James walked, unconcerned into the Hall for lunch. He sat down self-assuredly and waited.

… And waited.

… And waited.

He looked at his watch briefly, as inconspicuously as possible. Then he looked left, along the table of students, all in their little groups of friends. He looked along to the right. Frowning slightly, James noticed the spare seat between him and the first groups on either side. He looked to the left again, then down to where his feet where twisting uncomfortably under the table.

He looked at his watch, then huffed, "Okay, he's not coming." James stood up and scouted around the Hall for Remus.

He was sitting next to Peter, with his homework spread out around him. Peter was just staring at the amount with his mouth gaping, "Did you request extra work from one of the Professors, again Remus?" he asked incredulously.

"I was bored." Remus said flatly, refusing to look up, "And close your mouth, Wormtail, you'll catch something."

"Like a cold?" James asked, stepping up beside the table.

Remus sighed resignedly, "I was thinking more along the lines of flies."

"Oh." James ruffled his hair, "Oh. Well, that's just a slightly different kettle, isn't it?"

"Kettle?" Peter looked non-plussed - a rather natural look for his face.

"Of Fish, Wormtail. Fish."

Wormtail's baffled expression wasn't changing, but he was saved from further embarrassment by Sirius, who plonked down on the seat next to Remus, "Urgh!" Sirius complained loudly. All three of the other Marauders looked at him, but didn't ask what was wrong, so Sirius complained again, not even picking up any food.

Eventually, Remus gave in. Putting his quill down, he wearily asked, "What's wrong, Padfoot?"

Sirius made aggrieved eyes at the ceiling, "You don't care!" he accused, pointing at the young prefect, "You don't care about me at all!"

James rolled his eyes, then winked at Remus, "What's the damage?" he asked long-sufferingly.

"Finally," Sirius said, "Someone cares." He stretched out a hand to snag a hot pie from the platters, "I got," he said, pausing for effect, "a detention."

"No surprises there," Remus said aside to James.

"I heard that!" Sirius glared at them both

"Well how many have you had now?" Remus asked, "A hundred?"

"No!" Sirius sounded outraged, "Don't exaggerate," then he grinned, "It's more like a thousand!" then his expression fell, "Besides, this one's different. I'm going to be In the Forbidden Forest! With Filch!"

James was rather taken aback, "So…?"

"Alone!"

"And…?" This was not adding up to James; it was very out of character for his best friend.

Sirius whined, "I'm gonna be sooo bored!"

James's puzzled expression cleared; this was more like the way Sirius usually acted. His problem solved, James clapped Sirius on the shoulder comfortingly, "You'll be right, mate." He said absently, his mind already on Saturday's Quidditch Match.

"That was so horrible!" Sirius said as he sat down next to Remus on the following Saturday morning.

"I thought you said you would be bored?" Remus asked sarcastically

"Yeah, I was! I went into the Forest and I was basically asleep on my feet – you seen it once, seen it a hundred times – I was suppressing yet another yawn when an idea hit me."

"That must have hurt." Remus said dryly.

Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus, who raised an eyebrow and made a rude gesture with his finger.

Sirius grinned, "I taught you that!" he said happily, "Anyway, getting on with the story; My marvellous idea was to follow along with Filch until I could pull some sort of prank on him. But, while waiting for that to happen, I got bored again."

Remus cast his eyes heavenward, "You have the world's worst attention span, Sirius."

"Yeah, that's what James's Mum said." Sirius said, seemingly unconcerned, "Anyway," he continued, and paused, "Oh Damn… I seem to have forgotten… what was I talking about?"

James made a non-committal noise as Remus shrugged, "I really couldn't say."

Peter looked from James to Remus brightly, "I know!" he said, "You were saying how bored you were!"

"Oh Yeah!" Sirius exclaimed, and continued in the rant of how bored he had been and how wonderful his idea was in a monotonous tirade, which James and Remus promptly tuned out of; not in the mood to hear about it.

"… So I stuck him in a hole!" Sirius yelled proudly.

"Wait – what?" James said, tuning in again.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Honestly, James. You say that like you haven't been listening to me."

James and Remus avoided Sirius's eyes, "We always listen to you Sirius." He said unconvincingly.

"Really?" Sirius asked, his vibrant mood gone with a flash of anger, "You do a damn fine job of showing that remarkable trait." He stood up, eyes flashing, "Thanks for listening." He spat, before stalking away.

James opened his mouth to protest, but Remus laid a calm hand on his arm, "Let him cool off a little before you talk to him."

Silence reigned for a couple of minutes, until Remus made a stab at conversation, "What a way to start off the Season, eh?" he asked.

James looked like someone had punched him in the stomach, "Thanks for reminding me, Remus." He said in a pained whisper, pushing his untouched breakfast away.

"Prongs, you need to concentrate on the Match," Remus said sensibly, "Eat something."

James lifted his hand, but let it fall limply again as Sirius's angry face flashed into his mind's eye, "Maybe I should've listened to him."

Remus shrugged; there isn't much he feels he could say to that. The three sat in silence until Peter piped up, "What happened to Filch in the hole?" he asked plaintively.

A/N: Sorry it was such a short Chapter, guys. And it was all blathering on about nothing much, but next is the Match! We'll update soon. Promise!