the cadence of part time poets

Chapter 13: Spectacular Sweet Sixteen

People stared at the makeup on his face,
Laughed at his long black hair, his animal grace;
The boy in the bright blue jeans,
Jumped up on the stage;
And lady stardust sang his songs,
Of darkness and disgrace;

And he was alright, the band was altogether,
Yes he was alright, the song went on forever;
And he was awful nice,
Really quite out of sight,
And he sang all night long...

- "Lady Stardust" David Bowie, 1972

November 3rd was their first Monday back to school after a weekend of Halloween-related festivities (and clean up). Coincidentally, it was also Sirius Black's sixteenth birthday.

Woken up by James and Peter as they threw back his bed curtains, Sirius seemed perfectly delighted to be body-slammed into his mattress, returning their shouts of admiration and delight with laughter of his own. Remus rolled over and squinted in the light before sitting up on his bed; he'd stayed up late and forgotten to shut his own curtains again. Despite his generally poor disposition in the mornings, it was almost funny to watch them tussle, but when Sirius caught his gaze, Remus hid his interest with a yawn.

Sirius' birthday breakfast was fit for a king. James had talked one of the dining hall's cooks into whipping up a plate of Dutch cream waffles and they'd slathered them with every topping available in the kitchens. Half expecting Sirius to make a big show of it, Remus was surprised by how exceptionally modest he appeared throughout the meal, even after they'd gotten half the dining hall to sing him happy birthday. Thanks to their adjoining schedules, Remus spent his entire morning bearing witness to Sirius' exceptionally normal behaviour. He'd assumed that with an ego as big as his, Sirius would go around demanding everyone sing his praises, but apart from the occasional birthday wishes from other friendly students, things were remarkably standard. Mrs. Buchanan did get the entire forms class to sing but Sirius remained quiet and humble, thanking everyone apart from Crouch, who'd elected to serenade him with his armpit.

Remus didn't speak to Sirius much during their lessons. He'd wished him a quiet happy birthday over breakfast, which Sirius had accepted graciously, but still he remained sceptical. He'd always been indifferent to his own birthday, perhaps Sirius was the same?

By the time lessons let out that evening, Sirius had disappeared. Assuming it was just a result of his continuated aversion to private study hour, Remus thought nothing of it until supper when James informed him that Sirius had gone off for a scheduled phone call with his family.

"They make a big thing of it," he said, over a mouthful of peas. "Call McGongall's office and make her fetch him like she's his personal assistant. Honestly he's just lucky his parents don't make the trip themselves just to spite him. They haven't since Reg graduated out of primary anyway."

"If they're so terrible, why answer the call in the first place?" Remus grumbled, pushing his food around his plate. Both James and Peter shared a look.

"They're his family," Peter answered. "And it's his birthday. Expected, isn't it?"

Remus wouldn't know. He'd spent his last birthday in a different dorm room, plotting another escape. The incident with Mr. Wright had occurred only a few weeks later. 

Later that evening Sirius returned to their room and was met with leftover dinner (roast chicken, mash, and beans) and a small lopsided chocolate cake James and Peter had whipped up in the dorm kitchenette.

"Sorry it's not a big celebration," James said, after they'd presented the cake.

"Don't need a fancy party," Sirius said, "just need my mates." He planted himself down on the floor with his dinner box, back pressed up against the side of his bed. James sat across from him leaning up against his own bed with Peter next to him. Remus took a spot in the centre of the floor between the four beds, side-eyeing Sirius while picking at a sweets wrapper and tearing it into little pieces to keep his fingers busy.