James progressively gets hoarser as the day goes by, for no reason that he can think of (screaming out the lyrics to nearly every song that played at Sirius' birthday party yesterday), but it gets bad enough that by bedtime he's poking at people and gesturing at them to try and join the conversation.

It's actually pretty fun to play charades, especially because Sirius and Remus know him so well that it takes -at most- two tries before they sound it out and doesn't get frustrating.

When they go to sleep that night, James is completely silent and instead offers a salute and a grin to Sirius before he drags the curtains of Remus' bed closed.

In the morning, James wakes up to Remus patting him on the hip and blinks blearily awake, zoning in and out before he finally comes back to life fully as Remus tries to shake Sirius awake.

The other two Gryffindor boys are also rolling around vaguely and chatter can be heard from outside the closed door of the dorm as the rest of Gryffindor wakes up.

James rasps out a half-audible, "H...lo."

"Still struggling?" Remus asks, slapping Sirius' face with a pillow.

"Yes I'm fucking struggling," Sirius complains, batting the pillow away because he didn't hear James' whisper quiet voice and instead thinks Remus is taunting him. Sirius turns and blinks. "Hey, Jamie. How you feeling?"

'Good,' James mouths the word because no sound at all comes out. He sits up with a shrug and gives a thumbs up.

"Ah, should be fine," Remus muses. "Just like when you learned to be Prongs, right?"

For the animagus transformation, they had to keep a leaf in their mouth for a month and while they got very handy at keeping it under their tongue even while sleeping, for the first couple of days they'd stay silent just to get a hang of it.

'Yeah but everyone suffered then,' James mouths. He gestures around vaguely to all the beds, collects air into his cupped hands and then dramatically swoons back into the pillows.

"Just imagine I'm suffering with you," Sirius offers. "Right after I get a few more seconds of shut-eye." He rolls over and pulls the blanket up.

Remus keeps rolling Sirius and tips him off the end of the bed.

James swerves as soon as he sees Lily standing in the hallway with friends, standing outside the girl's bathroom so probably waiting for another friend.

James drags Remus by the hand and jogs a bit because he's so excited. He reaches Lily and waves. He points at himself, his ear and then makes a fist. He points at Lily and then makes a love heart with his fingers over his chest.

"He missed you at Sirius' party," Remus translates.

"What?" Lily asks in confusion.

"Sounds like fist, you, and Sirius," Remus lists. "So my best guess is 'missed you at Sirius' party'."

"Wait, what was my name?" Sirius asks as he comes to a stop beside the two with Harry.

James makes a little love heart with his fingers over his chest.

"Aww, my sweet summer prince," Sirius coos. He leans over and kisses James on the cheek.

Harry is watching Lily who isn't too bothered by this. With James not giving his all into the relationship, more often than not running off to play pranks, Lily also hasn't put much effort in because clearly it's not a serious relationship. It's something enjoyable when they do meet up - fun and nice and romantic but hardly lasting. They're both on the same page here.

James has just gotten the hang of nicknames recently and he wants to brag so he draws a line down his chin like Remus' scar and then rocks his arms like he's holding a baby to say Harry's name.

"Why does he keep calling you his son?" Lily asks Harry quietly off to the side.

Harry shrugs vaguely. "Inside joke."

"Is he not talking again?" asks one of Lily's Ravenclaw friends.

James taps his throat, shakes his head and puts his hands together beside his head like sleeping on a pillow.

"James lost his voice yesterday night," Remus explains, then tacks on, "We'll go to the hospital wing after breakfast."

James rolls his eyes.

"So he's playing charades," the Ravenclaw friend laughs. "You understand him really well."

"James can hear you," Sirius points out. "You don't need to talk around him."

"Sirius is far better at translating than me anyway," Remus admits.

'As a demonstration,' James mouths.

Perfectly synced up with Sirius when he says, "As a demonstration."

"Impressive," Lily admits. "Though I suppose you two do share one brain cell."

"I like to think of it as romantic," Sirius laughs. "James says 'wink'."

"Why would you say it?" Remus scoffs at James.

"Emphasis," Sirius translates. "How else can Jamie get across how desperately he's flirting?"

James elbows Sirius in the side for that and makes a drinking motion to the boys.

"James needs to drink to put up with you," Sirius tells Remus.

James laughs hard enough that he makes a rasping wheezy noise. He cups a hand like a bowl and uses the other hand like he's spooning something to his mouth.

"And drugs," Sirius adds.

"Are you sure it isn't 'let's go to breakfast'?" Harry suggests.

"No, pretty sure it's straight up eating crack," Sirius muses.

"Do you eat crack?" Harry asks in confusion.

