James Potter (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
alotofgood) wrote2010-12-31 01:22 pm
alotofgood) wrote2010-12-31 01:22 pm
Entry tags:
004. july 1975.
July, 1975 — Late Afternoon
The Leaky Cauldron
London, England
"— and then the old bloke just slams a hand on the table —"
"Both hands on the table —"
"— yeah. Both hands on the table, forgetting that he'd just covered it in Glomble's Super Glue!"
The entire table erupts with laughter in response to James and Sirius' joke. Peter doubles over, wheezing, his face red. Remus, sitting to Sirius' left, laughs loudly, eyes crinkling at the edges. James and Sirius have one arm around each other, leaning forward in laughter, trying to catch their breaths. James wipes a tear from his eye.
It never gets old, that joke.
The only one who does not look amused in the slightest is the rather pretty blonde girl to James' right, crossing her arms and looking downright surly, her perfectly pink bottom lip jutted out.
It is summer — and a bloody scorching one, too — with London celebrating one of its hottest ones in years. In a fit of boredom, James sent for Remus Lupin (who was enjoying the afternoon doing some light reading, though James was sure 'light' translated into 'something extremely dense and bloody effing boring') and Peter Pettigrew (who had been doing god-knows-what), telling them to join him and Sirius (who had already been at the Potter household that summer) at the Leaky Cauldron post-haste. There was much to catch up on and many drinks to be had.
Of course, at around the same time, Miss Coco Burwell, James' girlfriend since April, wanted to spend some time with her boyfriend, which put James in a very difficult place.
Spend time with his girlfriend (who, to be fair, had an incredible pair of — well, you know; and a fantastic pair of kissing lips), or spend time with his very best mates in the world?
It was difficult to choose. James had never been so distraught with a decision until he thought: why not bring everyone together?
Besides, his and Coco's relationship had been waning in the excitement department for quite some time since before exams. He remembers spending half of his time in June holed up in the library, buried behind a fortress of thick, dusty, old leather books. He hadn't even known what half of them contained — and to be quite honest, he didn't really care; he simply needed the bricks for protection.
The other half was spent slinking around in corridors or under the trees beneath his cloak, invisible to all.
It didn't help that halfway into week two of exam studying Lily Evans began to take the table across from his to review her study material as often as he did, either. (He may have built a window into his book-fortress during that time, though hardly any words were exchanged, as that would very likely alert Coco to his whereabouts — she was a bloodhound sometimes, that girl.
Which, really, must have been utterly painful for Lily Evans not to get the chance to speak to him.)
Anyway.
Coco was not at all pleased with the arrangement that afternoon, but James wouldn't hear of it. He reassured her that they would all have loads of fun ('You'll see — what do you mean Sirius doesn't like you? Of course he does!') and in a matter of hours, the Marauders and Coco were settled near the back of the pub with ice-cool Butterbeers being brought to them before any one pitcher was allowed to go empty.
"D'you know, I was ah — listening to the broadcast last night when the advert for Gambol and Japes' came on," Peter says. "I don't suppose any of you blokes would fancy checking it out later for the newest merchandise?"
"Yes! Good idea, Wormy," Sirius burst out. "I do need to stock up on dungbombs. I've nearly run out."
"Blimey, me too," James adds, giddy about the idea. "And I reckon I could still get a laugh or two out of a nose-biting teacup."
"Yes."
"But I thought we were going to Twilfitt and Tatting's," Coco suddenly says, silencing the table for a moment.
"Oh. Right — yeah," James says airily. "We could go there later, can't we?"
"No. They'll be closed in another hour and a half. You know how long it could take once I'm trying things on."
James rubs his face. "What if we met up after?"
Coco opens her mouth, then closes it.
"Oh! And stink pellets."
"Padfoot, what is it with you and stink jokes?" Remus asks, eyebrows raised in suspicion.
Sirius shrugs. "They're the funniest, naturally."
"Or d'you use them to mask your own natural malodour, Pads?"
"Shut it, Potter."
"Maybe you ought to shut your own —"
"James!"
"What's that?"
Coco lets out a very loud, very obviously livid sigh.
"What's with you?" Sirius asks.
"It's you!"
"I hardly think now's the time for stink-jokes, Miss Burwell."
"No!" Coco stands up, hands balled up into fists. James thinks she might explode and has half a mind to scoot over a couple seats down to avoid a terrible mess. Only, Sirius and Remus are blocking his way. "You're — all of you are absolutely idiotic. I wanted to spend time with Jamesy —"
James cringes at the nickname.
Peter sniggers, a hand covering his mouth to muffle it.
"— and all you want to do, James, is just ... spend time laughing about stupid, stupid things with your ridiculously stupid friends!"
"I don't suppose she could have said 'stupid' any more, could she?" Sirius mutters in Remus' direction.
"Oy, don't call my friends stupid, Coco," James starts. "Even if Sirius can be a bit —"
But Coco interrupts, her voice growing more shrill and louder with every word. "And that's another thing! You're always going on about how you can't spend time with me because you've got to go do this with Sirius, or that with Sirius, well you know what, you bloody stupid git —"
("There she goes again," mumbles Sirius.)
"— why don't you bloody marry stupid Sirius Black, if you want to spend so much time with him!"
She makes her way around the edge of the table and storms off, her face splotchy with rage, leaving the entire pub quite silent. A number of the other patrons have turned their undivided attention towards their table.
"You know, you and Black do make a cute couple," Peter says, snickering.
James hits Peter, wondering whether it would be appropriate to chase after Coco. A part of him realizes he ... actually doesn't really want to. In fact, he doesn't really want to do much of anything right now.
