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Chapter Text

The platform was bustling as it always was. Hot air, smoke and shouts of greeting. The buzz that had been so unfamiliar to James in his first year now only served a reminder of where he was going. Back home.

He watched the first year next to him cling with both hands to her mother’s arm, knuckles white and a huge pink suitcase neglected at her feet. He was mumbling quickly as her mother stroked her hair, listening. He strained to listen but couldn’t hear what she was saying over the shouts, he instead watched eyes dart about until they met his. He smiled at her but she just looked away pretending she hadn’t seen him. First day nerves. Her mother offered him apologetic eyes as she crouched down to stroke her daughter’s cheek.

“James!” He saw Lilly’s trolly before he saw her. She always overpacked.  

“Lily!” He embraced her the best he could with a suitcase in each hand (which wasn’t very effective). Lily didn’t seem to mind, just turned back to her trolly, nodding toward it. 

“Help me out, would you?” She asked. James cringed at the pile of cases, each almost twice the size of his own, but nodded. She grinned. “What a gentleman.” He nudged her. 

“Where’ve you been all summer?” He asked unloading a mustard yellow duffel from the her trolley, stumbling over slightly with the weight of it. “I feel like I’ve barely seen you.” He managed as he dropped her case on the floor. He tried to keep his tone as casual as possible, trying to let on his slight disheartenment. Lily had a cramped schedule, he knew, but he had hoped he would see her at least once over the summer.

But to no avail.

“You know, here and there.” She mumbled in reply, not looking at him but pulling her cases into a neat bunch in front of her. James raised an eyebrow. Lily Evans did not mumble and she certainly did not avoid eye contact. A high breech of etiquette.

“Right.” He nodded, unconvinced. She ignored his tone, just sighed, contented, as she grabbed her small duffel from the floor and slung it over her shoulder. He sensed he should change the topic. “Seen any of the others?” He asked. Lily opened her mouth to speak just as shout erupted from the crowd.

“Oi, Prongs!” James spun around. The crowd practically parted as Sirius Black came elegantly strutting across the platform, like model on a runway. He really could’ve been, not that James would’ve ever told him that. “Didn’t forget about me did you?”

Where to even begin to describe Sirius Black. Regardless of whether they loved him or wanted him dead, every student at Hogwarts knew who Sirius Black was. He was tall with striking but meticulous features, with long dark hair and eyes of a stoney grey. He was a good person, undoubtably, but unfortunately had been cursed with the face of someone who was always up to something. In all fairness, that wasn’t completely untrue.

He often found himself described as ‘the type of boy mum’s tell their daughters to stay away from’ (not that he had any interest in anyone’s daughters, mind you). 

James dropped his bags and pulled his friend into a bone-crushing hug which was returned with equal force. 

Sirius had been away for almost two whole months, leaving two days after school broke up and only having returned back to England yesterday. His family had resided in their chateau in the South of France for the Summer, as was tradition. Though, James noted, Sirius still looked remarkably pale. He assumed his friend had locked himself away in his room, hidden, as he usually did when around his family.

“And Evans!” Sirius released James and tugged Lily in under his arm. “How’ve you been?” He asked, looking down at her, their height distance extremely prominent from their position. There had to be at least a foot between them now, with Sirius being forever growing and Lily having reached her peak in third year.

“Alright.” Lily responded, “Been practicing your french?” 

“Oui.” Sirius replied. Lily shook her head affectionately. “Where’s everyone else?” Lily and James turned to each other.

“We were just-.” James began before he cut himself off. “You hear that?” The other two frowned, straining their ears. The distant sound of a horn rung throughout the station.

“Train’s here.” Lily grinned, moving forward toward the edge of the platform, somehow managing to keep a firm grip on her masses of cases. James and Sirius rushed to follow.

They watched the train roll steadily into the station, and the clamour of the station picked up as the last minute rush of unloading cases and saying final goodbyes began. The three of them exchanged looks. Nothing compared to the rush of euphoria that came with that train. James found himself wishing he could experience it for the first time again. He watched the first years push to the front of the platform, any anxieties of leaving home gone and practically glowing. He envied them.

“Here it is.” said Sirius, as they approached the last carriage. James had decided the final carriage belonged to him and his friends when he, Remus, Sirius and Peter had been the last ones on the train in their second year and had still found the carriage stark empty. Like it was invisible to anyone else.

It was that same year, in that same carriage that the four of them had carved their names next to the window with Remus’s protractor. Their act of vandalism had 200 points taken from Gryffindor, fifty points gone for each name carved. But the carvings still had never been removed. As their group expanded, more names were added to the wall (and more house points deducted). It now read:

James Potter

Sirius

Remus Lupin

Peter Pettigrew 

Marlene McKinnon 

Lily Evans

Dorcas Meadowes

Mary Macdonald 

Sirius pressed his face up against the glass of the door of the carriage and James heard a collective groan from within.

“Found them.” He announced, sliding the door open. “Where have you lot been hiding?” He threw his bag onto someone’s lap. The someone, who was Marlene McKinnon, groaned again in response. 

“Sirius I don’t have the energy to deal with your bullshit, it’s too early.” She complained. “Dory pass me that, I feel sick.” She asked, reaching for the cigarette in Dorcas’s mouth. Having just returned from a two week long trip to the Bahamas with her parents three days ago, Marlene was shattered. James could tell because she wasn’t wearing any eye makeup. 

Dorcas crushed the cigarette out against the window, the ash falling onto her skirt. 

“You can have some aspirin.” She decided. Marlene didn’t protest, just frowned and held out her palm. Dorcas shook two tablets from a white bottle into her hand. Marlene dry swallowed them.

“Yum.” Dorcas snorted.

“Merlin, it’s a bit of a squeeze in here.” Lily commented, struggling to push the last of her suitcases through the doors.

As James approached the door after her, he realised just how much of ‘a squeeze’ it actually was. Had the carriage gotten smaller? Or had they gotten bigger? Everyone looked pretty much the same to James. 

Dorcas sat pressed up against the window stoking Marlene’s hair who was curled up next to her with her head in her lap. The others were squished onto the benches, shoulder to shoulder, with Peter and Remus were squeezed in next to Dorcas and Marlene, Mary and Sirius opposite them. Lily was currently working on shoving her bags under the seats (the overhead compartments being full to the brim).

Everyone present and accounted for.

“No room at the inn, Virgin Mary.” Peter remarked, in a crude greeting. Marlene laughed. 

“Hello to you too, Wormy.” James replied, throwing his jacket in his face. “And there’s plenty of room.” He was mostly trying to convince himself. Lily shook her head as she flopped down next to Sirius. 

“There really isn’t.” She noted. “Just ask the next carriage down if you can put your stuff there, I think there’s only two of them in there.” James let out an exasperated sigh.

“Get on with it, Prongs.” Remus encouraged. James rolled his eyes. 

“Lovely to see you all too.” He grumbled, withdrawing from the carriage and dragging his cases along behind him. 

“Missed you!” Mary called after him. 

“Naturally!” James called back over his shoulder. “You’ve always been my favourite.” He mouthed to her. She beamed. He ignored mumbles of ‘twat’ from Marlene as he walked out, just smiling to himself. Good to be back. 

True to Lily’s word, the other carriage seated two students. Fifth years. Slytherins. Both boys. He didn’t bother identifying them before he slid the door open, but quickly regretted it upon entry. 

One was a pale boy, with unremarkable features, aside from a pair of the darkest blue eyes James had ever seen. Almost indigo. He recognised him, but their paths had not intersected often enough to put a name to his face. What James had noted, was that whenever was in the boys presence, the air around him felt cold, even on warm days, it was like he had just been stood out in the snow.

Across from him sat a more familiar face. Barty Crouch. His hair was dark and James had heard (weird of mouth) that his interests were darker. He didn’t care to find out if that was true, so avoided him most of the time. His lips were always chapped and bleeding. Younger students theorised that that blood wasn’t his own. Of course, this was a ridiculous and untrue, but James wasn’t particularly keen to dig any deeper into the hypothesis anyway. Though, considering the way Barty was eyeing him up now, it didn’t seem completely implausible.

The two of them sat across from one another and looked at him with the same exasperated and expectant expressions, although he had interrupted a serious conversation. Barty licked his lips. 

“Either of you mind terribly if I shove my case in here?” James asked, letting no discomfort seep into his voice. They were fifth years, after all. 

“What’s wrong with your carriage?” The cold one asked, his tone flat, making any emotion that could’ve been in his voice undetectable. 

“Full.’

“Just shove it under the seat.” Barty chimed in, who had lost interest in him quickly and was now picking at his nails with disinterest. 

“Full too.” James replied, getting slightly frustrated now. 

“Pass them to me.” He hadn’t even heard anyone coming up behind him. 

James spun around. 

“Regulus.”

Considering they were born a mere year apart, Regulus and Sirius Black still looked vastly different. True, the two both had the jet-black hair and eery paleness about their skin but their faces were arranged entirely differently. Their differences were especially now, as Regulus had come back from France without his strikingly pale skin and instead sported a light brown tan. It made him look…well for lack of better words: less sickly. 

“It’s rather heavy.” James warned. Regulus said nothing but extended out his hand. He just shrugged, passing it over. He felt a shiver run up his spine. The cold boy was watching the interaction, cautiously, as if he were afraid James may, in some out-of-character psychotic fit, lash out and attack his friend at any given moment.  

Regulus seemed unaffected by his acquaintance. He took James’s case with one hand and opened the overhead locker with the other. 

When had he gotten strong? James supposed he wasn’t some tiny first year anymore, even though he often dismissed of him as one. But he was still appeared rather skinny. 

“Is that all?” Regulus asked. He restrained a sneer at his attitude. 

“Yeah, cheers.” He thanked, instead, walking out of the still open door and sliding it shut behind him. He could feel their eyes burning holes in his back. “Fuck me.” He muttered. “Fucking Slytherin fifth years.” 

James tried to shake the interaction off and opened the door to his carriage, which was now buzzing with conversation about what everyone had busied themselves with over the holidays. He seated himself down next too Lily who eyed him closely.

“Merlin, James, the journey between carriages can’t be that long.” She laughed. James frowned.

“What do you mean?” 

“You’re all red in the face.” She said, gesturing to his face before jumping back into the conversation, inquiring about Dorcas’s trip to Spain.

He had to take a deep breath. In what world did he get shaken up by younger years, Slytherins no less? Not one he wanted to live in. He snatched the packet of custard creams from Sirius’s hands and shoved one into his mouth despite his friend’s protests. Remus told them they were just as bad as the first years, who were currently screaming and running up and down the length of the train. The others laughed. 

The train journey was long. They filled their time with fond teasing and bickering and frustrating games of ‘I spy’. One by one, all of them changed into their robes and rushed in the last ten minutes of the journey to tie their ties, girls finishing their make up, Mary giving Peter a last-minute haircut. 

It was a mad rush getting off of the train but the group managed to get on one of the first few chariots leaving for the castle. Of course they were all completely squashed, even more so than on the train, but they were still together. They could barely move their legs because they had to pile all their luggage in the middle. Suitcases slipped from the stack every time they went over a bump and kept almost falling off of the chariot onto the dirt paths. 

“Fuck.” James suddenly. 

“What?” The group replied in unison. 

“The case. The fucking case.” He groaned, slapping a hand onto his forehead. 

“What on earth are you talking about?” Lily asked. 

“I forgot to get my case from the other carriage.” He explained, rubbing his hands over his face . The carriage filled with disappointed grumbles of ‘James’. “Yeah, I’m not exactly thrilled either!”

“How the hell did you forget your luggage?” Peter asked.

“I didn’t do it on purpose.” James replied. Of course he didn’t. Maybe it was the excitement of getting ready or maybe he was just that desperate to not to go back into the carriage after the painfully awkward run-in with Regulus’s lot. 

“It’ll be fine.” Dorcas told him- always the voice of reason. “Who was in the carriage you left your stuff in? They probably picked up your things for you.”

“Barty and Regulus.” He replied. “Oh and the…the blonde one.”

“Evan?”

”If you say so.”

Sirius let out a breathy laugh and leaned back in his seat. 

“Mate, there’s no way you’re getting that case back.” He said. James frowned. 

“What?” James replied. “Why not?” 

“My brother and his friends are twats.” Sirius said calmly. “They probably noticed you didn’t come back and either left your stuff there or took it all and are already planning on pawning off everything you own. Or, hey, maybe they’ll let you buy it back.” He grinned. “If you’ve got a spare hundred galleons on you.” 

“Don’t be a dick.” Remus interjected. “James it’ll be fine.” He insisted.

“Moons, you don’t know-” Remus gave him a warning look and Sirius put his hands up in surrender. 

“Don’t worry, James.” Mary attempted. “Even if they haven’t picked it up, your stuff’s still on the train and they’ll bring it down for you later tonight. After dinner.”  She rested a hand on his shoulder in comfort. James gave her a weak smile and wondered if he could get Marlene to lend him a couple galleons, he knew she travelled with an emergency jar… Maybe he could ask his parents for a little more allowance this month?

“Hey, Potter.” Marlene propped herself up against him. “I see something that’ll make you feel better.” James hummed, unconvinced. “Look up.” He raised his head and couldn’t prevent a smile. 

The castle towered above them, he often forgot how big it actually was. No matter how old he got, the sight of it was always one to behold. It looked like home, the way the windows glowed orange with light. The sight made James want to jump out of the chariot (which suddenly seemed to be going much too slowly) and take off toward it on foot. He imagined his friends hauling him back into the chariot and Lily giving him a good scolding, and thought better of it. 

So he waited, staring up in awe of the castle instead. He was faintly aware of Sirius cracking a joke about how he looked like he had finally found love but he barely heard a word of it, overtaken by his own longing. 

Eventually, the carriage came to a steady stop and the eight of them hopped out, James about ten paces in front as his friends. Mary complained about the weight of her bags as she lugged them along behind her. It reminded him of his own brown-leather bag, which his mother would never forgive him for losing. 

“I’m going to go ahead.” He decided, yelling this over his shoulder as he began to jog ahead of the group. “See if I can find, what’s his face, Evan? Or Barty or-” He didn’t get to finish before he collided hard into something. He staggered backwards, his glasses askew on his nose. He could make out a blurry figure standing tall in front of him, unflinching. 

“Sorry would be nice.” He said, without thinking. He adjusted his glasses, pushing them up onto his nose, the figure coming into focus. His heart practically dropped out of his body and onto the jagged, cobblestone floor as the recognition set in. 

“How about, ‘watch where you’re going?’” Regulus asked. He and James were almost at eye level now, just last year he’d had to look down to be able to see him. He was rather intimidating now. Of course, James let nothing on. 

“My fault.” Was all he said. Regulus thought for a moment, then nodded. 

“Good answer.” He decided. “This what you’re after?” 

Chapter Text

“This what you’re after?” He asked asked, holding up a leather bag with initials, ‘J.F.P’ lettered in gold across the front. 

His bag. Regulus was standing here with his bag? No catch? 

“Yeah.” James managed, brows furrowed, trying his very best not to look at the other as if he were insane. This was it? He wasn’t going to make him pay for it back? Had he switched the stuff inside? “Everything’s…still in there?” Regulus arched a brow.

“What, you think I’ve been poking through your stuff?”  

“Well, uh…Sirius-” He began but Regulus interrupted with an exasperated sigh.

“Sirius.” Regulus repeated, hissing the name through his teeth. Just as he spoke, his brother walked past ears pricking up at the mention of his name, like a dog. Regulus spotted him, narrowing his eyes. “Sirius!” He called out. 

Then he shouted something in French. 

Sirius shouted something French back.

That’s when James knew he’d properly fucked up. 

James had known Sirius long enough to know, of course, that he and his family spoke French quite fluently. But he had also known Sirius long enough, to know of every instance that would cause him to speak in French.

The first was to himself, for Sirius was a chronic sleep-talker. His spoke with such purpose and such clarity, that for the first few weeks of sharing a dorm with him in their first year, James was sure that Sirius was sneaking someone into their room late at night to chat to, and failing to remain subtle about it. 

The second was with Marlene who also happened to be fluent, as her mother had grown up in Bordeaux. Marlene herself had gone to school in France for a few years before transferring over to Hogwarts in her third year. Sirius and she were close, and used the tongue as their own secret language, to discuss secrets or private matters. 

The final instance was: to his family. To Regulus. The two brothers spoke French to each other often, though mostly when they didn’t want anyone to know what they were talking about, which usually indicated it was family affairs. Though, from what James had seen, the two of them most often spoke French around each other when they were arguing. 

He guessed this was one of those times.

Regulus didn’t shout, but the venom behind his words was unmistakeable. He approached Sirius, coming face to face with him. Sirius’s eyes briefly flicked over to James, before he returned his attention to his brother. 

James found himself wishing he could understand what the two were saying, not for the first time in his life. He did the next best thing and called out to Marlene. 

“Regulus is asking what Sirius has been saying about him.” She was translating previous dialogue while also listening for the new. Truly impressive. 

Sirius stepped even closer to his brother, if possible, waving his hands about in a mad fashion. 

“Now what?” 

“Shh, I’m trying to find out.”

“Okay, sorry.” She frowned in concentration. 

“Sirius basically just says he needs to mind his own business, in a more dramatic way.” Sounded about right. Marlene listened for a moment longer as James watched. 

Regulus was considerably shorter than Sirius but that did nothing make him appear any less threatening. He practically spat out his next words, prodding his brother in the chest. He looked as if he was going to give him a shove too, but thought better of it. 

“Marls, come on, what’s going on?”

Marlene let out a long and low whistle. “Damn”

“What, what is it?” 

” ‘Keep my name out of your mouth and I will think about it’.” James almost laughed, trying his best to regain a grasp on the severity of the situation. “Sirius says ‘fuck off’.”

”Bit weak, isn’t it?”

”Pathetic.” She agreed. 

“Now what?”

”Give me a second.” She paused, listening intently, but now Regulus had gone quiet, he just shook his head.

”Always causing a scene.” He mumbled, in English. He caught James’s eye. He was still holding his bag. Quite honestly, he expected him to throw it on the ground, put a locking hex on it, turn on his heel and walk away. Instead he walked toward him, placed the luggage in his hands and turned back toward the entrance of the castle where Evan and Barty were waiting, looking equally as perplexed as the crowd, who moved apart to let the three of them through and watched as in through the doors. 

“Right.” Mary pipped up, evidently remembering she was a prefect. “Gryffindors follow me into the hall. Don’t stand around, McGonagall won’t be pleased if we’re late for dinner.” The younger years followed behind her, not wanting to miss the chance to appease the kind, pretty older girl. She glanced back at James and winked, mouthing:

‘Fill me in later’

Sirius waited a few moments for the courtyard to clear and took a deep and audible breath. He looked to James. 

“Sorry about that.” He apologised, awkwardly. “He’s such a-”

“No,” He replied, “No, it was partially my fault, I-”

”I’m starving.” Peter announced. James had never been so grateful for his friend’s appetite. 

“Surprise, surprise.” Sirius replied, jumping at the chance to move on from the subject. He wrapped an arm around Peter’s shoulders. “Let’s get in there, before the first years clear the table. 

“That was rough.” Lily said, materialising next to James as their friends staggered forward. 

“Yeah.” He agreed, still watching Sirius walk away. “They’re terrifying when they speak in French.” Lily laughed, slinging her own arm around his shoulders.

“Let’s try and forget it, yeah?” She asked. “It’s a new year.” James turned to look at her with a smile and nodded. Her freckles had come out in the summer sun and her hair looked lighter.

“Sounds good to me.” He decided, pulling in Lily’s smaller frame. “I hope they have that peacock bacon.” He commented, mouth watering at the thought.

“You and your expensive taste buds, honestly, that stuff is disgusting. I think you’re about the only one who likes it.” Lily told him as they walked through the big double doors that had been propped open. James took a deep breath in. The smell of books and burning candles. The smell of home. Plus an underlying note of a roast from the kitchen. 

“Peter and Dorcas had at it last year.”

“Peter will eat anything you put in front of her and Dorcas is a vegetarian, James.” 

“Really?” James paused, momentarily stunned. “Since when?”

“Her whole life.” Lily laughed leaving James astonished. The two of them continued to chat senselessly about nothing, peeking down the hallways to greet ghosts and teachers, until they finally reached the entrance to the Great Hall.

Remus, Sirius, Peter, Marlene and Mary had snagged the very end of the Gryffindor table (meaning they would be able to talk through the Sorting Ceremony which bored everyone but the new first years to tears). They had managed to save a space just big enough to squeeze in the both of them. Dorcas sat on the Slytherin table with a few others, seeming content with the gentle conversation. She spotted and mouthed a quick:

’Alright’

He nodded and she nodded back, turning back to her friends.  

“You two took your time.” Remus commented as the two of them squished themselves onto the end of the table.

“Wasn’t in any rush to see the sorting ceremony, personally.” James replied. The others groaned at the reminder.

“They do like to drag it out don’t they?” Peter said, the others grumbled in agreement.

“Looks like there’s a few more first years than normal this year.” Remus added. Marlene feigned strangling herself. 

“Why don’t you just kill me now? Pete, grab that there knife.” 

“I don’t know, the ceremony might not be so long.” Mary spoke up, “McGonagall’s looking pretty antsy today, maybe they’ll hurry it up?”. McGonagall? Antsy? There was no chance. But true to Mary’s word, when they looked toward the professor, she was shifting her weight from one foot to the other, sorting hat clutched so tightly in her hand her knuckles were white.

“There’s something you don’t see every day. Or any day really. ” Marlene said as the rest of the group frowned. It really was a strange sight. In all his time at Hogwarts, James didn’t think he’d ever see McGonagall ‘antsy’ as Mary put it.

“And it’s not just her.” Peter added. “Look at Slughorn.” The group leaned to the left slightly to try and catch a glance of their potions professor, who did indeed seem uncomfortable.

His eyes were continuously flicking from the other professors to the large doors that led into the hall- which had now been closed, all the students assumingly being accounted for.

“It’s all of them.” Lily concluded. “They all keep looking at the doors.” And sure enough almost every professor that sat at the staff table seemed on edge, eyes practically boring holes in the doors. Almost every professor. Dumbledore remained calm and collected as always. 

“Reckon we’ve got visitors?” Remus asked.

“Seems plausible.” Mary concluded. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.” 

The whole sorting ceremony was obviously rushed which was both relieving and worrying. McGonagall’s voice was unsteady as she read the students name’s out and by the time she got to the last few names she seemed to be going double her usual speed, telling the new students to ‘hurry along’ and sit down.

“Whatever’s going on it’s got all of them nervous.” Sirius whispered as McGonagall read out the last name on her list, rolling up the scroll hastily. “Should I be enjoying this?” He asked.

Before James could agree, Dumbledore stood up suddenly from his place at the table and approached to his speech podium. The group eyed each other. McGonagall rushed to take her seat.

”What the hell is going on?” Peter exclaimed. 

“I’ve got a feeling we’re about to find out.” Said James as Dumbledore cleared his throat. The hall fell silent. 

“Welcome back to Hogwarts.” He greeted, just as he began his speech every year. “I’d like begin the new year with an announcement.”

“This should be good.” Sirius commented, Remus and Lily shushed him. 

“It is my privilege to inform you all, that Hogwarts has been chosen to host and participate in the legendary ‘Tri-Wizard Tournament’.”

“The what?” Lily whispered, Sirius took his revenge and shushed her to which she replied to by sticking her tongue out at him. He returned the gesture.

“Shut up, the both of you.” Marlene mumbled, for once taking an interest in one of Dumbledore’s speeches. 

“For those of you who don’t know, the Tri-Wizard tournament is a legendary competition that brings together three schools for a series of Magical contests. These contests are a tests of the participants physical and mental strength. ” Sirius leaned in. “From each school, a single contestant is to be randomly selected to compete. Someone of great bravery and intelligence.”

“Intelligence? That’s you counted out, Padfoot.” Peter joked.

“Shut up.” Sirius snapped back, not looking away from the podium. 

“This year…” He paused again. “Hogwarts, has been bestowed the honour of hosting. Meaning that this year, this school will be not only be your home, but also home to some very special guests as well. Please join me in welcoming them this evening!” 

The hall instantly began to buzz with excitement. 

“Two other schools?” Lily re-iterated.

“That’s why they’re all so nervous.” James said.

“Well done, mate.” Remus said. He chose to ignore the comment, already swivelled around to face the doors that all of a sudden, sprung open.

“Please welcome, all the way from Scandinavia, the proud sons of Durmstrang and their high master: Fredrik Hardrada !” Dumbledore’s voice rang out through the hall. Lily snorted.

”Hardrada? What like, Harald Hardrada?” She whispered. The other looked at her blankly. “Forget it.”

Through the doors marched a group of boys led by a tall man who couldn’t have been older than thirty. He wore a stern expression matched by the boys behind him. The students wore blood red coats and capes, lined with thick fur despite the early September heat. The rest of their attire was black. 

“Mother wanted me and Reg to go there.” Sirius said. James imagined the two brothers marching along the hall with the rest of the boys and he let out a chuckle. “Shut up.” He balled up his napkin and chucked it at him.

“Remus, what do you make of Sirius in a cape?” Marlene asked. Remus flushed.

The boys descended through the hall. Fredrik Hardrada gave a small bow when they reached Dumbledore, before leading his boys to the left side of the haul. They all moved in sync and stood in a perfect formation. 

“And now,” Dumbledore continued, “Allow me to introduce to you: the lovely french ladies of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and their headmistress: Madame Lavigne!” That name. Why did James recognise that name? Beauxbatons…

His question was answered when he looked to the group who were all staring at Marlene. She seemed to be frozen. Sirius began whispering in her ear frantically.

A group girls walked gracefully through the doors of the great hall, dressed head to toe in dusty blue, sporting funny-shaped hats of the same shade. They too walked in perfect sync.

“Of course it’s them. Of course it’s fucking them.” Marlene mumbled, covering her face with her hands. Sirius continued to speak to her but she seemed to be taking no notice. 

What on earth was going on? He didn’t dare ask, Marlene, who looked as if the earth around her was crumbling to bits. He looked instead to Mary for help. 

“Her old school, in France.” She whispered. “That’s them, that’s Beauxbatons.”

“Oh fuck.” He dragged out the expletive. 

Marlene had never explicitly explained what had happened to her during her three year stay at Beauxbatons. Not to James at least. All he knew, was that it didn’t end well for her there. In fact, he didn’t think it started well for her there either. And there seemed to be have been no pleasant period in the middle either. When she had first joined, rumours of her expulsion had circulated the school. He hadn’t believed them then, but the look on Marlene’s face was making him wonder... 

This was going to be a long year.

“Don’t worry, Marls, we’ll only see them for the competitions.” Mary, tried.

Marlene lifted her head from her palms, smoothing down her hair. She refused to look at any of the girls as they sashayed their way to the front of the hall, standing to Dumbledore’s right, their Professor smiling down on the girls like a proud mother.

“Attention please!” Dumbledore called over the clamour and excitement that had now overtaken the hall. The students settled at the sound of his voice. “Now, listen closely. The victor of this tournament will, of course, be awarded a prize. But do not let this factor cloud your judgement, because first: the student will have to pass three extremely dangerous tasks.” 

“Just three?” Mary whispered, “That doesn’t sound too difficult.”

“Did you ignore the danger part?” Lily asked but Mary shrugged in response.

“It can’t be that bad.” She said. “They have to keep us alive don’t they?” 

Dumbledore went on.

“Due to the dangerous nature of these tasks,” He said, “The Ministry of Magic has decided it best that there be an age limit placed on this tournament. No student under the age of fifteen is to enter into this tournament.” 

The hall filled with groans of frustration from the younger years. The professors called for silence but this did little to soothe their disheartenment.

“So that means we could enter?” Sirius asked, raising his voice over the noise.

“Well I don’t know if they would let you in, considering you have the mental capacity of an eight year old.” Peter said. Sirius made a face. A third year rose from his seat and threw his dessert spoon across the table in protest. Marlene, snatched Lily’s book and whacked him over the head with it. 

”Sit down” He sunk down onto the bench and huffed.

“Fancy signing up with me, Prongs?” Sirius asked. James raised an eyebrow in interest.

He had to admit, the idea was endearing. Dangerous tasks, tests of his physical and mental strength, chance at a prize, the nationalistic aspect of bringing pride to Hogwarts. 

But, James’s ‘OWLS’ results last year had not given him the greatest confidence in his mental strength. He hadn’t failed, but he had barely passed. His parents had iterated to him often over the summer that it was important he really pushed himself this year, prioritise his studies. ‘Don’t go making any silly decisions.’ Perhaps this was what they meant.

“My parents’ll murder me if I fail another round of exams.” James said. “Plus, some of us are Quidditch Captain this year.” Sirius huffed.

”You got lucky, I’m coming for your spot.” James just shook his head and smiled. He knew, deep down, Sirius was a little dejected to have not been chosen, despite however happy he was for James. He understood. This would be a good distraction for him. 

“Silence!” Dumbledore’s voice suddenly cut through the hall making everyone jump. Though the boys from Durmstrang remained stony-faced.

A golden goblet had appeared next to the headmaster during all the commotion. Inside it, resided a bright blue flame. It was mesmerising, so much so that even the rowdy younger years sat down to admire it. 

“When did that get there?” Mary asked, under her breath. 

“To enter the competition, a student of the appropriate age should write their name name on a piece of parchment and throw it into this fame.” He waved his hand over the fire, acting inside a slip of paper. The flame glowed a dark maroon.“The Goblet of Fire will be located right here in the great hall.”  He paused, dramatically.“But, I must warn you. Once your name has been entered, there is no going back.” You could hear a pin drop. “Entries will be closed as of six pm on Thursday evening.” 

And just like that, he was finished, sitting back down in his seat as if nothing had ever happened. He clapped his hands twice and a feast appeared across every house table. Everyone began to dig in. James thought about the tournament. 

No opting out? But why? And how dangerous were these tasks anyway? Where would the other schools stay? Presently, the Durmstrangs and Beauxbatons were joining the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, integrating themselves awkwardly among Hogwarts students.

“What day is it today, Lils?” Sirius asked, bitting aggressively into a leg of chicken and ripping a hunk off with his teeth. You would’ve thought he wasn’t fed at home from the way he ate. 

“Tuesday.” She replied as she sucked on a strawberry. She tended to eat dessert first, a habit of hers for as long as James had known her.

“Well they haven’t given us much time to think about it, have they?” Mary complained “What with the whole, ‘no taking it back after it’s done’. It’s all a bit intimidating, really.”

“Well you seem to have your mind made up.” Remus said, motioning toward Sirius as he sloshed a forkful of pork sausage around in his gravy. Sirius grinned at him. “And James, you’re not tempted?”

“Well, I’m tempted.” He replied. “But I shouldn’t. What about the rest of you?”  

“I might go for it.” Marlene said through mouthfuls. “To beat them.” She said, indicating toward the Beauxbatons on the Ravenclaw table. James longed to know what had happened, but said nothing. 

“Not my thing.” Peter replied, cursing as his tomato exploded over him when he bit into it.

“Yeah, I’m with Pete on this one.” Remus agreed, passing Peter some napkins. 

“And me.” Lily added. 

“Mary?” Sirius asked. Mary sighed, twirling her fork about between her fingers. She was always the most indecisive, approaching every situation with a balanced argument. 

“I don’t know.” She concluded. “As I said, I don’t like the thought of not being able to take anything back. Too much pressure. I don’t think I’ll enter.” She decided. 

“Guess it’s just us then, Marls.” Sirius said, nodding at her. She smiled, big.

“Game on.”

And it was.

Chapter Text

The excitement of a new term at Hogwarts came and went in the following days. Students learned their timetables and professors started giving homework. James found his work was already beginning to pile up. Between his assignments and organising Quidditch practice and deciding strategies for upcoming games, he was up to his ears in responsibility - which he really hated.

Sirius rambled on about the tournament at every opportunity and Marlene frequently joined in the discussion with her own excitement. He tried his best to suppress his own jealousy. Both of them had opted to take only three NEWTS, while James’s parents had pushed him to take five. The difference in work-load was already proving prevalent. 

It was Tuesday evening.

The boys had long changed out of their robes and were currently lounging around their dorm room dressed in their home clothes. James wished his grey hoodie would just swallow him whole as he sat helplessly in front of his transfiguration homework. Remus sat beside him, trying his best to explain. 

“I just don’t understand.” James said. “Why is it easier to make smaller creatures vanish than larger ones but when you conjure them, suddenly their size doesn’t make a difference in difficulty?” 

“Well,” Remus began, “Vanishing is about mass of a creature yes, but conjuring something is more about sustaining the spell and ensuring it’s complete.” 

“But I thought McGonagall said they were similar principals?” 

“Well yes but-”

“Merlin, is it Tuesday already?” Sirius exclaimed. He never was good at time-keeping. “Up you get, both of you. We should go down to the Goblet. Don’t want to leave it to the last minute!” He was practically glowing.

James twitched, bitter envy rising in his throat. 

“Don’t have to rub it in.” He mumbled. Sirius paused a moment, collecting himself. 

“Sorry, mate.” James winced.

”No, no it’s fine.” He said, feeling guilty. “I’m happy for you, seriously.” Sirius grinned.

He began to root through a drawer (that James was certain wasn’t his) assumingly looking for a piece of parchment to write his name on. James looked down at his own parchment. Remus patted James on the back. 

“The workload won’t seem so large, soon.” He assured him. “When you get this down, these next two topic will be easy. It just takes practice.” James nodded, weakly. Then how come he had gotten it so fast? “Hey!” Remus exclaimed, catching sight of Sirius.”What are you messing around in  my drawers for?” He stood up to interfere. 

“You’re in trouble now.” Peter warned, though he seem rather amused as he unpacked the last of his clothes. 

“Just some parchment for the Goblet, Moony.” Sirius dismissed, finding a piece and snatching it from the drawer, victoriously. “Aha!”

“Ask next time.” Remus said, watching Sirius as he ripped a square of parchment off and grabbed a quill from James’s desk. He scrawled his name in his usual neat print across it and admired it for a second before folding it up. Once, then twice. 

“Sorry, sorry.” Sirius dismissed as he slipped the quill back to James. He picked it up, staring down at his own piece of blank parchment, which should’ve been filled with completed homework answers half an hour ago. 

As the other boys pulled on jumpers and mismatched trainers to accompany Sirius to the hall, James let his mind wonder. He dipped his quill into his red ink pot. He lifted it to his papers, a few splotches of ink staining the paper as he did. In big letters, he wrote his full name: ‘James Fleamont Potter’. He folded it once, then twice. He daydreamed for a moment of approaching the flame, watching it glow red and then back to blue again. 

He held the parchment in his hands and smiled. 

“Prongs, let’s go!” Sirius called from the doorway. James scrambled to hide the parchment, shoving it into his hoodie pocket before staggering to his feet, leaving his transfiguration textbook open and abandoned on his desk. Sirius rushed out of the door.

“Alright, alright calm down.” Peter said, starting after him. 

“Can’t!” Sirius replied already half way down the corridor. Remus smiled fondly as he followed and James walked at his side and the four of them made their way down to the Great Hall.

Before long, they were stood outside the huge doors that they had watched the other two schools walk through just two days earlier. The great hall was alive with chatter, students stood around the cup, admiring its vibrant flame. A seventh year girl dropped her name in and everyone cheered.

Sirius practically bounded up to it, Remus following behind him. 

James felt that bitter jealousy again, prickling his skin. How nice it would be, not to have to worry about work. To do something dangerous. To make Hogwarts proud. 

“Coming, Prongs?” Peter asked, making James jump out of his skin. Peter frowned. “Well, you’re being weird.” He observed. What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” 

Caught. 

“Weird how?” James played dumb. Not a good strategy against Peter.

“Well,” He sensed he’d made a mistake. “Whenever someone brings up the tournament you quiet and you’re looking at Sirius like you want to strangle him with his hair. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were jealous.” 

God damn it.

“Jealous?” He asked, his voice cracking slightly as he crossed his arms in attempt to look chilled out. Which is hard when you’re clenching everything so hard you feel fit to explode. Peter’s face melted into one of realisation. James never was a good liar.

“Oh Merlin, you are!” He exclaimed. James just shook his head vigorously but knew it was too late now. Fucking Peter and his stupid intuition. “James Potter, jealous! I never thought I’d see the day.” Peter chuckled to himself. “And of Sirius!”

“Be quiet you lunatic!” James whispered, smacking his arm. “Shut up! Sirius cannot know!” He said firmly. “Today isn’t about me: it’s about him. He deserves his moment.” Peter sighed, loudly enough to turn a few heads. 

