Under The Cloak of Invisibility
James Potter woke up early the next morning from the excitement brewing deep in his stomach; he wanted to get a chance to explore the castle before the other students were up and crowding up the hallway. James drew back the curtains of his four post bed and carefully slipped his boots on over his socks as his before lacing them up tight then glancing around to see if he had awakened any of his roommates, but he saw no movement so he went ahead and jumped out of the bed and went to his trunk and carefully and quietly opened it and on the very top sat a beautifully decorated cloak of lavender and sliver, the material looked like crushed velvet, but more of silky feel between his fingers, it was his father's invisibility cloak. James smiled and picked up the cloak carefully and glanced around the room once again to make sure that everyone was still fast asleep in bed, once he was positive that they were still fast asleep, James made his move for the door.
Glee filled his heart as he closed the door behind him and gently pranced down the spiraling staircase to the common room where a small fire still roared in the fireplace. Eighteen feet from the portal and the portrait of the fat lady and an adventure of exploring the castle for the very first time! His father had always filled his head with so many daring adventures of his time at Hogwarts, James couldn't help but want to follow in his father's footsteps...
Footsteps! James whirled around to see a sleepy Sirius Black holding a candle stick in one hand and his wand in the other. James's reaction was slow as he scuffled to wrap the cloak around himself, however there was just too much fabric and James couldn't manage to fully cover himself before he came face to face with the other young boy.
"You dirty little prat! You were sneaking off without me." Sirius whined and then sighed, "Whatever, sod off Potter, go have a bloody good time." Sirius shrugged with another sighed and glared at James with the sad eyes of abandonment before turning on his heels and started to make his was bad to their dormitory. Maybe Gryffindor was the wrong choice, after all, the sorting hat had warned him that he might not make as loyal friends as he would have in made in Slytherin. Perhaps Potter wanted nothing to do with him after all.
James felt slightly guilty about not asking Sirius to come along with him now. They had after all, promised each other to give the professors headaches together and James had entirely forgotten this promise and if not just ignored it as he prepared for his first exploration of the castle. "Don't be a blooming berk, Black; if you want to come you can; besides I can't even carry this big ol' thing around by myself." James admitted as he still wrestled around with the extra length of fabric as he waited to see if Sirius would accept his invitation of mischief. For a moment James was a bit worried that Sirius might reject it seeing the invitation was only given out of pity and then James would be out a anew friend. But surely within a few seconds after James had said it the tall boy with straight black hair turned slowly around with a sly smile on his face and with a wink he was soon by James's side asking questions what the plan laid ahead for them. A questions James wasn't entirely sure how to answer, explore was all he had in mind, but he wasn't even sure where to start at all. "Maybe….we could go get a snack from the kitchen?"
Sirius nodded with approval and blew out his candle and set it down on the table nearby before stepping under the large cloak with James. "By the way, how did you get ahold of one of these? My dad says they are really rare and most are kept in the Ministry of Magic." Sirius asked stuffing his wand into his back pocket and pulling the cloak over his head, an action which James soon followed.
"Family heirloom, my dad gave it to me as a present for getting my Hogwarts letter." James explained and then shhhed Sirius as he pushed open the portrait of the fat lady.
"Who goes there!? Who are you and why are you larking in the darkness?" The fat Lady woke in a tizzy sounding worried as she searched for the being that had opened her door at this ungodly hour and disturbed her sleep.
James cupped his hand over Sirius's mouth, "It's me James Potter…..Harrington Potter's son." James explained as he pulled the cloak's hood from his head. "I was just going to get a snack and I was going to come right back, that's all I promise." James stared up at the painted woman as she pondered on what she should do.
"Very well, but only because Harrington Potter was one of my favorite students, he was a fine boy, always had time to listen to my arias. Perhaps you should too if you are going to make a habit out of getting midnight snacks." The Fat woman smiled and winked at James, "Be back in an hour and I promise that this adventure will stay between you and me."
"Thank you. See you soon!" James said pulling up his hood again and yanking Sirius by the arm as they scurried off down the corridor.
"How the bloody hell did you know she wouldn't turn us in?" Sirius questioned once they were a safe distant from the portrait and hurried along after James trying to keep up.
"Dad hinted that he was always her favorite….Guess I know why he hates opera now, there is no way her singing is great." James joked pulling the cloak off of him and Sirius, "Anyway, I think it's safe for now. I'm sure we could hear that squib from a mile away if he was lurking the corridors."
The halls were dark and gloomy, many of the paintings were asleep and a different type of whimsies had taken over the castle. The only light came from the tall plate glass windows or one of the few torches that had been sparsely placed around the castle and the ghosts that floated by from time to time made it feel like an abandoned castle, or one that had fallen under an evil spell and James and Sirius were on adventure looking for a way to free the castle from this terrible fate. But of course in truth they were just looking for the kitchen in hopes of feeding their rumbling bellies. The silence of the castle was almost unbearable that Sirius finally broke the silence.
"So your dad was in Gryffindor too? I bet he is proud….Know my dad is going to be disappointed in my sorting, probably will write to the school demanding a resort." Sirius tried to keep the conversation upbeat, but the topic had been on his mind since the sorting ceremony.
