Fic: The Gryffindor Way
Title: The Gryffindor Way
Author: alleyflower
Rating: PG
Pairing: J/L. R/S insinuated.
Word count: 1,122
Author's Notes: Many thanks to my beta luuuurve.
Characterization based within the shoebox_project universe. You need not read it to understand this fic (but you should anyway, because it's amazing!). I mention this not because it acts as any kind of prequel, merely because my vision of these characters is forever colored by that fic.
Summary: James doesn’t like all this hiding business; he reflects on some of the events that led up to his Fidelius-y imprisonment at Godric’s Hollow.
»«
James was bored. James was angry, and James was frustrated. But more than anything else, James was bored. A Gryffindor, a Quidditcher, and a fighter, he was not a man meant to go into hiding.
It wasn’t his choice, really. He never would have done it if it weren’t for Harry, and, more specifically, Lily pleading with him to think of Harry.
“Do you want our only son to grow up without a father? And what about me? Don’t you think I die every night worrying about you?” She had thrown around words like ‘thoughtless’, ‘reckless’, and ‘selfish’. She was fiery, and utterly unafraid to stand her ground.
Sirius had been on James’ side. Sirius was always on James’ side.
»«
“It’s The Gryffindor Way, mate,” Sirius had said, when Peter had remarked on Sirius’ repeated self-sacrificing in the form of being punched in the head by one Lily Evans. “Didn’t you hear what the Sorting Hat said about backing up your best friend in his ridiculous pursuit of hostile redheads with nasty right hooks?”
“Oh, yes, I remember that. It came right after the part on sneaking out of bed to go gallivanting naked about the grounds,” Remus said, hiding a smile behind The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7. Sirius gave him a mock hurt look.
“No, no!” howled Peter, joining the joke. “You missed out the bit about becoming Animagi and running around with a - ”
James dove across the table, knocking their Charms essays to the floor and shattering several inkpots. He shoved his fist into Peter’s mouth before he could speak the last word.
“You want to say that a little louder, Wormtail? I think there might be some people in the dungeons who haven’t heard you!”
Peter was stricken; his eyes were glassy and he looked about to swallow his tongue.
“An gmbpha rahgph!”
James extricated his fist, wiped the drool on the front of the pudgy boy’s robes, and commenced examining the teeth marks on his knuckles.
Peter tried again. “I didn’t realize!” He turned to Remus with pleading eyes and gasped out, “I’m so sorry, Moony! I didn’t - ”
“Realize,” Remus finished, nodding kindly. “It’s fine, Peter. No harm done. Except, perhaps, to my Charms essay,” he added, frowning as he fished it out from under the chair and cast a critical eye over the massive ink splotches that now decorated it.
“Oh, they’re alright, Moony! Gives it charm!” James said, waggling his eyebrows in a way that he clearly thought was endearing. Remus merely raised his own in response, then began siphoning the blotches off with his wand.
“No harm done, Moony?! How can you say that? Wormtail nearly outed you in front of the whole house!” Sirius said angrily.
Remus blushed deeply. Sirius blinked, then turned a shade of pink to rival the Fat Lady’s dress.
“Keep your voice down, you idiot!” James glared at Sirius, clearly not having noticed the exchange, then rounded on Peter, but softened at the look of terror on his quivering face. “Look, just be more careful next time, Wormtail,” then, as a gesture of peace, cuffed him on the shoulder, if rather harder than usual. Intense relief flooded Peter’s features, and he fell forward out of his chair onto the floor and began gathering up strewn books and parchment.
“Calm down, Pete, m’boy!” Sirius cried a bit too cheerfully, taking his book from Peter’s arms and bopping him once on the head with it. Peter fairly leaked gratitude.
»«
Yes. Sirius always took James’ side. Like a Gryffindor, like a best friend, should.
“Go into hiding! Are you joking? Dumbledore wants you to go into hiding?!” Sirius had exclaimed when James had told him. “Why?”
“That’s rather how I reacted, too,” James sighed.
“Well. What’s he on about? The rest of the Order’s not going into hiding, too, are they?”
“No, just Lily, Harry, and I.” He sighed again.
