Slumber Party!
You're the only friend I need (you're the only friend I need)
Sharing beds like little kids (sharing beds like little kids)
And laughing 'til our ribs get tough (laughing 'til our ribs get tough)
But that will never be enough (but that will never be enough)
James walked out of the shower and got hit with a million different smells at once. He ran to the kitchen, where Sirius finally decided to put his little to non-existent culinary skills to use.
“Hey mate! Look so.” Sirius said, grinning widely “I made cheesy popcorn, I added cheddar and parmesan on top, then I made coffee mixed with chocolate powder and I melted more chocolate in it and then I added whipped cream and drizzled some chocolate on top. Afterwards, I thought we might get a bit way more hungry than that. I made instant ramen, the shin ramen one because it was the only one we had. What do you think?” Sirius presented each of his creations.
For a short while James just stared in awe at everything. Padfoot had made enough popcorn and hot chocolate to feed an entire kingdom, he somehow managed to fill three big kitchen bowls.
“Who is eating all of that?” James asked, not knowing what to say.
“Well Moony said he will join us in a bit, how about you bring these to the living room while I make some special treats for Buckbeak so he won't feel left out?” Sirius gestured towards the door, threatening James with his very special kitchen spatula.
Prongs obeyed. He transported every item on its own, making sure to not spill anything. While he was handling the second bowl of soup Buckbeak jumped on him with enough force to kill a baby, he nearly fell but he somehow made sure to not drop even the smallest amount of noodles. Once he finished everything and Sirius brought out the treats, they had to prepare the pillow fort.
“Okay so listen up! Until Remus finishes studying we have to build the biggest and cutest pillow fort known to mankind. We bought these new decorative pillows in Italy and I think they will look soo cute inside!” Sirius said while holding up two pillows with a ton of drawings on them.
“Let’s start with the base. What’s the biggest blanket you own?” James asked, dragging a few tall chairs around and placing them next to the sofa.
“I brought it out already, the orange one over there.” Sirius pointed to a stand next to the television while looking around for something.
“What are you searching for?” James asked while carrying the blanket in his hands.
“A broom or something, we need a pole to keep the whole structure up!” Sirius looked behind the door “Found it! Look how nice this one is! We can balance it between the couch pillows and it will be just perfect!” He held up a red mop.
“Sure! I’ll round up the chairs while you set up the mop!” James walked around the room, making sure he placed the chairs in the correct order according to height. He dragged a few around, removing the carpet to hold them flat.
“Done! I’ll go call Remus to have him put the blanket on top, he’s tall enough to reach it I think!” Sirius ran down the hall and entered the door on the left, only to drag Moony out.
“You two are my biggest nightmare. You’re so childish.” Remus rolled his sleeves up, climbing up on the couch to set the blanket in place. “Is this centered?” he asked, looking down to make sure the blanket would reach each chair.
“Yup!” James gave a thumbs up after circling the room a few times.
Remus got down and went back in the bedroom to finish the subject he was on while Sirius and James finished everything up. Once they arranged the blanket properly Padfoot went inside the hideout to check if it would fit three people and a dog.
“Holy shit! It’s so much bigger than I thought it would be!” Sirius ran out shouting. “C’mon James, let's decorate it, this is the best part!” He grabbed as many pillows as he could, along with two fluffy blankets and some stuffed animals.
James also tested out the pillow fort, and it really was huge. Once he moved Buckbeak's bed inside, the dalmatian also made himself comfortable, taking his favourite toy inside. Prongs actually bought that toy for Buckbeak when Sirius and Remus first got him. He found this super realistic Stag toy, and given the nickname his friends gave him he thought it would be fitting. Once Buckbeak saw it he became obsessed with the toy, taking it everywhere he went.
“Look, he's already falling asleep!” Sirius whispered, pointing.
“Hello! I finished my reading, so we can get started. What movie are we watching?” Remus asked, already in his pajamas (which consisted of a pair of boxers and a big sweater for whatever reason)
“I propose Fantastic Mr. Fox! Or The Isle of Dogs!” James raised his hand up, hoping his friends would agree.
“I’m not watching Fantastic Mr. Fox for the 50th time James, it’s not that good. I don’t understand why you like Wes Anderson this much!” Sirius grabbed his hot chocolate and took a long sip.
“What’s The Isle of Dogs? I don't think we’ve seen it yet Prongs! Let’s watch that, maybe Buckbeak will like it.” Moony said, grabbing the noodles Sirius made.
