The Marauders' Memories

The Home of the Potters

Chapter 5-The Home of the Potters

Looking out the window, Sirius saw the snow slowly falling from the sky onto the rest of Hogwarts. Everything was tipped with a layer of white sleet. Icicles hung from the overhang of buildings. It looked like something out if a fairytale. The sun emerged from the clouds for split second and illuminated Hogwarts, reflecting of the ice, giving it the appearance of a golden glow. It was calm and peaceful. James quietly joined Sirius" side, and for a few moments, they were silent, focusing on the beautiful scenery, but also lost in their own thoughts. Sirius was the first to break the silence.

"You... don"t mind... me coming... do you?" He whispered quietly. The silence returned for a few seconds before James replied in a low voice,

"Sirius- you"re my best friend. Of corse I don"t mind. I"d rather you came to mine for a nice Christmas, than go to your place, and be killed. " Sirius gave a little smile.

The arrival of a paler-than-usual Remus broke them out of the moment. He had a slight gash on his cheek, and dark shadows under his eyes. His face looked extremely tired, yet he still grinned at Sirius and James, before saying"

"I"m a lot better now. I got panicked after the Potions test, and I slipped and hurt my cheek, while I was distracted." Remus indicated to the gash on his cheek.

"Wow, you seem to be going to the hospital wing like, monthly!" James muttered without thinking, before getting a wave of guilt, as he knew Remus really wanted to please his parents, so tests mattered a lot to him. Remus was worried by this. He made a mental note to remind himself to try to find some more excuses.

"So, ready to go home?" Sirius asked. When Remus nodded, Sirius screwed up his face and blurted out "Do they like you?"

Remus looked up quickly, shocked, before suddenly realising what he meant. "Yeah, they do. But I"m sure you aren"t the only one with a family that hates you."

Sirius smiled sadly, before getting hit on the head by an angry James Potter.

"Hello? Surely you want your family to hate you? Besides, my family will love you, they can be a substitute family." Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"How comes they love me, your partner in crime?"

"You rebellion against your manic family." James replied. "They think you"re..."

"I know this conversation must be interesting, but I think it is more important to GET ON THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS, WHICH LEAVES IN TWENTY MINUTES. " Remus interrupted. With a quick glance at each other, the boys grabbed their luggage, and headed towards the last carriages.

The train journey went as expected. James and Sirius continually talked about jokes and pranks they would like to play. Peter and Remus, in another carriage, talked of nothing in particular, until Mulciber came around the corner, with slight bruising on his neck, from when they had to regrow his skull. Peter proceeded to jump in the floor with a whimper. Remus hauled him up, when Mulciber had passed, and he was pale and scared looking, in an almost comical way, so that Remus couldn"t help laughing and, to the surprise of passing people, both of them were laughing, Peter rolling around on his seat. Sirius goggled at him as he and James walked past, looking for the trolley lady. When they found her they grabbed lots of sweets (So many that some nearby Hufflepuffs gaped at them-They were both from rich families) and went back to their carriage.

"So, what are we doing for Christmas then?" Sirius asked.

"Dad says that we are going to a party for Christmas that my great uncle set up, and also for a bit we have to stay with grandpa for a bit while my parents go on a romantic holiday." Sirius wolf-whistled and told James how his parents would never consider going on a romantic holiday; his parents quite disliked each other. They talked about James" grandpa for a bit, until they both noticed the train slowing down. They hopped off the train onto Platform 9 3/4 . After a long wait of the guard sending the students out in tiny groups, James and Sirius both found themselves being hugged by some Potters. "Mum..." James muttered, and Sirius laughed at his friend"s flustered face. James" dad, in return, ruffled Sirius" long hair, causing him to scowl slightly. The rather loud group of what seemed to be ten different Potters and a Black strolled away, allowing the rest of the students to come through from the barrier. James and Sirius hopped into a car that didn"t seem very proportional, however comfortable. Apparently the Potters had amble money to allow them to afford the car, especially thanks to Fleamont Potter, the inventor of Sleekeasy"s hair potion. James asked Sirius why he, as he said that, began goggle at his Father.

"My father and brother used that- though they probably won"t if they knew who made it!" The Potters all laughed before they began to talk about Quidditch.

"Gryffindor and Hufflepuff have played two matches, while Ravenclaw and Slytherin have only played one, and Gryffindor"s won one of their matches, Hufflepuff didn"t win any, and Ravenclaw and Slytherin won their matches. And in terms of points, Ravenclaw"s in the lead by 30 points, but Slytherin have got the best team in my opinion..."

"Is that because the Gryffindor team haven"t got you on their team?" Sirius joked.

"Yeah, probably" said James indifferently. "You"d probably do the team well to". Sirius looked shocked.

"But I"ve no experience, and I"m definitely not the best in our flying lessons..."

"But you"re far from worst, I mean have you got any of the ten injuries that have occurred in our flying lessons"

"No, but most of them were the Hufflepuffs. Peaks and Coots were pretty good, you know they are both from Quidditch families, and they were great!"