Sirius started. “Wait; don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about doing it! That is not The Gryffindor Way, mate.” Sirius realized too late that this was exactly the wrong thing to say, and James blazed.
“Oh, grow up, Sirius!” Here it was: all the anger he had been trying to control, for Lily and Harry’s sakes, for his sanity’s sake, came rolling out of him at top speed. “We’re not in school anymore; we’re not Gryffindors! We can’t sit in the common room, and eat Fizzing Whizbees, and go to sleep in dormitories, and have safe little dreams! We know what’s in the world now. We’ve fought it. We’ve seen our friends die fighting it! I can’t just say no to Dumbledore, and ignore Lily’s crying every night because she’s so terrified I won’t be coming home. I have a family to think about now, Sirius, and I can’t ignore that just because I want to play the hero! I have to live in this world, not just my own fantasy version of it where the good guys always win and no one ever dies. More people will die, and I might be one of them!” Seething and breathing heavily from his eruption, he glared across the room at Sirius, daring him to speak.
“What’s going on here, Prongs?”
“What do you mean? Nothing,” James stammered, so clearly trying not to crumble.
“Bullshit! Don’t insult me, Prongs. I’ve known you forever, and you're an awful liar besides. Don’t mess me around on this, or I’ll leave, and you can just have a good shout at yourself.”
They both knew it was an empty threat, and that Sirius would not leave. Storming out on a friend in need, now, that was most certainly not The Gryffindor Way. But James was properly chastened; he had got the point.
“I don’t know for sure,” James said, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to keep this a secret from his best friend. “Dumbledore was being very evasive, and he left in a hurry. All he said was that he thinks Voldemort might be after… Harry.”
Sirius was gawping. “But… why?” was all he managed to splutter.
“Like, I said, we don’t know. We were really too shocked to ask a lot of questions. Lily thinks it might be some sort of revenge thing. He wants to make us suffer for all those times we’ve ‘escaped his clutches’ or something.” Sirius took a moment to be amazed at how old James looked before he next spoke.
“What can I do?”
James haggard face broke into a broad grin. Apparently, the first thing that Sirius could do was be the victim of a flying rugby tackle. Gryffindors will be Gryffindors.
»«
Author: alleyflower
Rating: PG
Pairing: J/L. R/S insinuated.
Word count: 1,122
Author's Notes: Many thanks to my beta luuuurve.
Characterization based within the shoebox_project universe. You need not read it to understand this fic (but you should anyway, because it's amazing!). I mention this not because it acts as any kind of prequel, merely because my vision of these characters is forever colored by that fic.
Summary: James doesn’t like all this hiding business; he reflects on some of the events that led up to his Fidelius-y imprisonment at Godric’s Hollow.
»«
James was bored. James was angry, and James was frustrated. But more than anything else, James was bored. A Gryffindor, a Quidditcher, and a fighter, he was not a man meant to go into hiding.
It wasn’t his choice, really. He never would have done it if it weren’t for Harry, and, more specifically, Lily pleading with him to think of Harry.
“Do you want our only son to grow up without a father? And what about me? Don’t you think I die every night worrying about you?” She had thrown around words like ‘thoughtless’, ‘reckless’, and ‘selfish’. She was fiery, and utterly unafraid to stand her ground.
Sirius had been on James’ side. Sirius was always on James’ side.
»«
“It’s The Gryffindor Way, mate,” Sirius had said, when Peter had remarked on Sirius’ repeated self-sacrificing in the form of being punched in the head by one Lily Evans. “Didn’t you hear what the Sorting Hat said about backing up your best friend in his ridiculous pursuit of hostile redheads with nasty right hooks?”
“Oh, yes, I remember that. It came right after the part on sneaking out of bed to go gallivanting naked about the grounds,” Remus said, hiding a smile behind The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 7. Sirius gave him a mock hurt look.
“No, no!” howled Peter, joining the joke. “You missed out the bit about becoming Animagi and running around with a - ”
James dove across the table, knocking their Charms essays to the floor and shattering several inkpots. He shoved his fist into Peter’s mouth before he could speak the last word.
“You want to say that a little louder, Wormtail? I think there might be some people in the dungeons who haven’t heard you!”
Peter was stricken; his eyes were glassy and he looked about to swallow his tongue.