“It’s a great movie! Even better than Fantastic Mr. Fox! Okay let’s watch that!” James sat down in the pillow fort, getting ready to eat while Sirius turned on the movie
Isle of Dogs was in James’ unbiased opinion one of the greatest stop-watch movies ever. The story takes place in a city in Japan, where a dog flu breaks out. Humans are quick to judge and they all turn against their companions, demanding that all dogs be sent to a trash island. The movie itself is a metaphor for the xenophobic, racist, and demagogic strains of contemporary American politics, and although James did not live in America, he liked how the movie addressed these issues.
Buckbeak seemed to also enjoy the movie, occasionally barking at certain characters. Sirius, who was trying to train him for combat, gave him a treat every time.
“I like this character, she’s like our Gretha Thurnberg!” Remus said, when a girl with big blonde hair came on screen.
“Her name is Tracy Walker, and yes, that’s who she’s inspired by.” James said, appreciating how Remus actually paid attention to the movie. “It’s like no one listens to her, though she is right. But she’s also given this insufferable personality, just like our Greta!”
“I will never understand how you guys think so much of these movies. Me personally I just really like that black dog-” Sirius said before James interrupted
“Chief.”
“Right, Chief. He’s super dope.” Sirius said before shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth.
“Have some manners you twat.” Remus kicked him playfully.
Eventually they all settled in. Sirius got sleepy so he laid in Remus’ lap, with a hand on Buckbeak who was chewing on his toy. James had an arm around Moony and the other on Buckbeak’s head, who was thrilled for this many head-pats. Suddenly, Prongs jumped up.
“Moony I have an idea!” he turned to face Remus, grinning. “Let’s play salon with Sirius! You do his makeup, I do his hair!”
“Oh fuck yes! Screw this movie I’m turning on RuPaul's Drag Race! I’ll go take out the makeup!” Remus ran across the room, rushing to the bathroom.
The makeup in question was the products Lily, Mary, Marlene and Dorcas didn’t use anymore. They gave them to Sirius and Remus once because they wanted to try drag makeup and they kept it ever since.
“What about what I want? What if I don't consent to you doing my hair?” Sirius got up quickly, looking around the room.
“Oh you love when people play with your hair.” Remus grinned while coming back in the living room with a box full of makeup and Sirius’ hair products. “Okay, Padfoot sit here!” Moony dragged a stool from the hallway.
“Fine, don’t put on that one concealer though I told you I got a pimple from it last time!” Sirius obeyed.
“A pimple won’t kill you.” James rolled his eyes. “Remus, I’m on hair duty right?”
“Obviously, no one does makeup as well as I do and no one does hair as well as you do!” Remus winked, walking towards his record player to play some music.
“Bowie please! Aladdin Sane!” Sirius turned around with his chair with wheels. “I love this stool, it's like the ones we had in chemistry class!”
“Okay Sirius, what hairstyle should I do for you today?” James asked before noticing Remus. He was calling him over to show him an inspo picture.
Prongs leaned in close, letting Remus whisper:
“Given how you started ballet and all, I thought we could do a white or black swan look, you decide which one.”
James thought for a moment.
“Well, he would definitely like the black swan better. If you want to piss him off then do white.” Prongs responded.
“Sure! White it is!” Remus got back to his box, arranging every product he would need to use.
James did the same. He prepared some hairspray and a nice white bottle of glitter he had stolen from Lily one time. He wanted to do a slicked back bun, the typical ballet hairstyle, with glitter. He found some white ribbon and he figured that if he tried to make a lot of cuts in it, it would result in a fluffy-ish material that mimicked feathers.
They got started while humming to each Aladdin Sane song that played. James’ personal favourite was Cracked Actor.
“James come here, what do you think?” Remus called him over.
“Oh it’s perfect!” Prongs started at the white eyeliner that Remus drew on. It sort of resembled lace, each wing ending with a tiny drawing of a swan.
James brushed out Sirius’ hair, and began trying his best to slick it back as best as possible, considering the thickness and texture.
“Oi! Stop pulling on my head like that it hurts dude.” Sirius turned around, making Moony gasp since he nearly made a mistake.
“How about you sit still for once and stop complaining?” Remus said, making Sirius quiet down.
James finished the bun pretty easily, it looked messy but clean at the same time, the exact vibe he got from swans. He added plenty of glitter with a thick brush, making sure he doesn't disturb Remus. Afterwards he ruffled up the ribbon as best as he could with a scissor and placed it around the bun, letting it blend into Padfoot’s curls.
