Sirius Black snorted, and his shoulders started shaking with laughter.
"What's really going on?"
"Is it any of your business?" Millie questioned sweetly.
"Excuse me for my curiosity. I didn't realize it would be such a problem."
For the second time in James Potter's presence, Lily's eyes widened, this time at the incredible coldness that he gave off. Within the time it took to say that one statement, his face had completely closed off any emotion, and his eyes took on the appearance of uncarved granite, and his jaw was firmly set. Silence reigned, being conquered only by the crunching of various sugar products.
Finally, Lily had had enough. "I'm allergic to peanuts."
"What?" Sirius asked, not spotting the sudden relevance.
"I'm allergic to peanuts. That's why we didn't get anything off the cart." Awareness dawned in three sets of eyes, but the gray ones remained cold and unmoved. "Please excuse me." Lily stood up, and when she had her hand on the door, she turned with a little smile. "Peter, you have frosting on your face."
"It looked good there, right?" He asked with a pleasant grin, wiping it away.
"In a toddler-ish sort of way, it looked kind of cute." Lily assured him, and walked out of the compartment to find a couple Ravenclaw acquaintances.
"Well, the party left, so we can too." Remus decided, hoping to get out of the uncomfortable atmosphere soon. James usually had the decency to be alone before he completely shut down, but apparently the time with his parents had made that shut down point come more quickly.
For the faintest fraction of a second, there looked to be a spark of amusement, no doubt based on cruel derision, but it proved something Remus and Peter had wondered for some time; James Byron Potter XXIV did indeed have emotions when he froze up. Whether it was stoicism or a defense mechanism, very few people had realistic dreams of finding out, but the ability to completely cut all emotional displays off was a trait of James everyone knew about, and the majority didn't question.
Once they were in the corridor, Sirius turned to James, and merely raised his eyebrows, and it was understood there would be quite a conversation in the boys' dormitory that night. The four boys sat in the Head Students' compartment, which was, at the moment, free from the Head Girl.
"Play any Quidditch this summer, Pete?" James asked lazily, looking for all the world as if nothing was unusual.
"Dumb question, Potter." Peter returned, green eyes sparkling. "My mum had to drag me off the pitch every night. My ears are sore from it."
"They're getting ready for one of their Quidditch talks." Sirius warned Remus, "Just look, they've both got that expression, they're all set for the long haul."
"We keep Gryffindor afloat, Padfoot, we have to be preoccupied with Quidditch." James answered, turning back to his star keeper and buddy, Peter Pettigrew, who happened to have a rich daddy with a Quidditch pitch all of his own up in Scotland. James personally adored Patrick Pettigrew because of that thoughtful purchase, which gave him a much-needed break from his rather colorful parents. "However, we also have to keep the...humorous side of the castle in gear. Quidditch can be put on hold temporarily."
"Now we're talking." Sirius rubbed his hands together greedily, and the four leaned towards each other to begin plotting.
Yadda Yadda Yadda Blah Blah Blah. James Potter drummed his fingers against the table in boredom, wondering how long it could possibly take for any one person to go over the new rules and restricted items. Like anybody actually paid attention to that. He snorted out loud at that though, and his friends looked at him, probably thinking he had finally lost what remained of his mind after a rather distressing childhood.
"-Eat up!"
"Maybe there is actually a god."
"Rough summer?" Remus asked, and received an eye-roll.
"You could say that. If I was...if I was in the place my..." James trailed off dully, and that pretty much summed up the situation for his friends.
"So, what tune will we be singing to this year? It must be our best and greatest." Peter said, wisely changing the subject.
"My vote's for 'God Save The Minister'." Sirius suggested, and it was unanimous. After a very filling dinner, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore stood up with a quirky smile.
"Let us now sing the song of Hogwarts. Any tune is acceptable."
Most people now started scrambling to choose a tune with a friend. Millicent went with 'Happy Birthday', Amos sang to the tune of 'Hat Over Robes', the newest song from Taran Venecia. Lily, being the Christmas-loving girl she was, went with 'Silver Bells', which, unfortunately, left her and her awful singing voice as one of the stragglers.
Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,
Teach us something please,
Whether we be old and bald
Or young with scabby knees,
Our heads could do with filling
With some interesting stuff,
For now they're bare and full of air,
Dead flies and bits of fluff,
So teach us things worth knowing,
Bring back what we've forgot,
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,
And learn until our brains all rot.
Lily burst into giggles when she was done, noticing her friends looking appalled. "Did I improve over the summer?"
"You might have hit a few notes." Millicent said, looking like she wanted to erase the past three minutes from her audio memory.
And by now, only the Marauders, singing to 'God Save The Minister' or 'God Save The Queen' as it was known to Muggle-borns, were left. "-allllllllll roooooo-oooooootttt!"
"Bravo, bravo! I believe we have future stars in the halls of Hogwarts this year." Dumbledore said kindly, clapping his hands. "Now, off to bed students! Prefects, you will find the password to your house in your pocket."
