Lions Inside¹ | James Potter

four

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(Little Talks//Of Monsters and Men)

With Sirius spending so much time on his hair every morning, it didn't help speed up the process of feeding Peter when he slept in.

When the four boys entered the Great Hall, almost everyone had already arrived for breakfast, some early birds even getting ready to leave already. For a Sunday, people were getting an early start on the day.

Sirius searched the long table and when he found who he was looking for, started walking. The other three followed, not knowing what his plan was until they saw who he had spotted.

Sirius smoothly slid into the seat next to Marlene and shot her a charming grin.

"Morning, McKinnon. Looking positively radiant this morning," he greeted her, giving her his full attention. Marlene chuckled but played along. "And you Black. Did you do something different with your hair? It's definitely working," she greeted back. She reached out to touch it only for Sirius to pull away.

"Too far McKinnon. No one touches the hair." James gaped at them before slowly sitting down in the seat beside Andrea, Remus taking his other side and Peter joining Sirius across from them. "Since when are they so buddy-buddy again?" James asked.

"Since Sirius decided to use her to make Dorcas Meadowes jealous," Remus chuckled, looking at Sirius flirting with Marlene across from them. "And Marlene apparently accepted."

"What alternate reality have we stepped into?"

When he got no response from his right, James turned to look at his other friend, only to see her resting her face on her folded arm on the table, her eyes closed. He moved closer to her face to see if she was still breathing.

If she was breathing, she was doing it very quietly. But she had always been a very quiet breather. It was one of the things he appreciated most during their sleepovers over the years.

He picked up the arm at her side that wasn't folded on the table and lifted it.

He let go and the arm dropped down like an anchor. He looked to the other girls who were now looking at the two in amusement.

"What'd you do, poison her? This reeks of Macdonald." He narrowed his eyes at Mary, and she quickly put her hands up in surrender.

"Nope. Wasn't me. She was like that when we woke her up this morning." Andrea let out a groan and turned her head to look at James.

"Jet-lag or just sleepy?" he questioned recognizing a tired and moody Andrea when he saw one. She nodded against her arm. "That wasn't really a yes or no question but OK," he chuckled.

"I want coffee," she whined, meeting James' eye again. He smiled innocently back. "What's the magic word?" "Get me some coffee," she replied in a short tone making the others chuckle.

James gave her a look, waiting. She let out a sigh and turned the puppy-dog eyes on him, her big, deep brown eyes becoming impossibly bigger.

"Please?" she whispered, pushing her bottom lip out in a slight pout, sounding like a wounded kitten. James smiled. He knew he was going to do whatever she had asked from him as soon as she turned on the pout and the puppy eyes, but he couldn't let her know that. Couldn't give her that satisfaction.

"Actually, the magic word was 'Principe Potter' but I'm gonna allow your 'please' because you're sleepy," he mocked her in a pouty voice. James got out of his seat and headed down the table a few seats to get the coffee pot.

"Two sugars!" Andrea yelled after him. "I know what to do," he answered, not looking back over his shoulder.

Andrea, pleased she was getting caffeine, placed her chin on her arm to look at the others around her. Sirius, across from her, and everyone else around them were looking at her with wide eyes, some openly gaping.