Chapter Text
Chapter one
Spiders.
"James, come on! We've got to hurry up or they'll kick us out!" Sirius shouts back to James.
"Come off it padfoot, we both know you'll beg us to go back the second you reckon the officers gone." James calls back. Sirius grins and makes a gesture for him to speed up then jumps up onto one of the skateparks ramps. James makes his way over, hopping up beside him. Sirius offers him a cigarette which James gives a dirty look, making Sirius laugh. He lights it and takes a drag.
"Nothing like a summer night cig." Sirius exhales, "Love this place at dusk. It's really pretty isn't it."
James hums in agreement then stands up, grabbing his skateboard. "Come on then, lets get on before we have to leave."
He pushes down the ramp, gaining speed quickly. He meets the next ramp, this one slightly higher than the one he just left, and flips the board before sliding back towards Sirius. The lads high five and Sirius sets off, completing an impressive trick with a flourish.
"Oh you're so on." Says James when Sirius gives him a look of triumph.
~*^*~
The boys flop down on a ramp, heaving and grinning like fools. The sun was down and they'd had to set up some torches they'd brought with them just in case, Effie's brilliant planning. They lay there, their breathing finally steadying a bit, and they listen to the crickets.
"Wonder how moony's been keeping up." Sirius brings out randomly. "And wormtail. Think Pettigrew and Lupin have had the decency to think about us as much as we have them?"
"I'm sure they have, Remus has probably got into just as much trouble as we have this summer. He always does. Sometimes even more." James responds cheerily. "And we've seen Peter loads, he only lives round the corner. He could've come tonight if his parents weren't so scared of him being out at night."
"And him." Sirius snorts. James elbows him in Peter's defence but chuckles. Peter is definitely scared of being out at night. He won't say it, but he always makes an excuse when him and Sirius ask.
They lapse into silence again, staring up at the starry sky. James wonders if Sirius is looking for his constellation, or perhaps his brothers. James doesn't know Regulus very well himself, but Sirius and Regulus were close before he left for James' house. James and Regulus had been civil with their interactions before the move but after Sirius started living at the Potters, James got the impression Regulus hated him. James half understood, being alone in that house with those mad parents must be hard. But James failed to see how he was to blame.
"Ouch." James is sucked out of his thoughts as he feels a sharp pain on his hand.
"You okay mate?" Sirius asks, turning his head to look at him.
"Yeah," James replies nonchalantly, "Just a bug." He swipes a spider off of his hand and stamps on it. "Never been a fan of spiders."
Footsteps. Sirius scrambles to his feet beside James. Looks like the officers here to lock up. Looking at his watch, James can see it's a bit late. The officer must've have fallen asleep whilst waiting to head out.
"Lets go, mum will have our guts if we get caught here past hours and dad will be mad it was without him." James whispers.
James and Sirius run off in the direction of home, laughing and making jokes as they go. When they reach the front door of the Potter house, they see its already open. Euphemia Potter stands in the frame with her arms crossed and eyebrows raised.
"Close call?" She asks them.
"Yep." James bounces past her into the kitchen.
"Closer than we'd ever admit to you, Effie." Sirius adds with a grin, also sliding through the door.
"Come in you scoundrels." She pretends to scold them, closing the door behind them and smiling broadly. "There's toast made if you want it."
~*^*~
James rubs his eyes as his alarms beeps, groaning in annoyance. 6am. He could not be bothered. Sirius in the bed across from him falls onto the floor dramatically, mumbling something in French. James suspects curses. He eventually pulls himself out of bed and drags his feet along to the bathroom. He splashes cold water into his face and begins to brush his teeth. When he walks back to the bedroom, slightly more awake, Sirius still on the floor and by the looks of it, asleep again. James walks over to his trunk, stuffing some things into it that he'd left out before sighing and chucking a history of magic book at Sirius' head.
"Oi what was that for!" exclaims Sirius as the book makes contact.
"Come on mate, get up. Mum will kill us if you make us late. Well, kill me, she loves you more."
Sirius sticks his middle finger up at James but gets up, shuffling off to the bathroom
"Ah! There's the mischief making chief!" Announces Fleamont Potter as James appears at the bottom of the stairs. "And where is his right hand man?" He questions.
"He's getting changed now, someone was a bit dozy" James tells him, sliding onto the stool at the kitchen counter and grabbing the plate of pancakes.
"Have we got any golden syrup?" He asks.
Effie slides it over to him, then passes the chocolate sauce over. "For Sirius."
At that moment Sirius comes bounding down the stairs.
"What's for me? Oh, thanks Effie!"
Euphemia grins at him and ruffles both boys hair. "It's okay love."
~*^*~
"Be good now boys, now I've got both of you Dumbledore will never have to write to anyone else again." Effie says, pressing a kiss to each of their heads. James gives her one back and the cheek and hugs her tightly, Sirius following in suit, then they race off to find their friends on the train.
~*^*~
"So Remus, meet any girls this summer? Or could you think of no one but us this summer?" Teases Sirius. They were on the Hogwarts express, around an hour into the journey. Remus grins.
"Don't flatter yourself Black, there ain't girls worth looking at St. Edmunds. Not unless you want your arse beat."
