DISCLAIMER: Is there really any need of it? I mean, obviously, I am not JKR, otherwise I wouldn’t waste my time writing fanfiction… honestly! Anyway, just to make it crystal clear, I am NOT Jo Rowling, I do NOT own any of these characters and… well, that’s just about it.
A/N: Okay… this is it. Please please review once you’re done reading, because if you don’t I’ll have no idea whether the stuff I write is actually nice or just a pile of rubbish! Please! Anyway, that said… enjoy!
The sun was shining brightly that hot summer day, and an impertinent ray of sunlight made its way through James Harold Potter’s navy blue curtains, landing exactly in his eyes. He yawned widely, sitting up on his bed, and grinned broadly. Today was the 18th of August, and it also happened to be his seventeenth birthday.
He quickly untangled himself from his bed sheets, put on a dark t-shirt and shorts, and tried (and failed) to comb his messy dark hair. Then, he grasped his wand, which was lying on his bedside table, and performed a quick washing and perfuming charm on himself, before finally heading downstairs.
As soon as James entered the kitchen, he was met by three people, already seated around the old mahogany table, who all wished him a very happy birthday. Harold Alan Potter was seated in his usual chair, which was the farthest from the stair; his graying hair was untamed, just like James’, and his hazel eyes were twinkling. On his left was seated Elizabeth Jeanne Potter, who was smiling at her son, looking at him through her warm brown eyes, while her straight chestnut hair framed her face perfectly. On Mr. Potter’s other side was seated a very handsome boy, who was grinning at him as James entered the room. Sirius Black was rocking his chair back and forth, looking rather excited; his long black hair fell elegantly over his gray eyes, which had the same, usual mischievous look that was always synonym of trouble.
Ever since Sirius had run away from home, last year, he had been living in their house with them, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter had sort of adopted him as a second son. James recalled the event perfectly: he had known that Sirius and his parents were not on best terms, but only when James had opened the door, some time last summer, to find Sirius standing in front of him holding a broomstick and a small trunk, did he fully realize the extent of their issues.
“So, happy birthday, mate,” said Sirius, interrupting James’ train of thought. “Everything ready for your little party?”
James grinned. “You bet. Can’t have anything go wrong today, now, can I?”
“Don’t worry about that, James, dear, because Tappy’s already prepared everything. Your friends should be arriving soon, shouldn’t they?” asked Mrs. Potter, nodding towards Tappy, the family’s house-elf.
“Yup,” answered James, “I told them all to get here around one o’clock… though Remus and Peter are coming a bit sooner… d’you mind?”
Mrs. Potter smiled warmly at her son. “Of course not, darling. Today is your birthday, honey, so you may do anything you like.”
“But by ‘anything’, boys, your mother does not include setting fire to anything or things like that…” added Mr. Potter thoughtfully.
James looked put out. “Ah… I thought it would have been too good to be true…”
Sirius shot him a look. “Dunno what you’re complaining about, Prongs. Fine, so we can’t set fire to anything, but there’s still so many things we can do…”
“Like what?” asked James.
“Well, you could open your presents, for one thing,” answered Sirius, shrugging.
James grinned. “You know, that doesn’t sound half bad, actually. Strange it came from you, Padfoot.”
Sirius shot him another look, although this one far more annoyed than the previous. “Haha. Wow, Prongs, you could honestly win the Funniest-Wizard-On-This-Planet prize…”
Mr. Potter smiled benignly at the two of them. “Now, now, boys, try not to argue this early in the morning… with the aim either of you has got, I’m really not in the mood for dodging curses right now.”
Mrs. Potter laughed.
“Well,” said Sirius, “seems like your dad wants to give you a run for your money with that prize, doesn’t he?”
Mr. Potter grinned. “I do try.”
“Well?” spoke up Mrs. Potter. “I thought you two wanted to go open James’ presents?”
“Oh, yeah,” said James. “You know, I’m pretty interested in seeing whether Uncle John and Aunt Ruby finally remembered my birthday…”
“Yeah,” continued Sirius, “and didn’t your Aunt Alana say she was going to get you a Nimbus 1500?”
James shot him a sly grin. “Oh sure, now I get it… that’s why you want me to unwrap my gifts so much, isn’t it? You want to use my broom!”
“Yeah, well, it’s only the fastest broom around, isn’t it?” asked Sirius.
“It is. But don’t look at me like that, you dog, because I am so not letting you ride it!” laughed James.
“Oh come on, mate, I’m your best buddy in the whole wide world! What’ll I do if you don’t let me ride it?” whined Sirius.
James grinned. “You’ll watch me zoom around at top speed, wishing you were me. Plus, you’ve got that Comet 140, don’t you? That’s not bad…”
“Yeah, yeah, Comets look flashy, but you know they’re not in the same league as the Nimbus…” moaned Sirius.
