better together
When James is done with class for the day, he walks outside to the quad, neatly tucked between the dorms and York, the science studies building. It’s a nice day out, the sun peaking through pretty white clouds and warming James’ skin, simultaneously being cooled by the breeze in the air, signaling the beginning of fall in Connecticut.
Sirius had returned to school later than Remus, Peter, and James, getting back to Hogwarts late yesterday. Thus meaning James hadn’t had much of a chance for a summer debrief with his best friend. It was an unspoken tradition for them. Sirius and James sat together and talked about their summers. But not really. They talk about the mundane things from Sirius’ summer, and Sirius complains about the boring soirees he was made to attend and whatever he and Regulus got up to during their two and a half month break from school. He talked a little about tennis, but it could get touchy. James knew. And James didn’t push.
James listened. He didn’t try to get Sirius to talk about the hard stuff. The messy stuff. And Sirius never did. And that was okay, for now.
Speak of the devil. James thought, as a familiar head of black hair came walking between the English and Science buildings, clad in his white Hogwarts Tennis polo and shorts, white court shoes on his feet too. A sheen of sweat glistens on Sirius’ forehead, having just finished his first practice for the fall season. Sirius hasn’t spotted James yet, but James knows he will. He’s looking down at his phone, and James stands in the grass and waits for Sirius to notice his best friend’s presence. And he does. Sirius stops dead, snapping his head up from his phone and looking around, as if he sensed James was near. When Sirius finally spots James, the matching grins the two boys immediately acquire are blinding.
After summer, it takes the boys a while to get used to being around each other again. Every day feels like they haven’t seen the other in years. Which is evident in the way Sirius immediately starts sprinting towards an awaiting James, arms spread wide in welcome.
Sirius jumps into James’ arms, and they grapple each other in a bone-crushing hug, and James doesn’t care an inch that Sirius is drenched in sweat. All he is thinking is Sirius. Sirius is okay.
The boys stay like that for a while, and James laughs. No experience in James’ life, no friendship, no relationship, no delicious meal–and James loves food– has ever compared to the feeling of being around Sirius. James doesn’t care that he had a class with Sirius that morning, it’s felt like an eternity since the last time he saw the other boy. It had been, before the boys had all met back up in their shared dorm room last night. Though they hadn’t said it, all of the boys had been anxiously awaiting the arrival back to school, and if Sirius would be there waiting for them. It was always a question if Sirius would be back at Hogwarts the next school year. But he did show up, and that’s what matters. He’d shown up, looking a little battered and very tired, as shown in the deep bags that seemed to come back with a vengeance every time he came face to face with Orion and Walburga Black. But he was back, and he was safe, and Remus, James, and Peter would make him better. It’s their job to make him better.
At least, it’s James’.
James knows about Sirius and Regulus’ parents. At least, he knows what Sirius has said about them and what he’s seen online.
The Blacks are a multi-generational extremely affluent family that have roots that date back to the foundations of Beverly Hills, California. It’s where they still reside, hidden behind hills, gates, guards, and money.
Orion Black has been a celebrity lawyer in Southern California for the last thirty years, taking the torch his father had passed down, from his father and his grandfather and so on and so forth. Orion Black did not need to work, if the billions of dollars in the Black Estate had any say. But, information is power, and the Blacks have a lot of it. It would be a lie for James to say he’s not terrified of Sirius’ family.
“Missed you, Prongs.” Sirius says, voice muffled where his face is pressed into James’ broad shoulder. James laughs fondly, looking down at the dark haired boy, the sides more cropped than usual, neater than Sirius typically liked. Walburga’s doing. It would grow out in a few weeks, and the wild haired Sirius that James is used to would be back.
James isn’t just thinking about the soft waves that usually curl around the other boy’s ears.
“I missed you, Padfoot.” James finally responds, realizing he had been analyzing the other boys’ hair for a while. He swallows the lump in his throat, wondering why it’s there.
Sirius and James sit in the grass of the quad until the sun begins to set and the warmth begins to dissipate, and then for a little while longer. They talk about everything and nothing, about tennis and soirees, about running from paparazzi with Regulus in downtown Los Angeles, but not what happened when they got home. Sirius smiled, and James smiled because of it.
. . . . . . . .
Sirius is glad to be back at school. His summer was spent in the beating sun of the Black family’s private tennis courts, practicing every play in his father’s playbook as the same man sat in the shade and watched his son’s every move. Every muscle flexed, every wrist regrip, every serve follow-through, Orion Black watched like a hawk eyeing its prey.
Even with the intense summer heat, his father’s eyes still gave Sirius goosebumps.
