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embrassemoi · 3 years

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Surrounded by the Moon and Stars ✷ 19

Pairings: Sirius B, Remus L, [F]Reader Content: Language, possible errors,

【 Masterlist: Previous Chapter | Next Chapter 】

Chapter 19: Mrs. Lupin

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The rest of Valentine’s Day was spent with Y/N compiling a list in her head:

1. Avoid drinking anything the Marauders — actually, avoiding drinking anything around James to dodge their concoction of face and body-altering potions. When students at lunch and dinner drank from the pumpkin juice supply, more than several people who were already in relationships morphed into those they weren’t dating. Let’s just say that this prank wasn’t as uplifting and fun as the Marauders originally had in mind. Even the Bloody Baron told Peeves to spare them.

2. Make sure Lily didn’t drink anything around the Marauders — or anything around Marlene and Mary (who caught word from Peter of her supposed feelings). They were dying to know who caught her attention and bets were being placed.

3. James just wouldn’t shut the fuck up about Emmeline. She could even hear his voice: Whiskers! Did you see how pretty she looks? Woah, I can’t believe she agreed to be my girlfriend? I’m so lucky! She’s beautiful! Ugh — did you see her smile? Emmeline this, Emmeline that — it was even worse than his obsession with Quidditch. But, it was too endearing in a sickening, annoyingly charming way and she was happy that he seemed happy, so Y/N kept her lips sealed.

Remus suggested drowning him in the bottles of love potions littering the castle but Y/N thought differently. James already acted like what a love potion was rumoured to be like; he’d become unstoppable if he even caught a whiff.

4. Shockingly by the end of the day, Y/N’s bag was stuffed with cards and gifts — all filled with confessions. She rarely socialized with anyone but the girls and Marauders, so it came as a surprise.

5. And now found herself stuck in a very uncomfortable situation.

Relaxing in the lounge area by the library, James and Mary were casting spells, Lily and Y/N chatted while Remus aided Marlene, going over course material, however, her face scrunched up as she flicked through his notes.

“What does this mean,” Marlene asked after desperately trying to decipher his writing. She slid it over to him, pointing to a highlighted section. But before Remus could translate, Y/N peeked over.

“Um — Owl to Opera Glasses. This spell emits fleeting wispy white vapour from wand — point at owl — no sound will be produced.”

She sat back in her seat, snapping off a piece of chocolate before handing the rest over to Remus beside her. Everyone looked shocked.

“Erm — what?”

Mary sputtered, “How did you read that? It’s fucking scribble!”

“He’s got doctor writing.”

They waited for her to elaborate.

“My mom’s —” “MUM!” “— writing is horrid. I swear all doctor’s have awful handwriting. I spent so much time reading her medical jornals, scans, charts — to keep me busy. So comparing Remus’ writing to hers, it’s legible.”

None of them seemed to understand besides Lily and Mary. Y/N just dismissed the matter entirely, sliding back the parchment to Marlene as they went back to their quiet conversations.

“So,” Remus leant in, his head craned down to talk to her. “Doctor handwriting — I should flaunt that?”

She chuckled, “Might make you sound smarter, but you don’t need that.”

“You flatter me too much.”

“Humble, aren’t you?”

“I have to bully myself daily. Can’t let it get to my head, not like egomania over there.”

Ah yes, the thrilling saga of bullying James Potter.

But before she could add on, a shadow caught Remus’s eye before he nudged her. His head tilted over to the direction of a wall, littered with portraits and awards with Quidditch trophies. “Looks like you’ve got an admirer.”

A blond boy, young — was staring at her, blushing madly as his chest puffed out, determination trickled through every step as he neared.

Remus’ smile became impossibly large, dripping in amusement before snapping, gaining the table’s attention.

“Hi,” there was a nervous waver in his voice, but confidence in his stance. He was pale, amplifying the scarlet blush on his cheeks.

Damn, she knew what was about to happen and so did shit-eating grin Lupin.

“Hello… What’s your name.” Right, that was a good place to start. Her eyes wandered to his tie: a Ravenclaw.

“Gilderoy Lockhart,” he announced, going up to flick a strand of hair from his face, flashing her a pearly white smile. “I’m in first year.” In his small hands, he outstretched his arms holding a box of chocolates — identical to the one Remus received a few days ago along with a meticulously crafted letter.

“You’reveryprettysowillyoubemyValentine?”

James, Mary and Marlene let out an involuntary snort which had all of them leaning into one another to support themselves from toppling over. Lily had to cast Silencio over them. They turned their heads away from Gilderoy before barking out silent merriment. Remus was the complete opposite, thankfully, as he remained poised, face void but his lips quivered upwards.

“Um… right... well,” she stalled. Maybe she should get up, take the boy elsewhere to softly let him down. “Thank you, I appreciate it a lot. But er… I can’t accept your feelings. Thank you for telling me, though. I appreciate it.”

“What?! Why!” He demanded. His face turned a deeper shade of pink, now causing a scene.

She made eye contact with Lily, however, James’ hand hammered down on the table, startling them all. His two hands formed pointed tips, mimicking two people kissing as he repeated the motion, pointing to her and Remus. Mary took the opportunity to grab Lily’s wrist, flicking a reversal charm on all of them.

“She’s dating Lupin!” She shouted which caught the attention of a few onlookers. James tossed his head back, knuckles in his mouth and Lily’s brow rose high in a startled grimace.

“For a month now!” Marlene continued, her hand slapping down on her thigh.

Y/N was going to murder them.

She went to open her mouth to say — well, okay, she didn’t know what to say but Remus budded in, lifting his arm, wrapping it around her shoulder and pulled her in awkwardly. She instantly got the hint, bringing a hand and patted his chest stiffly while the group tried not to bellow. Even Lily’s facade was beginning to break, her hand shooting up to cover a growing smile.

There was never a boring day at Hogwarts.

But she was taking too long to answer. This would've been quick, easy, had not everyone else been around and especially if they hadn’t lied about her dating.

“I’m sorry but yes, we’ve been together for a little while now, haven’t we, darling?” said Remus, saving her from the hesitation. Y/N nodded, at least she didn’t need to give a reason now.

Remus’ lying was exceptional. There wasn’t even a flicker in his expressions aside from the involuntary dark blush that ran down his cheeks to his neck. Y/N couldn’t blame him, her face felt like it was on fire.

Gilderoy tried to play it off coolly but his shoulders slumped, looking absolutely dispirited. He meekly nodded, placing the box and letter on the table and sped off.

“Cougar L/N!” Marlene roared once he was out of earshot.

“You lot are ruthless!” She barked at them.

“I did nothing!”

“Lied to a poor boy!” Lily lectured sharply.

“And she went along with it!” “Because you —”

While everyone was now bickering or on the verge of tears, Remus peeled himself off of her and Y/N patted him once more.

“You’re welcome.”

She looked up at him, “Darling? Really?”

His eyes rolled, “Did you want me to call you a troll?”

“Got me there, thank you.”

His face softened at this, shoving her in a teasing way before seizing the small box of chocolates, cracking it open and handed her a piece.

“What?” he smirked, moving to open a book, flipping to his worn-out bookmark. He side-eyed her uncomfortable expression as she looked at the box. He recited her words, “Expensive chocolate is still expensive chocolate.”

“You’re a dick.”

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February 17th, 1976

Y/N quickly learned that it was a mistake using the excuse that she and Lupin were dating because now the entire school believed it.

It spread like wildfire. Girls rejected by Remus shot her a hardened gaze, eyes scorned through her robes while other’s who confessed to Y/N avoided her completely. They would all gossip the moment they passed the hallways and she could feel their gaze.

“Lupin beat me to it!”

“— how long have they’ve been —”

“I’ve fancied him for two years! Two years and she suddenly just swoops in?!”

“Honestly, I thought she was with Potter.”

“She’s hot.” “He's fit!”

“— jealous of her —”

“Crikey — don’t they have anything else to talk about?” Remus said, turning away from the hall.

Remus disappeared for the past couple of days, only now hearing the commotion for the first time. He looked fairly pale, eyes red and tired — but not unusual. Y/N shrugged off the rumours and speculations before entering the hall, shouting to him to wait.

Many students stopped their gossiping for a moment to watch her pass before resuming. She marched up to her customary seat, her friends whistling at her.

“Where’s Remus L/N?”

“Mrs. Lupin!”

“Fuck off.”

She shoved snacks into her bag, hoarding enough food for the both of them and managed to grab a giant mug filled with coffee, making her way out of the hall with a few people loitering after her. James forcibly brought Sirius to his feet, Peter leaped over and Lily sprang up from Marlene, cutting her off while looping her arm with Y/N’s.

Mary elected to stay back, engrossed in a chat with Dorcas and Alice before quickly roping Marlene in. Nevertheless, she shouted once she saw the coffee mug, “That’s for Lupin, isn’t it?!”

“Don’t start… it’s just coffee.”

“Black coffee my arse!”

James ran up to her, tugging on her robes lightly, “Does this mean I should swap my Galleons to Lupin?”

Y/N shrugged him off, stomping over to Remus waiting by the door. She handed him the mug, glancing back in hopes of Celeste: no letter from her mother, again. She sighed before hauling the rest of the group to Kettleburn's classroom. This time, empty but always open for students to come and go. Even a sign was plastered on the entrance: Hold a Niffler if feeling down! (BEWARE of theft).

“Sneaking off like this is going to fuel more rumours,” said Lily, settling her things down on the desks beside her.

“Sorry Whiskers — Moony!”

Remus cracked his fingers, a long breathy sigh trickled from him slowly. “We should mitch lessons today — let it cool down for a bit.”

“Mitch?”

“Skip classes —”

“Moony is possibly the worst prefect in Hogwarts History — he deserves a gold star for it,” chuckled Peter.

Sirius grinned and the two made brief eye contact but neither looked away until James’ voice rang out again. It made Y/N's skin go warm.

“Mate’s going for a record.”

Sirius went to scratch the back of his neck, his head turning down to fiddle with his rings out of habit. “Maybe they’ll put him in the next printed copies of

Hogwarts: A History.”

Remus rolled his eyes, fixing his posture to sit straighter. “Ungrateful gits. All I hear are three wannabe detention attendees. You ought to be thanking me. With what you pull, I could easily give you two years worth of ‘em.”

A collective sigh went around from the boys who seemed to bow their heads in mutual respect. They grouped and drawled, “Thank you, Moonyyy!”

Lily turned to her, “I’m sorry, but you’re not skipping.”

Her voice automatically switched at the mention of class; it went strict and firm and eerily sounded like Professor McGonagall which had Y/N double down.

Once the bell rang, Sirius quickly walked up to her, taking the place of Lily.

“Fine, we’ll keep the Puffskein in my dorm.”

She considered him for a moment. “I’ll visit daily.”

“Jolly.”

He sped up, hooking an arm around James’ shoulders as they headed to Potions. Y/N's eyes followed him, unable to look away and her heart dropped.

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“The Draught of Peace is a potion that often comes up on the Ordinary Wizarding Level. As you know from review, it calms anxiety and high levels of agitation. It’s been used to calm students who are too stressed with NEWT exams.

“And today,” Slughorn says, trying to look cheerful but failing — looking far too stiff and forced, “ We'll attempt to brew it.”

Lily sat up bolt-straight, eager to soak in new information. Instead of sitting with Lily today, she took a seat in between Remus and James, Lily with Snape.

“The instructions are up on the board, if you have any questions, ask away. Be warned though; be too heavy-handed — mix too fast and you’ll end up with a potion that would make the consumer fall into an irreversible sleep.

“You will be graded on your progress once finished.” He flicked his wand, opening all of the student’s textbooks to an ingredients page, unlocked the cupboard and turned back, “You have until the end of the class, begin my pupils!”

“Sluggys lookin’ pretty sluggishly today,” whispered Lily as they met briefly while collecting their ingredients.

Slughorn did look a little down. His face and voice were desolate, missing its happy chiper.

“Whiskers, I have everything already, don’t worry about it!” James beckoned.

The potion, in her opinion, wasn’t as hard as she predicted it to be. She was doing quite well, better than Lily and Remus which gave her a small sense of pride.

“So, Prongs, when are we going to get to meet Emmeline?”

James didn’t look up from his fiddly potion, too engaged but there was a small grin on his face. “We’re trying to take it slow —” “Pfft,” interjected Remus, “James Potter and slow — in a relationship? Doubt it. Did your Veela powers run out?”

“Hey! I like her and I don’t want her to run off or feel pressured.”

“Ah, what a gentleman, isn’t he Lupin?”

“Quite.”

James shook his head, “You shouldn’t be talking. Shouldn’t you lovebirds be on a date yoursel — Merlin! Moony don’t do that!”

Remus flicked his wand before a handful of leftover powdered moonstone fell on top of James’ head, giving him an iridescent appearance.

Y/N ignored them, stirring clockwise, then counterclockwise, simmering the heat down to the perfect level for seven minutes, then added in two drops of syrup of hellebore. A shimmery silver mist stemmed from her cauldron. A satisfied smirk settled it’s way on her face before scanning the class. Nobody else, besides Remus and Snape who’d been adding their finishing touches, was done.

Just as James was about to finish his perfectly brewed potion, a small beam was directed at his cauldron, ruining the entire potion as it sputtered multicoloured sparks. He tried to prod at the flames at the base of the cauldron, trying to cool it down but it was already too late. It soon became a thick, muddy concrete mixture.

“What the fuck? You guys saw that, right?!”

They had indeed seen a spell hit his cauldron. Their heads whipped around in search. With only ten minutes left and James’ grades about to drop, they all panicked slightly. If his marks were to drop below a certain level, James would be in jeopardy of losing his Quidditch title as captain and be forced to step down, focusing more on the OWLs.

Remus spotted them first: “It’s Snape.”

“How do you know?”

He didn’t respond, leaving them to follow his line of vision to look. Snape wore a horrible smirk, going as far as to wink at James. His perfectly brewed potion shimmered in the light before whirling around to talk to Lily.

“Fucking Snivellus,” James muttered tensley.

“Alright, in five minutes, I’ll be coming around to look at your potions! Be ready to present them.” Slughorn announced.

Remus sighed. “Prongs, just take mine — I’ll take yours. My grades are high enough but if yours drop —”

“No Moony,” he stated firmly. “I’m not going to let you go down with me.”

Distracted, Snape blushing like a fool to Lily and the boys fighting over Remus’ endeavour at being noble, Y/N swished her wand, levitating Jame’s cauldron and directed it over to Snape. She bewitched a temporary invisibility charm, switching them, before levitating Snape's back to James. Now, in front of James was a flawlessly brewed Draught of Peace.

“James, take my help —” “I said no you wanker!”

Slughorn was making rounds around the classroom, but Snape beckoned him over to his shared table with Lily, confident as he sent a nasty look to them.

“Evans, looking good! Perfectly brewed — I’ll add an extra point on your mark.” The praise did not go unnoticed as her chest puffed with pride, her head turning and locked eyes with Y/N, a large smile on her face.

Nice! Y/N mouthed, a thumb sticking upwards.

“Now lets — Severus!” exclaimed Slughorn, flashes of surprise shot through him, “What happened? This is so unlike you.”

The Slytherins in the class all looked up — scratch that — everyone in the class snapped their heads towards him; Snape had never once messed up a potion. They watched as Snape’s face fell from his smug smirk as a black stemming, multicoloured, cloud of smoke puffed in the air, making the surrounding students cough.

“Sir — I swear it was fine moments ago, I don’t know what happened! It must’ve —”

Their professor sighed, a very disappointed look crossed his face before shaking his head.

“It’s quite alright, Mr. Snape. Accidents happen. Evanesco.”

The contents, including the puff of smoke, vanished, leaving Snape to gape around. Lily touched his shoulder, rubbing her hand up and down and began murmuring into his ear.

But before Slughorn could go to another group, Y/N raised her hand, flagging him down while the rest of the class was still paying attention. “Professor! We would like for you to clear us, please!”

“Whiskers, what are you doing?”

“Trust me.”

“Look at what she did with your cauldron,” Remus mumbled, his eyes darting to her.

Complete surprise and utter awe replaced his face as Slughorn let out an excited squeal. His hands clapped together. “Everyone should take a page from Potter, L/N and Lupin. I’ve never seen such great work for this potion! Amazing you three! Ten points for Gryffindor.”

Their heads whipped towards her, Remus just smiled while James stared wide-eyed.

“You love to underestimate me.”

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kashimos-hajime · 3 years

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“it’s because i’m so attractive isn’t it?” “i say this. and i cannot stress this enough. i find you completely repulsive.” With James Potter or Sirius Black whdoqodjqid ✨

KINGS!!! i love this hehehe and @xxlovingfandomsxx because you requested the same thing :)

note: with a ravenclaw reader and sirius black :^) this makes me want to write my hp fanfic again LMAOO

“It’s because I’m so attractive isn’t it?” “I say this, and I cannot stress this enough, I find you completely repulsive.”

Walking into Transfiguration, you send a weary smile to Emmeline and Dorcas as you sit down a table away from them.

To say last night was an absolutely agonizing headache would be an understatement. Losing the chance at the Quidditch cup after a bare miss and a terrible foul resulted in most of the older Ravenclaws mulling over firewhiskey to curb the pain. It’s your sixth year, you’re a Quidditch Captain no less, and still, you can’t even manage to win a fight for a bloody cobbing foul.

You can still see that smarmy git’s nasty smirk.

You, the one who was on the receiving end of the act, have been given a wide berth all morning. Your arm still aches from where a bludger had slammed into it after the prick on the Hufflepuff’s elbowed you in the ribs—not to mention said ribs still a bit bruised from how excessive he had been.

Like, if you’re going to commit a foul, at least commit it in the least obvious way possible. Merlin, your ribs are only proof that the foul happened.

Nevertheless, what’s done is done.

Suddenly, a boy drops down beside you and you don’t even have to look twice to know it’s the one quarter of the infamous Marauders.

“Black.”

“Brains.” You don’t even scowl at the nickname anymore as you adjust your blue striped tie and prepare yourself for class.

“You’re remarkably early for once.”

“And you left the Hospital Wing early,” he shoots back. You send him a raised eyebrow. Same charcoal grey eyes, shaggy hair, handsome face, same knowing look. Not a thing seems to escape any of the Marauders. “I heard you partied last night.”

“A right pity party,” you agree.

“And I wasn’t invited.”

“You and I share one thing in common, Sirius: we both absolutely loathe you. I wouldn’t have invited you even if you were available,” you tell him, pulling out your homework next. Black’s eyes flitter to the parchment for a moment, and you debate whether or not he’ll ask to copy before deciding that he doesn’t care enough to do so. Either that, or he’s already copied off Remus. You sigh, grabbing your quills. “What do you want?” you add pointedly. “You’re sitting in Stebbins’ seat.”

“Well, he isn’t here, is he?”

This time, you do scowl and Sirius breaks into a small smile as he leans forward onto the desk, watching as you continue to prepare for class, slamming your textbook onto the desk with more force than was probably necessary. Merlin, your arm hurts.

“I wanted to offer my condolences. That foul was bullshit, I promise you.” You know, but still, it sounds nice knowing everyone else knew. You offer a genuine, half-hearted smile but it disappears soon enough, your terrible mood returning just as quickly as it left. It’s silent for a moment or two before: “That’s the first time you’ve ever really smiled at me this year, you know?”

“I don’t keep count.”

“Huh. Do you ever wonder why I get on your nerves so easily, Brains?”

“Not at all.”

“Really? Well, I do.”

“Bully for you.”

“And I think it’s because I’m so attractive, isn’t it?” That stops you in your tracks. Lips parting, your eyebrows struggling to meet your hairline as you try to wrap your head around that idea. Of course, your brain recognizes the fact that Sirius Black is, objectively, an attractive specimen, but to you? He’s been an annoying thorn in your side since fourth year you’re reminded of every once in a while. You’d rather not think of him in any sort of capacity like that.

Which is why, you, with the utmost grace, tell him, “I say this, and I cannot stress this enough, I find you completely repulsive.”

Sirius’ smile only grows. You glare. A boy behind the Marauder awkwardly stands there, witnessing the intense eye contact between you and Black and you can’t help the twist in your gut as you finally drag your gaze away from him, acknowledging your normal desk partner.

“Morning,” he says. “Didn’t see you at breakfast.”

You sigh. “Stebbins. I went earlier today. You look alright.”

“Thanks, all things considered,” he replies. He looks just as hungover as you do, minus the bruised ribs and wonky arm. You nod. Sirius’ gaze snaps to him. Grey meets a cool brown. You resist the urge to tell Sirius to just go already.

“Stebbins.”

“Black.” A beat. Stebbins gestures at the seat. “You’re in my spot.”

“Apologies.” It doesn’t sound apologetic at all as Sirius stands and Stebbins runs a thumb underneath his book bag, settling beside you. You still don’t tear your eyes away from the Marauder as he looks at you again. “See you around, Brains.”

“I hope not,” you shoot back and he retreats to where James, Remus and Peter are already sitting near the mid-back of the class.

“What was that all about?” murmurs Stebbins, pulling out his book and homework and you give him a weary look.

“What is it ever about with Black?” McGonagall walks into class, capturing their attention, and you lower your voice. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Noted.”

Just because you don’t want to, doesn’t mean Black’s finished. When McGonagall turns her back to write on the chalkboard, you know that it’s Sirius who charms a paper bird to fly onto your desk, and when you unfold it, you can’t help but roll your eyes with a touch of fondness.

Hufflepuff git. Next butterbeer’s on me.

—S.B.

join my 4k celebration!

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writtenonreceipts · 3 years

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Here’s a Harry Potter fic, it’s just an old Jily fic I found in my files, enjoy. It’s a Canon ifc right around 5.4k words

fine my main masterlist here

The Name of the Game

Year 6- September 2

The one thing that Lily Evans appreciated most about Hogwarts was the fact that escape was possible. Escape from friends, escape from the world, escape even from herself.

It was only the second day of the term and Lily was already feeling smothered by everything. After disentangling herself from Severus Snape at the end of last year, her friends (wonderful as they were) tried too hard in getting Lily to be social and have girl’s night.

Mary, Marlene, Alice, and even Dorcas were her closest confidents while at school. Especially now that she hadn’t been able to reconcile with her sister. Really, she should have been willing to open up and talk to them.

Maybe in a few weeks she would be up to it, but for now she just wanted to mourn.

Running a hand through her hair, Lily shook the thoughts from her head and left the castle. The autumn air was still warm enough that Lily only needed a cardigan to keep warm, her hair hung in a thick sort of mess just past her chin. Thankfully it had begun growing out from the terrible cut she had gotten at the start of the summer. Maybe she could see if Marlene would help her find a spell to lengthen it.

“Hey, Red!”

Lily cringed at the loud and robust call that hailed her from entry way of the Castle. Trying to keep a muted expression, Lily glanced over her shoulder to see none other than James Potter bounding down the steps of the Castle toward her. She was surprised that he wasn’t sliding down the banisters. In First Year, he and Sirius had gotten a month’s worth of detention and a frenzied chase around the castle by Filch. Although, she was sure the boys still found ways to slide down the banisters without getting noticed.

“What did you call me Potter?” she demanded as she continued her walk across the grounds. He, much to her annoyance, kept pace with his freakishly long legs.

They walked down the well-worn path that lead down by the Forbidden Forrest on that late Thursday afternoon. Lily had no real destination in mind, she just desperately needed to walk around after escaping Alice’s pleads for another hour of discussing herbology theory.

Although now that Potter had found her and seemed to be bored, Lily realized she needed to come up with someplace to go quick or else she may be stuck with his presence the rest of the day. Or else she could return to Alice’s side and have another in-depth discussion on mandrake breeding processes.

Given how they’d left things the previous year, Lily wasn’t sure how she felt about being around him anymore than necessary.

“Called you Red,” he replied lightly, his deep hazel eyes catching hers with a near maniac gleam to them. She had a sudden flashback to running about the castle with him in third year trying to get away from Mrs. Norris. “You know, with the fiery red hair, the fiery red attitude.”

