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27 march 1977. james' birthday.
So.
Sirius has this best mate. His name is James Potter.
And today just so happens to be James Potter's birthday, which means: shenanigans. Plenty of delightful, epic, amazing, brilliant, wonderful shenanigans.
(Most of them involving firewhiskey and some hilarious pranks on Peter, if he's going to be completely honest.
Oh.
And cake and candy and a numerous list of foods requested from the kitchens downstairs. Those houseelves are fucking brilliant.)
It's a day Sirius plans to pack with as much fun and activity as possible, and it's a day Sirius plans to spend with James, Remus and Peter.
Exclusively.
Everyone else, particularly Evans, can simply ... well, eff off.
If Sirius gets any day to be selfish about his friends, it's got to be birthdays.
(After all, Evans gets James the bloody rest of the time.
And he's surprised — genuinely — that Evans has stuck around for as long as she has so far, considering how horribly she treated Prongs for years.)
He plans out the day with great care as though this were one of the famous Marauder pranks (though they haven't really actually played one in a while) — but without the actual pranking. It's meant to go from morning to late at night; it's to be one great party.
Of course, things fall a little off the wagon around two o'clock in the afternoon, though it is, by no means, much of an issue for him.
After spending a great deal of the day at Hogsmeade, starting early — before any of the girls could wake up — and moving into an impromptu game of Quidditch, Sirius reveals a rather sizable and impressive stash of firewhiskey bottles he'd been keeping for an occasion just like this one, hidden underneath one of the floor boards of the Shrieking Shack.
By the time they return to the Gryffindor Common Room, it's gotten dark and all four boys are very severely pissed.
Sirius can barely walk a straight line, and he and James — arms around each other's shoulders — are singing stupid songs about completing epic quests on horseback, with damsels waiting for them in tall, stone towers, dressed in nothing but their knickers (well, that last bit is Sirius' addition).
"Happy Birthday, old boy," Sirius manages to slur, before Peter (giggling) passes the bottle into his hand and he takes another sip.
"Right," James says, nodding like a bobble-head, "right. Thank you."
And then he blinks.
Which makes Sirius blink.
"What time is it?" James asks. "And why's the room so ... empty? And dark? And is that cake?"
"Well, it was," Remus says. "Once."
"It's gone all melty," Peter remarks. "How sad."
"Wait," James says. He straightens, which means Sirius' arm falls away. "Wait, this isn't good, is it?"
Sirius shrugs. "Hm?"
"I missed my party, didn't I?" James asks.
"Well, we miiight have taken a little longer out in Hogsmeade than we meant to, but it was worth it, yeah?" Sirius passes the bottle of firewhiskey in James' direction, but James pushes him aside. Contents of the bottle start sloshing over the sides, dripping onto the carpet. "Oy — you wasted —"
"Merlin's Beard. Fuck." James shakes his head then winces. "Lily."
"Have a drink, Prongs — it'll cheer you up."
"No, Sirius. Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. I missed it all, didn't I?" James starts to pace forward.
Remus and Peter stay swaying in their spots, silent.
"Look, it's not a huge deal. Evans might have had something stupid and small planned out earlier, but I knew you'd want something grander, something a lot more epic. Something like drinking and Quidditch and Hogsmeade with your best mates."
James whirls on him, making Sirius feel just a smidgeon small. But only for a second, and only just a smidgeon small. "So, what? You did this on purpose?"
"Nnno, of course not," Sirius lies.
But James can see right through him, can't he, because the look on his face isn't something he's seen directed towards him in a very long time.
"Look, James —"
"You fucking twat! Why would you purposefully do something like that —"
"That is really —" Remus starts, but Sirius cuts them all off with a wordless cry that ends with 'Shut up'.
"All right! Shut up, the lot of you!" he says. "Fine. I just wanted you to remember what it was —"
But Sirius doesn't get the chance to explain himself clearly, because that would make everything all right again, because James launches himself at Sirius and punches him in the face.
His head rings for a moment, but it's only a moment and it's enough to gather his strength to hit James back.
Moments later, out of breath, one eye swollen shut and his nose bleeding, Sirius finds himself being pulled off James — or is it the other way around? — and then hauled up the narrow staircase between Remus and Peter.
"Come on, Padfoot, up you get," says Peter.
"You're a right git for doing what you did to James and Lily," Remus adds. "And I suspect neither of them are going to be happy with you in the morning."
His tone doesn't sound forgiving.
In fact, neither of them even look at him once they've dumped him on the ground by his bed to go to sleep.
And in the morning, he's the only one in the room when he wakes up.