“Oh… well, that’s just too bad, isn’t it?” said James. But as Sirius kept on complaining, droning on and on about the unfairness of his life, James rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll let you try it JUST ONCE. Now will you shut up?”
Sirius grinned. “Of course.”
“Okay. So, are we opening those gifts or not?”
James didn’t even have time to finish the sentence before Sirius, extracting his wand, bellowed, “ Accio , presents!”
Mr. and Mrs. Potter gave each other knowing glances, but were interrupted as a stream of different sized parcels flew by them, one of them narrowing missing Harold Potter’s head.
After having unwrapped all his gifts, some more satisfactory than others (while Aunt Alana had indeed kept her wand and gotten him a very fast racing broom, Uncle John and Aunt Ruby, who had finally remembered James’ birthday, had sent him a tiny carillon… which had left James completely speechless. Only then did Mrs. Potter say that she had forgotten to mention to her brother-in-law exactly how old her son was turning), James and Sirius went to their rooms to change and get ready to welcome the guests: for his seventeenth birthday, James had thrown a small party. He had not invited many people: only two of his three best friends (Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, since Sirius was already there), his cousins, Helen and Thomas Bloom, and a couple of other people from school.
Amongst these other people was one Lily Evans, who was James’ not-so-secret crush. James had been practically drooling over her since fourth year, but in his attempts to get her attention, he always ended up looking like a real git in front of her. The result? Saying that Lily couldn’t stand him much would be the understatement of the year. As a matter of fact, the only reason Lily was coming to his party at all was that James’ cousin, Helen, also happened to be Lily’s best friend.
“James, dear! Sirius! Your friend Remus is here!” called Mrs. Potter from downstairs.
As the two boys made their way to the living room, they could see Remus getting out of the fireplace (he had apparently arrived by Floo powder), a bit covered in soot but overall in good shape.
“Happy birthday, Prongs,” smiled Remus, handing him a package. It looked horribly like a book (whereas reading was absolutely James’ least favorite activity), but James grabbed it enthusiastically all the same.
Sirius spoke up. “If that’s a book you’re getting him, Moony, let me remind you that your last attempt at knocking some culture in Prongs’ head was pointless, to say the least.”
“Listen who’s talking, Mr. I-Still-Haven’t-Learned-The-Alphabet-And-I-Can-Only-Count-Up-To-Three,” answered James coldly.
Sirius looked shocked. “Now, that’s a blatant lie, Prongs. I can count up to ten, you know,” he answered smugly.
“Wow, some improvement,” exclaimed Remus, “I’m impressed. When did you learn to count to ten?”
“When counting to ten became vital for a prank to work.”
James and his three best friends were very well-known around Hogwarts as the Marauders, the four best prankers and the four most good-looking boys of the whole school, a reputation they were very proud to keep up (especially Sirius and James).
“Oh. I’d have thought that ten was the number of girls you could go out with in a week,” answered Remus thoughtfully.
“Yeah right. Ex-cuse me, you’re talking to the single most wanted guy in the whole school. Do you really think I can’t do any better than ten?” asked Sirius, clearly offended.
This time it was James’ turn to look affronted. “Since when have you been the single most wanted guy in the whole school, may I ask?”
“Since always, Prongs, sorry to break it to you.”
“Yeah right! Padfoot, you know I’m more wanted than you are!” said James.
“In your dreams…”
“Er,” interrupted Remus, “could we stop this silly competition as to who should be named Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie?”
James and Sirius stared at Remus, then turned to each other and grinned. “You know, Moony, mate, Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie doesn’t sound half bad… Hello, my name is James Potter, and I am Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie,” said James, mock-serious.
“No way, I’m Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie, Prongs, you can be Number Two if you like,” answered Sirius.
They would have kept at it for quite a long time if, right at that moment, the doorbell hadn’t rung. Once the three had opened the door, they found themselves face to face with the last Marauder, Peter Pettigrew, nicknamed Wormtail, accompanied by his overly-protective mother.
“Well, have fun, Pete, darling. And behave yourself!” said elderly Mrs. Pettigrew.
Peter blushed furiously at such an obvious (and, in his opinion, uncalled for) display of affection. “I will,” he muttered, “now bye, Mum.”
“Oh, c’mon, Wormtail, don’t be so rude!” said Sirius, smiling brightly. “Mrs. Pettigrew, may I tell you you look absolutely ravishing today?”
“Oh, such nice, polite little friends you have there, Peter!” answered Mrs. Pettigrew fondly.
“Sure they are,” murmured Peter. “Now you can go, Mum, I promise I’ll behave myself.”
“Nonsense!” jumped in James. “Why, Mrs. Pettigrew, I’d be honored if you wanted to stay a while! Would you like a cup of coffee?”
