A/N
Jumping back into this book with something that's been requested and made it extra long for ya :)
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James kept an extra eye on Sirius and I after that morning. No matter how many times I tried to tell him that nothing was happening (and that it wasn't his business either way), he still insisted on keeping a friendly distance between the two of us. I guess I was sort of thankful for it. Sirius was just becoming a true friend and he was in a really vulnerable spot. I wanted to be there for him. I didn't need to be developing any of these other messy feelings. I had to remember he was still just my cousin's best friend that liked to annoy me at school.
But this summer the three of us got much closer than we'd been before. At school I always had this thought in the back of my head that the only reason the other marauders hung out with me was because I was related to James. Now I truly felt like Sirius and I were actual friends.
While James' parents were at work, the three of us would play games, watch movies and tv, and hangout outside. They had some old bikes in the garage that we'd ride around on. One day close to the end of summer, they allowed the three of us to go camping. They had a tent that slept 4 that they said we could use as well as some other enchanted gear. James already knew the spot that he wanted to go to and we planned to ride the bikes there the next day. He invited Peter to tag along and he met up with us in the morning.
"All set?" James asked, slinging his backpack on. The three of us nodded. "Then let's go!"
We took off pedaling down the street. Once we were out of the neighborhood, we hit the countryside. I looked up at the sunlight as it cut through the leaves of the trees that lined the road. It took us about a half hour to reach our destination. We slowed down a good bit as we turned into the parking lot. It was pretty empty. I looked over to James to see if he was going to stop but he was surveying the tree line.
"There! Follow me!" He built up speed again and went into the grass. He was heading for a small path that cut into the woods.
"Is he being serious?" I asked. Peter passed us, trying to stay as close to James as possible.
"No, I'm Sirius!" I rolled my eyes as he laughed at his own joke. "You walked into that one."
"Will that ever get old to you?"
"I don't think so," he said with a smile. "C'mon. If we fall too far behind we may get lost forever."
With that, we kicked off to catch up to the other two boys. I had to slow down a bit to adjust to riding on the much rougher terrain. Sirius noticed and tried not to get too far from me.
"Hurry up, losers!" I could hear James yell from up ahead.
In front of Sirius I could see the trail widening out. Soon enough, we were in a small clearing. I saw James had tossed his bike aside and he was digging in his backpack. Peter carefully propped his up against a tree. Sirius and I stopped and I let myself take in the surroundings. It was gorgeous. There was a stream cutting through the left side of the open area surrounded by wildflowers.
"This is so nice," Sirius said. I nodded.
"That water is safe to drink," James cut in. "Now, help me get this tent set up!"
We set down our bags and joined James in getting our campsite set up. They struggled with the tent while I set our chairs up in a circle. Peter was making a ring of rocks for a fire pit in the middle.
