Standing There By You

Ch. 25- Quarrelsome Comrades

Disclaimer: Let it be known... I hereby declare that by legal binding matters, any recognizable material belongs to the infamous J.K.Rowling.

a.k.a- it's not mine.

A/N: Hello! I have some sad news. I am going away. For three days. Where there will be no computers. You know what that means, don't you? Yes, yes it means I shall not be up to my usual speedy updating standards. Please forgive me ; p

The second SBFC has been sent out! If I forgot anyone I'm immensely sorry, please let me know immediately if I did so.

Ah... but, the big question.

Is Sirius being the prat?

Is James being the prat?

Well that, my friends, you will find out very soon. Enjoy!

"I don't know what's the matter with him," James said, as he and Remus walked down the corridor, "I mean, it was only a game of chess."

Remus shrugged. "Maybe he really wanted to win."

James shook his head. "Ah well," he said, as they stepped inside the Great Hall. "There's the bloke over there, c'mon, let's go see if he's regained his sanity."

"'Ello mate," James said, sitting in the seat beside Sirius. "Gotten over the game, yet?"

Next to him Sirius scooted over a bit, in the opposite direction of James.

"Hello," James said, waving a hand in front of Sirius. "Earth to-"

"Remus could you please inform him that I am not speaking to him," Sirius said, blatantly ignoring James's greeting.

"What?" James asked. "What do you mean you're not speak-"

"Do you hear something Peter?" said Sirius. "Because I sure don't!"

"You don't?" Peter said, looking between James and Sirius. "Oh, well James just said-"

Sirius looked up and gave him a pointed look, and after about five seconds Peter caught on.

James stared at his best friend for a couple of moments before grabbing his fork and jabbing it into his meat. "Fine," he said heatedly, "Peter can you please ask Sirius to pass the pepper?"

"Sure, erm.. Sirius, will you please pass the pepper?"

"There's no more pepper left," Sirius said, not looking up from his plate.

"Yes there is," said Peter, "it's right next-"

"Oh fine," Sirius said, picking up the pepper and shoving it across the table.

"Thank you," James mumbled.

"Can you please tell James that he is not welcome."

Beside him James scowled and the next several minutes passed in thick silence as the four boys preoccupied themselves with their own dinners.

Finally, Sirius interrupted it by glancing over at Remus. "Remus, could you tell-"

"No," Remus said firmly, holding his hands up. "I'm not coming between you two."

"Fine," Sirius huffed. "Peter, can you please tell James to pass the sauce?"

Peter turned to James. "James, can you please pass-"

"Nope," James said, "sorry, I ate the last of it."

"But-"

Before Peter could protest, James dumped the entire bowl of the remaining sauce onto his plate. "See," he said, "no sauce."

Sirius scowled. "Peter, can you please tell James that he is a selfish prat."

"James, you are a selfish pr-"

"Peter, tell Sirius he's an immature moron," James shot back.

"Sirius, you are an immatu-"

Sirius stood up angrily. "Tell him he's an awful ninny!"

Peter whimpered slightly before turning to James. "You're an aw-"

James followed suit, throwing down his napkin and standing up beside him. "Tell him he's a clumsy dolt that doesn't even know how to play Quidditch and needs to stop being so immature because he's acting like a complete imbecile!"

"He's a um..clumsy... er.." Peter looked incredibly flustered. "Um.. could you repeat that?"

"Yes, well tell him that this clumsy dolt doesn't need friends that are such selfish prats!" Sirius stormed.

"This clumsy dolt doesn't need-"

"Fine!" James shouted back. "Well, this selfish prat doesn't want to be friends with a clumsy dolt anyway!"

Hogwarts was in shambles.

With the inseparable pair now well... separable, they had endured two full days without a trace of a prank. It was a very rare situation indeed.

"They're both stupid," Lily said, as the Gryffindors sat in Transfiguration. "I mean, look at them."

James and Sirius, who had always sat side by side in every class, now sat with Remus and Peter in-between them, both crossing their arms stubbornly and facing opposite directions.

"I suppose it's a good thing," Lily continued. "At least we don't have to witness those horrid pranks anymore."

"I don't know," said Grace. "I found them sort of amusing."

Lily shrugged, gathering her stuff as Professor McGonagall dismissed the class.

"Hey, do you guys want to take our lunch outside?" Julie asked, peering out the tall windows at the brightly lit grounds.

Her friends agreed and after a quick stop in the Hall, they arrived outside carrying light lunches.

"Where do you want to sit?" Lily asked, her eyes searching the grounds for a vacant spot.

