Chapter 3
2nd December 1971
James
Well, we all need someone we can lean on
And if you want it, well, you can lean on me
Yeah, we all need someone we can lean on
And if you want it, well, you can lean on me
Let It Bleed, The Rolling Stones
James had always been good at making friends. He didn’t know how, he was just naturally very charismatic. Take Peter, for example. James and Peter had met in a crèche at a ministry event when they were very young. Their parents hadn’t known each other, didn’t even work in the same sector, but they just clicked.
Peter had seemed very shy at first, only responding politely to James’s conversation, but once he had broken the ice they were unstoppable. That evening, they had been spotted smuggling the various posh chocolates and wolfing them down all at once to get every magical side effect possible, from floating to growing facial hair.
Safe to say they had been best friends since, and nearly eight years later here they were.
The thing was, James and Peter couldn’t exactly be best friends in a dorm of four boys, so naturally, he made the executive decision to add the other two into their group. He could feel that Peter had become much more cautious at his decision, constantly finding reasons to leave the other two out, which James wasn’t very happy about.
All in all, however, James couldn’t really blame him. Coming to Hogwarts has been a huge change, and he knew that Peter sometimes got anxious about making new friends. He appeared to be especially wary of Sirius, who James knew reminded him of someone who once picked on him. Whether Peter likes it or not though, he would stay friends with Sirius.
On the very first train ride, they had instantly hit it off. They shared so many common interests, and although their childhoods were completely different, they were practically the same person. They both had a passion for quidditch, although Sirius wasn’t able to play as much as James, as well as an extensive chocolate frog card collection each.
It was strange, James thought, everyone believed the heir of the house of Black to be a condescending nob, and yet here he was, completely different. James found it incredible.
The other roommate, Remus, was much more reserved, and after a few months of living with him, James realised how funny and sarcastic he was. He wasn’t as bubbly as Sirius, or as chatty as Peter, but he was witty, and soon proved himself clever too. James often wondered how the hell he wasn’t in Ravenclaw with the other swots.
And then there was Lily.
James could talk about Lily all day long. Although she might not have been conventionally attractive, with her red hair, freckles and round face, she was still the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He had attempted to talk to her a few times, and in every single one she had shut him down immediately, as if he was contagious. Remus said it was because he was too loud and boisterous, but James didn’t want to believe him.
***
It had been a few months now, and everyone had just about adjusted to the new mediaeval castle setting. Today was potions, a subject James was excelling in, with the unfair advantage of him being the son to a famous and successful hair potioneer. They had already brewed the cure for boils, and they were almost finished with their next potion, the forgetfulness drought.
This had been a much more complicated one than the first, taking over a month to fully complete, as after each ingredient was added, the potion had to marinate for at least a week. So when December 2nd rolled around, James was actually pretty excited.
“Imagine the mischief we could get up to with a potion like that!” Sirius had exclaimed back in October when they had begun the project.
“Merlin, we could put it in their teapots at breakfast!” Peter had joined in.
Since starting Hogwarts, the four boys had become quite well known for their silly pranks, among the other first years at least.Usually they involved the Slytherin house, as a harmless dig at their supposed rivalry. Since then, however, the Slytherins had fired back, leaving no other choice but war.
“We can’t spike their tea,” Remus had rolled his eyes from behind the book he was reading, which James didn’t recognise. Probably muggle, Remus was a half blood after all. “Way too cliche. No offence Peter,” he added quickly, “we can be much more creative than that.”
Remus had explained to them how the potion worked by breathing it in, not necessarily ingesting it. James was a little concerned by his knowledge about it, almost as if it was first hand. He was even more so when he realised that Remus didn’t have a magic parent at home to teach him any of this.
As of right now, however, Remus didn’t look very well. He was on the bench in front of James, working quietly with Peter. James nudged Sirius to see if he knew anything about this.
“Hmm? Oh yeah he was like this last month, remember?”
Come to think of it, James does remember. Poor Remus had been so run down that he had to spend the night in the hospital wing. James decided to keep an eye on him as he mindlessly crushed his berries.
For the rest of the lesson, James carefully watched Remus, noting every time he winced that he should talk to him and convince him to go to the hospital wing before it got out of hand.
***
“Could you pass me the potatoes?”
“Remus, are you sure you’re okay?”
“YES JAMES. I’ve told you so many times now.”
“But you look..”
“James, leave it.”
This time it wasn’t Remus’s voice responding to him. To his left, Sirius was now glaring at him.
“What?”
“Just stop, okay? He’s said he’s fine, he’s probably fine. Now pass him the damn potatoes.”
James was in shock.
“Sirius.. erm Peter! You agree with me, right? Remus should go to the hospital wing!”
Peter, to his surprise, sided with the other two boys. Smelly traitor.
“Erm well I mean it's Remus’s choice…” he trailed off, deciding rather than finish his sentence, to sink his teeth into the generous slice of steak and kidney pie that he had piled onto his plate.
“Well, if that's how you want to be, fine. But don’t come running to me when you get seriously ill.”
“Sirius would never,” Remus replied. And that was the end of that conversation.
***
Later that evening, just as the sun began to set, Remus did in fact leave for the hospital wing. James felt guiltily smug with himself.