The Marauders: Year Seven Part One

PROP-PER-LY

The fire had gone out, nothing but ash and amber in the ring of stones they'd set up. The door of the tent Remus ad Sirius had shared was ripped, shredded really, and it hung in long strips that wavered in the wind. The second tent was destroyed, too, the cross beam snapped, folded in on itself and tipped to the side, the canvas torn. The trees were shivering with a passing wind.

Somewhere in the trees, far in the distance, a dog let out a yelping cry.

James woke up with his fist balled around the Headboy badge under his pillow. The alarm clock stood, ready to go off on his nightstand, but he'd beaten it by nearly fifteen minutes. He with drew his fist and opened it up, staring at the badge for several long minutes, smiling at it and then polishing it, breathing hot and heavy to fog it, then using the cuff of his pyjama sleeve to buff it to its most shiny state. 

When the alarm clock went off, James got up and got dressed, humming to himself tunelessly as he went. Charlus ducked his head in the door, smiling. "Somebody's in a good mood this morning, eh?" he asked, smirking.

James said, "Yeah, I reckon I am."

Charlus came in, seeing James getting ready, and sat down on the side of the bed, watching as James moved about, tucking in his shirt to his trouser waist and searching through his drawer for a tie. James held up two options for Charlus to see - one was his Gryffindor tie, the other a plain blue.

"Always Gryffindor," Charlus said, smiling.

James laughed and pulled his collar up, stringing the tie about it. He was about to do it himself when Charlus motioned for him to come over. James did, and Charlus started working on tying the tie. "So. Where are you off to, so well polished?"

"Going to breakfast," James said, smirking.

"Breakfast!" Charlus said, chuckling as he slipped the knot of the tie up to rest at James's throat. "All this for breakfast?"

James grinned, "It's sort of a special breakfast."

Charlus folded down James's collar. "Is it?"

James nodded, and when Charlus's hands fell away from the tie and collar, James adjusted it slightly to be more comfortable, and he smiled. "Thanks da," he said, running his fingers over the silkiness of the tie. Then, "Something happened the other day."

"Yes?" Charlus asked.

James drew a deep breath, "Well, the lot of us were in Godric's Hollow - going off to our old camping grounds, you know, in the woods behind the old Dumbledore house? Well, Lily Evans came along, and she and I were in charge of food, so we went to that market mum used to shop at in town all the time? And she was asking about Godric Gryffindor's fountain, so I was telling her about how it used to know all my deepest wishes and granted them... especially when I said them outloud." He looked at Charlus meaningfully.

Charlus smiled at the memory. "Oh, you caught on to that did you?"

"Yeah," James laughed. "A bit sooner than you thought I would."

Charlus chuckled. "I don't think we would have withheld anything you asked for anyway. Directly or not."

James said, "Yeah, well, I reckon the old thing has a bit of magic in it after all anyway."

"Yeah?" Charlus asked.

James nodded. He said, "I gave Evans a sickle and I showed her how to cast a wish on old Godric. I wished mine silent, though da, and you won't believe it, but my wish came true."