Sirius has this best mate. His name is James Potter.
And today just so happens to be James Potter's birthday, which means: shenanigans. Plenty of delightful, epic, amazing, brilliant, wonderful shenanigans.
(Most of them involving firewhiskey and some hilarious pranks on Peter, if he's going to be completely honest.
Oh.
And cake and candy and a numerous list of foods requested from the kitchens downstairs. Those houseelves are fucking brilliant.)
It's a day Sirius plans to pack with as much fun and activity as possible, and it's a day Sirius plans to spend with James, Remus and Peter.
Exclusively.
Everyone else, particularly Evans, can simply ... well, eff off.
If Sirius gets any day to be selfish about his friends, it's got to be birthdays.
(After all, Evans gets James the bloody rest of the time.
And he's surprised — genuinely — that Evans has stuck around for as long as she has so far, considering how horribly she treated Prongs for years.)
He plans out the day with great care as though this were one of the famous Marauder pranks (though they haven't really actually played one in a while) — but without the actual pranking. It's meant to go from morning to late at night; it's to be one great party.
Of course, things fall a little off the wagon around two o'clock in the afternoon, though it is, by no means, much of an issue for him.
After spending a great deal of the day at Hogsmeade, starting early — before any of the girls could wake up — and moving into an impromptu game of Quidditch, Sirius reveals a rather sizable and impressive stash of firewhiskey bottles he'd been keeping for an occasion just like this one, hidden underneath one of the floor boards of the Shrieking Shack.
By the time they return to the Gryffindor Common Room, it's gotten dark and all four boys are very severely pissed.
Sirius can barely walk a straight line, and he and James — arms around each other's shoulders — are singing stupid songs about completing epic quests on horseback, with damsels waiting for them in tall, stone towers, dressed in nothing but their knickers (well, that last bit is Sirius' addition).
"Happy Birthday, old boy," Sirius manages to slur, before Peter (giggling) passes the bottle into his hand and he takes another sip.
"Right," James says, nodding like a bobble-head, "right. Thank you."
And then he blinks.
Which makes Sirius blink.
"What time is it?" James asks. "And why's the room so ... empty? And dark? And is that cake?"
"Well, it was," Remus says. "Once."
"It's gone all melty," Peter remarks. "How sad."
"Wait," James says. He straightens, which means Sirius' arm falls away. "Wait, this isn't good, is it?"
Sirius shrugs. "Hm?"
"I missed my party, didn't I?" James asks.
"Well, we miiight have taken a little longer out in Hogsmeade than we meant to, but it was worth it, yeah?" Sirius passes the bottle of firewhiskey in James' direction, but James pushes him aside. Contents of the bottle start sloshing over the sides, dripping onto the carpet. "Oy — you wasted —"
"Merlin's Beard. Fuck." James shakes his head then winces. "Lily."
"Have a drink, Prongs — it'll cheer you up."
"No, Sirius. Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit. I missed it all, didn't I?" James starts to pace forward.
Remus and Peter stay swaying in their spots, silent.
"Look, it's not a huge deal. Evans might have had something stupid and small planned out earlier, but I knew you'd want something grander, something a lot more epic. Something like drinking and Quidditch and Hogsmeade with your best mates."
James whirls on him, making Sirius feel just a smidgeon small. But only for a second, and only just a smidgeon small. "So, what? You did this on purpose?"
"Nnno, of course not," Sirius lies.
But James can see right through him, can't he, because the look on his face isn't something he's seen directed towards him in a very long time.
"Look, James —"
"You fucking twat! Why would you purposefully do something like that —"
"That is really —" Remus starts, but Sirius cuts them all off with a wordless cry that ends with 'Shut up'.
"All right! Shut up, the lot of you!" he says. "Fine. I just wanted you to remember what it was —"
But Sirius doesn't get the chance to explain himself clearly, because that would make everything all right again, because James launches himself at Sirius and punches him in the face.
His head rings for a moment, but it's only a moment and it's enough to gather his strength to hit James back.
Moments later, out of breath, one eye swollen shut and his nose bleeding, Sirius finds himself being pulled off James — or is it the other way around? — and then hauled up the narrow staircase between Remus and Peter.
"Come on, Padfoot, up you get," says Peter.
"You're a right git for doing what you did to James and Lily," Remus adds. "And I suspect neither of them are going to be happy with you in the morning."
His tone doesn't sound forgiving.
In fact, neither of them even look at him once they've dumped him on the ground by his bed to go to sleep.
And in the morning, he's the only one in the room when he wakes up.