"There's a spot by the lake," Grace said, and the girls headed off to sit by the cool water. Reaching the bank, they took off their socks and shoes and dangled their feet in the lake.

"You know, I think... ugh!"

Lily stopped mid-sentence, making a disgusted face.

"What?" Grace and Julie asked together.

"This," Lily said, pulling her foot out of the water. A bluish green sort of goopy substance dripped off her ankle and toes.

"Ew," her friends said, scrambling to pick their feet up out of the water. Julie made a face. "What is that?"

"Well, it's blue," Lily said, backing up from the substance. "It's some sort of foreign object," pulling out her wand, she continued, "and it's gradually making its way toward the school. I'm just going to take a wild guess and say it's a challenge."

As if in response to her comment, Sirius bounded up to the girls. "My watchful eyes come in quite handy," Sirius declared, "eh Lilykins?"

"Right," she said, turning back to the challenge. "Okay, this is actually quite simple, I think-"

"Never fear," Sirius said, taking a step in front of her. "I will handle this!"

"No, Sirius, no," Lily said, attempting to push him aside. "You see, all we have to-"

"Trust me, I can deal with the terrors this creature brings," he said, valiantly taking another step toward it and brandishing his wand.

"Sirius,"

Ignoring Lily's protests Sirius raised his wand and shouted, "Cornucopia!"

The blob acted at first as if it was about to dissolve, causing Sirius to grin in achievement.

A split-second later, however, it decided to burst, sending remnants soaring across the bank and all over Sirius.

The boy froze, his hair lathered and entire body covered in the poignant goop. A few seconds passed by in which no one uttered a word, until a loud bout of laughter came from somewhere behind him. Spitting out the substance and spinning around, Sirius was met with a highly amused James, who was laughing heartily at his expense.

Sirius didn't say anything, only wiping the gook out of his eyes and grabbing his fallen wand, before stomping off toward the school.

"Oh our points are going to be dreadful," Lily said in a small voice, staring at the splattered substance with a sigh.

By the next day James and Sirius decided if they weren't going to be best friends anymore, there'd be a dire need for a replacement. That is why, on a warm, perfect night for quidditch, James sat in the library with Remus.

Yes, the library.

On a perfect night for quidditch.

James stared wistfully out of the dusty windows, leaning against the wooden table with a sigh. "Remus," he said, sitting up. "What'd you say to a quick game of quidditch?"

Remus peered at James over his book. "Eh, I'm not much for quidditch. Besides, we've got that huge test in Transfiguration tomorrow."

James looked at him incredulously. "But.. so all your going to do is study? That's all you do!" He sighed, laying his head back on the table. "You need a new hobby, mate.."

"Hey, Pete, this is going to be fun, eh?" Sirius said enthusiastically. "We don't need him to keep ourselves amused."

"Right," Peter said, shaking his head excitedly.

"Okay, so what do you want to do, the Filibusters, or Perishables?" Sirius asked, holding out a hand for each decision.

Peter nodded. "Yes, that sounds good."

"What? No, I'm asking your opinion Pete. Which one do you want to do?"

Peter looked confused for a moment, before inclining his head slowly. "Yes.. that sounds-"

"No, I want to know what you want to do," Sirius cut in.

Peter looked flustered. "Um.. well, what er.. what do you want to do then?"

Sirius frowned. "No but.. well, I do favor the Perishables a bit-"

"Perishables it is!" Peter said triumphantly.

Sirius sighed. "Okay, Pete. Well grab some, and let's go."

"Grab some? Oh, oh well I thought, well you know I don't really like the Perishables now that I think about it, I mean we've got to lift-"

"Fine," Sirius said, a bit annoyed. "We'll grab the Filibusters then."

"Oh, well," Peter stuttered, "I really think,"

"Fine," Sirius said, throwing his hands into the air. "Nevermind."

"Well, I'm sorry, I mean, we could if you.."

"Nah, it's alright Pete. Let's just go back to the dormitory. Oh, I've learned some excellent new jokes..."

"Okay, so the string walks up to the bartender," James said excitedly, "and the bartender's like-"

"Wait," Remus interrupted, holding up a hand. "A string is speaking?"

James sighed. "Yes. Okay, so anyway, the string says-"

"I still don't see how the string is speaking. Is he under some sort of enchantment, or something?"

James gave a frustrated sigh. "No, the string... wouldyoujustlistentothejoke!?"

"Alright, so then the bartender says, we don't serve strings here," Sirius said, his grin appearing already. "And so the string goes and sits down with the others-"

Sirius was interrupted as a very loud round of applause and laughter erupted from Peter.

"No Pete," Sirius said sadly. "That wasn't the end of the joke."