She could slap him. Twice. Maybe add an effectively aimed kick. “See, Potter, this is the reason that I choose to ignore you.”

“Ignore me, eh?” he grinned easily his lopsided smile was a force to be reckoned with and Lily had to fight not to crack a smile. “You’ve never been very good at that.”

“Only because you are too starved for attention.” Lily rolled her eyes and waved to Professor Sprout who was maneuvering some rather stubborn looking plants about the First Year Greenhouses. Their conversation flowed easy, too easily, and Lily found herself troubled by it. She should be mad at him. She should be yelling and threatening. And yet, she couldn’t find the energy. Or the desire. The notion of hating him didn’t settle well with her now.

Even after what transpired after the O.W.L.S examination last year, Lily really couldn’t ignore him. She never had been able to. James Potter was an enigma that she couldn’t rightly wrap her mind around.

“And yet, you still chose to satiate my childish need of said attention,” James replied. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, not before Lily noticed, nearly running them through his hair. Lily’s stomach twisted. He remembered the way they left things. Of course he did. Oh, she needed to find an escape route. “What are you up to today, Emerald?”

“Really Potter? Emerald?” She scoffed shaking her head. “I thought you were more creative than that.”

“Well, I was going to call you “love,” but I’d really like to be able to play Quidditch for the rest of the year, y’know?”

“Yes, I agree,” Lily mused, “you really should not call me love.”

James chuckled and Lily noticed (dammit) that he seemed to favor a lower tone, the kind that reminded her of a nicely stoked fire. “So, does Lily Evans have nothing better to do with her day than wander around the Castle Grounds?”

Oh, Lily thought as she finally paid attention to their surroundings. She’d begun to walk in a lackadaisical zigzag pattern, nearing a bit too close to the edge of the Forrest. Potter didn’t seem to be annoyed, just amused. Blast it.

“Well, I’m just clearing my head. We’ve got that Transfiguration essay to write and all.”

“Right,” he agreed, and ran a hand through his hair. Did he really feel that uncomfortable around her? Yes. Yes, he did. And she couldn’t blame him. “I didn’t expect McGonagall to be so intense with us this early. But, she never ceases to surprise me.”

Lily hummed in agreement. “Yeah.”

In truth, while the essay was bedraggling a great part of her mind, Lily was also caught up with thoughts of Severus, her sister, and now the stiff awkwardness she was feeling toward James. Over the summer, while Severus had tried to remain in contact with Lily, she’d finally decided that enough was enough and she wasn’t going to respond. Marlene, Mary, Dorcas, and Alice had all supported her enthusiastically with the decision.

The Petunia Issue was a great deal more complicated. And much to Lily’s horror to the fact, she was slowly realizing that she may need to let her sister go. That thought alone was enough to cause her to want to crawl into bed and never get up.

“Firecracker?” James asked, though it sounded much more like he was searching approval of the name than calling for her attention.

Sweet Merlin, what is this? Lily looked at him incredulously to find that he was failing miserably at fighting back a smile. “Are you serious?”

“No, actually, but I know—”

He was cut off by Lily’s fist trying to connect with his shoulder. Laughing madly, James dashed out of the way and nearly into the line of trees of the Forrest.

“I’m going to tell Black that you tried to make that joke again,” she threatened, but the fear she tried to evoke was lost to her giggles. “I thought you all’d made an oath never to use that on anyone again?”

James suddenly looked very somber. “Yes, I would actually appreciate it if you didn’t tell the boys about that. I already owe them each three galleons.”

“Oh?” Lily was still shaking with laughter as they rounded another corner. “Already? I thought you reset your betting game at the start of the year after you all settled up.”

“Yeah,” James mumbled, a distinct blush flushed his cheeks. “There was a thing, and then this other—I failed again on that front.”

Eyeing him curiously, Lily corralled them away from the trees. While she wasn’t afraid of what was in the Forrest, she still felt a bit uneasy about what lay inside. “Right.”

He kept quiet as they weaved around a patch of boulders and nearer to the Lake. It was curious; James Potter actually seemed embarrassed by something. What he had anything to be embarrassed about, Lily had no idea. Potter was always the calm, savvy type. Albeit a goofball and prankster as well, but this sudden sputtering and blushing caught Lily off guard.

“Why have the boys started calling you Prongs?” she asked suddenly, hoping that would change the mood between them.

His eyes widened, only briefly before his usual easy grin flashed across his face. “Oh, just a bit of a joke between us from the start of last year. Moony couldn’t be the only one with a nickname.”

“Right,” Lily said, though she wasn’t convinced. One of James’ hands seemed to flex at his side. Probably trying to keep from roughing up his hair—again. Lily bit her lip to keep from grinning. “Do I want know where Padfoot and Wormtail came from?”

“Actually, those are funny stories,” James’ eyes brightened and Lily could feel the energy radiating off of him.

“Funny or disturbing,” Lily asked, miming that she was weighing a scale, “because I just don’t know with you.”

“Evans, Evans, Evans,” James chuckled as they came to the edge of the Lake. “Just imagine for me, Peter growing out his hair and deciding to cut it all off except for this long braided strand. He tried to put beads in it.”

Lily let out a laugh and clamped her hands over her mouth. Encouraged by her reaction, James laughed to, continuing the image.

“Evans, I wish I had gotten a picture, for a while there it was a mullet. A mullet that we did not tell him to do. I think he was trying to be a bit more like Sirius honestly,” James glanced out over the glassy water thoughtfully. “We thought he’d grown out of that phase in Fourth Year. We were terribly mistaken.”

Lily sputtered another laugh and had to bit her lip to keep quiet. “Please tell me you cut it off.”

“We got all but that tail,” James mourned. “And he took extra precaution to keep it safe after that. Now, Sirius on the other hand, was much more scandalous. He decided to sneak down into the Kitchen in nothing but his boxers to grab a box of cookies. And then my Mum caught him like that stuffing as many cookies in his mouth as he could.”

They stopped walking now, just at the edge of the Lake. To Lily’s horror, they were near the old tree from last year where most of their issues had boiled over, painfully. Though James didn’t seem too worried about it, so neither would she. Instead, Lily rolled her eyes at the image of Sirius and his lack of modesty. “So, Sirius lives with your family?”

“Yeah,” James’ face brightened at the fact and he looked as though he could talk about it all day. “He does.”

Lily almost asked him what had spurred that, but caught herself. There was no reason why Potter should confide in her like this. There was no reason why they should spend this much time talking to one another either.

After the incident by the Lake, near this exact spot, Lily had been certain she wouldn’t have anything to do with him. She was sure that would be it, that they’d finally go their own ways. Yet here they were.

“Are you just going to follow me around?” Lily finally asked. “I would assume you have better things to be doing with your day.”

His mouth quirks in a smile, he begins to say something before he shakes his head. Biting his lip, James stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Nah. The boys are all in detention. Well, Peter and Sirius are. Remus is…well he’s around. And, I wanted, er, needed to talk to you.”

“About what?” Nice Lily. Hmm, I wonder what you two could possibly need to talk about. It was Lily’s turn to flush and she ran a hand through her hair.

He didn’t look at her as shuffled his feet, hands stuffed in his pockets. James exhaled stiffly and looked out over the glassy surface of the lake, the water reflected sharply in the sun. “I wanted to apologize.”

Lily blinked.

Apologize? As in try to make amends? Wanted? As in he desired to do this and admit he was in the wrong?

“Oh.” Brilliant. That was just a beautiful thing to say to that. Congratulations Lily, keynote speaker right there.

“I mean,” James said quickly. “I’ll be honest that he deserved it. But I should have handled it better than I did. I know he’s your friend and—”

“Was.” She watched a ripple expand over the surface of the water as a tentacle of the Giant Squid skimmed the water.

“Was?”

“Was.”

“Oh.” He frowned deeply and finally turned toward her. “I didn’t know.”

Lily scraped her teeth against her lower lip. She would not start crying. “I couldn’t make excuses anymore.”

“I’m sorry Evans,” he even sounded sincere, Lily realized. They stared at each other for a moment and Lily almost felt a swell of gratitude for him, almost.

“Thanks for apologizing Potter,” she finally said. He pursed his lips and nodded, the fact that she didn’t actually accept the apology wasn’t lost on him.

“No one should ever lose their best friend,” he told he firmly. Something caught his attention as he turned, a broad grin stretching on his features. Lily glanced over her shoulder to see Peter Pettigrew looping awkwardly across the grounds waving madly.

“Prongs! Prongs!” The boy wasn’t as tall as James, nor as slender and lean, but he had a solid quality to him, even as he nearly went tumbling down after tripping over a rock.

“Wormtail,” James called exasperated. He shook his head, but Lily could see the affection he had toward his friend. “You’re going to break your ankle, again!”

“Moony’s here,” replied Peter. He stopped trying to run, opting instead to try and catch his breath, hands on his knees.

“Excellent.” James clapped his hands and tipped an imaginary hat to Lily and smiled. “Thank’s for not hexing me.”

“You didn’t give me a reason to,” Lily replied quietly. She wasn’t sure he heard her as he ran to his friend. The two began talking animatedly as they hurried back to the castle. “Bye.”

Shaking her head, Lily looked back over the Lake. It used to be one of her favorite places to come to and think. It was always one of the quieter places around Hogwarts. Quiet, but with just enough noise to keep her sane.

She stood there for a while longer until she noticed someone come stand next to her. Mary McDonald said nothing as she leaned her head on Lily’s shoulder and breathed deeply.

“Alice is talking about getting another toad,” Mary finally said. “We need an intervention.”

Snorting Lily began laughing and she couldn’t bring herself to stop as she and Mary slowly began to head back to the castle.

.*.*.*

After nearly two weeks, Lily almost forgot about the interaction she had with Potter that day by the Lake. The second interaction. Not the first. That was a lie. They were both still the center of attention to her. But, she couldn’t let them consume her completely. Not when she had to be at the top of her game in her classes and not slack off as a Prefect. Not when the possibility of becoming Head Girl was so close and so possible.

Lily almost forgot about it though. Almost forgot about the nickname game that Potter seemed to be playing.

Almost.

“If it isn’t the Tempestuous Redhead herself.” Sirius Black called cheerfully across the Common Room late one evening. Lily, upon returning from a particularly terrible night of rounds, only wanted to go up to bed and be dead to the world for the rest of her life. Black wasn’t helping matters.

Under different circumstances she might have smiled. But the way Black lounged in his chair twirling his wand nonchalantly, Lily had no qualms about setting him straight with a bat-boogey hex.

“Padfoot,” Potter stage whispered. He sat cross-legged on the floor by the coffee table and could see the murderous expression on Lily’s face. Genuinely concerned for his friend’s safety, he tried to smack Sirius. But, the other young man seemed unconcerned with the looming threat.

The other Marauders seemed at an impasse, be worried or be amused? The general consensus was amused as Pettigrew’s head snapped between Lily and Sirius and terribly hidden smile on his lips. Lupin smirked resting an elbow on the back of the couch, his eyes gleamed with approval in Lily’s direction.

“Care to repeat that Black?” Lily finally asked slowly walking fulling into the Common Room. Black didn’t baulk or shift as Lily glared at him. If anything, he was much more confident. This is why he and Potter are friends, Lily realized suddenly.

“The Tempestuous Redhead,” Black shrugged. His shaggy hair fell across his face casting shadows sharply against his skin. He was actually decently fit. Lily realized she would need to concede in her argument with Marlene over the more attractive boys of Gryffindor.

“Hmm,” Lily raised an eyebrow. “I was going to give you an opportunity to spare your life.”

Sirius propped his feet up on the table, giving more access for James to slap him. Shaking off his mate, Sirius’ grin broadened. “C’mon, Evans, it’s a good nickname. I guarantee you if you have people call you that, those third years will give you less flak.”

“And I can guarantee you that if you continue calling me that, I will murder you,” Lily responded. She held his gaze for a moment before looking between the other Marauders. Pettigrew was giddily bouncing in his seat, Lupin now blatantly smiled as he shook with silent laughter. Potter too seemed to be laughing, but was doing his best to control it. Though, his eyes never left Lily.

“But you could be a pirate with that name,” Peter suddenly burst out. A look of pure terror came across his face, but the damage was done.

“What?” Absolutely flabbergasted at what the blond boy had said, Lily stared at him.

Black, Lupin, and Potter couldn’t fight it anymore and they began laughing outright now. Potter fell back on his elbows, the light of the fire falling on his features and Lily could see dark shadows beneath his eyes.

“Y-you could be a pirate,” Peter whispered horrified that he was still allowing his traitorous tongue to speak.

This sent the boys into another fit of giggles that Lily couldn’t seem to understand. Maybe if she weren’t so tired, if they weren’t all such insufferable gits, she would be laughing with them.

“I-I don’t want to be a pirate Peter,” Lily finally said. She closed her eyes as there was even more giggling and hisses to “shut-up ya fool” and “she really will kill us.” Lily opened her eyes to see Peter had slunk down into the couch so only his eyes and the tip of his forehead peeked over the back. Potter sat up wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. “I’m just going to go to bed. When I get up in the morning, I will not be the Tempestuous Redhead, nor will I be a pirate.”

“Agreed,” Peter squeaked as his eyes disappeared into the couch.

“G’night Evans!” Black called as Lily stomped up to the girl’s dormitory’s.

“Sorry!” Potter called not long after.

Lily spent the rest of that evening falling over in fits of giggles as she recounted the encounter with her friends.

.*.*.*

“Lilykins!” It was James who dared to try the naming game again. Nearly a month after the pirate incident Lily had taken hope that it would be just the two times. Hoped in the relative sense. She would only admit to herself, that yes, it was amusing to see what the boys could come up with as nicknames. And if she was being honest with herself, it nice to have the interaction. Despite how ridiculous it always seemed to be.

This time, Lily and Marlene were headed down to Hogsmead, after Marlene had finally settled on a scarf to wear with her outfit. Apparently the first five scarf attempts made Marlene look like she had five chins. Something Lily didn’t see, but there was no persuading Marlene otherwise. James and Remus walked, a bit to quickly about the halls. Stuffing a spare bit of parchment in his pocket Remus waved kindly at the two witches.

“I think I would prefer to be a pirate,” Lily responded mildly as she carefully observed the two boys. They were trying too hard to appear innocent for Lily’s liking.

“I’ll be sure to let Peter know,” James with a wink as they continued.

“We should probably get out of the castle as soon as possible,” Lily decided. There was the distinctive sound of running footsteps and she was convinced that Potter and Lupin were the source.

“Probably,” Marlene agreed. “Although, the pixie invasion of Halloween was rather enjoyable.”

Lily rolled her eyes as Marlene bumped into her with a hip.

.*.*.*

The chill of the dungeons made Lily wish she’d worn a scarf that morning. Even for late November, it was cold. Pulling her robes tighter around her, Lily hurried from Professor Slughorns office. After an incident with a few fourth years the previous night, Lily hadn’t been able to finish an assigned essay, but gratefully, Slughorn now extended the due date for her. Even if it was just one extra day, it still relieved the pressure that had been building in Lily’s chest throughout the week.

Mary had offered to stay back with her, but Lily declined. They had a free period now, and Mary needed to get caught up on her Charms work. A fact the brunette firmly denied, but Lily had seen the small look of relief in her eyes. That and Mary had begun talking in her sleep. It was bad enough that Alice wasn’t a good sleeper, having two in the dorm who would talk or walk unconsciously could only end in disaster.

Lily smirked at the thought. She wondered if there would be a way to get Mary to admit anything in particular in her sleep.

Someone shouted along the way ahead, Lily almost thought it could be Mary coming back, but the voice was too deep. Frowning, Lily glanced over her shoulder, but it didn’t seem Slughorn was emerging from his office, and she knew he had no other classes that afternoon.

“C’mon Rooky,” the voice continued. Lily felt her stomach sink, Avery. Not that she should be afraid of him. Or Rookwood.

“Relax,” Avery responded as he rounded the corner of the corridor.

To her chagrin, Lily’s breath caught and she automatically felt her muscles constrict, forcing her body to become smaller. This was ridiculous. Inhaling sharply, Lily threw her shoulders

Their voices stilled as they caught sight of her, and the only sound in the dungeons was shuffling feet and swishing robes.

“Well look who it is,” Rookwood mused. They were too far down the hall to actually do anything, but the way the torches unevenly lit the way and the small space of the hall made them feel closer.

“The Gryffindor.” Avery’s low voice seemed to slide across the old stone of the dungeons to Lily. Straightening, she did her best to look neutral to their goads.

“The mudblood,” Rookwood corrected with a disapproving click of his tongue.

“Something I can help you boys with?” Lily asked as they drew nearer. They couldn’t be stupid enough to actually try anything. Could they? Slughorn’s office wasn’t too far down, he would hear if anything escalated. But it wouldn’t. There was nothing Lily needed to be worried about.

“Why would anyone want to be defended by a mudblood?” Ignoring Lily, the two Slytherin’s continued their conversation, drawing closer.

No one would blame her if she cast a sticking charm to keep them in place if she ran, would they? But she wasn’t going to run because there was nothing to run from. It was just like Severus said, Avery especially talked a lot, he never actually did anything. Rookwood, Severus never said anything about him.

So now you’re trusting his word again? Lily thought to herself. She pursed her lips as she neared the boys. Neither moved aside to let her pass, if anything they seemed to be moving toward her like a net. A net of stupid and stupider. She needed to stop listening to Alice and her “insults.”

“If you don’t have a purpose in the dungeons, I can give you detentions,” Lily said, rather proud of the firm authority in her voice.

“Meeting with our head of house, mudblood,” Rookwood said. He was the taller of the two, long limbs that were too spindly, his blonde hair too stringy, lips too thin. A slow smile crossed his features. “We could ask you the same question.”

“Besides,” Avery added. He had attractive features, with dark eyes and splashes of freckles beneath his eyes. “It’s a free period.”

Before Lily could say anything Rookwood smoothly continued. “We are free to do what we want. A mudblood like you however, you shouldn’t even be in Hogwarts.”

“Interesting,” Lily deadpanned. “I’ll be sure to tell that to Dumbledore when I see him next: Blood status is more important than talent. I’m sure he’ll agree.”

Rookwood took a step closer to Lily, forcing her to lean against the wall. “Finally, the mudblood understands.”

“About time,” Avery scoffed. “Maybe she’ll see now this can’t be stopped. That there’s no place for dirty blood here.”

“So, you see,” Rookwood took liberty to make another slur, one that tempted Lily to curse his tongue off. “You see, your time’s limited.”

Swallowing stiffly, Lily kept her gaze locked with Rookwood. “I’ll keep that under advisement.”

“We’ll see that you do,” Rookwood’s hot breath on Lily’s cheek made her long for the chill she’d felt earlier.

And just as suddenly as the boys chose to stop and target her, they were gone. After a moment, Lily heard Slughorn’s booming voice welcome to the two boys and a door slam shut. Closing her eyes, Lily felt tears prick and begin to form.

“Bloody fool,” she whispered bracing herself on the wall. Coving her face, Lily took several deep breaths. She was fine. It was fine. They didn’t actually do anything, just like she’d originally thought. Even if their words still echoed in her mind.

The chill returned, a welcome change in the atmosphere. Tucking her hair over her shoulder, Lily straightened and ran. Stumbling into the main hall of the castle, she was grateful to see that it wasn’t busy. In fact, there wasn’t another soul in sight.

Sighing in relief, Lily straightened her clothes, glancing at her watch. She had about a half hour until Ancient Runes; a delightfully difficult class that would require her full attention.

“Everything alright, Evans?” Squawking in surprise, Lily glanced around to see James Potter emerging from a hall that Lily was sure led to the kitchens.

“Fine,” Lily said, though she knew her voice was an octave too high and she could feel her own eyes bugging out of her head. She usually wasn’t this horrid of a liar.

James, unconvinced, nodded. “You sure—?”

“Yes!” She snapped. The word settled between them heavily and Lily instantly regretted losing her temper, but James didn’t seem hurt or offended. Instead, he merely watched her; lips pursed, arms crossed over his chest.

“I am utterly convinced,” he said dropping his hands to stuff in his pockets. They stood in silence like that for several moments longer. Lily began to feel increasingly uncomfortable while James seemed more and more at ease.

“I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” Lily finally said and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear.

James merely shrugged. “Thanks, but that’s not why I stuck around.”

Quirking an eyebrow, Lily watched as he walked over to her, and not in that lazy saunter he usually favored.

“What did you want Potter?” she asked.

“Just making sure,” he paused and leaned against the wall. His glasses gleamed in the light making as he glanced in the direction the Slytherin’s left. “Just wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

“I’m fine,” Lily said with a little more authority than she’d had previously. But, she was distinctly aware that his eyes flashed to the dungeons like hers had and one of his hands dove into his pocket where she was sure she heard the crinkle of parchment. “I would ask if you are alright Potter.”

James snorted, shaking his head. “Please Evans. I’m more than alright.”

“Sweet Merlin.” While it was classic Potter and she really didn’t want to egg him on, Lily couldn’t help but chuckled. “You are insufferable.”

“I do try.” He grinned and followed after she left the dungeons.

Lily rolled her eyes over her shoulder at him. “What were you doing down in the dungeons anyways Potter?”

“Um,” he stumbled up the stairs after her, working over his words. “I don’t want you to hex me.”

“Then don’t give me a reason to.”

James gave a soft laugh as he walked beside her. “Of course not Evans, of course not. It’s just that I know you. And you tend to like hexing me.”

“No more than you antagonize me,” she replied. Though, she really couldn’t help but smile.

James cleared his throat before speaking. “I knew you had a meeting with Slughorn. And then I saw Avery and Rookwood head down there too. And while I know you can take care of your self—I’d really hate to see you get expelled.”

They came to a stop in the middle of the Great Hall as students moved between their classes. Lily turned to look at him, still a bit confused that she and James Potter were having a somewhat decent conversation.

Raking a hand through his hair, James shrugged again. “Well, Evans, once again, thank-you for not hexing me.”

“Thank-you for not giving me a reason to,” she replied, his impish grin and sparkling eyes only made her smile more.

With a wink, James made for the stairs, Lily was quite certain she could hear Sirius bellowing at the top of his lungs for his friend.

“You know Potter, you could just call me Lily,” she burst out as she walked to the base of stairs. Her cheeks flushed immediately as she said it. Sweet Merlin her face was probably the same color as her hair. Crap. Despite that fact, she did her best to meet his gaze as boldly as she could.

Surprise burst across his feature, but only for a moment before his grin returned. “Then do one thing for me in return Red.”

Lily quirked an eyebrow. If he dared ask her out, she would deliver that kick she’d thought of since third year. “Oh?”

“You could,” he stepped up the three steps separating with such quick grace that Lily didn’t have time to stumble back or flinch. James was too close to her now. So close, she realized, that she could smell his cologne and feel the heat radiating off his body. Or was it her own body heat? There was a blush already stretching across her cheeks despite how hard she did to fight it. “You could call me James.”

And with that, he bounded back up the steps towards Sirius’ magnified voice (with a bit of McGonagall mingled there as well).

It was only after he’d disappeared up a few more flights that Lily released the breath she had been holding. Running a hand through her hair, Lily watched the way James went and felt a slow smile slip over her lips.

“Alright James,” she whispered.

.*.*.

thanks for reading!

#harry potter #jily #james potter #lily evans

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startanewdream · 3 years

Text

Summer Heat

Summary: James is late and summer heat always brings out Lily’s emotions.

Part of my Jily Lives AU, set during Order of the Phoenix and based on @secretsongdeer‘s amazing prompt of “James or Lily is late from an Order mission, and the other is worried sick".

It turned out into this crazy emotional roller-coaster of Angst and Smut.

Rated M, so all below the cut or on AO3. Read at your own risk (but if anyone wants a PG version, just tell me that I can post it too :D)

_______________________

James is late.

It is not like it never happened before, it is not like every Order mission has a defined duration of time and it is not like he is on a particularly dangerous mission tonight, but still fear bubbles like acid in her stomach. He is supposed to be on watch-duty with Sirius, and while she trusts Sirius to guard him with his life, she also knows Sirius can be a little hothead too and Sirius hates to stay still for too long.