“An gmbpha rahgph!”
James extricated his fist, wiped the drool on the front of the pudgy boy’s robes, and commenced examining the teeth marks on his knuckles.
Peter tried again. “I didn’t realize!” He turned to Remus with pleading eyes and gasped out, “I’m so sorry, Moony! I didn’t - ”
“Realize,” Remus finished, nodding kindly. “It’s fine, Peter. No harm done. Except, perhaps, to my Charms essay,” he added, frowning as he fished it out from under the chair and cast a critical eye over the massive ink splotches that now decorated it.
“Oh, they’re alright, Moony! Gives it charm!” James said, waggling his eyebrows in a way that he clearly thought was endearing. Remus merely raised his own in response, then began siphoning the blotches off with his wand.
“No harm done, Moony?! How can you say that? Wormtail nearly outed you in front of the whole house!” Sirius said angrily.
Remus blushed deeply. Sirius blinked, then turned a shade of pink to rival the Fat Lady’s dress.
“Keep your voice down, you idiot!” James glared at Sirius, clearly not having noticed the exchange, then rounded on Peter, but softened at the look of terror on his quivering face. “Look, just be more careful next time, Wormtail,” then, as a gesture of peace, cuffed him on the shoulder, if rather harder than usual. Intense relief flooded Peter’s features, and he fell forward out of his chair onto the floor and began gathering up strewn books and parchment.
“Calm down, Pete, m’boy!” Sirius cried a bit too cheerfully, taking his book from Peter’s arms and bopping him once on the head with it. Peter fairly leaked gratitude.
»«
Yes. Sirius always took James’ side. Like a Gryffindor, like a best friend, should.
“Go into hiding! Are you joking? Dumbledore wants you to go into hiding?!” Sirius had exclaimed when James had told him. “Why?”
“That’s rather how I reacted, too,” James sighed.
“Well. What’s he on about? The rest of the Order’s not going into hiding, too, are they?”
“No, just Lily, Harry, and I.” He sighed again.
Sirius started. “Wait; don’t tell me you’re actually thinking about doing it! That is not The Gryffindor Way, mate.” Sirius realized too late that this was exactly the wrong thing to say, and James blazed.
“Oh, grow up, Sirius!” Here it was: all the anger he had been trying to control, for Lily and Harry’s sakes, for his sanity’s sake, came rolling out of him at top speed. “We’re not in school anymore; we’re not Gryffindors! We can’t sit in the common room, and eat Fizzing Whizbees, and go to sleep in dormitories, and have safe little dreams! We know what’s in the world now. We’ve fought it. We’ve seen our friends die fighting it! I can’t just say no to Dumbledore, and ignore Lily’s crying every night because she’s so terrified I won’t be coming home. I have a family to think about now, Sirius, and I can’t ignore that just because I want to play the hero! I have to live in this world, not just my own fantasy version of it where the good guys always win and no one ever dies. More people will die, and I might be one of them!” Seething and breathing heavily from his eruption, he glared across the room at Sirius, daring him to speak.
“What’s going on here, Prongs?”
“What do you mean? Nothing,” James stammered, so clearly trying not to crumble.
“Bullshit! Don’t insult me, Prongs. I’ve known you forever, and you're an awful liar besides. Don’t mess me around on this, or I’ll leave, and you can just have a good shout at yourself.”
They both knew it was an empty threat, and that Sirius would not leave. Storming out on a friend in need, now, that was most certainly not The Gryffindor Way. But James was properly chastened; he had got the point.
“I don’t know for sure,” James said, resigned to the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to keep this a secret from his best friend. “Dumbledore was being very evasive, and he left in a hurry. All he said was that he thinks Voldemort might be after… Harry.”
Sirius was gawping. “But… why?” was all he managed to splutter.
“Like, I said, we don’t know. We were really too shocked to ask a lot of questions. Lily thinks it might be some sort of revenge thing. He wants to make us suffer for all those times we’ve ‘escaped his clutches’ or something.” Sirius took a moment to be amazed at how old James looked before he next spoke.
“What can I do?”
James haggard face broke into a broad grin. Apparently, the first thing that Sirius could do was be the victim of a flying rugby tackle. Gryffindors will be Gryffindors.
»«