"Well that's just awful," Remus said. "Not serving strings? That's pure discrimination. I think he could get him with a lawsuit, or something of the like."

James let out a small whimper. "It's a joke, Remus. Would you just listen?"

"Fine," Remus said, picking up his book again. "But I still think that's highly intolerant..."

Sirius's hand pushed hard against his face as he drooped down onto his bed.

"Peter," he said slowly. "It's still not the end of the joke."

"Oh, sorry." Peter immediately stopped laughing. "Go on."

Without as much enthusiasm he had contained before, Sirius continued. "Okay, so the string goes up to the bartender again, and the guy turns the string down a second time. And so then the string gets an idea- nope, still not the end- so he loops himself into a knot, and roughens the end a bit. So for the third time he goes to order a drink, and the bartender's like, hey aren't you a string?" Here Sirius grinned, as he approached the punch line. "And the strings like, no, I'm a frayed knot!"

Peter looked at him stupidly, his mouth slack and his expression ready for the rest of the joke.

"It's the end of the joke, Pete," Sirius said dryly.

"Oh," Peter said, coming back to life and applauding and cheering loudly. "Yay!"

Sirius sighed. This was not fun.

"...And then the string says, no, I'm a frayed knot!"

After a few moments of silence, Remus looked up from his book. "What? Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, very funny. You see, I got caught up in this incredible article on..."

James slumped in his seat. He couldn't live like this. It just wasn't possible.

"Oh, dinner's already started," Remus said, jumping up from the table. "Ready?"

"Very," James said, his spirits lifting. Food would be a very nice break from this awful day.

As they arrived at the Great Hall, however, someone else arrived at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" Sirius asked hotly.

"Well let's see," James said, in mock concentration. "We've got food, tables, silverware, and it's dinner time. What could we possibly be doing here?"

Sirius ignored him, taking a large stride towards the door. James, unfortunately, stepped at the same time.

"Excuse me," James said angrily, "but I believe I was here first."

"Right," said Sirius, as he stood lodged between the doorframe and James. "And mongooses eat bologna."

James rolled his eyes. "That's the stupidest-"

"You're the stupidest!"

"No, you're the stupidest!"

"No, you-"

"Once you've decided upon who is the... stupidest," Professor Dumbledore's voice boomed from his position at the staff table. "It would be much appreciated if you'd sit down and join us for dinner."

James and Sirius mumbled something incoherent before slumping back toward their seats.

"You're the stupidest," Sirius said quickly, and took a seat at the end of the table before James had a chance to respond.

Scowling, James took his normal seat beside Remus. 'Well, at least dinner will be good,' James thought, sliding onto the bench. 'Nothing can ruin my spirits here.'

Next to him Remus drew out a large book and began skimming though it. "James, I'll quiz you for tomorrow's test, and then we can make a sort of outline, okay?"

Remus looked up from the book. "James? James, why are you banging your head on the table? James?"

That night after the common room had emptied, Sirius sat in his usual red armchair, bouncing up and down a yo yo James had bought him one year for Christmas. It was a muggle toy, but his aunt had found it on her trip to America, or something.

"Oh look, a yo yo's playing with a yo yo."

Sirius looked up and saw James standing by the portrait, a stack of cakes in one hand, and the invisibility cloak in the other.

"Yeah, well at least I'm not a.. a.." Sirius stood stumped, his mind too boggled at the moment to come up with any quirky comebacks.

James grinned. It wasn't a friendly grin either, like they had always shared, but a mocking one.

"Shove off," Sirius said heavily, too disheartened to put any energy into fighting with James.

Behind him he heard James set off towards the staircase. His footsteps paused however, and he called across the room to Sirius. "You know, I can't believe I was ever friends with such a bloody prat."

"And you think I can?"

"Hey, I'm not the numskull here; you're the one that threw our friendship away just because of a stupid game!"

Sirius didn't respond, so he continued on. "I mean, I know you don't like losing, but honestly. A game's a game, and if you're too much of an imbec-"

"I'm sorry!" Sirius exclaimed, finally cracking.

"What?" James asked, taken away by his abrupt apology. He took a step off the stair-case. "Are you-"

James was cut off as Sirius knocked him over with a huge bear hug. "Ugh... Sirius.."

"James!" Sirius wailed in a strangled sort of voice. "I missed you!"

"Er.. it's okay Sirius..." James pat his head wearily. "There, there.."

Sirius pulled away and plopped onto the floor with a gigantic sigh. James followed suit, landing beside him.

"I'm sorry," Sirius said, looking up at James with wide eyes. "It's just... you made me so angry when you were talking about them like that... you've got the best parents in the world, you know? I don't think you realize..."