Also, when they are together, Prongs and Padfoot, things tend to escape control, even for a mission that is supposed to be only guarding a door.

Or maybe she is overreacting. Many simple things could have happened. Tonks got caught in her work and could not relieve them; someone decided to stop by the Department of Mysteries and they had to wait to get out. Still, Lily knows she will never get used to that feeling of waiting for him to come home safe.

Maybe it was the years of relative peace they enjoyed that have made her feel more unacquainted with that waiting. For the last fifteen years, James had not once taken a mission for the Order. Ever since Harry was born, they both had promised to concentrate their energy in protecting their son - and all they had done that first year was hiding, moving from a place to another, until Voldemort had finally found them and -

She blinks, deciding to not let her thoughts wander in that direction - in that horrible night -, and her eyes fall on Harry. He is sitting on the kitchen table, reading a muggle newspaper, his face closed and troubled.

That is not new. All summer Harry has been distraught, demanding they talk to him and yet refusing to say anything himself. Lily can read her son easier than she can read the book she is supposed to be currently studying, and she can see a storm brewing inside Harry, but he insists on staying silent. He hasn’t said a word about that night in the graveyard with Voldemort, nor about Cedric Diggory and not even a mention of whatever dreams have been tormenting him at night.

Her husband is late and her son is suffering and she cannot help any of them right now.

Her head hurts.

Somehow this feels worse than the first time, which doesn’t make any sense. In the First War, she was too young and inexperienced and no matter what they said to each other, they were losing - Dorcas was killed by Voldemort himself, Marlene and her family had perished in a fire, they didn’t trust Remus and they trusted Peter too much, and Harry was the target of a prophecy.

Now they are better prepared. Voldemort is still hiding and they know what he is after and that gives them an advantage. As long as they can keep Voldemort away from the prophecy, they will have more time to… She doesn’t know what they will do with more time. Convince those stupid politicians that Voldemort is really back? Gather more help for the Order? Prepare better her son for -

No. This is not Harry’s obligation, no matter what a stupid prophecy says. Voldemort is still human and then he can die like any other man. Anyone can kill him; she will kill him if she gets the chance. Not her fifteen-year-old son, who is currently crumpling the newspaper as if it offends him, tearing each page with particular vengefulness and throwing it in the fireplace to watch them burn.

‘Harry…’, she begins, her voice as tired as she feels, trying to ignore the buzz in her head.

‘There is nothing here’, he complains, still tearing the pages. ‘Of course, we could actually know what’s going on if we hadn’t cancelled our subscription of the Daily Prophet’.

Lily presses the bridge of her nose to see if her headache gets better. It doesn’t help.

‘We told you the Prophet is not reporting anything because nothing is going on’.

Except for the current attack on them - the silly remarks of Harry's instability, the cruel distortion of her story with James -, but she doesn’t say that. They will have to tell Harry eventually; she just never found an opening for it, because he is always brooding and upset and Lily knows that Harry will feel guilty for causing trouble when he hears it.

As if it’s his fault for witnessing Voldemort’s return.

‘How can there be nothing to report? With you guys all mysterious?’

‘We are not - ’, when Harry rolls his eyes disdainfully, she stops to control her own rising anger. It is not Harry’s fault that she is more stressed than normal today. Where the hell is James?

'Don't pretend everything is fine, Mum. I see you looking at your watch every five seconds. I know you are worried about Dad'.

She forces herself to breathe normally, even though she knows she won't deceive him. Harry and Lily always understood each other too well.

‘It’s just normal Order business’.

‘If there is Order business happening -’

‘There is always Order stuff going on, Harry. We didn’t stay doing nothing for all these years’.

‘You could have fooled me’, he whispers loudly enough for her to hear but to also pretend she hasn't understood him.

She shouldn’t take his bait, but James is not there and how can he be so damn late? She is fearing for him and also a little mad - why couldn't he choose another mission? One that he could do safely at home? And why did she have to stay behind? Someone has to look after Harry, sure, but she is as much capable as him of doing things. Next time he can be the one staying and worrying about where is she and why the hell she is late -

‘And what do you mean by that?’, she asks before she can stop herself.

Harry turns to really face her now. He may look like a copy of James sometimes, but the raging expression in his face is just like the one on Lily’s.

Like her, Harry’s temper rises too fast and too quickly.

‘I didn’t see your amazing Order when I was facing Quirrell. Or when there was a basilisk in the castle. Or -’.

‘Harry -’

‘And a great job you all did last year’, he adds, ignoring her, his voice raising. ‘That bloody Death Eater was just under your nose -’

‘HARRY!’

Lily stands furiously and Harry blinks at her, seeming both surprised and satisfied that she screamed at him.

‘You know, this, right now, is why you are too young to be involved with the Order’.

‘Am I young?’, he asks, baffled, crossing his arms. ‘How can I be too young with all the things that happened to me?’

‘You are fifteen and you don’t get it. Do you think facing Voldemort is enough? I’ve done it four times too -’

‘And I am the one with a scar! I am the one that gets stuck with sphinxes and dragons and that has to escape him over and over again, so no, you don’t get it!’.

She closes her eyes briefly and then she can see, as if she is locked on that moment, the memory of that night, that horrible night, of Voldemort raising his wand to her little baby, of her and James alone and helpless -

No.

‘What I get’, she says, forcing herself to calm her voice, ‘is that you are fifteen and you should be worried about other stuff. School, dates, your pimples. And I am sorry that things keep happening to you and I know it’s not fair -’

‘And still, you treat me like a baby! You don’t tell me anything!’

‘You want to talk about who is withholding information? How about we talk about your nightmares?’

Harry stands suddenly, making his chair fall with a heavy sound, but he doesn’t seem to notice. His eyes are blazing with fury and for a moment Lily thinks he will scream at her.

‘I am out’, he says instead, his voice trembling with cold fury. When she opens her mouth to argue, he adds: ‘In the backyard. I know I can’t leave this bloody house’.

He makes the house sound like a prison.

‘You know perfectly well why you have to stay near’, she reminds him, ignoring his bad language. Harry shrugs, indifferent.

‘Yeah, that amazing blood protection’, he scoffs. ‘Helped a lot last month’.

‘You are alive, aren’t you?’

‘But Cedric isn’t’, he says and more than the anger she can hear his sorrow.

Her annoyance suddenly vanishes, and she takes a step in his direction, but Harry turns his back to her and leaves her alone in the kitchen.

Great. Just all she needed. A grieving teenager son and a missing husband.

She points her wand around the kitchen, thinking of making tea for herself - and Harry when he returns from his walk around the garden. She knows her son. He will still be angry, but much less inclined to fighting again. He will accept her tea.

She glances outside the window, fanning herself with her hand. It’s early night already, but the heat did not wave. It's the hottest summer she can remember, which isn't probably helping any of them. Summer heat always brings out your emotions, her mother used to say.

And once more she feels that bitterness of worry for where James is and why he didn't warn her that he would be two hours late - he could have been drinking with Sirius right now as much as he could have fallen into a trap for all she knows and -

The thought makes her feel strangely cold and Lily shivers before she notices it's not only her mind playing tricks with her. Something is off. She can see her own breath condensing in the air. It’s eerily quiet around her and she can’t hear any sound coming from the street, nor the sound of the teakettle whistling - in fact, even though she is three feet away from the stove, she can’t feel the warmth of the fire at all. It is like there is an ice storm coming, inside the house, and she thinks she will never feel happiness again -

The realization comes to her suddenly and it helps shake her senses. Lily raises, gripping her wand in her trembling hand and she concentrates on one thought. Find Harry.

She leaves the kitchen, following Harry’s steps, going almost blindly to the edges of their propriety, close to the small woods that James uses to transform with Remus on full moon nights. It is dark outside as if the lights from the lamp streets cannot reach their house and the sky has lost all the stars. The despair threatens to overwhelm her and she takes deep heavy breaths, looking around - she can’t see them, she can’t see Harry, but she knows they are close… They shouldn’t be here, not here, not with their blood protection…

Except she knows Voldemort was able to touch Harry, so maybe it isn’t as strong as before… maybe Harry is helpless, and she will have to watch her son die before her eyes once more - no, she can’t think about it…

‘Mum!’

Harry’s voice breaks through her reverie and she turns towards the sound. Harry is running, coming from behind the old broom shed, his face pale and sweating. Two dementors are gliding behind him, and for a moment Lily thinks of silly horror movies, of how no matter how much the victim runs, the killer always catches it -

Harry screams for her again and Lily raises her wand, the spell ready in her lips, her mind focusing on protecting him. But Harry is still looking fearfully at her, his eyes opened in panic and it takes her a full second to understand he is not really staring at her.

But at something behind her.

The cold gets stronger than before and it is like a block of ice has dropped directly over her, almost making her heart stop beating altogether. It is not fear - it is the certainty she will never feel happiness again, that this is all useless. All she ever did was delay this moment because nothing could ever stop it - did she really think she could save herself? Or Harry?

The dementor is almost gentle as it grabs her, opening her arms and approaching her face. It does not seem to be in a hurry, and she doesn’t see the dementor’s face, because she thinks of Voldemort during that night. He wasn’t in a hurry either.

She can hear her own voice, how she pleaded and pleaded that not Harry, not ever Harry, they would do anything, her and James, because they loved Harry too much. And Voldemort had laughed, cruelly and happily, and told them to stand aside. But James and Lily had stood, their hands together, protecting their son as if their body shield would be enough - Voldemort had then blasted them out of the way like they were nothing and then he had marched to her son, his wand raised just like the dementor’s hand in her direction - and she had watched helpless, unable to stop, as he cast the Killing Curse on her son - and the world had exploded in a bright green fire and she had thought - she had believed - they all were dead… and Harry who was barely one-year-old, who had died alone because she couldn’t protect him…

But he didn’t die, a small part of her thinks, Harry is alive, your love saved him. And she tries to concentrate on this small hope, even though this time James is not there with her -

‘ Expecto - expecto patronum!’

There is a small wisp of vapour, a light that seems to flicker for less than a second, but her doe does not come out of her wand. This last effort used all her strength, however, so Lily drops her wand and the dementor is upon her now, his horrible mouth close enough to kiss her, taking away her hope and her soul -

‘EXPECTO PATRONUM!’

There is a flash of light and Lily is suddenly falling in the ground, the dementor dropping her. She raises her eyes to see, through her blurred vision, antlers hitting the dementor that was holding her - it’s a stag, she realizes, so James has finally come home…

But it’s not James. It’s Harry and for all they look alike, she never once mistook one from another.

Harry is at her side, his arms around her while he points his own wand to direct his patronus to the other dementors. His face is contorted with fury and fear and his arms are trembling, but Harry makes his patronus draw away all dementors, until his stag patronus comes back to them, circling them as if on guard.

‘They - they are gone’, Harry whispers and Lily knows he is right. The stars are shining in the sky again, there is a sound of life around them and the heat is back. She is sweating, but she doesn’t think it’s because of the summer heat anymore.

‘Thank you’, she says weakly, and when her eyes can focus on something, she finds herself staring at the bright eyes of the stag patronus he had never seen him cast before. Her hand raises, but the patronus dissipates in thin air before she can touch it. ‘He was beautiful’.

‘It is Prongs’, Harry says, his voice still very low. ‘Can - can you walk?’

She nods and accepts his help to stand up; he is almost at her height now. She had not noticed it before.

‘Let’s go back’.

--------------------------------------

Lily hates Grimmauld Place.

It is the darkest house she ever entered and she feels that the house hates her too as if every long-dead Black is watching over her when she is there, judging her, calling her a mudblood and how dare she enter their sacred house. All the pureblood air threatens to overwhelm her, crush her like a bug and she curses the place.

But for all she is unwelcomed there, she hates it more because of Sirius.

She knows Sirius hates that house that was never a home for him and she admires him for offering Grimmauld Place as a safe hour to host the Order of the Phoenix; she knows the place holds no good memories for him and she hears his bitterness whenever he mentions his parents. And Sirius is miserable all the time he is there; he loathes everything, from the house-elf he never wanted to inherit to his mother’s portrait that they didn’t manage to take down.

And an unhappy Sirius is never a good thing. She notices how he always drinks more when they are there in one of their meetings - something Snape always mentions - and how reckless he gets after staying there for more than five minutes as if he is still that teenager who once needed to prove himself so different from his family.

When she mentions it to James, he looks worriedly at Sirius, but tells her that everything is fine - but Lily knows it is not fine, because Voldemort is back and Harry is suffering in silence and everything they fought for in the last fourteen years is crumbling. And she fears that James wants to be a little reckless too. They went hiding for a year before the First War ended and she knows him - he hated standing still, feeling like he wasn’t doing enough, and he is afraid to have to lie low again.

And James always enjoyed taking risks too much - he would never do anything that could harm Lily and Harry, of course, but then things are different now. Harry is older and not a helpless baby and Lily agreed to watch over him, concentrating on more internal missions, all because he assured her he would not be in danger -

All these thoughts come back to her but Lily doesn’t say anything. She feels strangely detached, doing things automatically, without really thinking about it. Some part of her registers when she and Harry arrive in the house, when he offers her a piece of chocolate that she can’t make herself eat despite knowing it will help, and when she hears their laughter.

Sirius’s bark laughter and James’ the-world-is-a-good-place-come-laugh-with-me laughter.

The sound causes a wave of anger through her body and that almost wakes her, but the numbness is still too high.

She watches them entering the kitchen and their smiles dying when they see her and Harry, in the exact moment they register something is wrong. Harry is explaining what happened and James is at her side, his face pale - and she wants to cry, where were you?, but she still keeps silent.

She almost jumps when an owl flies through the open window - owls aren’t allowed, they’ve cut communication -, but it is only an official owl from the Ministry. It shouldn’t be bad - except the Ministry of Magic has declared war against the Potters lately, so it is not surprising when the letter talks about Harry being expelled from Hogwarts.

Harry looks heartbroken and somehow more afraid than when he was running from dementors, so that sparks some life in Lily. She raises, ignoring James’ hand extended towards her - she can’t deal with him, not now - and she puts her hand on Harry’s shoulder.

‘We need to go to a safer place’, she says, her voice rough. It’s the first thing she has said in the last fifteen minutes, even though she knew they had to move ever since she saw the dementors.

‘Grimmauld Place’, Sirius suggests and for once Lily doesn’t grimace at the mention of that house. She will go anywhere if it means Harry will be safe and that was the only place she thought of.

‘But - Hogwarts - I can’t be -’

‘Dumbledore will solve this, Harry’, James promises, and Lily sees his patronus already galloping and vanishing in the darkness outside. It’s a stag, as always, but this vision fills her with more violence than comfort and she ignores him once more when he tries to take her hand.

‘Go pack your things, quickly’, Lily tells Harry, placing a soft kiss on his forehead before letting him go.

‘Lily -’, she hears James calling her but Lily doesn’t turn around. Sirius looks from James to her and then back again.

‘I will go help Harry’, he says, hurrying after his godson and leaving them alone.

There is a moment of silence. Lily flinches when James touches her arm, and he doesn’t insist.

‘Lily?’, he asks again, his voice very soft.

‘Where were you?’, Lily whispers, still avoiding looking in his direction. ‘You were supposed to be back more than two hours ago’.

‘I -’, he hesitates and Lily knows he is considering lying to her in that one second it takes for him to keep talking. ‘It was a very good lead, Lily, I swear -’

‘Lead’, she repeats, without any emotion in her voice.

‘It was the best one we had in months - the sewers -’

‘The sewers? You left me alone to go on a chase for Wormtail?’

She doesn’t need to see his face to know she got it right. She can hear the heaviness in his sighing, the one that only thinking of his former friend causes him.

And she doesn’t need to ask him how the search was. James has been looking for Peter for more than one year now and he never got close to finding him.

He is a rat, she wants to say. You will never find him .

‘I will go take our things’, she says instead.

‘Lily - I am really -’

‘Not now, James’, she cuts him and she leaves the kitchen because she can’t stand to look at him.

It may not be fair, but so it wasn’t leaving her alone.

-------------------------------

Dumbledore promises he will fix things, but the fact is that Harry has a disciplinary hearing and she can see real fear in her son’s eyes.

And not just that. The anger too. She hears him screaming at Ron and Hermione, obviously unhappy with the fact that he was alone all summer while they were together, no matter in a dismayed place like Grimmauld Place. Harry is feeling betrayed.

Right now, he isn’t the only one feeling like that.

Lily survives through the Order meeting barely registering what everyone is saying. She doesn’t participate in James and Sirius’ heated discussion of how the hell three dementors managed to pass their barriers to attack her and Harry, she doesn’t even acknowledge that Snape is for once glancing in her direction. They end the meeting rescheduling their patrol rounds and for the first time she submits her name, her voice daring anyone - James - to disagree with her participation; but even though she can feel James’ eyes looking intensely at her, he doesn’t say anything.

That’s for the best. She doesn’t want to hex him in front of everyone.

When the meeting is over, Sirius, obviously thinking he is being very nice, takes them upstairs to offer her and James the master bedroom. It’s a nice old room, even if a little dusty and dark, and she realizes that Sirius was late for the Order meeting because he had been fixing the room for them in whatever way he could.

A part of her thinks it was kind of him, especially because he must hate that room that belonged to his parents. Lily glances around, her eyes falling on the elegant canopy bed, but all she feels is loathe, if only by the fact that Walburga and Orion Black once slept there; she never met them and she barely heard the stories, but she saw how much they messed with Sirius to know she would hate them. The feeling would be mutual - they would despise her for her blood.

When she turns around, James is alone with her in the room, in front of the closed door. His expression is concerned.

‘Here. Eat this’, he says, offering her a chocolate bar. She ignores it. ‘You need chocolate for dementors, Lily, you know Remus -’

‘This is your fault’.

She hears her words but somehow it takes a second for her to realize she said them.

It’s irrational, she knows, because James wasn’t the one that sent those dementors she should be able to handle, nor he is the one that threatened to expel Harry from Hogwarts, and for one mad moment, she thinks he will argue with her. But James just blinks, his shoulders slumped and he nods.

‘I know’.

‘No’, Lily whispers, taking a step closer to him, her eyes ablaze. ‘You don’t get to self-hatred’.

James blinks.

'You don't want me to agree with you?' he asks, and Lily can hear the faint amusement in his voice, the one that always looks like an invitation for grinning with him.

Any other day she would accept it, but now there is only one emotion strong enough to break into her numbness: fury, senseless and overwhelming fury.

'You don't get to find this funny, James. You don't get anything, because you left us'.

He frowns and she sees a flash of hurt in his eyes. Good, Lily thinks darkly.

'I would never leave you -'

'You weren't there. There were three dementors and an underage kid but no James Potter'.

'So I was supposed to foresee it?'

'We all knew something was bound to happen. That's why we keep our eyes on Harry, isn't it?'

'It is not like he was alone - you were there with him!'

'Yeah, I was', she admits, defeated. 'And I was useless because there were dementors and you know what I hear when they are around? That fucking Halloween night, every time'.

'That is what I hear too'.

'And all I could think was that at least that night you were with me. We were losing and dying but at least you were there'.

'Lily… I was on a mission -'

'Oh, spare me, James. The Order comes first, we always agreed on this. But your mission had ended and instead of doing the right thing that was coming back to your family you decided to play the hero'.

He gasps.

'What? I wasn't -'

'No, you're right. It was not playing the hero - that’s Harry. You were on your crazy suicide revenge mission’.

'It is not - it was a good lead, Lily, I wouldn't go if -'

'Did you find him? Did you see Peter? Even a hint of him?'

He doesn't say anything, but she knows the answer in his resentful face.

'Your problem is that you forget everything when it involves him'.

'He betrayed us', James spats, venom in his voice. 'Then he bleed Harry one month ago and he held him and he would watch him die without saying anything. He. Betrayed. Us'.

'Yeah, but that's not what bothers you. It’s your bloody ego. It’s the fact that he betrayed you'.

James' eyes are burning now.

'Yes, it was me firstly', he concedes, agony and hatred in his voice. 'But he would give us all up because he never cared'.

'Taking him down won't change that'.

'And what do you want me to do?', James finally screams and she feels a dark satisfaction in making him lose control. 'Let him go?'

'I want you to care more about us than for your selfish need for revenge!'

'I already care!'

'Then prove it!'

She is screaming too and maybe even crying because her vision is blurred once more, but still, she registers that at some point they got closer than ever, their noses almost touching. She can smell his musky scent and she can feel his heavy breath over her face. James is angry, but so is she and Lily won't stand down, won't forget that while he couldn't stop what happened, he should be there, he should be with her.

He promised they would always be together - and his absence hurts and she is afraid and she hates him for leaving her. She only wants them to be safe. How can they be at war again? Why can’t they have some peace?

She hates him right now, but she hates more all the danger they are in and even then all that hate pales in comparison to how much she loves him.

'Fuck, James', she sighs.

'Fuck, Lily', he agrees, and then their lips are crashing and it's desperate and painful how she clings to him.

Her numbness is all gone, replaced by a familiar urge of James - of his lips, of his touch, of knowing he is with her. It’s been a long time since she felt this fear, this adrenaline rush after a battle or a near-death experience, but she knows how it goes.

His hands cup her face, his thumbs drying the tears that are falling there without Lily even realizing, and she feels locked in his arms - it’s a good feeling. James is home, James is safety and love. She wants more of him, all of James. She needs him.

And he seems to be thinking the same about her. His hands fall to her arse, to hold her up and press her against the door of the room, her legs going automatically around his waist for better support, their lips never leaving each other. She grips the hair at the back of his head, as if holding a lifesaver she can’t let go or else she drowns.

They are not teenagers and they are not in that mad sex phase of a new relationship, so Lily knows they should stop and recover their senses. But this was Orion and Walburga Black's room, she thinks incoherently, and they would never accept someone like her there - that was the prejudice that started a war that messed with their lives. And suddenly Lily knows what she needs to do.

Her hands are shaking as much as before, though for completely different reasons, as she fumbles with his clothes, opening his shirt so she can feel his heartbeat and the muscles in his torso. James is always so warm , much hotter than any summer heat.

His lips move away from hers and before she can complain, James is kissing her neck - or sucking it, she doesn’t know. Where his lips touch her skin she can feel goosebumps erupting and it is so fresh that she moans, even as he, always aware of her, keeps bending down his head until he is kissing the top of her breasts, any piece of skin her cleavage exposes.

She attends his silent request. Her hands leave his chest to take off her own shirt and bra, and as soon as she holds his neck, his mouth is covering her nipple and Lily arches her back as much as she can against the door. It’s cool , she thinks irrationally, feeling his tongue teasing her and feeling the wood of the door behind her naked torso. Good. It was too hot .

But she still needs more.

‘James’, she moans, and he stops to look at her. His hazel eyes are dark and for as much as she loves their natural colour, she loves so much when they are almost brown, filled with lust for her. She knows it’s a match for her own desire. ‘Kiss me’, she asks, and his lips find hers once more.

They are closer now, so it’s easy to slide her hands through his chest, following the path of his hair there, until she is opening his belt and his jeans and she is feeling him, sliding her hand through his length. He moans into their kiss and his hands let her down for just the seconds it takes for him to touch under her skirt and take away her panties.

‘I need you, Lily’, he whispers and it is so much a pleading as a demand; she is willing to accept both.

She nods and he raises her again, both hands now under her skirt, one holding her tight and another grabbing her arse, his fingers pressing her skin and she hopes it leaves a mark for tomorrow. She has been hurt and bruised in battles before, and because of that she loves seeing the soft purple of the places James grabbed her rough, lost in their moment together; these are the marks she is proud of.

His lips are once again on her neck, sucking the skin there (good, another mark), his body pressing her against the door and she can feel his hardness against her pelvis and her pulse beating down there.

‘James - please’.

He was never able to refuse her anything, not really, so James complies at once, his hand leaving her thigh just so he can help himself slide inside her - and it’s a familiar feeling that she can never get really used to, that of him filling her. She moans loudly and uncaringly, her hips trying to move for more friction and God bless James, he attends her wishes once more, moving in sync with her.