“Very well done James. Go pick out an outfit while I finish up here.” Remus winked.
James nodded and went inside the bedroom to search for some appropriate clothes. He found a nice fluffy white skirt that Marlene forgot at their apartment on Halloween and considered it perfect. While searching Buckbeak ran in and opened a bunch of drawers, helping James find what he needed. The dalmatian proved to be helpful, since without him James wouldn’t have spotted the most perfect gloves. They were white and had some fluffy material at the end. James rushed back into the living room and helped Sirius put them on, since Remus still didn’t finish the makeup.
“I didnt even know we had these things? Where did you find them?” Padfoot asked, staring at the gloves.
“Oh I think the girls left these over one time! I cleaned the house after some party we had and I remember seeing these, I forgot I kept them though.” Remus added.
“Found them in the bottom drawer under the bed, where you keep all the junk.” James said. “Buckbeak opened it for me”
“Buckbeak learned how to open drawers? It’s over for us Sirius, he will now murder us in our sleep.” Remus jokes, looking a bit more concerned than he actually should have.
“Natural selection at its finest.” James said while reaching for the bag of treats for Buckbeak to give him one “Remus how much until you’re done?”
“Just a bit! This big baby here couldn’t resist scratching his nose so now I have to redo the contour!” Remus said while kicking Sirius playfully.
“Can I take some pictures? Padfoot you look marvelous!” James liked to collect memories.
“Just make sure you get my good side!” Sirius turned his head to wink.
“Oh thats it you fucking twat, sit still or I’m going to teach Buckbeak to chew on your hair at night!” Remus scolded Sirius for moving, again.
James grabbed his phone (which he left in the kitchen) and he took a few pictures of Sirius while Remus was doing his makeup. Not only did he plan to use these at their wedding but he also thought it would be nice to send to Regulus. (without Sirius knowing of course!) James took a seat in the pillow fort and sent Regulus the picture he liked best.
Teaching him about my newfound obsession :) James captioned it. He sent the photo without minding the time, not realising it was way past midnight. Regulus responded anyway.
I like the bun, very accurate. he said.
How did your discussion go today anyway? I didn’t get a chance to ask Sirius yet. James wrote.
I think its best if you hear it from him first, ill tell you my perspective on wednesday. Dont forget the muffins! Regulus reminded him . Regulus replied, his nonexistent use of apostrophes bothered James to his core
Okay sure, whatcha doing up this late anyway? Do you ever sleep? You always respond when I text you. He tried to keep the conversation going since Remus was taking his sweet time.
Ah you caught me, im actually a vampire… Regulus replied in his usual sarcastic style. Anyway, got to go now! Tell Sirius I said hi!
Sure! See you!
After James replied Remus finished the whole makeup look, letting Sirius go admire himself at the mirror in the hallway. While they were laughing at how good he looked James suddenly remembered Wormtail. Whenever they spent these fun nights together they would always invite him too.
“Guys, what about Peter? We should have called him to see if he wants to come!” he figured he might as well say it, just to remember to invite him next time.
“Oh I already thought of that, called him while you were in the shower! He said he’s busy! He told me to call him later.” Sirius winked, really trying to get the idea across.
“Shit he’s shagging someone?” Remus instantly got it. “Who? Since when? Holy shit!” he freaked out.
“C’mon back in the pillow fort! I have some sweet gossip!” Sirius dragged them both by their hands, ordering James around, eager to tell them about his new discovery.
They all sat down in a circle, Buckbeak joining them, being as excited to listen as Remus was, who occasionally loved some good gossip.
“So, you know that night at the bar?” Sirius asked, keeping them in suspense.
“I know of it.” James responded, lifting an eyebrow.
“Ana you remember how I said I suspected him of eyeing someone?” Sirius spoke.
“Shut up! No way whatever scheme he had worked! It was a gay bar Peter would never shag a man!” Remus shouted, his eyes wide in shock.
“Maybe it wasn’t a man, just like how me and him weren’t gay but we were still there. Maybe there was this girl he found and she was in the same situation!” James suggested.
“Oh yeah that theory is good!” Remus agreed, turning back to Sirius to see what else he had to say.
“Oh my dead James you’re so quick to judge!” Sirius’ grin grew larger.
“Oh. My. God.” Prongs actually couldn’t fathom it.