James looked at him curiously. "What?"

"When you got the letter- and you were just saying- and you're just so lucky you know and-"

"I," James began wearily, "I thought this was about chess."

"No," Sirius shook his head. "No, you were saying how you've got the worst parents in the world and you hate them and how-"

"But," James said weakly, "you called me a cheater, and..."

"Well what was I supposed to call you?" Sirius asked, looking up at him. "A spoiled dickens who must be blind 'cause he can't see what's right in front of him?"

Sirius looked over at James hesitantly, hoping the comment hadn't angered him.

James shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that would've worked."

After a couple moments of silence, James spoke up again. "I was being the idiot, wasn't I."

Sirius gave a slight grin and nodded. "Yes, yes you were."

James laughed too. "Sorry," he said.

"Ah Jamsie," Sirius said, leaning back against the stair. "Let's never ever fight again. I don't think my sanity could take it."

"I know," James said, "I mean, Remus is great and all,"

"As is Peter," Sirius quickly put in. "But..."

The two boys grinned. Sirius stood up, ruffling James's hair roughly in the process. "C'mon mate, I've got to tell you this excellent joke about a string. Ever heard it?"

A/N: Hello! And now to thank my wonderful reviewers...

Oliverwoodschic- Yes James does need to realize that. Quite the dickens, isn't he?

Lanette- Yes he was, you guessed it ; ) Thanks for the review.

Aerandir- James and Dirius? Hahaha. See you in a few, babaloo.

Gaby- Glad you liked the challenge, and very glad you guessed it! I was worried there for awhile. Thanks for the review!

moonylover2000- Was Sirius being the prat?

Misty Cherry- Draco Malfoy? eck. Thanks for the fantastic review, glad you liked it!

Luna Gypsy- LOVE LOVE LOVE your reviews!

Simple Gurl.YEA RIGHT,JERK- He is all that, isn't he? I like cheesecake too.

Hermione1989- Pull a JKR? I think I shall! Hehe, thanks for the review.

MidnightPrincess- Hehe, cute review. Thanks!

Molly- Hello! I'm dreadfully sorry about the fearing charm, I hope it wears off soon. I also suffer LLJD, it can be the most horrid experience too, let me tell you. Ah, and... what the heck are you talking about w/ the chaser being kicked off the team? Do you mean for James? Because he already has a position. Seeker. Remember, in 2nd year? Yes, I know, I know, JKR has publicly announced he was chaser, but somehow that slipped my mind and I followed the dreadful movies instead. Ah well. Thanks for the review!

MilesFromNormal- I don't know.. what is up with Sirius? Mwhaha- oh wait, you just read it. Huh. Oh, I have to apologize, I'm really sorry I haven't checked out your new story yet, things just have been so hectic. I promise I will as soon as I get a chance.

EW4eva- Hehe, I'm glad you enjoyed it ; ) Thanks for the review, and.. of course I'm not going to answer any of your questions!

loadsofwaffle- Glad you liked it! Hurry up and update yours ; p

LeFae- Wow, a lot of people mentioned Lily wasn't in the last chapter.. sorry about that! Ah, so you figured the James/Sirius thing out too, kudos! Thanks for the review ; )

May- Well, he gave them full marks because the concept of the challenge was that there isn't a magic technique for everything, and they did exactly what they were supposed to . Glad you liked it anyway!

Suji- Hello! Glad you liked it, thanks for the review! Ah yes, perfect 'night on the town' attire. A cheer? Awesome! You come up with one, we'll use it.

MauradersMap- Glad you liked it.. ugh, I sent the fan club right before you reviewed me! But you can still be a part, of course.

ImperishableStars- Yay, you're back! Sorry about your computer, must've been tough ; ) Thanks for the review!

Iluvsnuffles- Whoa. AMAZING name : ) Well, the Sirius fanclub is... kinda corny and just for fun. Give me your e-mail address if you'd like to join. Thanks for the review!

Siriuslyfun19212- Thanks for the review! Of course you can join the SBFC.. I sent you it, right? If I didn't let me know.

Jounin-Elite- Hello! Xinran? I am Xinran! No, in all actuality I have no idea who you're talking about. I might know 'em, but I'm mostly on a penname basis here. Thanks for the fabulous reviews! J.K. Rowling? Oh, you make me blush.

Graceful Lily- See, even little reviews that say 'update soon' make me happy. Thanks!

SuperHiperChit- Clearly. Glad you figured it out! (sort-of) Thanks for the review ; )

Romulan Empress- I don't know. James can be stupid. Lol, thanks for the review!!

Ninde Annare- Hola! Thanks for the review, much appreciated ; )