“Oh, Prongs, don’t be so dramatic! You’re being stupid, you know?” Peter said. James frowned. “You are allowed to be jealous, you know? Just because you’ve never had to be before.”

“I know I’m allowed to be, I just…” He trailed off. “I don’t want to be. I feel like a lousy friend.” Peter made a ‘pfft’ sound. 

“You’re doing just fine.” He assured him. “Sirius is too wrapped up in his own excitement to notice, anyway. Just look at him.” Their friend was practically buzzing at the mere sight of the cup, circling it like a shark.  

“So, it’s not obvious?” He asked. 

“No it is.” Peter said. “Just not to him.” James sighed, watching as another student approached the cup. He held his parchment over the flame briefly, but quickly retracted his hand, afraid. James wouldn’t have hesitated. “You know, you don’t have to be jealous.” James glanced back at his friend. 

“What do you mean?” 

“I mean, what’s stopping you putting your name in there right now?” He asked. James thought for a moment. 

“I can’t fail another year of school.” He reminded him (and himself). 

“You didn’t fail.”

“I might as well of.” James replied. “I did the worst out of all of us.” Peter frowned. He didn’t do so well either, but it was true, that James had done the most poorly. It wasn’t that he didn’t try. In fact, he had to try the hardest. He just…wasn’t gifted like that. 

“You know, our NEWTS aren’t until end of next year?” He tried. 

“Yeah I know, Pete.” He interjected. Of course he knew. He had time. But two years still didn’t feel like enough time. 

A commotion was beginning to ripple through the great haul. The two boys looked up toward the cup. Sirius had produced his piece of parchment from his pocket and held it in his left hand, showing it off. 

A group of fifth year girls giggled and ‘whooped’, all going red in the face when Sirius gave a wink in their direction. He lived to entertain. 

“Get on with it!” Shouted a Gryffindor boy in their year. Sirius eyed him.

”You put your name in yet?” He asked. The crowd loved this. 

“I feel like living a few more years, personally.” The boy retorted. Sirius chuckled.

”Pipe down then.” And with that, Sirius dropped the paper into the cup. James’s breath hitched. The flame swallowed it up, turning maroon and back to blue. Like nothing had happened. Just another name. Remus clapped hands with Sirius and brought him in for a firm hug, patting him firmly on the back. A few others swarmed around them to congratulate him. 

He exhaled slowly. 

“James.” Peter said, turning to fully face him now. James mirrored him. “Can I be honest with you, mate?” He considered it. 

“Go on, then.”

”Man up.” He said, instantaneously. James frowned, going to speak but Peter didn’t let him. “Think about it. They wouldn’t host this competition and specifically provoke and invite sixth and seventh years to join, if it was going to affect our studies that badly, now would they?” 

He guessed not.

“I guess not.”

”No they wouldn’t.” He confirmed. “Dumbledore said himself, there would be three tasks. You think three tasks are going to set you back that far on your work?”

”Well-”

”You’re telling me, the James Potter can’t handle three extra tests? Three hours of your whole year. That’s going to set you back so far you’ll fail your NEWTS?” He asked. “I can’t lie, that’s pathetic.” 

And it was. 

He was being stupid. Stupidly stupid. 

The tournament was but a mere fraction of his year. A fraction in which he would bring pride to Hogwarts, entertain and have some fucking fun. He was made for this. He had to do it. And what was the likelihood he was picked anyway? Slim to none. Huge numbers of Hogwarts students put their names in everyday! 

It had to, just had to, be worth a try.

”You’re right.” He finally admitted. 

“Say that again.”

”No.” 

“Fair enough.” James exhaled, adrenaline beginning to course through his body. 

”I’m doing it.” He said. “I’m going to do it.”

”Don’t just talk a big game.” Peter said. “I know you’ve already got your name in your pocket.” James cocked his head.

 “How did you-” 

“You’re so predictable.” Peter reached into James’s hoodie pocket, pulling out the folded parchment. He grinned. “Go on.” James turned to the cup. He was momentarily stunned when he did. “Blimey, is that-” Peter began.

“Regulus?” James heard Sirius mutter under his breath followed by a string of french words he didn’t catch. He guessed they were curses.

But Sirius didn’t make any attempt to stop his brother as his hand rose to the flame and he dropped his piece of parchment inside, in sync with Evan and Barty, who stood either side of him. The two brothers made eye contact for a short moment but neither said a word. They hadn’t talked since their fight in the courtyard, as far as James knew.

Regulus’s eyes caught his and James broke the stare. Having been friends with Sirius for bearing six years now, he knew never to entertain or involve himself with his brother. Akin to having a Beauxbatons girlfriend, while being best friends with Marlene. 

The three boys didn’t stick around, making their exit from the hall as soon as they dropped in their names. The girls, whose eyes were previously trained on Sirius, now watched them leave, with newfound interests.

“Didn’t take Regulus for someone who’d be interested.” Peter admitted. James watched Remus try to approach Sirius, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sirius ignored the gesture and made for the doors, disappearing into the corridor. Remus took a breath. He followed him.

“Me neither.” James agreed, halfheartedly. He himself, thought Regulus was just the type. Anything to better his brother. The two of them made for the cup, the heat from it radiating off onto James’s face as they came to look up at it. 

“Ready?” Peter asked, handing him his name. 

“Let’s find out.”

He watched the paper burn up. 

Chapter Text

The Marauders had decided to make use of the last of the Summer heat before September really kicked in, and Autumn truly began.

It was Saturday, and the eight of them had taken lunch down to the Quidditch pitch. Practices didn't commence until next week, so it was stark empty.

Marlene, Sirius, James and Dorcas had brought their broomsticks down with the intention of doing a couple of laps of the pitch to re-adjust to flying. They had got distracted, of course, and were now all engaged in a two v. two game of Quidditch, which they were all taking very seriously. Dorcas and James were up by a few points but team Marlene and Sirius weren't far behind.

Below them, Peter and Remus were watching intently and betting their room's largest chest of drawers on who they thought would win. Mary and Lily talked in hushed tones, unaware of the intensity of the game above them.

Sirius called for ‘time out’ and dived back to the ground as Marlene called after him in protest.

”I think we tired them out.” Said Dorcas. She and James high-fived.

“Watch it, you two.” Marlene warned, “Just you wait for the next half.” She said, before swooping down to join the rest of their friends on the grass. Dorcas just shook her head as she and James followed.

Sirius was already sprawled out on the grass by the time the three of them reached the ground.

“I hope you have more stamina than that if you get picked for the tournament.” Peter said as Sirius panted in exhaustion.

“Just you wait and see, Wormtail.” Sirius said, taking a long gulp from his water bottle.

“Oh I will.” Peter responded, bemused. “Hogwarts is waiting on your pretty first place ribbon.”

“So long as Hogwarts beats Beauxbatons, I’m happy.” Marlene said, sprawling herself down across Dorcas’s legs like a cat would. James was itching to ask why but he knew better.

“Speaking of the other schools,” Lily said, “Look at the pitch entrance.” The group turned.

Walking in perfect formation were seven Durmstrang students. Easy to identify. They were stony faced, as usual, not talking amongst each other just marching on toward the middle of the field. The majority of them sported buzz cuts and James wondered if the school encouraged them to shave their heads, like that. He guessed less hair was less distracting.

One boy, with all his hair still intact, seemed to be the leader of the group. He walked in front of the other boys. His hair was dirty blonde, curly and cut into a mullet. He had stern features, a strong jawline and a hooked nose. James knew he couldn’t have been more than a year older than him, but he could’ve easily passed for being in his early twenties. The whole team could’ve, actually.

The boys marched over to the eight of them and James realised they were holding broomsticks. Wearing uniforms. The uniforms were red but nothing like the dark burgundy of the Gryffindor uniforms. They were that blood red, the same as Durmstrang capes and coats.

“We were told we could use your pitch for practice.” The leader, who must’ve been the captain, said. His accent was thick and his voice was deep. The group eyed each other. Marlene mouthed something inappropriate. 

“Oh, sorry.” Mary spoke up after a moment, “We thought the pitch would be free today.” She stood up and brushed some stray bits of grass off of herself. The boys on the team started. James didn’t blame them. One of them other boys mumbled something in a language that he didn’t recognise, before swinging a leg over his broomstick and taking off, quaffle tucked under his arm.

The rest of the team quickly followed, leaving only their presumed captain still on the ground. He stared at them. They took the hint and started to get up from the ground too. The boy with the quaffed under his arm yelled down to him. He gave a quick nod of approval to the group before taking off to join the other boys.

“Come on, I was hungry anyway.” Sirius said. He didn’t like being told what to do. “Anyone fancy raiding the kitchens?” The group gave a few shouts of agreement and started to make their way back to the castle. 

Getting to the Hogwarts kitchens from the Quidditch was a bit of a trek. First, one had to walk up to the castle, which was a journey enough in itself. The next step was to take a series of narrow, winding passages that branched off from the main corridors. It was a bit of a squeeze, with eight of them walking in a cluster, all walking shoulder-to-shoulder.

So it was obvious that something was wrong when Marlene halted in the middle of the corridor, as this made Mary crash right into her back with an ‘oomph’ sound. 

“Marls, what-” She began to complain but the other girl just shushed her, putting a finger to her lips. The group exchanged frowns but, despite their confusion, stayed quiet.

It was then James became faintly aware of hushed voices coming from slightly further away in the castle. It sounded they were coming from just around the next right turn. They were the voices of girls, but not any that James could identify.

In all the time the eight of them had been sneaking down to the Hogwarts kitchens (which was longer than any of them would like to admit) they had never seen any other students down this corridor. The hall led only to the kitchens, not intersecting with any other passages, so there was no need for anyone to pass through. Only kitchen staff. But these were teenagers, James was sure.

James strained his ears to listen to the girls but found he couldn’t understand a word of any of it. All of them were speaking French. They must be Beauxbatons.

“Padfoot.” James whispered, “Help us out would you?” Sirius nodded, placing a finger to his lips. 

“They’re talking about the tournament.” He said after a moment, pausing briefly again. “Sounds like they all entered their names in.” 

“How many of them are there?” Lily asked. 

“Four, I think?” Sirius guessed. “Okay…now they’re talking about the other schools.” 

“Anything about us?” Mary asked as one of the girls laughed.

“Hang on.” Sirius said, putting a hand up. “They’re talking about Durmstrang boys mostly. Nothing special.” He rolled his eyes. “One of them seems to have their eyes on that bloke from earlier…the blonde one? He was the captain I reckon.” James nodded. “She’s definitely interested, she says.” 

“Understandable.” Mary hummed. 

“Hm.” Sirius seemed unconvinced. “Okay shut up, now they’re talking about Hogwarts.”. The group leaned in eagerly, apart from Marlene who listened on her own accord, expressionless. “One of them thinks one of the teachers here is up to no good.” 

“Do tell.” Peter encouraged, gossip-hungry as ever. 

“Shut up, Wormtail.” Sirius hushed. “No they’re talking about a girl now.” He said. “Oh they really don’t like her.” Peter raised an eyebrow in interest.

“Go on.” He encouraged.

“She’s entered in the tournament too, apparently. They think she’s strange, a freak. Something about vermin? They’re talking too quietly now. Probably heard you, you loud mouth.” He said to Peter. He strained to listen further. His face fell slightly as he picked up some new dialogue. “Oh-” 

“Let’s just go. This is boring.” Marlene suddenly cut in a little too loudly. The girls stopped talking entirely, hearing her. She didn’t seem to notice, or care, just grabbed onto Sirius’s arm. “You said you were starving didn’t you?” She snapped.

Sirius’s brow was creased as he nodded.

”Uh, yes. I did say that. Yeah, I am.” He said, eyes not leaving Marlene as she turned sharply on her heel to continue walking, pulling him along. He muttered something in french to her as they walked. She ignored him. 

James fell into step with Remus, sandwiched between him and the stone wall of the passage. 

“I’m worried about her.” Remus admitted. James frowned. 

“Marls?” He nodded. “Why?”

“Because. I have a good feeling I know who those French girls were talking about.” He responded, peering at Marlene as she rounded the corner. 

The group of four Beauxbatons girls turned the corner at the same time as her, watching her closely but keeping at a distance. They looked about the same age as them.

All of them had the same features, blue eyes, pale skin and blonde hair scraped back tightly into a pony tail, or braid or bun. Well, all but one of them. This girl was the shortest of the group and had long, shiny light curls which she wore down her back and her perfectly modelled nose was splattered with freckles. She simultaneously contrasted the group but somehow fit in perfectly. 

They shuffled awkwardly squeezed past the group, laughing amongst each other awkwardly. One of the blonde girls winked at Remus, who smiled back. He face fell neutral as soon as she had passed.

“You think they were talking about, Marls?” James asked. 

“Well, Sirius said they mentioned vermin.” Remus said. “Probably had something to do with Ziggy.” He explained. He made a ‘oh’ sound of understanding. 

Marlene had, for as long as James had known her, owned a pet ferret called Zigzag whom she adored. To her friends, he was known as Ziggy as a tribute to David Bowie’s, of course (Lily’s idea). Marlene loved him, and loved him so much, in fact, that her mother had begged the school to allow her to keep him as her pet, rather than an owl, cat, toad or rat. Marlene had no interest in the mundane and the usual.

She took Ziggy anywhere she was allowed to, with the exception of their transfiguration lessons. She refused to perform any spells on her beloved animal. Ever. ‘It’s fucking abusive’. She kept his coat pearly white and brushed his teeth every evening. He even had his own tiny little hairbrush, from Tiffany, no less. To James’s knowledge, the animal was a few years old, meaning she’d had to have had him during her time at Beauxbatons. 

Though, Zigzag was far from vermin. Probably the most spoiled animal James had ever met. 

“You think those girls have something to do with why she left?” He murmured. He doubted Marlene would’ve stood for anyone referring to her beloved pet as ‘vermin’. 

“Maybe.” Remus replied. “Though it seems unlikely Marls to give up on a school just because of four prissy sods. It had to have been more than that. But, regardless, we should leave it.” As usual, he was probably right

If Marlene wanted to tell them what happened she would.

The rest of the day was filled with more awkward interactions as the schools new inhabitants roamed the castle, with the seemingly emotionless boys from Durmstrang marching about, and posh-girl Beauxbatons eyeing up everyone who walked past. James had a feeling this new schooling arrangement was going to take a while to get used to. It was going to be a long year.

Chapter Text

A few days later, the school was buzzing with excitement. Dumbledore had announced at breakfast that morning, that in the evening, the competitors for the Triwizard Tournament would be announced. 

Of course Sirius was practically on Cloud Nine. The Tournament was all he talked about, no one else could get a word in edgeways. His good spirits were unbreakable. Well almost. James would often catch him coldly staring over at Regulus whenever his brother was around. 

Regulus stared back with the same cold glare and same sea green eyes. They would hold eye contact for about seven seconds (yes, James was counting) and then break the stare at the exact same time, looking away and going back to whatever they were doing. As if nothing had happened.

It was uncomfortable to say the least. But no one dared say anything about it. The only acknowledgement their interactions received was a nervous clearing of the throat from Dorcas.

However, this was the only sign of any hostility within Sirius at all. 

Before dinner on the night of announcement, the group had decided to meet in Marlene, Mary and Lily’s dorm. It was bigger (and significantly more clean) than the one that James, Peter, Remus and Sirius shared, and no one fancied tracking down to the dungeons to Dorcas’s cold room. 

They all lazed around on the beds, or the large animal fur carpet on the floor. A record played quietly in the background, creating a pretty ambience. Mary sung along to it, absentmindedly. 

James poured over his ‘Care of Magical Creatures’ textbook. He stared at a diagram of two squat, furry creatures with razor sharp teeth. The textbook insisted that they were different, but he was having trouble coming to the same conclusion. 

“They look identical to me.” He mumbled under his breath. Remus asked if he needed any help and he declined, determined to make himself understand. But the more he started, the more similar the creatures looked. 

Everyone was talking too loud, Mary’s singing, Sirius and Remus talking in hushed voices, Lily turning the pages of her book. He wanted to slam his book shut and enjoy what should’ve been leisure time. But it couldn’t be. No, he needed to understand this first. 

Dorcas had announced they should probably head down about twenty minutes later, and Sirius had sprung up and rushed to the door, encouraging everyone else to ‘hurry up’. James pulled his eyes from the page, disheartened. Perhaps he’d ask Professor Elm during dinner. 

Sirius wolfed down his sausage and mash and chugged his glass of water as if it would hurry the rest of the hall along. James ate slowly, the food tasing like sludge in his mouth. He couldn’t enjoy his food, anxieties about his studies occupying his thoughts.

It wasn’t just ‘Care of Magical Creatures’, it was all his classes. The work was pilling up. The further he got into his courses, the less he understood. It angered him, that his friends seemed to stay on top of things so easily. They never worked during leisure hours, never stayed up ridiculous hours finishing notes. Why couldn’t he do it? What was he doing wrong?

Sirius cursed the Beauxbatons for their polite mannerisms that meant they ate slower than everyone else. Marlene happily joined in.

James decided he wasn’t hungry, pushing his plate away. At the same time, Dumbledore dimmed the light in the room by shrinking the fires on the lights down to a smaller size and turning them a blue colour- the same as the fire in the Goblet, which had now appeared at the front of the hall, in front of the professor’s table. He called for quiet. The room fell silent and students from all schools exchanged glances of excitement. 

“Now!” He called. “The time has finally come for us to announce the competitors for the Triwizard Tournament!” Cheers and applause erupted across the room. James was sure half of the noise was coming from Sirius, who clapped so loudly it made his head hurt. “Let’s begin with the lovely ladies of, Beauxbatons.”

Sirius groaned and Lily shushed him.

Dumbledore approached the Goblet at an aggravatingly slow pace. By the time he arrived, even McGonagall’s eye was twitching in anticipation. He walked with his hand outstretched and slowly the fire began to morph from that blue into dark pink.

A pin could’ve dropped. 

The fire within the Goblet seemed to waver, shaking with nerves, before it spat out a piece of parchment and turned back to blue again. The parchment had been rolled up neatly, a scroll, fastened with a piece of baby pink, silk ribbon that had been tied into a perfect bow. 

Dumbledore removed the bow carefully, allowing the fabric to fall. It disappeared mid-air, his work no doubt. He stared at the scroll through half-moon spectacles.

“Daphne Dumont!” He read.

The Beauxbatons girls instantly erupted into claps and shouts of delight. A girl rose from her seat. Marlene let out a choked laugh.

James recognised her. It was one of girls they had seen just a few days before, in the hallway while on their way to the kitchens, he realised: the girls who had been talking about Marlene. 

Daphne made her way to the stage, that curly brown hair bouncing under her blue hat and her smile dazzling. She shook Dumbledore’s hand firmly and stood with her hands interlocked behind her back, next to the Goblet. 

She looked clever, surveying the rest of the students like she knew something they all didn’t. She probably knew a lot of things that James didn’t. It seemed everyone did. 

“That girl.” Marlene said, “Is the fucking devil.” The group knew better than to question why. They just nodded.

“Now, the Durmstrang champion.” Dumbledore called. Sirius let out another exasperated noise and Lily didn’t bother correcting him this time.

Again the Goblet spluttered, the flame changing from blue to bright pink and spitting out other piece of parchment straight into Dumbledore’s hand. He unfolded it.

“Ivan-” Dumbledore pronounced a last name James couldn’t understand. It sounded Russian, maybe Ukrainian? James geography was sub-par at best. 

A boy stood up and James saw that he was the Durmstrang quidditch captain. He was sure to be a strong competitor, he thought. Tall, muscular, he had the strength. ‘But did he have that wit that Daphne seemed to have?’ He wondered. After all, the contests were both physical and mental. 

The Durmstrang boys cheered loudly clapping Ivan on the back as he walked down to the stage. A smile of pride had somehow worked its way onto his stoney expression. He took his place to Daphne’s right. They nodded at each other in recognition. The height difference was striking, with Daphne so tiny she barely reached past Ivan’s shoulder.

“And finally, the Hogwarts champion.” James’s eyes fell on Sirius. He seemed to sparkle, not averting his gaze from the Goblet even for a second. He allowed himself to smile at his friend. He deserved to be picked. He would fit in with the other two at the front.

The Goblet spluttered one final time, the flame turning pink and coughing out one last name. Dumbledore unfolded the parchment. The corners of his mouth tilted upward. Sirius’s sat up straight. 

“James Potter!”

Time slowed. 

James heart plummeted and he swore he could feel it leave his body; fall through the floor. Eyes from all over the hall pierced his skin from every angle. It created heat that spread across his skin. 

It was like he had forgotten all about that night with Peter. He had put his name in that goblet. He had expected nothing to come of it. His name was just supposed to fill the void, a meaningless addition, filling empty space. A part of the collective. Never to be picked. 

How stupid he was. 

James didn’t move. Couldn’t move.

This couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be. He was dreaming again. Yes, that was it, he must be dreaming. One of those nightmares, like when you dream of all your teeth falling out, or coming to class naked. 

But the grip Remus and Lily had on each of his arms as they hauled him up and pushed him forward felt so real? His feet walked to the Goblet on their own accord and he stood next to the other two competitors, his competitors, looking blank. This would usually be the point at which he awoke.

But he didn’t. 

Dumbledore droned on, congratulating the chosen students. James was faintly aware of Dumbledore mentioning his name again during the speech, but didn’t hear in what context. 

He straightened up, suddenly very aware that he was in front of the entire school and guests. Faces started back at him. Younger and older students alike looked up at him in awe, whispering amongst each other in recognition and what James hoped was excitement. 

‘Hogwarts is sure to win, now.’ He imagined them saying. 

He searched for his friends. 

They stared back at him, utterly dumbfounded, gawking at him like he was an exotic animal in a zoo. Lily mouthed something at him: ‘since when?’. He just shrugged. ‘Later’ He mouthed back, subtly as he could. James’s eyes flicked to Sirius. Oh.

Sirius.

Guilt hit him hard and suddenly. Like a train.

He stared right at him. An expression James had never seen on him before. It looked to be some bitter concoction of anger, disappointment. Jealousy. 

It was only then did it occur to him that he hadn’t told his best friend that he had entered his name into the goblet. Fuck, why hadn’t he done that? He had meant to, he swore he had. He just…he just hadn’t had time.

Hell- he had forgotten himself he had even submitted himself until that very moment. As soon as he and Peter had arrived back from the hall the evening he did, his work had swallowed him whole again. 

He tried to communicate his excuses to Sirius using his eyes, but the message wasn’t relayed. The look on his face, in his eyes, remained unchanged. He had to look away. 

He was met with a carbon copy the same pair of eyes he was trying to escape. But these eyes did not look at him in the same way. 

No, the look on Regulus’s face was indistinguishable. He didn’t seem to be affected by anything going on at all, just staring at James with a look of neutrality. To him, it was just another Thursday evening. Dumbledore was giving another boring speech, students were slightly restless. In some completely unfathomable way, it was actually quite comforting. Some disinterested consistency amongst a dramatic turn of events. 

‘You’re fucked’ He mouthed. 

Chapter Text

James didn’t return to his dorm for a good long while that night. He feared Sirius’s cold glare. 

He stayed up in the girls’s room, caught by McGonagall on his way out and just managing to charm his way out of having points deducted from Gryffindor.

‘Just because you are a victor does not mean you can roam the castle as you please ’

’Sorry, professor. Shan’t happen again.’

She wasn’t convinced, but excused him anyway.

The girls congratulated him, reassuring that Sirius would get over his disappointment in the coming days. Marlene made him promise to beat Beauxbatons. He nodded along and she seemed satisfied.

He’d come back to his own dorm around one and didn’t get to sleep for a while. He had to be dragged out of his bed that morning by Peter, telling him to get up before he missed breakfast. 

He’d been kept up by thoughts of the tournament. Thrill coursing through him at the thought of victory, the school chanting his name. 

He daydreamed about this same fantasy over breakfast which was tedious. His friends purposely avoided the topic of the tournament entirely, all acting as if nothing had happened the night before. Sirius was uncharacteristically quiet and hadn’t acknowledged James all morning. 

He knew it was just a matter of letting wounds heal overtime. Sirius would move on soon enough, forgive James for not telling him he had entered his name and find something else to focus on. The same thing had happened when James had been named Quidditch captain at the end of last year.  

Dumbledore requested that three victors stay behind after breakfast, prompting Sirius to get up a moment later, leaving his breakfast half-finished. Marlene snorted.

”Drama queen.”

James ate his toast as slowly as possible watching everyone else disperse from the hall. Lily left last, wishing him good luck before catching up with some of her Ravenclaw friends.

James stood from the table and approached Dumbledore, following the other two victors. They walked with confidence that rivalled his. He guessed that’s what this was. A rivalry. 

He wondered if what they were approaching was their first task. He wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion, in his school robes. The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons uniforms didn’t appear to allow for much agility either. 

“Victors.” Dumbledore greeted. James struggled to understand why they were called victors, they hadn’t won anything yet. “We have a very esteemed guest here to speak with you, about the tournament.”

The woman couldn’t have been older than twenty. 

She had hair so blonde it was almost white, curled in tight ringlets that fell to her shoulders. She was clad in all-yellow, head to toe. Her glasses were studded with yellow rhinestones to match her attire. Through those square lenses, James saw something twinkling in her eyes. Mischief. 

Dumbledore explained she was a junior journalist.

Well, that explained it. 

“Rita Skeeter, pleasure.” She introduced, vigorously shaking all of their hands one by one. He glanced at Ivan and Daphne who looked skeptical. “I work for the Daily Prophet and we were hoping to do a section about the tournament as it is, as it is, of course, a legendary event.” She jabbered. “I would love, just love, to get an interview with each of you.” 

Ivan coughed.

Daphne was the first to speak up.

“I don’t see why not.” She shrugged. It was the first time James had heard her speak and her British accent was flawless. 

“Fabulous!” Rita said, grabbing her tightly by the arm, her yellow nails digging into her arm. Daphne eyed her, indignant as she dragged her away into a corridor that attached to great hall. They must’ve ventured far, because the boys couldn’t hear a word after they exited. 

They sat down on the Slytherin tables benches, wordlessly. Dumbledore had left to attend to business, only the two of them remained in the hall. 

“When you go for the interview.” Ivan said into the silence, his deep voice cutting tense air. James looked up at him. “Don’t tell her anything.”

“Why not?” He decided to entertain. Of course, he wasn’t stupid enough to go spilling personal secrets to The Prophet. 

“I don’t trust her.” He responded. “You shouldn’t either.” 

Part of James agreed, the other part of him instructed him strictly not to trust a word out of his competitors mouth.

“Well what do you suggest I say then?” He asked. “I can’t very well just sit there in silence.”

“As little as possible.” Ivan said, unaffected by his hostility. James did not respond, though he agreed. This Rita woman seemed like bad news. 

Daphne came back into the room about ten minutes later, shaking her head with her arms folded. She snatched up her designer handbag which she had left on a table and slung it over her shoulder. 

Rita peered round the doorway, her big green eyes catching Ivan as she beckoned him in next. He stood up and left. She licked her lips, looking him up and down, as if he were a meal. James repressed his sneer of disgust until she had left.

Daphne made to leave too, but not before he could call after her:

“What did she ask you?” Daphne turned around.

She looked like a movie star, her skin was glowing with the sun that seeped through the hall’s large window. The light illuminated her figure and made her appear as if she was outlined by gold. She shrugged.

“Things about home, school, stuff like that.” She said, “But I saw her notebook. She was using this quill. A enchanted quill. One that wrote for her. It was twisting my words while she acted as if she was listening sincerely.” He frowned. 

“You didn’t call her out on it?”

”She told me not to take any notice.” He paused, thinking through his next move. 

“Suppose I just don’t speak to her?” He asked. Ivan’s method. Daphne laughed.

“You can try, trust me I did, especially after that comment of hers. But she’s very persuasive.” She responded. James raised his eyebrows and leaned back, glad for some sort of comforting small talk. Ivan wasn’t all that re-assuring. But he remembered not to get too comfortable, stay frosty. They were competitors, after all. 

“You’re James Potter, right?” Daphne asked, adjusting her hat. It looked like a dollop of blue icing. She re-approached the table, which she placed her bag back down on, before sliding in next to him on the bench.

“Yeah, and you’re Daphne…?” Her last name had slipped his mind.

“Partridge.” She finished, extending her hand. He shook it, making sure to be more gentle than Rita Skeeter. Daphne Partridge.

“Your British accent is excellent.” He commented. She smiled.

“I’m actually not from France. Well I wasn’t brought up there anyway.” She explained. “My mother was English and my father French. They raised me in England but sent me to Beauxbatons to be more in touch with my french heritage. My dad. ”James made a sound of understanding. “I spoke the language already so it wasn’t that hard to get started there.” James nodded. “Do you-”

Daphne was cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps marching passed hall. They turned around just in time to see Ivan storming along the corridor, Skeeter hot on his heels.

“Young man, I urge you-” she began but Ivan just kept walking, without a word to her, just mumbling in his language to himself. Skeeter put her hands on her hips and sighed, stood in the doorway to the hall. James exchanged a look with Daphne. “Mr Potter,” Skeeter said, turning on her sharp heel to face him. “Let’s wrap this up on a high note.” She didn’t bother to go after Ivan. “Shall we?”

“Um, alright.” James said.

“Great.” Her voice coming out in a rather passive-aggressive whisper. James stood up, shoving his hands deep into his robe pockets. Rita directed him down the hall and pushed open the doors to an old, unoccupied classroom.

He made sit down at on of the desks but Skeeter shook her head. She walked on, right to the front of the classroom and took a seat at the professor’s desk. She crossed one leg over the other and pulled from her pocket a small notebook and quill. She grinned at him with red-painted red. 

“Right.” He choked out, after a painfully awkward silence. 

“Right.” She repeated. Her notebook quill floated from her hand, and hovered between both of them. She quill was poised, ready to take notes. “So, let’s get right into it. Starting with your family. Your parents?” He asked. James was momentarily stunned. 

“What about them?” He asked.

“Your father is Fleamont Potter I assume?” She asked. He nodded. “Inventor of Sleekeazy’s hair potion?” 

“That’s right.” He replied. He thought this interview was about the tournament?

“Well your family must be quite well off then! Considering how much he sold his company for. How many galleons was it, seven hundred, eight hundred thousand?” Her eyes were wild, quill already scribbling. James blushed. 

“We’re…well off yes.” He managed, feeling awkward.

“Quite?” Skeeter laughed. “I’m sure you’re more than-”

“I’m having trouble understanding why this is relevant to the tournament.” James said. Skeeter blinked rapidly. She frowned.

“Oh, I’m ever so sorry. How rude of me.” She ducked and her hair and her curls covered her face slightly. “To discuss finance with you. When you’re so young.” He frowned.

”You can’t be much older than me.” He replied, slightly self-conscious. She peered up at him with those big eyes and smiled.

”I’m older.” Was all she said. They went quiet for a moment, eye-contact unbroken. She really was pretty. James couldn’t remember the last time he’d been alone with a girl that wasn’t Lily, Marlene or Mary or Dorcas. A girl that wasn’t just a friend. 

“Not by much I bet.” He was pushing it. She didn’t seem to mind. It went quiet again.

”James,” She began, touching his hand. He raised an eyebrow. “I usually have a schedule for my interviews. Set questions. Things the prophet says I have to ask.” He nodded. Her hand was warm. “But, I like you. And I want the readers, my readers, to get to know you. Really know you. So they like you as much as I do. And I know they will.”

“Mhm.” He hummed. She hadn’t lifted his hand from his yet.

”So, I’m going to go a little off-script. Ask my own questions. Is that okay?” He was only half-listening. She couldn’t be older than twenty. Twenty three and the most. 

“No problem.” He confirmed. She smiled, gripping his hand.

”Perfect.” She let go of his hand to reach for her notebook and quill. To write herself. “Tell me about you. Who is James Potter?” 

He didn’t think this was what she meant by off-script, but cooperated. 

“What do you want to know?” She hummed.

”What’s your life like, here at Hogwarts?” 

”Great.” He responded, on instinct. “Been here since first year and now I’m Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor. I want to be an Auror after I finish school next summer.” She gasped.

”Fantastic. Big dreams, the readers will love that.” He felt a rush of pride. “Quidditch Captain. You must be very popular.” She winked. He shrugged.

”I’ve got good friends.” He was being modest. She knew it. 

“Tell me about them.” She let him talk for a bit, about the Marauders. He mostly spoke of Sirius and their antics, the trouble they got into, in an (admitted) attempt to impress her. Sirius was usually who was most popular with girls, and he had confess, it was fun to have the attention on him for once. Especially from someone older.

She scribbled down notes and stopped only to smile at him.

”Sirius Black.” She drew out every syllable. “The Noble House of Black, I assume? The French aristocrats?” 

“Right.”

”Interesting.” She hummed. “James, are you aware, that they’re involved with-”

“I know.”

“Ah, I see.” She nodded vigorously. “Sorry if I overstepped.”

”It’s alright.”

”Anyway.” Skeeter moved on. “Your friends. I wondered if any of them entered their names in for the tournament too? With most of you being Gryffindors. The brave ones.” She winked again.

”Yeah, yeah.” He was happy for the change of conversation. “Sirius did.” She wrote his name down, in pretty cursive. 

”I’m sure he was thrilled to see you were chosen.” He shrugged.

“Sure.” She raised a brow, tilting her head. 

“You don’t sound so sure.” She grabbed his hand again. “Remember, James, this is all just a casual conversation. You can trust me.” He thought for a moment.

“Well,” He began, “Of course he’s happy for me. Naturally there’s some tension. I mean I didn’t tell anyone I was putting-”

”James.” She stroked her thumb over his hand, shutting him up. “I understand.”

“You do?” He asked.

“Clear as day.” She replied. “And I will make sure, your story gets out there. That Prophet readers get a chance to really know you. By the time my article is published. Everyone is going to be routing for you.” He smiled, but couldn’t help asking:

”What about the other two?” He asked. “You don’t think people’ll want to rout for them?” She flashed him a pearly white grin. 

“Don’t worry about them, James. I’ll see you for our next interview.”

He walked back down the corridor, feeling light. He was so wrapped up in thoughts of his conversation with Skeeter, that he almost walked right into Daphne. She stood with the blonde girls he had seen her with earlier. 

“How’d it go?” She asked. James nodded. 

“Alright” 

“Crazy, isn’t she?” She said, looking to him for confirmation. 

“She’s not too bad.” He remained monotone. Daphne took the hint.

“Well, I guess we’ll see what the Prophet has to say about us in good time.” She turned on the toe of her black ballet flat, down a corridor, her friends stuck to her side. “Nice to meet you, James.” She called over her shoulder, her brown curls bounced as she walked off.

Chapter Text

Dumbledore announced that the first task was to commence in two weeks time but failed to mention exactly what it was. Just spewed something about how it was, ‘very dangerous’ or, ‘not for the light-hearted’. Something along those lines. 

James was beginning to feel some sort of pressure. 

Obviously, the tasks were magical and the students were encouraged to use spells and charms and such, but he was also brushing up on his hand to hand contact because who knew what they would throw at him. Balancing these practical skills with his schoolwork was already proving difficult. He had already been caught looking over defensive spells during a potions lesson by Slughorn. 

Sirius was barely talking to him, only sparing him a word when it was necessary, like if his ink ran out in class: he asked James to share or he would ask him to blow out the candles before bed. It was getting tiresome now. He wanted to tell Sirius about his interview, have him go over his Quidditch strategies. 

Meanwhile, Marlene rolled her eyes at the Beauxbatons, Dorcas had her nose in her textbooks, Peter made stupid remarks, everything was almost normal. Back to routine.

More than anything at the moment, James wanted Lily’s help with the tournament. She was clever and would probably figure out some way to find out what the first task was. And the second and the third. She would help him locate and learn the spells to he needed to fight whatever was being thrown his way.

But, the problem was, she was never anywhere to be found. It was very strange. Usually he and Lily could always be found at each other’s sides and when they weren’t attached at the hip, James knew exactly where to find her. But now he didn’t. It was just like back in the holidays. She’d make up a bad excuse to leave the group or just slip away and he wouldn’t see her until dinner that night. 

Though, thankfully, they shared most of the same classes, and she was always present at those and couldn’t escape him. But they couldn’t talk about the tournament there, Lily was too focused on the work. ‘N.E.W.T.S are coming up, James.’ She would say when he diverted from the work. James just nodded along. He knew that. Plus, arguments with Lily were never arguments that he won.

And so he found himself alone in the library, reading through books of defensive and offensive spells that would help him fight…well something.

There were some upsides to being Hogwarts’s victor. Quite a few, actually.

Students in the halls constantly clapped him on the back, cheered when they saw him. They asked if he was ready for the first task. He would respond that he was, ‘born ready’, a bit of a stretch. What mattered, was that he was excited. That he was going to win.