They are not young anymore and she knows they will probably regret this tomorrow, but right now she just tightens the grip of her legs around him, inviting him to go deeper and he groans, his head buried in her neck. It is a sound that reverberates into her, and Lily opens her eyes suddenly, her eyes falling on the master bed. It’s still a beautiful canopy bed, one that speaks of luxury and expensive fabrics, and she thinks briefly of how she hates that house, hates the people who lived there.

Toujours pur.

‘James’, she calls him, and he stops moving at once to look at her, breathing heavily. ‘The bed’.

If James finds her request weird, he doesn’t say. He takes her to the bed, laying her down gently, before standing to take off his pants. She moves to take off her skirt too, but he stops her, laying over her, his hand caressing her face to keep her hair out.

‘Keep it’, he asks, and then his lips are finding hers and she loses herself happily in the taste of his mouth. His hand bounds hers above her head, and all Lily can do is arch her back as he enters her again, his movement much more desperate than before and all she can do is meet each one of his thrusts.

She wants to giggle of pure joy, but James is still kissing her and as much amused as she is, she needs that kiss more. But still, a part of her sends a big silent fuck-off for Sirius’ parents in whatever hell they are, because there is a blood traitor and a mudblood fucking in their bed and somehow this makes everything better.

‘Lily’, he groans and Lily hears the warning and request in his voice. She frees her hands, but before she can do anything, James lowers his hand to touch her, on the soft wet spot right above where their bodies meet, and she lets out a moan that is lost in their kiss.

She knows he is losing control now, his thrusts erratic and needy, and that’s fine because she feels the same. More, she thinks, feeling the pressure building inside her, and like if he is reading her mind, James obliges instantly, his finger circling her faster, in sync with the movement of his body. More, James, she thinks one more time, and then she is over the edge, her world exploding in a blinding light that sometimes looks a lot like what happened in that Halloween night, but so different - it is colourful (not just green) and powerful and its ache is welcomed and her heart is beating so fast and so alive.

God, she loves James so much.

Almost like in a dream, she feels James pushing inside her one final time and then his body is shaking, his mouth leaving hers so he can cry her name like a prayer. After what seems years and seconds at the same time, his grip over her looses and she raises her shaking hands to cup his face until he opens his eyes.

His hazel eyes are still burning, but his voice is tender when he whispers: ‘I love you’.

She kisses him softly in response.

James rolls to lay by her side and, in a movement she has made thousands of times before, Lily lays her head over his chest, hearing his heart still beating too fast, while her hand plays with his chest hair.

‘I am sorry for not coming home sooner’, he whispers after a while, his hand caressing her hair absently. ‘You are right, it was selfish - everything. I just… I feel so guilty, Lily, it is my fault only -’

She knows he is not talking about the dementor attack.

‘I trusted him too, James. We all did’.

‘But I - I was the one that was his friend first, I was the one that thought I knew him for all those years - I would have died for him -’

‘You are not wrong for trusting people’, she assures him, finding his hand to grip it tightly. ‘Your faith - that is one of the most amazing things about you. He is the one at fault for not living up to your trust’.

‘I just think, somehow, that if I catch him… I can make everything all right, like if that night never happened, like -’

‘James’, she calls him softly, turning so she can look him in the face. ‘We can’t change the past. Let us live today’.

This makes a sparkling shine in his eyes.

‘I say we are definitely living’, he notes, looking around for all the mess of clothes on the floor, and she lets out an amused laughter that only James can cause. He touches her face, looking at her with undeniable tenderness and love. ‘I will be there next time’.

It is a promise and she believes him.

‘Already waiting for the next dementor attack?’, she asks playfully, and he kisses her on the forehead before they get up.

‘Harry is a magnet for trouble’, he sighs, just half-teasingly, as he picks up his wand to clean them up.

Still, she laughs softly, because sometimes laughing at their own misfortune is all they can do.

‘A little bit dusty here, no?’, James says, looking around.

‘Guess we will have chores to keep Harry busy for a while’.

‘I think he will prefer the dementors’, he jokes, smirking.

Their hands are clasped together when they descend the stairs, following the sound of people talking in the kitchen. Sirius is waiting for them, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised, and he closes the kitchen door to muffle the sound.

‘How old are you?’, he asks grumpily.

‘Same age as you, Padfoot’, James answers easily.

‘And do you have a wand?’

That makes James blink, clearly missing the point.

‘Yeah, you know -’

‘Then why did you forget a basic Silencing Charm?’, asks Sirius, in a hissed whisper. ‘Do you know what I had to endure to go upstairs and cast it just so you wouldn’t further traumatize your son?’

Fifteen years ago Lily would blush at this, but now she just stares at Sirius with pure amusement.

‘That’s what godfathers are for, Padfoot’, she says nicely, raising on her tiptoes to press a kiss in his cheek, while James laughs at her side.

‘Do I even want to know what you were doing with that mouth, Evans?’, Sirius asks, looking at her with an expression torn between disapproval and respect.

‘Probably not’, she chuckles. ‘And it’s been “Potter” for a while now’.

‘Come on’, James says, coming between them because he knows they can lose themselves in their silly banters. ‘I am starving’.

‘Wonder why’, scoffs Sirius, but Lily can see a grin on his lips. Sirius always feels bad when she and James are fighting. ‘Hope you broke the bed at least’.

‘It is a work in progress’, Lily promises, winking at him, and they enter the kitchen.

#Jily Lives #Eyes glistening #Jily Fanfiction #Smut and Angst #Order of the phoenix #James Potter #Lily Evans #t: fanfiction

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marauders-venting · 3 years

Text

Our Last Summer (Part 2)

pairing: wolfstar (sirius x remus)

genre: fluff & angst

warnings: mentions of death and disappearances, hints at sex

words: 1789

note: based on the song ‘Our Last Summer’ by ABBA

We made our way along the river and we sat down in the grass by the Eiffel tower. I was so happy we had met, it was the age of no regret, oh yes

“Come on, it’s the last Hogsmeade visit we’ll ever have!” Dorcas said. “You have to get in.” Remus sat outside the water of the shallow river.

“You know we can come back to visit Hogsmeade right?” Remus said. “It’s a village, not part of Hogwarts.”

“Ugh you know what I mean,” they said. “Just come inside, Remus, it’s fun.” She reached to pull his foot in but Remus was too quick for her and his foot slipped out of their grasp.

“Moony, just come in,” James said. “It’s really hot outside anyway and the water is nice.”

“If you don’t come in we’ll splash you,” Peter warned him.

“Guys, leave him alone,” Sirius said. He had taken his shirt off (surprise surprise) and left it outside on the grass. Remus was finding it very difficult to focus on anything else. “If he doesn’t want to come in he doesn’t have to.” Maybe if Remus was less focused on the fact that Sirius was half-naked he would’ve noticed the mischievous twinkle in his grey eyes or the smirk playing on his lips. Sirius came out of the water and sat beside Remus. He waited for maybe two seconds before pushing him into the water. Remus sat in the river, spluttering and wiping water out of his eyes.

“Thanks for that,” he said to Sirius.

“Anytime, babe,” Sirius said, rejoining everybody in the water. “You’re too trusting, Moons.”

“That’s a first,” Remus muttered.

“Oh lighten up, Remus,” Lily said, splashing him with water. “It’s fun.” Remus splashed her back and soon enough a water fight broke out (as they do).

To an outsider, it would have been unclear who won but James, Sirius, Remus, Lily and Marlene would all claim that the victory had been their own. Either way, by the end everybody was soaked from head to toe.

“Let’s go get food,” Sirius said.

“I’ll come with you, I’m starving,” James said. They climbed out of the water and began drying themselves with their wands.

“Wait,” Lily said, climbing out of the water as well. “Don’t waste money on food while we still get free food from the school. We raided the kitchens this morning.” She opened her bag to reveal loaves of bread and spreads.

“Wow,” James said. “I’m impressed, Evans. I didn’t know you had it in you, being Head Girl and all.”

“Right, like you haven’t done this a million times and you’re Head Boy,” Lily said, blushing a bit. “And Remus was a prefect and he’s done it plenty of times too.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” Sirius asked, eyebrows raised.

“Me, Marlene, Dorcas, Mary and Alice,” Lily said.

“What, you didn’t think you guys were the only ones who could pull pranks, did you?” Marlene asked. They all came out of the water with Remus and Frank as Lily started pulling food out of her bag. They sat on the grass making sandwiches, talking and laughing.

“I can’t believe it’s nearly over,” Sirius said, looking back at the castle. “Has it been seven years already?”

“I know,” Mary said. “It feels like time has barely passed since our first day.”

Sirius thought back to the day he sat on the chair in front of the whole school with the Sorting Hat on his head, the thrill he felt when the hat called out Gryffindor, not Slytherin. He looks around at his friends, the people sitting here now and he just feels so grateful that he met them. All of them, every single one. Who knows where he’d be without them. Probably still at his parents’ house. Yes, Sirius thinks, I definitely got lucky. And as his eyes meet Remus’ and their hands link together, Sirius knows everything will be ok. He has no regrets. Everything will be just fine.

But underneath we had a fear of flying, of growing old, a fear of slowly dying. We took a chance like we were dancing our last dance

But despite that confidence that Sirius had felt towards the end of his time at Hogwarts, there had been cracks of fear and doubt even then. The war was still being fought and their side was growing weaker by the day. People were dying left, right and center and Sirius felt helpless in it all. He was in the Order, he was fighting, he was trying. But it wasn’t working. They were losing. And Sirius could not shake the fear that haunted him day and night: it’s only a matter of time before someone he loves dies. Everybody Sirius cares about is in the Order of the Phoenix. At this rate, the chances that they’ll all make it out of this alive are minuscule.

Sirius is trying to stay positive but it’s not working. Most days the only thing that gets him through to the night is the thought that if he stops fighting it’ll just be worse.

He usually went to the Potter’s in the evening but he was just too tired tonight. Remus was out, probably on a mission, so Sirius collapsed on the couch. He lay there for a while, eyes closed but not asleep. Just thinking. Thinking and thinking and thinking. It’s like that was all he ever did these days. Thinking about James and Lily and Harry, how unfair this was on them, raising a family in the middle of a war. Thinking of Remus, of how far away he felt lately even though they shared a bed every night. Thinking of Peter, who he hadn’t seen in a while. Just thinking.

It felt like hours had passed but it had probably barely been one. Sirius gives up on sleep and decides to make a cup of tea. He opens his eyes and looks at the clock. It’s nearly eleven-thirty. And Remus still isn’t home. His missions didn’t usually run this late. And when they did he always made sure to tell Sirius. He started to panic. Relax, he told himself, he probably just went to Lily and James’. Just because you were too tired doesn’t mean he can’t go.

Sirius hurries to the phone and dials the number for the Potter residence.

“Hello?” Lily’s voice.

“Lily? Hey, it’s Sirius.”

“Oh, hi Sirius. Is everything ok?”

“Um, is Remus at your place?”

“No,” Lily says. “Why? Has he not come home yet?”

“No,” Sirius says. He can hear the panic building in his voice.

“I’m sure everything’s ok,” Lily said quickly but it doesn’t sound like she believes it herself. “Have you tried checking with Peter? Or maybe with Marlene and Dorcas?”

“No, I–I haven’t called anyone else yet,” Sirius said. His hands were beginning to shake.

“Ok Sirius, don’t panic,” Lily said soothingly. “We’ll find him. You call Peter and I’ll call Marlene and Dorcas. Even if he isn’t—”

“Remus!” Sirius says. The door opens and Remus walks in, kicking off his shoes. “Lily, he’s here, I have to go. Thanks though.”

“Oh thank god,” Lily mutters. “Ok, I’m glad he’s ok. Bye Sirius.”

“Bye, Lils.” Sirius hung up the phone and ran to throw his arms around Remus. Remus stumbled slightly but hugged Sirius back tightly.

“It’s ok,” Remus said into Sirius’ hair. “It’s ok.”

“I thought… I thought…” Sirius felt the tears well up in his eyes. I thought I lost you.

“I know,” Remus whispers. “But it’s ok. I’m here now. I’m sorry.”

“What kept you?” Sirius asked, almost angry as he pulled away and wiped his eyes.

“Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about something,” Remus said. “Some new mission.”

“Oh.” Sirius’ heart sank. More dangerous missions, more risks, more deaths. He couldn’t stand it anymore. “What kind of mission?”

“He wants me to… to spy on the werewolves who sided with Voldemort,” Remus said. He sounded bitter.

“What?” Sirius said, shocked. “He wants you to spy—”

“On werewolves, yeah,” Remus said. “He says it’s important to try and get them on our side. Or at least to try and find out Voldemort’s plans through them.”

“And you… you’re ok with this?” Sirius asks.

“Well I have to be, don’t I?” Remus says. “It’s about the only useful thing I can do for the Order.” Then after a moment, he adds, “Sirius, what’s wrong? If you don’t want me to do it, I won’t.”

“Do you want to do it? Cause you don’t exactly sound enthusiastic about the offer.”

“I just…” Remus sighed. “I want to be useful.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” Sirius said. “I’m worried about you, Remus. I’m scared.”

“I know, love. I’m scared too.”

“I want you to be happy,” Sirius says, taking his hand.

“Then I need to do this mission,” Remus says, “I want to help, I— like you and James and Lily and Peter are. Whatever time I lose during the full moon, I make up for it by spying. Instead of being an inconvenience, I’ll be an asset.” Sirius nods.

“If that’s really what you want,” he says.

“Look, I know it’s scary. But it’ll be ok. As long as we have each other we’ll be fine.”

“Promise you’ll stay with me?”

“I promise,” Remus whispered, kissing him softly. Sirius leaned into the touch, sliding his arms around Remus’ neck. They had been growing distant lately and Sirius had needed this. He missed Remus. Was it possible to miss someone you shared a house with, shared a bed with? Apparently, it was.

“Are you tired?” Sirius asked softly, still holding Remus close.

“Not really,” Remus said. “Why? Did you have something in mind?”

“How about I play some music and we can… dance?” Sirius said.

“Hmm, but we both know that I am the least coordinated person in existence and I cannot dance,” Remus said, smiling.

“Come on Moons, dance with me,” Sirius said, smirking and taking a step back. He turned on the radio and the song Endless Love by Lionel Riche and Diana Ross was playing.

“I’ll hold you close in my arms,” Sirius sang, pulling Remus back in. “I can’t resist your charms, and love, I’ll be a fool for you—”

“You’ll be a fool anyway,” Remus muttered under his breath. But he was smiling, his hands on Sirius’ waist as they stumbled danced across the living room.

“Shh I’m singing, Moony,” Sirius said. “You mean the world to me. Oh, I know, I’ve found in you, my endless love.” They locked eyes, fiery amber and stormy grey, before melting into another kiss. Needless to say, not much dancing or sleeping was done that night.

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heyitssmiller · 4 years

Text

Chop It Like It’s Hot

Chapter 3: Sun’s Out Buns Out

Chop It Like It’s Hot Masterlist

Let the pining begin.

@lumosinlove

“Oh my god, there’s ducks!” Finn said excitedly, pointing to the ducks swimming in the pond nearby. Their next challenge was taking place in a small park on the outskirts of the city, which made Logan a little nervous. He was just getting used to the setup of the kitchens, and now he had to deal with this. Finn let out an aww as a group of ducklings followed their mom. “Look at ‘em, they’re so cute.”

Logan looked warily at the setup of grills a few feet away. “I don’t think we’re here to look at ducks.”

“Good morning, recruits!” Dorcas called, waving them over. Leo stood beside her, hair turned golden in the sunlight. Logan blamed the reason he was suddenly too hot on the weather.

Ah, yes. That new development Logan refused to think about too hard.

He was happy with Finn. They’d been happy together for years now.

So why was he crushing on Leo like he did with Finn back in college?

Logan wasn’t blind – he knew the signs well enough after pining for Finn for five years. He just didn’t know what to do with these feelings. And they’d learned from all the miscommunication and wasted time in college – he and Finn told each other everything now.

He just wasn’t sure he could tell Finn this.

How would that conversation go? Hey I know we’ve been happily together for three years now but I also kind of want to kiss that tall blond guy who’s been teaching us how to cook.

Yeah. That would go over well.

“Today we’re going to be testing your creativity by having you make your own burgers! We’ll both give you examples, but you’ll need to come up with your own original ideas for this challenge.” Leo stated, dumping ground beef into a bowl. “I’m going to make a jaeger schnitzel burger. So for the meat I’m using a mixture of different meats. Schnitzel is traditionally pork or veal, but you need the right ratio of lean meat to fatty meat to make a good burger, so I’m adding some additional fatty beef.” He formed patties out of the meat and placed them on the grill. “What really sets jaeger schnitzel from regular schnitzel is the mushroom gravy on top.”

He smiled, which Logan was quickly realizing was completely unfair. “Creating a gravy is a little hard on a grill, but I’ll do my best. Basically we’re going to melt butter in a pan and fry these onions until they begin to brown. Then add the garlic and cook it for another minute. Add the mushrooms and cook until they’re golden and some of the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated.”

Leo switched back to his burgers and flipped them before returning to his sauce. “To thicken this into a gravy. We’re going to add flour and stir. Then it’s just beef broth, vinegar, thyme, sugar, salt, and pepper. Now the burgers are done, so we’re going to take all of this off the grill and plate it, making sure there’s plenty of gravy on this burger.”

“And I’m going to make a burrito burger.” Dorcas took over. “First we’re going to take our meat and add some seasoning to it: chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, dried oregano, paprika, ground cumin, sea salt, and black pepper. Make sure to get the seasoning mixed in there thoroughly. Then we just throw these patties on the grill and let them cook. What really sets this burger apart are the toppings.”

She reached into a bag on her table and pulled out refried beans, salsa, pepper jack cheese, and lettuce. “I made the refried beans and salsa from scratch last night since we definitely don’t have time for that today. So once these burgers are cooked, we just add the toppings and we’re done. Easy enough, right?”

“This challenge is a blind taste test so that we can’t pick favorites.” Leo added. “Which means you guys are going to be on your own for this challenge – we can’t help you in this round.”

Everyone groaned.

“Just don’t burn yourselves and you’ll be fine. You have forty-five minutes and your time starts now!”

***

Mid-Episode Interview:

*Logan takes his hat off to run a hand through his hair with a sigh*

Logan: I… I might be going home today. *laughs* You know, I hate cooking. The only reason I went on this show was because of Finn. He seemed so excited about it, you know? So for the past seven weeks, I figured if I got eliminated I’d just stay in the city and spend time with him when they weren’t shooting the show. I haven’t really cared if I got eliminated or not. Now, though?

*His gaze loses focus for a few seconds, then he looks back at the camera*

Logan: I don’t think I’m ready to leave just yet.

***

Finn quickly glanced over at Logan as he dropped lamb chops into a hot pan. The brunet had come in second to last place in the earlier competition today and clearly wasn’t happy about it. There wasn’t much he could do right now, but he’d find something to cheer him up with after they were done filming for the day. Alex was in the city visiting their family – maybe the two of them could stop by the house and say hi, if it wasn’t too late.

“Non-stick pan, Lo!” He hissed as Logan grabbed a regular pan to put his potato cake in.

“What?”

“Use a non-stick pan. That way it won’t stick when you flip the cake over.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

“How’s it going over here?”

Finn glanced up to see Leo at their shared station. “Good! I think. The lamb chops were a little hard to cut and my tapenade is kind of a mess, but I’m hoping it tastes ok.”

“And the potato cake?”

“The fact that I’m going to be flipping a potato cake is hilarious because I am not graceful at all.”

Leo laughed. “It’s not too bad, you’ll see. Logan, how about you?”

“Well, I’ve learned that I hate the taste of fennel.” Logan groused, sprinkling red pepper flakes on top of his fennel salad. “So I’m hoping to mask that flavor as much as I can.”

“It’s definitely not for everyone. Your chopping skills have really improved over the past couple of weeks, though – look at those potatoes!”

Logan looked up and smiled.

A smile Finn definitely recognized from college.

He glanced back and forth between the two, speculating. Maybe it wasn’t just Finn dealing with new feelings he wasn’t sure how to process yet.

After time ran out Finn glanced down at his two identical dishes – one for him, one for Leo – with a sigh of relief. It was still a little messy, but overall he felt pretty good about it. No matter what he was miles ahead of where he started, so he was happy with himself. He was still a little worried to be tasting his own dish, though. At the end of the day he was still a bad cook, after all.

When it was finally his turn to be judged, he grabbed both plates and placed them on the table before taking a seat opposite Leo.

“This feels like a really weird first date.” Finn teased, watching the faintest hint of a blush spread across Leo’s cheeks.

Oh my god, he’s adorable.

“I can definitely see some inconsistency in the cooking of your lamb chops.” He hurried to say, flipping one of the pieces of meat over for Finn to look at. “See, this one’s nice and brown while this one is undercooked. This boils down to variation of size in your meat. When you’ve got all kinds of different sizes, it’s hard to consistently cook them.” He cut up a piece of lamb and put it in his mouth. Finn probably stared at said mouth a bit too long before following suit.

“Well? What do you think?”

Finn shrugged, swallowing his bite. “I like it.”

Leo smiled. “You know what? Me too.”

***

Logan was up next. He sat down hesitantly across from Leo, looking down at his plate and hoping it was enough to save him from elimination.

“Your presentation is really good, Logan. The potatoes are nice and golden, the lamb looks perfect.” Leo said, and something about his words and calm demeanor soothed Logan instantly. He smiled. “Thanks, chef.”

“Ready to try this?”

“Let’s do it.” Logan stabbed his food with his fork, took a bite –

And instantly coughed.

It was so spicy. The kind of spicy that makes your throat close up and tears come to your eyes.

“Oh my god.” He gasped, making a mad dive towards his glass of water and downing it as fast as he could. “Jesus Christ, that’s so hot.”

Leo hummed, setting his fork down. He seemed completely unfazed. “Too much red pepper. You said earlier you were trying to mask fennel flavor, but I think you did too good a job at that.” He watched Logan with a small smile and pushed his own full glass of water towards him. “You ok?”

Logan gaped at him, but gladly accepted the water. “How are you not dying right now?”

“I literally have a show about cajun cooking; I’m used to spice. You should try ghost peppers sometime.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Don’t knock it until you try it.” Leo looked back down at his plate. “Overall, your dish was pretty good. Could’ve used a little less red pepper, but the rest of it was spot on.”

Logan felt his shoulders relax a little. “Thanks, chef.”

***

Logan was in the bottom two.

Fuck.

Finn’s heart had continued to drop as name after name of the safe contestants got announced, including his own, and Logan’s didn’t. He knew Logan didn’t really care if he got eliminated or not, but this had been so much fun to do with him. Finn didn’t want to see him go yet.

“And the recruit who will be leaving us today is…”

Finn honestly couldn’t name the person who got eliminated – all he knew was that Logan was staying. He let his tense shoulders relax and stepped forward to give him a hug. “That was close, Lo.”

“Yeah,” Logan’s voice was muffled in Finn’s shirt. “Guess I’ll have to try harder next week.”

Finn leaned back with a big smile on his face. “You wanna stay?”

“I mean, I’m a really bad cook,” Logan shrugged. “But I’ll stay as long as I can.”

“Logan?” Both boys turned at the voice. Leo stood off to the side, looking slightly awkward.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to talk to you about today’s challenges and ways to improve. I’ve got a few tips I can share, if you want.” He glanced at Finn. “Can I steal him for a second?”

“Go right ahead.”

Leo flashed him a smile before motioning for Logan to follow him.

Finn couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could read Logan’s body language like a book. When he fiddled with his hat, Finn knew he was nervous. When he met Leo’s eyes and didn’t look away as he spoke, he was serious about whatever he was saying. When his gaze flicked down to Leo’s lips, he wanted to kiss him. When he subconsciously leaned forwards and tilted his head up slightly, he was going to kiss him.

