swim || remus lupin

two princes

While James Potter and Remus Lupin agreed on many things, the way in which they celebrated their birthdays was not one of them.

Remus wanted a quiet, relaxed day. He wanted to have a late breakfast with his boys, read outside under a tree, fall asleep in my arms before 11pm. He blushed furiously as Sirius and James conducted each class, meal, and hall through musical wishes. He refused to let them throw him a party, using the fact that it was the middle of the week as his excuse.

James, to no one's surprise, wanted the exact opposite. He woke up earlier than I've ever seen him, shaking all of us up with him. He stood at the front of the room, beaming, while everyone sang to him. He casually referred to himself as "the birthday boy" in every conversation. And, being that his special day fell on a Friday, there were large arrangements in place for the evening.

"Is he really going to wear them?"

"Yes! I told him they're of the utmost fashion in the muggle world."

The girls and I were in our dorm room, slipping into tight dresses and brushing on light makeup. The topic of conversation was Lily's present for James: a pair of bright yellow Crocs.

"And he thinks they look good?" Marlene marveled with a loud laugh.

"I told him they cost me a fortune," Lily replied. "I don't think he could say he hated them if he tried."

"I wonder what he'll pair them with," remarked Alice.

"I'm sure it won't matter," I said. "He'll be the center of attention either way."

"You know that means you'll have to join him," noted Dorcas. "James won't let you and Remus sneak out of his 'Big Boy Birthday Bash.'"

I groaned and rolled my head back. Usually after about thirty minutes Remus and I were able to escape these large parties, neither of us being big fans of the crowded rooms and head blaring music. Don't get me wrong, they could be fun at times, but at a certain point our social batteries capped out and we discovered that no one noticed our absence as long as we made a notable appearance at the start.

That is, no one except for James. While he loved to party, what he loved more was knowing that all of his friends were partying as well. He always dragged Remus and I along with him to play beer pong or sing karaoke so that he was sure we were at least trying things out. But as soon as James was drunk, enough Remus and I were suddenly 'lost in the crowd' and could not find our extroverted friend until the following morning.

Dorcas was right, though, and this wouldn't fly tonight. I knew James loved pulling me along into his antics, and I had a feeling that tonight he would have eyes on all the exits, even the secret one by the chess table that Remus and I discovered back in November. Not that I was planning my escape, or anything.

This entrapment, as well as James's eighth shot of firewhisky, is what led him and I to the top of a very unstable foldaway table. Someone had begun to play 'Rasputin,' and at the sound of the first chords James had snatched me by the wrist and hoisted me onto the table to do the Russian dance with him. I had to down the rest of my drink first to loosen myself up for the embarrassment I was sure to endure.