And while Lily couldn’t help him out, Marlene was happy to step in. She snagged some liquid luck from the potions room and gave it to him as an, ‘Triwizard Tournament welcome gift’. James thanked her profusely and she just brushed him off, telling him it was all for the good of beating Beauxbatons. 

James wondered often about her hostility towards the school. Daphne seemed nice enough, if they weren’t competitors, perhaps she could even be a friend to him. 

Sirius was cooling down, James had guaranteed luck and was eye-fucking a hot older journalist, the student body adored him. Things were looking up in James’s favour. Until Monday morning. When the article was published.

He was sat at breakfast with Mary and a Durmstrang boy she had made friends with the morning the paper came out. Aleksandar, his name was. He had been at the quidditch pitch the other day when the Durmstrang had interrupted their hangout for practice. He was the seeker, he said. Talented too, had been scouted for the Bulgarian team, so he said. But his parents wanted him to finish his studies first. He had impeccable manners and looked at Mary like she was the last woman on Earth.

All was peaceful, Mary ate cereal as her and James laughed at Aleksandar stories of his half-insane Quidditch coach. His strong accent and deep voice made the story ten times funnier.

The sound of something being slammed down on their table made him jump. Mary let out a small shriek of surprise and Aleksandar remained unbothered but his eye twitched in annoyance.

“What the hell do you call this?” Sirius asked- looking directly at James who frowned. Sirius jabbed at the newspaper he had just violently placed down. 

It was the Daily Prophet. The front page. 

There was a picture of the three of them on the front: him, Daphne and Ivan. A photographer (who James now realised was from the Prophet) had taken it the afternoon after interviews. Above the picture in big, bold letters read: ‘The Victors’. 

“Have a look through.”

James opened up the newspaper to the first few pages. There were three columns, one for each victor. He skimmed the page, frowning. They were not pretty to say the least. 

One read: ‘Daphne Partridge, the Not-So French Beauty’. The page claimed Daphne’s French heritage had been repressed all her life by her Father who was English and was only able to blossom when her parents got divorced and her mother had sent her to Beauxbatons. He could see what Daphne had meant about her words being twisted. From what she’d told him her mother just wanted her to be more in touch with her French heritage.

Ivan’s was shorter than hers, considering not much had been extracted out of him before he had stormed off. The title read, ‘Ivan Karkaroff, Silent But Deadly’. It read something along the lines of: ‘Mr Karkaroff has a fiery temper and refuses to answer any questions about his school- does Durmstrang mistreat its students?’. The column spilled out onto the next page ‘or is it his parents, suspected supporters of the dark lord-’

He winced, and stopped reading. 

Anyway, by now his eyes had caught his article. The title read, ‘James Potter and the Envious Friend’. Oh, Merlin, no. The paper went on to make up some complete nonsense about how one of James’s closest friends had developed a strong jealousy and hatred toward him due to his success in being picked for the tournament.

The worst of it all was the fine print at the bottom of the page signed: - Rita Skeeter (Junior Journalist)

How could he have been so stupid. Trusting a reporter? A Prophet reporter, no less? She had tricked him, manipulated him. She knew his angle. Teenage boy. Easily manipulated. Gullible.

“That fucking conniving-”

Sirius’s ears practically had steam shooting out of them as he clutched the paper in his palm. James stood up, snatching the paper from Sirius’s hands and ripping it in half, attracting the attention of a few students around them. 

“Sirius this whole article is a load of rubbish!” He told him, slamming the pieces of it back onto the table. “Nothing about the other victors in there is true and neither is anything in there about me! You think I’ve gone around saying you’ve,” he picked up one of the pieces searching for the phrase “‘Developed a bitterness and loathing’ for me?” He laughed at the preposterousness of it. “Sounds like me does it?” 

“You expect me to believe you?” Sirius sneered. “You think the article just made that whole story up from scratch? And my name?” James rubbed the side of his head.

“Well, no,” Skeeter was going to answer for this. “Look, I mentioned it-” Sirius let out a noise of triumph.

“I think that’s all you need to tell me then.” He turned on his heel to walk out of the hall. Marlene stood in the doorway, having just woke up, looking perplexed. She looked to say something like ‘what’s going on?’ To Sirius, following as he stormed off.

Regulus passed them as he entered. James watched him carefully. He watched his brother walk away and smiled to himself. A genuine smile. Like his brother’s downfall gave him unimaginable joy. He caught James’s eye as he came past him.

”Nice one.” He could’ve swore he heard him whisper. An actual compliment. He didn’t entertain this suspicion. 

James just sat himself back down begrudgingly went back to his pancakes without a word. He and Sirius hadn’t fought like this since third year when he had spilled the animagus transformation potions by accident and they’d all had to start again. That situation had taught him it was never any use going after him when he’s angry. Just let him cool off.

But how long would that take? He had embarrassed Sirius, publicly. This was a great offence. 

He could feel eyes on him. He turned around to t he Slytherin table. Where else would eager eyes on a Gryffindor fight be coming from?

Barty and Evan looked at him square, unflinching when he stared back. Evan leaned over, whispered something in his friend’s ear. Barty grinned, showing pointed teeth. James raised an eyebrow at them.

“Problem?” He called out. Neither replied. Regulus sat down. 

They greeted him went back to their food.

“James, you didn’t really say all that about Sirius did you?” Mary asked, voice quiet. 

“Of course not.” James snapped. Mary frowned and he softened his tone. “He’s my best friend.”

“I know that, but… well, if the reporter was trying to rile you up… you know sometimes people say things they don’t mean.” She said. “The Prophet are sneaky like that.” Her mother had worked as an editor there in her youth, he recalled. 

“I know, Mary, but I didn’t.” He replied, with a sigh. “It was that fucking crazy journalist.”

”What? The woman? The one that-”

”Yes, Mair, that one.” He groaned, embarrassed. 

“What woman?” Aleksandar cut in. He plucked a half of the newspaper off of the table and searched for the writers name. “Rita Skeeter.” There was a small picture of her in the corner of the page. In the photo, she clutched her quill and notepad close to her chest and winked. It wasn’t thrilling anymore. In fact, it was bothersome. “Pretty thing.” Mary snickered.

”She’s evil.” James said as he balled up his half of the paper, turning around to launch it at a Slytherin second year, who let out a small yelp.

“Durmstrang will be in trouble, now.” Said Aleksandar. 

“Why’s that?” Mary asked, stirring her left-over cereal milk with a spoon, absentmindedly. 

“The Government will launch an investigation. Abuse of students. They think it happens in our school.” He seemed unbothered. 

“Does it?” Mary asked, eyes wide. He laughed.

”No. Just strict.” The Durmstrang students were suspiciously well-behaved. The Wizarding Government weren’t used to magical teenagers being that way. No one was. “But I feel sorry for the girl.” He said. 

“Daphne?”

”Yes, her.” He said. 

“From what she told me her family life’s fine.” James said. “Another load of lies from Skeeter to ruin things. Who’s surprised?” 

“Mad your girlfriend’s beastly?”

“Shut up.”

”What will you do, James?” Aleksandar broke up the banter. James looked to him. 

“What’d you mean?” 

“Your friend.” He clarified, nodding toward the door Sirius had just exited from. 

“He knows I wouldn’t say what’s written in here” He said, pointing to remains of the paper. “And if he doesn’t, he doesn’t know me. If he wants to sulk then he can be my guest.” Mary’s rolled her eyes. 

“You boys are just as bad as each other. Just try not to be dramatic about this whole thing.” She told him, getting up and slinging her black leather handbag onto her shoulder. “We’ve got charms and you know how Flitwick hates it when we’re late.” She told James. He groaned loudly, forcing himself up. “We’ll see you later.” 

Aleksandar held up a hand in farewell as the two of them made to leave. 

”He’s fit.” James commented. 

”Right?”

”You two shagged yet?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Chapter Text

The first task was approaching with haste and pressure was beginning to accumulate. 

It had been fun to revel in his popularity for a while, but now he was just getting stressed out. It wasn’t a good look for him. 

His piles of homework kept him up half the night and Peter practically had to drag him out of bed in the mornings in time for lessons. He had gone hungry too often in the mornings, having missed breakfast too many times for his liking.

Sirius still wasn’t talking to him- which was fine by him. If he wanted to be an idiot, believing James would ever say things like that about him, then who was James to stop him? He didn’t need his help anyway. He was the one who was picked to compete. He didn’t need him at all.

Lily was still out of it and so were the rest of his friends, all unsure how to deal with the fight between him and Sirius. He was aware that they were in an awkward situation. Sirius and he had never fought like this before. Any squabbles between them were always quickly resolved with a five minute breather, a laugh and a quick pat on the back. Perhaps not this time. 

The tournament’s first task was in two days. He’d done everything he possibly could to prepare. But he still didn’t feel ready. He spent most of his time in class conjuring different scenarios regarding the events of the first task. 

His teachers would scold him shake their heads but ultimately didn’t mind, assuming he was forming some sort of elaborate game plan for the first task. Which wasn’t completely untrue. Maybe if you skipped out the elaborate on the part.

Meanwhile, his parents wrote him almost everyday, requesting updates. How were his studies going? Was the tournament a terrible distraction from his classwork? If so they would demand Dumbledore have him pulled from the competition immediately. This threat horrified him, the thought of the whole school knowing he couldn’t balance some extra spells with his assignments? Or worse, thinking he had backed out, out of fear?

What if Sirius was chosen to take his place? Over his dead body.

’Everything is perfectly manageable, I’m doing just fine.’

But it wasn’t, really. He wasn’t on top of his work. In fact, if anything, he was underneath it and watching it pile up above him. And the first task wasn’t handled either. He still had no idea what he was going up against.

Until two days before.

It was Friday afternoon and it was an obscenely hot day for late September. 

Sun rays trickled like syrup into the classroom through stained glass windows, scattering hypnotic amber, blue, green beams across his desk. The sun had began to start setting earlier now. James was lucky enough to be sat right next to the window at the back of the room.

A mixture of lack of sleep, the peak of this damned heatwave, and the fact it was the last lesson on a Friday meant that James was half asleep against the heel of his hand. His motivation to remain awake fell short. The class huge, a mix of sixth and fifth year students, messing about and keeping any attention off of him. 

Care of Magical Creatures, was usually one of his favourite classes. But today Professor Elm had told them the lesson wouldn’t be practical, as usual, but instead more lecture-style, because the animals they were discussing were, as she put it, ‘too dangerous to be handled by you lot’. James hadn’t quite caught what exactly they were learning about, though.

Elm had been his favourite professor for a good few years. She was rather eccentric and didn’t take anything all that seriously. Unlike many other professors, she absolutely adored James. Where other professors chose to lecture him about his practical jokes being a ‘disruption to the class’, he too often spotted her trying to contain her laughter at his stunts. She was often put in charge of running detentions and always made up some excuse to excuse him early, telling them not to get caught next time.

But as much as he loved crazy Professor Elm, today’s class was extremely tedious. He kept nodding off, but was luckily sitting next to Remus who was vigilant in trying to keep him conscious.

‘They are to be handled with extreme caution and I would advise you not to approach them head on’…

Nudge.

‘You should never provoke a-’

Nudge.

‘It’s best to find a way to outsmart them instead of fighting-’

Nudge

‘Surprisingly intelligent creatures and-’

Nudge

‘That’s all for today, but please remember this information. You never know, it could come in very handy sooner than you all may think.’

Nudge. Nudge. Nudge.

“James!” He jolted. The classroom was empty. Even Elm was gone. “Lessons are over for the week. Come on.” He said, giving him a comforting rub on the shoulder. “Respectfully, mate, look like you need some sleep.” He stared back, straight faced.

”You don’t say.” Remus snorted.

”I’ve said I’ll meet Sirius at the Astrology Tower. Go back to bed.” 

“Planning on it.” 

“I’ll help you out with the Transfiguration homework tonight.” 

“Cheers, Moons.” Remus gave him a pat on the shoulder and slipped out. 

James rubbed his head and sighed. He remained still for a few moments. The sun hit his face and half-blinded him. He blinked a few times, before forcing himself up from his seat. He collected his things and rummaged around in his bag for some gum. He was fresh out. 

Remus was right, he really did need some sleep. And probably some paracetamol for the splitting headache he could feel starting up, hammering at the spot above his left eyebrow. He would ask Remus for the lesson notes later.

He pulled open the door, letting out an embarrassing loud yelp of surprise as someone flung it open at the same time. 

Grey eyes, sharp features, a tall figure grasped him by the front of his shirt. 

It could’ve easily been Sirius. But not with that head of curls.

“Regulus?” James asked, half-sure he was dreaming. He didn’t answer him, pulled him over to a desk. His grip was lethal and he couldn’t have broken free if he’d tried. “Regulus what the fuck are you doing?” 

“You.” He muttered, mostly to himself, “Are so fucking thick.” He tugged the buttons of his brown leather bag apart, and slammed down a copy of ‘Care of Magical Creatures- A Guide’. 

“What?” James asked still a little breathless with shock (and slight terror). Regulus now flicked through the book.

“Were you listening to any of that lesson?” He asked. 

“Uh, no?” He answered, watching as he finally settled on a page and motioned at it aggressively. James read aloud. “A guide to deadly creatures, chapter five: Dragons. Is that what it was?” Regulus made a sound of exasperation.

“Yes.” He said. Pause. He was waiting for an answer.

“Brilliant.” He tried. Regulus just groaned. James wondered what he wanted from him. Why he had chosen now to break down the invisible wall, established between them when Regulus had first stepped foot into Hogwarts in his first year, and Sirius had pointed him out to James, as his ‘obnoxious’, younger brother. 

“And why, do you think we are learning about dragons, James?” He pressed as if the answer should be obvious.

“Because our N.E.W.T.S are coming up?” Regulus rubbed the bridge of his nose. 

“We learned about Dragons in fourth year.” He spoke into his hand. Why do you think Elm would be doing it again? Give it your best guess.” 

“Well, she’s rather eccentric Regulus and you know her memory isn’t-” 

“Do I have to spell this out for you?” He said, irritated. “You know how to spell don’t you, James?” 

“Of course I know how to spell.” James snapped, getting annoyed now. Regulus didn’t even know him, yet he was disturbing his sleeping plans, had grabbed his by his collar and dragged him about the classroom and was now implying that he was stupid. Nevertheless, he craned his neck over the book, hoping the answer to his demand was contained within the pages. Regulus just slammed it shut.

“Look, you are clearly struggling to manage the tournament, that much is obvious.” James blushed, furiously. He was hardly struggling, he just…well. 

“Well that’s not-” Regulus ignored him.

“Don’t bother wasting your energy denying it. You’re always half-asleep and you’re not showing off about any plans to win.” This shut him up. “And Elm loves you, also obvious, yeah?” He nodded, slowly. “And she’s now, for some reason, teaching us about a topic we covered back in third year. Catching on yet?”

“No?” 

“Merlin.” Regulus mumbled. “Did you not hear or see her the whole lesson?”

“I…I was tired.”

“Well she was eyeing you and saying shit like, ‘Please remember this information. It could come in useful sooner than you may think’. So tell me, James, what do you think’s going on?” He asked.

Sooner than you think. Dragons. Eyeing him. 

Sooner than you think. Dragons. Eyeing him. 

Sooner than you think. Dragons. Eyeing him. 

Oh. 

OH!

“Dragons.” James breathed out. “That’s the first task.” Regulus sighed in relief.

“There you go.”

“Regulus…that’s…that’s brilliant.” He exclaimed, suddenly wide awake.

“It was common sense.” He deadpanned. 

James let things sink in for a second. Regulus had cracked it. Using some stupid perceptive bullshit he had cracked it. Dragons. That was what he was up against! It was Dragons! Dragons…

“Hang on, Dragons? Dragons is the first task?” He backtracked. “Oh fuck, no no no. Dragons? Like proper full grown Dragons? What did they want him to do? Slay a fully grown Dragon?” 

“James.”

Slay a dragon? It would take a fortnight just to cut through its neck! Those things were huge!

He could picture it now. A thirty-foot tall, scale-covered, dark green dragon looming over him. If it opened its mouth it would breathe fire across his face and leave burn scars down his body. Sear his skin. Or maybe it would just plain bear its teeth down on him and cut him in half with those sharpened teeth. 

Not to mention those wings- one knock with those things and he would be wiped out in three seconds flat.

“Regulus, I’m not having a laugh, I can’t kill a dragon.” He began, trying to repress distress. “I mean those things, they’re huge. Dad says they can grow to like-”

“James calm down.” Regulus stopped him, looking exasperated. “If you were listening you’d know dragons are protected and the Ministry doesn’t allow killing them. Under any circumstances, let alone for a game.” 

“Then what do they expect me to do befriend it?” He asked. 

“My guess is you’ll probably have to get through a certain amount of time with it or something, you’ll be fine. You’re good at spells and all.” He responded, packing his book back into his bag.

Absolutely not. No, Regulus was not leaving now. Not after he’d been smart enough to figure out what the first task was in one lesson. James had been working on it for two weeks. Not even Lily had come up with anything past the shadow of an idea.

“Not good enough to handle myself if they trap me in some cage with a dragon for an hour.” Regulus looked as if he was about to say something but James didn’t let him. “Look, clearly you’re cleverer than me. Even if I was listening during that lesson, I wouldn’t have picked up on a thing Elm was trying to hint at.” 

“The whole class probably knows it. She wasn’t holding back.”

”Just listen.” He went quiet. “Lily’s flaking on me and Sirius well…I don’t know if you heard about what happened with the paper…” Regulus chuckled. “Of course you did. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Point is: I just…you’re just-“

“Smarter than you?” Regulus asked. “You need my help to figure out the tournament? Come one help me out.” This seemed to entertain him. 

“Yes.” James sighed. 

“To which one?”

”I need your help, Regulus. Obviously.”

The room was silent for a moment.

“So, is this right.” Regulus began. “Sirius is pissed off at you?” 

“Yeah, guess so.” James replied with a shrug. “Why does that matter?”

“Don’t you think it would just get him even more riled up to see his best friend, who he’s currently feuding with, and little brother getting friendly over the tournament he thinks he’s entitled to a place in?”

It seemed as though he had read the article. Along with the whole rest of the school, too. 

“He doesn’t think he’s entitled-”

”I didn’t need an article to tell me what my brother’s thinking.” Said Regulus. “You think this-” He motioned between them. “Will piss him off?” James nodded. Regulus grinned. “Perfect. Let’s get started then.”

Chapter Text

James had decided to tell the other victors about his discovery about the Dragons. Of course, he wanted to win, but not because he had an advantage. He wanted to win fairly. He wasn’t sure they would do the same for him, but he didn’t particularly care. 

Daphne thanked him profusely and had headed in the direction of the library, perused by her blonde posse. Ivan had given his equivalent of profuse thanks, which was a flicker of a smile and a curt nod.

He’d received a note during study hall, in slanted and barely legible handwriting, instructing him to come to Regulus’s dorm that evening before dinner. He scanned around the room for the author but Regulus wasn’t in the class and Barty and Evan were nowhere to be seen. 

Dorcas had let the Slytherin common room password slip to him a few weeks ago so getting inside was a breeze. He took no notice of the dirty looks shot at him by Slytherin students as he walked through the dungeon. 

“What are you doing in here, Potter?” Someone asked. He ignored them. 

He spotted Dorcas sitting on one of the black leather sofas, Marlene slotted next to her and making her laugh. The girls spotted him and waved him over, Marlene slapping the spot on the sofa next to her.

”Take a seat, Potter!” She greeted. “Bit of a squeeze. You can sit on my lap if you like.” 

“Tempting.” He slotted himself down next to her and the leather creaked.

“What are you doing in here?” Dorcas asked. “Surprised the prefects haven’t bitten your head off yet.”

“You blend right in.” Marlene tugged on the fabric of his (comically on theme) army-green jumper. “Green’s a good look on you. Maybe you should’ve been a Slytherin after all.”

”In my nightmares.” He said. “No offence, Dorcas.”

“How am I supposed to not be offended by that?” 

“Yeah, sorry.” Dorcas being sorted into Slytherin would always be a great mystery to him. She could’ve been anything she wanted. Easily a Ravenclaw, with that brain of hers. She was brave and fierce when she wanted to be, easily a Gryffindor. Kind, considerate, level-headed like a Hufflepuff. She must’ve chosen this. James had heard some people got to choose. 

“What brings you here and how do we get rid of you?” Marlene lay her head on Dorcas’s lap and looked at him upside down. 

“Oh just…” He had been keeping this new formed ‘alliance’ with Regulus quiet and had yet to tell…well anyone. Though Regulus might’ve been, James didn’t exactly want it getting back to Sirius just yet. Or ever. Getting under Sirius's skin wasn’t worth the fallout. “Passing through.” Marlene raised an eyebrow. He loved her, dearly, but she wasn’t gifted at keeping secrets. Especially not from Sirius. 

“Passing through the dungeons?” Dorcas asked.

“Well, you know…” The girls exchanged a look. “No, I’m seeing a friend.” They made sounds of ‘oh’ and grinned at each other.

”Oh it’s like that.” Marlene winked.

”Sorry, what’s it like?”

”Your secret’s safe with us.” He frowned, not catching on. “I’m just glad it’s not a reporter this time.”

”This one’s not a reporter, is she?”

”Well, whoever it is, he shouldn’t keep the lady waiting.” He watched with disbelief as the conversation shifted its focus from interrogation to banter between the two girls. 

“Well you have fun with your friend.” Dorcas encouraged. 

“No, no.” James intervened. “Merlin, it’s not like that.” She just nodded but James could see the unconvinced look on her face. No matter. No harm done if they thought he was seeing a girl. In fact, he enjoyed the ego-boost. He stood up from the sofa. “By the way, she wasn’t a reporter, she was a journalist.” The girls snickered. 

“What’s the difference?” Asked Dorcas. He was never living this down.

”Have fun with your new friend, Potter.” Marlene said. ”Play nice.” He ignored the comment and made for the dormitories.  

A long, dark hallway was lit by a brown glow from an unknown source. The corridor was narrow and James felt like he was in some sort of labyrinth and the walls were closing in on him. He never liked the fact that the Slytherin common room and dorms were down in the dungeons, parts of them, even extending out under the lake. He couldn’t imagine being a first year, sorted and rushed here. Their new home for the next seven years.

He shuddered. 

Regulus’s dorm was one of the last few. He must’ve been under the lake, for he could hear a gentle noise above him, a quiet splash of water lapping against the ceiling.

He knew Regulus shared with Barty and Evan and was praying they weren’t on the other side of the door, waiting for him, Barty grinning that cruel grin. He partially still wasn’t over the train incident. 

He reached the door, about to knock before he became aware of muffled noises of shouts from inside. He frowned, recognising one of the overlapping voices as Regulus’s. He was speaking french. Which could mean very few things.

Sirius was yelling, voice now freely seeping through the dark oak of the door. Despite his better judgement, James pressed his ear to it. Why? He didn’t know. He couldn’t understand a word.

The shouting went on and a student from another dorm walked through the halls. He retracted his ear from the door. The other student paused for a moment, becoming aware of the commotion. He groaned.

”Are those two at it again?” A seventh year. They were always pissed. James shrugged at him. “Tell them to give it a rest.” He didn’t reply, watching the older boy disappear into his pitch black room. Merlin, exams were depressing. 

Inside the room, Sirius had gone silent at something Regulus had said. He might’ve whispered something back, but he couldn’t hear. They were quiet now. 

The door swung open and now Sirius was staring him: right in the face. Behind him, he could see Regulus brighten, smug from his four poster bed. James straightened up.

“Sirius.” He acknowledged. Sirius said nothing, but turned back to Regulus. 

“You remember what I said.” His tone was cold.

“No one wants you here, Sirius.” Regulus said. “Go back to Gryffindor.” He clenched his fists but said nothing, brushing past James without a word to him and walking off. James breathed out a sigh. “Ignore him.” Regulus said, motioning for him to come in. He couldn’t see Barty and Evan, so obeyed. 

“Wouldn’t that be nice.” He replied, allowing the door to swing shut behind him. Regulus hummed. “Where are your mates?” He asked. Regulus shrugged.

”They’ll be back at some point. Probably tomorrow morning.” James frowned.

”It’s Thursday.”

Regulus looked at him blankly. 

“Yeah.”

“Well.” Was all he could manage. It went painfully quiet. “Any particular reason I’m here?” 

“Careful. You do want my help don’t you.” He suppressed an eye roll.

”Yes.” 

“Thought so.” Quiet again.

”So?”

”Heard you told the other victors about the dragons.” Did he’s just have the castle house elves reporting shit back to him? First a note from nowhere and now he knew what James had been saying? Who the fuck was this kid?

”Yeah. I did.”

“James, you do realise they’re your competition?” He asked.

‘Oh, they are? Well, fuck me, I had no idea!’ He reminded himself firmly that Regulus was aiding him. 

“Yes.” He chose instead. “But I don’t want to win on some advantage.” Regulus sighed. “You think I need an advantage?”

”Did I say that?” He sensed was going to be difficult. Quiet again.

“Look.” He said eventually, unable to take one more second of this uncomfortable experience, so unusual for him. When was the last time he’d struggled with securing a friend? “I don’t think this is going to work if we don’t get on.”

“You think we’re not getting on?”

”Shut up a minute.” He complied. James took a breath. “We’re both gaining something from each other here, right? I’m helping you piss off Sirius and you’re helping me not fuck Hogwarts over with this tournament, yeah?” 

“Yeah.” He looked to be restraining himself from following this up with a remark. James went on before he could.

”Well, if you and I aren’t friends, Sirius is hardly going to be pissed and I’m hardly going to want to listen to anything you say.” Silence again as he processed. 

“Fair enough.” James let out an internal sigh. 

“I’ll tone the sarcasm down if you stop acting like I’m stupid.” He concluded. “Because I’m not.” This seemed to satisfy as Regulus extended his hand out to him. 

“Deal.” His skin was cold. “I’ve got a plan.”

Later, James walked back through winding corridors and out through the common room, Marlene and Dorcas now gone from the sofa. The background buzz of the Tournament in his mind had quieted for the first  time in a while. He felt secure, Regulus’s plan a protective blanket around his shoulders. 

He was smiling to himself as he pushed the door open. This stopped when he saw Sirius sitting on the window sill, wide awake and smoking a cigarette. The window was stiff and didn’t open properly. The room stunk. It wasn’t his usual stuff. 

“What did he want?” He asked. James was momentarily taken aback but remained stoic. 

“Speaking to me now are you?” He kicked his trainers off. 

“Can’t blame me after what you said about me to that bird from The Prophet.” Sirius said, taking a drag. 

“How naive are you?” He snapped back. “Why would I say that? To a journalist?” Sirius went quiet. “You’re always on about the Prophet twisting words and suddenly when it’s mean every word of it must be truth?” He pressed. Silence. He thought of being back in Regulus’s dorm. 

“What did my brother want with you?” He was avoiding the question. James’s words must’ve knocked some sense into him. A victory. 

“None of your business.” Sirius raised an eyebrow.

“He’s my brother.” He extinguished his cigarette on the wall, leaving an ashy, black mark. 

“I’m fully aware.” James replied. He was playing with fire, he knew he was. Sirius knew it too.

“Great, so we’re on the same page.” He swung his legs off the window sill and stood up. He was taller than James, but not by a lot. 

“I don’t think we are.” James wasn’t afraid. He approached him.

“Well then let me enlighten you, Potter.” Sirius came closer so they were face to face. He never used his last name. “You.” He prodded his chest. “Stay the fuck away from him.”

”Like you always have?” James asked. That was it. Sirius shoved him, hard and he went flailing backward into the wardrobe, slamming the open door shut with his body weight. He may have been shorter of the two, but he matched Sirius in his strength. 

So he shoved him back, sending him staggering back a few steps. He used this as an opportunity to push him further back, pushing him up against the wall. His head smacked against him and he groaned in pain. He managed to twist out of James’s grip, and leaned back before sending a hard punch to James’s mouth. Perhaps he was aiming somewhere else, it was too dark to see. 

James tasted metal fill his mouth and spat onto the floor, cursing. Sirius went to punch him again but he ducked under his arm, knowing his movements like his own. They thought the same. 

He elbowed Sirius in the stomach, winding him and causing him to double over, gasping for air. He spat more blood onto the floor. He went to hit him, somewhere, he hadn’t picked. 

“Stop it the both of you.” Remus. Both of the boys turned to see him, hair scruffy sitting up on his bed with the curtains pulled back. Their laboured breathing filled the air. “You’re both so fucking immature. What are we twelve? Grow the fuck up and go to sleep. And Sirius for fuck sake open the window when you have a fag. Fucking hell.” 

Much like with Lily, it was best not to argue with Remus. Ever, if possible. 

James felt Sirius give him one last glare before he drew the curtains on his own bed. James shook his head and looked to Remus. He muttered a quick ‘sorry’ for waking him up. He pulled his curtains shut without a word. 

Peter slept through the ordeal. 

Chapter Text

“I’m not sure I want to do this.” Peter told him as they walked. James glared at him.

“I thought you wanted to help me?” He replied. “You know, because you’re the one who was so desperate for me to enter this stupid tournament.” Peter sighed and looked at his feet as he kicked the dirt.

“Alright. Fine.”

“Yeah, it is fine.” 

He didn’t tell Peter that this was his only plan. 

A rat.

James and Sirius constantly teased Peter about his animagus and though it had been voted many a time, the worst animagus out of the three of them. The creature was dirty, unappealing, strange. Much like Peter himself.

However, it was undeniable that the rat was the most useful animagus. By a long shot. Usually for eavesdropping, but today: Peter would use his rat form to deliver a Sleeping Draught to the dragon during the first task.

Regulus’s plan was as follows:

Supposedly, Evan Rosier (who had been nameless to James up until a few weeks ago) was somewhat of a prodigy at potions. Slughorn’s prized student, apparently. Having never shared a class with him, this was news to him, but apparently, Evan was already well over halfway to a career as a successful potioneer. 

Regulus had formally introduced them.

”Ever heard of a Sleeping Draught, Potter?” Were the first words out of his mouth. “Well, it’s simple.” Evan described the potion as ‘simple’ yet ‘powerful’. “It takes about an hour. I could start you up one right now. The ingredients are simple enough.” 

“But where will you get them? Surely Slughorn would notice-”

Evan laughed. 

“Don’t worry about him.”

James came to learn that Evan practically had the professor wrapped around his finger. Whatever he wanted, he got. Just a question away. 

So Evan brewed the sleeping draught. He had slipped it into James’s pocket as they passed each other in the hallway, not sparing him a glance. Meticulously subtle- James hadn’t even realised it had happened until he sat down in his class and reached for his wand, feeling the bottle nestled beside it. 

So now he had a sleeping potion. Regulus had informed him that even the small quantity Evan had provided him with would be enough to knock out even the largest of creatures. The only dilemma left, was getting the dragon to actually consume the potion. It wasn’t as if they could serve it up in a champagne glass and expect it to knock the bottle back.

This was where James had got creative.

He’d slipped out late the night Regulus had proposed his plant to him, back in Slytherin, draping the invisibility cloak around himself and slipping right past Filch and his mangy cat as he left the castle. 

It hadn’t taken much searching through the Forbidden Forest before his ears picked up a roaring sound and felt hot hair flush against his face through the fabric of the cloak. 

The dragons were being kept in a gated, makeshift arena which could’ve only been conjured up by Dumbledore. He waited a while, pulling his jacket  around his shoulders. The air was getting colder now. 

Finally, it happened. He watched a man, short, not much older than himself, a tray nestled in his arms. He stood behind him, peering over his shoulders, having perfected silent breathing by now. On the tray sat three slabs of thick, red and raw meat. Mutton of some variety. 

“There’s a hollowed out in the rock of the arena.” A elder man told the boy with the food. “Bring the dragons out one at a time and make sure they eat from there. We don’t want them getting confused about their food sources. Or we could all be in danger. Know what I mean?” 

James shuddered.

Now the final issue- getting the potion into the arena. Unfortunately for James, Dumbledore had made it clear that the only thing the victors were allowed to enter the arenas for every task with: was a wand. Not a potion. 

That was where Peter came in. 

James was rather proud of his bit of the plan actually. If a teacher asked where the rat was from, he would explain he had borrowed Barty’s pet rat and enchanted it, so that it could deliver the potion to the dragon’s food. 

The plan was almost flawless. Of course, dragons were unpredictable creatures and it could just decide it wasn’t hungry that day and refuse whatever James served it, but hey, here was always the killing curse.

He wished he was joking.

James and the other two victors had been told to head over the same time as everyone else. They had been told specific directions but James was busying himself with planning while Dumbledore droned on so he hadn’t caught much. 

He followed some Hufflepuff third year girls for now, who squealed excitedly. They kept looking back toward him, waving through their giggles. He humoured them, a smile and half wave. They squabbled over who the gesture was directed at the rest of the walk. 

He watched as students filed into the Forbidden Forrest. He and Peter exchanged a look and James was reminded of a memory. When the two of them and Sirius and Remus had snuck out there during their second year. Only to be scared out of their skin by a unicorn. He wondered where Sirius was right now. Would he even come to watch?

The walk through the Forrest wasn’t too long and they soon reached a clearing. To James’s left was a large white tent, set up next to the arena he had found just a few days ago. 

“Potter!” A deep voice called out. Ivan was standing outside the tent, clad in all black with a blood-red cloak style jacket draped across him. He nodded inside, indicating James should join him. 

“We need to go.” He muttered to Peter. “You remember the plan?” 

“Yes.” Peter mumbled, unhappily. “I turn into Wormtail and put the stupid potion in front of whatever beast you get faced with.” James nodded.

“Good.” He replied. “You’re really doing be a solid here, Wormy.” Peter half hummed half groaned as James passed him the small bottle, initials ‘E.R’ inscribed in black lettering across the silver metal. “Find some place to change and I’ll be in the tent.” He jogged over and Ivan closed the flap behind him.

The tent was spacious and only a few people stood around inside. Daphne was already there, dressed similarly to Ivan. All black but her jacket baby blue like her uniform. She had pulled her curls into a tight bun at the back of her head. Her lip was bitten raw and bleeding slightly. She chewed it now. 

“Already hurt yourself?” James asked. Daphne noticed him. “Tournament hasn’t even started yet.” 

“I’ll be just fine.” She assured him. He smiled before they were both blinded by a bright white flash. Daphne covered her eyes and he winced.

“Merlin.” James looked around to see a photographer, camera clutched tightly in his hand. He said not a word to either of them before running off, disappearing from the tent. 

“Prophet.” Ivan said. 

“Just ignore them.” Daphne told him. Ivan gave a small nod. She turned to James. “You should go and get changed, your uniform’s in the changing room.” She said, pointing to his right.

He thanked her, briefly, before heading into a smaller room of the tent where sat a full length mirror with a uniform hanging on the front of it, blocking out his reflection.

It was almost identical as the attire of both Daphne and Ivan, apart from the fact that his cloak was completely black aside apart from his name, ‘Potter’ printed in white.

The look of his name, printed there, made him think of his father and caused a knot in his stomach. For the first time, it occurred to him that they would be watching him and a strong desire to make them proud built within him. 

He sucked in a breath. This was happening. Really happening. Now.

“Don’t you look dashing?” Daphne said. James snorted. 

“Doesn’t matter how I look if the dragon scorches me to death.”

“If that happens Ivan and I will step in, won’t we?” She asked, resting her hand on Ivan’s shoulder. He glanced at her.

“Well I appreciate it.” James nodded, but it wasn’t sincere. Her kindness made his suspicious. He hadn’t spoken more than a few words to her, aside from that day before the interviews. She seemed nice enough, sure. But was it all a ruse? Some sort of twisted plot to catch him off guard? Make him perform less than? Was she muttering a memory loss curse at him between her courteous words?

He didn’t have time to dwell on the matter further, as a moment later, a furry brown creature scampered under the flap in the tent a silver bottle in its mouth. Daphne let out a yelp of disgust as it came toward them. 

“Eros.” James said, taking care to use the name of Barty’s rat. He crouched down and extending his arm for the rat to crawl up. Wormtail rested himself on James’s shoulder.

“That thing is yours?” Daphne asked, backing up. 

“Actually he’s my...” He searched for a word to describe his and Barty’s (who he had met formally for the first time when he met Evan) relationship. Friend was wrong. Definitely wrong. “I’m looking after him.” He decided.

“Is that a bottle it’s carrying?” Daphne asked. James peered at his friend, the most miserable rat he had ever seen. He shrugged. No chance he was giving away Regulus’s plan. He’d given away enough with the dragons. 

