October 1971
Mid-October came, when one evening, James overheard two girls. It was Narcissa and Bellatrix Black, and they were talking in hushed voices. But James managed to catch the gist of it.
“How dare he deny such an invitation.” Bellatrix’s voice was thick with venom, and she looked furious. Narcissa seemed more composed but just as agitated. “Aunt Walburga won’t be pleased if he carries on like this. He really should’ve just celebrated with us.” Narcissa spoke.
James wondered what they meant.
Later, when Black and Lupin weren’t around, he talked to Peter.
“I heard Sirius’s cousins, talking about him missing an event.” He also asked Peter what that event could’ve been. “Maybe, his birthday? Do you know when it is?”. James shook his head, a bit ashamed. Peter told James he’d find out for him.
And he did.
A couple hours later, Peter found out from a distant relative of the Blacks, the Selwyns. Sirius Black was born October 4th. It was over a week past that, and James hadn’t seen any sort of celebrations for Sirius.
“Do you think there’s a reason he kept it a secret?” James continued pestering Pete. “Probably. He loves being center of attention.” James’s lips turned down slightly, but Peter continued walking to their next class.
-
“G’night boys!” James called out from his bed. It was the end of the day now, and they were beyond tired. But James was restless. He couldn’t sleep, instead, he kept thinking about Sirius. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find a reason why Sirius wouldn’t mention his birthday.
Slowly, he un-did the curtains on his bed, and walked carefully over to Sirius’s.
He tapped on the tightly shut curtains, until they were opened.
James thought Sirius might’ve been deep asleep now, but he seemed just as alert as he as during the day.
“Potter?”
“Can I ask you something?” James watched as Sirius scooted over, leaving some space on his head. He climbed in and waited for the curtains to close again. It was dark, so James cast Lumos and hoped it wouldn’t bother anyone.
“You going to ask me?” Sirius began.
“Why didn’t you tell us it was your birthday.”
There was silence for a while. An unbearable silence. James didn’t know why it mattered so much to him.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s okay.” James responded. He was about to leave, mind still hazy and unclear, when Sirius began again.
“They wanted me to come home. My parents, I mean. They said if I studied at home for a bit, then Hogwarts would allow me to re-do the sorting. Because there’s a huge gap now, my house could change. They wanted to fix me, that was my gift for my twelfth birthday. They ruined it, and I didn’t want to celebrate it anymore.”
And just as Sirius had said dark and deep things on the train ride, James had gone quiet.
“We could’ve made it better.”
Sirius stared at James, his eyes ached with longing.
“You could’ve.” He repeated.
“Next year, then. We’re friends, aren’t we?” James gave him a small punch on the shoulder, diffusing some of the tension between them and bringing back a atmosphere of playfulness and light-hearted conversations.
“Next year.” Sirius confirmed.
James was about to go back to his, when for the second time in the night, Sirius stopped him.
“Could you stay, just a couple longer?” He requested, and James felt the vulnerability as his voice shook.
“I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”
And if that were the case, then James would’ve never left Sirius again.
They talked about anything that came to their minds. It was hard for them to stop when it began. But every time James ventured into the topic of family; Sirius would quietly tell him to back off. He’d open again, James knew. He just didn’t know when.
They were the last of the boys to fall asleep, and the first to wake up.
Even though they had spent half the night talking, they felt more awake and energized than ever.
“Thank you, James.”
“It’s what friends do. It what we, the Marauders do.”
Sirius wore a elated look the rest of the day, and James felt as though he’d accomplished something massive.