"Or did you just really miss me?" Sirius drawls.
"You wish." Remus replies, smirking.
"Prick."
"Bullshitter."
The two lads grin at each other.
"What about you Pete, do anything fun when you weren't with us?" James asks Peter who perks up.
"Oh yes, dad's bought an allotment! We did lots of gardening, he says I have an affinity for magical plants." The boy looks so excited and James' heart warms.
"Oh yeah? Sounds cool!" James tells him. That moment the trolley pulls up and the four boys look eagerly to the compartment door. They each get loads and when the door closes they shove their loads into a massive pile in between them to share.
“So, what’s our first devious action going to be this year lads?” Sirius asks the group, chucking a berty bott and catching it in his mouth. They take a minute to think.
“Chilli powder in the slytherin dorms?” Peter suggests.
“Did that last year though.” Shoots down Remus, “We could put grease in Snivellus’ shampoo?”
“There’d be no difference!” Counters James. “What about we enchant the staircases so they scream at you?”
“Eh, it’s good enough. Let's do it after the feast, you remembered your cloak Potter?”
“Padfoot, you think it’s possible for me to forget that thing? It’s literally my main source of enjoyment.”
“Woah, look!” Peter’s voice is muffled but filled with awe as he points his finger out the window. James turns his head to look at whatever Pete has spotted.
“Woah.” He presses his hands against the window to get a closer look. Around five hippogriffs were soaring past in the sky. It was unusual, they were usually solitary animals but for some reason these lot had decided they wouldn’t be separated. Reminds him of a few geezers. He goes to turn back to his friends but his hands won’t separate themselves from the window. He pulls. He pulls again. His hands won’t budge.
“What the-” He notices he’s started sweating, and hard.
“You alright Prongs? You’ve gone pale.” Notes Sirius, giving him an almost worried look.
“Never better!” James says quickly, turning to his friends and trying to hide his hands with his body. “Well, uh, actually I'm feeling a tad queasy, I think something was in those chocolate frogs. Must be why I’m pale ahaha…” He lets out a weak laugh. Sirius raises his eyebrows but doesn’t say anything whereas Lupin stares at him incredulously.
“Chocolate? No, chocolate helps! How dare you blame chocolate for your shit immune system.”
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist moony, it’s just a bit of chocolate.”
Remus looks outraged and James turns away again, scared Remus may hit him. Chocolate is his solution to everything. James moves his knees so the wand on his lap is facing his hands and whispers,
“Relashio”
Finally his hands are free. He gives them a shake then grabs a packet of fizzing whizbees. When he tries to open them however, his hands are once again stuck. The contents of the packet spill onto the floor.
“James! What was that for! Now they're all dirty!” Exclaims Peter, affronted.
“Seriously, you alright mate?” Sirius is looking very worried now. “You're getting paler.”
James mutters a curse and whispers “Relashio” again. He stands quickly. His wand falls to the floor and he snaps his hand out to catch it. Woah. He snaps back up.
“I’m going to the toilet, I won't be long.”
He practically runs out the compartment, slamming the door shut behind him. He makes his way down the aisle, his head throbbing. Everything sounds so unusually loud. Voices stream into the corridor and into his ears as though the body it belonged to stood right beside him. He shoved his fingers into his ears, trying to stop the noise but now he could hear what seemed to be his heartbeat through his fingertips. His steps get faster and faster, he is sweating as though he’s just run a marathon and his glasses feel heavy on the bridge of his nose. He runs and runs and runs until- he bumps into someone. James looks up, glasses lopsided from the crash, fingers still plugged in his ears. He moves his hands immediately and corrects his posture the moment he realises who he’s just collided with. Regulus just stands there, his face a mixture of shock and annoyance.
“Watch where you're going, Potter.” He spits. He takes in James’ scruffy and distressed appearance. “Are you oka-”
James rushes past him, he has no time to be humiliated or taunted by Regulus. He reaches the toilet door and shoves it open, locking the door behind him. He needs to calm down. He turns on the tap and splashes cold water on his face, staring up into the mirror at himself. What the hell was that? Why can he hear everything? Why has he got pretty alright reflexes all of a sudden? And why on earth are his hands sticking to everything. James, think. What would mum tell you to do? James can hear his mothers voice in his head.
“Come on James, deep breaths. What’s the song dad always puts on for you, hm? The one you dance to? Can you hum it for me?”
It was when he was 8. He was having a panic attack before school one day because some boys were making fun of his glasses. He’d promised himself Hogwarts was a place he would never be that anxious little boy who got bullied for his eyesight. Now he was right back in that moment where he couldn’t breathe and everything was too loud. He took a deep breath. Then another. And another. A minute of deep breathing calmed James down. He began to hum ‘Hey Jude’. It was his dad’s favourite song. He’d play it all the time when it first came out and he bought the record. He’d grab James' hands and make him dance with him.
James felt a lot better. He pushed his glasses up and turned off the tap. He was fine. Totally fine. He feels the train pull to a stop and hears the screech loud and clear. James sighs. Things were still overly noisy. He slides the bathroom door open and walks out feeling refreshed. He would definitely be trying hard to forget the earlier weirdness.