Ficlet: Boys, Girls, and Animals
Boys, Girls, and Animals
rated PG
~350 words
A conversation amongst MWPP after Sirius leaves home. I posted this little thing to sirius_centric, but then it belatedly occured to me that Peter actually gets the last word, for once - something that only other Peter fans might appreciate.
When they were finally alone on the train, Sirius and James fell to regaling the others with tales of their shared summer exploits, stories which inevitably veered off into laughter and private jokes, but which entertained their indulgent friends nonetheless. During a pause, as they recovered themselves from a particularly acute attack of hilarity, Peter asked,
"Are you going to live at the Potters' from now on, then?" and the mood in the compartment all at once became weighty, and uncertain.
"He's welcome to stay as long as he wants," James said decisively.
"Well, you know," Sirius said with telling vagueness, "I'll be old enough to live on my own soon."
"Did something happen?" Peter asked, "Or was it..." he trailed off, unable or unwilling to say what it might have been.
"I'd just had enough," Sirius said in a tone that was somehow at once both flippant and fierce. He was clearly not prepared to relinquish his bravado with only a compartment door separating him from the general Hogwarts public. "So I just slung my few possessions onto my back and struck out to make my way in the world, as nature's sons have ever done."
He glanced at Remus sitting quietly beside him, and, deliberately misreading his grave expression as one of bafflement, persisted in a careless tone, "Don't make me explain, Moony. You surely must have read something besides your mother's trashy novels as a child?"
"You know that I did," Remus said, adjusting his face, smiling a little, loyally yielding to Sirius’s cavalier manner, "And I do know what you mean. We all do. Boys leave home and find adventure, girls win the love of crotchety relatives, and animals remain noble despite maltreatment."
"Well, there you are," Sirius said, "Self-reliance, reconciliation, and..." He searched for the word.
"Resilience." Remus supplied.
"Resilience. Well, you can see I've made my choice."
"We're free to choose, then?" Remus asked.
"Certainly we are." Sirius asserted, and James agreed.
"I don't think anyone chooses 'resilience.'" Peter said.
rated PG
~350 words
A conversation amongst MWPP after Sirius leaves home. I posted this little thing to sirius_centric, but then it belatedly occured to me that Peter actually gets the last word, for once - something that only other Peter fans might appreciate.
When they were finally alone on the train, Sirius and James fell to regaling the others with tales of their shared summer exploits, stories which inevitably veered off into laughter and private jokes, but which entertained their indulgent friends nonetheless. During a pause, as they recovered themselves from a particularly acute attack of hilarity, Peter asked,
"Are you going to live at the Potters' from now on, then?" and the mood in the compartment all at once became weighty, and uncertain.
"He's welcome to stay as long as he wants," James said decisively.
"Well, you know," Sirius said with telling vagueness, "I'll be old enough to live on my own soon."
"Did something happen?" Peter asked, "Or was it..." he trailed off, unable or unwilling to say what it might have been.
"I'd just had enough," Sirius said in a tone that was somehow at once both flippant and fierce. He was clearly not prepared to relinquish his bravado with only a compartment door separating him from the general Hogwarts public. "So I just slung my few possessions onto my back and struck out to make my way in the world, as nature's sons have ever done."
He glanced at Remus sitting quietly beside him, and, deliberately misreading his grave expression as one of bafflement, persisted in a careless tone, "Don't make me explain, Moony. You surely must have read something besides your mother's trashy novels as a child?"
"You know that I did," Remus said, adjusting his face, smiling a little, loyally yielding to Sirius’s cavalier manner, "And I do know what you mean. We all do. Boys leave home and find adventure, girls win the love of crotchety relatives, and animals remain noble despite maltreatment."
"Well, there you are," Sirius said, "Self-reliance, reconciliation, and..." He searched for the word.
"Resilience." Remus supplied.
"Resilience. Well, you can see I've made my choice."
"We're free to choose, then?" Remus asked.
"Certainly we are." Sirius asserted, and James agreed.
"I don't think anyone chooses 'resilience.'" Peter said.