“Wait so he’s been shagging a dude? You’re not kidding are you?” Remus tried to not get too excited, just in case Sirius was making fun of them.
“I swear on this white marvelous pair of gloves!” Sirius said, putting one hand on his heart to really show he meant it.
“Do you know who it is?” James asked.
“I have a feeling but I’m not sure. You know how his instagram is private and no one ever follows him since he’s super skeptical about strangers? Well his following count went up by one that night!” Sirius said, grabbing James’ phone to search up Peter's account.
“When did you even have time to check that? Weren’t you bawling your eyes out about Regulus?” Prongs said.
“Eh I calmed down afterwards, had business to get to” Sirius smiled. “Look I found him!”
“Gilderoy? What sort of Victorian name is that? No better than Bartholomew and shit!” James squinted, trying to read his username properly.
“He does look pretty good, but seems like a snob. What’s with these posts?” Remus snatched the phone to look better.
“What does he do for work? Did you find him on any other socials?” James asked Sirius.
“Guys oh my god he posted a story! I need to see it please please please what if it’s with Peter!” Remus shouted again, he was thrilled.
“Fine, you can follow him from my burner account so it won’t look suspicious.” James suggested, switching accounts to a fake one.
“Okay put the phone down now all of us need to see!” Sirius placed the phone in a way that all of them would see the story perfectly. “One, two, three!” he said before clicking on the little icon.
It was a photo of his shoulder and someone’s head on it. Not much was visible, only their hair. Posted five minutes ago.
“Holy shit that’s Peter!” James had a weird talent from recognising people easily, he was certain that was Wormtail.
“Oh my god. Dude, call him and say congratulations or something?? It’s clear they’re not shagging anymore and he said you can call him later! Sirius call him!” Remus pleaded.
“Don’t want to ruin his fun…” Sirius said.
“Oh please he ruined ours several times just call him for God’s sake!” Remus snatched Sirius’ phone and looked for Peter’s contact. He let the phone ring for a while and put it on speaker.
“Hello Sirius, what was it? I can talk now, just not for long!” Peter’s voice answered.
“Hold on one second!” Sirius said before muting the phone. “Guys I need an excuse to talk to him, what should I say?”
“Ask him if he knows anything about dog anatomy! Tell him something about Buckbeak!” James came up with the best idea possible.
“Okay sure!” Sirius unmuted the call and spoke again “Is dog anatomy similar to human anatomy? I have a question since Buckbeak is acting weirdly and Google is useless!”
“Err I'm not sure…” Peter said, just then a voice could be heard in the background:
“Peter come back to bed!” someone mumbled.
Sirius gave James and Remus a look before continuing!
“Ooh Wormtail, who was that? Didn’t sound like a girl to me!” Sirius said, looking at James who could barely hold his laughter back any longer.
“Nothing important. What’s up with Buckbeak?” Peter asked, his tone a bit harsher then before.
“Oh Remus is finally home, I’m sure he can deal with it! Sorry for keeping you!” Sirius said before hanging up.
“So it’s for real? I'm the last one standing? The only not even a little bit gay person in the group?” James widened his eyes as he spoke, feeling as if he deserved some sort of reward.
“Well mate there’s no way. Everyone’s a little queer! You seriously never even kissed a dude?” Remus asked, sort of surprised.
“Well he kissed me! But not on the lips though, he was preparing something for Lily in 6th grade.” Sirius said.
“Literally never. Didn’t even date anyone besides Lily. Shagged some other people? Sure I have, but no dating.” James said, only now realising how pathetic his love life was.
“I have a feeling that James will fall for a guy sooner or later, we’re a great influence he will obviously take after us. He won’t last.” Remus said, a bit more serious this time.
“You’re so right! Let’s bet on it! I bet 20 pounds that James will shag a man sooner or later!” Sirius announced, shouting a bit louder than he should have.
“Make it 50. I want to chip in too!” Remus added.
“Okay fine, I bet 100 I won’t!” James rolled his eyes, watching Sirius look around for a piece of paper to write the bet down so they didn’t forget.
“Okay James, sign here!” Sirius offered him a pen and pointed to where he needed to sign. James did a neat signare, confident in his bet.
“Now that we got that out of the way, when are you going to tell me about your little chat with Regulus today?” James asked, watching Sirius carefully.
“Wait! He spoke to Regulus?” Remus asked. “You told me you were going to James’ flat to help him tidy the place up!”
