[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Slughorn’s Brunch


James groaned when his eyes popped open on Saturday morning. Light streamed through the window over his bed and he rolled to clutch his pillow. “Not Saturday,” he groaned. “I’ve never loathed a Saturday as much as I do this one.”

Sirius was already sitting up on the edge of his mattress, “I’m with you, mate.”

“As am I,” Remus said from the other side of the room.

“What are you going to do while we’re all off facing our horrible fates, Peter?” Sirius asked, looking over as Peter was tying his trainers, sitting on his trunk.

Peter shrugged, “Dunno. Was thinking of going down the kitchens and stocking up some snacks for the room. Maybe start working on the Divination assignment…” He looked at Sirius as he finished up his trainers. “Did you start yet?”

They’d been assigned to keep a journal of dreams that they would use in the second part of term in the class. Sirius scowled, “No,” he said, “I don’t dream,” he added. A lie. He’d had loads of dreams that week, but he would rather die than hand then over to Peter to interpret.

“So how are you going to do the assignment?” Peter worried.

“I’ll make some load up - Vablatsky will never know the difference. Don’t worry about it. And just think, you won’t have any trouble interpreting it if it’s all a load of dung,” Sirius said with a shrug.

Remus looked doubtful, “May have more of a trouble interpreting it then, as it won’t actually mean anything to be interpreted… I’m just saying.”

Sirius waved Remus off.

A few minutes later, the boys had said goodbye to Peter and gone down to the common room. Lily was waiting there for Remus and Peter, wearing a yellow sundress and a matching bow in her hair beneath her school robes, which she’d left undone in the front to show her dress. James looked down at his robes and wished he’d worn something nicer. “You look good, Evans,” he declared, seeing her.

Lily flushed, “Shut it, you,” she said, and she hastened to climb through the portrait hole.

“Do you see?” James exclaimed, looking to Remus, “It isn’t me that starts these things! I can’t even compliment her without her picking a fight!”

Remus said, “I think it’s the way you say things more than what, exactly, it is that you say.”

James looked baffled, “The way I say them? What way did I say that?”

Remus’s voice dropped several octaves to imitate James’s, “You look good, Evans,” he said, mocking how James had done it.

“You sound like a caveman!” James said, rolling his eyes, that’s not what I sound like!”

Sirius was snickering, “Actually, it was a pretty bang-on impression of you, I felt.”

Lily stuck her head back in, “Are you lot coming or what?” she demanded, looking about at them.

“Jeez, impatient, much?” James asked, rolling his eyes, “Bloody hell, sorry I didn’t know this was the ruddy running of the hippogriffs.” He slung himself through the portrait hole after her.

Remus looked at Sirius, “Why doesn’t he get it?”

“Blind as a bat,” Sirius agreed. “Maybe somebody ought to check his prescription.”

Remus shook his head and climbed out into the corridor, closely followed by Sirius.

They made their way down the long moving staircase and out the doors into the paved courtyard, standing in the morning sun by the trees as several Hufflepuffs rushed by on their way to the Great Hall. Sirius sighed, looking off across the courtyard to the north end of the castle. “Alright you lot,” he said, shrugging, “Guess I’ll see you all later… I’m off to McGonagall’s.”

“Good luck,” James replied.

“Mm,” Sirius murmured, glowering at James, “Rich of you to say so, seeing as it’s you who’s gotten me into it and then gone and got yourself out again.”

“My offer still stands for you to go down to the dungeons and put up with Slughorn smothering all over you while I go have tea with McGonagall,” James retorted.

Sirius snickered. “Well if you’re going to go and put it that way…” He saluted them and turned, pausing to pop the collar of his leather jacket as he took a deep breath and started off toward the Transfiguration corridor.

“Him and that bloody jacket,” James mumbled, shaking his head.

“Where do you reckon he even got the idea to wear it like that from?” Remus asked, shaking his head as well.

