Marauders at Summercamp (au)

Chapter 13

——James Perspective——

James was finally getting his wish, as the four of them had finally finished eating and they now had a whole day to waste how they wanted. They zig-zagged through the people ambling about, working their way to the river. They were going canoeing- nobody had before, and it was the only thing none of them could object to.

Boats were tied to the dock, bobbing gently with each passing wave. It was the very picture of serenity in summer. The four grabbed some paddles just laying onshore, and with a quick word to the groundskeeper, were off paddling down the river. Slowly.

If you know nothing about paddling a canoe, coordination of all the members within and a strong and alert paddler in the very back are incredibly important. Otherwise, you get the scenic view of being smack up against either riverbank for 90% of the journey. Let's just say Peter needed to learn how to steer before he'd be allowed to sit in the back again. Then again, the other three of them were also constantly splashing each other and preventing too much forward movement... but it was fun.

Next, James pulled his friends to a little table with a bunch of different crafty materials: cut daisies, popsicle sticks, yarns and strings of a variety of colors, construction paper, and pretty much anything else deemed necessary for crafting. He had no idea what to create. His friends did, though. Peter was folding some origami that he had learned ages ago. A crane or something? Remus picked up some red and gold yarn and started making something he said was a "God's Eye": A muggle craft involving yarn wrapped continuously around popsicle sticks to make little squares. Remus even explained that the idea comes from a branch of Mexican culture for a spiritual belief, but has just become something fun for kids to do in their spare time. Sirius, on the other hand, picked up the little white flowers. He had no idea what to actually do with them until Madam Sinistra approached and offered the idea of a flower crown. She had to sit down and teach him how, but soon enough, Sirius was weaving stem after stem of flowers.

"Hey Sirius," Peter asked, "Why a flower crown?" Sirius only grumbled. Whatever words he said were somehow inaudible.

"Is that the best flower crown you can make?" James joined in.

Somehow this comment got him into a flower crown contest. Peter and Remus would judge, and whoever lost would buy whatever the other pleased (within 30 dollars, they were still kids with a limited budget) either when they were allowed to explore the neighboring town or- if need be- buy something when they were back home and ship it to their friend. Hopefully the former, but you know how professors are.

The winner was Sirius. James insisted that was because Sinistra helped him, but no one seemed to be listening. Alas, he couldn't figure out any means of bribing the judges. Oh well.

By then, three of them were worn ragged by the energy expended just that morning- all but James, who was now insisting that they should play some outdoor games. Peter pointed towards a dirt opening in the otherwise grassy lawn, three-sided wooden boxes on the edges and some sort of metal posts sticking up out of the ground. James had assumed that it was some kind of new building going into the campus. After Peter's explanation, he found out that it was some sort of muggle yard game where they threw the things they'd nail into horse feet.

Remus and Sirius decided they'd rather sit out and make comments like sports commentators, holding their wands towards their chins as though they were using voice amplifying charms. Again, James lost. Not for lack of trying, but because Peter was really well practiced and James had no hope of winning his first time playing.

So, there ended up being a rematch. James focused on the target, as though it was one of the miniature quidditch hoops Fleamont Potter had set up for his son when he was first introduced to a child-size broom. He imagined a quaffle in his hands instead of the crescent of a horseshoe. Not at all the same type of throw, but maybe things would work if he could relate it to something he knew. He closed his eyes. He threw. He listened for the commentary from the sidelines. Time seemed to stand still, just about.

"He scores! 10 points to James!" Sirius said, mocking just about any quidditch commentator he had ever heard. James opened his eyes, and sure enough, the shot had been landed. Now all he had to do was to repeat that same thing about 5 more times and hope that Peter would miss. Not too daunting, right? Right?

Yeah. As suspected, Peter won. That also meant it was coming up to dinnertime, where they could stuff their face with just about anything they desired. Peter insisted they go straight to the dining hall, using the excuse that because he won he should choose what they do next. James saw an eye roll from Remus out of the corner of his eye. Who knew that boy had a reaction any louder than a whisper?

——Peter Perspective——

Hot dogs, hamburgers, bratwurst, coleslaw, mac and cheese, watermelon, and every other food Peter associated with summer was spread out on picnic tables on the vast lawn of camp. But for once, Peter wasn't exactly worried about the food. He was thinking about his day with his friends. He could call them that, right? They were nice guys. He had been given no reason not to trust them, anyways. Plus, this place was turning out to be a lot like school and he needed someone to learn off of and all. Not cheat per se (although sometimes he wasn't quite above that), but more whenever the teacher made no sense and he needed someone who understood him to help him understand. Peter got distracted by the clanking of plates and silverware and the likes- time to dig in. 

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Author's Note: I just want to briefly apologize at how long ago my last update was- not to say I've had a consistent uploading schedule in the past, but the Coronavirus shutdown has taken a lot out of me. I'm in school again (for the first time this year actually entering the building) and it's so weird to see my friends. I want to hug them because it has been a while, but for obvious reasons I can't. 

Anyways, this was an interesting 'lil chapter and all but I wrote something for the future with Remus and it's... I've never written anything like it so sooner or later you might see that. 

How are all of you guys? Peace!