Serendipity (S. Black)

FIFTEEN

"not a thing in the world that we can't make it through together"

*

"Knight to... H3." James' knight obliged and slid forward on the chessboard. Remus kept his eyes on the pieces with no real interest. All day, he'd been stuck with a terrible headache and couldn't focus on anything. He knew the full moon was days away, which filled him with dread, even though he always appreciated his friends' support.

"Pawn to H2," Remus countered tiredly, not even realizing that he was putting it in harm's way. James considered pretending that he didn't see the kill move, but then Remus would call him out for taking it easy.

"Hey, how do you spell Acromantula?" Peter called from an armchair by the fire, his quill hovering over the parchment in hesitation. James shrugged, leaving Remus to spell it out.

The portrait hole opened and Sirius came swaggering in with a wild grin on his face. He shook the snow out of his hair and plopped down on the couch, scattering the chess pieces all over the floor.

"Oi!" James yelled indignantly, slapping him. "Watch where you're sitting, Black! I was about to beat Remus at chess for the first time in six years!"

"I wish I could say I'm sorry, but I'm not." He tossed his jacket on the floor near the fire and leaned back into the cushions, eyes closed, reliving the last few hours.

"You look like you had a good time," Remus commented.

"I did. It's too bad you had to spend the day with blokes like these two, Moony," Sirius joked. "Hey James, Rosmerta was looking for you, mate."

"Was she?" James' attention perked up, because while he liked Lily, there was no denying how attractive Madam Rosmerta was even though her age doubled theirs. The boys loved to flirt playfully with her to try and win free drinks. "What did you say?"

Sirius shrugged. "Said you didn't know how to have any fun and were spending an extremely boring day in the library."

James yelped, "Why would you do that?" but lowered his voice as soon as he saw Remus wince and rub his forehead. "All right, change the subject. Cut to the chase," James said, pushing his glasses up further on his nose. "How'd it go with Blondie today? Did she come to her senses and realize what an idiot you are?"

"Hilarious, but no. This idiot scored himself a date," Sirius said casually. The effect was immediate: James dropped the chessboard he had just retrieved, Peter let out an audible gasp, and Remus' lips turned upwards into a small smile.

James knelt on the floor in front of Sirius and began to bow down. "Teach me, Master! Show me your ways!"

"Respect me. You shall be my Padawan learner." He grinned, knowing how much of a mistake it probably was for Lily to take the gang to see Star Wars in the Muggle movie theaters. "Face it, James: you don't have my charm."

"I'm not kidding. What happened?"

Sirius grinned and rested his elbows on his knees. "We were in the Three Broomsticks and she asked me to Slughorn's Christmas party."

"You've been waiting for this for what, three years now?" Peter asked, seeming equally excited for his friend. "Nice one."

"Hold up," James said. "You're telling me that old Sluggy's having a Christmas party and Lily hasn't invited me yet?"

"Really observant, Prongs. Good on you." He patted his head condescendingly and kicked his long legs up on the coffee table. While he was trying to play it cool in front of his friends, he was over the moon, floating somewhere in the galaxy randomly. He'd finally gotten a date with the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts, the girl he'd been stuck on for four years. It was finally happening.