"Ok, Sirius, this way," James said, studying the map. "Or, wait...this way?"
"Where'd you get that map?" Sirius asked, glancing over James' shoulder.
"Your pocket, you dolt. Why didn't you use it before?" James replied in frustration, turning it upside down to see if he could read it better that way.
"Er, because that's not a map," Sirius said, wincing. "That is a picture of a dragon that Nymphy drew for me."
"Nymphy? Your little cousin?" James asked in astonishment. "Why in the blazes are you carrying it around in your pocket?"
"Why in the blazes are you filching things out of my pockets?" Sirius replied, turning slightly red. "And she's my favorite cousin next to her mother, of course."
"Right," James said distractedly, examining the parchment with new eyes. "So where are going?"
"All right, James, I'll tell you. We are looking for a clearing with a big birch tree in the middle. It should be lit up blueishly."
"Blueishly? Is that even a word?"
"Yes," Sirius said in a superior tone, turning his nose up at James. "It is, actually. It's not my fault you never open a book."
James highly doubted this, and raised an eyebrow at Sirius. The sun had nearly risen already, and there were no more shadows to hide the bewilderment on Sirius' face as they walked. "You don't have a clue where we are, do you?"
Sirius ignored him, staring around with wide eyes. "It should be near, I remember these bushes," he explained, kicking a tall berry bush. A small bowtruckle appeared and attacked Sirius' shoe. "Yeah, I remember you, too, stupid bugger," he muttered, shaking it off and continuing his explanation. "You just have to look right. The stupid sun isn't helping either."
James imitated Sirius and opened his eyes wide, staring around at random. "How about there?" he asked, pointing. It was a clearing. There was a white birch tree in the center and it was all lit by a blue glow.
Sirius stared for a moment. "Damn," he said, "We would've found it ages ago if I'd just told you where to look."
"Yes, I'm brilliant." James scoffed, running a hand through his hair with a grin as he approached the clearing.
"I'm sure," Sirius said dryly, following him. When they reached the border of the clearing, they both shielded their eyes from the direct sunlight and looked around in awe.
"Bloody hell." James whispered. "Billywigs, Sirius?"
The clearing was overflowing with the small creatures, buzzing around them excitedly. "Yeah, hippie man told me about them." Sirius said, reaching up and trying to catch one. "He said they're great fun. Whole nest of them, imported from Australia by some long-graduated, misguided youth."
James continued to stare as Sirius jumped up and down, attempting to capture one of the tiny insects in his palm. He thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. "Ok," he said. "I don't see any harm."
He captured one easily in his fist, inwardly gloating that he'd finally found a use for his compulsive 'Catch the Snitch' game. Sirius badgered him for a bit, so he caught a second and handed it over.
"Ok, now what?" James asked, holding the struggling bug between his fingers.
"Er, I think we just let them sting us." Sirius said thoughtfully. "Yes, that's what hippie man said."
"Didn't he have a name?" James asked. "Did his parents just name him 'hippie-man'?"
"Look. I don't know what the man's name was, and I don't rightly care." Sirius said, toying with his billywig. "All I know is that he told me about this really cool spot in the Forbidden Forest where we could find Billywigs. And that he's Tinkerbelle's friend. I think that's good enough."
"Okay, okay, fine," James said. "Lets just do it already."
He put the Billywig up to his arm, hissing softly as it stung him. Sirius did the same.
The effect was immediate. It was the most incredible feeling, like pure adrenaline surging through his veins, along with a feeling of weightlessness as he rose a few feet off of the ground. His mind went hazy and he turned his head to grin lazily at Sirius, whose expression mirrored his own.
"Brilliant," James giggled.
"Les get some more." Sirius reached out and missed the billywigs entirely, doing an accidental somersault in midair while he flailed for balance.
They spent about twenty minutes floating around with the billywigs, trying to lure them into their pockets and palms.
"Here billy, here mate! Come to Jamsie!" James cooed at one of the smaller bugs.
"Jamsie, come over here, lookit this!" Sirius waved James over with a sloppy hand.
James hurried over, grabbing branches to propel himself, and stopped next to Sirius, who was staring avidly at the little blue insects.
"What? What is it Sirius?"
"I just had the best idea!" Sirius said proudly. "We can bring some up to school in a jar and then we can have them all the time!"
James stared at him for a moment. "You're a genius, Sirius," he proclaimed. "A mad genius. Now where can we get us a jar…"
He looked around the clearing, his eyes coming to rest on a nearly rotted log.
"Perfect," he said, picking it up and transfiguring it into a mossy sort of jar, complete with air holes in the lid. He looked around at the Billywigs, and in one swoop that was supposed to end with him holding a jar full of billywigs, managed to flip himself upside down. Unlike Sirius, he did not come back up. He hung in midair for a moment, stunned, then said, "Sirius? Little help here, mate?"
Sirius laughed at him for a minute or so, then tugged fruitlessly on his robes. He shifted back and assessed the situation, finally walking around behind James and shoving with his foot in James' upper back.
"All better!" he proclaimed as James flew right-side-up again. "Better let me try that," he said, snatching the jar from James' hand, ignoring the glare he was receiving. He executed a much more elegant swoop, catching a fair few more than James had managed, and after four swoops, managed to capture enough to satisfy himself and James.
They had been out now for several hours now, and the sun was now fully risen. Sirius had already warned James that the effects wouldn't wear off for an hour or so, so they spent the time blissfully enjoying Nature. Needless to say, Nature did not enjoy them nearly as much. They began their journey back up to the castle when Sirius tried a back flip and failed miserably, meaning he crash-landed in a bush. By the time they reached the castle, they were totally sober and ready for more, but, as Sirius said, they'd have to wait till after classes.
As James walked up the staircase in the Entrance Hall, meaning to grab his books before breakfast, he encountered Remus, Peter, Lily, and one of Lily's friends. They appeared to be having an animated discussion, and as he walked closer, he heard Remus say something to Lily that sounded vaguely like "You …skinned a cow?"
"Lily?" he asked in surprise, "You're skinning cows?"