Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 265: Forever
"So…how did the expedition go?" James turned to Sirius.
"Right, where did you go this time?" Peter asked. "I heard something about Central America."
"Mexico," Sirius said. "Gringotts received a request from a private client who had information about an unexplored underground ruin inside the jungle of Chiapas."
"Unexplored? That is a well-known Maya ruin," Remus pointed out, referring to the ruins of Palenque.
"Not that one," Sirius responded. "And I said underground… it was not easy to find, I'll tell you that. But that was not the hardest part either…"
"Was it dangerous?" Peter became very interested. Compared to his office job, this was so much more exciting. "Were there traps in there?"
"Oh yes! Many of them," Sirius exclaimed with obvious excitement. "It took us months to explore the whole structure because of the number of magical traps and wards that we kept coming across."
"Magical traps? Did that underground tomb belong to a wizard?" Remus asked.
Sirius nodded. "More or less. From what we could discover, it was being used by a clan of shamans before the Mayans were around."
"And… did you find it?" James asked.
Sirius gave him a knowing look and pulled a small parcel from his robes. It was carefully wrapped in a black fabric with runes written all over it.
"Here you go." He handed it to James.
"James?" Remus said, looking confused by the interaction.
"I am the 'Private Client'..." James said to him.
"You hired the goblins?" Peter asked.
"When did you have time to go discover ancient ruins in Mexico?…" Remus wondered. "And why would you hire Sirius instead of going yourself?"
"To answer your questions… I've known about the site for a while now. And I didn't go myself simply because I didn't have the time. Between my job as a professor, my research, and my family, I couldn't spend weeks or months on such a task."
"Hence, Sirius the Curse-Breaker was called," Sirius said with pride.
Remus didn't look too pleased. "I still don't like that you sent Sirius to a dangerous site like that."
James shrugged. "Give Sirius some credit. I knew he could handle this."
"Yeah, give me some credit," Sirius huffed.
"And besides, I also sent Ultima to assist him, just in case things got too dangerous," James added.
Sirius gave him a glance. "You could have skipped that part…"
"Remus already knew that," James added.
"So… what did you find in there?" Peter asked, giving the small parcel a curious look.
"Just something that I need for a project I'm working on," James simply said.
"Always so secretive… come on, we are friends, right?" Peter tried to get more information.
"I hope you are not working on creating more dangerous creatures," Remus said.
"It's nothing like that," said James. "If I can figure out the details, I may be able to create a better source of magical energy than the arkstone that we currently use to power wards and artifacts."
"That sounds boring…" said Sirius. "Please, tell me I didn't put my neck in danger just for that. At least make a dragon or another hot sword-wielding homunculus."
James chuckled. "Why would I do the same thing again? One must always strive to innovate."
"That is very laudable, James," Remus commented. Their friend James may have many flaws, but he was at least trying to improve the world with his creations.
"Yeah! Make sure to show us when you are done with it," Peter said.
"Okay then." Sirius emptied another jar of beer. "Now I will regale you with my amorous adventures in a foreign country. I met this crazy, kinky girl in Guatemala that—"
"We are going to need more beer for this…" James rushed to say.
<><><><><><><><>
An hour later, the sky was starting to darken, and the waiter had just left another round of beers on the table, along with some snacks.
"Oh, and there was this blonde in Veracruz that—"
"Okay, Sirius. I think we have heard enough of that." Remus felt the need to stop him. An entire hour of Sirius describing all his encounters over the past months had been a bit too much, even with all the drinks.
"I don't think Liora would agree to do any of those things…" Peter muttered to himself.
"Sorry, Remus," Sirius then said. "I almost forgot that you weren't getting any. That must have been tough to hear."
"I'm not like you," Remus glared at Sirius.
"Don't discard Remus so quickly," James said. "He has been getting a lot of attention from the female students. Today, he even got a love letter."
"James!" Remus exclaimed.
"Really?" Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I hope it's from the senior girls."
"It doesn't matter," Remus told him. "They are still my students."
"To be fair, Remus had always been kinda popular," Peter pointed out. "He also got a lot of letters during our student years."
"Mmm… I suppose." Sirius couldn't deny that. "But the fool never did anything about it."
"It's not foolish," Remus frowned. "You know I have my reasons." Even if James had reduced the effects of the werewolf curse to almost nothing, the curse itself was still there, and there was always a chance that it could be passed to my offspring.
This is why Remus opted to avoid getting involved in a relationship.
James wished he could tell him that in his previous life, Remus was able to have a child who was born completely healthy, but there was no way for him to explain that. And even if he did, there were no guarantees that it would happen the same way again.
"Give me a bit of time, Remus. I may be able to do something about that," James said.
"No, James. You have done more than enough for me. It's thanks to you that I can live such a normal life, despite my condition." Remus really meant those words. He couldn't imagine getting to where he was without James's potions to keep the curse in control.
James shrugged. "There is no such thing as 'done enough'. We are friends for life, aren't we?"
"That's right!" Peter exclaimed.
"Yeah Remus, just let the crazy alchemist do his thing," Sirius added.
"Who are you calling crazy alchemist?" James frowned. "You damn mutt."
"Huh, what did you say?!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Okay… maybe we had enough beers for tonight," Remus said.
The group of friends continued to argue for hours after that… until they were kicked out of the pub.