Moonage Daydream [Stand-alone vers]

Man to Man

     The next day, Sirius found himself laid up in bed, messing with his wand. He stared up at his tall bedposts, chewing on his inner lip as his feet messed with his pillow.
     He'd almost forgotten, in the silence of early afternoon, that anyone else was even in Gryffindor tower until he heard footsteps coming up the stairs and James shuffled into the room.
     He could tell he'd just come from practice because his hair was even more haphazard than usual and he was practically panting. Sirius watched him flop down on his own bed, lifting his arm slightly to wave. Sirius shifted forward, letting his head hang down off the edge of his mattress.
      "How goes it?"
      The other boy tilted his hand back and forth, looking dejected. Slowly, Sirius rolled himself out of bed, crossing the room to James' four poster. The other boy raised an eyebrow.
       "Scooch." Sirius said, shoving at his shoulder.
       Despite himself, James smiled, shifting enough for Sirius to sit down beside him. The two of them shared a look and Sirius squinted.
        "You gonna spend the whole rest of the spring moping around the dorm?" Sirius asked, nudging into him. "Cause I'm starting to get bored.." James snorted as Sirius teased, but Sirius knew him well enough to see the smile that wanted to break on his face. The boy hung his head.
         "I dunno, mate— I apologized and I'm trying and all, but I'm sorta worried that I totally screwed it up—" Sirius pursed his lips, looking out the open window to where the bright light was filtering in. He knew it wasn't his place to poke and prod at the situation, but something was telling him that he needed to give James a little push just to get him back on his feet again.. If only he and Lily weren't so damn stubborn they might be able to deal with it on their own, but.. One could only dream. Sirius cleared his throat.
          "Y'know—" He said slowly. "I talked to Lily yesterday—" He felt James perk up from beside him almost instantly.
           "Yeah—??" Sirius glanced back over.
           "Yeah— She—" He considered for a moment going into details, but he had a feeling that Lily wouldn't feel right about that. James might get too cocky and that was the last thing anybody needed right now. Instead he said, as delicately as he could,
"I think she sorta misses you in a weird way— I mean like she was mad, but—" He shrugged, giving a small smile. "I think some screw ups just need a little time, you know?"
            James stared. Sirius watched his brows furrow and unfurrow, fingers clumsily messing with his bedsheets.
            "You think there's some hope then—?"
            Sirius licked his lips.
            "I fucked up about as bad as you can fuck up this year—" He started, voice low. "And Remus still came around— Yeah..?" James glanced towards the stairs to the common room, nodding slowly.
             "Yeah— I s'pose you're right—"
             He nearly jumped as Sirius clapped him gently on the shoulder.
              "More of the sweet stuff, less of the bighead Potter stuff.. It'll sort itself out." He teased, James shoving an elbow into his ribs. Sirius giggled, hitting him right back and they sat there together for a moment of happy silence before Sirius felt James let out a breath.

              "Thanks, mate—"

               Sirius smiled down at his knees.
               "Yeah, anytime."