“Victors and esteemed guests!” A voice rang out through the tent, the three of them (and Wormtail) all looked toward Dumbledore who was standing at the tent door, McGonagall at his side. “Welcome to the first task. Dragons.” 

“I had no idea.” Daphne mumbled. 

“There are three dragons, one for each of you.” He told them. “And each dragon is guarding a golden egg, which you will need to acquire from them in order to succeed in the task. These eggs also contain a clue, vital for figuring out what the next task will be.” 

A clue? 

“Please come to me to find out which dragon you will be facing.” McGonagall instructed. The three of them obeyed. She was holding a purple, velvet bag. James swore he could hear noises coming from inside. “Miss Partridge, you first.” And was that smoke?

Daphne eyed the two boys for some kind of encouragement. Ivan nodded at her.

Her headmistress- Madame Lavigne- appeared behind her and placed her hand on her shoulder muttering some french to her. He sincerely hoped it meant ‘don’t worry, there’s no fire in there’. 

Daphne placed her hand in the bag, gingerly, She rooted around for a few seconds before pulling out what looked like a miniature sculpture of a dragon. But it wasn’t a sculpture, for it writhed around in her palm. 

“The Welsh Green.” Lavigne admired it. The lime-green dragon blew a puff of smoke from its mouth. Daphne frowned down at it.

“Mr Karkaroff?” Ivan didn’t hesitate, shoving his hand into the velvet and pulling out another tiny dragon. This one was dark red with a yellow belly. It snarled at him.

“The Chinese Fireball.” Ivan’s headmaster - Hardrada- spoke. Ivan didn’t seem phased as the thing clamped its teeth down into his palm. Just nodded.

“And that leaves Mr Potter with…” McGonagall trailed off, extending the bag out toward him. James stuck his hand in, feeling a sharp pain instantly shoot up his index finger. He cursed under his breath. “The Hungarian Horntail.”

James had read about that one. In his textbooks books. One of the more aggressive kind of dragons, he recalled. Lucky him. 

The thing was brown and was much bigger than the other two, even in their tiny models. Everything about it looked sharp. Sharp wings, sharp tail, sharp spikes covering every inch of it’s body, sharp teeth. It continued trying to bite at James hand.  

Wormtail squeaked loudly and squirmed around on James’s shoulder in protest. The teachers for the first time noticed the rat and frowned.

“What on earth could you need Mr Crouch’s rat for?” Asked McGonagall.

“Don’t worry about it.” James replied, distracted by the creature. Dumbledore hummed and snapped his fingers. The dragons evaporated in the victors hands. 

“Miss Partridge.” Dumbledore addressed. Daphne looked up at him. “You may proceed at the sound of the canon.” 

She twisted her wand in her fingers as she was guided by Madame Lavigne toward another door in the tent that James assumed led to the arena. 

A canon sound shook the tent and everyone clamped down on their ears. Daphne’s eyes went wide and she looked back at the boys. 

“Go.” Ivan said. 

She nodded, clutching her wand tightly and pushing the tent flap aside. Cheers erupted from the stadium and a loud roar sounded.

The group dispersed and James waited until the professors were distracted before following. He pulled aside the flap and peeked outside. Regulus had instructed this. Take any opportunity to get a head-start.

The tent was barred off from the main stadium by a metal cage. A man with a key was currently shutting the door. Daphne was situated on the other side of the cage now. A huge green creature stretched out and camouflaged expertly across a huge mossy rock.

The arena was plain, a rock floor with crevices to cause them to slip up, jagged stones that poked out of the ground to trip on. 

“Potter.” A voice from behind him. The voice grabbed him by his left shoulders and yanked him back inside. It was Durmstrang’s headmaster. “You stay in the tent. We can’t have you picking up techniques from Miss Partridge, can we?” He asked.

”I don’t intend to.” He replied, sparing a quick glance at Wormtail. His ear twitched. 

“Stay inside.” He instructed. “Don’t worry, she won’t be badly hurt.” A flicker of a twisted smile crossed his face. 

James wasn’t sure his words were true. They had let the prophet publish that rubbish article about Daphne’s family. Who knew what they willing to let be ruined?

He could only obey the professor. He sat by the exit of the tent, listening. He didn’t know exactly what for.

Daphne returned to the tent looking almost exactly the same as she had when she’d left. Only a few of her curls had fallen loose from her sleek bun and a few scarlet cuts had blossomed across her cheeks. The most noticeable difference, was she was now carrying a huge golden egg under her arm.

She rubbed at one of the scrapes on her face, absentmindedly with her other hand. 

“What happened?” Ivan asked, indicating to her cuts. Daphne smiled.

”Tripped. But I’m fine.” He nodded. 

“What-” James was cut off by the sound of the cannon exploding. He and Ivan looked at each other- wondering who would be next. 

“Mr Karkaroff!” Dumbledore called. James simultaneously relaxed and tensed up. He was glad to not be next, but eager not to be the last. “In you go.”

“Be smart.” She advised. He walked out of the tent. Hardrada clapped him on the back on the way out, pausing him to whisper something in his ear. Ivan nodded. Commotion outside the tent stirred up again as Ivan exited, crowds cheering. Daphne wasn’t sure whisked away to get her wounds tended to.

Wormtail was pawing at his neck. James swatted him away.

Ivan returned to the tent later than Daphne had. Some bits of his clothes had been burned off, luckily the fabric was thick to save his skin being seared off too. But he did now have a huge mark over one of his eyes. It was red but James could already see it beginning to turn purple at the edges. His nose was bleeding a stream of scarlet that pooled on his upper lip. Not to mention his throat, bruising like he had been strangled. 

Despite his wounds, gold gleamed out from underneath his arm.

Daphne was, at that moment, released from the medical section of the tent. Her face was back to picture perfect, smooth as porcelain, Pomfrey obviously having worked her magic. She gasped at the sight of Ivan.

“Merlin!” She exclaimed, awkwardly rushing over as he wiped the blood from his nose. “What happened to you?” He didn’t look quite right. He was paler, if possible. He didn’t answer Daphne’s question, just held the egg up in triumph, before promptly falling forward into her. She managed to catch him awkwardly. He dropped the egg, narrowly missing her feet. “Um, Medic, please?”

The tent erupted into commotion and professors surrounded the group of them. Fredrik Hardrada pushed forward through the small crowd that had gathered and shook Ivan frantically. He was unresponsive.

“Medic!” He shouted, voice reverberating off of the tent as he took Ivan from Daphne’s arms. There was drips of crimson down her uniform sleeve. She grimaced.

The crowd parted as Pomfrey came through, holding her dress for faster movement. She had to practically pry the headmaster off of Ivan, taking him under the arms herself and hauling him away to the medical tent, though he were a tiny child and not almost half the size of her. Hardrada followed. 

The cannon sounded again shaking the tent violently. James jumped and felt Wormtail quiver on his shoulder. 

“Mr Potter.” Dumbledore was looking at him. “Go.” 

Wormtail was squeaking violently on his shoulder, clearly having second thoughts but he could hardly hear a thing over the drum of his own heartbeat in his ears, pulsing hard. He felt sick with adrenaline. 

He picked the rat up around his middle and placed him onto the tent floor.

“Find a way in and come to me, okay?” His mouth moving on its own accord, feeling detached from himself. “Get me the potion and I’ll keep you safe, hear?” Wormtail hesitated before finally, nodding his little rat head and scampering off, silver vial between his teeth.

James could barely feel his arms as they pushed back the tent flap. He was faintly aware of cheering as he stepped outside.

Cheers of his name.

He could see through the metal bars of the cage: see the students who stared down at him with wide, anticipating eyes. Most Hogwarts students were on their feet and waving their arms madly. His heart got quieter to make room for their shouts. 

But started up again at the sound of a roar. 

The Hungarian Horntail stared down at him with large, ugly, yellow eyes. It flapped it’s sharp wing madly and pulled against a chain that restrained it. The chain did little to ease his mind.

“All ready?” The man with the keys asked. 

“Sure.” He replied. The man just sniffed and unlocked the cage, shoving him through and quickly slamming the door behind him.

James was left staring at the Horntail. Its eyes narrowed into slits and its pupils became pinpricks. Without warning, it breathed a mouthful of fire at him.

He dove behind a rock just in time to see smoke engulf the space he just stood in. His pulse quickened and he stared at the rat on his shoulder. The audience continued to cheer his name. 

He didn’t have time to acknowledge them.

The bottle was pure relief in his hands. But he didn’t savour it. He didn’t have time. 

“Stupefy!” He shouted again.

He scanned around the arena desperately while the dragon wailed, looking for the dip in the rock, the dragon’s bowl.

It didn’t take long to find. There was one, thick slab of meat and it stood out against the grey of the rest of the arena. He cheered mentally. One bit of food left! What were the odds?

He ducked back behind the rock. The dragon was enraged and roaring madly. He had to move. Well, Wormy had to move. 

“You know what to do.” He said. Wormtail shook his little rat head. “Look, I’ll keep the Horntail distracted. You, go. You know I won’t let you die.” The word ‘die’ felt heavy on his tongue. He knew he couldn’t let that happen. 

Wormtail hesitated before running down James’s arm and jumping onto the floor. James sprung from the rock, his knuckles turning white around his wand.

The Horntail caught site of him instantly and pulled against its restraints. He took a breath before extending his wand.

“Confundus!” He yelled. The dragon wailed loudly and its eyes rolled back. It’s pupils dilated again for a few moments. It looked around the stadium and blinked a few times before its eyes landed on the egg and it snarled, looking back at James. He ducked behind the rock again

The students jeered- obviously confused. 

“Get closer!” Someone yelled. James just shook his head, mostly for himself. He told Wormtail he’d wait by the entrance. He just had to wait. 

James just stood from the rock again, looking back at the creature who’s restraints were being pulled too hard for comfort.

“Stupefy!” 

The dragon was pushed backward and fell back against one of the walls of the stadium. It cried out, a roar of pain, but was back up again in seconds, aggravated now. 

Where was this damned rat?

As if reading his mind, Wormtail scurried over a rock directly in his eye line. He stopped a minute and looked around for him, quivering and unsure. James felt guilt cloud his mind but shook it away, reminding himself he would have plenty of time to apologise later, but to make that work: he had a to keep Wormy alive. 

He shouted the name of Barty’s rat, his body knowing better than his mind, which wanted to yell out ‘Peter’, but Wormtail got the message. He came scurrying toward him, practically leaping into his arms.

The sleep draught bottle was open and empty in his mouth. He had done it. 

With the rat in his hands, James ducked behind a big boulder. Some of the other students seemed to catch on to his plan now. He heard yells of: ‘He’s got a rat!’, fill the arena, but ignored them.

He waited. The ground went still for a moment. It was no longer shaking with the big footsteps of the Horntail. There was no roaring or hot breath. 

He strained his ears, trying hard to listen: was the dragon eating? Had he taken the bait? He couldn’t hear over the students cries.  

No movement for another twenty seconds. Thirty. Fourth five. 

He cradled Wormtail in his hands. Slowly but surely, he rose from his hiding spot, praying he would be met with the site of the Horntail dosing on the ground. 

But the big yellow eyes that greeted him showed no signs of tiredness. 

But the meat was gone. 

Evan’s sleeping draught had failed. They had failed. No- he was the victor. He had failed.

He had no other plan. He could only raise his wand, his mind blank of any spells. 

He closed his eyes shut just for a moment, preparing himself: but instead of feeling screaming hot flames cover every inch of his skin, or razor sharp teeth sink down on him, he heard the sound of a loud crash.

He opened his eyes. The Horntail was lying across the floor in-front of him, yellow eyes hidden behind closed eyelids. The creature looked almost peaceful. It even let out a soft snore. 

He couldn’t believe it. Just like that. 

The crowd erupted into screams cheers and he made for the golden egg, that glistened in the midday light. He was faintly aware of the chant, ‘James, James, James’ filling the stadium as he walked toward it. He allowed himself to strut. He deserved it. He couldn’t help but laugh wildly as he picked the egg up. He looked out into the audience, running on pure adrenaline.

This first person he saw was Sirius who was already standing up, tugging Remus up who was distracted with cheering for James along with the rest of their friends. James gave them all a huge grin. Bar Sirius. 

His eyes moved long the rows of students and eventually fell on the one he was looking for. Regulus. 

He was surrounded by Evan and Barty and Pandora. The three of them cheered, not just for James but for themselves. For Evan’s herbology knowledge. For Barty’s rat cover story. And Pandora…well because she was a supportive girl. Clearly with some school spirit.

They high fived each other in victory and yelled James’s name along with everyone else.

But Regulus just stared at him, flit off a smile on his face and eyes shinning with pride. He had polished up for the tournament, wearing all black, not unlike James. His curls fell in his face. It was his win too. 

James threw him a nod of approval and tucked the egg under his arm, heading back for the cage where the key-man was looking at him, stunned. 

“Was not expecting that.” James heard him mutter as he fiddled around with the keys in the lock, and pulled the door open for him. He eyed Wormtail suspiciously who had climbed back onto James’s shoulder.

He opened the flap to the tent. Daphne stood on the other side, sitting on the floor in a corner looking miserably at her egg. The sound of tent opening caught her attention. She perked up when she saw him.

“James!” She said, “You did it! Quickly too. And with no injuries?” 

“I can’t take all the credit.” He admitted, looking at Wormtail who was already curling up, ready for a nap on his shoulder. He couldn’t blame him after all that. Daphne gave him a questioning look but didn’t ask anything more, as the flap to the medical part of the tent opened.

Ivan came out, helped by Madam Pomfrey and followed by Hardrada who carried his egg for him. Ivan looked at James dopily, obviously drugged up on something or other. There was blood between his teeth.

“Nice, Potter.” He said before coughing up a gush of blood that stained the white floor of the tent. He frowned down at it as if he had no idea where it had come from and was quickly escorted out. Daphne cringed.

“Merlin.” James said, trying to wipe the image from his head. “What the hell happened to him?” 

“Apparently the dragon somehow managed to lob a loose rock at him. His whole face was completely smashed up, as you saw.” She said. “Damage to his windpipe as well.” James shivered, remembering the yellow and brown bruises across his throat. 

“Fuck.” Was all he could manage. “And he still got the egg?”

“Mhm.” Daphne said. “He eventually was able to hit the Fireball with a reducio spell and made it about as big as the ones we had to pick out of that bag.” 

“Clever.” James said and she nodded in agreement. “And what about you?” 

“Simple really. Used a summoning charm and got the egg straight into my hands. Took a couple tries though, so the Green managed to get a couple hits in.” She smiled, gesturing to her face. “Yourself?”

James turned to Wormtail who was now fast asleep on his shoulder.

“One of Regulus’s friends got me some sleep inducing potio and this one managed to sneak them into the Horntail’s food bowl. It must’ve seen him, remembered it had food left, ate it and then passed out.” He said. Daphne raised her eyebrows.

“Wow. Pretty intricate.” She said with a small laugh. “Well done.” He just shrugged.

“Really, it was mostly him and Regulus.” 

“Your friend?” He thought for a moment.

”Sure.”

“It must be a clever thing,” She said. “But I can’t say I’m so keen on the rat.” James turned to look at Wormtail, now fast asleep on his shoulder. Trying not to wake him, he responded:

“He grows on you.”

Chapter Text

The Hufflepuff common room stunk even more strongly of weed than it usually did. A good few of the seventh years and some sixth years were sat in a circle, passing a joint between them.

The party was for James. A congratulations for his success in the tournament. He tried to feel honoured but was burdened with the knowledge that Hufflepuff would use any opportunity to throw a party. 

The Marauders were all invited, of course, but James had decided to arrive with Regulus’s Slytherin lot. It was the least he could do, he thought, to repay them for all their help. Plus, he and Sirius were still not on speaking terms. 

He’d met them at the entrance to the Slytherin dungeons, expecting the usual trio of Barty and Evan and Regulus, of course. He didn’t anticipate the addition of a girl. 

She was stunning and James wondered how he had never noticed her before. White blonde and milky skin, completely clear of any blemishes, the only redness about her face was in her rosy cheeks and slightly parted lips. Soft features, small in stature. She looked quite like a bunny. 

He couldn’t imagine why such a beautiful girl, would hang around with the three dark and brooding boys. 

No one introduced them and the girl didn’t say a word on the walk over, just looked around with wide eyes as the ceilings and paintings on the walls, as if it were her first time walking through the castle.  

The walk was long and painfully awkward. 

“First Hufflepuff party?” James asked after a particularly long stretch of silence. Fifth year was usually when students began to get invited to parties. 

“No.” Barty replied. “Yours?” Regulus smiled. 

“Don’t be a dick, Barty.” Evan said. James gave him a grateful smiled.  

When the door to the common room opened, the music was loud and humidity hit James in the face.

Evan and the girl be-lined straight for the stoners in the corner. 

“Either of you want a beer?” James asked, the two remaining, his voice raised.

“I’ve got it.” Said Barty. “Keep an eye on Evan and Pandora.” 

Pandora. He hadn’t heard her name before. She must be in fifth year too. 

“I’ll go with him.” Regulus piped up. “Why don’t you go find your lot? ” He was slipping away before James could respond. He sighed. Making friends with Slytherins was new to him and much harder than it looked. They were guarded and untrusting. Cold and stoic. 

“Alright.” He called after them, pathetically. 

He scanned the room. Plants hung from the ceiling in ceramic pots and dark yellow sofas with fat, fluffed cushions had been pushed to the side to make room for the party. 

There were lots of people. The majority James recognised as fifth and sixth year students, but some seventh years were dotted about the place. Any younger years were banned from most parties at Hogwarts. Too many snitches, and they were too young for most of occurring activities. Although, he guessed, almost everyone in the room was technically underage. 

“James!” Someone shouted. He scanned the room and spotted Lily on the other side of the room can of Sprite in hand (for she didn’t drink).

“Lily.” He smiled, relieved for the company. She gave him a quick hug.

“I didn’t get a chance to see you after the tournament but you were fantastic! And your rat too.” She said, smiling at him knowingly. “How do you like your after party?” 

“Yeah it’s alright.” James replied, glancing around the room again. They went quiet for a moment before Lily said softly:

“Um, James?”

“Hm?” 

“I really should tell you.”

He frowned.

“What is it?” Lily scanned their surrounding before answering, slowly. 

“Sirius is on the way here. And I can’t say he’s all that thrilled about your new… friends.” She glanced at Regulus, who was (very uncharacteristically, James thought) taking a shot. 

“Well Lils,” He began, “Regulus has been a great help to me recently, with the tournament. Which I really needed while Sirius was off, busy moaning about not getting chosen.” She bit her lip.

“Okay, but James, cant you see how, in Sirius’s eyes, you’re only making things between the two of you worse?” She asked. “Getting all buddy-buddy with his younger brother? And you know how he feels about...him.” 

He knew Lily was only being reasonable but she was beginning to sound patronising. The way she refused to say Regulus’s name irked him too. She acted as if he were a convicted criminal, instead of Sirius’s sly and troublesome little brother, which was really all he was to them and all he ever had been. 

He suddenly needed to get away from her. 

Before he could make up some excuse, his name was called from the other end of the room. An already plastered seventh year with short cropped hair was beckoning him over to the designated drinking area.

“If it isn’t the Hogwarts Victor!” She shouted, at the top of her lungs. The room erupted into cheers and claps. He revelled for a moment in the warmth of the attention. “Get over here!” 

Before he could answer, two someone’s were wrapping arms around his legs and hoisting him high upward, up above the rest of the students.

He didn’t bother fighting them, just rested his palms on their shoulders as students cheered him loudly and reached up for high fives. A chant of, ‘James, James, James’ started up, just like back in the stadium. 

Even Barty and Evan and Regulus were on their feet and clapping. It was likely their own intoxication which made them partial to his celebration, but they were also clapping for themselves and their part in his success. 

Evan’s potion and Barty’s rat. Regulus’s clever mind. 

Someone passed him up a shot and he downed it without hesitation, liquid burning a hot trail from his tongue to his throat to his stomach. More cheers went up.

This. 

This was everything he had wanted when he slipped his name into that goblet. Admiration. Glory. 

“LET’S GET THIS STARTED THEN!” A voice yelled from the doorway, where now stood Peter with the girls and Remus behind him. He carried a twelve pack in each hand, with seemingly little effort. 

“Toss me a Guinness!” He yelled back and the crowd cheered even louder, if possible. Peter grinned and ripped open one of the packs, grabbing a can and throwing it to him. He caught it with ease (courtesy of his quidditch skills). 

He’d chugged the beer and the crowd had watched. 

Everything was hazy after that. The air was full of smoke, no one bothering to open a window. The main lights had been turned off which left only the dim glow of candles and lamps. James danced idly with the girls. 

Peter had brought the golden egg down from the Gryffindor dorms and had someone take about thirty Polaroids of him, James and the Slytherin lot with it. The photographer was too drunk to ask why this seemingly random arrangement of people and Barty, Evan and Regulus too drunk to object to the photos. 

The night was going swimmingly until about one thirty am, for someone had thought it a brilliant idea to invite a fourth year to the party.

James recognised him, the swaggering ‘hotshot’ of his year group. A short, Gryffindor, with a head full of dark curls and a name that was full of s’s and m’s (Sammy, perhaps). He hung about with the fifth years, who kept him around purely because his desperate confidence was an easy source of entertainment. 

His fifth year friends were wasted and boring, so the fourth year, (Sammy?) had been bugging James for the last twenty minutes. It was torture. He was suffering so, but too tired and too drunk to move. 

“That dragon was something else.” He marvelled. “We all thought you were a goner.” He’d said that four times now. James pressed his lips together and nodded.

“Yeah. Yeah.” He had been keeping his answers short in the hope of losing Sammy’s interest, but the boy refused to take a hint. 

“Cecilia Henshaw” James had no idea who this was, “She was closing her eyes the whole time. White as a sheet. She nearly fainted. I had to lug her to the medical wing after.” He rolled his eyes. “Girls, right?”

“You don’t like girls?” 

“No of course- no I mean, yes!.” Sammy stammered, flushing hot red. James tried not to smile, enjoying the teasing. “Cecilia’s going to be my girlfriend.” 

Poor Cecilia, James thought. 

“Brilliant.”

Sammy went silent for a moment, which hadn’t happened once since he had sat down next to him. His eyes wandered over to the golden egg, perched on the sofa next to him. 

“What’s inside it?” He asked. James frowned. That was the first intelligent question he had asked. 

“Haven’t looked yet.” Sammy perked up. 

“Let’s have a look then!” Before James could swat him away, Sammy already reached over, his grubby little fingers a firm handle on the prize. 

“Don’t.” 

“Why not?” 

“I’m not in the headspace to be thinking about the next task yet. Put it down.” He slurred, panicked. He had planned to handle this new problem tomorrow: tonight was supposed to be about being drunk and having fun. At the moment, he was only achieving one of those things. 

Before he could snatch the egg away from his grubby hands, the conniving little fourth year (who’s name was quite possibly not Sammy at all) was prying open the top with his fingers.  

A beautiful, bright white light spilled out from inside. 

At the same time, a terrible shrieking ensued, filling the room, blaring so loudly that you couldn’t hear the music anymore. 

Party guests clamped their hands over their ears and cringed away from the screams. 

“What’s the fuck?” James just made out over the screams. 

“Where the fuck is that coming from?” 

“Fucking stop it!”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. 

Sammy, the source of the problem, was being of absolutely no help, and had dropped to the floor in a display of theatrics, rolling around like he was on fire. 

James reached a hand over to his egg, closing his eyes against the shine from within. He fumbled dumbly around, until he got a handle on cool metal, and managed to slam the thing closed. 

ABBA filled the room again. No one said a word. Frozen, as if their movement would trigger another round of screeches. Finally, a Hufflepuff prefect spoke up. 

“I think that’s our sign to call it a night.” No one had disagreed. 

People filled out of the room in groups and couples, staggering down the corridor drunken and full of school spirit, or complaints about the egg incident.  

James decided to stay just a while longer, finishing off a last Guinness and watching people trail out. Remus was waiting for him by the door making conversation with Dorcas who was casually holding up a half passed out Marlene.

The spot next to him on the sofa looked cold. It was so very strange, to be at a party without Sirius. 

They hadn’t spoken since their fight in the dorm last night. James still couldn’t quite believed that it had happened. The two of them had fought physically before, sure, but never like that. There was anger behind their pushes, their punches. It didn’t feel like a game. 

James drained his beer and crushed the can under his foot. He looked at it, squashed flat on the floor. 

“You’re such a twat.” Regulus said. James looked up and frowned. He hadn’t even noticed Regulus was stood in front of him. He looked dishevelled, which was unusual. He looked, he realised with a start, like Sirius. He repressed a shiver. 

“I’m going to pick it up.”  

“No you won’t.” Was all he replied with before he walked away, disappearing out of the door and down the hallway. Back down, down, down to the dungeons. 

“James!” Remus called from the door. Marlene and Dorcas were gone. “Let’s go.” James jumped up and hurried over, suddenly desperate for his bed. His beer can was left, forgotten on the floor. 

Chapter Text

James went down to Breakfast with Remus and Peter the next day. Sirius was nowhere to be seen and hadn’t come to the dorm last night. James hadn’t seen him at the party last either. Naturally, Remus was nervous. 

“I should’ve locked the room to the dorm last night.” He said. 

“Moons, he’s fine I’m telling you.” Peter said. “No need to put him under house arrest, he gets enough of that in his own bloody home.” Remus just shook his head. James put a hand on his shoulder.

“He’s probably with those Seventh Year mates of his.” He suggested, as they approached their usual spot on Gryffindor table. 

He recalled Sirius sneaking out of the dorm late at night when they were younger to meet with his slightly older friends. They had taken a liking to him during Sirius’s third year, when they were in their fourth, and taken him, ‘under their wing’, which basically just meant they smoked with him and such like. They did do Secret Santa at Christmas with him though. 

“That’s not exactly comforting.” Remus said, taking a seat. James just shrugged.

He was about to sit down when he spotted Barty, Evan and Pandora at the Slytherin table picking at their food and conversing, quietly. The absence of Regulus stood out to him. Perhaps he was with Sirius. Perhaps the three at the table could give him a clue about their whereabouts. 

“Give me a second.” He said to the boys, making his way over. Pandora was the first to spot him and gave him a small wave of acknowledgment. Her eyes were bloodshot.

“Are you okay, James?” She asked as he approached her voice was airy and soft. “You were drunk last night.” He frowned. These were the first words she had ever spoken to him. He didn’t even think she had noticed him at all. 

“I know how to handle myself. It was nice to meet you, though.” He said, although he wouldn’t have really described it as a ‘meeting’ as such. 

“And you.” She smiled, revealing a set pearly whites so small, they could’ve been baby teeth. 

“Where’s Regulus?” He asked, sliding himself down next to Evan. He saw him and Barty exchange suspicious glances. 

“Still asleep.” Evan said. 

“He’s not with Sirius?” Barty barked out a laugh. 

“Regulus? With Sirius? Willingly?” His grin looked like that of a madman. “That’s funny, Potter. That’d be the day.” James just shrugged. 

“We haven’t seen Sirius all morning. He didn’t come back to the dorm last night.” 

“So?” Said Barty.

“Regulus said you two were fighting.” Evan explained. 

“Made up, have you?” Barty asked. James was confused but not surprised at his subtle hostility. 

“Remus is worried.” No one answered back to this. The bond between Sirius and Remus was recognised and understood but unspoken amongst the students at Hogwarts. 

“Perhaps he’s avoiding you.” Pandora said, voice smooth as butter. She smiled at him, knowingly, sloshing her soldiers around in her dippy egg, her white-blonde hair falling about her like a curtain. 

All three of them were looking at him expectantly. 

“I just…” He began, feeling extremely uncomfortable explaining his friendship dilemmas to this group. Eventually, he decided that in this situation, he had little to nothing to lose. Who were they going to tell? As far as he was concerned, they didn't have any other friends. “I just can’t understand why he believed that nonsense article.” He said, loading his plate with sausages from  the centre of the table, giving his hands something to do while he embarrassed himself. 

“Can you blame him?” Pandora asked. James frowned.

“No.” Pandora answered, instantly, which he was secretly very relieved about. “But I’m not Sirius.” 

“Thank goodness.” Barty mumbled, but was ignored.

He sliced up his sausages, narrowly missing his fingers. Evan reached over and took his plate from him, muttering something about how he was going to hurt himself.

“I’m not even that hungry.” He said, trying to prevent humiliation of having his food cut up for him, as if he were a child. “You really don’t have to-”

“You should bulk up before the tournament.” Evan cut in. “You’re awfully skinny. You’ve no chance of winning with gangly limbs like that.” This was rich coming from Evan, who was practically skeletal with his hollow cheekbones and slender limbs. 

He decided not to argue with him. No point in being in his bad books. Barty already looked at him as if he were a meal. 

“Go on then. Thanks.”

Pandora started up again. 

“From what I observe, Sirius is…” She searched for words for a moment. “Proud.” She settled for. James nodded slowly. When had she observed Sirius? “And he obviously adores you and values you a lot. So to him, the article was an attack on his pride by someone he loves.” She explained. “Worst possible combination.”

When had this girl, who James had never even caught a glimpse of before last night, had time to take him in like this? To digest and analyse him? Were his friendships, his emotions, on display for everyone to see so clearly? He felt exposed. He tried not to let this show, too. 

“Okay.” He said. “It still doesn’t make sense why he believed it.” Pandora cocked her head at him for a moment, looking at him deeply and unblinking. She was trying to read him again. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Finally, she brushed the hair from her face.

“Well, from what Regulus says, the two of you were arguing and barely speaking at the time the article was published, on pretty bad terms wouldn’t you say?” She asked. 

“Yes but I also don’t understand why he was mad in the first place.” He said, leaning forward across the table. “I mean he knew that it was an accident and I didn’t enter my name and not tell him but why would it matter if I did anyway? He didn’t have a problem when I agreed to enter my name when the tournament was first announced. Why was he even angry in the first place?”

“He’s savagely envious.” She replied instantly. James quirked an eyebrow. “Obviously.”

For some reason the thought just hadn’t struck him. But now that Pandora had said it, it truly was obvious. 

Of course Sirius was jealous. He had been dreaming of being in the tournament ever since it had been announced. 

He had paced the room waiting to go to dinner an wait for the victors to be announced. He had talked all of their ears off about the tournament. He was so excited. And, though it wasn’t necessarily his fault, James had taken that away from him. 

James was living Sirius’s fantasy. 

Students approaching him for high-fives, the compliments he received, the glory of being lifted above head at parties: his glory. Sirius had wanted that, too. 

Of course he had. James and he were so similar. 

Maybe the article did have some truth to it. 

‘The envious friend’

“You’re right.” He almost whispered. 

“She usually is.” Barty agreed with him, for the first time. James practically leaped up from his seat making Evan jump and almost cut himself with the knife he was carving with. 

“I have to go.” He said already beginning to walk away from the table, breakfast abandoned. 

“But your food-” Evan called after him. 

“You have it!”James continued toward the doors of the hall. He was too distracted by Pandora’s analysis to to care whether or not Evan resented him for rejecting his artfully chopped sausage.  

“James!” Another voice called just as someone grabbed him by the wrist. Remus. “Where on earth are you going?”

“Got to find Sirius.” He replied, pulling his wrist out of his friend’s grip. He frowned in confusion. 

“Sirius?” He asked. “Why-”

“Ask that girl, Pandora.” James interrupted. 

“Pandora?” He scrunched his nose, in lack of recognition. “Who-”

“White hair, pale as a ghost. She’s a little genius, I’m telling you, Moony.” He said making for the doors. Remus was still frowning at him as he disappeared out of the hall. 

Chapter Text

Tracking down Sirius was not an easy task. First James had to locate the group of Seventh Years he had suspected he would be with. 

There were five of them, not including Sirius. Two girls and three boys. They all looked like the same person in a slightly altered body. Sunken eyes, sharp features, always dressed in dark clothes. 

He’d never liked that crowd. They were the type of people to sit in the corner of the room and eye up everyone who walked past, then whispering and laughing amongst themselves. It had never bothered him personally, but girls got particularly upset about it. 

The group had targeted Lily one to many times during her third year. James assumed it was her preppy demeanour and love for academics, so opposite to their own attitudes, that caused them to despise her so. They had taken it further than just disapproving stares: one boy had even taken to stealing her things. Third year James had given them a good telling off for it- which had earned him a big bear hug from Lily (which he had relished in at the time). They group had only rolled their eyes at him, but hadn’t picked on Lily since.  

They had started in on the substances in the summer before their fifth year and brought the habit back to Hogwarts with them. They became even more brooding, if possible. Their purple under eye circles got darker and their grades dropped lower. 

James wasn’t sure why Sirius liked them so much. They were arrogant and bitter. But, he guessed, Sirius could be like that too when he wanted to be. 

They liked Sirius mostly because he gave them the money for their dubious purchases, but also, ultimately, a part of him he did fit in with them. Filled with resentment and hidden insecurity, a volatile temper, dark of features. 

But also: Sirius was nothing like them. He was bright white sun, personified confidence and full of fun and love for the people he was surrounded by.  

The relationship Sirius between the group was weird. Some nights when he was having trouble sleeping, or on non-school nights, he would sneak out of the dorm and hang around on the grounds with them: passing around a bottle, smoking and doing who knows what else. James didn’t particularly care to find out. 

But during the day, the group basically pretended he didn’t exist and vice versa. James didn’t understand it but never wanted to hear more about the group than he already did, so didn’t ask.

Usually on weekends they could be found up on the astronomy tower. He knew this because this was Dorcas’s spot to do her homework. Every Saturday and Sunday, she would trek down from her study session early, full of complaints of not being able to focus because she could ‘feel their eyes on her’. 

James understood exactly what she meant as he approached them. 

Simultaneously, all five of their heads turned to look at him. It was like they were connected. Like a critical hive mind.

“Have you lot seen Sirius?” He asked, getting straight to the point so he could get the hell out as quickly as possible. 

“Potter is it?” One of the girls asked. She was somewhat the leader of the group. Always in dark makeup of eyeliner and smoky shadow to match her clothes. Like the rest of them, almost never smiling unless it was out of spite. James knew she was in Ravenclaw.

“Yes.” He replied. 

“Why would we tell you?” One of the boys asked, also a Ravenclaw. “After that article you got published.” 

“I thought Ravenclaw’s were meant to be clever.” James snapped. “Of course I didn’t say that. Some journalist bird at the Prophet twisted my words.” He clenched his jaw at the thought of Rita Skeeter, uncomfortable at the thought of his own stupidity. 

“Convenient.” The Ravenclaw girl smiled. 

“Look I need to speak to him. About the article actually.” He told them. “Could you please just tell me where he is.” 

“Why would-” The Ravenclaw girl began but one of the boys, the only one James knew the name of, Hector Nott cut in.

“I know you.” 

“I would hope so, Hector- we’ve been going to school together for six years.” The comment slipped out, his impatience taking hold of his tongue. 

To his surprise, one girl laughed at his comment. Not the one in Ravenclaw, but one with black hair that had white stripes running through it. Like a skunks fur. There was something faintly familiar about her features. He assumed she was one of those people who he saw all the time, just didn’t notice he did. His brain registering her secretly, without his consciousness’s  permission. 

Hector did not laugh. 

“You’re that little red-heads boyfriend.” He said. James cocked his head. “The preppy one.” The group made noises of agreement. 

‘He must mean Lily.’ He thought. They must remember when he had shouted at them for picking on her. 

“Evans is not my girlfriend.” He said, then was struck with embarrassment at his defensiveness. It didn’t matter if she was or she wasn’t. What Hector wanted, was a rise out of him. And he was giving it to him. He took a breath.  

“Your father’s Fleamont Potter, isn’t he?” He asked. James was momentarily stunned. Usually, his father was the least interesting thing about him. He nodded, cautiously. At this, Hector leaned over to the a boy with unnaturally crimson hair and whispered something into his ear. He smirked at Hector, his mouth crooked, before leaning over and whispering to another one of the other boys. 

The murmur made its way around the circle and James stood awkward and red in the face in front of them as they eyed him up and down while they talked. 

Finally, as the message reached her, the Ravenclaw girl smiled up at him, devious. 

“Fork over ten galleons and we might give you a clue.” She said, licking her dark red lips. “As to where Sirius is, that is.”

“What?” James chocked out. Money? They wanted money? And ten galleons at that!

“Or we could just outright tell you, depending on your behaviour.” She offered. James stood there for a moment in pure disbelief. 

“Are you serious?” He eventually managed. 

“As a heart attack.” Said Hector, displaying an annoyingly white set of teeth as he spoke. Weren’t smokers supposed to have disgusting teeth? Rotting away with some missing, or chipped and yellow? 

