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Daring and dashing and dazzlingly kind, this is what James Potter was at his best. When James was small, courage was the boy with worn robes and tattered schoolbooks, and courage was a boy, laughing and cruel and wanting not to be, and courage was a boy who dived head first into all the fights, even though the three boys weren’t even his friends yet.
For James Potter, all his life, courage meant three friends, Remus who survived and Sirius who defied and Peter who wasn’t afraid of anything. To James, courage was the most important thing in the world.
It took a while for James to grow into the space where no one else could fit. What was courage as defined by James Potter, what was James’s place in this four cornered house of friendship?
It took James much longer to recognize it than to fill it.
To Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, courage was a boy who wasn’t afraid to make friends with anyone, or to make enemies on behalf of friends. Courage was being there with open arms, was not understanding and still being willing to try anyway, to listen. Courage was a boy who had no problems, and chose not to be content with that. Courage was having no need to care, but caring anyway. James’s courage was the center pole of the Marauders' friendship.