"Eh my dad would have been proud of me either was. My parents aren't the type to get upset over this house superiority propaganda or whatever…"James listened to the second part of what Sirius had said. "Well from what you said on the train about your family and their obsession with pureblood then it wouldn't be a surprise…. But if it really bothers them, you could always say that your new roommate is Potter, we are distant pureblood-brothers or something like that."
"Pureblood-brother? The ol' man might like that, two purebloods sorted into Gryffindor and having to stick out living with the commoner for seven years." Sirius snorted as they turned another corner finding that they made finally made their way to the great hall, "So where from here? Can't be too far, right?"
"Dad mentioned it was by the Hufflepuff common room and I saw some girls that were sitting at the Hufflepuff table heading that way." James said pointing to the corridor on the left. The both agreed with a nod that that would be their best option and both started walking off in that dictrection.
"So what do you think of that slimy git and annoying ginger we met on the train today?" Sirius asked folding his arms behind his head as they walked.
"Eh she wasn't too annoying, she will certain be a wet blanket for any trouble we might try to cause. But she witty and clever, I can already tell that. Not sure why she hangs around that slimy ball Snivellus, he seems like a shoe in for those Death eaters." James said as he started checking the portraits to see if they led anywhere.
"What does a death eater spawn want with a muggle born anyway?" Sirius added to James's thought as he started to check the portraits on the other side of the corridor.
"Maybe he loves her." The thought of it almost made James gag, "She is after all charming, and I dunno, pretty I guess." He said quietly to himself. "She should have more sense than to hang around cheeky divvy like that." As he turned to Sirius and shrugged, "I can't find an opening anywhere! Maybe only house elves can get to it." James said as they came to another dead end.
"Who would have thought that finding the kitchen would be this hard?" Sirius said collapsing against a wall in defeat after almost an hour of searching and walking around in circles. "They really need to make a map of this place for new students."
"A normal map would be too difficult to use, this place is always changing. We'd need a map that changed with the school, plus something that helped us stay clear of Flitch." James said collapsing beside his companion. "Should we try again later?"
"Yeah probably, wouldn't want to get lost and never find our way back to Gryffindor. " Sirius said standing before offering James a helping hand to get up. "Besides if we aren't back in bed by the time that teacher's pet Lupin is awake we might be in serious trouble."
"I don't think he is that bad of bloke." James took Sirius's hand and pulled himself up and made their way back to Gryffindor tower and chatted along the way, "Pretty jumpy though, but I'm sure we can loosen him up. He is too uptight for someone our age. I could have sworn he was a seventh year just from the way he talked about studying and playing by the rules." James ran his hand through his hair and heard Sirius mumble something to him but didn't bother asking what he had said. "Petigrew is an interesting guy…. He seems like he would make a pretty loyal friend someday… But I bet he has a hard time making them." James continued, "Sorry this adventure was kind of a waste of time. Maybe next time I'll be more prepared."
"Actually it was a bit of fun just wondering around the castle, shouldn't be too hard trying to find our classes tomorrow." Sirius said cheerfully as he took ahold of the end of James's cloak and disappeared under it as they came into view of the fat lady.
"Back I see Mr. Potter, did you leave your cloaking laying around the castle somewhere? That isn't a good idea, those cloaks are very rare and what would your father think if it got stolen or lost?" The fat lady almost sounded worried, but James simply shook his head,
"You wouldn't mind adding one more person to your concert would you?" James asked as he threw he hand in the direction he heard Sirius breathing, "I thought he would enjoy it too." James giggled and saw the dissatisfaction cross Sirius's face as the Fat lady swilled with joy.
"Why course I don't mind! Oh what a treat you boys will be in for, I will certainly prepare a wonderful set of arias for you two! Come bye after dinner tonight and I will amaze you with my diva worthy opera voice!" The Fat Lady's portrait then swung open without either of the boys offering a password. The stared at each other for a few seconds of how to react before shrugging and made a break for the porthole, both the boys tried to climb through and ended up shoving and hitting each other as they raced before crashing to the floor in laughter.
"Shut up you prat, you are going to wake up that wet blanket Lupin."Sirius snorted as he and James wrestled each other up the staircase as quietly as possible.
"Naw he wouldn't snitch even if you caught us." James assured him before grabbing a hold of Sirius's shoulder and slammed him into the brick wall opposite of the door to their dormitory. As Sirius took a moment to regain his composer, James had taken the chance to open the door and slam it shut behind him, and before Sirius could make his way into the room, James and jumped into bed and drew his curtains on his four posts and hid under his covers.
James heard the door open and slam again only seconds later, "Potter you are a real twat." Sirius whispered fiercely as he jumped into his own bed across the small dormitory from James's four post bed sat.
"Shut up both of you! Petigrew and I are trying to sleep and you two are being as loud as you possibly can and it is the middle of the night!" The voice of Remus Lupin spat harshly at the two noisy young boys, who couldn't help from giggling as they pictured the small fragile looking Remus reprimanding them.
"Calm down we are going to sleep now." James promised with a slight giggle as tucked away his cloak of invisibility under his pillow and thought about the night he had just spent with Sirius Black. They hadn't accomplished what they had been trying to do, but they somehow managed to still feel like that had found something even better. James sensed that this was just the beginning of one of two things, a lifelong friendship, or a lifelong rivalry, either way knew that Sirius Black would make a huge impact on his life, and for that James was thankful to find someone who was just as interested and willing to get into trouble as he was.