“So what d’you say?” Asked the boy with the crimson hair. 

“Hell no.” Said James. “You’re all insane.” He told them, hands balled tightly into fists at his side. 

“Maybe so.” Said the Ravenclaw girl, seemingly proud. “But at least we know where Sirius is.” 

He didn’t think twice before turning on his heel and storming out of the tower. He could hear the group snickering after him but he didn’t acknowledge it. Why did he even bother?

The winding, spiral staircase that led to the tower was a pain to travel by and he tripped about four times before he was even halfway down.

He barely noticed. His glasses were askew and his brow creased as he stomped on. He was beyond infuriated. All that group cared about was fuelling their stupid addictions. Addicts! At seventeen! As much as he loved Sirius, he refused to give into them. He had already crossed the line taking to them, and he would certainly not be their source of income.  

His next stop would be his dorm room. It was a reasonable place to check and it was well…safe. Safe from social rejects who smelled like tar and bullshit. The cool air provided him some relief as he left the tower. His face was now less hot with fury.

How he would like to fling the lot of them off that tower. One by one. Goodbye Hector! Goodbye Ravenclaw!

He was so angry, in fact, that he didn’t hear the footsteps approaching him.

“James!” He let out a yelp and a hand flew to cover his mouth. “Be quiet! Sound carries from here to up to the tower you know.” It was the girl with the skunk hair. The one who had laughed at his joke. She released her hand from his mouth and wiped it on her white, sheepskin fleece. 

“What do you want?” James asked, adjusting his glasses. 

“Less of the attitude.” She said. “I’m about to help you out.” 

“I don’t even know who you are.” She rolled her eyes and threw out her hand for him to shake.

“Andromeda Black.” This shut him up. “Yeah.” She smiled, contentedly at his disbelief. 

“Black?” He repeated. 

“Why do you think we put up with him?” She asked. “He’s my little cousin.” James’s raised brows and open-mouthed expression must’ve given away that he was confused because she went on. “He didn’t tell you?”

Sirius didn’t talk about his family, outside of how the superior way in which Regulus acted was infuriating, or cracking jokes about how much he despised his parents and aunts and uncles and grandmother, etcetera. His friends had to piece things together from there. With the exception of Remus who knew more, though it was unclear how much more. 

So no, James had no idea they were cousins. As far as he was concerned, the only relative of Sirius’s at Hogwarts was Regulus, and Sirius hardly ever spoke of him! 

‘Andromeda’. The name was completely foreign to him. Sirius had never mentioned her explicitly, James was sure. He would’ve remembered that mouthful of a name. 

“He doesn’t…he doesn’t really talk about family.” He eventually said, realising he had been in a stunned silence for a second too long. He searched her features for some hint of resemblance. 

No wonder she had looked familiar. The straight nose, milky skin, thin eyebrows and their the calculating gray eyes. 

She was Regulus, with long, black and white hair. 

“No wonder.” She muttered. James nodded awkwardly. There wasn’t much good to share about that family. “Well, do you want to know where he is then?” She asked. 

“Hang on.” Said James, suddenly feeling as if everything were moving too fast. “You’re Sirius’s cousin?” Andromeda frowned, as if his inquisitiveness were completely unwarranted.

“Is that not what I said?”

“So you’re Regulus’s cousin?”

“I believe that’s how it works, yes.”

“Sirius and Regulus have a cousin?”

“They should have three- as long as my sisters have been keeping themselves out of trouble.” James blinked, still in shock. 

“There’s more of you?” He asked. “Are you all here, at Hogwarts?” Andromeda sighed, looking up toward the astronomy tower and then back to James. 

“Look, James.” She said. “I don’t know why Sirius hasn’t told you about me. I don’t know what goes on inside his head, as much as I would like to.” She sighed. “But he’s as unpredictable as a kid.” James nodded slowly in agreement. 

“He is.” Now the two of them were finding some shared knowledge. 

“Luckily, I don’t have to predict where he is.” She said. “Because I know. Would you like me to tell you where your friend is?”

“Going to charge me?” He asked. She sighed out a laugh.

“If you’re offering.” 

“Maybe another time.” She smiled, maybe the first time James had ever seen someone in that group smile. Genuinely smile. 

“He’s by the White Oak.” She said. “Said he didn’t want to be disturbed but I don’t want him to be alone. Don’t tell him I said that by the way. He doesn’t need to know that I love him. Would make him way too big-headed.” James nodded obediently.

The White Oak. A large tree by the Black Lake. Memories flooded to the forefront of his mind. 

Him and his friends sat up there in the Summer, sprawled in the cool shade cast by the oak’s great shadow. Picnics and watching the sun go down. Wrapping up warm in Winter and watching Marlene and Sirius skid around on the lake’s frozen surface, ignoring suspicious sounds of cracking ice. Climbing up into the trees highest branches in his early years at Hogwarts, getting stuck up there an embarrassing amount of times. 

“Thank you, Andromeda.” He said. Her name tasted new. She shook her head.

“Thank you for putting up with my cousin’s terrible attitude.” She replied, already making for the stairs back up to the Astronomy tower. “Oh and James, do me a favour and don’t tell him about this?” She asked, nodding her head toward the stairs where the sounds of her group laughing wildly, like hyenas, could be heard.

“Not a word.” He said. She gave him a relieved look and gave him one last thank you before heading back up the spiralling stairs.

Chapter Text

It was a cold day. The first there had been in weeks. 

September had been kind to them, the Summer heat stretched out across the month. Everyone still in T shirts. But now it was close to the end of the month and it was like a switch had flipped and now it was truly Autumn. Rain and wind and cold air. 

Leaves crunched under James’s feet and the wind made his hair blow into his face. A slight drizzle of rain had begun and he watched small splash stains appear on his brown suede jacket. Sirius had brought it for him one Christmas.

It was beautiful. Lots of pockets to keep his glasses case, wand, multiple packs of gum. Big buttons, because he got impatient fiddling with tricky mechanisms. He had received the gift in his third year and the thing was huge on him but Sirius assured him he would grow into it. And he did.  The jacket now fit him like a glove, three years later. 

He remembered feeling bad, he didn’t get Sirius anything big. Just a book of tattoo ideas (as he’d been going on about wanting one when they were older), but Sirius insisted it was a great gift and hadn’t put it down for the rest of the day. He still kept it on his nightstand.

He pulled the jacket tightly over his shoulders. It was only then did he realise how badly me missed him. Missed their late night discussions, their pranks, their inside jokes.

He missed the little things too. 

Sirius’s smile, walking hastily to lessons with him (they were always late), even just exchanging glances across the room during a McGonagall lecture, barely containing their laughter.

He hadn’t for a long time, smelt the leather of his best friends jacket or the pungent stink of his cigarettes, felt the warmth of his arm around his shoulder, then felt buzz of his laughter rippling through both of them.  

He needed it back. 

He needed Sirius back. 

The air by the lake was colder and smelled like smoke. The wind blew the scent toward him and James took a deep breath. That was smoke he knew. 

Sirius was laying sprawled out on the floor over orange and yellow leaves, shed by the now naked oak. He blew out a puff of grey air and watched it disappear. He was wrapped up in a long black jacket. It looked not like something he would wear, but something that his brother would. 

James almost didn’t want to disturb him. He hadn’t seen him look so peaceful in weeks. But he couldn’t. He needed to speak to him now.

The leaves crunched under feet, making is approach obvious. There was no way Sirius couldn’t hear him but he refused to turn around and look at him anyway. James sat wordlessly down next to him. 

Still nothing.

He brought his knees up to his chest and blew out, the cold air fogging his breath. He was brought back to the ample winter days they had spent here, just like this. Sirius and James, side by side. Pumpkin juice and warm apple tarts stolen from the kitchens. 

Sirius still didn’t say anything, just took another puff of his cigarette. They both blew out at the same time, smoke and breath shooting into the air, merging, then disappearing.

“I didn’t do it.” James said, eventually. He didn’t want to look him in the eye, scared that he would see an expression he didn’t like.

“Do what?” Sirius asked. His voice sounded foreign. James realised he hadn’t heard him speak in days. 

“I didn’t say anything bad about you. To the Prophet.” He said. Sirius extinguished his cigarette on the bark of the oak, leaving a small, dark mark. Hot ash floated to the ground. 

“I know.” 

“What?” James asked, turning to him and looking at his face for the first time. Sirius didn’t look back at him, just stared out at the lake, sparkly in the cold and bright sun. 

“Well.” The corners of his mouth flicked up in what James prayed was a smile. “Regulus told me. Gave me quite a bit of grief about my attitude about the whole thing too.” 

Regulus?

“What…” James began. “What did he tell you?”

“A lot.” Sirius propped himself up onto his elbows. “But to sum it up?” He trailed off for a moment. “I was jealous. I shouldn’t have left you on your own. I was an idiot to believe you wanted an article about me published. I’m immature. I’m a bad friend.” He said, forlorn. “I think he’s right.” 

He couldn’t quite believe what he was hearing. Regulus standing up for him? Defending him so thoroughly that even now, Sirius could see his side of things, could actually admit that he had been wrong? 

But he knew, of course, that Regulus’s harsh critique of Sirius’s character was not really about defending him. It was a chance for Regulus to degrade his brother’s character, an opportunity which he would never deny himself. 

Although there was truth to a lot of what Regulus had said: he was completely wrong about one thing. Sirius was not a bad friend. Sirius couldn’t possibly think, or agree with that.

“You’re not a bad friend.” James said. Now, Sirius looked him in the eyes for the first time. James was swimming in a dark grey sea of relief and disbelief.

“How could you even think that?” He asked. “Merlin, sometimes I think there’s too much of that Gryffindor loyalty in you. I’ve been shit to you, James.” 

“So have I.” He admitted. “To you.” Sirius made a ‘tsk’ sound and shook his head. “No, really I have.” He repeated, firmly. “I-I didn’t think about your feelings, when I put my name in that goblet. I got distracted, by the thought of the glory of the tournament. Of being a victor. I was being inconsiderate arse.” 

“So was I. I shouldn’t have been pissed at you in the first place.” Said Sirius. “It’s an open competition. It doesn’t- didn’t belong to me. ” 

“But, I should’ve told you I was going to do it. You’re my best friend.” Said James. “I get it. I’d have been pissed too, if it was the other way around.”

“No, you wouldn’t of.” Said Sirius. James tried to object but Sirius didn’t let him. “I don’t…I don’t even know why I got angry with you when your name got chosen I-” He laughed a moment, though insincerely. “I’m immature and jealous. I guess Regulus was right, there.”

They both went quiet. James took in the sounds. The sound of the water lapping against the ground and whistling of the wind and rustling of the trees. It reminded him of something.

“You remember our campfire in fourth year?” Sirius breathed out a laugh.

“Couldn’t forget.” He replied. “It was fucking cold that night.” James nodded.

“Freezing.” He emphasised. “The girls dragged their duvets down from their dorms and we brought the pillows and dinner.” 

“Dinner?” 

“Yeah, remember?”

“I remember we brought bread and butter, a couple bits from Honeydukes and a couple packets of stale hula-hoops.” 

“Yeah.”

“That’s hardly nutritious enough for dinner.”

“Shut up. Go on.” He did. 

“So there we were.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “Lily was pretending not to be panicking the whole night about getting caught, you and Marlene got in up to the waist, Pete stuffed his face all evening.” Sirius laughed. 

“He swore he saw the Giant Squid.”

“For about the eighth time that night.” They both grinned. “We were having a grand time. Until-” He trailed off, giving his friend a moment to remember. He cringed when he did.

“That’s right. You told me to kiss him.” 

“Yeah.” Said James, sheepishly. “ Then you flipped out and wouldn’t speak to me for the rest of the evening.” Sirius’s face flushed with shame. But James just put a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Sirius, I don’t care if you get mad. That’s just…just who you are, mate.” 

When Sirius hesitated, James worried he had pushed too far, dragging up old conflict. He knew the relationship between Remus and Sirius was a delicate topic. Maybe he was wrong to have used this example. 

But no, Sirius was grinning. 

“Well, thanks. I think.” 

James shoved his arm properly around his best friend and pulled him tightly in toward him. He made for his immaculately styled hair, ruffling it affectionately. Instead of resisting as usual, Sirius let it happen. 

“I deserve that.”

“Yeah you do, you bastard.” Sirius elbowed him, his sharp bone digging into his ribs. He yelped, embarrassingly. 

“And you deserve that. Shoving me into the wall like that in the dorm room. Could’ve broken my neck, you cheeky bugger.”

“You punched me in the fucking mouth!”

“Don’t be a baby.”

Unlike their previous altercation back in the dorm, this fire was friendly. Banter. What they were both truly cut out for. James opened his mouth to speak but Sirius got there first. 

”Prongs, there is one more thing.” He frowned, perplexed. He thought they’d patched everything up now, fixed the rift? Was he missing something?James nodded, despite his confusion. 

“Yeah?” 

”Why are you hanging around with, Regulus?” So that’s what he was forgetting.

Well, there was nothing to say but the truth.

“He’s clever.” Said James, simply. Sirius began to roll his eyes. “No, seriously. He’s truly very clever. He figured out it was dragons in the first task, you know.” He didn’t seem to know that. He raised an eyebrow. “He even got his mates in on it. Evan grew that plant I used to make the dragon fall asleep. I mean, the whole using Peter bit was my plan but I…I wouldn’t have had time to come up with a plan if it wasn’t for your brother. I wouldn’t have won if it wasn't for him.” It surprised him how sincerely he said this. He really did believe it. 

“He’s not too bad really.” Sirius said, eventually. “He likes to pretend he isn’t but he is.”

”He’s alright.” 

“He’s alright.” Sirius echoed, slower, but surely. 

They both looked out onto the lake, both secretly thinking of Regulus Black, fondly. 

“Fancy helping me work out what the second task is?” James said eventually. “Golden egg is giving me nothing but shattered ear drums.”  

“Go on then.” He grinned.

And they were back.

Chapter Text

Things went back to normal almost as soon as Sirius and James made up. No longer did a sense of a strange and uncomfortable awkwardness invade their group of friends. 

The Marauders were back. 

Back to late nights with tea and cocoa by the fire in the common room, singing along to David Bowie, strolls through Hogsmede, picnics on the grounds, pulling all-nighters to cram for tests they hadn’t studied for. It was like nothing had changed. Well, almost nothing. 

James had decided to balance his time between two groups. The Marauders, of course, and the Slytherin lot (with the addition of Pandora). Well, maybe ‘balancing’ his time was a bit of a stretch, but he was spending a considerable amount of it trying to win over Regulus’s friends. He was so very keen to show them his appreciation. The group had helped him take on a thirty-foot dragon, after all. 

But befriending the group was hard. All of them were their own separate enigmas. 

Barty was rather intimidating. More than rather, actually. He was tall, so tall that he loomed over everyone else. He was pale and gangly and his hair was untameable, and then there was that manic smile of his. He was icy toward James and hadn’t spoken more than a few, sarcastic words at him. At first. With Barty, James knew the key was time. He just had to continue this pursuit (of acceptance? Mutual courtesy? Friendship? He wasn’t sure yet) and wait him out. 

James had come to learn that Evan was clever. Extremely clever. Lily kind of clever. He was good at almost everything: spells, sports, card games you name it and Evan could probably do it better than you and everyone else with seemingly little effort and even less enthusiasm. It was no wonder that he had entered the tournament.

However impressive Evan’s talent, it meant he was extremely hard to impress. How do you impress someone who can do everything? James quickly learned the answer: you don’t. You are kind and respectful and you applaud when they succeed. Evan was easily appeased. 

And that Pandora, as he’d suspected, really was a genius. But she was so strange. So very strange. She played with potions and made things explode. She nursed birds with broken wings back to health and released them from her bedroom window and watched dreamily as they flew away. Sometimes, she laughed hard and James’s jokes and other times she stared at him straight faced And wide-eyed as if he was not speaking English. 

He couldn’t ever understand her, no matter what he tried. 

“She’s just like that.” Said Regulus, when James confronted him with this information in the hallway between lessons. “Nobody understands her. She’s strange.” He said this in such a way that it didn’t sound at all malignant, just plain fact. 

“But I want to understand her. I want to be her friend.” He said. Maybe somebody else would be embarrassed to expose this sort of desperation in themselves, but not James. He was only determined.

“James, you don’t have to be friends with everyone. You have lots of friends. You can leave Pandora be. Evan and Barty too.” 

He wouldn’t, he knew he wouldn’t. He was in too deep now. 

But he would’ve let go in exchange for one thing. And that was an understanding of Regulus’s. A mutual courtesy. A friendship. 

Regulus was the real enigma. At the beginning of the year, James never would have never guessed that he’d have spoken a word to Regulus Black. He was blunt and cocky and cold. And he was, but he had also helped him. On his own accord. If that wasn’t the perfect foundation to build a friendship on, then what was?

He was determined to make this work. 

It’s important to note just how much Sirius disapproved of the friendships that James had formed with his brother. He tried and failed to hide his annoyance when he saw the two of them together but he had never been good at hiding things. 

But James’s new-found friendship with Regulus was important. He had proven with the first task that he knew what he was doing when it came to the intellectual bit of the tournament- which James did not. He needed his assistance to win this thing. He needed to keep Regulus around.   

So he pushed Sirius’s irritation aside. 

Weeks had passed since the first task and now Hogwarts was just days away from Halloween. One of his favourite holidays at the castle. 

Pumpkins and lanterns covered every square inch of the castle, students would stock up on chocolates and share them around during classes and everyone got into the spirit of it all. Including the professors, a fair few of them even took up playing tricks on the students. It was all in good fun. 

His friends had always shared a similar love for the holiday as he did and they always did something special on the 31st, every year without fail. 

Even in fourth year, when Lily was quite horribly ill with flu, the seven of them had dragged her out of her makeshift bed medical wing (tissues and all) and brought her to the Astronomy Tower to stargaze and trade sweets. 

This year, Marlene had the grand idea of throwing a party in the Gryffindor common room on Halloween night. There hadn’t been a good party one since the one Hufflepuff hosted in honour of James after the first task. Everyone was itching for some more action.

Most of the group, James included, had been quick to agree to Marlene’s plan and after a while, they managed to convince the stragglers (Lily) that it wasn’t a bad idea (they told her she could be an aux).

Everyone was invited. Beauxbatons, Durmstrangs and Hogwarts students alike. Although they had made it clear that no one in fourth year or younger was permitted to attend. James feared getting stuck with another Sammy, or worse, Sammy himself. 

So the planning of the party began. Lily busted our records: Bowie and ABBA and basically nothing else. Dorcas and Marlene stocked up on food. Sirius and Mary got the word out. 

James, of course, went straight to the Slytherin common room, where he easily found the four of them, curled up on a black leather sofa near the back of the room. 

“Why are you lot always huddled up in some corner?” Regulus was reading with Pandora slumped up against him, staring up at the ceiling while Barty and Evan talked amongst themselves in hushed tones.

As he approached Regulus folded over the top corner of his page to mark it and slammed the book shut. Lily’s eye would’ve twitched, thought James. She never went anywhere without a bookmark.

“Someone’s to used to being the centre of attention.” Evan teased. 

“Right joker, you are.” He replied, seating himself down, secretly thrilled that he had reached the banter stage. 

“What have we done to deserve being graced with your presence, Potter?” Barty asked. James decided this was banter too, for his own sake. 

“Party in Gryffindor on Halloween night, in case you social pariahs haven’t heard already.” He told them. Regulus made a disinterested humming sound. 

It was only then did he notice it.

He almost missed it, he really did. It wasn’t obvious. Their black uniforms blended together and made it almost impossible to see.

Regulus’s arm was stretched around Pandora’s shoulders. They were sitting close together. Very close indeed. They looked like they could just about melt into each other.

Despite Evan and Barty’s presences, he suddenly felt like he was intruding on something. The two of them, cuddled up like a couple of lovebirds.

The thought occurred to him, for the first time, that perhaps there was a reason why Pandora: so light and whimsical, hung around the cold and stoic Barty and Evan and Regulus. 

He was jumping to conclusions that were none of his business, he knew. But he couldn’t help thinking: Did Sirius know about this? 

Pandora seemed oblivious as ever to Regulus’s proximity to her but it was all James could see. He forced himself looked away, before he made things weird. 

“Oh, yes, we know about the party.” Said Pandora. He didn’t look at her, in as natural a way as he could. “I personally have no issue with going, but these three are extremely opposed to it.” He frowned.

“Why?” He asked, looking incredulously at the three of the boys. “You don’t like a party?” There was no way this could be true, he thought. He knew they’d been to plenty of Hufflepuff parties before, or at least:  Barty had implied it.

“Not with Gryffindor.” Regulus said, as if it should’ve been obvious. Ignoring the position of his arm for a moment- and they way which he was no pulling Pandora closer into his body- he looked at Regulus, trying to hide the offence he took to this. 

“What’s wrong with Gryffindor?” Barty barked out a laugh.

“What’s not wrong with Gryffindor?” He shot back. “You all have hero-complexes because you were put in best house. Well, being a Gryffindor doesn’t make you a hero. You all talk a big game about honour and integrity but most of you are too proud to admit that you don’t actually bother to do much good.” 

Barty was seething and James was confused and frankly a little alarmed. Surely that wasn’t what he really thought? Was he just trying to intimidate him? Scare him to away from the group he was trying to infiltrate? He knew Barty hadn’t ever liked him. 

“We’re not bad.” Said James, feigning nonchalance. who just shook his head. “I’ve plenty to say about Slytherins but I’ll keep my mouth shut. For your sake.” He watched, satisfied as his remark sunk in. “And my ideals definitely wouldn’t stop me coming to a Slytherin party.” Evan just shook his head.

“I really don’t mind you Gryffindors but you throw a terrible party.” He said, yawning, and the others made sounds of agreement.

“No we don’t!” James said but Regulus cut him off.

“You buy the cheapest alcohol you can find, there’s never any good pot and Sirius always ends up doing something stupid and things get shut down before they get good.” He said. 

James ground his teeth, hating being outnumbered and being the sole defender of his side of the argument. It also rilled him up that no one had even thanked him for his invitation. Before this year, these four could've only dreamed of being invited to one of the Marauder-hosted parties. 

They didn’t even know the half of how good things could get when his friends were left in charge. 

“So we do appreciate the offer, James.” Barty concluded. “But no.” 

“Definite no.” Regulus said. James looked at him, eyes narrow. He was beyond infuriated by this unanimous rejection. Not a single one of them even willing to give him a chance. 

“It’s going to be fun.” He said, forcing the out of his voice and surprising himself with his own calmness. “I’ll get you all whatever drinks you want, on me. You bring however much pot you feel like and I’ll keep an eye on Sirius.” 

The group exchanged glances. James wasn’t all that good at expression reading but it looked like they were considering it. They were more open to the idea anyway.

“That’s a lot of promises.” Regulus said. James just raised an eyebrow.

“And I intend to keep every one.”

***

Halloween night was always magical at Hogwarts and this year was no different. 

Lessons were cut short in honour of the holiday and James had taken to Hogsmede with a few first years he had promised to take trick or treating. It was a premise of muggle origin that he didn’t fully understand, but he enjoyed watching the kids have fun doing.

He had then hurried back to the castle to help his friends set up for the party. Well, hurried as best as he could while letting the kids take turns piggyback riding on him. His tardiness, had been scolded, thoroughly. Did he not know that tonight was one of the most important nights of his life?

Marlene and her dramatic flare would be the death of him. 

Lily’s music was already in full swing, appetisers (a couple of caramel apples and jellybeans in buckets) were being laid out, and the furniture had been pushed to the side of the room to make space. 

“Look whose finally here.” Dorcas’s pretty voice trickled through the room like thick honey. 

“Dorcas.” James greeted, giving her a nod. “You got the drinks?” 

“Mhm.” She hummed in reply, “I still don’t understand why they got to put in custom orders.” She was talking about the Slytherin lot. He just shrugged. He didn’t have the energy (and was to proud) to admit that he was desperate to try and convince these Slytherin fifth years to be his friends and a step toward that was ensuring they enjoyed themselves at this Gryffindor party, which they were so seemingly opposed to. 

A good drink was the easiest way into someone’s heart. 

“Trying to prove a point.” He decided to say instead, then making to help Peter flush the last sofa fully up against the wall. 

“Enough about them.” Sirius said suddenly. “We’re already going to have to deal with them when they get here. I don’t need to hear about them while we’re still free.” 

“Be nice.” Remus said, giving him a small shove on the shoulder. “One of them your own brother, for goodness sake.” 

“Barely.”

James closed his eyes briefly and begged that tonight not be full of painful awkwardness and thick uncuttable tension between Sirius and Regulus. Icy glares from the two sets of icy eyes from opposite sides of the room. 

“You do really need to calm it a bit, Sirius. You’ve been complaining all day. It’s getting boring” Lily chimed in, then muttering a quick spell to dim the lights. “What have they ever done to you?” 

“They’re Slytherin fifth years.” 

“He’s got a point.” Said Peter. 

“Weren’t you cozied up and taking polaroids with them at the Hufflepuff party with them after the first task?” Lily asked, and James grinned internally. Always count on Lily to remember the little details, and rub them in your face when you’d forgotten they even existed.  

“I was?” Asked Peter, frowning internally disbelief. “That whole night is a blur.” 

“Be civil at least.” Said Lily. “Both of you.” Peter nodded but Sirius didn’t reply, avoiding her gaze. 

“Come on, Padfoot.” Said James, slinging an arm around his friend. “If not for them, then do it for me.” He expected Sirius to press him: why was he so desperate to show his gratitude to these people? These people who didn’t crave his attention or seem to have any desire for his friendship, like others did? A question he was unprepared to answer.

Luckily, Sirius just huffed.

“Whatever you want, Prongs.”  

“I think this party might be our best yet.” Marlene said, changing the subject which everyone was thankful for. Though in reality, she hadn’t meant to. She hadn’t been listening to the previous conversation. “How many people are we thinking its going to be? We’ll probably need more ice.” 

“About eighty I should think?” Mary guessed. Marlene sat up from her chair at that and walked to the door. 

“Any requests from the kitchen?” She asked, few people shouted suggestions after her as she walked out and she yelled a, “Got it!” Over her shoulder. More than likely, she would return with armfuls of everything but the ice they needed. 

Chapter Text

People began showing up in droves about an hour later. The common room was quickly filled to the brim with students: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrangs. 

Lily had cast a silencing charm over the room so the party would go undiscovered by professors or nosy youngers, and then took it upon herself to crank up the music and dim the lights. 

Drinks were flowing, thick smoke filling the air. The Beauxbatons liked a cigarette, that was for sure, but they also hated opening windows because of the cold. 

James’s competitors were there. Daphne and Ivan. They seemed to be relaxed and enjoying themselves: Daphne enjoying the company of a few Ravenclaw girls while Ivan stuck to his Durmstrang lot and busied himself mostly with cans of beer.

He spent most of the evening with the Marauders, doing shots and watching as one of the fifth years set of firecracker spells behind unsuspecting victims. 

So far, four people had thrown up, a fight had broken out, someone had passed out on one of the sofas and countless couples had spontaneously made out in the middle of the room.

He didn’t want to sound like a narcissist, but James really thought this might be one of the best Hogwarts parties ever thrown. 

It was almost perfect. 

But it was missing something. Or rather someone.

Barty and Evan had both shockingly showed up. Already intoxicated, which was perfect. They had all drunk with him and the rest of his friends, alcohol making Sirius less skeptical toward them. A lot less skeptical actually, he even danced alongside the two of them. 

But as the night progressed: Regulus and Pandora were still nowhere to be found.

“Evan!” James called over the now blaring music. 

“What’s up?” He was twirling a slightly familiar fifth year girl round and around in a dance as she giggled. 

“Where’s Reg?” The nickname sort of slipped out, he was so used to hearing them use it. Luckily it seemed like none of them noticed. 

“He’s not coming!” Barty jumped in. He was spinning a girl practically identical to Evan’s dance partner. “He and Panda are studying for some exam for Monday! Care of Magical Creatures!” James tensed. 

Regulus was in his Care of Magical Creatures class. It was where he had warned him of the dragons. 

They didn’t have an exam on Monday. 

The memory of Regulus’s arm around Pandora popped into his mind. 

They were alone, studying for a non-existent: together. Just the two of them. No border of Barty and Evan between them. James shook his head and tried to erase the thought. It was none of his business. 

He was mostly angry. Angry that they hadn’t even given the party a chance. Did they doubt his ability to orchestrate a good time that much? Angry because they’d made up a shitty excuse that he could instantly disprove. Did they even care about how they made him feel?

He was angry with Regulus in particular. He didn’t know Pandora. She had no loyalty to him. She had every right to do what she liked with herself that evening. He knew deep down the same was true for Regulus -he had free will- but his lack of presence bothered him unbelievably. 

He’d thought they were becoming friends. 

‘No’. The thought. ‘We aren’t’. Regulus had helped him purely to get one up on Sirius. He was a tool to him. Not a friend. Not someone he had to show up for. 

He forced a smile on his face and took the hand of a Beauxbatons girl he didn’t know. She was dark haired and high-cheekboned and she looked like she could be fun.

And fun she was.

She practically drowned him in straight vodka, offering him shot after shot. And James drank them, even though the taste repulsed him because he adored the feeling of the hot trail being blazed from his throat to his stomach. He was encouraged along a small crowd that had began to form around him. 

“One more?” The girl said. His throat was numb but she was so very pretty and she laughed like an angel as he drank. 

“Nice one, James!” Sirius yelled from somewhere in the room and Remus’s laugh followed his words like punctuation, as it often did when they were drunk. James laughed and raised the bottle up in the air, knocking himself of balance. 

The girl reach out to catch him, feebly, through both of their hysterics. He fell on the floor and she fell on top of him. This only made them laugh harder.

“Oh James, I am sorry!” Her accent was so thick and everything sounded so far away, that it took him a few seconds to comprehend what she had said. Then he realised that he did not know her name, although she knew his. 

“What did you say your name was again?” He asked. They had been hanging around together for quite a while now, but the girl did not seem offended at his question. She only smiled, showing gap between her two front teeth. 

“Camille.” Camille said. James repeated her name as she grinned down from on top of him. 

She was too pretty and she laughed too much. She was too much like James for them to have been any good together. But they kissed anyway, because they were both drunk and both beautiful. 

Camille was adventurous. Her hands were in his hair a lot and she bit at his lip with her gappy teeth. Her skin was warm and her mouth was warmer. She was fun, fun, fun. 

She giggled again as she lifted him up off the floor by the collar as the crowd hollered lewd comments at them. James let himself be led by her. 

“We are very drunk.” She said. “You are very pretty, James, but I will not love you anymore in the morning.” He laughed. 

“Perfect.” Regulus was missing all the fun. 

Except he wasn’t, because as James was running a hand through his sweat-slicked hair and preparing to do another shot that he probably shouldn’t: there he was. 

He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans. It felt strange, to see him it of uniform. To see him looking so casual. When he dressed in his own attire, it was mostly turtle necks and smart trousers. The sensible son. But now… he seemed so laid back. He looked like Sirius. He looked like a Gryffindor. 

How much of that had he seen? Had he entered the party before or after James had started sucking on the tongue of a girl he’d laid eyes on for the first time just a little over an hour ago? On the floor no less. 

He was partially mortified but secretly thrilled. How tremendous his party must look now!

It suddenly occurred to him that Regulus was much closer to him than he had originally thought. In fact, he was mere feet away. 

“Merlin.” Regulus said. He turned to Mary, who had apparently been stood next to James for some time. “How much has he drunk?” 

Mary made a humming sound and looked up to the ceiling, as if the answer was painted in big bold letters up there. 

“I think…a lot.” She slurred and then started laughing along with Camille who was dancing with her eyes closed and hands in the air. She began to copy her.

“He and his new friend have been passing this between them for the last half an hour.” Dorcas cut in. When did she get there? She held up a bottle of Smirnoff with only a sad, little dribble left inside. She was possibly the only sober person at the party aside from Regulus. 

“And you let him?” Regulus asked, disapprovingly. 

“He’s sixteen years old. Not a little boy. I can’t tell him what to do. Believe me, I tried.” Dorcas said. James was watching the conversation, his eyes flicking from mouth to mouth, unsure if he should chime in. “But this is really unlike him. He doesn’t even like vodka.” Regulus’s rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“I like it plenty.” He lied. 

“I saw you gagging.” 

He shushed her, loudly, not wanting Camille to overhear. She was far to distracted by Mary now. People whopped as the girls danced together, flaunting their long limbs.  

“I’m taking him back to Slytherin.” He said, not waiting for a response before grabbing James by the arm with a firm grip. “Let’s go, Potter.”

“What?” Dorcas looked as utterly baffled as James felt. “Back to Slytherin?”

“He’ll do something he regrets if he stays here. And I’d like to see one of you try and drag him up to his dorm with all this going on.” 

“Let go, Regulus.” He spoke up, finally gaging his situation. “I’m staying here.” They were already halfway to the door.

“You’re embarrassing yourself.” Regulus replied. “You’ll thank me tomorrow. Now shut up.” He tried desperately to shake himself free but Regulus was much stronger than he looked and he was too far gone to put up much of a fight. 

They were about halfway to the door when a voice called out:

“Hey!” Sirius sat up from the sofa watching the two of them, glazed eyes fighting intoxication to be angry. “Where are you two off to?” 

“Ça ne vous concerne pas!” Regulus shouted, not even pausing. Remus put a hand on Sirius shoulder and just shook his head at him, saying something inaudible. Sirius relaxed under his touch, as usual. 

“What does that mean?” Said James. 

“None of your business.” Regulus replied. James frowned. 

“All right.” He slurred, “No need to be-” He cut himself off as he could all of a sudden taste vodka from earlier on his tongue. He gagged violently and raced to slap a hand over his mouth. Regulus looked at him then. Perhaps there was concern in his eyes, James couldn’t tell. 

“Let’s go, James.”

 ***

They had in fact not gone to Slytherin. Straight away, anyway. 

Regulus mumbled something about not having James be sick all over his dorm room and escorted him out to the grounds instead. 

“Where are we going?” James said. He was leaning most of his weight on Regulus who was holding him up with little sign of struggle. 

“You need some air, clearly.” Regulus said. He was right as usual. But unfortunately the main doors out of then school were locked. He steered James down the hallway.

“Where are we going?” He asked again, having forgotten his previous answer. Regulus ignored him this time. James didn’t like that. He looked at Regulus’s hand that was clamped around his wrist. It had gone white with effort. “I’ll lick you hand if you don’t tell me.”  

“Don’t be disgusting.” Regulus said firmly. 

James scowled. 

“Says you.” He replied. Regulus’s brows furrowed but he looked somewhat amused.

“Oh, I’m disgusting now, am I?” He asked. James nodded. They were now walking down a tight, winding corridor. “Why’s that?”

“Not-” He began, repressing another gag at the taste still lingering in his mouth.

“Careful.” His voice was gentler here and James, gleeful, almost forgot what he had been saying. “Sorry you were saying. Not what?” He asked as they approached an old door with a silver, rusting lock bolting it closed. Regulus brandished his wand and muttered a spell that made it spring open. 

“Not showing up to my party, because you’re.” James waved an arm around in the air. “Too proud.”

Guilt flashed across Regulus face for a moment before being replaced by his usual, stoic expression. No sympathy, no remorse. 

“That’s not why I didn’t come, you know.” He said, pulling James through the door, using another spell to lock it behind him. “Lumos.” A soft glow then erupted from the tip of his wand. 

They were in a passage way. It smelled bad, a sort of mildewy smell mixed with the stench of something rotting. Another gag. Luckily, the passage was short. 

“Why then?” James slurred. “Too busy macking on Pandora?” 

He had not meant to say that at all. 

Their private life and affairs were none of his damned business. He knew that. He knew that! James Potter’s bruised ego strikes again. As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt as though all of his hopes of winning over Regulus as a friend, or at least friendly acquaintance, be flushed down the drain. Swirling further, further away. 

Regulus was frowning down at him. Though, he didn’t seem exactly angry. Confused was the word. 

“Pandora and I were studying, Barty didn’t tell you?” He asked, and another spell, and they were outside. 

“As if.” James whispered. The cold air hit his sweat slicked skin and made him breath out a sigh of relief that turned to a misty cloud. He stuck his tongue out, trying to lap up the coolness.

“You don’t believe me?” Regulus asked, not in the least bit phased, guiding James out onto the grass.

“You would think I would know, if we had a Care of Magical Creatures Exam.” He said, excited to watch Regulus squirm, caught in the trap of his own lie. But he remained unfazed. A shrug was the best he got. A shrug. 

“Guess you would.”