"Hey, I'm only repeating what James said," Sirius says defensively.

The four head off to breakfast with a wave to Lily and her friends. They need to explain enough times about the situation that James conjures a small sign hung on a necklace in tasteful rose gold and Sirius engraves [lost voice, please find my translators].

James is really getting into this charades thing because he's a very hands-on kind of person and the make-shift sign language he's making up is fun and uses his creativity enough that it doesn't get tiring.

James waves down the table and gets one fifth year's attention but not the student he wants. He points down the table and makes grabby hands. The fifth year looks over and then back, confused.

James kicks Harry lightly under the table because Remus is talking to someone and Sirius has too much food in his mouth. He makes a 'D' letter with his fingers, flips imaginary long hair over a shoulder and tugs at his Gryffindor tie. He makes a tiny circle with his fingers and then grabby hands.

Harry pauses a moment. "Peas?"

James nods.

"Dorcas, pass the peas," Harry calls out.

She looks up and passes the bowl over.

The post comes in then, and James snatches a random owl out of the air as it flies overhead to steal a paper, then tosses the disgruntled owl back up.

"James," Harry complains even as he spoons some peas out onto James' plate.

James flashes a quicksilver grin and shakes out the paper. For the last few days it's all been about the acromantula attack and the progress the reserve is making with settling the creatures. They've already gotten interviews with the school, the acromantula specialist team and the Potters, even some students the reporters managed to catch. James loves reading the stories because they all talk about Harry and he gets very smug about his incredible son.

The story has faded to the inside of the paper but now it's back on the front page and James can see why immediately. There's a large candid picture of Harry -definitely not taken with permission- where he's standing out on the grass during one of his patrols, turned to the side and talking to a half out of view Remus. Harry's hand is held up in the opposite direction as a giant fuck off snake with its eyes closed gently shoves its massive against Harry's tiny hand like it wants pets as the photo loops.

A great majority of the article is an interview with Voldemort, talking about how he's settling the basilisk and about how surprised he was when he met another Parselmouth, how rare the gift is, etc. Voldemort also slips in some political talk about the Potter children he's 'mentoring', but James ignores that and excitedly shakes the paper at Harry.

"That's a good one," Remus muses, leaning over as well. "Cut that one out, I want to keep it for the scrapbook."

"You have a scrapbook?" Harry asks with a wince and shoves the paper away. "Ugh, that's embarrassing, put it away."

"Everyone needs a baby scrapbook," Sirius points out. "I mean we're starting late but it still counts."

They're starting late but they already have it half full with random shots of Harry smiling ever since Euphemia shoved a camera at them over summer break and now it has all the best newspaper articles, plus the photo they took when Harry was presented with a medal for services to the school.

"Well done," McGonagall says as she passes by James and Sirius. "And you did that wordlessly?"

"Siri is helping," Sirius translates as James mouths the words - except Sirius doesn't even need to look at him to know what James is going to say next. "Siri says the words while I do the wand movement."

McGonagall looks confused. "Demonstrate, if you will?" She reverts the glass back to unrefined metal - which is actually more difficult than the other way around the students are learning right now.

"Deliquo," Sirius says as James does the wand movement and the metal is refined before James then gives it a twist into clear glass as the final step to prove it's refined.

McGonagall hums. "No, that is not how that works. Mr Black, you are not passing your voice through to Mr Potter's magic because there is no connection. Therefore, congratulations Mr Potter, you are doing quite complex magic entirely wordless."

James turns to Sirius, surprised.

"Holy shit," Sirius translates.

"Don't verbalise his cussing," McGonagall tsks and walks off. "Ten points to Gryffindor for exceptional wand work."

James excitedly hurls his wand like a javelin at Remus sitting in front and gestures out the story, wanting more praise.

Sirius ducks under the desk to get James' wand back but stays under there for too long.

After transfiguration finishes and as people are streaming out, James tries to stand up but Sirius tied his laces together to the footrest bar across the base of the stool and James topples over, clattering to the ground and his bag spilling out.

"Oh," Sirius says in disappointment. "It's not as fun when you can't scream."

Remus turns around from where he's packing his bag and just raises an eyebrow because that sounded a bit odd. James drags himself up into a sitting position, feet held up at an awkward angle. He throws a counter to the shoe tying jinx and nothing happens.

"That was by hand," Sirius says proudly. "I learned three knots just to fuck with you."

"I wish you'd put as much effort into literally anything else," Remus sighs.

Later that day, James is seen being carried around in his throne-stool with Remus and Sirius holding onto either side, his laces still tied.

Harry offers to just cut the shoelaces and then mend them back together but James adamantly refuses because he is a prince and he will be treated like one.