Once again, Mrs. Pettigrew merely smiled at such courtesy, whereupon her son was glaring at his friends. They all knew that Peter was always pretty embarrassed by his mother’s constant attention, and Sirius and James did their very best to get him wound up.
“See, Peter, dear? Your friends don’t want me to leave!” she said affronted.
“Of course we don’t!”
“Such a delightful lady!”
“Please do join us for a while at least!”
Mrs. Pettigrew chuckled. “As much as I would like to, my dears, I see I am clearly unwanted…”
“Nonsense!” repeated James, grinning.
“However, I do have some errands I must tend to. So, a very happy birthday to you, darling, and I really hope you all enjoy yourselves today,” she finished graciously.
But she didn’t leave before planting a huge kiss on her son’s cheek and giving him a tight hug, for which Peter knew he would be teased for probably the next five years.
“Now you just had to do that, didn’t you?” asked Peter once his mother finally left.
“What are you talking about, Pete darling?” inquired James innocently, mocking Mrs. Pettigrew.
“Come on, it was completely uncalled for!” replied Peter angrily.
“Now, now, Wormtail, honey, remember what Mummy said, do behave yourself,” answered Sirius, grinning.
“Oh shut up,” muttered Peter.
Sirius feigned a look of shock. “Wormtail! Is that the way you should address yourself to Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie?”
And once again, James and his best friend launched into another row as to who truthfully deserved such a powerful title.
By one o’clock, guests had begun to arrive, and while the Marauders busied themselves entertaining them (Sirius especially, er, ‘entertaining’ the females), James stood around fidgeting nervously, waiting for Lily to come. Of course, he tried looking as calm and haughty as he usually did, but Sirius noticed he kept running a hand through his messy hair, a nervous habit he’d had since he was five.
James kept glancing at his watch once every two minutes, and by the time the great grandfather clock hanging in the living room struck two o’clock, he was sure Lily was not going to come after all.
“Oh, quit squirming, James, I told you she’s coming,” said a voice behind him, making him jump.
“Oh, hi, Helen, nice to see you, too,” answered James, staring at his cousin. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Helen was a very beautiful girl (as Sirius constantly reminded him… but then, James sometimes had the shrewd suspicion that to Sirius any girl would have been simply gorgeous as long as she was all over him… which Helen undoubtedly was): she had bright green eyes, long, messy dark hair, porcelain skin and a tall, slim figure, with all the curves a guy could want.
“I told you, Lily promised she wouldn’t leave me alone with you lot for more than an hour, for fear your “ what was it? “ ‘conceitedness’ would rub off on me,” repeated Helen.
“Uh-huh,” answered Prongs distractedly. Then, he asked abruptly, “Listen, Hel, you two talk, don’t you?”
“Um, yeah, that’s something best friends usually do, yes,” answered Helen, annoyed.
“Well? Does she ever mention how… handsome, sexy, athletic, and wonderful I am?” he asked.
“Uh, James, don’t really know how to break this to you but, um, in case you’ve never heard her yell at you, she doesn’t exactly think of you along those lines,” said Helen.
“Oh come on, Prongs, mate, it’s no mystery what Evans thinks of you, now, is it?” interjected Sirius, who had just come over (after smiling charmingly at a couple of girls nearby). “Oh, and hello, Helen dear, looking great as always.”
“Thanks,” answered Helen, blushing slightly.
“Anyway, Prongs, she just thinks you’re this conceited, big-headed, selfish, vain, stuck-up prat, really,” said Sirius, quite conversationally.
James shot him a glare. “Gee, thanks Padfoot.”
“Not a problem. Anytime you want to be reminded at how shallow and arrogant you are, you know where to find me.”
James looked at him wearily. “You’re not helping, you know. And, anyway,” he continued, turning to Helen, “I’m sure that’s just an act. I mean, you girls love playing hard to get, and that’s exactly what she’s doing, isn’t it? I mean, come on , who could honestly resist me?” he asked, smiling that cocky grin of his that often made girls faint at his feet.
“Well, mate, if Evans’s faking it, then she’s doing a really good job at it,” said Sirius.
“I’m not so sure she is,” added Helen.
“Yeah, well, what would you know about it?” asked James, irritably.
“Oh yeah, I mean, who am I to even think I know my best friend? I mean, I’m sure the guy she can stand less on this planet certainly understands her better than I do,” said Helen haughtily.
“I’m not saying I understand her , because she’s absolutely mad, but I understand girls in general…”
“You don’t understand a single thing about girls, James,” answered Helen quite forcefully.
“Heck, Prongs, your cousin’s right: we can’t really understand girls, they’re all completely off their rocket, they are,” added Padfoot. “I mean, look at that girl I was dating at the end of our fifth year… uh, what’s her name again? I keep forgetting…”
“Who, Charlotte? Charlotte Norton?” asked James.
“No, no, not her… the one before her…” Sirius screwed up his eyes in concentration.