“You know if you wanted to fool around with Pandora you could’ve just said, I would’ve left you to it.” James snapped. The other boy looked at him, confusion quickly melting into disgust.

“What on earth are you talking about?” He replied. His voice was raised, defensive. James, thrilled to finally be getting a reaction, kept pushing. 

“What do you mean what am I talking about?” He asked. Regulus had let go of him now and he was having trouble standing, swaying around slightly. “I saw your arm around her the other day.”

He really shouldn’t have brung that up. An alarm blared in his head: none of my business! None of my business! But now he had gone and said it. All he could do was push on. 

“Because she’s my friend, James!” He was almost shouting now, it made James’s ears ring. He didn’t like to think that the first ever raw emotion he was getting out of Regulus was anger, but he kept talking anyway. “Can I not touch my friends?”

“Not like that.” He said. He knew he was really tangling himself into a mess now. Putting an arm around someone really was nothing, he did it all the time! To Sirius, Lily, Remus, Peter. But then he remembered the way they had melted into each other. Familiarity. 

“Not like what?” Regulus yelled. Really yelled

“Like she’s your girlfriend or something.” James sneered, disgustedly. 

“I’m gay, James!”

It was like a slap in the face. A sharp, stinging slap. A slap that knocked him sober and also finally knocked the sense into him. 

It was only then did he realise that their were tears welling up in Regulus’s eyes. There was fear swimming in their cold grey too. He had definitely never seen either of those emotions on Regulus before. And he didn’t like it one bit.

Regulus Black doesn’t cry. Regulus Black doesn’t get scared. He most certainly should not have been either of these things at the hands of James Potter. James Potter who’s only goal for the last month had been trying to show gratitude to him. To befriend him. 

The self loathing was already eating at him.

What an idiot he was. What an ignorant idiot. 

“Oh.” Was all he could manage at first. Their eyes locked, neither speaking a word for a few moments before James dumbly spluttered out: “That’s fantastic!” 

“No its not.” Regulus shot back. His fear now gone, had been replaced by impatience. “Shut up and sit down.” James didn’t hesitate - dropping to the grass.

They sat like that for a few minutes. Five, ten, he wasn’t really sure. A hundred thoughts whirled  through his mind at a hundred miles an hour. 

So Regulus didn’t love Pandora. Not romantically, anyway. He couldn’t love her if he tried. Perhaps he had tried. The thought only made James feel worse about his assumption. 

“Who else knows?” He asked, eventually. 

“Sirius, Evan, Barty and Pandora.” Regulus replied and sighed. “And now you, you know. Fucking James Potter knows.” James’s face fell and guilt washed over him in a tidal wave. 

“I didn’t mean to pressure you into…I mean I truly thought-” He began but he was just waved away. 

“Now you know.” An owl hooting in the distance. Then the flutter of its wings. 

“I’m sorry.” He said, though he wanted to scream out so much more. Regulus nodded. They sat in silence for a moment before James heard the sound of…was he...laughing? He turned to him. 

“Me and Pandora?” He said. “Even under different circumstances- she would be the last person.” He laughed again. 

“I don’t know.” James said, realising that he was right, which was becoming a common occurrence. Pandora was soft and floaty as a petal, and Regulus harsher and sharper as a silver blade. “You two seemed comfy, that’s all. In the common room.” 

“It was damn comfy.” Regulus said. Their soft laughs turned to clouds in the in the cool air. “Why were you pissed off anyway?”

He would’ve responded truthfully. He really would’ve. But his message of friendship and gratitude seemed silly now. Friends don’t tend to start shouting matches over possible romances. But maybe, this was a place to start. However fucked up. 

“Drinks got to me I guess.” He said instead.

Chapter Text

James had agreed not to go to any more parties for a while after that and also vowed to never touch vodka ever again. Especially not from a bottle supplied by a mysterious and seductive french girl.

This was just as well, because he wanted to start attempting to figure out the clue inside his golden egg. 

It was mid November now and the task was to take place on Valentine’s Day of the next year. He wanted to figure it out before December, so he wouldn’t have to worry about the next task over Christmas. No was the perfect time.

The only problem with this was that, unfortunately for James, he had absolutely no ideas as to what the hell the golden egg clue meant. 

He and Regulus had spent countless nights in secret passage ways and thick-walled broom cupboard getting defended by piercing screams and still, they had not an iota of an idea as to what this could mean. 

James was sure they were going insane. One night, the two of them spent the better part of an hour trying to find hints in the pitches of the screams, before Regulus pointed out how stupid this was and they called it a night. 

Things were beginning to feel impossible. However, he was happy to be suffering alongside someone. The two of them had been getting closer and closer recently, bonded over shattered eardrums. Perhaps it was because James now knew Regulus’s secret, that he was keeping him so close, but this new-found amicability felt genuine. 

He felt even better when he saw that Ivan and Daphne were completely stumped too. Their furrowed brows and tight lipped expression in the corridors gave away their confusion.

He had asked the Remus, Sirius and Peter for their advice, but as usual, they were no help either, Peter suggesting James try and butter up Professor Elm again to give him the answer. He actually did attempt that but was rejected almost instantly.

“James, you’ve got an excellent mind. I’d like to see you use it.” He could tell she was bitting her tongue. 

The screeches from the egg had become a kind of white noise for him and his friends now. No one in the Gryffindor Common Room jumped when he opened the egg, only groaning, then going back to whatever they had been doing. It was becoming the norm now.  

Things were hopeless. 

Or so he thought. 

He, Regulus, Evan and Pandora were all sat under the white oak in a circle. November had been bleak, and it had been raining all week long. The ground was still slightly damp, but James wanted out of the castle. He hated being cooped up. 

They were wrapped up in their warm coats and Pandora was wearing a white bobble hat, sliding halfway off her head. 

He was surprised when the three of them had offered to join him and Regulus, but suspected that he was (finally) beginning to grow on them. 

James was watching Barty copy down answers messily from Regulus’s homework, as Evan drew something unidentifiable in his notebook. Pandora was distracted, watching the trees sway.

Regulus however was fixated on the golden egg that sat in the middle of their circle.  

“Give your eyes a rest.” Said James. He was sick of the thing, sick of the sounds but also sick of it’s smug gold-ness. Regulus looked up at him briefly but then cast his eyes right back down. 

“Do you want to win or not?” He asked. 

He saw Hogwarts flags fly, students hoisting him up and cheering his name. Felt the metal of the cup, cold and smooth beneath his fingers. Sweet victory on his tongue. 

“I reckon he’s right.” Evan said, “It’s useless.”

“I didn’t say that.” James said, although he’d most definitely thought it.

“Your better off just winging it.” Barty said, plagiarism complete, he slammed his book shut.

“Don’t say that or he might actually do it.” Pandora said. “You’re clever, James, you’ll figure it out in time.” Her smile was like being warmed under a yellow lamp. 

“Clever? Ha! Some would beg to differ.” A voice cut in. Marlene was emerging from the growth of trees that lined the lake. “You lot alright down here? It’s freezing!”

“McKinnon.” James greeted. Marlene grinned.

“And wet.” Said Lily, who followed behind her. 

“What are you two doing down here, then?” He asked.

“Not just two- there’s a couple more of us.” Said Marlene. 

Out came Peter and Sirius and Remus and Mary and Dorcas. 

James caught Sirius eye roll when he spotted his brother and Regulus’s matching one at the sight of his brother just seconds later.

“Why the long face, Sirius, not happy to see me?” James asked, in an attempt to lighten the mood. Sirius just winked in response.

“Oh I’m always happy to see you, Jamie.” With that he ran forward, leaping on his friend and squashing him flat on the ground. 

“You two are fucking weird.” Remus commented. 

“Jealous?” Sirius asked. Remus kicked him in the ribs, not hard enough to hurt.

“Not much to be jealous of.” Evan said. James’s breath hitched and he wanted desperately to slap a hand over his mouth. But to his surprise, instead of a scowl or a rhetorical: ‘you got a problem, Rosier?’:

“Funny one you are.” It was playful. Not hostile. And James thanked his lucky stars. Sirius was on his best behaviour. They were playing nice. For now. “Domestic violence is a crime by the way, Remus.” 

“Don’t say things like that, you arsehole.” Said Mary, plopping down next to James. 

The rest of them shuffled into the circle. Suspicious glances from Barty. The other three seemed ambivalent. 

“Merlin, James why are you still going with that thing?” Peter asked, regarding the egg with a blazing hatred. James groaned.

“Apparently so.” He looked to Regulus who just gave him a firm nod.

“Let me see that.” Sirius said, reaching forward and picking the thing up, turning it in his hands. 

“Put it down.” Remus said. Sirius ignored him, inspecting the way the light bounced off it. 

“You tried smashing it?” He asked. Everyone looked up at him in shock-horror. 

“Are you serious?” Mary asked. Sirius just shrugged. 

“It makes sense. You know, you do have to crack an egg for it to work.” He said. The group exchanged looks. 

It didn’t sound entirely improbable…In fact- it seemed probable. 

“I think he’s right.” Lily said. Even Sirius looked surprised at that. “I mean it’s logical at least. Definitely isn’t the worst idea he’s ever had. Not by miles.” 

“Charming.”

“That honestly doesn’t seem like the worst idea.” Barty said. More surprise from Sirius. And James too. Barty still didn’t agree with him! How had Sirius had done it so easily? “I mean what else would you do with an egg?”

“I think you should go for it.” Dorcas said. Another voice of reason encouraging him. Perhaps-

“Absolutely not.” Regulus said. Sirius huffed.

“Why not?” Pandora asked. “I think it’s plausible.” 

“Because if there’s nothing in their then what?” He replied, not missing a beat. “Then the egg’s gone and Potter’s clue is gone with it.” 

“That’s true.” Said Dorcas. 

“He can just ask one of the other victors’s to share theirs.” Peter resolved. “You’re on good terms with both of them aren’t you?” 

“Both of them?” Marlene asked. “Don’t tell me you’re mates with that bitch Daphne.”

He’d forgot all about about Marlene’s taking issue with the Beauxbatons. He remembered that day in the corridor, when she and Sirius had overheard a group of girls talking about her. Daphne was one of them.

‘That girl is the fucking devil.’ She had said. 

But why? He wondered. Daphne seemed a perfectly likeable person. She polite and poised and a good fighter, he could tell from succession in the first task.  What was it that Marlene despised about her? What had Daphne done?

He didn’t want to get into all that right now. His mind was occupied enough. 

“No, we’re not friends.” He said, which was true. “Anyway, the egg. I sort of think it makes sense too. To crack it. Then share Daphne’s or Ivan’s if it goes wrong. They owe me, after I told them what the first task was.” Regulus was staring daggers at him. 

“What if there’s different clues in each egg?” He said. Sirius sighed loudly enough for everyone to hear.

“Look.” He said, standing and lifting the egg up in his arms. “We’ve tried everything.” 

“No, James and I have tried everything.” 

“Whatever.”He spun the egg around in his fingers. “So if this thing breaks and we get a clue, fantastic. And if it doesn’t then good riddance anyway, right? It’s a win-win.” Regulus stood up.

“No it’s not.” He said. “Put it down, Sirius.” He just laughed. 

“Come and get it, Reggie.” He replied, turning away and before anyone could stop him, taking off in a sprint down the shore.

“He’s got to be having a laugh.” Barty said, at the same time Evan said

“Is he serious?”

“Welcome to my world.” Remus said and exchanged a look with Regulus. Then the two of them began to run after him. 

“We should help them out.” Marlene said, putting her hands behind her head and lying down on the ground. James sighed. She was right.

He stood up and reluctantly began to jog after the three boys, Barty hot on his heels.

“I’ve got to watch this.”

“Fucking boys.” Mary shook her head.

“Tell me about it.” Said Peter.

Sirius was a fast runner, especially for someone carrying an egg bigger than his head, that probably weighed half of what he did. He had a head start and long limbs too, so was already ten metres ahead of everyone else. 

Unfortunately for him, being fast must run in the family. 

Regulus grabbed his brother by the shoulders, taking him by surprise and easily forcing him down onto the ground. James heard him mumble something french that sounded like ‘idiot’ as he tried to wrestle the egg from him. But Sirius wasn’t having that. 

“Get off of me!” Sirius shouted. “Lâche-toi de moi!” 

“Donne-moi l'œuf!” Regulus said. Œuf meant egg, right? By this time Remus, Barty and James had caught up and were all standing over the two of them. Remus easily grabbed Sirius by his collar and yanked him off his brother, Barty and James hauling Regulus up.

Sirius still had the egg. 

He looked at his brother, face ablaze.

“Want it?” Sirius asked. “Go get it.” And before anyone could stop him, he had would his hand back and thrown the egg. They all watched, helplessly, as the sphere of gold disappeared beneath the back surface of lake. 

***

“You lunatic!” Regulus yelled. “Tu es impossible! What the fuck did you do that for?” 

Cutting in and out between French and English? Sirius did that sometimes, but only when he was absolutely furious.

Sirius was now seeming to realise that may not have been his best idea, his face blank and eyes wide. Believe it or not, this was not the first time he had acted without thinking. He scrabbled for something to say.

“If you hadn’t pushed me down-” He began to say but couldn’t finish the sentence. He was wrong and he knew it.

“The hell are we supposed to do now?” Regulus asked. No one responded. Sirius shuffled his feet uncomfortably. 

“Fuck.” James muttered. Everyone turned to him, remembering abruptly that it was he who was absolutely and utterly fucked now.  

“James I-” Sirius began, but Remus cut in.

“I have an idea.” He cast his eyes toward Sirius and gave him a tight-lipped smile. 

“I’m not going to like this at all, am I?” He asked. 

“Not one bit.” Remus replied. “Take your jacket off.” Sirius sighed and James began to catch on.

“Anything else I can take off for you?” Sirius teased but Remus was not amused by his charm in the slightest. Not today. 

“You’re not going to make him-” Barty began and Remus just hummed. Barty laughed his crazy lunatic laugh. “I like the way you think.” 

“Shut up.” Sirius snapped as he lifted his t-shirt over his head, revealing his pale expanse of a torso. 

James laughed, in a similar fashion to Barty, as he began to catch on. Remus really could be an evil mastermind when he felt like it.

“You’re brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.” He told Remus who just shrugged, secretly very proud. Sirius’s teeth were chattering.

“You realise I could get hypothermia doing this?” He asked. 

“I think that’s the point.” Barty said earning him a middle finger. 

“Pomfrey’ll fix you up.” Remus said. Then: “Well. What are you waiting for? A whistle?” 

Sirius looked up at him with pleading brown eyes. His skin was covered in goosebumps and he was shaking like a leaf in the wind. 

“Come on, Moons.” He tried. Remus shook his head.

“You got yourself into this mess.” He responded. Sirius let out a long groan of frustration but he just hushed him. “I’ll have your jacket for when you get out.” 

“This is incredible.” Regulus, who was smiling, really smiling, whispered to James who had to bite his tongue hard to hold back another fit of laughter. Sirius gave up trying to get out of Remus’s proposal and approached the water in only his underwear.

“What the hell is he doing?” The five boys turned around to see Lily, arms crossed and amused smile on her face. The others were quickly approaching behind her.

“Please tell me this is what I think it is.” Marlene said, holding up two sets of crossed fingers.

“Oh it is.” James said. Sirius scowled unhappily, his face flushed a dark shade of beet red from a terrible mixture of the cold and his own embarrassment.

“What did he do?” Mary asked, offering Sirius a small wave which was not returned.

“Had the bright idea of chucking James’s egg into the sea.” Barty explained, stretching an arm around Evan’s shoulders.

“Course he did.” Peter shook his head. 

“You’re really going to make him go and get it?” Pandora asked. “Couldn’t you just accio it back here?” She asked. 

“Shh.” Marlene hushed. “This is going to be so great, you’ll love this.” She told Pandora, who ultimately just shrugged. 

“If you say so.”

“Off you go then!” Peter encouraged. Sirius just groaned loudly and looked to Remus with one last hopeful expression.

“Don’t look at him!” Dorcas said and they all booed. “Jump in!” She encouraged. “But do watch out for Grindylows!” 

“And mind the giant squid!” Lily added.

“Bon voyage!” Marlene shouted and Regulus added something french James didn’t understand. A witty remark, he assumed. Regulus was good at those.

With one last huff of annoyance, Sirius looked out to the great expanse of the Black Lake. He then turned back to his friends who yelled out a mixture of teasing comments and words of encouragement. Mostly teasing.

He gave a small salute and without a word, ran forward into the water until he was waist deep, then throwing his arms up and propelling himself forward, diving into the ink black. 

They all ran toward the edge of the lake, staring desperately into the water. But it was too dark to see a thing. Not even the outline of his body. 

“Can anyone see him?” Mary asked. James squinted and wiped the lenses of his glasses but still saw nothing but black, black, black. 

Seconds passed but they felt stretched out, dragging on and on until James was sure they had been standing their for an hour.

“He’s been down there for too long.” He voiced. A few people hummed in agreement.

“Can he actually swim?” Evan asked, “You did say you never learned as kids.” He said to Regulus who just shrugged. 

“He wouldn’t have done it if he couldn’t swim.” Mary said, sounding more hopeful than firm. James gave her pointed look.

“It’s Sirius.” Mary pressed her lips together and leaned her tall body over the water, peering into the depths and bringing her nails to her mouth to chew. “Dorcas, you weren’t serious about the Grindylows?” Dorcas bit her lip.

“They do live down there. I didn’t think they were so close to shore but I…I don’t know.” 

“Fuck.” Remus said, dragging out the ‘u’ and bringing his hands to his hair. “I’m getting in.” Before anyone could disused him, a gasp cut through the air. 

Heads spun back toward the lake where Sirius’s head was now bobbing around, wet hair falling in his face. James felt everyone’s muscles relax in sync. 

“Where’s the egg?” Regulus yelled. Sirius ignored the comment, seeming wrapped up in something else. He was grinning with pride and kept looking down into the water. 

“You all have to hear this!” He yelled, before submerging himself back down under, invisible again. Brows furrowed. 

“What is he on about?” Peter asked. 

Just then Sirius’s head reappeared, this time closer to the shore and with the egg tucked neatly under his arm. It sparkled, almost looked like it was winking at them. 

“James!” He called, swimming slowly toward shallower water. He found his footing and stood up. “Get in here!” James snorted.

“No thanks.” He replied, watching Sirius shake from the cold. Sirius just rolled his eyes and came closer. 

“Fine, then. At least put your ear under the water.” He tried to compromise. James frowned.

“Why would I do that?”  

“Just do it, damn it!” He demanded in frustration. James put up his hands in surrender. 

“Alright, alright!” He crossed his arms and pulled his jacket tighter over his shoulders as Sirius dove back under the water. 

He spared a look to the group behind him. His eyes met Regulus’s, who just nodded. James grimaced, shivering at just the thought of the ice cold water on his skin. 

He crouched by the water and lowered himself onto his knees, careful that the water wet his jeans. 

He cautiously lowered his head to the lake and pressed his ear to the surface. When the waters lapping had subsided - he heard it. 

Singing. 

The lyrics should’ve been muffled by the water but James could hear every lyric crystal clear as if the song had been recorded on land. 

“Come seek us where our voices sound

We cannot sing above the ground

An hour long you'll have to look

To recover what we took.”

“Regulus!” James yelled, bolting upright. Water was still sloshing around in his ear. He shook his head violently until it trickled out, resembling a dog shaking itself dry. 

“What?” Said Regulus, looking at him sceptically. 

“Come here!” He said, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him along to the bank. He fell down on his knees next to him. “Put your ear to the water.” He instructed, as Sirius had. 

“James, I don’t care if you’ve heard what you think is the giant squid swimming around-” He began but James shushed him (a bold move on his part). 

“Just listen.” He instructed. 

Regulus regarded him for a moment, sized him up, grey eyes wondering across his face. James shifted uncomfortably. It reminded him of the train at the beginning of the year, when he had asked Regulus to keep his case in his carriage. 

Now, that seemed like light years ago.

“You shove me under there and you’re a dead man.” He said, before carefully lowering his ear to the water. 

James waited a few seconds, watching the other boys faces scrunch up in confusion. His brows knitted together and a crinkle appeared between them, his lips pursing together. 

He was about to explain when the expression suddenly disappeared, replaced with one of realisation. He sat up rapidly, some water that had made its way into his hair spraying across James’s face. 

“Pretty clever aren’t I?” Sirius mused, pushing himself back to float on his back and grinning up to the sky.

“Why are still in the water?” Lily asked. “Get out before you catch a cold, or something worse.” Sirius waved her away. He seemed to have gotten used to the temperature, after all that fuss. 

“What happened? What did you hear?” Dorcas asked. James and Regulus exchanged a glance. 

“The Egg, apparently.” Regulus said. “It’s merpeople. That’s the task.”

Chapter Text

The next few days went by in a blur. 

End of term tests were coming up and Lily had signed James up for more study groups than he could keep up with. 

He had also been massively preoccupied with hosting Quidditch Practices for the upcoming Gryffindor vs Slytherin match. Things were always heated when it came to matches between these two houses in particular. 

So overall, he hadn’t had much time to work on figuring what exactly he was going to do about the ‘merpeople’ predicament. He was going to be swimming, obviously, which was fine. He was a strong swimmer. But fighting underwater? He’d never been in that predicament. 

But he had time. Figuring out what the clue meant had to be most of the heavy lifting done, right?

Well that was a problem for future him. 

For now he had to focus on the match. 

Being Quidditch Captain did not come without its responsibilities, that was for sure. But James had worked hard for his position and there was no way that he was going to lose the first match of the year. Especially not to Slytherin. 

With absolutely no offence to Regulus, Dorcas, Evan or Barty who conveniently all happened to be on the Slytherin Quidditch team. Lucky him.

Anyway. 

When the Friday of the match finally rolled around, James hauled himself out of bed at precisely six am. The match wasn’t scheduled to start until until nine but as Captain, there were a number of things he needed to take care of beforehand.

The first -and possibly hardest task of them all- was waking up the Gryffindor team. He had learned the hard way that if he didn’t do this, half of them would sleep in until the last possible moment, conveniently missing warm-up drills.

Sirius, their keeper, was the first to face James’s wrath. 

“Up you get!” He said, jollily. “It’s match day and we wouldn’t want to lose the first match of the season now would we?” His commotion awoke Remus, who launched his pillow at him. 

“Not to Slytherin.” Sirius grumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“That’s the spirit.” He said, patting his friend on the back just a little to hard. “Now. Get dressed.” James had already thrown on his red quidditch uniform and tossed Sirius’s at him. “Up and at ‘em.” 

He’d asked Marlene to wake up Phoebe Dawson, their seeker and only other girl on the team, so prayed Marlene had found it in herself to get out of bed (a task she usually struggled with). He didn’t particularly fancy breaking into the girls dorms at such an early hour.

A dorm down the hall housed both the Gryffindor beaters: Arthur Browne and John Bell who were, unsurprisingly, still both drooling into their pillows. Luckily he had come prepared and set off his air horn shorty after entering. 

Neither of them, or their dorm mates for that matter, were all too happy about that. 

“The fuck was that for?” A roommate James’s didn’t know the name of asked. 

“If your friends would get up for match day on time, I wouldn’t have had to do that.” Was all he answered. The other two boys who were still lazing around in their beds. “Get dressed and go help Hooch set up.” 

He next headed to Geoffrey Fawley’s room, one of his fellow chasers, alongside Marlene. 

He reached for the door knob but before he could twist it, the door flew open on its own to reveal Geoffrey, dressed and ready to go. He sent him straight off to the Quidditch pitch to help Hooch set up. Enthusiastic to please James Potter, Geoffrey scurried off eagerly at full speed.

He would make a good captain one day. 

He waited in the Common Room for Marlene and Phoebe. 

“Ready to kick some Slytherin arse?” Marlene asked him, when she appeared at the top of the stairs. 

“So ready.” He replied and they high-fived. “You both feeling alright?” 

“Cloud nine.” Phoebe replied, grinning and showing off her pink braces. “Let’s go.” 

They reached the pitch around seven and headed to the the Gryffindor tent behind the stands for gameplay discussion while Slytherin warmed up. 

He went over the usual: ‘Sirius don’t get distracted by first years wanting your autograph’ and ‘John stop trying to hit people in the audience you don’t like with bludgers, its extremely immature’. 

He also gave them a stern talking to about how they couldn’t afford to start the season on the wrong foot, by throwing their first game to Slytherin. The team nodded furiously at this.  

Marlene, as usual, raised spirits with promises of a round of Butterbeers from Hogsmede on her if they won, which they all knew was an empty promise, but still got them excited. 

At eight, Slytherin wrapped up their drills and filed into their tent to discuss strategy, leaving the sky clear. James called Gryffindor to start warming up. 

They flew laps around the pitch until their heads spun, passed quaffles back and forth, tried to keep Marlene from falling asleep on her broom (which ultimately ended with James flying back to the castle to grab her a coffee). 

Students began to file in at around half eight, some with lions and red stripes painted on their faces and some waving dark green flags with pale snake emblems. 

He noticed the Marauders, all dressed head to toe in red and chatting excitedly. Mary had made a sign that was illegible from his height. 

On the other side of the pitch was Pandora, wearing a snake pendent and sitting next to a boy with extremely long, white hair who James didn’t recognise. 

The stands filled up quickly. Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were filling up seats too, it was a bit of a squeeze for everyone. All the more people to watch Gryffindor win. 

He was in the middle of correcting Arthur’s grip on his bat, when the Slytherins flew out in organised formation. 

They were led Dorcas, their captain and keeper. She was followed by the beaters: Barty and Hector Nott (fuck him, trying to cheat James out of ten galleons). Then came the chasers: Evan, a boy named Avery and…was that Sirius’s cousin?

Yes it was! Andromeda, James recalled. Her black and white hair was unmistakeable as it billowed out behind her. 

Then, finally came the seeker. Regulus.

He was a graceful flyer, seeming to cut through the air, looping around the stands and taking his place for the beginning of the game: stationed above the rest of the players who had begun to form a circle beneath him. 

Phoebe took her place across from him, eyes narrowed, game face in tact. Regulus did not seem bothered in the slightest by Phoebe’s intense gaze. In fact he ignored her, to stare down at James instead. 

He looked right back up at him and watched a smirk melt its way onto his face. 

“Game on.” He mouthed. 

“Right back at you.” James mouthed back.

And with that, Madam Hooch appeared on the pitch. She looked first to Dorcas who gave a nod of conformation. ‘We’re ready’. And then to James who did the same. ‘We were born ready’. 

“I expect a clean game!” She shouted up at them, although most were only focussing on the case beneath them that contained the bludgers, quaffle and the snitch. 

She opened the case and instantly the bludgers sprung out, going in separate directions. They were shorty followed by the snitch that spun around Regulus’s head and then Phoebes, teasing them. It flew away into the distance, but both seekers kept their eyes trained on it.

Hooch then reached for the quaffle, taking it in her hands, pausing for a moment of suspense and then finally (after what felt like an eternity) throwing it high up into the air. 

James darted forward, grabbing the ball and flying full speed toward the Slytherin goal posts. He was swarmed by Avery and Andromeda who tried to sandwich him between their bodies and knock him about. He knew this strategy. And he knew how to escape it. He dived downward and flew easily out of their way but moments later Evan appeared from nowhere and snatched the ball from his hands. 

He didn’t get far before Geoffrey knocked the quaffle from his possession and passed it back to James, who managed to get it through one of the goals, with Geoffrey distracting Dorcas as planned. 

The crowd cheered loudly and the usual chant of, ‘Go, Go Gryffindor!’ started up, led by Mary. How he had missed this!

More goals over the next half an hour from both teams, bringing the score to 60 - 50 to Gryffindor, with Marlene scoring three times (motivated only by the prospect of teasing Dorcas about a Gryffindor win), James scoring twice and Geoffrey once. 

Unfortunately, the match wasn’t going so well for one player. 

Early on in the game, Hector had accidentally sent a bludger right at Andromeda, whilst he was aiming for Marlene. And although Andromeda had ducked out of the way at the last second, it had sent him spiralling into a bad mood. And Hector Nott, famously, did not have very good control of his temper. Today, he decided he was going to take his anger out on the bludgers.

A terrible idea. 

He was swinging his bat around like a madman. A lot of power but no accuracy whatsoever, a terrible mix. 

At one point, James was watching a bludger come hurtling toward Hector and swore he saw him close his eyes as he hit it. The ball flew through the air and who should it hit but Regulus Black. A member of his own team.

Luckily, he was just far away enough for the bludger not to do any serious damage to his arm. Perhaps leaving a bruise. But a large one. It was an inconvenience at any rate. It was stupid on Hector’s part. 

“The hell was that for?” Regulus shouted. Marlene currently had the quaffle down the other side of the pitch- so James took the opportunity to watch the argument. 

“It was an accident, Black!” Hector shouted back, “Grow up!” 

“I’m not the one hitting bludgers like I’m blind!” Regulus yelled. He shook his head. ‘Back to the game’, he thought and just then, caught sight of the snitch buzzing just behind Hector, as if too watching the argument. He made to fly past him. As he did, Hector extended his bat out and wound it back. He gave Regulus a good whack on the arm with it. 

James wasn’t even all that close to the two of them, but even he heard the unmistakable shattering of bone. 

The next part seemed to happen in slow-motion but at the same time, was over in a flash. It was a moment so strange that it existed outside of time. 

Regulus’s now broken left arm, slipped from his broom and all of a sudden he was losing his balance all together. His other hand slipped from the broom and then his entire body. 

Regulus was high up. Very high. He would break both of his legs, his back, his neck, his other arm, falling from this height. And that was the best case scenario. 

Fortunately, James wasn’t going to let that happen. 

He was faintly aware of Geoffrey yelling at him to grab the quaffle from Evan, but his Quidditch brain was turned off. Everything else was out of focus And blurred. The only clear image Regulus’s flailing around in the air- grasping desperately at nothing. 

Falling down, down, down. 

He imagined the terrible crack of bones, watching him fall limp to the floor, blood and bruises, the cries and yelps of pain or even worse - the sound of nothing at all. 

He aimed his broom to the ground and dove toward Regulus, flying the fastest he had ever flown before. The air whooshed around him, high-pitched and screaming at him: ‘Faster! Faster!’. 

Regulus was just metres from the floor when James, maintaining expert balance, took both his hands off of his broom, extended them out and grabbed him clumsily, before landing gently on the floor. 

“Fuck.” Was all he could manage. Regulus couldn’t say a word, just breathed heavily and hugged his arm in close to his body. It was bent at two different angles, hanging limply against his chest. James felt his pre-game snack rise into his throat. “You…you should sit down.” He said. 

Regulus was always pale but James swore that in that moment, he was transparent. His eyes were blown wide and it didn’t look like there was a though behind them, just pain and adrenaline. 

He managed to stagger down onto the grass, barely able to hold himself up. James kept his hands behind his back in support and began to yell for a medic. 

Madame Pomfrey rushed onto the pitch, accompanied by Madame Hooch who yelled up at both teams to pause the game and come down. 

Sirius, who had been solely focused on his defence, now seemed to notice the scene beneath him. Panicked, he raced down to the ground. 

Pomfrey half pried James off of Regulus, assuring him that she could hold him up. He’d asked her three times if she was sure. 

“You idiot!” He heard someone yell. He turned behind him to see Andromeda giving Hector a hard shove. “That’s my little cousin you hit! Do you know that?” She reached only up to his chest, which she began to punch at furiously. 

“He was in my way.” Was all Hector responded with. James swore he saw red in that moment. 

“You - are a fucking twat.” Andromeda momentarily paused her punches as he approached. He followed in her foot steps and put both his hands on Hector’s shoulders giving him a good push. He stumbled back. “You did that on purpose!”

“He’s fine!” He said, recovering. “Pomfrey will fix your boyfriend right up and maybe he’ll learn his lesson.” 

Now, Hector was a lot taller than James. Being a seventh year, he’d had more time to grow. He was also a lot stronger, which is why it was a risky move when James punched him in the face. 

Fortunately, he was in luck, and his fists didn’t fail him. Hector fell to the ground, grabbing at his nose where he had been struck, a stream of scarlet already running from it and pooling above his lip. 

“Fuck you.” James said. Then a lot of things happened at once.

McGonagall ran onto the pitch, grabbing James by the arm and telling him ‘that was enough’ and also to ‘mind his language’. 

Hooch picked Hector up by his collar and told him to come with her and to ‘not bother cleaning up his injury’. 

Sirius landed, threw down his broom and ran to his brother’s side, pushing a crowd that had gathered around the scene out of the way as he went. He and Pomfrey lifted Regulus and started back toward the castle. 

James made to help them, fighting against McGonagall’s grip but damn, was that woman strong.

“Calm down, Potter.” She said. “Mr Black will be fine.”

Chapter Text

The entirety of Hogwarts’s Sixth Year had been gathered in a Transfiguration classroom first thing on the morning of November 30th. 

The entire student body was buzzing with the excitement of December being just around the corner. Cinnamon was in the air. When the student body arose the next morning, Christmas decorations would adorn the corridors and the great hall, a the light dusting of magical snow covering huge, festive green trees dragged into castle. 

Not to mention the gingerbread on offer after every meal. 

But for now, it was still November, and the sixth years were here, to meet for a ‘briefing’ pre-breakfast. Briefing for what exactly, none of them were sure. But they were having a good time guessing. 

“Reckon they’ve finally sacked Sprout for letting her Hufflepuff’s grow pot in the greenhouse?” Peter asked. Remus made a ‘tsst’ sound.  

“Old news.” He said.

“I reckon Snivellus has finally killed someone.” Sirius suggested. “Is anyone missing?” Lily frowned at him.

“Be nice, Sirius.” She said. Sirius shook his head. 

“Really don’t know why you’re so nice about him, Evans. He’s a prick to you.” He reminded her. She just shrugged. 

“I don’t know.” She managed, sparing a look toward Snape who was talking in hushed whispers with Avery and Mulciber on the other side of the room. His only friends. It was no wonder why. 

“Enough about Snivellus. It’s enough we have to look at him all the time.” Peter said. Sirius snorted. 

“It’s probably something about grades.” Dorcas said. The rest of them hummed in agreement. “You know since the two of you are bringing down our year’s average.” She said, looking pointedly through her silver-rimmed glasses at Sirius and James, who scowled matching scowls at her. 

“I’ve got the tournament to worry about.” James said. “Excuse me if I can’t remember how to correctly plant a mandrake. What’s your excuse?” 

“I don’t care.” Sirius said, plainly. “I’ll be a rich man when dear old Mum and Dad finally kick the bucket. Moony can keep me afloat in the mean time.” Marlene snickered. Mary hushed them. 

“Look, there’s McGonagall now.” She said, pointing to the hallway. They all straightened up, subconsciously, the girls unrolling their skirts and the boys adjusting their ties. 

McGonagall walked into the middle of the room, without saying a word. Her presence commanded silence. She stood there for a moment, surveying the students (secretly checking their uniform). She took a deep breath. 

“The Yule Ball.” She said after a moment. “Has been a tradition that comes hand in hand with the Triwizard Tournament since its creation.” 

The room instantly erupted into chatter. 

“A ball?” Lily asked. 

“Sounds like it.” Marlene replied. 

In all the time he’d been at Hogwarts, James had never been to a ball. Actually, he hadn’t ever been to a ball in his life. Sure he’d attended fancy dinners and parties with his parents, many of them, in fact. But a ball? He’d never had the pleasure. 

McGonagall demanded to, ‘settle down’ and the classroom quieted again. 

“On Christmas Eve night, students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute will gather together for a night of well-mannered celebration.” She informed them.

“I don’t know about well-mannered.” Sirius whispered, “Who’s bringing the booze?” James bit back a laugh. McGonagall noticed this, giving them both a pointed look before going on. 

“As representatives of Hogwarts, I expect you all to be on your best behaviour.” She looked to the Marauders, who tried to avoid her gaze. “Put your best foot forward. Which brings me to my next point.” She said. “Because The Yule Ball is a dance.” 

The room once again filled with conversation and a lot of laughter on Sirius’s part. 

“Please tell me McGonagall’s here to teach us to dance.” He prayed. James grinned at the mental image. 

“I don’t care what we’re doing, it’s getting me out of Arithmancy.” Peter said, stretching his legs out onto the table in front of him. “McGonagall dancing would just be a plus.”

“Mr Pettigrew.” McGonagall’s voice rang out through the room. Heads turned towards their bench, where Peter had currently frozen, feet up on the desk (a serious offence) and colour already draining from his face.

“Professor?” He said, voice high. 

“Will you join me?” She said. Marlene reached to cover Dorcas’s mouth as she snorted, loudly. 