“He came to pick me up from class specifically to talk to him.” James said. “He promised he would tell me when we got home.”
“Fine, you caught me I guess.” Sirius sat back down, leaning on the couch. “I just asked him if he’s well and if we can meet. Told him I'd like us to try again, he said sure and that you can give me his number so I can text him.” Sirius looked towards James.
“Yeah, here give me your phone!” James held out his hand. “I’ll type it out for you. You should text him now, he’s awake!” James let that last sentence slip, he didn’t really realise what he had done until Sirius looked at him weird.
“How do you know that? Don’t lie.” Sirius gave him the scariest glare possible.
“Well, I sort of sent him a picture of you while Remus was doing your makeup…” there was no backing out from this.
“Are you mental? Give me your phone” Sirius tried to take it out of James’ hand.
“Only if you text him! Now.” Prongs smiled.
“I agree, you should text him!” Remus said “I want to see what he says.”
“Ugh what am I supposed to say?” Sirius groaned, shoving his head in a pillow.
“You just say hi, he’ll keep the conversation going.” James responded.
“Fine.” Sirius said before picking up his phone. “I wrote: Hey can you talk right now? Is that okay?” He looked at both Remus and Prongs who nodded.
“Set the phone down so we can see what he says! Shit he's typing already!” Remus snatched the phone and placed it nicely on the carpet.
Did james make you send this? I know hes with you. Regulus wrote.
Prongs was quick to grab the phone and run to the other side of the room, with Remus following suit. They both recorded a nice vocal message for Regulus.
“Hiya! Yes we did make him text you! We’ll leave him alone now so fix whatever misunderstanding you guys had! (Remus also said some stuff like hi and other things, James was just too concentrated on his own stuff)”
“What the fuck?” Sirius just stood there, looking at the both of them.
James handed him his phone, and left the room with Remus. They sat in the kitchen for a while in silence before they heard Sirius giggle a bit.
“Wanna go see what that’s about?” Remus smiled.
“Oh yes please, let me grab a drink first!” Prongs found some chocolate milk in the fridge and he poured himself a cup, before following Remus back in the living room.
“Forgot how sarcastic he is.” Sirius looked up at them with a smile on his face.
“Can we stay with you? I want to look at what that Gilderoy dude posts on instagram on James’ phone!” Moony asked, sitting down in the pillow fort.
“Yeah I don’t mind, play some music while you’re at it.” Padfoot said, still looking at his phone.
Since James was the only one standing he went and picked a vinyl, a jazz one since that’s what he really enjoyed. Padfoot gave him an annoyed glance when he saw what he played but remained silent. James sat next to Remus to look on instagram.
Gilderoy Lockhart was a professional perfumer, born with a very rare strong sense of smell. He was considered some of the best in the industry, making perfumes for most luxury brands out there. He was confident and bold, completely the opposite of Peter.
“I wonder if they have anything in common at all. Is he older than him?” Remus asked.
“No I don't think so, though not many sites state his age though…” James whispered, still googling more information about him.
“Wait, how many days has it been since the bar thing? Four? They’ve known each other for four days and this guy is already posting stories after they shagged? He’s a creep I bet!” Sirius added.
“Maybe he has some sort of weird fetish y’know…something Peter would willingly do.” James said.
“Maybe Wormtail has some sort of praise kink, this dude seems like the type to constantly praise someone in bed!” Remus was using all of his brainpower to decipher what was going on.
“Personally I think he would only praise himself. All of these articles I'm reading constantly talk about how cocky and confident this man is. In one of them he was asked if he believes in God and he said: "What, can’t you see I’m standing in front of you?” He probably mocks Peter behind his back or something, I bet he’s evil!” James really didn’t like this guy, especially since his name was Gilderoy.
“Look he posed for Vogue once! He has a post of the magazine with him on the cover. His nipples are inverted, that’s pretty rare!” Remus turned the phone for James to see.
“Gross! Why is he posing like that? From now on everytime I buy perfume I’m checking who made it. I own like three bottles of perfume that this guy invented!” Prongs quickly added.
Their discussion kept going until eventually all of them fell asleep. Sirius was the first one to doze off after chatting with Regulus for a whole hour, which made James really happy. Then James tried to make himself comfortable and he ended up falling asleep also, thinking about the bet they made and how he was determined to win it. This was one of the most fun nights he had had in a long while, he missed hanging out with Remus and Sirius this way.