someone boldly calling one of them by their nicknames, but it sounded too ridiculous coming from Lily not to laugh. "Oh! I've almost forgot." Lily reached into her bag and pulled out a large book. "I thought you might want to read this, Remus." Lily held out the book for Remus. James tried to desperately catch the title. His stomach became one big knot and he thought about warning Peter to pick his feet up or else he'd be standing in puke.
"The Many Moons of The Universe," Remus read. James exhaled so roughly that Peter quirked his eyebrows at him. James just smiled back. He was in the clear. It's not like Lily would give Remus a book about Romancing You Best Friend, anyways.
"I know that these boys call you Moony, so…well, I assumed it was because you must love the moon, or astronomy. I know you take that class, too."
"Thanks," Remus said. He tried to smile at Lily, but couldn't.
"Moony hates the moon," Sirius spoke up, glaring at Lily.
"Oh?" Lily shrank back a little under Sirius's glare. Boys are the most confusing creatures, and soon someone needed to devote a science to figuring them out.
"I don't hate the moon, Padfoot!" Remus thought for a moment. "I'm not fond of it."
"O…k…" Lily sat back. Her eyes suddenly became two slits of green and she looked like some medieval snake woman. "I will find out the meaning behinds those nicknames," she said. They probably have something do with pranking and that just wouldn't fly under her Head Girl-ship.
Peter laughed. "Good luck," he said. James turned to him, only to give him a secret smile of agreement.
"Moony, might not love the moon," Sirius said, taking the book from Remus. "But, he loves stars." Remus laughed and locked eyes with an equally laughing Sirius.
"What does that mean?" James asked; once again he felt pushed away from his best friend.
"Nothing," Sirius said. "Just a joke."
"Why do you two have secret jokes all of a sudden?" He couldn't hold back his annoyance any longer. It was usually the three of them that shared secret jokes, (usually about Peter, but that's a different story), and now because he's Head Boy he's being left out of everything?
"Oh, James," Lily said. She grabbed James's hand suddenly and all of his thoughts melted into 'Oh…My…Merlin…Lily…Is…Holding…My…Hand' "Of course they're going to have secrets with each other." Lily looked at Sirius and Remus, who were once again burning holes into James with their eyes. Lily had that look of jealousy again, and she squeezed James's hand, unintentionally. "They're a couple…woops!" Lily threw her other hand over her mouth. "I forgot; I'm not supposed to talk about that." Lily smiled sweetly at James, and James was happy that at least he would be able to gaze upon Lily's beautiful face one last time before his body was ripped to shreds by two enraged mutts.
All of a sudden a fierce light penetrated the compartment, and James's savior in the form of the woman who drove the Candy Trolley entered. "Miss Evans, Mr. Potter," she called. James jumped to his feet. At this point she could be telling him that he was being summoned to perform the Head Boy's usual duty of licking the driver's toes clean; anything to get him out of that compartment, fast. "If you'd follow me, I will take you out to the platform and explain to you your responsibilities for the train ride to Hogwarts." The Candy Trolley woman shot a confused look past James's shoulders, and he could only imagine what was going on behind him. He was sure that some sort of weapon was being sharpened.
"See you at school," Lily called to the boys, as she followed the woman.
James turned around. Peter was holding his hands over his mouth, trying to stop himself from laughing. Remus was holding his hands over Sirius's mouth and Sirius's body trying to stop Sirius from charging at James. James looked at Remus.
"Oh, yes," Remus said, in a very professor like tone. "We will be discussing this when you return."