“I’d rather not, Professor-” He tried but, McGonagall had already grabbed him by the hands and pulled him up to join her in the middle of the room. 

“Dorcas pass me your camera?” Remus asked. Dorcas nodded, unhooking the strap from around her neck and passing it to him.

“Don’t let Sirius hold it, it’s new.” She whispered, earning her an offended look from Sirius. Remus put his eye to the viewfinder just as the music began, making everything all the more comical.

McGonagall began to direct a now very flushed Peter around the makeshift dance floor. He wasn’t the best dancer, rather clumsy. He kept losing his footing and bumbling around nervously while throwing his friends dirty looks as they whooped and hollered and Remus took secret pictures. 

“This is gold.” Sirius wheezed as Peter’s large feet almost crushed McGonagall’s dainty toes for the fifth time. “Moon’s are you getting all of this?” Remus nodded as best he could with the camera still pressed to his face. 

When Peter accidentally stepped on McGonagall’s robes again, she decided that she’d had enough, letting him go abruptly and calling out to the other students. 

“Now, your turns. Everybody on your feet.” Remus lowered the camera and Peter gave them all a look of triumph. 

Mary and Lily were the first to stand up, Mary extending her hand out and Lily slapping hers into it. The two of them walked hand in hand to the middle of the room where a few other couples had begun to congregate. 

Marlene sighed and stood up too. She extended her hand out to Dorcas in an exaggerated fashion. 

“May I have this dance?” She asked.

“Since you asked so nicely.” She responded. Marlene grinned and they danced their way over to Mary and Lily. The four of them easily got into it, swaying to the rhythm and talking as they did so. 

“Boys.” McGonagall snapped her finger at James, Remus and Sirius who all still sat unmoving on the bench. “Go and join your peers.” She instructed. 

“Professor, my injury-” Remus attempted, indicating to his arm, which he had hurt during one of his transformations back in September. 

“Silence, Lupin.” She replied. “You have been healed for months. Go and dance. Black you go with him.” Sirius flashed his winning smile. 

“Well, if you insist, Professor.” He said, grabbing Remus by the hands and hauling him up . “Come along, Moony. We must dance.” He said the last part under his breath and in McGonagall’s Scottish accent. Remus groaned as he was dragged away. 

“You too, Potter.” McGonagall added before moving on to correct Dorcas and Marlene, who had begun to mess about with their moves, dipping and spinning each other in an ‘entirely unladylike fashion’, according to her. 

James stood awkwardly. He stared desperately around the hall, looking for someone to partner up with. He should’ve got up faster, almost everyone was already dancing now. 

“James!” Peter was waving at him, pushing his way through the crowd. “Didn’t forget about me did you?” James beamed. 

“Not after that scene.” Peter grimaced. 

“Let’s not ever talk about that again.” He whined. James just clapped him on the back. 

“We’ll see about that.” 

Dancing came naturally to him, as most sport did. Unlike Peter, who could barely walk in a straight line, James had a good sense for movement. He stayed in time with the music and even managed to help Peter out a little (though, on the whole, he was a lost cause). 

Remus wasn’t great either, Sirius doing most of the work for them. He was tall and had no sense of what to do with his long limbs. Sirius thought this hilarious but Remus was not amused in the slightest. 

They were let out for a late breakfast and Remus and Peter practically sprinted out of the room. McGonagall told them more information about the event would be announced that evening at dinner. 

They had taken their food up to the Gryffindor common room and were currently all circled around the fire covered in layers and layers of blankets. The castle was cold during Winter. 

“So James.” Marlene spoke up through a mouthful of bacon, grease around her mouth. “Who are you planning on taking to the ball?” She asked. James frowned.

“I don’t know.” He answered. “I’ll probably just go on my own.” 

“Don’t be silly.” Lily said. “You’ll need a date.” James frowned.

“Why not? Don’t I make a good bachelor?” He joked. Lily raised an eyebrow at him. 

“That and McGonagall told me and Mary that the victors have to begin the dance in front of everyone.” She told him, grinding too much salt over her boiled eggs.

James groaned loudly, shoving his bowl away from him in despair and laying back, flat onto the carpet. 

“Oh for goodness sake.” He said. “Why?” Lily shrugged. 

“Tradition, I suppose.” She said. “What about the rest of you?”

“Probably best to go with friends, isn’t it?” Said Remus. As he did, he eyed Sirius next to him, who and raised an eyebrow. They communicated only with their facial expressions for a few seconds before seemingly reaching an agreement. 

“Yak yak fucking yak.” Marlene said, making a disgusted face at the two of them. “Come to the ball with me, girls?” She asked. Dorcas made a face and twisted one of her braids around her finger. 

“Will you let me finish of your pancakes?” She asked.  

“Absolutely not.” Marlene said, cradling her blueberry confections closer to her chest. “But I’ll buy you that new lipstick you’ve been ogling in Hogsmede.” Dorcas seemed satisfied with that. 

“I can’t believe you’re bribing people into going to a dance with you.” Mary shook her head. “What happened to romance?” 

“Who are you planning on going with then, Mair?” Dorcas asked. Mary’s cheek coloured slightly and she looked down. 

“Mary!” Lily exclaimed, “Why haven’t I heard about this? Has Mary Macdonald truly, finally found someone worth her time?” Mary just brushed her curls from her face. 

“Maybe.” Was all she answered with. James suppressed a smile. He had a good feeling he knew who she was talking about. “What about you Lily?” 

Lily scoffed. 

“I don’t have time for boys right now. I’ve enough on my mind.” At this, James was reminded of her absence all summer. 

“Like what?” He was testing the waters. 

“I guess we’ll have to see.” Was all she answered. The group groaned, then trying to encourage both the girls to expand on their little secrets but both kept their lips sealed. Eventually they moved onto torturing Peter who actually didn’t have anyone to go with. 

They circled back to James eventually. 

“Whoever you decide to ask, you need to ask them quickly.” Peter said, through a mouthful. “I heard people in the Great Hall saying they have dates lined up already.” 

“What if I just, don’t show up?” He said. “Say I’m on holiday or something.” Lily shook her head. 

“No, you’re coming.” She said firmly. “You will find someone James. Easily. You’re a victor.” The group hummed in agreement. 

“Yeah mate, people are obsessed with you for some reason.” Sirius said. “You’ll be fine.” 

“Yeah but, what if I accidentally lead someone on or something?” He worried aloud. Sirius just shrugged. 

“That’s not your problem.” To him, this was a daily occurrence. 

“Okay well, you could go with someone as friends.” Mary tried to reason. “Like Pandora, she’s not going out with anyone is she?” James perked up a little. Yes, that was right! 

“Or that victor girl?” Peter spoke up. “Daphne? You know her a bit, don’t you?” James stilled. He could almost feel Marlene tense up.

“Daphne?” She repeated. He forced himself to look at her. She didn’t look angry. More so confused. “What on earth are you doing hanging around with her?” She asked. 

“I’m not!” He protested, internally cursing Peter. “But…she doesn’t seem all that bad.” The words tumbled out and he regretted them instantly. “No I mean, I’m sure whatever she did to you was bad, awful, I’m sure. But she’s seems different you know its been a few years since you were there- not that I’m saying you should forget about it, no of course you-” Remus cut him off with an elbow to the ribs. 

“Calm down.” He said. James took a breath. 

He had forgotten, momentarily, what a touchy subject Marlene at Beauxbatons was. Though he was still itchy to know why and what had happened to make this so. He especially wanted to know what Daphne had done. 

Sweet, smoothed-skin, seemingly innocent, french-beauty Daphne. How had she come to exist in the same sentence as the words ‘fucking devil’? 

“Sorry, Marls.” He said. “What I mean is that…she doesn’t seem all that bad. To me at least.” Marlene fidgeted with her fingers.

“Yeah, yeah sure.” She agreed, glancing at the floor. 

Things were quiet for a moment after that, until Sirius suggested:

“Why don’t you go to the ball with that journalist bird!” And James erupted into a furious tangent about the dishonesty of journalism.

Chapter Text

“Good luck, mate.” Remus clapped James on the back, in the fashion as his father did before a big Quidditch match. 

“You’ve got this down.” Sirius said, ruffling his hair. 

“No stress.” Peter added. 

“Will you all shut up.” He said. The three boys just snickered at him. “You know I’m just asking her as a friend.” Peter shrugged.

“Can’t blame us. It’s been a while since you last asked anyone out. When was the last time, fourth year?” He guessed. 

“Third.” Remus corrected. 

“Wow.” Sirius exclaimed. “Lily was the last time you asked someone on a date? That’s more than depressing.” He let him know. James rolled his eyes.

“I’m not depressed. I’m a bachelor.” He said, straightening out his robes. “And this isn’t a date, how many times do I have to tell you three that?” He walked away before any of them could make an estimate. 

“Go on, James!” Sirius yelled after him, turning more than a few heads as he whooped loudly, joined by both of the other boys. James cringed and shoved his hands deep into his robe pockets, making his way over to the Slytherin table.

“The hell was that all about?” Evan asked as James slid himself down next to him. As usual, Barty and Evan sat next to each other and Regulus and Pandora opposite them. 

“I think I know.” Barty said, smiling at him, devious-like. James frowned. How did he know already? No matter. This wasn’t a big deal. He looked to Pandora. 

She was cutting up her apple slices on her plate, rattling and wobbling the table a little as she did so. Her actions were earning her some annoyed glances from a group of Seventh Years next to them, but she took no notice of them. 

James surveyed her for a moment. 

She was pretty and there was no denying that. 

Her white blonde hair was falling all around her- like silky snow. It was getting in her food slightly but she hadn’t noticed that either. Her skin was almost the same colour as her hair and completely clear of any blemishes, meaning the only redness about her face was her rosy cheeks and lips. 

She sort of resembled a bunny, now he was really having a good look at her. Soft features, small in stature, a gap between her small, front teeth. She also had a tendency to bounce as she walked. 

She was good too. Kind-hearted and clever, a little kookie, yes, but unapologetically authentic. Witty when she wanted to be. She had air in her head but she wasn’t stupid. She was light as a cloud. She cared about people. She had always been accepting of James. Her occasional indifference was passive and even inviting. 

He wondered for a moment if he ever could like her. Love her even. 

Now that he thought about it, she was similar to Lily in a lot of ways. The smarts, though in different areas. The wit, using their smarts to be smart-mouthed but only when they felt like it. And the pure-hearted tendencies. 

But there was something stopping him from feeling anything but a platonic fondness for her. Though he wasn’t sure at the time exactly what it was. Perhaps it was because she was a little younger than him. Perhaps she was too quiet. 

Feeling eyes on her, Pandora looked up. 

“Are you okay, James?” She asked, blue eyes swimming with concern. He had definitely been staring too long. He nodded. 

“Fine, yeah.” He said. He thought about just asking her now, outright, but before he could get a word in she smiled and went back to her food. He’d try again in a moment. 

“Feeling ready for the second task, Potter?” Evan asked. “Reg tells us its merepeople in the black lake next.” 

“Yeah, guess I’ve got Sirius to thank for that.” He responded, reaching for a pastry filled with a cream cheese. Regulus huffed. 

“Sirius got the clue, but you wouldn’t have any idea what it meant if it weren’t for me.”

“And you wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for me, so let’s call it even.” He said. Regulus looked a little taken aback at that and he felt proud. It wasn’t often he had a comeback for Regulus’s bluntness on the spot. 

He hadn’t brought up the events of the Quidditch game since they’d happened. Pomfrey had fixed Regulus’s broken arm within the day. There was nothing to talk about. 

“He’s got you there.” Said Barty. He was smirking at James in appreciation. But Regulus’s brows narrowed and a look of genuine confusion spread across his face. 

“What on Earth are you talking about?” He asked, dropping his spoon in his coffee mug. Metal made a loud, ‘clank’ against the china. 

“Already forgotten have you?” James asked, sarcastically. Regulus’s frown only deepened.

“Forgotten what?” 

“You know.” Evan spoke up. “How he swooped in and saved you from falling off your broom to your death?”

“Like a knight in shinning armour.” Barty added, through a mouthful. Evan told him to keep his mouth closed when he was eating. ‘You’re not a child’. 

“It was rather heroic.” Pandora complimented, earning her self a high five and a, ‘thank you, Pandora’ from James. 

“Very funny.” Was all Regulus said, before going back to his coffee without a further comment, just a shake of his head. The other four exchanged confused glances.

“Regulus.” Pandora said after a moment, in a gentle voice, looking concerned. He lifted his head. “What exactly do you think happened at that Quidditch Match?” She asked, carefully. He looked at her curiously.

“I know exactly what happened.” He said, suspiciously, as if he were being tested. “That bastard, Nott, hit me with his bludger bat and I lost my grip on my broom and fell off.” He explained, as if it were nothing. 

“And then what?” She asked. Regulus opened his mouth to respond but then closed it again, thinking for a moment.

“Well, I suppose Dumbledore or someone used a spell to stop me hitting the ground.” He said. “And then Pomfrey came and got me and took me to the medical wing and...” He paused begrudgingly. “And then they sent on some fourth year and that Phoebe Dawson got her hands on the snitch and Gryffindor won.” He shook his head, irritated. 

James sat, momentarily struck dumb. 

Regulus really didn’t know what had happened?

He hadn’t seen James fly toward him? Hadn’t felt him, grab him before he hit the ground? He didn’t know that he, James, was the one to save him from the one injury that Madame Pomfrey couldn’t have healed?

“Oh, Reg.” Was all Pandora managed, putting a pale hand on his pale shoulder. Regulus frowned at her.

“What?” He asked, completely clueless. He looked to James who’s lips were pursed together. His eye’s softened slightly in realisation. “You cast the spell?” He asked. James shook his head.

“Better.” Barty grinned, leaning in toward the middle of the table. “I watched the whole thing so take my word for it.” He explained. 

“Barty, really it wasn’t that big of-” James tried but went ignored.

“This is my story, Potter. It’s not for you trust me.” He said, turning back to Regulus who still looked utterly confused. “So you start plummeting, you’ve got that much, right?” He asked. Regulus rolled his eyes.

“Yes I remember falling two hundred feet through the air.”  

“Great.” Said Barty. “So there you were, plummeting.” He set the scene, “And James sees you and forgets all about the quaffle, that poor suck-up Geoffrey is trying to get to him. He flies toward you, top speed.” Bart described using one hand to mime Regulus falling and one to mime James flying toward him. “And just as you’re about to hit the floor-” He smacked his hands together to indicate James catching him (though it looked more like he had smacked him to the ground, Barty’s miming was sub-par at best).

Regulus slowly looked up at James, who could do nothing but grin awkwardly. 

“You caught me?” He managed eventually choke out.

“Guess so.” He said. “Can’t have you going and dying on me when I have a tournament to win.” Perhaps the wrong thing to stay when his friend was in a state heightened state of epiphany. Before he could correct himself- a boy had approached their table.

“Pandora.” He said. James recognised him. It was the boy Pandora had been with at the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match. He was easily identifiable after seeing him once, with that long white hair that flowed down his back. It was the same colour a Pandora’s and this might’ve made them look similar, but it didn’t. His hair pin-straight, where hers was gentle waves, his features were angular and hers soft. 

“Xenophilius.” She greeted, smiling sweetly. What a mouthful of a name! “How are you?” She asked, putting a hand on top of his. 

“Good.” He said, taking a long and unnecessary pause before asking, “And what about yourself?” 

“Good too.” She said. The conversation paused again and they just stared at each other, Pandora smiling her sugary smile and Xenophilius looking at back at her with big and admiring eyes. 

He had a terrible feeling he knew what was going to happen next.

“I would like to ask you something.” He said. James thought he felt his left eye beginning to twitch.  

“And what would that be?” Pandora asked, putting her elbows on the table and propping her chin upon her hands. Xenophilius smiled. 

“Do you have a date to the Yule Ball?” He asked. Now James was physically holding himself back from jumping out of his seat and shoving Xenophilius to the floor and asking Pandora first. 

But when he looked at her: she was smiling. Not her polite, icing sugar smile anymore but a big and  excited grin. Her pale face was flushing red. 

Like he said, Pandora was good. Kind-hearted and clever and authentic. She had never hurt a fly in the time that James had known her. She had helped him, though she didn’t know him. If it wasn’t for her gentle guidance, perhaps James and Sirius would still not be on speaking terms.

Now there was a boy. A boy who seemed good too. Good for her. Someone she really deserved. What kind of sick creature would he be to take that away from her?

So he kept his mouth shut as Xenophilius slowly managed his way through asking Pandora to the ball, and she accepted. 

From the Gryffindor table, Remus, Sirius and Peter, who had been watching the entire ordeal shamelessly, smacked their palms against their foreheads.

Chapter Text

The beginning of December seemed to fly by, which was great for the students of Hogwarts who were eager for a break and for Christmas arrive- but not so fantastic for James who was still in desperate need of a date to the ball. 

He tried, he really did. But it seemed everyone he turned to had already been asked and accepted. 

He had tried asking Alice Fortescue, a family-friend of his since they were fairly young, due to the fact that their fathers used to work alongside each other frequently. But it had completely slipped from his memory that she had a boyfriend, Frank Longbottom, a clumsy prefect with do-good tendencies, who had asked her as soon as the ball was announced, so she told him. 

Mary was still staying quiet about her mystery date and wouldn’t clear up who they were or even drop a hint (although James had a pretty good idea). So that was a bust- shame as well, as Mary would certainly be the best dressed at the event. 

Lily too was adamant about her family wanting her to stay home for Christmas and left on the train on December 15th, the day after school finished. 

James went home that day too, the plan being for him to spend the beginning of the Holidays at home and then return to Hogwarts the afternoon of Christmas Eve to get ready for the ball with Remus, Sirius and Peter, all of whom (but Sirius) had chosen to stay at Hogwarts for the Holidays. 

He himself would spend Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning at Hogwarts before going back to his house for lunch where he would stay until January when he had to return to school. 

So it was just James, Sirius and the girls on the train ride back to King’s Cross, or so he had thought, until Barty and Evan had come to join them. They were on the way to Evans’ house, where Barty said he had spent every Christmas since first year. They were shorty followed by Regulus who was dressed in a crisp white shirt. 

Pandora would be staying in the castle until after the ball, claiming she loved the castle around Christmas and didn’t want to miss a second of it. But she would be home for New Years.

The carriage home was jam-packed and buzzed with excitement. Mary was handing around gingerbread that her, Peter and Marlene had sneakily made in the kitchens. Dorcas was finishing up hand painting an ornament for Marlene’s mother while Barty nudged her and tried to get her to mess up. Evan, Lily and Regulus were knee deep into a game of Rummy. 

Sirius was the only one who wasn’t doing anything. In fact, James wasn’t sure he’d said a word since they got on the train. He had been uncharacteristically quiet all week too. The words, ‘Sirius’ and, ‘Quiet’ did not sound good together. 

He was just looking out at the frost-covered and endless fields, his breath fogging up the window. James nudged him. 

“Padfoot.” He mumbled. Sirius turned to him, looking weary. His eyes were red from a lack of sleep, James assumed.

“What?” He asked. 

“Fancy a snack from the trolley?” He asked, muttering still. Sirius frowned and James just indicated to the door of the carriage in proposition. The other boy nodded in recognition. 

“Alright.” He agreed, pushing himself from his seat. He weaved past the suitcases that were crammed in the middle of the seats they had all squashed onto. James followed. 

They were half way out the door when Regulus spoke up, peering up at the two of them from behind his deck of cards.

“Where are you going?” He asked. The two boys exchanged a quick glance.

“Trolley.” James replied at the same time Sirius responded with:

“None of your business.” James gave him a little shove on the arm. 

“You want anything, Reg?” He asked. Regulus just looked between the two of them, something passing in his eyes that could only be described as…distrust? But the look lasted only a few seconds, making it impossible to tell. 

“I’m fine.” Was all he replied with, looking back to his deck slowly.

“Get me a chocolate frog!” Marlene called.

“I’ll think about it.” James replied, with that he let the door slide shut, the sounds of chatter and laughter instantly being cut out. The only sound now was the noise of the rickety old train making its way steadily down the railway. 

“S’wrong with you?” James asked, leaning against a gap between two doors, making sure no one in their carriage could see the two of them. He crossed his arms. 

“Nothing.” Sirius replied with. He rolled his eyes. 

“Clearly it’s not nothing.” He said. His friend just shrugged. James sighed. “What is it, Pads? What, you miss Remus? Is that it?” 

Sirius wasn’t allowed to take Remus to his for Christmas for a few reasons. None of which were valid in anyone’s eyes except most of the members of, ‘The Noble and most Ancient House of Black’ . 

“I saw him this morning.” Sirius said. “I’m not that pathetic.” James raised an eyebrow, deciding not to mention how after a day of no lessons together, he would refuse to leave Remus’s side for the next 24 hours. 

“Whatever you say.” James replied. 

The sound of the train chugging along filled the silence. 

“I don’t…” Sirius began. James looked hopefully up at him. “I can’t…” He trailed off again. He nodded along encouragingly.

“You can’t what?” James asked. 

“I can’t go home for Christmas.” Sirius replied, half cutting him off. He spoke it so quickly, he could’ve not said anything at all. 

Sirius always had trouble going back home for Christmas. Or any holiday He hated his family for one. Hated their pure blood values, all their values really. He didn’t talk much about them but from what James could gather, the Black’s weren’t the biggest fan of Remus either. 

Well the idea of Remus, considering the fact that they refused to meet him. 

“What happened?” James managed. Sirius avoided his gaze, instead focussing on a window. They were crossing a bridge that stretched over a brown river. He opened his mouth to speak but then shut it. He thought for a moment, then spoke again. 

“I wrote to them last week.” He half said, half sighed. James waited for him to go on but he didn’t.

“What did write to them about?” He asked. Sirius squinted at the window as if it were bright outside, but the clouds were grey. 

“I told them I was bringing Remus. For the Holidays.” He said, still refusing eye contact. “You can guess how that went.” 

“Not very well?” James asked, dumbly. He was returned with a nod. 

“They said they didn’t want some dirty half-blood in their house.” He looked down at his hands. “Let alone the one that single-handedly, ‘destroyed’ my life.” He was smiling but his face was far from a happy expression. 

“What did you say?” He asked. 

“Some things I probably shouldn’t of.” Sirius replied, looking back to the window. “And they said that I wasn’t welcome back home until next year. Which is fine by me.” 

It was quite obviously not fine at all.

Though Sirius had a deep and ever-long hatred for his parents, a burning fire in the pit of his stomach he wished they’d burn in. But that didn’t change the fact they were his parents. Like everyone, he still wanted, craved their love. Their attention. Their support. Even a twitch of emotion from them. 

“Where are you planning on staying?” James asked after a moment. Sirius just shrugged. 

“Might go to Marlene’s, see if her parents will let me stay if I do some work on that garden of theirs.” He mulled over. 

The McKinnon’s owned too much land to keep on top of and Marlene would always talk of how overgrown it was. She had even talked of spotting Devil’s Snare growing under a tree but the pool once. 

An image of Sirius tangled in the stuff flooded his mind, screaming for help but the garden’s being to big for anyone to hear a thing. What kind of a Christmas was that?

“Absolutely not.” James cut in. Sirius frowned.

“Well what the hell else am I supposed to do?” He snapped back, crossly. “Live on the streets? I can’t go back to the castle, the next train doesn’t go until Christmas Eve, I shouldn’t have even got on this one.” He ranted. “Where-”

“Come and stay with me.” James said coolly. This seemed to surprise Sirius, though the offer seemed an obvious solution. He stood, struck wordless, mouth half open. 

James almost laughed. 

Sirius was the best friend he had ever had. Truly. He knew more about him than he did himself. He’d never had a friend like him before and probably never would again. It was like a part of their souls had become intertwined from the day they met on the train. The very train they stood on. 

And they both knew of this. Of their connection. Talked about it quite frequently. How could he possibly not have thought of it?

“What?” He managed. James did laugh now.

“My parents love you, Pads. You live with me for the majority of every year, it’d just be extending on that if you think about it.” Sirius tried to speak, to thank him, object, completely reject the offer, James wasn’t sure. He didn’t think Sirius even knew himself. So he just wrapped a tight arm around him. “Consider it a Christmas gift.” 

Slowly, but surely, a smile worked its way across Sirius’s face. 

“Then merry fucking Christmas, Prongsy.”

***

As expected, James’s parents were more than happy to take Sirius in for the holidays. 

They easily worked him into their traditions which he thoroughly enjoyed. James’s dad brought both the boys along to pick out a Christmas tree from the farm round the corner and made them lug it down the street back home. James’s mother had both of them help her out with making Christmas cookies (which naturally resulted in complete mess). Sirius even put the star on the top of the tree. 

He got on exceedingly well with Potters. And not just James’s parents but even both sets of his grandparents had taken a liking to him when they had come round to the house for lunch one day. 

Sirius and James spent most of their days curled up on the plush sofa and watching bad Christmas comedies and living off nothing but gingerbread and hot buttered rum.

But some days they would face the wrath of the cold outside and go for walks in the woods nearby, that would stretch across many hours. Sirius would switch between himself and Padfoot, James between himself and Prongs and they would run through the Forrest until their legs ached and they had to seek refuge lying on the frozen ground.  

Mary and her parents came to visit one time, they were passing through and dropped in for the evening, and the three of them had traded holiday-homework answers by the fire while the adults made polite conversation over a box of Quality Streets. 

But apart from that encounter they didn’t see any of the other Marauders until they returned back to school on Christmas Eve. So it was just the two of them.

Until December 23rd. 

There had been a huge storm that day, which meant it was a bad Christmas comedy kind of day rather than an endless walk kind of day. A lot of packing involved too, since they were to leave for Hogwarts for the ball the next morning.

James’s dad (Fleamont) was hard at work in his office, which was connected to the living room where James and Sirius sat. He was playing around with some new potions recipes and drawing absentmindedly in his sketchbook. 

James’s mum (Euphemia) was humming along to a record that was playing on the old player in the kitchen while she decorated her latest batch of Christmas cookies. 

And as usual James and Sirius were chucking popcorn at the television as they watched some ancient film neither of them had ever heard of. It was barely audible over the thunder anyway. 

“Blimey.” Said Euphemia after a bright white flash of lightning, followed by a particularly loud crack of thunder. “Good job we decided not to go out into town.” Fleamont slammed his notebook shut, deciding he was finished with work, and stood up from his rickety chair with a sigh.

“I would not like to be out in that weather.” He said heading to the kitchen and leaning over his wife’s shoulder to take a look at the biscuits, pressing a kiss to her hair.

“I don’t think anyone would.” James said, stuffing another few pieces of popcorn into his mouth. “Not great for Christmas spirit if you ask me.”  

“Too right.” Sirius agreed. “It’s not even a snow storm either.” He said, rain that hammered down on the roof proving his point. 

“It’ll pass soon enough.” Euphemia said, brushing her sugary hands off on her clothes. “In the meantime, you boys come and tell me how these taste.” The both of them instantly sprung from and rushed to the kitchen To join her. 

“Truly outdone yourself.” Sirius said through a mouthful, sugar in the corner of his mouth. Euphemia just laughed at him, brushing the sugar away. He grinned. 

“Suck up.” James murmured, earning a look from his mother. Sirius snatched the uneaten half of the cookie from his hand and shoved it in his mouth before James could object.

“Who’s laughing now?” James scowled and made to swing at him but Sirius had sprinted away, back to the living room before he could. 

This quickly turned into an elaborate chasing game, which involved James almost knocking over the Christmas Tree which his parents managed to save at the last second. 

“Remind me how old they are again?” Fleamont asked as he placed a bauble that had fallen on the floor back onto its branch. 

“Sixteen. Or is it six?” Euphemia said. Fleamont laughed and wrapped an arm around her, planting another kiss on her cheek.

“So it would seem.” They watched the two of them circled each other like animals in a stand-off, both launching pillows in an attempt to distract the other.

James was mid throw when someone knocked on the door. His parents frowned. Sirius took advantage of James’s own distraction and lobbed a cushion at his curious face. 

“We aren’t expecting anyone are we?” Fleamont asked his wife. She shook her head. 

“I was about to ask you the same thing.” She said. “James, sweetheart, did you invite any of your friends over?” James dropped the pillow.

“No.” He said. His parents turned to each other again, confused.

“Who’d be out in this weather?” Euphemia asked.

“Well, let’s not leave them out there.” Fleamont called over his shoulder, as he jogged to the door. Euphemia followed him, clutching her cardigan tightly around her shoulders. James looked to Sirius.

“You didn’t ask anyone over did you?” He asked. “Remus?” Sirius wrinkled his nose. 

“Who do you think I am?” He retorted. “That’d be rude.” 

“You just chased me, your host, around my house-” He stopped short at the sound of a familiar voice.

“Does James Potter live here? I’d like to speak with him.” The voice said through chattered teeth. He rushed to the doorway where his parents were both ushering a boy in, profusely fussing over him. 

For the boy was dripping wet, clothes completely drenched and shivering, spots of water appearing on the floor where he walked. Colours of blue and red were blossoming in a large bruise on his cheek and his lip was cut and swollen and bleeding down his chin. 

He carried no possessions, only a broomstick. 

“Regulus.” James breathed. 

Regulus’s eyes softened in recognition and the relief that washed over him was almost visible. James hurtled himself at him, almost knocking him backward. He shocked himself with this. 

He hesitated, frozen perhaps from the cold or possible from shock. The gesture went unreturned, but Regulus’s body slowly went slack and he relaxed, allowing the embrace. They had never been so close before. 

James didn’t ask any questions. At his mother’s instruction, he grabbed a few towels and some ice. She sat him on the sofa and told him he was more than welcome to stay overnight or for however long he would like to. Regulus thanked her but insisted he would be gone tomorrow to find a way back to Hogwarts. 

He didn’t say much after that, just thanked James’s parents a lot who firmly stated it was absolutely no problem and they were glad he came to them. 

James set up a mattress on the floor of his room and made his bed for the first time since he had been home, even fluffing up his pillows. 

Sirius didn’t say a lot, possibly less than Regulus. Only a goodnight to James and his parents before retreating into the guest room, where he had been sleeping.

James was cleaning up his room (also for the first time in what was probably months) when he heard voices on the landing outside. He strained his ears to listen. Sirius was speaking in French, rambling, before Regulus stopped him. 

“I can’t.” He paused, trying to find his words. “I can’t do that right now…let’s speak in English.”

“Okay.” Sirius agreed after a pause, dropping his volume even lower. “Did she do this to you?” He assumed this referred to Regulus’s bruised face and split lit.

“Of course she did.” Regulus replied, voice monotone. 

“I…” Sirius trailed off. “I’m so sorry-” He began. 

“Why? It’s not your fault.” Regulus interrupted. 

It was strange. James didn’t think he had ever heard them talk like this. Usually, the brothers were all shouts and harsh, spiteful tones. But the conversation seemed calm. Mature. 

“It’s not your fault.” Sirius said, sounding ashamed. “I shouldn’t have left you there alone.” 

“She didn’t want you there.” Regulus said. “And believe me, you wouldn’t have wanted to be there anyway.” Sirius sighed. 

“I know.” He said. 

Pause. 

Sirius spoke again.

“Goodnight, Regulus.” He said. 

Regulus returned the phrase and he heard the door handle to his room turn. He tried his best to look busy, inspecting his empty bookshelves, as if he hadn’t been eavesdropping. 

Regulus gave him a tight lipped smile as he walked. The bruise on his cheek was completely purple now. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the specifics of how he’d got it. 

He was wearing some old flannel pyjamas of James’s. 

Regulus was heading for the mattress on the floor.

“Absolutely not.” Said James, lying flat across on the mattress before Regulus could sit himself down. “You’re our guest. Plus my mother would kill me.” He excused.

“Fine.” He said, his voice flat. He sat gingerly down on James’s bed. No sarcastic comment to go with his response? His stomach churned. 

Apparently not. He just tucked himself under the duvet and pulled it tightly around himself, lying down on his back. He was still shivering. 

James reached for the switch of the lamp that was lighting the room with yellowish tint, but Regulus spoke up before he could flip it.

“Leave the light on.” He said hurriedly, tripping over his words. James looked at him, worried. Evan would often complain that he couldn’t read late into the night, because Regulus slept only in the pitch black. “Just for a moment. Please.” 

The tone in which he spoke was so unlike anything James had ever heard from him before. He sounded helpless, as if he would be reprimanded for his request. He hadn’t done anything wrong but it still filled James with guilt to hear. 

“Of course.” He said, gently as his voice would go. “Of course.” He lay back onto his mattress. He crossed his arms behind his head and listened as Regulus tossed about, trying to get comfortable. 

He stilled for a moment and James took the opportunity to speak again.

“How’s your cheek?” He asked. Maybe a bit too forward but he didn’t make any effort to take it back.

“It hurts.” Regulus said.

“You’ve been in the wars recently.” James attempted to lighten the mood. He went on when he didn’t get an answer: “You know, falling off your broom and now-”

“I get it.” He interrupted. 

He cursed himself. What was he thinking? ‘You’ve been in the wars recently’. Nice one James. Merlins beard! Could he have said something more inappropriate?

“You flew here?” He changed the subject. Regulus hummed in confirmation but didn’t say a word. “That was brave of you. With all that thunder and lighting.” Regulus hummed again. “I think you’re very brave, you know.” 

No response for a moment, but then:

“I’m sorry I came here, James.” He sat up, already shaking his head in response.

“Don’t be sorry.” He said. “Don’t be sorry at all.” He wanted desperately to say something more comforting, that would make everything right and okay again in an instant. But the words wouldn’t come to his mind. 

After a while, Regulus stopped moving and if he strained his ears, James could hear the quiet rise and fall of his breath. He was asleep. 

But he kept the light on, just in case.

Chapter Text

The platform was busy but not as busy as it usually was in September, making it easier to gather with all of their friends. 

He was grateful for that. Neither Regulus nor Sirius had been particularly chatty that morning. In fact, he had definitely said much, much more than both of them combined. 

The others, of course, picked up on Sirius’s silence in particular. 

“What’s up your arse?” Marlene had asked him, earning herself a shake of the head from James that she failed notice until Dorcas nudged her. She shut up after that.

They had managed to all pile into their usual carriage again. Barty and Evan joined them. James smiled when he caught a glimpse of the wall with their names engraved. It brought him a sense of homesickness he hadn’t realised he felt until now. He couldn’t wait to get back to school. For everything to go back to normal. 

For everyone to be safe again. 

James glanced to Regulus who was staring out of the window. He had covered the bruise on his eye that morning with a spell, but every time he looked at him it was all he saw. A dark picture in his mind spilling over into reality. 

Evan proposed a game of blackjack, which relieved some tension in that it peaked Regulus’s interest. He, Evan and Dorcas became invested and James let out a breath at seeing him smile (for the first time that day) after winning for the third time in a row. 

Regulus’s ease seemed to give Sirius peace of mind too and he started to lighten up. By the end of the journey, they were both on the whole back to their usual selves. Regulus made witty remarks and Sirius was talking, talking, talking. Although, he didn’t miss the way they both avoided eye contact with the other, both acting as if it would kill them if they caught the other’s eye. 

Ultimately, they all arrived back at the castle in one piece. 

Mary and Dorcas had both rushed off to the Gryffindor dorms to begin getting ready while Marlene made a trek down to the dress shop in Hogsmede because she had -of course- left buying her dress to the last minute. 

Regulus, Barty and Evan headed to Slytherin while Sirius sprinted ahead of James up to their own dorm. By the time he got up there, Remus had already been tackled to the ground in a hug while Peter made gagging motions, already tipsy on the open whisky bottle that lay on his bed. 

And so they began. Sirius was blasting some Blue Öyster Cult shit, brushing his teeth and walking around the room with no shirt on. Remus (who was of course already sorted) threw his dress robes at him and helped the half drunk Peter into his. 

James laughed along but his head was whirring. Over the holidays, he hadn’t given all that much thought toward the ball, even less so who he would take. But now he had left it too late and here he was. 

Nice clothes, no date. 

But he really didn’t feel like ruining the energy in the room right now. Blasting music between sips of their drinks while lazily throwing on their clothes? Who was he to destroy moments like these?

But that didn’t stop him from lingering around in the bathroom for a little too long before they left.

“Prongs let’s go!” Peter’s voice came through the bathroom door. He cringed at his (dashing) reflection and ran a hand through his hair. 

He couldn’t go. He just couldn’t. Why was he even here? 

He was going to have to dance in front of almost the entire school with no partner. How was he even supposed to do that? 

“James!” Peter shouted again.

“Alright!” He shouted back, leaning on the sink and staring at his miserable face. 

Maybe it’d be fine. He’d just skip out the first part of the dance and arrive later on into the evening. And break tradition? McGonagall would love that.

