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Ten days after the Christmas dinner Sirius returns to Hogwarts. And oh Merlin is he glad to be back. His legs are still healing and he still has a slight limp, but he is on the train and ready to get the hell out of his mother’s claws.
Sirius is in a compartment with James, Remus, Peter, and Regulus. Sirius is sitting with his legs splayed out, putting as little weight as possible on his calves. They still hurt when he stands on them, so.
When James saw him first he looked worried to tears. Not that he actually cried. But Sirius told James that he’s okay, even when Sirius isn’t entirely sure he is. Sirius acted normal the entire train ride. The whole of dinner. He even went to James’ bed after the other’s had fallen asleep.
“Evening.” Sirius greets as he gingerly climbs into James’ bed.
“Hey.” James says. After a long pause he asks, “are you okay? Really?”
“Yeah, James, I'm fine.” Sirius brushes him off. He doesn’t want to talk about it.
“Okay.” James says skeptically.
“Anyway, how was your Christmas?” Sirius asks, getting comfy on the bed.
“It was good. Me and dad went sledding a couple more times, we had our Christmas party. It was fun.” James says and starts to go on and on about his amazing Christmas break. Sirius listens and wishes he was there.
After some time Sirius goes back to his own bed and falls asleep.
~*~
“Lacero!” Screeches Walburga.
“No, please, I didn’t do anything-” Sirius pleads. His mother doesn’t care. No. Not one bit. His father is laughing, his brother is sneering at him. Regulus is wearing a Slytherin tie. No, that's not right. Regulus is supposed to be in Gryffindor. Regulus is supposed to-
There's a flash of red light and pain and Sirius is screaming and someone is shaking him, it’s Regulus but that’s not Regulus’ voice. Everything is wrong. And Regulus has Remus’s voice and-
Sirius bolts upright in bed, breathing heavily and shaking. Remus is on his bed, James and Peter are standing around his bed, all looking really, really concerned.
“Sirius…” Remus starts carefully.
“I’m fine.” Sirius says, looking between his friends. “I am.” he says more firmly this time.
“Are you-” James starts.
“Yes, James, I’m fine.” Sirius snaps.
“Okay,” James says, putting his hands up in surrender. “Okay.” James backs up to his own bed. Peter goes back to his. They both pull the curtains and then all that is left is Remus.
“You sure you’re fine?” Remus asks. Sirius nods. “Okay.” Remus says, starting to crawl out of Sirius’ bed.
“Wait.” Sirius calls. Remus looks back at him. “Can you… can you stay..?” Sirius asks hesitantly.
“Okay.” Remus murmurs, crawling back into the bed. “Budge up.” He says as he lays down next to Sirius under the covers. They lay there in silence for a while, looking up at the canopy of Sirius’ bed, that still has the tinsel James hung up pinned there.
“Can you tell me a story?” Sirius asks softly. Remus hums, thinking.
“Have you ever heard of the boy who cried wolf?” Remus asks. Sirius shakes his head, and so Remus goes on. “Once there was a shepherd boy who liked playing jokes on the villagers nearby. So, one day the shepherd boy is tending to his flock and decides to call out wolf. He runs around the village yelling that there’s a wolf coming.” Remus starts. It’s a children's tale, Sirius can tell, but Sirius likes it. It’s calming. It’s Moony.
“So all the shops close, the house’s doors are locked and everybody waits. An hour or two later, everyone realizes it was a trick, so they go about their business as usual.” Remus continues. “This happens again the day after, everything shuts down, and then they realize it was a trick and go about their business.
“This eventually happens so much that whenever he cries ‘wolf’ no one listens. Then, one day, there actually is a wolf. The boy cries wolf, he cries for help, but no one believes it’s real. So the boy and his flock get eaten.” Remus finishes.
“That’s not a happy story, Moony.” Sirius points out quietly.
“You never said it had to be.” Remus counters. Sirius frowns.
“I don’t like that story.” Sirius murmurs.
“My mum used to tell me the story when I was younger. I guess I like it because it reminds me of her.” Remus mutters.
Sirius hums. “That’s nice.”
“Yeah, It is.” Remus murmurs. They lay in the bed in the quiet for some time. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“About what?” Sirius asks. Even though he knows what about.