Regulus also had the same rigorous practice schedule, but the boys were kept separate for their training. The only time they would see each other play was when they played each other, their father and mother watching them compete against the other. Their mother rarely attended training sessions, her delicate health unforgiving of the heat, but accompanied her husband to see the boys challenge each other, with a quiet scrutiny. Unlike their father, much more likely to unleash his frustration on the boys’ imperfections. Said imperfections have become rare in Sirius and Regulus, but their father could always find something to punish them for.
Topunishthemtopunishthemtopunishthemtopunishthemto-
Sirius tears the thought out of his mind with a shake of his black curls as he unpacks his trunks in the safety of his, James, Remus, and Peter’s dorm room. A song he can’t remember the name of by Gym Class Heroes is blasting as loud as he can get the old record player in the room to go, relishing in the fact his parents would die if they heard this song in their house. But he doesn’t want to think about them right now. He’s here, at school, far away from Walburga and Orion Black, with his best friends, and he won’t have to see his parents’ sorry asses for another four months.
Four months of freedom. Four months of waking up when he chooses, going to sleep when he chooses, eating when and what he chooses. Four months of choosing. Four months of choosing when to say no-
Sirius is finishing putting his last tennis State Championship trophy on his shelf beside his bed when James and Remus barge into the room at the same time, chattering and lugging their final trunks in behind them. Sirius had been the first to arrive, always has been. “On time is late, Sirius,” He can hear his mother hissing.
“Sirius, my love!” James shouts from the door, and Sirius turns around to grin at his best friend, the grin on James’ face mirroring his own. Sirius starts to move towards the other boy, but James is faster. He rushes towards Sirius, his arms spread wide, and Sirius melts into the warm body in front of him, resting his chin on James’ shoulder. James grips him like he may disappear, holding Sirius tightly around the middle, one hand on the back of his head, holding Sirius fast to his shoulder.
They stay like this for what seems like ages, but not close to long enough at the same time. James doesn’t dare to break the embrace first, holding Sirius for as long as the gray-eyed boy needs. Said gray-eyed boy opens his eyes to look over James’ broad shoulder to see Remus standing there, his trunk strap still in his scarred hand, a fond, but tired smile on his lips. Sirius takes a moment to assess Remus, his amber eyes a little dull, with dark circles under them to match. Remus has always been a lanky thing, but he seems to have lost the muscle tone he’d acquired last school year, leaving him looking a little gaunt. Sirius’ eyes move to the other boy’s neck, and is that a bruise? He squints to try to see better in the dim afternoon light, but Remus finally catches Sirius’ searching eyes, and Sirius stops his assessment quickly. He knows what it feels like to be scrutinized so. He shoots Remus a happy, warm smile. Remus corrects his posture slightly, rolling his shoulder back and returning Sirius’ smile easily, then turning to his own bed to drop his trunk off.
Sirius finally ends James’ and his embrace, releasing the hold on his best friends’ back, James releasing immediately when Sirius signals the end of the hug. The boys pull back and meet each other's eyes, and oh, how glad Sirius is to see those kind brown eyes.
The kindest of all.
“I missed you, bud.” James says, and Sirius’ cheeks are hurting from smiling so much. How he missed James’ favorite term of endearment.
How he missed any and all terms of endearment.
“I missed you too, Prongs.” James ruffles Sirius’ hair, making the shorter boy yelp and duck away, James grinning like a maniac, turning to glance around at Sirius’ set up. “All nice and organized already I see. Wonder how long that’ll last?” Remus scoffs from where he’s prying open the rusted hinges of his battered trunk, not looking up from his project. “It’s all for show. Look in his desk drawers.” and James, ever the menace, turns to the desk and reaches out for the handle. He’s intercepted by Sirius, diving in front of desk drawer, clutching the sides of the desk behind him. “No!” he screeches, eliciting an “I told you so” from Remus, and the boy turns to glare at the sandy haired boy. “I’ll have you know it’s perfectly organized how I like.” Lie. “I just don’t want you mussing it up.” Sirius says defensively, blowing a piece of hair out of his face, frazzled. James backs up grinning, his hands raised in mock surrender. “Okay, Pads. Got it.” Remus huffs a laugh, shaking his head fondly. Sirius can’t help but smile at the boy with the amber eyes, happy that he could entertain Remus, ever the solemn giant. Sirius briefly wonders if this is the first time Remus has smiled in a while.
Peter joins them not too long later, face flushed and looking quite worn out. After all the boys finish unpacking into their respective spaces in the dorm, they decide a movie night would be the perfect way to begin the school year, taking as many blankets and pillows they could manage down to the common room of Godric Boy’s Dormitory and crash in front of the television, and turn on Peter’s favorite, Monster’s Inc. Even though there are many couches in the common area, they all end up laying over each other, crowded with blankets and sharing each other’s company.
“Starting the year with a bang, eh, boys?” James says, muffled slightly from the mound of blankets and limbs on top of him.
The contentment of the four boys is palpable. In this moment, all is well. Reunited, snuggled close and comfortable.