Merlin, why didn’t he try and figure this out earlier?

He was in the middle of scolding himself when a loud knock sounded on the door.

“I’ll be down in a minute, Wormy!” He shouted. 

“Not Wormtail.” A calm voice that could only be Remus’s replied. James reached reluctantly for the doorknob. 

Remus stood on the other side, in almost identical robes to his own and gold hair unusually tamed and slicked backwards.

“I’m coming down now.” James said, though he wasn’t quite sure he was going to go through with that.

“Sirius and Peter went ahead.” He squid, which soothed him. Remus was the least judgemental of the bunch by a mile. “Worried about your no date situation?” He asked, cutting straight to the chase. He groaned.

“Is it that obvious?” Remus shrugged.

“To me, yes.” He said, settling himself down on the edge of the bath. James stayed where he was, leaning glumly over the sink.

“What the hell am I going to do?” He asked.

“You’ll be fine, James. I’m sure there are plenty of people who don’t have dates and would love to dance among victors.” He said. James just shook his head.

“Not that I know of.” He replied. Remus thought for a moment.

“What about Mary?” He said. “You know how she wants to flaunt that new dress of hers. She’d love it. Dancing in front of the whole school.” James just shook his head.

“She already has a date. I don’t want to ruin that for her. Or him.” 

“You know I would volunteer if I wasn’t such an atrocious dancer.” James managed a snort. “I wouldn’t mind letting you steal Sirius for a moment though.”

“I’m not taking your first dance away.” He said. “Or anyone’s.” 

“You know it sounds like your pride is really the only limiting factor here.” He couldn’t counter that. Remus thought for a moment. “Would dancing with Pete be so bad?” He asked eventually. 

Despite himself, he laughed at that, properly laughed.

“Yes. Believe me it’s bad.” Remus laughed too and for a few blissful moments James forgot what was going on. Then he remembered, he went quiet and then Remus did too. After a few moments he spoke again.

“Well what about Regulus?” He said. “He’s been a great friend to you.”

Regulus as his date. 

In theory, it all made sense. He had been there for him ever since the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. He had everything figured out from day one. He picked up on Elm’s hints and decoded the message of the egg. He was practically doing half of the tournament himself. 

And he hadn’t just helped him out with the tournament. Regulus’s aid had stretched beyond just that. He had helped him out after that party when he got drunk, he’d been his friend, he’d taken care of him. He’d shared things with him. He didn’t judge him. 

Taking him to the ball as his friend would be a great. A small thank you for everything he had done for him in the past few months. It would make perfect sense. If only Regulus were a girl. 

“Wouldn’t that be nice.” He thought aloud. Remus seemed to understand and they sat quietly again for a while, until Remus had a new plan.

“If we run down now, I’ll have enough time to scour the hall from you.” He said. James’s listened with interest. “There’s got to be one girl without a date. I’ll find her for you, okay?” 

He would’ve loved to have been more prepared for this. Would’ve loved a devout date, someone who really wanted to go with him, not just because of the prospect of dancing with a victor. But romance like that really wasn’t his department at the moment. 

Remus pulled him up by the hands, not giving him time to agree. 

“Let’s do it.” And if he ended up dancing alone, so be it. 

He almost fell off the stairs, Remus rushing him down them so fast. His head rushed and thoughts blurred together into one messy statements of, ‘you look wonderful. Would you like to dance?’. But would that sound too flirtatious, let’s not give her the wrong idea. Maybe he should tag on a small, ‘as friends, of course! Not that there’s anything wrong with you! No not at all-”

“James?” A voice called out, just as he reached the bottom floor. He looked up. There stood Regulus. 

He was dressed in robes of black and white, just like his but at the same time so different. They fit him differently. Where James’s robes were slightly loose and baggy (in the right places so it still looked neat of course, his mother made sure of that with endless fitting sessions) but Regulus’s robes were tight and fitting and made him look tall and proud as a prince. 

“Regulus.” He breathed, a little taken aback. Regulus’s eyes swept over him and he shifted, uncomfortably, remembering his momentary consideration just minutes prior. “You look…” He tried to find an appropriate word. “Great.” It felt like an understatement. He looked dashing, but that was a strange thing to say. 

“Thanks.” He said. “You don’t look so bad. Where’s your date?” He faltered a moment, slightly embarassed. Remus has already taken off in a frantic search. 

“I could ask you the same thing.” He countered. Regulus just gave him a look.

“I’m only here as a formality.” He told him. “And to keep an eye on Barty and Evan. I don’t need a date. Nor do I want one.” James flushed at his indifference. He felt embarrassed for fretting so much about his situation, when Regulus (in the same predicament) was cool as a cucumber.  

“Of course you don’t.” He said, a little too harshly. Regulus frowned, at his tone. 

“What’s wrong with you?” He spat, matching it. James sucked in a breath and dropped his shoulders, forcing himself to be calm. 

“Nothing.” He responded. “I don’t want a date either.” (Lie), “But I need a partner for this stupid dance thing or I’m going to have to spin myself around in front of everyone. Clearly, I left things way too late…so..” He admitted, his ears hot.

“That was obvious.” He said. James was about to clap back, hot and bothered with embarrassment and Regulus’s lack of sympathy. “That’s why I thought I’d help you out.” 

He thought Regulus didn’t want a date?

Was he really willing to sacrifice his great, seemingly untouchable, pride and self-morals just to accompany him to ball he didn’t even really care about? The thought made him more proud in himself than he’d like to have admitted. 

But he also knew this was an offer he couldn’t accept. 

“Thanks but-”

“Turn around, Potter.” Someone spoke. He spun around to the stairs. 

There stood a girl in a dark and glittering green dress. It hugged her body and then splayed out around her feet, trailing on the floor behind her. Her hair tumbled around her in bouncy curls and she was made up heavily, eyes dark with liner and lips pretty pink. Her figure was bare in an absence of jewellery, apart from her ears, from which hung dangly jewels of silver gems.  

Had it not been for the colours of her hair, James would’ve had absolutely no idea who on earth she was. 

“My cousin, Andromeda. You know her don’t you? Apparently she helped in you and Sirius getting over your spat.” He did know.  

Andromeda looked more than different. While she hadn’t ditched her dark eye make up and had kept the black of her clothes, she looked lighter and kinder.  Perhaps it was because she was smiling. 

“Yes.” He said and he smiled at her. “You look beautiful.” He complimented. Regulus coughed, uncomfortably. 

“She was meant to go with that Hector Nott.” He said. “But for obvious reasons-”

“I ditched him.” She cut in with a grin to James. “And I can’t think of anything worse than going to a stupid event alone. So lucky you.” Very lucky him. She had saved him just in time.  

“Your welcome.” Regulus said. 

James was at a complete loss for words. Just stood there dumbly looking between the two of them. Andromeda raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t look so frightened, James.” Andromeda instructed rather than soothed. “This doesn’t mean we’re girlfriend and boyfriend now.” She whispered. 

“I know.” He replied, still out of his mind slightly. “Yes, I know that. Obviously.” The cousins exchanged a glance.

He was feeling a deep sense of whiplash. How fast everything was moving suddenly. To think just a moment ago, he’d thought Regulus was offering his own hand for the dance! How stupid that seemed now.  

“Are you having a stroke?” Andromeda asked. He had been quiet with contemplation for a moment too long. This brought him back.

“What? No, I’m not having a stroke!” He composed himself. “I’m utterly fine.”

“Well then.” She nodded. When James didn’t reply she spoke again. “Let’s get on with it.” 

James just nodded and awkwardly extended his arm. She looked at it and frowned, looking back up to him as if he had just offered her a line of coke off of his jacket sleeve. He just stared back. Had he messed up already? Ultimately, she shrugged and wrapped her arm around his. He practically heard Regulus cringe. 

“Thank you!” He shouted awkwardly over his shoulder to him as Andromeda had to steer him away. 

He should be thankful. Andromeda truly did look beautiful. More than that even. And she was already cracking jokes and getting him to loosen up as best she could. 

But as great as she was, James couldn’t shake his earlier thought. He found himself wondering what it would feel like to have a different arm wrapped around his, whispering witty comments into his ear. 

He shook the thought away, violently. 

***

“Potter!” A voice exclaimed. James and Andromeda, who still clung to his arm both turned to the stairs that led down to the hall. McGonagall was pushing past students. She looked rather frazzled, her hat tilted slightly too much to the left.

“Professor.” James said trying to cover up his concern. She straightened herself out as she reached the two of them. 

“Miss Black.” She said, regarding Andromeda who smiled back at her.

“Good evening, professor.” She said. “Are you alright?” McGonagall straightened her hat.

“Fine.” She said. “Are you both ready? For the dance?” The two of them nodded and she sighed a breath of relief. “Splendid. Do you happen to know where Mr Karkaroff and Miss Dumont are?” James shook his head.

“Perhaps-” He began but he was cut off by the sound of gasps of shock, from students lingering outside of the hall. He turned his gaze back to the stairs where now stood two figures. A girl and a boy. Shinning and sleek.

The boy was from Durmstrang, smart and dressed as all their students were. A blazer sort of item, coloured the schools iconic blood red, paired with black trousers and smart dress shoes with a blood red, long, fur-lined coat draped over shoulders. He had a stony-cold expression as Durmstrangs did, but when he glanced at the girl on his arm, his gaze softened.

The girl looked as beautiful as the boy did handsome. She wore a floaty, lavender dress that brushed the stone floor. Brown curls pushed away from her face and bouncing on her shoulders. She looked like a daydream. Delicate and hazy but her smile when she looked to her partner was nothing but pure and real. 

It was Ivan and Daphne.

“Ah, there they are.” McGonagall said, rushing over to the two of them as they reached the bottom of the stairs and instantly bombarding them with questions. 

“The other two victors are going out?” Andromeda asked, looking at the two of them inquisitively. James watched Ivan snatch glances at Daphne as McGonagall spoke, pink on his face. Ivan. Blushing. “Guess that makes you a third wheel.”

“It would seem so.” James managed, a small smile creeping onto his face “Why do I feel as though I’ve been interrupting something. Merlin, how did I not notice. Shouldn’t I be keeping my enemies close?” Andromeda patted his arm gently. 

“You were busy with your own tournament stuff. Plus he doesn’t look like the type who’s big on discussing his emotions.” She indicated to Ivan. “My advice is keep your head in the game. This could be their weakness” 

“Right, victors and partners!” McGonagall said. “Please gather around!”

“That’s us.” Andromeda pulled James along. 

“It’s fantastic to see you are all in the correct attire.” She said, nodding to the group. “I assume you are all aware that you will be leading the first dance?” They all nodded back. “Perfect. The music should start soon and-” Before she could explain, sound of violin music spilled from the hall. Her eyes widened. 

“Is that-” Daphne began to ask but McGonagall was already busy ushering all the lingering students into the hall- despite protests that they were waiting on people. 

“Victors.” Dumbledore’s calm voice sounded from behind them, they all jumped. Well, all apart from the stoic Ivan. Dumbledore looked very grand indeed, head to toe in plum coloured robes and that twinkling look in his eye. “It is time.”

His stomach flipped. He was excited now. A dazzling date and all eyes on him. Another perk of his victory.

“Miss Dumont, Mr Karkaroff.” McGonagall called, making an shooing gesture toward the door. “You two first.” 

The two of them gazed each other admiringly. Ivan’s eyes lingered on Daphne’s face as she looked away and toward the hall, taking a breath. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen this before. 

He smiled to himself as he and Andromeda came to stand behind them. They made quite the couple. Then he looked to his date. 

“Ready?” He whispered in her ear.

She nodded firmly in response.

The doors to the hall (which had previously been closed, students slipping through them as they entered) flew open with a swish of the headmaster’s hands. Daphne and Ivan gracefully walked forward, stepping in sync like two proud horses, chins up and shoulders back. 

Andromeda and he tried to emulated this as they waited to go in, stifling their laughter. 

The students all gathered around the dance floor and gasped and pointed at Ivan and Daphne, as if they were some high-end celebrity couples being spotted together for the first time. Which James supposed they sort of were. On a small scale. 

Andromeda took a breath. 

“Think we can top them?” She asked. He laughed.

“No. But what’s the harm in trying?”

She held his arm firmly as they followed the two into the hall. Andromeda walked in a similar way to Sirius: confidently and taking big strides that were hard to keep up with. 

The house tables had been moved to make way for a huge open dance floor. A charm had been placed on the ceiling to make it seem as though icicles dangled from it, illusion of gorgeous daggers. The dance floor was surrounded and enclosed by great evergreens, sprinkled with faux snow and chicly undecorated, and huge ice sculptures of magical creatures. 

He heard someone to his right gasp.

“Is that the Slytherin chaser? With James Potter?” A girl whispered. 

“Andromeda Back.” He corrected her in a whisper as they sailed past. He felt Andromeda’s grin without even looking at her. 

“Thank you.” She said. 

“Any time.” 

They walked on, past the crowds of gaping students who either hurled compliments at the beautiful Andromeda or wondered who she was. A whisper of her name rippled through the crowd. 

They passed a dateless Hector Nott, who scowled disapprovingly at the two of them. They beamed the same shit-eating grin back at him and remarked ‘Good evening!’.

Near Hector stood Remus and Sirius, accompanied by Marlene and Dorcas. They all looked fabulous as expected, Remus and Sirius in black and white robes of silk, Dorcas in a dark green dress with a slit that showed off her legs and Marlene in a dark red one that clung to her curves. 

Sirius’s raised an eyebrow at the sight of Andromeda and gave James a questioning look. He gave an expression that read ‘tell you later’ as they passed them, gliding along marble floor. 

Peter stood nearby, drunkenly laughing with a group of pretty Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff girls, seemingly unaffected by the scene and not even noticing James.

Further down the line came Pandora and Xenophilius, dressed completely uncoordinated. Pandora in a silver dress that looked as though it was wrapped in pink tinsel and Xenophilius in warm coloured dress robes of orange and red. 

Pandora waved at him with the hand that wasn’t wrapped around her date’s arm. He nodded back and grinned. 

He couldn’t spot Barty and Evan anywhere but recalled Evan telling him something about Barty always wanting to be ‘fashionably late’ to every event he attended. He however did notice Regulus’s dark features amongst bright faces and tried to mouth a ‘thank you’ at him but they had moved passed him before he could.

The last familiar faces he saw before he and Andromeda took their place on the dance floor, were that of Mary and Aleksander. Mary was dressed all in pink -he expected nothing less- and seemed to sparkle in the light. Aleksander was dressed as the other Durmstrang boys. But he looked kinder: gentle and admiring as he watched Mary grin out into the crowd.

He was so distracted by the whir of faces that had passed him that he lost his footing as the violins struck up for the first dance. Andromeda caught him expertly and held him upright. 

“Falling already?” She asked, stepping backward as he stepped forward. “You’re not even a drink in.” 

“You think McGonagall would let booze anywhere near the great hall?” He retorted, spinning her around gracefully. 

“No.” She said, glancing over her shoulder. “But your friend might.” She moved them so James could see what she was looking at. Peter with a golden flask in hand, which he was currently pouring into the cups of the seventh years he had been talking to. He snickered.

“That’s Pete for you.” Andromeda laughed.

“I have a feeling that booze will be the least of our concerns tonight.”

Chapter Text

James awoke the next morning with a pounding headache that felt like it was splitting his brain in two. The room was flooded with mid-morning daylight that was much too bright for his sore eyes, but he couldn’t bring himself to stand up to close the curtains.

He turned onto his side which made him feel as though the room was spinning with him. It didn’t take him long to realise he wasn’t in his own bed, but in Remus’s, his other three roommates sprawled across the mattress too. 

His vision was blurry but he could make out the general state they were in. All still dressed in their clothes from the night before with their shoes on and feet up on the sheets. 

Remus and Sirius had practically become one, bodies tangled together in a mess. Sirius was muttering something indistinct and french in his sleep, but otherwise they slept soundly. Peter was curled up on the pillows at the headboard and drooling down his face and into his palms. 

How had this happened? 

He cast his mind back to last night. What could he remember?

The answer was ‘not much’. 

Everything after he and Andromeda’s dance was a distant memory he couldn’t quite recall. It felt as though it could’ve happened years ago. He considered waking one of the others to enquire for any extra information but couldn’t bring himself to do it. They were too peaceful to disturb now. Maybe later. 

So, he lay back down, eyes scrunched to block out the light, and wracked his brains for any sort of memories of the past few hours. It came to him in flashes. 

A band playing exciting music. 

Andromeda’s green dress spinning about her feet and the floor.

Someone laughing. 

Black curls fallen out of place.

A swig from a foul-smelling cup.

An empty punch bowl.

He managed to reach for the bedside table. He routed around for his glasses with his eyes still closed and slid them onto his face. After a few moments of preparation, he cracked his left eye open a little. 

His eyelid fluttered in protests a few times but ultimately adjusted. It was only when he opened his right eye did he spot a crack across the lense. 

“Fuck.” Naturally, he couldn’t remember how they’d come to break. He reached his arm across to Remus and shook him gently. A groan in response. “Remus.”

“Hm?” 

“My glasses. They’ve gone again.” Remus huffed.

“Invest in some contacts will you?” He said but James could hear him untangling himself from Sirius and reaching for his wand in the sheets.  

“I love you.” The loving remark was unreturned as Remus mumbled a spell that James could never remember under his breath. James opened his eyes to find the lenses clear and clean. Good as new.  

“That’ll teach you not to be running around in the snow like a lunatic with Marls at two in the morning. That’s probably how it happened… Merry Christmas, Prongs…” He trailed off and slipped back into sleep. 

James shot up.

“I did what?” But he got no answer, just a small snore from Peter. “Moony?” He was either ignored or unheard. But curiosity was overtaking his kindness now. He had to know what had happened.

He crawled over to Sirius and leaned over his face. 

“Morning sunshine.” 

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Sirius asked, springing up, alert and wide-awake. He’d had always been the best at handling a hangover (as he’d had the most practice). 

“I need you to tell me everything you remember from last night. And promptly, if you don’t mind.” James said. His fleeced coat was draped over the duvet and he slid his arms into it. 

“What the fuck? Why? You were there!” Sirius complained, rubbing his eyes.

“Yes, well, unfortunately I can’t remember a thing and I would love to know if you do.” He grinned jovially. Sirius did not.

“Can it wait?” He asked, already burying back into bed. 

“Not really.” Sirius groaned into the sheets. 

“Fucks sake.” He said to himself, before forcing himself onto his back. “Right. Where should I start.”

“At the beginning.”

“Aren’t you funny.” Sirius swooped the hair from his eyes. “Right well you made your grand entrance…” His eyes narrowed. “With my cousin.”

“As friends.” James quickly disclosed. Sirius grunted.

“Still weird. What if I had taken your cousin?” 

“I don’t have any cousins.”

“Well how about your mother?” 

“Get on with it.” 

“Right. Well, you and Andy and that bird from Beauxbatons and the Durmstrang lump did your whole dance number and…” He trailed off, eyebrows slowly knitting together. “Fuck me, what happened?” 

“You don’t remember?” Sirius though for a moment longer, confused creases popping up across his forehead. He eventually gave up, laying his head back down. 

“No.” He groaned. “What the hell did Pete put in those drinks?” As if sensing his name being mentioned, Peter’s breath caught in a snore and he rolled over onto his side. 

James started to worry slightly. If Sirius, who was blackout drunk at least once a week and still able to recall in detail every embarrassing detail of his escapades, couldn’t remember what had happened last night: who would? Might this be a lost cause?

“Can you two keep it down, there’s no need to shout.” Sirius shot up and James spun around at the sound of a new voice. One that hadn’t come from their bed. 

Low and behold, curled up in the arm chair of their room sat Evan Rosier, still adorned in his dress robes with the accessory of a pink lipgloss stain on his cheek, matching the colour of the product Pandora had kept in her shoe last night (one detail James could remember). Pandora herself was sprawled out in a starfish position on the carpeted floor. 

“Merlin’s beard!” James exclaimed, “When- How did you two get in here?”

“Shh!” Evan dismissed, eyes already closed again. He was pointing at Pandora, who’s chest heaved up and down with her heavy sleep.

But James was on a mission: to figure out the chronological events of the evening/early morning of the Yule Ball. He crept over to the old armchair and crouched down next to Evan, who frowned with his eyes closed, as though he could sense him. 

“You two spent the night here?” James asked. 

“No, we moved in this morning to surprise you. Are you surprised?” Said Evan, voice wet with sarcasm. Sirius laughed (weirdly).

“Yes, quite frankly.” James replied. “You know, we’re not really supposed to have girls up here.” Evan snorted.

“Pandora’s hardly a girl.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Pandora, disturbed from her slumber at the sound of her name, asked. Evan just shrugged, curling up tighter into the armchair.

“Did Regulus and Barty stay here too?” James surveyed the room for anymore stray Slytherins. 

“I remember just about as much as you do.” Evan said, sounding far away. James knew he was losing him to sleep, he knew all too well how endearing that chair was when nursing a hangover. 

“Marvellous.” He said. He was met with Evan’s head going limp and his breathing evening out. He turned to Pandora but she too had slipped back into the depths of her own, strange dreams. Even more marvellous. “Fuck this.”

The profanity must’ve startled Remus, as he awoke again just as James reached the door. 

“Where are you off to?” He asked, lifting up his head which seemed to cause him great agony. He set himself down again. 

“Girls room.” He opened the door, the cool air of the stairwell fresh against his scarlet cheeks. He hadn’t even realised how hot he was. “Hopefully one of them was more responsible than…” He gestured around the room, who’s inhabitants were a mess of knotty hair and glitter and smelled of beer and sweat. “Any of us.”

———-

Characteristically, Lily was already awake and in the midst coaxing (or trying to coax) the other girls out of their own sleep. She had pulled back the velvet-maroon curtains allowing in the bright sun. It hurt James’s eyes.

“Dorcas, come on. The train leaves in a two hours. I need you to help me wake Marls.” She held by the girl by the shoulders and was shaking her gently. Dorcas made no attempt to move, her long limbs sprawled out across the bed didn’t even twitch. Lily turned to him, apparently aware that he had entered. “Give Mary a nudge, James. Her dad’s sending a carriage for her in an hour.”

“But Lils I-”

“Just do as I ask.” 

It was easier to comply. Mary’s bed curtains were drawn open, as they always were, for she hated the dark. Her curls fell in frizzed ringlets around her like a fuzzy halo. James hummed ‘Earth Angel’. She stirred.

“Who’s that humming?” She asked, her voice rejecting the grogginess of sleep, she spoke with as much clarity as someone who had been awake for hours.

“Surprise.” James said, his own voice gruff. 

“Merry Christmas, James.” Mary smiled, one eye still closed, somewhat winking at him. 

“Mary Christmas.” He replied. She extended an arm out, dramatically, which he used to hoist her to her feet. He spun her around in a circle, as though she were a dainty ballerina in a jewellery box. 

A loud groan from the other side of the room drew their attention. 

“Marlene!” Lily said, indignantly. Her and Dorcas (who had somehow come to be half-dressed), had the other dorm-mate by both arms and were yanking her from her sheets with full force, but she was a dead-weight in their arms. Small but mighty. 

“Let go.” She mumbled, making no effort to stand up but none to fight either girl off of her. She was only made herself heavy. “I just got to bed.” 

“Try six hours ago.” Lily said, pulling furiously. “The train leaves soon. Up you get.”

“Mary.” Said James. She tore her eyes from the comical scene to their right. “Do you remember anything about last night? Anything after my dance with Andromeda?”

He was disappointed to watch her big brown eyes slowly fill with uncertainty. 

“I remember…Well I…” She bit her lip. “McGonagall had all the students join the victors in the dance I remember that.” He nodded along, encouragingly. Now he was getting somewhere. Except, not really, because this was the extent of Mary’s memories.

“That’s it?”

“I must’ve had a few too many.” She was rubbing her neck, nervously. “I’ve never completely forgotten a night before. I thought that was a made up thing. But, I really don’t think I drunk too much.”

“How would you remember how much you drunk?” James asked. The commotion on the other side of the room had escalated, Marlene now verbal and proclaiming that the train could leave without her, she was staying right where she was. 

“Whenever I’ve gone overboard, I get these terrible migraines next morning. I have to go to Pomfrey, she’s got a perfect remedy, of course.” Mary said. “But, my head feels fine. I could’ve only had about two drinks at the most.” 

This was all getting strange, very strange indeed. What were the odds? Bot him, Sirius and Mary‘s memories of the previous night cut out at almost exactly the same point? 

Mary looked panicked now. 

“Oh, James.” She said. “What if something really terrible happened and we can’t remember?” Her voice wasn’t raised, but the other girls seemed to sense her distress from the other side of the room. Girls were funny like that. 

“James! It’s barely nine o’clock in the morning and you’ve already upset her. And on Christmas no less!” Said Lily, marching over and placing a comforting arm around her friends shoulders. Dorcas and Marlene were close behind her.

“What’s wrong, Mary?” Asked Dorcas. 

“It’s not James.” She said. “He hasn’t done a thing. It’s just…well, I can’t remember what happened last night. Neither of us can remember a thing after the first dance.” 

Dorcas and Marlene exchanged a worried glance. 

“What is it?” Asked Lily, suspicious. A beat of silence. 

“Neither can we.” Said Dorcas. Mary was beginning to spiral. 

“What if we’ve been hexed? Or drugged? Maybe someone slipped something in our drinks!” She said, breathless. Her eyes blew wide suddenly. “What if that group…the dark wizards-”

“They couldn’t have taken all of us.” Said Marlene. “No way. Certainly not me.” 

“Shut up, Marlene.” Said Dorcas. “You’re upsetting her!” Just as Mary’s eyes were beginning to well up, Lily cut in. 

“Don’t cry, darling. There’s no need. No dark wizards would ever be able to get onto Hogwarts grounds. Not with Dumbledore around. You weren’t drugged or hexed. Let’s everyone calm down.” She looked around the group, her gaze gentle but exerting a strong sense of authority. Everyone fell in line and zipped their lips. “I can tell you whatever you want to know. I remember it all.” 

Good old Lily and her abstinence- he’d completely forgotten! Her refusal to drink anything more than a sip of champagne after a good set of exam results meant that she was always able to fill in any blanks in a hazy night. 

In his excitement, he was still aware of Mary’s anxiety, so forced himself not to bombard Lily with his own questions, letting Mary start instead. 

“Will you start from the beginning? Right after James came out for his dance?” Lily sat herself down on the bed and James and Mary sandwiched her. Dorcas and Marlene plopped themselves down on the floor. They looked to her like a grandmother, about to read a fairy tale. 

“Didn’t you and Aleksandar make a dashing pair?”

Chapter Text

A band playing exciting music. They were called ‘Dead Thestral’. 

Andromeda’s green dress spinning about her feet and the floor. She was the talk of the night. 

Someone laughing. This could’ve been anyone. Everyone. 

Black curls fallen out of place. Likely Sirius’s. 

A swig from a foul-smelling cup. Peter had given it to him.

An empty punch bowl. Peter has spiked it. 

James kicked his broad back. He had been kicked from the bed, but seemingly didn't have the energy to crawl into his own. 

“Get up, you great lummox.” Said James. “You don’t deserve a lie in.” After a groggy moment of confusion:

“Huh?”

“Lils says you spiked the punch.” Then, to his surprise, Peter laughed. 

“Oh yeah.” He smiled into the carpet. “I’d forgotten about that. Whoops.” The amusement dropped from his face when James yanked him up by the collar of his dress shirt. 

“Prongs what the hell are you doing?” Said Remus, rushing over. Sirius said something incoherent from the shower, hearing the commotion. 

“I can’t remember a thing about the greatest night of my life and it’s your fault. You scared poor Mary half to death. She thought someone had-” He cut himself off, uneasy at the thought. “You know.” 

“What are you talking about?” He shook Peter, hard.

“Mary? James, you’ve got to calm down-” Remus tried to interject, grabbing for James. He swatted him away. 

“What do you mean, what I am talking about?” He pressed. “Just tell me what the hell you were slipping into people’s drinks telling to make them forget the whole evening so Lily can find an antidote.” He realised suddenly, that Peter was looking at him in what looked like genuine confusion.

“It was vodka! Just vodka! That was it!” He spluttered. He was wide eyed in fright. James was taller than him, not as stocky, but certainly stronger. He couldn’t defend himself against him if he tried. He felt bad a moment and loosened his grip slightly.

“ ‘Just Vodka’ doesn’t tend to wipe the memories of half the year group, Wormy.” 

“What’s going on?” Sirius darted out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, he was dripping onto the floor. 

“You know I wouldn’t do that, James! Why would I do that?” Peter said, frantically. 

“I don’t know!” He shouted. “I don’t know- I…” When he realised Peter was right, he released him completely. “You’ve wouldn’t.”

“There we go.” Said Remus, putting a hand on James’s shoulder. Sirius looked between his friends, unsure. 

“Well-” James said softer a moment, not sure where he was going. “Well then what? What? Why can’t I remember anything? Why can’t Mary or Remus or Sirius remember anything? Lily says we all drunk the same things-”

“I don’t know! I can’t remember it either!” 

James grabbed handfuls of his hair in his balling fists. 

“Well…well shit.” Silence. “What now?”

While Lily had done her best to fill the gaps, bringing Mary and the girls peace of mind, she had told James that they hadn’t been together all evening. He had disappeared just over halfway through night. Around eleven thirty, she guessed. 

They all sat down on the edge of James’s bed. 

“You’re sure it was just vodka?” Sirius asked. He was still in his towel. 

“Yes. I remember pouring it from these two bottle into flasks. See? They’re still on my bedside.” Sure enough, two bottles of Smirnoff- drained. 

“And that’s all you gave out?” James asked. “No rum or-

“That’s all I had.”

He wracked his brain, desperately. Has the alcohol gone bad maybe? He cursed the stupid though as soon as it arrived.

“Did you wash the flasks out properly? There wasn’t some kind of potion in there before?” 

“They were both new. I got them in Hogsmede with Marls. She’ll tell you.” 

Just as he was about to declare hopelessness:

“Wormy- where did you actually get the vodka?” Remus asked. “I thought old Butters wouldn’t sell to you anymore?” 

Butters was a crotchety ex-auror, and owner of the tiny booze store just off of The Leaky Cauldron. His shop was so old, the painted sign which read its name had faded right into the wood of the building and was now illegible - so that nobody actually knew what the place was called. It was merely ‘the boozers’. 

Peter had gotten into trouble with old Butters in June time, when he’d been tight on cash and Butter’s had caught him trying to shuffle out of the door with a bottle of rum stuffed down his shirt. He didn’t take kindly to thieves, having dealt with enough of them in his time, and Peter had been banned from the unnamed store for life. 

“I brought it off a Durmstrang guy.” Suddenly: hope for an explanation!

“Which one?”

“Uhh, buzzed head, fairly pale, quite…tall.”

“Damn it, Wormtail that could be any of them!” 

“It doesn’t matter who it was.” Said Remus, calmly. “What matters is we know that it wasn’t Wormtail who spiked it.”  

James supposed he was right, and he was glad to know that the spiking it wasn’t Peter’s fault (well not directly anyway, he was still an idiot for buying from an unknown source) but his curiosity was like a persistent itch on the roof of his mouth. 

He sighed.

“What a jolly way to start Christmas morning!” Said Sirius, jovially. In all the commotion, he had forgotten what day it was. He forced himself to forget the unnamed Durmstrang boy and wrapped an arm around Sirius’s shoulders. 

“Merry Christmas, all of you.” He said, as Remus and Peter joined in on the embrace. As they sat for a moment, James caught the scent of brandy wafting through the air. He could see in his mind, clear as day, the Christmas cakes in the kitchens, sitting untouched on the counter. 

“Sirius,” Peter said, after a moment. “Remus might be comfortable being this close to you naked, but I’m certainly not. Please get dressed.”

***

James didn’t see Regulus that morning, but when he met Sirius at the front of the school to leave for the station, he told him that his brother would not be joining them for Christmas. He was disappointed but not surprised. 

Since he hadn’t caught him before they’d left, he dashed out a ‘Merry Christmas’ card to him on the train. It included a brief than you for all his help that year, but nothing more. He didn’t want to push it, not forgetting the precarious situation that Regulus’s showing up on his doorstep in the pouring rain just a few days earlier had put them in. 

He and Sirius had been pleasantly welcomed back by a hot Christmas dinner on the dinning room table, which was also decked out with Christmas crackers and glasses of hot, mulled wine. It had been as jolly a Christmas as he’d ever known. 

He was getting a little old for presents now, but his parents still spoiled him rotten. They got Sirius more than a few presents too, including a smart, black leather bound notebook with his initials etched into the cover.  

Sirius, despite protests, had brought presents for James’s parents, an over-the-top bouquet of flower for his mother and a new watch strap for his father, having noticed that his was coming apart. They were thrilled. 

New Years was spent at Marlene’s, her house so big they each had their own room, but most people ended up passed out on her four poster bed anyway. Regulus, James had heard, by that time, had joined Barty at Evan’s house, and was planning to stay their until the term started up again. 

Soon, James found himself back on the train in the Marauders’s routine carriage, Marlene throwing stale bits of mince pie into Mary’s mouth and Peter complaining about the lack of space.

Then they were back.

James decided to hold off on unpacking until later, partially because it was a laborious tour which he despised and partially because he had a deep and sudden urge to go and see Regulus. 

He felt there were a million things he needed to say to him, ranging from: ‘thank you for saving me at the ball’, to ‘is your eye quite alright?’ to, ‘my parents said you must come and stay again!’. 

He was stopped on his way to the Slytherin common room by McGonagall.

“Good Christmas, Professor?” He asked.

“Quite, yes, thank you, Potter.” She said, hurriedly. She was clearly waiting to say something so James decided to amuse himself by keeping her distracted. 

“Who did you spend it with?”

“Just an old friend of mine-”

“Anyone I would know?”

“I suspect not.”

“Maybe I do. Whereabouts do they live?”

“Somewhere distant. Now-”

“In country?”

“Uh- yes.”

“My geography is fantastic professor and I travel quite frequently. What’s their sir name? Man or woman? What job-”

“That’s quite enough.” She said, firmly. A spot just bellow her left eyebrow was pulsing. He decided it probably was enough. 

“Is everything alright, Professor Mcgonagall?” She sighed deeply. 

“I just wanted to ensure you are prepared for the second task.” 

Oh right! He was a victor.

“I’ve figured out the egg clue.” He said, proudly. “Took a while but I got there.” Though technically, he supposed, Sirius had ‘got there’. 

“Excellent.” There was Hogwarts pride sparkling in her eyes. “Any you’ve a plan for the task?” 

Right. That. 

Merpeople. That’s what the task entailed. He had deduced that he would be going for a dip in the Black Lake (fantastic) to meet the creatures, but not exactly what would come after that. What had the clue said again? He had left his egg at school, not wanting to lug it home or the weight of duty dampening his Christmas spirit. 

His beat of hesitation was enough to make her frown. He quickly attempted recovery. 

“Working on it. Currently, in fact. I’m just on my way to the Slytherin dorms.” He flashed her a smile to try and appease her rather obvious competitive nerves.

“Miss Meadowes is going to help you?”

“Dorcas? Oh no, um…” He trailed off, suddenly feeling a horribly unfamiliar sense of nervousness creep up his spine. “Regulus Black.” He managed, eventually. Her confusion was obvious and he tensed up.

He was aware of this self-consciousness he felt at explicitly admitting to hanging around Regulus and he was ashamed of it. He shouldn’t feel this way. Firstly, it was beyond rude. Secondly, Regulus was a perfectly respectable friend…but he supposed he was a little…strange. Dark. Brooding. The swelling rumours abut his family’s beliefs were only worsening with time. But they were Sirius’s family too, and James never had an issue with hanging around Sirius…

“Ah yes.” Mcgonagall said. “He’s a very intelligent boy. I’m glad you two have made such good friends.” He struggled to avoid cringing. 

“Yes.”

“That was quite the save you made. At the Quidditch match.” 

He had forgotten all about that. 

Regulus falling down, down, down. 

The nose dive down to the ground. 

A transparent Regulus and his mangled broken bones, being held in James’s arms. 

He shuddered. 

“Yes, thank you. I suppose it was- yes.” 

“Yes.” She repeated after a moment, looking at him suspiciously. He fixed his face. “Well, run along then.”

“Actually Professor, I just realised, I’ve forgotten the egg in my room.” It was true, he had. “How stupid, I am. We’ll need it to…” He really didn’t need to go back for it. “To make sure we’ve got the logistics of the task right. Very important. I’m afraid I’ll have to go back and get it.” 

Any previous desire to see Regulus now, had inexplicably drained from him.