“Your dream.” Remus says softly.
“No.” Sirius says. They lay in the quiet some more. “It was about my parents.” Sirius mumbles. Remus always changes his mind, even without words.
“What about your parents?” Remus ventures cautiously.
“Punishments.” Sirius whispers.
“Oh… that- that’s horrible.” Remus says. Sirius hums. The quiet envelopes them once more.
Sirius soon falls asleep. And this time, it's dreamless.
~*~
Today is Lily Evans’ birthday. She is woken up to Mary, Marlene and Dorcas jumping on her bed with a chorus of “Happy birthday, Lily!”s. She laughs, pushing her red hair out of her face. The girls get ready to head down to breakfast.
“Happy birthday, Lily.” Remus says when he sits down next to her.
“Thanks, Remus.” Lily says.
“Happy birthday Evans!” James says sitting across from Lily. She rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, thanks Potter.” She responds. James grins. It’s a grin that would charm anyone, but not Lily. Lily has never liked a boy, not in a romantic way, anyway. She hasn’t ever liked anyone, really. Or at least she doesn’t think so. Which is why she does not blush. She does, however, roll her eyes once again.
“Happy birthday, Lily.” Peter murmurs.
“Happy birthday!” Sirius and Regulus say in sync. Sirius much more enthusiastically. Regulus more monotone. Sirius probably made Regulus do it. Sirius is nothing if not insistent.
“Thanks, guys.” She says.
“So, what are the plans?” Remus asks, loading up his plate, which, as usual, is a truly obscene amount of food. It’s a wonder Remus isn’t three-hundred pounds. He has some metabolism.
“Well, classes, obviously, and then Mary said she has something planned.” Lily muses.
“Mm, yes, quite interesting.” James butts in. Lily, Remus, and Regulus simultaneously roll their eyes.
“Yes, James. Quite.” Regulus says flatly. Sirius snorts, James grins at Regulus, the same smile he gave Lily. Regulus blushes, ducking his head. What’s that about?
“Anyway…” Sirius says. “Is a party happening?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see, won’t you?” Mary responds cryptically.
“Oh, come on, Mary. You can tell us.” James counters.
“Yeah! Lily, close your ears.” Sirius orders.
“Close my ears?” Lily arches a brow.
“You know what I mean!” Sirius exclaims. Lily sighs, shakes her head, and covers her ears.
“So?” Remus asks, leaning in towards Mary.
“Ugh, I was going to ask you all to help later.” Mary grumbles. Marlene and Dorcas snicker. They obviously know the plan.
“Ask us what?” Peter squeaks.
“Well, Mary wanted to throw Lily surprise party.” Dorcas informs them.
“And she wanted to enlist your help, seeing as you all throw amazing birthday parties.” Marlene announces.
“What do you want help with?” Remus asks. Remus has always been the person who plans how to execute plans. He always has to know what is happening.
“Food, decorations. All that stuff. We just need you to get them, we’ll do the decorating.” Mary says.
“Okay, yes.” James exclaims enthusiastically.
“Can I open my ears now?” Lily asks, looking around the group.
“Yep!” Sirius and James say simultaneously. Lily uncovers her ears. The conversation continues until breakfast ends and everyone goes to classes.
~*~
The Marauders do not go to classes. Neither does Regulus. He stays with them, he helps get the food, he helps get the decorations. Regulus does, regretfully, miss flying class. But he does have fun.
The girls, excluding Lily, skip their afternoon classes to decorate the boys dorms, seeing as the boys can’t go into the girls dorms. The Marauders and Regulus, not wanting to get in trouble before Lily’s birthday party, stay with them and help decorate.
That night, after dinner, the boys all go up to their dorms and wait for the girls to bring Lily up. James is sitting on his bed, anxiously bobbing his leg. Regulus finds it slightly irritating. It’s distracting him from his book. It’s not even making noise. Regulus is just distracted because it’s James.
Stupidly beautiful James- what?!
Regulus hurriedly looks back at his book. What would his mother say if she knew what he was thinking? Regulus doesn’t even want to think about it.
Just then, the girls walk into the dorm, covering her eyes. They walk further into the room, then Mary lifts her hands from Lily’s eyes.
“Surprise!”