"Why are you so determined not to admit that you are good for the team?" James pretty much shouted, a hint of anger in his voice. A cough came from besides them. Both boys went slightly red in the face; they had completely forgotten that they were still on their way to Godric"s Hollow. However, none of the others minded, and soon the previous laughter resumed. James and Sirius chatted again, completely forgetting what happened a few minutes ago. Soon the car stopped outside a nice cottage, with a Tudor feel, it looked rather pleasant and fitted in with the surrounding forest. However Sirius was surprised when only James, his parents, and his Grandfather got out, leaving six still in the car. In response to Sirius" face, Mrs Potter kindly said,

"They all came to see you and James after your first term The Cottage could hardly accommodate all of us!" And with that, he followed Mrs Potter inside. While the cottage looked simple, Sirius could easily feel the magic in the room. There were inanimate objects doing their jobs with no prompting, and as he thought, the clothes peg behind him tapped him on the shoulder, indicating at this coat. It reminded him of the one he had at home, except that if you refused, it would attack you. Sirius handed it his coat before following an impatient James, eager to show Sirius the whole house, which seemed quite big compared to what he saw from the outside. He was first shown the kitchen, which had the delicious smell of warm soup, that he got a sniff of before being thrown out by a Mrs Potter. Then they dashed to the living room. It was simple in a way, yet the shelves were crammed with various devices, potions and ornaments, similar yet so different to the ones Sirius had grown up with. There were also (Sirius got to count before being dragged out by a James) more than Severn Gryffindor banners draped on the wall. Sirius grinned, it was like a Gryffindor version of his house. He then went upstairs and saw two bathrooms, three bedrooms, and an attic, which was actually basically a Quidditch store, full of broomsticks and similar articles. Sirius was finally shown James", and his for the holidays, bedroom. It was slightly smaller than his own bedroom, with a large bed in one corner, a obviously magically conjured bed in the other, yet it still looked rather comfortable. Between the two beds was a chest of draws, a Gryffindor banner hung above it, with a rather weird looking sculpture on it, which James quickly obscured from his sight., muttering,

"Aunt Elizabeth wanted us to make a sculpture without magic when we were young, I tried to do a lion. It"s terrible, just forget about it..." Sirius tried his hardest to suppress a snort, but the angry glare he received told him that he failed. Sirius then hastily pointed to a chair with some clothing on it, not registering what he was doing. James lifted his eyebrows.

"They are something known as a chair and clothes. Heard of them?"

"Erm... yes, but I"ve never seen that type of clothes..." James"s eyebrows raised higher.

"I know your family is a bit weird, but surely you"d known what muggle clothes look like?" Sirius went slightly red, and muttered something like:

"Long day... I"m tired...not thinking right..." James"s eyes sparkled, and he smiled widely.

"Well, there"s nothing to wake you up than the fresh air caressing your face as you fly through the air in a good game of Quidditch!" And without waiting for response, James grabbed Sirius" arm and dragged him outside. Soon Sirius found himself with a broom and a very enthusiastic James. "Race you to the end of the garden!" And James was halfway across the garden when Sirius acknowledged what he had been saying. Sirius hopped on the broom, and sped up to James, who had completed the race. Sirius was surprised, as the only times he had been on a broom, was during the school"s flying lessons, and those brooms were certainly dodgy. The second lesson had his broom only move left, and had he"d been a not as good flyer, he would have fallen off. As a contrast, James" broom was comfortable and easy to control. It was extremely pleasant and James must have seen that too.

"Nimbus 1500. Latest model. What d"ya think?"

"It"s wicked. Better than those splinter-filled sticks at school!"And both boys flew around their broomsticks, being joined halfway through by James" father. He taught them about a Quidditch move known as a reverse-pass, to confuse the "enemy", and that was how Sirius proved that what he had thought, was right, he wasn"t very good at Quidditch at all. James mastered it, yet Sirius was still stuck at one of the first steps.

"It"s not your position!" James said enthusiastically, as they strolled out of the garden when it started to rain. Sirius was ready to flop into bed when the smell of the soup from earlier reached his nose. It was truly blissful. A yell from James was the signal to dash to the table. They slowed down as they entered the dining room, and they both sat down politely. Mrs Potter than placed a bowl of soup in front of them, and Sirius tucked in. It was tomato soup, with a sprinkle of herbs. Soon Sirius had reached the bottom of the bowl, and was looking around to find the rest of the bowls in a similar state. Mrs Potter then appeared from the kitchen, carrying a few bowls on a plate, and placing one in front of everyone. Sirius, who had been expecting more tomato soup, was disappointed to find that it was actually vegetables. However his eyes lit up when he saw that it was a mix of beans, broccoli and cauliflower, which he actual quite enjoyed. He picked up his fork, ready to eat, when James gave a gasp and stared at his food.

"Beans. Beans. Beans. I HATE beans. No, I won"t, no no no. I"m not having them." Sirius turned to his friend who seemed to be staring at the beans with the deepest loathing. Sirius, and the rest of the Potters, burst out laughing. James then went red, and pulled his gaze from the beans. "Er... does anyone want them?" However Mrs Potter, still grinning, raised an eyebrow, then said,

"Oh sorry James, I forgot about your dislike of beans. Did I tell Sirius about that time you put beans up your no.."

"O.K. I"ll eat them! " James then picked up his fork and stabbed a small bean. The slowly lifted his fork to his mouth, however as the bean touched his tongue, he gagged and dropped the fork, before having a coughing fit, but stopped quickly when everyone began laughing again. His father banished the bowl away, and pointed upstairs, Sirius pulled his embarrassed friend from his chair and dragged him up to his bedroom. After a few moments both boys were ready for bed, and saying goodnight, they hopped into their beds. Sirius closed his eyes, and it became quiet, the only sound being Mr Potter clearing up, and a mutter from the other side of the room, which sounded something like:

"You can"t win beans, I will fight against you, you won"t get away with this." In his bed, Sirius smiled, and didn"t really stop, as his thoughts were flooded were the many good memories he had with the Potters, just from that day, which were impossible achieve at all with his own family. With a yawn, Sirius turned over and feel into a deep sleep, still smiling.