He is only half-aware that Sirius has gotten to his feet, grinning. He bows theatrically to their audience.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of our show."
The Leaky Cauldron
London, England
"— and then the old bloke just slams a hand on the table —"
"Both hands on the table —"
"— yeah. Both hands on the table, forgetting that he'd just covered it in Glomble's Super Glue!"
The entire table erupts with laughter in response to James and Sirius' joke. Peter doubles over, wheezing, his face red. Remus, sitting to Sirius' left, laughs loudly, eyes crinkling at the edges. James and Sirius have one arm around each other, leaning forward in laughter, trying to catch their breaths. James wipes a tear from his eye.
It never gets old, that joke.
The only one who does not look amused in the slightest is the rather pretty blonde girl to James' right, crossing her arms and looking downright surly, her perfectly pink bottom lip jutted out.
It is summer — and a bloody scorching one, too — with London celebrating one of its hottest ones in years. In a fit of boredom, James sent for Remus Lupin (who was enjoying the afternoon doing some light reading, though James was sure 'light' translated into 'something extremely dense and bloody effing boring') and Peter Pettigrew (who had been doing god-knows-what), telling them to join him and Sirius (who had already been at the Potter household that summer) at the Leaky Cauldron post-haste. There was much to catch up on and many drinks to be had.
Of course, at around the same time, Miss Coco Burwell, James' girlfriend since April, wanted to spend some time with her boyfriend, which put James in a very difficult place.
Spend time with his girlfriend (who, to be fair, had an incredible pair of — well, you know; and a fantastic pair of kissing lips), or spend time with his very best mates in the world?
It was difficult to choose. James had never been so distraught with a decision until he thought: why not bring everyone together?
Besides, his and Coco's relationship had been waning in the excitement department for quite some time since before exams. He remembers spending half of his time in June holed up in the library, buried behind a fortress of thick, dusty, old leather books. He hadn't even known what half of them contained — and to be quite honest, he didn't really care; he simply needed the bricks for protection.
The other half was spent slinking around in corridors or under the trees beneath his cloak, invisible to all.
It didn't help that halfway into week two of exam studying Lily Evans began to take the table across from his to review her study material as often as he did, either. (He may have built a window into his book-fortress during that time, though hardly any words were exchanged, as that would very likely alert Coco to his whereabouts — she was a bloodhound sometimes, that girl.
Which, really, must have been utterly painful for Lily Evans not to get the chance to speak to him.)
Anyway.
Coco was not at all pleased with the arrangement that afternoon, but James wouldn't hear of it. He reassured her that they would all have loads of fun ('You'll see — what do you mean Sirius doesn't like you? Of course he does!') and in a matter of hours, the Marauders and Coco were settled near the back of the pub with ice-cool Butterbeers being brought to them before any one pitcher was allowed to go empty.
"D'you know, I was ah — listening to the broadcast last night when the advert for Gambol and Japes' came on," Peter says. "I don't suppose any of you blokes would fancy checking it out later for the newest merchandise?"
"Yes! Good idea, Wormy," Sirius burst out. "I do need to stock up on dungbombs. I've nearly run out."
"Blimey, me too," James adds, giddy about the idea. "And I reckon I could still get a laugh or two out of a nose-biting teacup."
"Yes."
"But I thought we were going to Twilfitt and Tatting's," Coco suddenly says, silencing the table for a moment.
"Oh. Right — yeah," James says airily. "We could go there later, can't we?"
"No. They'll be closed in another hour and a half. You know how long it could take once I'm trying things on."
James rubs his face. "What if we met up after?"
Coco opens her mouth, then closes it.
"Oh! And stink pellets."
"Padfoot, what is it with you and stink jokes?" Remus asks, eyebrows raised in suspicion.
Sirius shrugs. "They're the funniest, naturally."
"Or d'you use them to mask your own natural malodour, Pads?"
"Shut it, Potter."
"Maybe you ought to shut your own —"
"James!"
"What's that?"
Coco lets out a very loud, very obviously livid sigh.
"What's with you?" Sirius asks.
"It's you!"
"I hardly think now's the time for stink-jokes, Miss Burwell."
"No!" Coco stands up, hands balled up into fists. James thinks she might explode and has half a mind to scoot over a couple seats down to avoid a terrible mess. Only, Sirius and Remus are blocking his way. "You're — all of you are absolutely idiotic. I wanted to spend time with Jamesy —"
James cringes at the nickname.
Peter sniggers, a hand covering his mouth to muffle it.
"— and all you want to do, James, is just ... spend time laughing about stupid, stupid things with your ridiculously stupid friends!"
"I don't suppose she could have said 'stupid' any more, could she?" Sirius mutters in Remus' direction.
"Oy, don't call my friends stupid, Coco," James starts. "Even if Sirius can be a bit —"
But Coco interrupts, her voice growing more shrill and louder with every word. "And that's another thing! You're always going on about how you can't spend time with me because you've got to go do this with Sirius, or that with Sirius, well you know what, you bloody stupid git —"
("There she goes again," mumbles Sirius.)
"— why don't you bloody marry stupid Sirius Black, if you want to spend so much time with him!"
She makes her way around the edge of the table and storms off, her face splotchy with rage, leaving the entire pub quite silent. A number of the other patrons have turned their undivided attention towards their table.
"You know, you and Black do make a cute couple," Peter says, snickering.
James hits Peter, wondering whether it would be appropriate to chase after Coco. A part of him realizes he ... actually doesn't really want to. In fact, he doesn't really want to do much of anything right now.
He is only half-aware that Sirius has gotten to his feet, grinning. He bows theatrically to their audience.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the end of our show."