“There are gobs of places he could’ve done,” Lily said, watching Sirius disappear through the far door. “Tons of muggle films. Elvis Presley, James Dean. There’s oodles of places. Lots of muggles think it looks cool. I reckon he does it to anger his parents.”

“Yeah,” James said, “He does.”

Lily sighed, “It’s a pity they’re so horrid.”

“I mean, they’re Death Eaters, so… it’s in their nature to be horrid, isn’t it?” James asked.

Remus was staring at his trainers on the cobblestones, frowning.

Lily sighed. She had to push aside how terrible she felt for Sirius, or else she’d just wallow in her loathing for dark things and never be able to pull herself out. So with resolve, she turned and waved her palms at the castle, “Shall we go get this over with already?”

They stepped in through the doorway, glancing wistfully toward the Great Hall, where all the other people were eating their breakfast, and headed down into the depths of the dungeons to Slughorn’s office. They climbed up the stairs, looking at one another as they stood on the stoop, and then Remus pushed open the door and they walked into the little get together. True to Slughorn’s usual style, big band music was playing, mingling with conversation that filled the room. James hung back behind Remus and Lily as they entered, and greeted people who they’d apparently seen at other Slug Club functions.

“There they are!” Horace Slughorn said joyfully, spotting the three of them. “Come along, come along.” He smiled, “We were waiting on you three, the last to arrive!” He winked, “Better late than never, as I always say. Let’s all settle in now!” He clapped his hands and everyone turned toward a large banquet table he’d had set up in the center of the room, an assortment of house elves rushing to pull out the seats of the diners.

Lily was just sitting down with Remus on her left side when she felt a tap on her right. Turning, she found Severus Snape. “Sev!” she said in surprise, “What’re you doing here?”

“Slughorn’s invited me,” he replied, trying to suppress the bit of anger he felt at her seeming so shocked to see him at the exclusive event.

“I forgot you were in the Slug Club,” she said.

Severus nodded, “Yeah, I am.”

“Well, good,” Lily smiled, “One more reason to enjoy these little events,” she said.

James, who was on the far side of Remus, leaned forward and said, quietly so Slughorn wouldn’t hear him, “One more reason? You mean you had a reason to begin with?”

Lily flushed.

Wanting to get her attention back from James Potter, Severus picked up a gold fork that sat at his plate and turned it in his fingers for a moment before turning to look at Lily with raised eyebrows. “I reckon there’s more gold at my place setting than there is in my family’s account in Gringott’s,” he murmured.

Lily laughed quietly.

The brunch was more than just a little over the top. The gold place setting wasn’t the most exorberant thing there, either. In the center of the table was a sculpture of a hippogriff, made entirely of orange slices and white grapes, which James was torn between finding positively brilliant and terribly stupid at the same time. And there was a great crystal chandlier hanging over the hippogriff’s head and real cloth napkins and goblets encrusted with large gems. Horace Slughorn’s fingers likewise seemed encrusted with gems, so large and numerous were the rings upon them.

Platters of applewood sausages with gravy and thick waffles with lingonberry sauce appeared on their plates at the click of the house elves fingers and they began eating. “Oh this is delightful,” Lily said, tasting the waffle and lingonberries with a gleeful expression on her face.

Slughorn caught her enjoying them and sent a house elf ‘round the table with the dish of them, “More lingonberries for Miss. Evans, I think!” he said, grinning, “They’re from Sweden,” he said, “They were specially imported to me from an old student of mine, Hilda Huselbach. She’s a trainer of dragons.”

A murmur of awe swept through the students.

Slughorn looked quite pleased, “Yes, she sends me scales when they shed for potions ingredients as well… and that tooth over there.” He pointed to a small display on a table, where an alarmingly large dragon tooth was suspended in a bell jar beside a framed photo of a pale witch standing before a bright, toxic-blue dragon, dodging the occasional burst of flames from the creature’s mouth.