The strangest thing was… Finn wasn’t jealous. He should be, shouldn’t he?

But Logan didn’t kiss Leo.

He seemed to catch himself at the last second and he drew back sharply, refusing to look at Leo again. He muttered something and turned to walk away, catching Finn’s gaze as he did so. His eyes widened guiltily, steps slowing as he crossed the room to where Finn was waiting.

Finn gave him a small smile and grabbed his hand reassuringly.

“I think we need to talk.”

#lumosinlove #Sweater Weather #Coast To Coast #finn o'hara #logan tremblay #leo knut #o'knutzy #chop it like it's hot

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omgrachwrites · 4 years

Text

Tell a Tale of You and Me - Chapter Eight

Pairing: Sirius Black x Reader

Summary: You knew that making a bet with Sirius Black was like making a deal with the devil but you just couldn’t help yourself. You had never been a heavenly woman.

Warnings: fluff, underage drinking, pining, teeny bit of angst

Words: 2280

Disclaimer: This gif doesn’t belong to me!

A/N: Things are heating up in this part, also I think this is gonna be quite a long fic so I hope that’s okay! Finally got to add my plot twist into this one, you’ll find out what it is in the next couple of chapters! I hope you enjoy this part and please let me know what you think and let me know if you would like to be tagged! I love you all very much! xxx

Chapter Eight

There was an excited murmur of conversation between the 6th and 7th year Slytherins, and Gryffindors, the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs had already been in this situation but they had been sworn to secrecy. The atmosphere in the Entrance Hall was tense as the students waited to hear the news that McGonagall and Slughorn were going to give them. Sirius thought that it couldn’t be any good news.

Sighing, he slouched effortlessly against the cold stone wall, his hands deep in his pockets, only looking up when he heard an impatient sigh. James scowled as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

“I wonder what Minnie and old Sluggy have to say, whatever it is, it had better be good. I can smell Snivelly’s greasy hair from here, it pongs,” he complained as he held his nose. Sirius smirked over at Snape, James’ rival while Remus rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Sirius felt soft fingers in his hair – it felt really nice – and he whipped around to see who dared to touch his precious hair. A grin spread across his face when he saw that it was Y/N, she looked perky as usual, though Sirius didn’t know why she was so happy so early on a Saturday morning when they ought to have still been in bed.

“Hey you,” he hugged her, flushing as she gave him a warm kiss on his cheek.

“Hi,” she giggled brightly and looked over his shoulder to where the two oaken doors were, “good morning Reg.”

Regulus started at her warm greeting and sent her a little nervous wave back. Sirius tensed as he scowled at Y/N when she caught Sirius’ eye again she gave him an innocent look, “what?” when Sirius quirked an eyebrow – he really thought that he didn’t have to say anything – she giggled and ruffled his hair as she did so, “Regulus is really nice and he’s a complete cutie too!” she exclaimed, turning back to talk to Lily.

Y/N thinking that his younger brother was a ‘complete cutie’ affected him more than he wanted it to. More than he’d ever admit. Finally, the students were ushered into the Great Hall and everyone gasped while Sirius looked around the Hall with mild interest, Y/N’s words still ringing clear in his head. The stone benches from the four long house tables were in the middle of the room and the house tables had been pushed up against the walls.

Sirius exchanged glances with Remus and the others before sitting down on one of the benches, his friends following suit, they sat opposite the Slytherins. Nobody said anything – not even Sirius – until Minnie and Slughorn stood in the middle of the room.

“You have all seen on your supply list that you are going to be required to buy dress robes this year, I presume?” McGonagall began, when everyone had murmured in agreement, she continued, “instead of merely having a Christmas feast this year, we have decided that we are going to be throwing a Yule Ball.”

There was a sudden outburst of excited talking, mostly from the girls, Lily and Y/N started making plans at once for where they were going to buy their dress robes from. Sirius, and by the looks of it, the rest of the boys didn’t feel too enthusiastic, it was the first time in their Hogwarts careers that a ball had been thrown.

“Silence everyone!” Slughorn boomed, loud enough to make the walls and floors tremble.

“Now, because this is the first Hogwarts ball in a very long time, representatives from the Ministry of Magic will be attending, including the Minister! I want you all to be on your best behaviour or such an opportunity will not be extended again,” McGonagall said sternly, her gaze lingering on James and Sirius who looked at each other and smirked.

“I need a volunteer,” McGonagall started and looked around, mostly everyone sunk back into their seats, a couple of people scratched the back of their necks nervously, “Miss Y/L/N, how about you?” McGonagall gave the pretty girl a wan smile, Y/N smiled at her and went to stand in the middle of the room, “now, we need a partner for Miss Y/L/N,” McGonagall said to herself.

Almost instantly, Sirius who had been previously slouching in his chair now sat up straight, his eyes fixed on good ol’ Minnie, he didn’t notice Y/N looking at him curiously. The young man felt very hopeful though he didn’t want to admit why to himself.

“How about you Sirius?” Slughorn said happily, Sirius grinned at him, feeling very grateful while Regulus glared at his Head of House as Sirius went to stand opposite Y/N. She beamed at him before averting her eyes shyly, “I believe you two are excellent dancers, if you would kindly show everyone how it’s done?” Slughorn asked as his eyes twinkled knowingly.

Sirius took Y/N’s hand, his rough hand creating friction with her soft one, his other hand went to her waist as hers went to his firm shoulders and they began to dance the length of the Hall. McGonagall conjured up an orchestra of instruments that started to play classical music.

Sirius noticed that Y/N was looking around at their fellow students nervously as they danced. He chuckled as their friends all gave them thumbs up from where they were sitting; Sirius tightened the hand on Y/N’s waist ever so slightly, making her look up at him, her beautiful eyes boring into his, soft and warm.

“Keep your eyes on me, don’t worry about anyone else,” he whispered wanting to make her feel more at ease, and he smiled, a genuine smile not knowing that it made him look even more handsome. Y/N nodded as her eyes scanned his eyes, her fingers coming up from his shoulder to play with the ends of his hair.

The pair of them hadn’t realised that the music had stopped playing until someone cleared their throat. The spell that had captivated them shattered as they moved away from each other with blushing cheeks and they quickly went back to their seats, though they shot each other a shy smile. Y/N had been a beautiful dancer.

A couple of days after the whole dancing thing – it still made Sirius blush whenever he thought about it – Sirius sauntered into the common room and looked at Lily who was perched on James’ knee, “Lils, is Y/N still out?” he asked in surprise, she had been called into Dumbledore’s office a few hours ago.

Lily looked at him as she bit her lip with a worried expression, “yeah, and we saw Dumbledore in the Great Hall before so she obviously isn’t in his office now. I’m worried about her and I don’t want her to miss the party tonight.”

Sirius was worried about her too, “I’ll go and look for her,” he assured Lily.

She smirked a him, her green eyes narrowing, “uh-huh,” Sirius scowled at her as he clambered out of the portrait hole.

He looked for his friend in all of the places that he could think of but she was nowhere to be seen. The house elves in the kitchens and Nearly-Headless Nick had no clue where she was. Finally, he decided to check in their secret spot at the boathouse and that was where he found her. She was in tears; Sirius had never seen her so upset before.

“Oh, darling, what’s the matter?” he asked as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his other hand wiping away her tears.

She caught his hand and linked her fingers through his, “I don’t want to talk about,” she sniffled and Sirius nodded understandingly.

He rubbed her back as they sat in silence with her head on his shoulder, watching the ripples on the lake and listening to the chirping of the birds, “so hey, Lily is throwing a party tonight, it’ll be good for you to,” he trailed off as he chewed his lip, wondering whether he would sound insensitive.

“To drown my sorrows,” she finished for him and let out a watery giggle, “I think that you’re right Sirius.”

---------------------------------

You smiled as you linked your arm through Sirius’, you were starting to feel much better about your predicament, though there was nothing you could do to change it, and you just had to accept it. Sirius had been so sweet with you today; it was so nice to see this side of him. He helped you up through the portrait hole and although you knew that Lily was throwing a party, the scene that was unfolding still caught you off guard.

“Y/N! Sirius, finally you’re both here!” Lily shouted with glee when you and Sirius entered the common room. She was very giggly and her green eyes were slightly glazed over.

There were other Gryffindors including James, Remus, Peter, Marlene and Dorcas who were all sitting in a circle with a glass bottle in the middle of it. You noticed that there were more girls than boys among the students.

“What’s going on?” you laughed as Sirius sent you a charming wink, his eyes darkened slightly, making him look even more gorgeous.

“We were bored so we’re playing a Muggle game called spin the bottle,” Lily replied, pulling both you and Sirius over to the circle.

“Okay! How do you play?” you asked excitedly as you sat down.

“It’s really easy! Just spin the bottle and whoever it lands on, you have to kiss them!” she giggled, her laugh high pitched and musical.

“Sounds like fun,” you smirked.

Sirius chuckled as he raised an eyebrow, “this doesn’t count as me losing the bet does it Y/N?”

“It doesn’t,” you agreed, it was just a silly game that horny teenagers played, it didn’t mean anything. You smiled as Lily handed you a large glass bottle of amber liquid that was labelled as Jack Daniel’s whiskey. Most of it was gone which you supposed explained Lily’s giggly mood.

You took a sip of it, it was kind of horrible but it slid down your throat smoothly and warmed your insides. Under the influence of Mr Jack Daniels’ you thought that the game was quite fun, so far you had kissed James, Peter and a couple of people that you didn’t know. Sirius had also kissed quite a lot of people, it created a jealous pang in your chest so you drank more in hope that the feeling would go away. It didn’t.

It was Lily’s turn again so she spun the bottle and it landed on you, it was safe to say that the boys loved the result due to their wolf whistling. God, you hated boys.

“This is the best night of my life,” James commented, swigging the whiskey from the bottle. His comment made Lily roll her eyes and she slapped her boyfriend’s arm playfully.

“Pucker up beautiful,” Lily said and pressed her lips against yours, when you cupped a cheek and kissed her back, the boys went wild. You laughed and pulled away with a smirk on your face, Sirius’ grey eyes were wide blown as he looked at you. James was a lucky man, Lily was a good kisser.

“My turn!” you excitedly grabbed the bottle and spun it, it stopped on Remus who gave you an adorable lopsided grin as he gave you a quick but sweet kiss, earning ‘aww’s’ from the surrounding people and you could have sworn that you heard Sirius grumble.

Laughing, Remus spun the bottle and it landed on Sirius who smirked, “c’mon Moony,” he puckered his lips playfully.

Remus sighed and groaned, “Merlin,” he muttered and kissed Sirius so quickly that you hardly saw it before he pulled away with a pained expression, wiping his mouth quickly. You giggled drunkenly as you shot Remus a sympathetic look.

Sirius chuckled, shaking his head as he spun the bottle vigorously, it took a while for the bottle to stop and when it did, it landed on you. You had butterflies in the pit of your stomach and your mouth went dry. You glanced up at Sirius who was smirking though there were patches of pink high upon his cheeks. He leaned in close enough that you could count the freckles on his nose and he had some blue in his eyes, his breath smelled like whiskey.

His lips were incredibly soft – you had expected them to be a little chapped – and the feeling of butterflies in your stomach increased as he moved his lips against yours. You ran your fingers through his raven locks before you tangled your fingers in his hair. He groaned against your lips as you tugged his hair and he bit your bottom lip gently before his tongue swirled over yours.

Someone clearing their throat made you both jump apart, you were slightly dazed and your lips felt swollen. Sirius shot you a sheepish smile while your friends smirked. You were breathless after such a passionate kiss and your lips were still tingling. He hadn’t shared such a passionate kiss with anyone else during the game.

Later on that night, when you and Lily were both in bed she whispered over to you, “when you kissed Sirius, what was it like? It looked pretty passionate from where we were sitting, you know that wasn’t a required rule of the game,” you could hear the smirk in her voice.

“It was just a kiss,” you chewed your lip as you squeezed your eyes shut as you decided to come clean to your best friend, “but it was the best kiss that I’ve ever had,” you sighed wistfully, smiling to yourself.

---------------------------------

@approved-by-dentists @thefuturelawyer @a-miserable-hufflepunk @firelordmillie @seriouslysiriuss @sleep-i-ness @play-morezeppelin @pregnant-piggy @sleepingalaska @smiithys @blisfvll @rexorangecouny

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nearlymanaged · 4 years

Text

21. The Long Wait and James’ Exasperation

“Remus!” Suzy, a bespectacled Gryffindor sixth year with enchanted flowers braided into her hair, caught up with him.

“Hey,” Remus stopped, holding the portrait hole open for her.

“Thanks…” She breathed out as she climbed in with an armful of assorted spellbooks, quills, parchment, and ink bottles. “My bag broke today,” she explained.

“I’m sorry,” he offered a genuine smile. “My bag’s broken once, too. Granted, it was being held by James and Sirius. Who were flying on two separate brooms at the time. So maybe not quite the same...”

Suzy let out a tickled laugh and almost dropped half of her things just then. Remus, however, reacted in time and, with a flick of his wand, lifted all of the weight out of the girl’s arms. “Thanks again,” she beamed.

“No worries. Well, have fun with…” he gently pushed one of the books, floating mid-air, out of the way, “History of Magic,” he said after a glance at the cover. “Ah yes, the class that, six years in, has taught me how to take notes while napping…”

Suzy laughed again, taking over the steering of her possessions with her own wand now. “That’s actually hilariously accurate… Maybe we could work on our homework together sometime, for moral support?”

“I do lead a study group every Thursday… Although lately, it’s been more like every once in a blue moon, whenever we can squeeze it into everyone’s schedules...”

“Maybe you and I can have a private study group then?”

“Er…” Remus stammered while his brain worked to figure out whether Suzy was asking him out or genuinely trying to get some help with homework. For some reason, he thought, the older he got, the harder it was to read anyone. “I’m absolute shite at History of Magic..?” He attempted with a shrug.

“Then maybe I can tutor you some?”

Ah… It certainly sounded like the girl’s interests spanned beyond homework. A mild panic was setting in as Remus tried to come up with an appropriate response, but nothing came to mind. So he decided to just go for it, as clumsy and awkwardly as he knew it would come out.

Thing was, Remus never really came out to people. Yes, obviously he had been open about his sexuality with Vincent, and at this point, most (if not all) of his friends had caught on, and, matter of fact, he didn’t care if the whole school knew. He felt like a bit of a freak anyway, what’s another thing to add to the list? He just never went around talking about it. In all fairness, it was probably because he’d gotten used to keeping it to himself at home, with his dad around. He could hardly imagine having that conversation with his family (“Hey dad, guess what? I’m gay!”) so he had sort of pushed that idea aside and moved on altogether. But now, he inhaled deeply in anticipation...

“Suzy... I’m…”

“Alright, I’ll just say it… I just need a couple of bottles of butterbeer and I…”

“...ga-- What?” Remus froze all of a sudden, only his eyelids fluttering in a rapid succession of baffled blinks.

“Did you...just say you’re gay?” Suzy peered at him, looking no less confused than he felt.

“I…er...”

“I knew it,” someone uttered in a group of fifth years flocking around the nearest sofa.

“Nevermind that,” Remus mumbled while wishing to literally die right then and there. “You said you need butterbeer?”

“Ehm, yes. I know that you and your friends know where to get some…” Suzy, very graciously, employed a facial expression determined to ignore Remus’ little outburst.

He hastily assured her that he’d talk to his friends and get some butterbeer for her during their next expedition to a mysterious source that Suzy had no business knowing anything about anyway. Still feeling the burning embarrassment pulsing all the way from the pit of his stomach to the top of his head, Remus turned to run upstairs to put his stuff away and maybe suffocate himself with a pillow while he was at it. Before he could leave the scene of his mortification, however, he was beckoned over by the very giggly duo of Lily and Dorcas.

“Rem, did you just yell ‘I’m gay’ at--”

“Five points from Gryffindor.”

Lily let out a loud gasp that somehow ended with an indignant squeal. “James told me you do that…” She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips, but didn’t say another word about the topic.

“Welcome to the club, Remus,” Dorcas grinned at him. “I always knew there was a reason I liked you. Straight people can be so...intense sometimes -- no offense, Lily,” she finished with a smirk.

“How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t judge all straight people based on Potter…”

Both Dorcas and Remus cackled at this. “What about you, miss I Hate This Arrogant Toerag But I’ll Still Spend Every Waking Moment Hanging Out Around Him?” Remus tilted his head rather eloquently with a little quirk of his eyebrows.

“Oh! Please! Pshh!” Lily started shuffling around in her seat with an outraged glare.

“That’s what I’ve noticed, too!” Dorcas beamed at Remus. “She can’t get enough of him lately, can she?”

“You think it has anything to do with him being Quidditch captain?”

“Well, straight people do seem to have a thing about sports…”

“Shut up, you idiots!”

“So - and forgive me for being so blunt - Sirius?” Dorcas beamed at Remus, evidently deciding that Lily’s had enough mortification for the time being.

“What about him?”

“Rumour has it, you’ve got the hots for the Black boy?”

“The rumour’s name wouldn’t happen to be Lily, would it?” Remus shot a pointed glance at the girl in question, but Dorcas merely chuckled at it rather dismissively.

“There’s also the fact that everyone in this school has eyes and ears, Remus. And some of us know how to use them, too. Question is, who’s going to make the first move?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

Remus felt a kind of warmth flood over him - against his own logical thought, he couldn’t help but feel pleased to know that other people could see it. “Hard to say,” he mumbled through a grin that refused to be toned down.

“I think it should be you,” Lily stated matter-of-factly.

“How so?”

“Because, obviously, you’re the somewhat more sensible one.”

“I don’t think romance has much to do with sensibility, Lils,” Dorcas leaned back in her seat. “I think it’ll be Sirius. Precisely because he lacks it.”

“What are we, making bets on my life now?” Remus folded his arms over his chest; he only barely resisted the temptation to reference their very secret plan that he wasn’t supposed to know anything about.

“That’s a great idea!” Dorcas cackled at his feigned indignation.

“All jokes aside,” Lily beamed, “I have a feeling you two will get together soon. It’s Spring, after all. A time for new beginnings.”

“I thought you dropped Divination?” Remus pulled a funny face at her, pretending to be puzzled by her words.

“Yes. But, as Dorcas already pointed out, some of us have functioning eyes and ears.”

“And some of us might even know more than we let on…” Dorcas uttered, a faint smirk curving her lips.

Lily smacked her arm lightly. “Dee!”

“What?”

“What?” Remus echoed, his eyes darting between the two girls.

“Nothing. Dorcas has a strange sense of humour, that’s all.”

“Uh-huh… So anyway, speaking of new beginnings--”

“Oh will you drop it?” Lily cut across him rather sternly. “Even if I did agree to go out with him, so what?” She added quieter.

“Oh? I was going to say, isn’t it strange that the last summer of our Hogwarts years is almost here. But your thing is more entertaining,” Remus shot her a smug grin.

“Remus!”

“What?” He laughed out.

“And she might agree to go out with him sooner than we’d suspect, too.”

“Dorcas!!”

The three of them went on about sensible minds and love and sensible minds in love; mostly courtesy of Lily and Dorcas while Remus was quietly replaying every moment he’d spent with Sirius in the past few days, only occasionally offering a joke or a commentary. This was happiness, he thought. To have friends that cared (enough to devise some sort of a secret plan) and a boyfriend who was one of the best friends he’d ever had and one of the best people he’d ever known. This was happiness - being seventeen and in love and surrounded by good people, and it didn’t even matter that he had just embarrassed himself in front of Suzy and half the Gryffindors.

* * *

Remus looked like there was some kind of a magical glow about him as he sat there - bathed in sunlight streaming in through the high, narrow windows of History of Magic classroom, his chin in his hand, his quill unceasingly taking notes. There certainly was a distinct warm and bright afternoon laziness in the air, which rendered Sirius completely unable to pay the slightest bit of attention to Mr Binns’ monotonous recital of Gargoyle Strike of 1911 facts.

Instead, his gaze was resting on the side of Remus’ face, quasi-secretly taking in the way the sun glistened in his sand and honey coloured hair, the way that that one scar ran across the bridge of his nose like a vein of ore, the way that his eyelids lowered over his brilliantly green irises, the way his soft, yet always a little chapped lips feebly formed silent words here and there as he wrote them down...

“Sirius, you’re staring.”

“You’re just now noticing?” Sirius purred back at Remus’ whispered observation.

“I was busy taking notes, which you’ll be thankful for later.”

“I’ve been staring at you longer than that.”

“Stop it…” Remus mumbled, quieter now, a slight blush tinting his cheeks and ears, which Sirius noticed to his great delight.

“Surely, you don’t actually mean it, do you?”

“Stop it, Sirius…” He repeated with even less conviction in his voice.

“What do you think they’re planning? To get us together?” Sirius perked up slightly, genuinely eager to dive into speculation about the topic. In all honesty, anything that had to do with Remus had been his favourite topic lately -- or not so lately.

“I don’t know, I’ve been thinking about it too,” the boy’s eyebrows slowly knit together over his thoughtful eyes. “I can’t imagine anything that would require James and Lily to go on a fake date.”

“You can’t use your own logic for this. We need to think like them,” Sirius grinned.

“Ah yes… We must think like someone who’s gotten hit in the head by a bludger more times than I have fingers.”

“Hey!” Sirius protested and then shrugged apologetically, remembering he was in the middle of a classroom. “I’ve gotten hit by a bludger too. Read the room, Moony.”

“So you have. That’s why I talk so slowly whenever you’re around,” Remus whispered and gave Sirius a smile that might have been intended as an expression of mischief but in reality looked more flirtatious than anything else.

“And yet,” Sirius leaned in a little closer, speaking a little quieter, feeling a little giddier, “I happen to be where you choose to lay your affections.”

“I never claimed to be perfect…”

“You’re such a tease, Moony.”

“You bring it out of me,” Remus mumbled as he bit down on his lip, evidently determined to bridle his grin. “When do you think they’ll carry out their secret plan?”

“Hm… I don’t know, there’s not really anything special happening anytime soon. The Quidditch game, maybe?”

“But surely, James can’t be on a fake date with Lily if he’s playing Quidditch?”

“Good point. D’you think they’ll fake an injury? That’s probably very likely, statistically speaking.”

“Statistically speaking?” Remus shot him a curious glance.

“Fake injuries tend to be the driving force of a lot of our successful pranks, don’t they?” Sirius grinned.

Just then, the bell rang throughout the castle and all the students started getting up from their desks and funneling out into the hallways. Sirius and Remus both shoved their belongings into their bags and started heading for the door of the classroom along with their fellow sixth years.

“Why is Suzy McGregor giving you weird looks?” Sirius gently nudged Remus’ ribcage. “What?” He asked when Remus took a deep breath and sighed.

“I yelled at her..?

“You yelled at her?..”

“That I’m gay…”

“You...pardon?”

“I thought she was trying to ask me out…” Remus kept trailing off as he spoke, determined to slowly but surely power through this embarrassing tale, holding his wide glossy gaze straight ahead as they walked out into the corridor.

“But she wasn’t?” Sirius offered curiously.

“She just wanted some butterbeer…”

“But not on a date with you?”

“No. I’m not invited to drink butterbeer with her.”

“Why’d you--”

“She chose very confusing wording to lead with, alright? And besides,” Remus finally met Sirius’ eyes, “it’s not like I don’t ever get asked out by people.”

“I wasn’t trying to imply,” Sirius smiled brightly. “I mean, I asked you out myself, didn’t I? What?” His expression clouded over with a confused kind of smile when Remus laughed.

“I wouldn’t exactly call that asking someone out.”

“Well you should look up the definition of asking someone out because that was exactly it!”

“You asked me to help you with homework. Exactly like you’ve done dozens of times before.”

“If not hundreds. But that’s not the point,” Sirius whispered hastily as they were overtaken by a group of Ravenclaw sixth years. “I’m sure it’s nothing compared to whatever Vincent would have done,” he blurted out without thinking.

“Vincent?” Remus repeated that name as if he’d never heard it before, to Sirius’ vague delight. “What’s he got to do with anything?” He was smiling now.