Lily reached into her pocket, and as promised, discovered a small slip of parchment with the word 'Queerditch Marsh'. "That's my call." She said to Millicent, and started towards the first years. Since the Head Boy was from Gryffindor, she was the only Prefect, and thinking it was a nice thought, she walked over to James Potter. "Do you want to lead the first years since it's your last year?"
"No, I'm sure you'll do an admirable job."
"I sure do hope you get the burr off your butt soon." Lily smiled sweetly, took a deep breath, and went to the task of guiding the new students.
Sirius and Peter were snickering at James. "Shut up." James stalked off, in a direction that wasn't of Gryffindor Tower.
"This is too good." Remus decided, allowing laughter to break free.
"So who's going to let the Head Boy in tonight?" Peter asked, looking between Sirius and Remus.
"Not me." They both said at the same time, and looked at Peter. They ended up on an amicable agreement; none of them would. However, this plan didn't get put to use, to their severe disappointment, James was on their heels as they went through the portrait hole.
"Where did you fly off to?" Peter asked.
"You will be incredibly pleased to note that Quidditch practice is next Thursday at six p.m. for all old Quidditch players. We'll assess the team, see what we need."
"You booked the pitch our first day back?" Sirius asked in disbelief.
"Sure did. Daddy wouldn't like me to captain a losing team. It would disgrace the family name." James said mockingly, face curled in disgust.
"Well. I see we have the whole summer to work off." Remus sighed, and started toward the boys' staircase. James made a face behind his friend's back, but followed anyway. Making as much noise as wizardly possible, he slammed into his dormitory, and ripped night clothes from his trunk, cursing whoever happened to be in the bathroom.
"I believe you're getting to the point you need anger management classes." Peter said philosophically, "This started out as the rolling of the eyes in third year, and it has now progressed to-" He paused while he rolled onto the floor for safety, "-aggression and surly cursing."
"Okay, Prongs, enough of your temper fit, put your wand down, and calmly wait your turn. I'm next, you know." Remus sat watching him through amber eyes that were oddly soothing.
"I'll go use my own bloody bathroom." James stomped out, growling something unintelligible.
"Is it clear?" Sirius asked from the bathroom.
"Yep, quit hogging." The second the door was open, Remus squeezed in, leaving Sirius and Peter to discuss their friend, Frank Longbottom no doubt chatting, or uh, not chatting, with Lizzy somewhere.
"So, what are we going to do with our good buddy James?" Sirius asked Peter. Each Marauder was different from the other, but alike another in some way. Sirius looked most similar to James, both tall with black hair, except James's had an unkempt appearance, and he was thinner than Sirius. He had eyes like new steel, and a face to match, while Sirius had teddy bear eyes, and a loveable appearance, like a stray puppy. Peter was the shortest of the Marauders, but stocky, and had miraculously tidy brown hair. Remus was the tallest of their little group, his even his human appearance implying a wolfishness that couldn't be tames.
Their temperaments were what kept the four-way friendship going strong. The unbreakable cynicism that had long held James and Remus was interrupted by Sirius and Peter, two of the most disgustingly cheery people to ever walk the planet.
"What would work with every other male human being on the planet won't work with him." Peter picked at a loose thread on his blanket. "Maybe he had a new traumatizing experience we need to learn about first."
"Maybe so." And as agreed, the second James walked in the doorway, he was bombarded by his three friends.
"So, what did you do this summer?" Sirius asked mildly as James flopped on his bed.
"The usual. I was hassled by my very dear family. I listened to my parents fight, had a revelation I didn't want from my father, drilled in the Potter way of life, and had my life ran for me for six pleasurable weeks. I can't wait until I turn eighteen; which is in ten days I might add, and I'm never going back there. Not without a very good reason anyway."
"I bet." Peter said sarcastically, and found a sneezing curse shot at him. He picked up his wand to retaliate, but it was stolen by James.
"James, give his wand back like a good boy. Honestly, if you weren't so good at getting us out of trouble, we'd ditch you." Remus observed, and transferred the wand from James's hand to Peter's bed.
"So, how's the lovely Willa McKinnon doing?" Sirius said loudly, breaking up the possible conflict.
"I wouldn't know. I broke up with her." James reached to close the bed curtains, but was stopped by three sounds of surprise. "Not by choice, I assure you."
"What for then?"
"The reasons for my existence don't approve of her. They claim her reputation precedes her. Like I know what that means."
"And you just broke up with her?" Peter asked in disbelief.
"It wasn't worth the trouble of arguing, and it didn't really matter that much. She didn't care either, it was an amicable break-up. And it was a month ago, I'm over it. Are we done with the interrogation, gentlemen?"
"Not quite, Potter. What's it going to take to get you out of this little mood of yours?"
"Proof that the human race isn't just a big bunch of rude idiots out to do each other in." James closed his curtains promptly, and the topic, and conversation as a whole, wasn't pursued.
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