“I reckon you couldn’t pay me enough to work with something as dangerous as dragons,” murmured Severus, turning back from glancing at the tooth. “One bite from that and you’re done for.”

“How very Slytherin of you,” James said, spearing one of his sausages with his fork, “Maybe if you were a Gryffindor you’d be brave enough to face a dragon.”

Lily rolled her eyes, “Don’t start, Potter,” she snapped.

Severus said, “Or if I was a Gryffindor I’d be stupid enough to run off and end up a snack.”

Lily said, “Hey, not all Gryffindors are stupid - that’s a particular trait of being James, not a Gryffindor.” She sniffed and turned back to her lingonberries, not wanting to prolong their fighting.

“Dragons are far too domesticated by now anyway,” James said with a yawn, “I reckon for brave people it’s rather boring by this point.”

“Yes, it’s quite boring to be nearly roasted alive by dragonfire, I’m sure,” Lily said, rolling her eyes at James, then turning in her seat to speak solely to Severus.

Remus looked at James with a raised eyebrow, recognizing James’s boastful, show-offy tone. “You’re doing it again,” he murmured.

“Doing what?” James asked quietly.

“Being obnoxious,” Remus said quietly, “Showing off for Evans.”

“I’m not showing off for Evans,” James hissed.

Remus smirked, “You’re being as boastful as Sluggy himself,” he said, nodding toward the head of the table, where Slughorn was loudly pointing out other artifacts and the lovely gifts that his past students had given him and sharing about their successes and their impressive titles and accomplishments.

“It’s every Hogwarts students dream to end up in my collection,” Slughorn said, smiling about at them, “There are a great many students who are desperately jealous of you lot for being here, if for nothing else but the grand connections which I can offer them in the future for networking out their careers after school. Which reminds me…” he turned and his eyes settled on James, who was still whisper-fighting with Remus, “Mr. Potter - you’ve met Gwenog Jones, haven’t you? I believe she was in her seventh year when you were in your first…?”

“Yes, sir, I met her at your Christmas party first year,” James said. “Remus had invited me to come along.”

Slughorn grinned, “Well! See, there you have it, a wonderful connection made. As I was about to say, Miss. Jones is going to be a starter on the Harpies this year! She was at the tourney with Ilvermorny and was very impressed with your flying skills and said that she would very much like it if I would put you in touch come time for your graduation.” He winked at James happily, then turned back to his sausages.

James felt hot and cold at the same time, “Did she really?” he asked with excitement. He felt sick and grand and happily turned back to his breakfast, too, his chest puffed up with pride. Barely into Third Year and already things were shaping up perfectly for him to end up a professional Quidditch player - he grinned ‘round at Remus.

The rest of the brunch went quite nicely, James thought, as Slughorn started making networking opportunities for each of the students there, asking them what they planned to do with their futures and talking about past students he knew that could help them along in their dreams and telling them to remind him in the future and he would “make it happen”. Perhaps Slughorn’s little Slug Club wasn’t so terrible after all, James thought, as they ate a light orange sorbet the house elves brought out as dessert. The old man just wanted to help them out, it seemed, and if the connections he could provide really could help them get along in their careers - was that really so horrible? And the food was certainly delicious.

They were on their way back up to Gryffindor tower when they ran into Sirius, just returning from his detention with McGonagall. “How was detention?” James asked as Sirius fell into step beside him, letting Lily and Remus move ahead on the moving staircases.

“It wasn’t awful, I s’pose,” Sirius said with a shrug, “You were right about the biscuits and tea. She had me work on my transfiguration homework and just sat there reading the Prophet while I worked.” He shrugged. “It could’ve been worse. How was Slughorn’s brunch? Did you rub elbows with a load of famous people?”

James shrugged, “It could’ve been worse,” he agreed. He reached into his robes pocket and pulled out a napkin-wrapped parcel. “I saved you one of the sausages,” he said.

Sirius laughed, “You know, I don’t need table scraps anymore now that I’m not Snuffles.”

James grinned.