“I don’t know, you seemed pretty fond of him…” Sirius trailed off this time, unsure where he was going. For some reason, all of a sudden, he simply wanted to know that he was more important and special to Remus than the French git -- which was a ridiculous thought, seeing as they’d been inseparable friends for years.

“I think that’s a bit of an overstatement.”

“It is?”

“Are you jealous?” A big smile blossomed over Remus’ mouth as he uttered the question.

“Should I be?” Sirius shrugged nonchalantly as he thought to himself that he was, he absolutely was.

“Sirius.”

“Remus?”

Without another word (albeit with a roll of his eyes), Moony grabbed Sirius’ hand and swiftly dragged him into the nearest classroom - which conveniently happened to be one that they often counted on to be empty, for it hadn’t been used for lessons in at least two years.

Before he could figure out what was happening, Sirius found himself pinned against a cold stone wall. Remus’ left hand traveled up to touch his face, ever so gently, to rest along his jawline, as he kissed him slowly and deliberately. Sirius was dimly aware of Moony’s other hand holding his, their fingers laced through each other loosely, yet without intention to let go. He couldn’t comprehend how he had spent so many years without being kissed by this beautiful boy like that.

When Remus pulled away slightly, just enough for their foreheads and noses to still touch, Sirius managed to stammer out, “Moony?”

“Mhm?”

“Where...where did you learn to do this?”

Remus recoiled now, a sheepish smile painted across his beautiful, flushed face. “Sod off, Padfoot.” He turned around on his heel.

“No, I’m serious!” The black haired boy followed him out into the corridor, a giddy grin crowning his own features. “Is this how you kiss other people too?”

“I don’t kiss other people, Sirius…” Remus narrowed his eyes ever so slightly when the other boy caught up with him.

“But in the past!”

“Are you...are you retroactively jealous?”

“Only if you have kissed other people like that,” Sirius mumbled, only half jokingly.

“I don’t know, I’ll have to conduct a survey to see what they have to say.”

“Such a tease,” Sirius smirked at his boyfriend.

He felt so in love and so happy as they walked towards one of the moving staircases. It almost seemed to him as though there had to be a catch to it, as though complete bliss like this wasn’t meant to be free. But whatever the price could be, all he cared about were those green eyes, full of joy and love.

“Oi, Sirius!” James’ voice bellowed over the excited clamour of the hallways. “I’ve been-- Are you two alright?” His demeanor changed instantly when he approached the two boys.

“Yeah, why?” Remus shrugged while Sirius continued to float in the pleasant haze of his own mind.

“Pads is clinging to your arm… Are you hurt?”

“Oh, that,” Remus chuckled and gently peeled Sirius’ fingers off from around his forearm. To Sirius’ own surprise, however, he couldn’t remember how or when his fingers ended up wrapped around it in the first place. “I think I might have broken him…”

“What did you do?”

“I, er…”

“I’ll tell you later, Prongs,” Sirius finally rejoined the reality and their conversation. “So what about you and Evans?” He asked, foolishly - and very much aware of it - hoping that he could nudge James and his mysterious plan into motion a little faster.

“What do you mean?”

“When are you going to get together?”

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t you been telling me to forget about her and get over it at least once a week for the past year?”

“Nonsense! Have you been asking her out lately?”

“No…” James narrowed his eyes.

“You were looking for him?” Remus reminded with a nod towards Sirius.

“Ah, yes… Bad news - Quidditch is postponed until next week.”

“Why?” Sirius attempted to sound somewhat interested in the topic, while in all honesty, he was starting to become impatient about an entirely different thing.

“There was a break in at one of Hogsmeade shops. The school,” James uttered these words rather contemptuously, “feels it would be unwise to have the overwhelming majority of pupils out in the open grounds so close to a suspected Death Eater attack.”

“How dare the school,” Remus nodded with a solemn expression; a heartwarming attempt at solidarity.

Sirius, in the meantime, was getting lost in his head again. He was thinking about how much he wanted to tell James that Remus kissed him in Hogsmeade. He wanted all his friends to know. And he wanted to hold Remus’ hand all the time and kiss him whenever he wanted. Sneaking around might have sounded exciting in theory, but he didn’t think that now. And not only that - he wanted everyone to know that they were together, he wanted the whole school to see him with Moony and to realise just how much luckier Sirius was than all of them. He wanted all the students to talk about how much they loved each other and what a lovely couple the two made. He wanted the whole staff to be on the lookout for the snogging in the hallways. He wanted to be able to share his intoxicating happiness with everyone and anyone.

* * *

James pushed a couple of second years out of his way as he darted through the portrait hole, into the common room. He threw a half-hearted apology at them, without so much as a glance, as he made a beeline for the far corner of the room, where a collection of old, red velvet clad furniture crowded around the fireplace.

“Why is everyone talking about how Remus Lupin came out as gay in the common room?!” He stopped in front of the boy in question, his hands on his hips, a subconscious mirror of his mother.

“Wh-- Who’s talking about it?” Remus scrunched his nose, his body frozen halfway through a flinch, the book that he had been reading now lying face up in his lap.

“Who’s...he’s asking me who’s…” James muttered bitterly. “My sources, alright?”

“Your sour--”

“Why am I, once again, forced to learn about things like that from other people?!”

“I didn’t--”

“How do you think that makes me look!?”

“I--”

“Makes me look like a bad friend, Remus! Do you think I’m a bad friend?”

“No…”

“Then why wouldn’t you tell me before you start going around telling the whole school?”

“I didn’t--”

“Nevermind that, I have to go send an owl to my parents to stop asking you about girlfriends.”

“Oh, it’s really alright, they’ve only asked a handful of times--” Remus mumbled feebly, obviously very confused by James’ outburst.

“A handful too many!”

“Prongs, it’s hones--”

“They might start pestering you about boyfriends though…”

“That’s...that’s fine with me, James,” Remus smiled brightly out of the blue.

“Hm, I’ll think about it… Either way, I need to ask for more of mum’s flapjack…”

“You do that, James.”

“I hope you didn’t not tell me that you’re gay because you thought I’d do something ridiculous, like disapprove or give a broom riding fuck at all, honestly. Unless you started fancying me...you know my heart belongs to Evans.”

“I know, James,” Remus was positively radiant now.

“Good. Right. I’ll go send that owl then. Jaffa Cakes?” James lingered on the spot.

“That’d be lovely. Send your parents my love.”

“Will do. Sorry for raising my voice,” he added after a moment’s consideration.

“That’s quite alright.”

“Let me know if anyone gives you grief about it.”

“Thanks, James,” Remus beamed at him, at which he nodded and turned around on his heel.

Now that he’d gone through with the confrontation, his mind was catching up with what had happened - he had overheard a handful of Gryffindors talking about Remus and how he had told Suzy McGregor that he’s gay. Of course, James was aware of Remus’ sexuality, he just never talked to him about it - he wanted to give his friend all the time and space he needed rather than force him to come out if he wasn’t ready. And when he heard those kids talking about it, he couldn’t help but feel hurt; hurt that Remus didn’t feel like he could talk to James, perhaps?

And - just like most things James would get riled up about - now it turned out to not be a big deal at all. Once he paused to think about it, James realised that more than anything, he was worried that Remus would feel like he needed to hide his sexuality just like he’d been hiding his lycanthropy. And if that ever turned out to be the case, he silently swore to himself to do anything he could to make Remus feel like he didn’t have to be ashamed about any part of his wonderful existence.

As James was crossing the common room, deep in thought, he almost walked right past Sirius, who had just descended from the dormitories.

“Were you aware that Remus is, in fact, very much not straight?” James grabbed his arm and pulled him closer.

“Er…” Sirius briefly stared off across the room before returning his gaze to James’ face. “Vaguely.”

“As in, he’s very much gay.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Did he already tell you!?” James gasped.

“Not exclusively, no.”

“Well? Aren’t you happy about it?!”

“Oh! Yes, very!” Sirius nodded a tad too vigorously.

“Do you not fancy him anymore?” James screwed up his face in confusion. He’d been finding himself growing more and more exasperated lately; he couldn’t figure out why his two friends were being such idiots and was beginning to put more and more stock into Lily and Peter’s plan.

“Oh no, I do. I very much do.”

“Why won’t you just tell him?!” James whispered hotly, gesturing his arms around.

“Oh, you know,” Sirius shrugged, “because we’re friends and all that jazz, I guess.”

“Are you sure you still fancy him?”

“Yes. Aren’t you?”

“You haven’t been whining about him lately.”

“I don’t whine, excuse you,” Sirius puffed out his chest dramatically.

At this, James let out an amused laugh. “Sure. You want to walk to the owlery with me?”

“Uh…” Sirius stared off again. “I needed to talk to Remus, actually. About the study group thing...”

“You know, if the boy doesn’t figure out that the only reason you attend his study groups is so that you could stare at him, then maybe I’ve overestimated his intelligence…”

“How dare you,” Sirius popped his eyes in another facetious gesture. “I care about my education, that’s all.”

“Mhm.” James arched his eyebrows and watched Sirius walking away for a few moments before continuing on his way.

Some thirty minutes later, James was back at the portrait hole, giving the Fat Lady the password, when Lily caught up with him.

“Potter,” she nodded with comical gravitas.

“Evans,” he mirrored her. “Coming back from a Dorks Anonymous meeting?” He cast a glance at the stack of books in her arms.

“Is that your new seduction tactic?” She squeezed past him, through the portrait hole into the common room.

“Is it working?”

Lily opened her mouth, as if about to say something, but then just laughed, melting James’ heart just a tad more.

“Say, have you noticed anything strange about Remus and Sirius?”

“Yes, actually,” she stepped aside, out of the way of people climbing in and out the common room entrance, and turned to James. “I couldn’t put my finger on it at first, but they seem to have started acting a lot less...annoying?”

“Yes!” James grabbed Lily’s shoulders excitedly and gave her a light shake. “Sirius hasn’t been whining...at all, really. ”

“And Remus isn’t staring at Sirius with that pining look at mealtimes. In fact, I saw him hand feed Sirius at lunch the other day.”

“I’ve seen Remus braid Sirius’ hair at least three times this week.”

“I’m so confused… Why won’t they just get it over with and get together?”

“You know, I’m starting to think your plan will prove to be a necessity…”

“Oh, interesting.” Lily shuffled her weight on one foot and raised an eyebrow as she shot him a sly smirk. “I seem to remember you calling it a waste of our time.”

“Can’t hurt to try, can it?” James shrugged defensively, trying not to stare at her lips too obviously as he did.

“Well, we’ve just got a couple more weeks before the next Hogsmeade trip. We’ll have to start thinking about how to fake this date,” Lily grimaced.

“I do have feelings, you know. You could at least pretend to not be repulsed by the idea,” James pouted.

“I’m not! That’s not what I mean…”

“I’m just yanking your wand, Evans,” he chuckled and fell into step beside her when she started for their usual corner of the common room.

Before they even reached their friends, they exchanged very eloquent looks at the sight of Sirius perched up on the armrest of Remus’ chair - they seemed to have formed a new habit of sharing a seat whenever they could get away with it (anytime they weren’t in class).

“Sirius,” Lily squinted at him, “are you wearing Remus’ sweater vest?..”

James’ eyes darted to Sirius, his face screwing up in a horrible realisation that he had somehow missed that detail up until then.

“This?” Sirius tugged at the hem of it. “Yep.”

“But…” James peered at him. “You always make fun of it. You hate it, don’t you!?”

“Hate it!? Dear Merlin, of course I don’t hate it.”

“I’ve literally heard you describe this exact piece of clothing as a ‘poor shoe shiner child’s uniform’, multiple times.”

“Dragondung, I would never say that.”

“No, actually,” Remus interjected with a very indulgent smirk, lowering his book in his lap, his index finger marking the page, “I too remember you saying those exact words.”

#i've been so busy with work #also both my physical and mental health crumbling to pieces #this certainly ain't my best work #but here it is #fanfic #Wolfstar fanfiction #hogwarts #marauders #sirius black #remus lupin #lily evans #james potter

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ourloveisforthelovely · 3 years

Text

Teenagers Part 4

Harry Potter Marauders Era

Link to Part 3

Pairings: Regulus Black x Reader

Rating: M

_____

Regulus was the first to break the kiss, leaving you nearly breathless. You weren't able to bring yourself to look at your friends. Without looking you knew that James was probably over there screaming.

“What in the name of hell is going on around here?”

That was quicker than I expected.

You thought looking up at James. He stood in front of you resembling a volcano about to explode. Sirius stood behind him with his mouth wide open. You wanted to laugh at the expression on Sirius’ face. In all of the years, that you had been friends with Sirius, you have never seen him with this expression on his face.

Regulus was the first one to speak. In true Regulus Black fashion, his voice was eerily calm.

“I suppose your glasses aren’t strong enough, Potter. If you were looking clearly then you would have seen things clearly.”

James tried to bite his tongue...which worked all of three seconds.

“Get your filthy hands off of my sister, Black!”

Regulus held his hands up before looking at his palms.

“I’m not filthy. Again Potter, get your vision checked. Maybe I wouldn’t beat you in quidditch if your vision was correct.”

You automatically winced at that particular dig. If there was a subject to really piss James off on other than you was his quidditch skills. Sure enough, James threw his books down and went for his wand.

Regulus, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow.,

“What are you going to do, Potter? Hex me? You do realize that my friends are sitting right over there and are watching this whole exchange. There are more of us than you and my mute brother.”

James glanced toward the Slytherin table where Evan, Barty, Severus, and a few of Regulus’ little minions were clearly waiting for an excuse to go after him. He glanced over his shoulder and was pleased to see Remus and Peter had finally decided to come over.

“I have two more. It will be a fair fight. You have no business being with my sister.”

You quickly stood up.

“James, I like Regulus. It isn’t your place to tell me what to do.”

James turned his attention to you. He was fuming and knew that he was probably about to say a lot of things that he would regret later. At the moment, however, he didn’t give two shits. You didn’t know what you were getting into. All that James could see was you looking the way that Sirius did the night that he moved in. Sure, Regulus was probably too decent enough of a guy to put his hands on you but Walburga Black wasn’t. If you did something that displeased that hag, she would probably beat you and Regulus would be too soft to stand up to his mother. There was no way in hell that James would allow you to live in that kind of household! He couldn’t help but wonder why you would want to?

“You didn’t talk to me about this, Y/n. You saw what his family did to Sirius! If you are with him, his psycho mother will hurt you! She hates us as it is anyway.”

Regulus frowned.

“James, this isn’t the bloody 1800’s. Y/n can be with who she wants without any input from you. Furthermore, I wouldn’t let my mother touch her.”

James took a breath before turning to Regulus.

“You sure didn’t stand up for your older brother. Sirius, do you have something to add to this? You are being awfully quiet back there?”

Sirius opened his mouth and made a few small squeaking sounds before finally talking.

“You two like each other?”

Regulus’ annoyed scowl intensified.

“Catch up!”

Sirius blinked as Remus and Peter wrapped their arms through James.

“Okay, we need to stop.”

Peter gently said to James. Remus nodded.

“We need to stop so you don’t say something that you will regret.”

James laughed bitterly.

“I have a lot to say and I am not feeling too shy right now. Y/n, when this all goes to hell don’t you dare come to me for help! This will all be your fault for choosing this little shit.”

Regulus stood up after he saw the way that your face fell. This uncharacteristic comment was something that you never expected to hear come out of James’ mouth. You were unable to meet Sirius and Remus’ faces. What you couldn’t see was both Sirius and Remus were as stunned as you. This was not normal James Potter behavior.

“Little shit? You do realize that I am bigger than you. I’ve had enough of your mouth, Potter. If that is really how you respond to your sister, who you supposedly love so much, you aren’t very much of a brother. Come on, Y/n.”

You quickly stood, wanting nothing more than to get out of the great hall. Sure, you could have made some really hurtful comment right back at James but you didn’t want to. You loved your brother too much to be that sassy and hurtful. Clearly, James didn’t see things the same way that you did.

Had James come over and wanted to talk like a sane human not a neanderthal, you would have been glad to talk to him. You would have told him that you cared more about Regulus than you ever had for any other boy. Granted, Regulus could have turned down the sass and assured James that he would make sure that you wouldn’t be hurt. Maybe assurances from both of you would ease the tension going on inside of your brother. Unfortunately, it was all shot to hell.

You quickly took the hand that Regulus was holding out to you. Glancing over your shoulder, you could see Lily, Dorcas, and Marlene were all standing up with matching worried expressions on their faces. This would be the first time that you walked away from your friends. Something told you that you wouldn’t be seeing much of them for the foreseeable future…

James, meanwhile, watched as you walked out of the great hall with Regulus. The older brother in him wanted nothing more than to go grab you and beg for forgiveness. He knew that his reaction was less than satisfactory but what did you expect? James had been looking after you from the moment that you were born. How did you honestly expect him to turn that off?

The better question was Regulus thinking? Did he really think that this relationship was going to work out? What did the two of you honestly have in common? You were such a sunny lovely person with a heart of gold and Regulus...well...he was gloomy and everything dark.

“James?”

He turned the moment that Lily said his name.

“Did you see that?”

Lily gently wrapped her hand around James’ hoping to calm him down. She tried to keep her voice calm and sweet. Lily knew if she wanted to get anything out of James adding to his temper wouldn’t get her anywhere.

Before Lily could speak, Marlene beat her…

“The whole hall heard the three of you.”

James groaned. He ran a hand through his messy hair before turning to face his friends.

“Was I wrong?”

Lily shrugged as Dorcas spoke.

“James, what is so bad with Regulus? I mean, he’s smart and he really seems to like Y/n. From what I can see, he has been nothing but kind to her.”

James growled.

“Okay Dorcas, what about when the little twat loses his temper and his little mask comes off and my sister gets hurt? I don’t care if he’s a Black or whatever family he comes from, he has no business with my sister.”

Lily finally decided to speak.

“Why don’t you calm down a bit then go talk to Y/n? You're her older brother and she loves you more than anyone. This is going to crush her.”

James sighed.

“She’s really happy right now, Lils! She has the boy that all of the other girls want since his older brother isn’t dating anyone anymore.”

Sirius frowned.

“Hey! I can’t help it that I’m attractive. In all seriousness, James, I get why you worried. I am for the same reason. You of all people know who my mother is. If I said that I wasn’t worried it would be a lie. Since when does my brother like girls? I was convinced that he didn’t like anyone.”

“He needs to go back to that. I guess that I am supposed to sit back and watch my sister’s life go to hell?”

James snapped, having the urge to punch a wall. Remus finally decided to speak. He was waiting for the best moment to talk. Maybe this was it?

“I’ll keep an eye on them as much as I can.”

James nodded.

“I’m going to get some air.”

(meanwhile)

You walked in silence beside Regulus. Neither of you had said much since leaving the great hall. Regulus had kept a watchful eye on your face. You were devastated and he knew it. He knew that expression on your face well.

“I didn’t expect him to say that.”

Regulus commented before gently shoving you into an empty classroom. He closed the door behind him before turning to face you.

“I didn’t either. James has never talked to me like that.”

You commented. Regulus sighed. He didn’t want to say this but maybe it was for the best?

“If you want to break up so he won’t have a heart attack...I understand.”

Your mouth dropped as you threw your arms around his shoulders. That was the last thing that you wanted to think about.

“No! I don’t want that...at all. It isn’t James’ place to tell me who that I can or who that I can’t date. I didn’t throw a fit when he started dating Lily...not that I would but you get my point. Just because I am his little sister doesn’t give him the right to throw that bit of a tantrum like a child.”

Regulus was relieved when you said that. He wrapped an arm around your waist wanting nothing more than to preserve the close contact.

“I won’t let my mother do a thing to you. Whether James or Sirius wants to admit it, I know how to manipulate her well. I suppose that is one of the positives about Sirius leaving...mother is at her wits end to please me.”

“Is she as scary as Sirius lets on?”

You questioned, laying your head on Regulus’ shoulder.

“No, not anymore. I think that she realizes what she lost with my brother. She doesn't want to lose another heir. Mother tries to be tough but she isn’t...not anymore. I think the older she gets the more that she realizes her faults. As far as my father, he is so disconnected from the rest of us. I will just tell him that we are dating and he won’t even question it. What about your parents?”

You realized that you hadn’t really thought much about how your own mother and father would react. When Sirius moved in with your family, your mother had spent two days muttering about how she wished that she could have saved Regulus too. You smirked. Little did she know that there was still hope on that one.

“I think they will be more concerned about your parents than they will you. My mother just wonders if you are able to talk.”

Regulus smirked. Your parents had been plaguing his mind a lot since the day before.

“A lot of people ask that. My parents have a big party at Christmas. I know that my mother will want you to come. Do you think that your parents would let you?”

That was a good question. You didn’t foresee your mother being too thrilled or even considerate at the idea of letting you go around the Black family.

“I’ll have to see what I can do there. If we stay together, they will have to find some way to get along.”

Regulus nodded before gently kissing you. He sighed against your lips. This was something that he could get used to very quickly. It was no wonder that Sirius was a man whore. This whole "being loved" thing was becoming addicting. Regulus had no interest in kissing anyone other than you. He could hold and kiss you all day if he was able.

As far as "staying together" you were the only girl that Regulus could tolerate that thought with. Sure, things were still in the "honeymoon phase" of the relationship but Regulus didn't foresee his mind changing. Normally once his mind was made up...it was made up.

“And I don’t foresee myself letting you go.”

That evening when you returned to the common room, you didn’t look in the direction of where your friends sat. It wasn’t until Dorcas said your name, did you look up. Sirius, James, Lily, Dorcas, and Remus sat in the usual corner that you lot occupied. You gave Dorcas a small wave as she motioned you over.

James didn’t look up and neither did Sirius. Remus was busy giving them a mother hen “displeased” glare. You had a bad feeling that this was going to be what the foreseeable future was going to be like. Half of your friends would talk to you and the other half was going to be oddly silent around you.

So much for our last year being the best…

You thought sadly. It would probably be better if you acted as if you didn’t exist when you were in the common room. Clearly, that was how James and Sirius seemed to want it…

Shaking your head, you turned and went in the direction of your dormitory. In the comfort of your bed, you could finally catch up and process all of your feelings. When James and Sirius were ready they could speak to you. Until then you weren't going to bed them to see things your way.

Over the following 2 ½ months, Sirius and James kept up with the “we aren’t talking to you” mantra as the first day. You found yourself drifting further and further from your friends with each passing day. Sure, you would talk to Dorcas, Marlene, and Lily just like before but things were changing with Remus and Peter. They seemed to be sympathizing with James. You weren’t as offended with Peter as you were Remus. He was the last person that you had expected to turn his back on you.

You had figured that he was only trying to keep peace with James as his friend was clearly going through a tough time but so were you! Trying to be understanding was only getting you so far and with each time Remus walked past you without a word...you began to lose faith a little bit more in that particular relationship.

I guess that shows who your friends are…

You thought one afternoon as you sat in the Three Broomsticks. Dorcas, Lily, and Marlene had invited to sit with them as normal. Clearly, the three girls wanted to gain back some sense of normalcy but normal wasn’t going to happen. You had politely declined their invitation and went to an empty table to sit alone. Regulus would be there soon enough and you weren’t about to sit with your brother and watch them all shoot each other dirty looks.

When Regulus stepped in, you pushed the negative thoughts out of your mind as he looked in your direction with a smile. He was the one “sunny” spot that you had to look forward to every day. The relationship was going better than you could have expected. Were you ready to say “love?” You could answer that with a yes...it was only finding the right time to say it to him.

“Sorry, it took me so long. I had to stop Barty from getting in a fight with some Ravenclaw. If he gets in another fight, his father will murder him.”

Regulus commented as he leaned down to kiss you. You rolled your eyes. Over the past few months, you found yourself getting to know Regulus’ friends better and better. How he was friends with some of the Slytherins, you weren't for sure but you decided to keep those opinions to yourself. Maybe that's why Regulus had the reputation that he did. He had to be a “hard ass” to keep Barty from being injured or following Evan through whatever hell he was up to.

