By Leanne
He had decided a long time ago, in a state of semi-drunkenness, that never again would he let James, Remus, and Peter talk him into wearing that tie. Of course, being in a state of semi-drunkenness, he had never remembered that decision, and admittedly, neither James nor Remus nor Peter had ever bothered to remind him of it. And so, on this, the night before his twentieth birthday, he was easily persuaded into wearing that tie, and had even gotten to the point where he was singing Beatles songs at the top of his lungs per the request of Remus.
“I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me!” sang a nineteen-year-old Sirius off-key at the top of his lungs.
“She showed me her room,” went on James and Remus together.
“Isn’t it good?” added Peter.
“Norwegian wood!” all four of them finished as Sirius continued to hum the rest, having forgotten the words. He tugged at his tie every once in a while, as if showing it off to a world that wasn’t admiring it, but ought to be.
The tie was arguably the ugliest ever made “ not only did it feature a wide array of multi-colored polka dots that were challenged by an even wider array of zigzags, it also sported a large, ornate ‘S’ in the very center of it. The ‘S’ had been the original reason for its purchase; James was excellent at picking out gifts, he liked to think. And while ‘excellent’ wasn’t the word any of his friends would have chosen, the tie did make for interesting memories.
“More Firewhiskey!” cried Sirius into the warm summer night, swaggering slightly as the Marauders entered the village of Godric’s Hollow.
“Shh!” hushed James, Remus, and Peter all at once.
“If Lily hears us, I’m dead,” said James, casting a hurried glance around him, as though Lily would suddenly pop out from behind a bush and begin yelling at him. “You know she hates when we come home like this.”
“You’re not coming home like anything,” interjected Sirius, running a hand through his ruffled hair. “And neither are you or you,” he finished, pointing at Remus and Peter, who exchanged amused smirks.
“Well, she doesn’t like you coming home like this, either,” James stated, “because you end up sleeping on our couch.”
“Hmph,” was all Sirius said in response. He sped up so that he was ahead of the rest of them, and then turned around, walking unevenly backwards. “I love this village!” he exclaimed, spinning around, which consequently landed him sprawled out in the front lawn of a small, respectable-looking house. James couldn’t suppress a laugh at how the inhabitants of that house would react to a drunk, nineteen-year-old Marauder laying out in their grass. “What are you laughing at?” asked Sirius crossly upon seeing James’s break into a laugh.
“You, Sirius,” put in Remus, also finding it hard not to laugh. “You.”
“Well, that’s okay,” Sirius replied, sitting up with what looked like extreme difficulty, “as long as you weren’t laughing at this tie of mine.” He affectionately stroked the ghastly tie, which was loose around his neck.
“No, no. We would never even think of laughing at that tie,” chuckled Peter. “It’s a masterpiece, really.”
“Yes,” agreed Sirius, poking Peter in the chest to emphasize his point. “Yes, that’s exactly it.”
“Yeah, you can thank me for that lovely little thing, Sirius,” James reminded his friend.
“Yes!” Sirius exclaimed, louder than before. “Yes, you did! A birthday gift, I recall.”
“That’s right,” said Remus, now helping Sirius stand all the way up. It took Sirius a moment to realize Remus was not, in fact, trying to take Sirius’s tie away from him, but eventually both of them were standing. Sirius was swaying a little bit, but was otherwise fine enough to continue walking. The four friends kept on their trek back to the Potters’ house; the journey was taking a lot longer than it would have, had all of them been sober. Normally, they would have Apparated, but with Sirius having enjoyed his Firewhiskey a little too much, they couldn’t risk him splinching himself. That wouldn’t exactly be a great way to start his birthday. Then again, neither was a hangover, but at least a hangover was more easily remedied.
Finally, after ten more minutes of walking, the four of them arrived at the Potters’ house. James unlocked the door and silently slipped in, checking to see if Lily was anywhere close. Luckily, she wasn’t, so James ushered the rest of them inside, not daring to turn on a light. Miraculously, Sirius stayed quiet (granted, this was only because Peter had told him that it was a game, but at least it had worked).
“James,” came a voice from the top of the stairs, and the room was suddenly flooded with light.
“My eyes!” Sirius cried, throwing his hands up to his face and shielding his eyes from the light.
Lily Evans Potter stood at the top of the stairs, fully dressed, arms crossed over her chest. “James,” she started in a tone that would surely become very angry very fast.
“Now, Lily, before you get angry,” interjected Remus, pushing James out of the line of fire and pulling Peter to the front with him.
“You have to realize that James tried to get back here sooner,” continued Peter in true Marauder-fashion, not allowing Lily to say anything until they were through with their excuse.
“But he couldn’t,” Remus said. He was about to add something, but Lily cut him off.
“And why is that?” she inquired, raising her eyebrows and looking beyond Remus and Peter to where Sirius was checking out the record player in the living room.
“Because of Sirius,” Peter answered quickly.
“Why else?” finished Remus, turning back to James and Sirius, the latter of whom was humming again.
Lily didn’t look convinced of anything yet, but rather than dismissing their reasons for lateness, she merely asked, “Isn’t his birthday tomorrow?”
“Yes!” Sirius shouted in response.
This time, Lily let a smile spread across her face. Uncrossing her arms, she said, “Just hurry up and get him to bed.”
“Thanks, love!” James, Remus, and Peter all called together, James blowing his wife an over exaggerated kiss. Lily simply rolled her eyes before disappearing from her position atop the stairs.
“OK, Sirius,” said James in a voice he would have used to tell a child a set of instructions, turning back to Sirius and grabbing him by the shoulder. “This is where you will be sleeping.” He pointed to the couch, and Sirius promptly sank down into it. Before James had a chance to tell Sirius anything else, he was fast asleep, snoring slightly.
“Well,” Peter said after a moment of silence, “that was easier than I thought it would be.”
Remus let out a small laugh. “Indeed it was. What do you think made this time different?”
“I’d imagine the fact that tomorrow is his birthday helped to cheer him up a little,” James reasoned, looking at his watch. “Make that today, it’s past midnight.”
The three friends exchanged looks, then muttered, “Happy birthday, Padfoot,” in unison before James flipped off the light.