surprise dinner
James and Sirius arrive home at 7. They can smell something cooking, hints of peppers, chicken, and curry. Walking into the kitchen, the boys see Peter at the stove, wearing his ‘kiss the chef’ apron, mixing something in a pot.
“That smells delicious Pete,” Sirius says, trying to peek at the food, Peter blocking the stove with his body.
“Uh-uh,” Peter says, “No looking, this was supposed to be a surprise.”
“A surprise?” James asks, “For whom?”
“Sirius!” Pete exclaims, “I was already at work last night, and couldn’t congratulate him on his new job!”
“Aww Pete, that’s so sweet,” Sirius says, going up to the boy and hugging him.
“Yeah, yeah, it’s very sweet,” James sighs, “I bet he still has a bunch of cooking to do so let’s go shower and maybe he’ll be done when we’re out.” He drags Sirius out the kitchen and toward his room. Both boys take showers, James taking one first, Sirius just scrolling through his phone. After 20 minutes, James walks out with a towel around his waist.
“Disgusting!” Sirius yells, “Have some decency!”
“Oh shut up!” James laughs, throwing his dirty shirt at his brother, “Go shower, I’m hungry.” Sirius jumps up and runs to the bathroom. James gets dressed in an old band shirt, he definitely stole from Sirius, and some joggers, that he definitely didn’t steal from Lily. Once dressed, he walks into the kitchen and sees Lily and Remus have both arrived home. He also sees another person with Lily who he recognizes as Severus, Lily’s best friend since she was 2.
“Well hello Sev.” James smiles at the boy, “What are you doing here?”
“Remus, Peter, and I have to discuss some theatre plans, “ Severus replies, a slight blush present on his cheeks, “And please call me Severus.”
“Aww come on,” James whines, “I’ve known you for years now. Everyone I know gets a nickname.” Severus just sighs out a ‘fine whatever’ which causes James to smile real wide.
“I always knew you had a soft spot for Jamie,” Lily laughs at the boys. Severus just elbowing her before muttering something James couldn’t hear.
“So Severus, are you excited for this year?” Remus asks, noticing how uncomfortable the poor boy looks. Severus perks up at this and starts to chat with Remus about his upcoming classes and the professor he will be assisting. James just sits there listening to his friends, Lily and Peter both talking about going to a museum the next day.
“Yeah I’d love to go Lils,” Peter smiles, “Who are we inviting?”
“That’s up to you, it’s your birthday,” Lily replies, grabbing plates and bowls and walking toward the table.
“Well I think I’d like everyone here to go,” He says, starting to place the food in serving bowls. “Sirius! Hurry up! Dinner’s ready!” A minute later Sirius came running in, hair still soaking, wearing some of Remus’ old clothes.
“I’m here!” He yelled, taking a seat at the table. “Well what are you waiting for? Come sit down!” Everyone walks over to the table and sits down, James at the head of the table, on his sides are Sirius and Lily, beside Sirius Remus sits, beside Lily Severus sits, and at the end of the table is Peter.
“This looks delicious Peter,”Severus praises, “Where did you learn to make this?”
“Monty actually taught me this recipe,” Peter beamed, “Him and Effie usually teach me a new one every time I visit.”
“That’s nice of them,” Severus says, “I’d love to meet them some day. You guys are always talking about them.”
“Oh they’re lovely,” Lily chirps, “Maybe we can all visit the Potters for Christmas?” She looks at James with puppy dog eyes.
“Ugh fine,” he sighs, “I’ll talk to them about it. Now can we eat dinner? I'm hungry.” He reaches out and grabs some naan , the others following suit. As they all start eating, they talk amongst themselves. Lily and Remus chatting about the library and an event taking place soon. Severus and Peter talking about their respective teaching assistant jobs and what they hope to come. James and Sirius discussing future rugby games.
“So guys,” Peter says, gaining the attention of the whole group, “I was wondering if you would want to go to a museum tomorrow for my birthday.” Everyone responded with different variations of ‘Yes’, ‘that sounds fun’, and ‘hell yeah’.
“That’s great!” Lily exclaims, “Severus, you can stay the night, if you like.” She looks over at him. He just nods and says a small ‘okay’.
They all get up around 9, Lily up at 8 to make breakfast for the group. After eating, the group all piled into Lily’s car, with Remus and Sirius in the back, Peter and James in the middle seats, and Severus in the passenger seat.
“Hey Sev,” James pipes up, “I was just thinking.” A series of groans are heard, Remus joking ‘that’s never good.’
“Yes, James?” The boy in question turned to look at James.
“Why don’t you move in with us?” James asks, “I mean we have an extra room, that's practically yours, since you stay over quite often. Plus you’re already part of the group, why not make it official?”
“I mean, it would be nice,“ Peter spoke, looking at the boy, “We’d all get to see you some more too!”
“I’ll think about it,” Severus huffed, blush coating his cheeks, “But today is Pete’s day, so let’s focus on him.” He gives said boy a large smile before turning back in his seat and getting out his phone.
The conversations all soon resumed, James taking note of the lack of Severus’ voice. They got to the museum at 11, splitting into two groups. Peter choosing to do so, as to not overwhelm the guides. In one group was Peter,Remus,and Sirius, the other consisting of Lily, James, and Severus. Peter’s group had a guide named Andy, and Lily’s group had a guide named Marlene.
The tour was fun. Marlene and Andy were both wonderful guides, cracking jokes with their groups. The tour was about 2 hours, originally it was only supposed to be one, but both guides gave the groups an “exclusive” tour. The exclusive part just being a tour around the unfinished parts and gossip about coworkers. Once the tour was over the friends, after getting both of the guides’ contact info, left for lunch.