“I understand. I’m happy to see you.”

You said taking your place beside him. Regulus wrapped an arm around you enjoying the warm heat that your body provided. He knew that you weren’t thrilled with Barty Crouch Jr but what Gryffindor really was? You never complained about his friends and that meant the world to Regulus. While he wanted nothing more than to keep your company, he still had to keep up with the rest of the Slytherins that he had grown up with.

“I’m happy to see you too. You look beautiful as always.”

When your cheeks flushed scarlet, Regulus couldn't fight the smile. He could sit and watch you blush all day long. Over the past 2 ½ months, he had grown undeniably closer to you with each day. Regulus had never expected to fall in love with you this quickly but he had.

“Oh, I finally heard back from my mother.”

Regulus commented. You felt your stomach begin to feel uneasy at that. For the first bit of your relationship, Regulus decided not to mention anything to Walburga. Now that things were starting to become more serious, his mind had changed. You were afraid that Walburga would say no to everything once that she found out who was dating her youngest son.

“You did? Did she freak out? Regulus, I don’t want to cause a rift between….”

Regulus pulled you into his arms for a tender kiss.

“She isn’t mad.”

Your mouth dropped. Something about this revelation had totally caught you off guard. You had been so busy preparing yourself for the rejection that you never prepared for approval.

“She what?”

You questioned. Regulus chuckled at the expression on your face as he handed you a folded letter.

“See for yourself.”

You blinked a few times before taking the letter from your boyfriend nervously. Unfolding the document, you couldn't help but wonder if you really wanted to read what Walburga Black had to say? What if there was some hidden ulterior motive or backhanded comment that would prove her actual disapproval.

“Regulus,

Your father and I are very glad to hear that you have found a suitable pureblood girl. If my memory serves me correctly, Y/n Potter is a very lovely girl. You should invite her to Christmas with our family. We would love to meet her in person.

Sincerely, Your mother.”

You read the letter twice to make sure that you had taken everything incorrectly. Walburga was okay with the relationship and she thought that you were lovely...had hell frozen over? You couldn’t help but wonder if the world had ended and you were just the last to know?

Frowning at Walburga's signature of “your mother” you couldn’t help but think of how stuffy and formal that seemed. That was just one of the differences between Regulus’ family and yours. Your mother and father’s letters were always so warm and cheery. They both mentioned how much they missed you in every single letter in addition to how much they loved you. In the letters from Walburga and Orion, neither party ever said “I love you” or “I miss you” to their son.

“Wow...I was not expecting that.”

You replied. To say that you were surprised would have been a major understatment. You were stunned! Regulus smiled one of his rare genuine smiles that made your heart pound. It was one of those smiles that made his dark eyes light up. He didn't look like the serious boy that he typically was. He was carefree and you loved it.

“I really wasn’t either...so will you please come with me to the party? You being there would make it so much more tolerable.”

Gently pushing a stray curl away from his face, you couldn’t say to that face.

“I will. I’ll write to my parents about it tonight.”

Meanwhile,

Lily turned to James with a displeased scowl. James hadn’t looked up since the moment that you walked into the place.

“James, this has gone on long enough!”

James looked up from the butterbeer in front of him. It had been a long time! He frowned the moment that he realized that you were snuggled up to Regulus. The angry side of James returned like a freight train. He chose to forget that he had received a letter from his mother telling him that he needed to accept the fact that you would fall in love one day. While Euphemia wasn’t thrilled about your choice in a suitor either, she was a lot more “hopeful” than her eldest son.

James, that boy probably needs love more than anyone in this world and maybe...just maybe Y/n is the best one to give it to him.”

James wanted to gag at that sentence. The last thing that he wanted to think about was you giving Regulus “love.” The mere thought of you sleeping with Regulus Black was enough to send James to a nuthouse.

While the stubborn side of James prevented him from speaking to you, the “soft” side of him was aching to be near you. It was hard from going to having a little sister who was more like a best friend to nothing. He missed your chatter...hell, he missed everything about you!

There had been a few times that James had come close to apologizing and admitting that he was being childish but he never did it. It seemed every time that he was close to doing it, he caught Regulus snogging you. James hated looking at the two of you fused together like some nuclear accident gone berserk.

“They are always snogging.”

James snapped as he and Sirius walked down the hall one day. The two had just left charms and had gone off in search of you. James had it in his mind that he was going to apologize, however, when he walked into the hallway and saw you wrapped around Regulus kissing him like the world was about to end, he froze.

Sirius had finally put a hand on his friend’s back and pushed him along.

“You aren’t that cool, James.”

James pulled himself from his memory of the previous day as Lily wrapped her hand around his.

“James, this is Y/n’s first boyfriend. What if Regulus is the one? We will have to find some way to get along with him.”

James faked a gag.

“Merlin, I hope that he isn't the one.”

He commented as Remus sat down. James looked up to his friend hoping for some new that didn’t involve you and that boy. He had never been more thankful for Sirius and Remus over the past few months. His best friends had been his biggest support system. While James felt guilty over your friendships with Sirius and Remus becoming nonexistent, his friendships with them grew stronger.

“Remus, please tell me that you have some good news or a joke or something.”

Remus glanced over his shoulder to where you sat snogging Regulus. He sighed.

“Rumor on the street is Walburga is pleased as punch over Regulus and Y/n being a couple.”

Both Sirius and James’ mouths dropped. Sirius expected his mother to send Regulus a howler about “HOW DARE YOU DATE A BLOOD TRAITOR!” James was expecting the same thing and made a bet with Sirius on when the howler would be arriving.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

James muttered as Sirius swore under his breath.

“Mum will be pleased as punch with anything that her little baby boy does. If it were me and I brought Y/n home, it would have gone ugly.”

Sirius looked over Remus’ shoulder to see you and Regulus going at it again.

“I swear all that she does is snog him.”

James looked up with a scowl.

“I need to get out of here.”

________

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twoidiotwriters1 · 3 years

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Young Blood -(PB/WITS Crossover)

A/N: Here’s our surprise uwu we’re tagging people from both series and we hope you guys enjoy our fluffy, ‘Voldemort never existed/Lupin isn’t a werewolf’ au -Val & Danny

Words: 6,158

Twoidiots Masterlist // Next Chapter

September 1st, 1971

The train is about to leave. Sirius and Percy finish their goodbyes and hop on the train, both searching for an empty compartment.

“Percy, here,” says the boy, opening one. The girl walks closer but soon realizes it’s not exactly empty.

“Hi,” Sirius says, “can we sit here? All the others are taken...”

“Sure.”

Both kids sit in front of the other boys.

“I’m James, James Potter,” says the kid in glasses.

“I’m Remus Lupin,” The boy in the middle waves awkwardly, he has a small scar on the bridge of his nose.

“I’m Matthew,” A boy with chestnut hair and clear blue eyes smiles at them, he’s seated at the opposite corner. Persephone can’t help but think that he’s really sweet-looking. Very cute.

“I’m Sirius Black, and this is Percy,” Sirius responds, the girl smiles politely. She looks around and feels a bit awkward being surrounded by a bunch of boys.

“Is your name really Percy?” asks James. She laughs and shakes her head.

“It’s short for Persephone.”

“Cool,” He gives her a lopsided grin.

For the next five minutes the group divides into tiny conversations, James and Sirius animatedly talk about what they’d do at school, Sirius can’t help but get excited about not being under the gaze of his mum and James has tons of fun ideas.

Meanwhile, Persephone, Remus and Matthew share the joy of being able to learn everything that the books are promising. They couldn’t wait to start the school year.

Suddenly the compartment door opens at once and a little girl with thick, auburn hair steps in.

“I know you!” She exclaims, looking directly at Matthew. “You’re Albus Dumbledore’s son!”

The group looks at her in surprise, staying deadly silent.

“Er...” Matthew blushes lightly, “he’s not my father, he’s my uncle… uh, nice to meet you?”

Persephone nudges Sirius side and whispers excitedly. “You think he could keep us away from detention?”

“You’re already assuming we’ll get in trouble?” He grins.

“Oh, please, I know you’re thinking the same,” She responds.

“Sorry, I knew you’d be here and I was excited to meet you, your family is a legend!” The new girl looks around. “Oh, right. I’m Emily Sultens, and you are..?”

“James Potter, nice to meet you,” The boy shakes her hand and then moves the trunk from the seat in front of him so she can join them.

“I’m Remus.”

“Sirius,” The boy waves lazily.

“Hi,” The girl stares at Emily curiously. “I’m Percy.”

“I’m Matt— but I guess you knew that already…”

“Yes,” Emily giggles, “the Prophet mentions you all the time.”

“Of course they do!” James exclaims, “He’s the son of the greatest wizard that’s ever existed! Aberforth Dumbledore: the guy that turns people into goats…”

“Actually,” Remus spoke up, “that title belongs to Merlin. Uhm, the one about the greatest wizard, not the goats.”

“Yes!” Sirius threw a fist in the air, “you’ll be the witty one of our group.”

The boy hugs Remus so fast he accidentally drops his books. Matt picks them and places them on top of a trunk.

“Don’t be clingy, Sirius!” Percy scolds.

“Don’t be jealous, Percy, I’m just being friendly,” He teases.

“You’re being annoying,” She rolls her eyes. “Stop it.”

“Thanks, Percy,” Remus grunted, pushing Sirius away. “Thanks, Matt.”

“No problem,” Matthew smiles.

Emily sits comfortably next to Percy and quickly starts talking to her.

“You guys knew each other?” She asks.

“No, I only knew this idiot,” Percy kicks Sirius’ leg softly. “Are you a first-year too?”

“Yes! I’m excited, my dad told me thousands of cool stories about Hogwarts…”

“What house do you want to be sorted in?”

“Oh, I don’t know much about the houses,” Emily tilts her head.

“It’s really simple, you know there are four houses?” Emily nods, Percy continues. “Well, it’s really common to be sorted into the same house as your family, I’m the youngest, and all my siblings had been in Slytherin, so it’s very likely that I’ll be one as well—”

“Slytherin?”James makes a face of disgust. “What’s your Lastname?”

Percy frowns a bit. “Singh.”

James’ face changes into a more tense expression. “Oh… okay.”

“What’s wrong with my name?” She questions.

“Nothing! Nothing…” Then he adds in a not-so-discrete whisper, “apart from the fact that they’re all ugly snakes.”

Percy gasps loudly, the boys stare at them not knowing what to answer while Emily appears to be slightly confused. Sirius is ready to defend his friend, but Matthew intervenes faster.

“I don’t think Slytherins are bad,” He says. “I assume your whole family was in Gryffindor, right James?”

The boy puffs out his chest defiantly. “Yeah, so?”

“So that explains why you’re so judgy,” Emily says brightly, happy to be able to participate.

“I was just saying!”

The conversation is interrupted by a girl with bright, red hair and a quiet boy, both occupying the last seats available in the compartment. James insists on continuing the argument and the new boy (who introduced himself as Severus) argues back in support of Slytherin.

They’re both really annoying, the three girls share a look of exasperation and the redhead (who said her name was Lily) decides to put a stop to it.

“This is really stupid, neither of you even know if you’ll be sorted into those houses! You could be Ravenclaws for all you know!”

“No way, I’m obviously Gryffindor!” James argues. “Only brainys are sorted into Ravenclaw...”

“Okay then, you’re obviously not a Ravenclaw,” Lily remarks.

“Exactly!” James blushes when he realizes his mistake. “No, wait—”

“You have an ill opinion of every house except for Gryffindor,” Emily points out.

“Because Gryffindor is the best house!”

“Why are you arguing about it with her anyway? She’s a muggle-born,” Sirius states matter-of-factly. “She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

Lily loses all colour as she glares at the dark-haired boy.

“You know what? I won’t waste my time arguing with spoiled prats. Let’s go, Severus,” Lily stands up, Emily and Percy share a look of shock and amusement, both girls immediately knowing they have to befriend this girl.

“See you, Snivellus!” Sirius says out loud as the pair leave the room. Persephone punches his arm. “Ouch! What was that for?”

“You idiot,” She scowls.

September 1973

“I’m telling you guys, this is the year, I can feel it.”

“Sure thing, Matty,” James snorts. “I don’t understand why is it so hard for you, Emily spends half of her time with us and you still get all anxious around her…”

“I could ask you the same about Lily,” Remus mentions casually.

“It’s just that she’s always talking with the girls and I can’t ever speak to her without the others watching me!” Matthew huffs. “But I’ve had enough, this year is the year Emily and I become best friends.”

“But you don’t want to be just her friend,” Sirius smirks. “You want to date her.”

“I have to start somewhere…” He mumbles.

“Here’s a different idea,” Sirius puts an arm around his shoulders and pulls him in for a hug, he continues in a whisper, “why don’t you try and flirt with other girls to see if she gets jealous?”

“That’s a stupid idea,” Remus responds.

“You’re stupid,” Sirius frowns. “And I was talking to Matthew. What do you say, Matt?”

The young Dumbledore looks at the boy and shrugs.

“Dunno, I don’t want to give her the wrong impression…”

“She already has the wrong impression,” James rolls his eyes. “She thinks you don’t like her!”

“How d’you know?”

“I heard her talking with Percy the other day while we were on our way to potions, she thinks you can’t stand her and that’s why you always hide from her.”

“No!” Matthew’s eyes widened. “I’m an idiot!”

“Listen to me, Matt,” Sirius insists, squeezing his shoulders. “If you flirt with others then you’ll be more interesting to her, if not, well, you’ll have a bunch of girls chasing you around, it’s a win-win!”

“And how’s that working for you?” Remus questions.

“What do you mean?” Sirius frowns.

“Uh— oh, nevermind,” The boy retorts, hiding behind the book he’s currently reading.

“Well,” Matthew shifts on his seat. “It’s not a terrible idea, is it?”

James shrugs silently, shoving half a sandwich in his mouth. “Can’ be ‘at ‘ard.”

Matthew rolls his eyes, but he’s finally made a decision.

“I’ll do it.”

“Cool,” Sirius smirks.

“How should I start?”

“I have no idea, mate,” Sirius replies, patting his back harshly. “Good luck!”

“Girls,” Emily sat down between them, looking over her shoulder at the group of boys a few feet behind. “Is it me, or is Matthew Dumbledore acting really weird lately?”

“Weird how?” Percy asked.

“I saw him flirt with a fifth-year prefect the other day,” Emily said, her brows furrowed. “He actually convinced her not to send him to detention!”

“I haven’t seen much of him lately,” Lily shrugged. “I’ve been trying to stay away from that lot this year, Potter is driving me crazy—”

“Here we go again...” Percy fell back on the grass with a heavy sigh, Lily ignored her.

“He stole my bag the other day! I had to chase him around! He’s such a child, I don’t understand how Matthew and Remus are his friends...”

“Matthew’s no saint either,” Emily said. “He helped them escape from McGonagall, apparently now he loves pranks as much as Sirius and James…”

“Well, we always knew there had to be a reason why they were such good friends,” Percy replied sitting up a bit.

“...And I saw him sneak a rat’s tail in Dorcas’ drink last Monday, the poor thing screamed so loud!” Lily continued without really listening to the girls.

“I used to think he didn’t like me because I’m usually the one who pranks others with Sirius and James,” Emily was also talking to herself at this point. “I thought he considered me childish and that was why he didn’t want anything to do with me…”

“Mmhmm,” Percy grabbed her hat and covered her face with it, deciding to take a short nap while her two friends continued their rambling.

“—Don’t even get me started on how he treats Severus! He’s always trying to humiliate him and he thinks he’s being funny while doing so—”

“Severus is an idiot most of the time, though,” Emily retorted, briefly coming back to the present. “Even Remus can’t stand him.”

“They never offer him the chance to be better!” Lily argued. “He’s a really sweet boy once you get to meet him, you know?”

“Matthew’s a sweet boy, right? Did I had the wrong impression all this time? Is that why he hates me? I dunno, I don’t find him as fun to be around as I used to...”

“Dear Merlin!” Percy sat up in exasperation. “Emily, if you’re so eager to get to know him better just go and talk, you never shut up anyway— Lily, I’m seriously considering to arrange a date so you and James can shut up about each other.”

Both girls stared at her in shock, Emily blushed in embarrassment while Lily got red with anger.

“I hate James Potter!” She rummaged through her bag and pulled out her charms book. “Look at what he did to my book! He’s an animal!”

“I don’t need to know Matthew better, he’s clearly becoming Sirius and James’ triplet, that’s all I need to know,” Emily huffed.

“Very well,” Percy rolls her eyes. “Whatever you say — Can we talk about something else now?”

“Okay,” Emily mumbles. “About what?”

“I have no idea,” Percy mutters.

“Afternoon, girls,” Matthew approaches blithely, Percy lets out the faintest groan. “Is this books yours? I found it outside Slughorn’s classroom and I’ve been trying to find its owner…”

“No,” Percy replies without even looking at it.

“I don’t think so,” Matthew seems to have his full attention on her and Emily honestly can’t look away. “Are you sure it doesn’t have any initials on it? No names?”

“No... It looks rather new, that’s why I’m trying to return it, I don’t think the student would like to buy twice the same thing?”

This is the longest he’s ever talked to her without stammering, Emily takes it as a good sign. Maybe he doesn’t hate her after all, perhaps he’s just too much like he’s father, a bit shy, maybe even a bit grumpy…

“I could help you if you want?”

“W-What?” Matthew’s eyes widened, he wasn’t expecting that. He looks down to the book in his hand and swears internally. If she sees the book is James’ then she’ll think he’s an idiot. He can’t let her do that!

“Matt!” One of his classmates from Ancient Runes walks up to him, a black girl with beautiful eyes. “Hi! I was on my way to get something to eat, want to join me?”

Matthew immediately adopts his charming smile. He fixes his tie and nods.

“Sure thing!” He looks back at Emily and nods. “Maybe we can look around later?”

Emily doesn’t know why she’s so frustrated, she wanted to spend time with him. She’s been trying to be his friend for two years and every time she gets close something always happens! It’s exasperating.

Matthew leaves her there and both, Percy and Lily stare at her with knowing grins. She refuses to meet their gazes.

“You’re such an idiot, Sirius, why did you tell Matthew to flirt around?” Percy slaps the back of his head. “Emily’s getting so many mixed signals!”

“I thought it would catch her eye!” He grunts, rubbing his neck. “Merlin, you have a heavy hand…”

“You deserve that for being such a fool, why does your solution always involve flirting with other people?” She rolls her eyes.

“It was the first thing that came to mind!”

“It’s the only thing you do lately,” She grumbled.

“I think you’re overreacting. It’s not a big deal, not like you fancy her, do you?” He raises a brow, Percy hits him again.

“I don’t like her, but I don’t think it’s fair to play with other people’s feelings,” She sighs and closes her eyes in distress. “Anyway, now we have to fix it! This is the plan— I’ll sit with you during charms. That way Lily and Emily will have an empty seat and Matthew won’t have another choice but to sit with them!”

“He’s a coward, he won’t do it.”

“A galleon says he will,” Remus adds.

“Deal,” reply Sirius.

When Emily walks into the classroom she finds the strangest scene in front of her.

Percy is seated next to James, Remus and Sirius, who looks strangely grumpy. Across the room, Lily, Jenna and Matthew are sharing a table, and the only free spot is right next to the boy.

Unsure of what’s happening, Emily sits down next to the young Dumbledore trying to look as casual as possible. She smiles at him and Matthew smiles back. She really likes his smile.

“Did you find the owner?”

“What — Oh, yeah!” He chuckles. “It was one of James’ pranks— I guess he ran out of smart ideas. You look pretty today.”

“Oh,” Emily’s voice comes out slightly high-pitched. “You look pretty too. I mean— Handsome. Yes. Well pretty is also acceptable, isn’t it? I’ve never understood why boys don’t like to be called pretty—”

“You can call me pretty,” He says immediately, behind him Lily bursts into a fit of silent giggles. “I mean, whatever you prefer, I don’t mind. I don’t hate you —”

“You don’t?” She asks in relief. “That’s great! Does that mean we can be friends?”

“Let’s be best friends!”

“I would love that!”

“Our first visit to Hogsmeade is next week,” He continues, encouraged by her excitement. “Would you like to have a butterbeer with me then?”

“Yes!”

Sirius, Remus, James and Percy stare at them in incredulity.

“Dear Merlin, I think we’ve created a monster,” Sirius gulps. “Look at how fast their mouths move!”

“Lily’s going to pee her pants if she doesn’t calm herself,” Percy grins.

“I can’t believe I just lost a galleon!” James scoffs.

“I can’t believe it took them almost three whole years to start talking,” Remus snorted. “You two cough up, you owe me a galleon each.”

November 1976

“I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m dying alone.”

A general groan surrounds James when his friends react to his comment.

“Don’t start this again,” Sirius sighs tiredly. “Being single is the best! Why’re you crying about it?”

“What would you know about being single? You’re practically married to Persephone!” James scoffs.

Sirius guffaws. “What? That’s not true! Who’s Persephone? I don’t know her.”

The dark-haired boy changes his position on the couch awkwardly, next to him Matthew laughs.

“Don’t listen to him, being in love isn’t so bad, you know?”

“Please, Matt, tell me your secrets,” James implores dramatically.

“What secrets?” Matthew snorts. “Mate, I haven’t the faintest.”

“What do you mean you haven’t? You’ve been with Mily for two years!”

“Doesn’t mean I know what I’m doing…”

“Sorry, Prongs,” Remus says in amusement. “Looks like you’re on your own.”

“That’s it then, I’m destined to die as a spinster with twenty cats,” He turns to Sirius. “I’ll have to live in your basement.”

“What?” Sirius exclaims. “You’re rich! I thought you were the one who was going to let me live in his basement!”

“I’m not rich, my parents are!” James scoffs. “They’ll kick me out by the time I turn thirty. Mark my words, Sirius, I’ll die alone.”

“C’mon, have faith, James!” Matthew insists. “Listen, why don’t you ask her to join you for a butterbeer next weekend? The last visit to Hogsmeade before our Christmas break, maybe the holiday’s spirit might convince her to be nicer with you?”

“Right, because six years of deep loathing are that easy to forget,” Remus teases.

“I was just saying,” Matthew shrugs. “Emily reckons Lily is open to try new things…”

“That’s only when it’s her or Percy asking her to try them,” Sirius retorts.

“That’s it!” James claps once in excitement. “Let’s convince Percy to help us! Let’s organize a double date! You ask Percy —”

“Not so fast,” Sirius frowns. “Why would I ask Percy on a date? That’s weird, Lily would know right away what we’re doing.”

James snorted. “No, she wouldn’t.”

“How are you so sure?”

“You’re so up Percy’s arse she won’t think it’s weird if you ask her out. I bet the girls have been expecting this for ages.”

“No, I’m not,” He scoffs, then hesitates. “Am… am I?”

He looks around at the rest of the boys. A general mumble of agreement spreads around them.

“I wouldn’t say it like that,” Matthew starts politely. “It’s just that you appreciate her a lot.”

“Well, she’s my best friend!”

“Cheesy,” James fakes a cough.

Sirius punches his arm and raises his voice slightly.

“Stop it, you prat!”

“Be honest, Sirius,” Remus leans over. “You’ve never considered dating her? Not even once?”

“No?” He pushes his hair back and shrugs tensely. “Obviously.”

Matthew and James share a look.

“You definitely dream about dating her,” James declares.

“James...” Matthew warns him.

“We’ve heard you mumbling her name when you sleep!”

“James,” Matt insists.

“Can I go with you on the honeymoon? I promise to be quiet —”

Sirius stands up abruptly while talking.

“No! You hear me? I won’t do it!”

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

Sirius stands in the middle of the snowy path with James anxiously waiting next to him. He’s standing on his tiptoes waiting to catch a glimpse of Lily’s figure, but he hasn’t succeeded yet.

“Oh, please,” James smirks. “You’ll thank me later. Have you thought of any destination for the romantic trip in which you’ll take your fiance?”

“We’re not taking you on our honeymoon!”