“Haley Something? That Hufflepuff?” tried James, yet again.
“No, Prongs, Haley was at the beginning of fifth year, I said the end,” said Sirius impatiently.
“Oh, I’m sorry if I haven’t completely memorized your complete list of past girlfriends, but I have a social life, too, you know, and keeping track of mine is more than enough… I am, after all, Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie…”
“No, Prongs, how many times do I have to tell you? You are Hogwarts’ Head Boy , not Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie, because that would be me,” answered Sirius with annoyance.
“Come again?” asked Helen, completely baffled.
Sirius turned his charming smile on her and said, “I am Hogwarts’ Number One Hottie.”
“No, no, not that… James…. as in, my good-for-nothing cousin, James… is HEAD BOY?”
“Yeah,” said James. “And I’m not ‘good-for-nothing’, thank you very much!”
“Oooh,” said Helen, “Lily’s going to have a fit when she finds out…”
“She’s Head Girl, isn’t she?” asked James.
“’Course she is… not that there’s any surprise there,” answered Helen.
“Yeah… Prongs, here, is the real unexpected news… I mean, I’m sure Dumbledore must have sent the letters wrong or something…” spoke up Sirius. “Or maybe he was just drunk at the moment…”
“Oh shut up, Padfoot. Anyway, you were saying? About that girlfriend of yours back in fifth year?” asked James.
Sirius looked at him and shrugged. “Don’t remember anymore. Anyway, point was, girls are mad. Period.”
“So true,” muttered James, once his cousin had stalked off.
Just at that moment, the doorbell rang. James made his way towards the door, and opened it to find Lily (looking unbelievably pretty, in his opinion), holding a small parcel. He smiled charmingly at her, while Sirius gave him the thumbs-up.
“You bought me a present, Evans? That was very nice of you. You do care about me then, don’t you?” He got near her and whispered, “Want to go to dinner with me tonight to celebrate?” while wiggling his eyebrows at her in a very sexy way.
Lily stared at him, with her mouth pursed and her green eyes fixed on him (she strongly reminded him of strict Professor McGonagall), with an expression that looked almost amused. Almost.
“James Harold Potter! How many times do I have to tell you that as long as you behave like the total idiot you are I will never “ ever “ go out with you?! I’d rather date your dear friend, Severus Snape!” yelled Lily. She then hurled at him the parcel and said, “Here. But don’t get your knickers in a twist, because the only reason I got it was just to be polite. Plus, Helen made me.”
James’s temper was definitely not improving; to lighten the mood Sirius spoke up, “Well, Prongs, seems you’ve got some competition!” He grinned, but James didn’t even reply, as he tore open the bundle and revealed a navy blue watch. He beamed. “Thanks, Evans. But I already had one I was rather attached to… why did you get me another one?”
“I knew you had another watch, Potter; I thought it was broken, though, since you’re always late; that way you’ll be on time!” replied Lily.
“What! My watch works just fine, thank you very much!” answered James hotly.
“Really?” asked Lily, mock surprise in her voice. “Well, then, I guess instead of a new watch what you really needed was a trained wizard to teach you how to read it!”
Peter, who had just entered the room, stifled a snigger, but recovered his posture as soon as he saw the murderous look on his friend’s face.
“Hey, what’s wrong now with arriving fashionably late?” jumped in Sirius, offended, since he was always ‘fashionably late’.
“And moreover, listen who’s talking! The party was supposed to begin at one o’clock, you know, little Miss Perfect, and look at what time you turned up!” yelled James angrily.
“What?” said Lily. “I Flooed two hours ago and told your dumb little friend over there” (she pointed accusingly at Sirius) “that I was going to be late!”
James turned to Sirius, who shrugged. “So? She might have said something about it, now that she mentions it… But with all the things I had on my mind, how was I supposed to remember?”
James and Lily both rolled their eyes at Sirius, who merely shrugged again, before turning his attention to a pretty girl standing next to him.
“And, anyway, reading a watch is not my problem!” said James, trying to keep calm.
“Then what is it?” asked Lily, her eyes narrowing.
“You know what, Evans, what is your problem? You don’t like me? Fine. Just get on with it!” snapped Prongs.
“You’re right, Potter, I don’t like you, and I never will. Happy birthday,” retorted the redhead dryly. Then, without even waiting for his reply, she turned on her heel and headed out of the door, which slammed behind her.
James groaned loudly before going back to his guests, leaving Sirius, Helen, Peter and Remus all staring at each other blankly. After a few seconds, Helen followed suit, the remaining Marauders trailing behind her.
A/N: Okay, first chapter’s done. Didn’t really turn out as well as I’d hoped but I guess that’s okay. Tell me what you think about it!! Also, if you have any ideas for future chapters or anything, do tell me, I’m open to suggestions!
Please please review!! Please! Pretty please with a cherry on top? Thanks.