“We?” James grins.

“I— Oh, sod off,” Sirius looks ahead and whimpers. “They’re here.”

Percy waves at them happily, she’s got her arm locked around Lily’s, who looks at James as if he were her personal hell.

“Afternoon, girls,” James greets them cheerily. “You look beautiful, Lily.”

Lily stares at him and scowls, making a brief throaty sound to let him know she heard his compliment.

“Percy,” Sirius squints. “Are you wearing makeup?”

She stammers her reply. “Y-Yes? Is it too much? I’m not used to wearing this stuff, I —”

“You look good,” Sirius replies innocently. “You look pretty — Er, I mean, it looks nice.”

“Oh,” Percy blinks. “Thank you.”

Lily and James stare at them with matching grins, when the pair look at each other James beams, but Lily’s smile vanishes completely.

“What are we waiting for, then?” She asks grumpily. “Let’s go, I’m freezing.”

The redhead walks past the boys firmly and James follows her right away like a lost puppy. Sirius and Percy look at each other without knowing what to do now.

“We should go too, before Lily kills him,” Sirius offers.

“Yeah! You’re right, yes…”

Both teenagers quickly catch up with their friends, ready to forget whatever happened five seconds ago.

“I can’t believe you got me into this, why me?” Lily whines as she watches Persephone wash her hands.

“Give poor James a chance, Lily,” Percy smiles. “He’s trying so hard to behave!”

“He’s an idiot,” Lily rolls her eyes. “Listen, I’m here because you were clearly dying to go on a date with Sirius, but don’t ask me to flirt with James, I can’t do it.”

Percy grimaces. “I wasn’t dying to date Sirius! I — I just couldn’t bring myself to reject him, it was unexpected, you know? I didn’t know he wanted this...”

It’s a lie, of course. Percy knows this date was James’ idea, but she can’t tell Lily that!

Although she does wonder why James asked Sirius and her instead of Matthew and Emily, maybe they had to use the excuse of ‘first dates are always awkward so we had to bring our friends along’ and Gryffindor’s golden couple wouldn’t have been helpful considering they would’ve spent the whole day snogging in front of their mates.

In that case, it made sense it was her and Sirius, they had to pretend this was their first date and not James and Lily’s. Mostly because Lily didn’t even want to be there in the first place.

When the girls went back to their seats Percy found a piece of chocolate cake waiting for her on the table.

“Hey, I didn’t order this,” She says, eyeing the food with interest.

“I did,” replies Sirius casually. “I know it’s your favourite, and I know you get all whiny when you get hungry so I took the liberty to buy you lunch.”

Percy’s chest tightens with affection, she beams at him but briefly catches Lily’s taunting smile and quickly composes herself.

“That’s nice,” Percy looks around the table, “you guys want anything?”

“I’m not hungry,” James replies happily, he only has eyes for Lily. “What about you, Evans, you want anything? My treat!”

Lily’s face shows a hint of a smile, but she quickly covers it by looking away.

“No thank you, I can pay for my own stuff.”

James laughs lightheartedly. “What are you saying? Everyone knows girls don’t pay on the first date!”

Lily pales at the statement.

“That’s ridiculous! Don’t try to mess with me today, James, I’m not in the mood.”

“I’m just trying to be a gentleman!” James frowns. “Why do you always assume I’m trying to upset you?”

“Because everything is always a big joke to you,” Lily huffs. “I’m sorry, but until you grow up I won’t be able to treat you as anything more than a child.”

James stares at her in surprise, then his brows furrow and his eyes turn cold. It’s not a normal look on him, but Sirius has seen him like this before, whenever Snape insults him.

“Fine,” James replies shortly. “I get it — You don’t like me. Brilliant. Why didn’t you say so instead of coming all this way only to insult me?”

“I didn’t want to come! I’m here because Percy asked me to!”

James’ cheeks flush red.

“Well I’m sorry you got forced to spend your last weekend before Christmas with me! You’re free to go, I’m leaving,” James puts a galleon on the table and stands up, hastily pushing the chair away.

“Mate,” Sirius starts, but James raises a hand to silence him.

“It’s okay, Sirius,” He smiles at him, but it’s small, and it looks tired. “You can stay if you want, I think… I think I need to be alone.”

Lily watches him leave in shock. Percy speaks to her softly.

“Lily?”

Her friend lowers her head, and to her surprise, Percy watches as Lily blinks back a few tears.

“I’ll see you at dinner...”

She stands up as well, leaving the establishment. Percy and Sirius stare at each other.

“Well,” Percy starts. “That was awful.”

“Tell me about it,” Sirius leans back on his chair and runs a hand over his face. “I won’t hear the end of it tonight… James is going to be devastated! And of course, it’ll be my fault, the boys will find a way to blame this on me...”

“I know what you mean,” Percy rolls her eyes. “I don’t know why they always choose me to do this stuff, I’m the one who’s single and not in love! Emily’s the one who’s always talking about Matthew, Lily just needs to vent about her feelings for James and sometimes even Jenna starts acting all lovey when Marlene is near…”

“Matthew’s the same, always with that stupid smile and ogling at Emily, annoying as hell,” Sirius scoffs. “I wish we could go back to being kids when neither of them was drooling over each other…”

The pair delved into different topics as the hours went by, it was just the two of them, but it was the first time in a long while that they truly felt comfortable and at ease. Neither of them was spotted until Sirius entered the boys’ dormitory.

“Hey, you’re back,” Matthew says from his bed. “Where were you? James came back hours ago and he looked like he wanted to set himself on fire…”

“Oh — hi!” Sirius gives a start and quickly hides his face, turning his back to the boy. “I’m okay, I’m not the one who had a bad date — Nor a good date! I didn’t have a date.”

“Okay?” Matthew closes his book. “That’s not what I asked, though.”

“I was around,” Sirius shrugs. “How’s James, then? Where is he?”

“Think he’s gone to the secret passageway behind the old witch to cry his eyes out, people will probably think it’s a very loud ghost or something,” Remus replies from his own bed. “At least that’s what he said, dunno, he wasn’t making sense…”

“The date went bad, that’s what I understood,” Matthew says grimly. “What happened, Sirius?”

“I’m not sure,” He stands there trying to remember, “We were talking, and James wasn’t even acting that childish in my opinion, but Lily was determined to argue with him — in the end, I think James lost his patience and left.”

“He willingly walked away from Lily Evans?” Remus raises a brow. “Does this mean he’s moving on?”

“I wouldn’t call ‘hiding in the hidden passageway to cry’ moving on, would you?” Sirius snorts. “But maybe he will afterwards, who knows…”

“So Lily just stayed with you the whole time?”

“Oh no, she left as well, and she even cried a bit,” His smile fell. “It went downhill very quickly.”

“What did Persephone and you did afterwards, then? Because none of us saw you around?”

Sirius tenses and starts to undress without looking at any of them

“We just talked, I ordered food and we didn’t want to waste it…”

Remus and Matthew chuckle, Sirius looks over his shoulder at them.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Remus smirks. “How was the food?”

“Good, I guess?” He frowns.

“Did you have fun?”

“Well, it’s Percy. I always have fun.”

Matthew laughs louder and Sirius grabs a pillow and throws it at him.

“What are you laughing at?”

“You had a date!”

“No!” He protests. “It wasn’t a real date! James forced us to go —”

“And you stayed after he and Lily left,” Remus continued. “Just the two of you.”

“Did you share the food?” Matthew smirks.

“Well, I only ordered her food so what else were we supposed to do?”

“You could’ve ordered a second plate?” Matthew offers with contained laughter.

“Sod off, you two!” Sirius groans. “It wasn’t a date, okay? We just talked and then — then we came back! Nothing happened!”

“That’s a bit rude,” Remus pouts mockingly. “You gave her food, least she could’ve done was giving you a hug!”

“Not even a goodnight kiss?”

“We didn’t kiss!” Sirius blushed uncontrollably, if it weren’t for the dim illumination of the room, the other two would’ve noticed right away. “Just leave it, will you? I’m going to look for James, if we don’t bring him back he’ll spend the whole night outside...”

“Alright, no need to be so moody,” Matthew replies. “We’re just teasing, you know we don’t actually believe you and Percy want to date…”

Sirius freezes at that. “You don’t?”

“Nah,” Remus shrugs. “Percy’s smarter than that.”

The boy looks even more insulted at that statement.

The next morning a battered-looking James is having breakfast when Lily Evans approaches carefully. She clears her throat and James looks at her sideways.

“I’m really not in the mood today, Evans, just let me eat in peace…”

“I don’t want to fight,” She replies a bit aggressively. “I mean — I came here to say I’m sorry.”

Remus, Matthew, and James all stop and stare at her. Behind her, Emily, Marlene and Jenna all stand in a circle of unity, encouraging Lily to continue.

“What I said yesterday was uncalled for and rude,” She takes a deep breath. “You were trying to be friendly and I didn’t give you a chance — Although you have to admit that given your prior attempts to be ‘friendly’ I had the right to be hesitant about you—”

Emily nudges her side and Lily stops abruptly, blushing a little. James takes the opportunity to speak.

“I want to fix all that,” He says. “I know I was a twat before but I promise I grew out of it — even Matthew says I’m getting better!”

“That’s true I did say that,” Matthew admits.

“I’m willing to give you a second chance, to be friends,” Lily puts extra emphasis on the last word. “Friends, you hear me? Just that.”

“I’ll take it,” James smiles. “I’m sorry for… well, everything.”

Lily stares at him intently one last time before nodding and walking away from the group of boys, the girls follow her, Emily stays behind just a second to kiss Matthew’s cheek and quickly catches up with the rest.

“Well,” Remus tries to hide a smirk. “That was unexpected.”

“I love her,” James states. “I’m going to marry her one day.”

“Sure, because nothing says friendship more than marriage,” Matthew jokes.

Sirius and Percy walk up to them just then, laughing quietly as they reach the table, the three boys stare at them and they stop.

“What?” Percy frowns. “Did we miss something?”

“I think you should ask that to Lily,” Remus taunts.

“What’s happening?”

“Sirius, my life’s about to change,” He replies dramatically.

“Congrats,” Sirius smiles at Percy as she leaves, the memory of their first kiss from last night invading his thoughts. “I feel the same way, mate.”

December 1980

Remus reads the letter Persephone sent him as he waits for his train to reach the station. He can’t help but feel eager at the thought of seeing his friends again after a year and a half without talking in-person to each other.

He’s had a busy life, Remus signed a contract to travel the world and write a book about the different ways the wizarding community deals with dark magic, so far the trip has been wonderful and successful, he’s met thousands of different people and places, but if he’s honest, he’s been homesick for a couple of months, he missed a bunch of important events and he’ll try to make up for it now that he’s on vacation.

Sometimes he forgets that his friends are all adults now, they have jobs and families. He’s single but he’s never really cared for it, his life is always interesting even without a romantic partner, and it’s not like he’s alone, today is the living proof of that.

Today he’s going home to meet the new members of his family.

“Remus!” Lily is the first to welcome him in with a big hug. “Oh my god, look at you! So handsome!”

Remus laughs. “Don’t let James hear you say that.”

“Oh, James is too distracted at the moment,” Lily grins. “Ever since July he only has eyes for —”

“Remus!” Persephone enters the room holding a plate with sandwiches and quickly puts them aside as she sees her old friend. “You’re tanned! Where have you been?”

“Everywhere!” Remus smiles. “México was my favourite no doubt, but you have to be careful with the food —”

“Mate!” James walks into the room. “Look at this!”

James holds up a baby with striking green eyes like Lily’s and thick dark hair.

“Dear, Merlin,” Remus drops his trunk in the middle of the living room and stops in front of James. “Is this Harry?”

“Yes,” Lily smiles lovingly. “Harry, this is uncle Remus!”

“Wait!” A voice comes from the hall. “We agreed we would show the babies at the same time, you prat!”

“Sorry, Matty,” James smirks. “Got excited.”

Matthew and Sirius walk into the room, both holding their own children.

“You really kept yourselves busy while I was gone, didn’t you?” Remus teases.

“Oh, hush,” Emily is the last to appear, she’s holding a half-empty bottle. “Just shut up and come meet them.”

“This is Mel,” Matthew smiles.

“And this is Perseus,” Sirius’ face glows with pride. “Isn’t he the most handsome baby you’ve ever seen? He’s all his mum.”

“Dunno, Sirius,” James frowns a bit, holding onto his son. “Harry’s cuter.”

The two men start discussing it and Remus laughs, the truth is that the three babies all look the same to him, but he’s too happy about being with his friends again that he doesn’t want to stop their argument.

“You know, now that you’re here is as good as any other moment,” Emily puts a hand on his shoulder to get his attention. “Matthew and I were wondering if you’d like to be Mel’s godfather?”

Matthew discretely moves away from James and Sirius and gets closer to him. Remus stares at the couple in surprise.

“Godfather?” He asks. “Are you sure?”

“You’re my best mate, Remus,” Matthew smiles. “I would trust you with my life, and even if it’s unlikely, I’d feel better if I know it’s you who’s going to be looking after my daughter.”

“And you’re okay with this, Mily?” Remus raises a brow.

“Hey, as I see it, the kids will grow up having a famous writer as their uncle, if anything, are you sure you want this?” Emily snorts. “We’re choosing you because you’ll be richer than us in no time, and we’re selfish.”

Remus smiles, he looks down at the baby and his hand reaches out to her.

“Can I hold her?”

Matthew happily obliges, he carefully gives him the baby and Remus holds her like it’s made of the finest glass. This is the smallest human he’s ever carried, Mel is barely five months old, but she looks at him as if she knew exactly who he was. A tiny hand moves up and gently touches his cheek, almost following the tiny scars Remus has gained during his adventures around the globe.

Mel is too tiny to look like any of her parents, but for some reason, the thought of her adopting any of his quirks warms his heart. He wants to see all of these kids grow, they’re extensions of his best friends, of course he wants to be their family!

“What d’you say, Mely?” Remus asks quietly. “Do you think I could be a good mentor?”

The baby doesn’t make a sound, just stares at him intently, Remus looks up at her parents and nods.

“Alright, but just so you know, I’m taking her side in every future argument that she may have with you.”

Sirius and James stop fighting after a while, they’re now showing off their babies to Remus, who has to take turns to hold each one. He loves them dearly already, and he can’t wait to see what kind of people they’ll grow up to be.

Next Chapter —>

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geminimoonbeamx · 4 years

Text

And the snakes start to sing

A/N: Okay, so my anxiety since this entire Covid-19 situation came to light has been...pretty deteriorating to say the least. It’s funny(which it’s really not),The only thing I can think might help is to dig back deep into my writing. I really want to live in the fantasy worlds I can create in my head right now. So I will.

Warnings: Some angst(it is during the Marauders era), cursing, SMUT, and I feel like I should add this here- I wrote this as self therapy so this reader insert def has some specific looks and traits, if that bothers you I understand, but also I warned you so...

Summary: Sirius Black and Y/N steal a tender moment in the middle of the war. Marauders Era. Young Sirius Black(Ben Barnes) x Plus Size Reader

The way you slam your body into mine reminds me that I’m alive,

But monsters are always hungry darling- and they're only a few steps behind you.

Finding the flaw,

The Poor weld,

The place where we weren't quite stitched up right- Richard Silken

Part l

Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.

You mull on that fact as you sit in the driver's seat of the muggle car, gripping the wheel, skin pulled tight across your knuckles. You’re shaking - vibrating from deep in your core with so much velocity that it makes your teeth chatter. Your muscles ache as you try to regain control of your body, of your breathing- the only thing keeping you from completely crumbling is the focus that you have on the road in front of you-

Even then you don't really see the asphalt, dimly lit by street lamps that seemed to be few and far between the further you drove.

All you can see is that alley.

Dark, dank and frigidly cold, the death eaters that weren't supposed to be there, but who had seemed to show up in puffs of smoke. In three’s- and then four.

Five.

Six.

You hadn’t been able to keep count.

Faster than you, James and Mad Eye could take on.

For a moment, everything had been lightning speed. Time passed fast, in a blur. Blood and screaming. Spells, violent spells that you’d never uttered before thrown left and right, by both sides.

You'd watched bright green flashes pass by like shooting stars, almost grazing you. Illuminating the corridor in razor sharp rays.

So close that you could taste them.

Death tastes acidic. Bitter. Fizzles on your tongue and sticks to the back of your throat.

You still swallow around it even now, hours later, as you drive.

You’d forgotten how much you hate muggle travel. You’d much prefer to apparate, but James is in no state. He sits beside you, slumped in the passenger seat, clutching his side and wincing at every bump. Having grown up with his pure blood parents, there's no way he could have driven anyway, didn't know how. Perfect Potter isn't capable of everything, turns out.

That's fine, you’d assured him. You needed to be able to focus on something before the very little part of your brain that was still loosely wound, unraveled.

You hadn't shared that part, but you think he knows.

The radio crackles and a muggle band plays lowly.

The car makes its way down the long winding roads in silence. Shock settling over the two of you like a heavy blanket. There’s nothing that can be said- no words that could describe the ice that still ran through your veins or that could balm what had happened.

When you hit a particularly nasty pothole, cajoling the car roughly he hisses through his clenched teeth.

“Sorry’, fuck, I’m sorry” You apologize, righting the wheel in a tight jerk to the right, pressing on the brake. “Are you okay? Still bleeding?”

He’s damn lucky that that Confringo charm hadn't caught him directly, but still. When he’d flown into that brick wall, he’d done it with a bone crunching thud. You knew a few of his ribs were broken, his skin rubbed raw and cut open.

“M’fine. Moody did what he could- stopped the bleeding. I think. It stings like a son’va bitch though” James sounds tired, gravely. Voice void of that usual mirth it carried- his chestnut skin pale, clammy. “Drive faster- hopefully Dorcas is already back”

He’s right, Dorcas has healing hands. She’d whip up an ointment, utter an incantation, and he’d be good as new. You step down on the accelerator, foot heavy and mind eager to get somewhere that feels safe, even the trees you pass by feel like they’re watching you, waiting to leap at any turn.

Would you ever feel safe again? After looking into those eyes, seeing that face-

———-

The ride takes hours,

Your mind zones to dark places,

The two of you reach the current makeshift safe house.

———

Protective charms line it heavily, Dumbledor himself had drawn them

To the naked eye, you pull up onto what looks like an old decrepit factory in a row of old decrepit factories- all concrete and broken glass windows. Gritty rust covered metal high beams and caved in ceilings, the tires crunch on the gravel out front- you can barely put the car in park before you’re overcome by a sea of red-

Red hair, soft hands. Vivid green eyes.

Lilly comes bounding out, long legs propelling her forward fast.

“Y/N!” She shrieks as you climb out, you don't blame her for how she runs to James' side of the car. He looks far worse than you do, you think. But then again you haven't seen your reflection because the glance over she gives you is horrified.

“I’m okay, just get James! Lets get him inside” You hurry, your legs feel heavy as you meet her on the other side of the car.

It’s begun snowing again, fat flurries falling from the inky night sky, cold enough to start the shaking again. Your hands are uncoordinated paws, good for nothing and yet you help Lily, take one of James arms around your own shoulder as she takes the other, the two of you supporting him - dragging him towards the entrance.

“Gideon! Go find Dorcas!” She yells for one of the fiery headed Prewet twins who are spilling out of the building. Merlin, they look similar- she could be their kin. “Mad Eye was able to send us word about what happened in London! We’ve been waiting for you! I’ve been so scared- thank bloody God you two are even alive”

“We’re okay-“ you start, trying to calm your friend down. She seemed like she was two seconds away from blowing a fuse and well- you were one of the few who knew about her condition. You weren’t so sure complete emotional breakdowns were good for developing fetus’.

“Only because Y/N. She saved my life. She saved us all back there” James is barely conscious and defining not coherent.

You hadn’t saved, you’d killed. Innocent people included.

Lily is staring at you past James' bowed head and you can’t see her eyes.

Not when James is dragged in and whisked away by Dorcas who is already whisking something in a bowl, her braids piled atop her head and her deep eyes worried- yet sage. Calm, as she calls to you from over her shoulder. “That gash on your forehead is nasty! I’ll get to you next”

You hear them laying James down on the makeshift kitchen table and for some reason your feet are frozen in place. You can’t follow. Don’t care to see the chunk that was taken out of him back in the alley.

In the alley. In the snow; cold and frigid. Voldemort had appeared from the shadows and raised his wand high and you knew you were going to die, even though you weren’t ready to. Didn’t want to-

“Y/N” you raise your eyes-your mint and her emerald meeting somewhere in the middle. Lily’s are worried, the almond shape exaggerated.

You wonder if yours convey how far away you feel. How close you are to drifting right out of your body and floating up- somewhere quiet.

Because everything was too loud now- everyone bustling in and around you. Emaline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, Frank Longbottom- where was Marlene? And Sirius?

Had the night been as bloody and brutal for them as it had for you?

“Go” you croak at her “Go with him, Lil. Mending bones hurts like hell- I’ll just- I just need to-“

She looks torn, and you imagine she is. Her best friend is quite obviously on the verge of a panic attack and her fiancé is bleeding out on the kitchen table.

“Go” you insist once more, squeezing her forearm through her maroon cardigan, trying to encourage her.

You don’t inculpate her for James taking precedence, she all but peels herself away from your side to go sit next to him, to grasp at his hand as Dorcas covers his wounds in dittany and he grunts loud and pained.

You stumble backwards, not wanting to see anymore blood for the moment.

Maybe ever.

No, focus.

You force your brain not to check out yet as you limp back into the open space that seems to be slowly but surely filling up with other members of The Order.

People talk over each other and it's hard to get anyone to answer your questions.

When Remus, Shacklebolt and Peter walk into the fort, all looking disheveled but uninjured- you finally start getting somewhere.

Peter’s speech is fast and broken and nervous- you keep telling him to slow down. You can't manage to understand what he's saying.

“Fuck, Peter! Merlin just shut up- shut up for two seconds. Remus, what happened?”

Edgar Bones and his family were killed, but everyone else was still intact- just scattered. Trying to find their way back home, back to headquarters or any local safe house.

You gape at Remus, as he tells you the news. His voice is sturdy even though he looks like he might keel over at any moment, which is why you’d always sought him out, since you were kids. Remus was in a constant state of suffering, and yet he was nearly always the most clear headed person in the room.

His eyes though- they always did betray him. You can see it in the amber iris. The horror. The sorrow. The fear.

Edgar Bones was dead.

Edgar, and his husband, and his two children- he’d show them to you once. Opened the silver locket that was ever presently around his neck and two smiling waving dark haired cherub cheeked kids waved back from the photos inside.

Bile rises in your throat and you stare up at Remus, still just trying to process it all. His mouth is still moving and is certainly forming words, but the loud whomping in your ears keeps you from hearing them.

You’re all going to die, the thought is sharp and ragged and cuts up your brain.

“Oh”, is all you can manage. It’s a whisper, the most you can force. Remus reaches for you and you easily avoid his big scarred hand, stepping away from it before it can land on your arm.

You choose to ignore the hurt look that flashes briefly on his face.

Kingsley Shacklebolt starts listing off the known locations of other members then. Dumbledor is delivering the news to the Bones, Feniwick is held up at Hogwarts- there had been an attack in Hogsmeade. Four Muggle borns had been killed in the street. Sirius and Marlene along with Alice Longbottom have made fort at the McKinnon’s cabin, a known safe house, stuck for the moment as most are.

“Mad Eye’s gone to rally with Aberforth. I think they’re trying to track the Lestranges- that’s w-who ambushed us tonight”

By the look they give you, you know they know those aren't the only people who you’d crossed wands with.

“You know who is on the move, we heard it- he’s angry cause’ of what happened back in London. What did happen? Is James okay?” Peter questions and you really do feel bad for snapping at him, for telling him to shut up. He's just scared, for himself and for his friends.

You know how much Peter cared about James.

“He’s fine, he’s in the kitchen getting mended by Dorcas- Lily’s with him”

The rest of it, the story that everyone seems so eager to hear, you hold back. Tight lipped, chest heavy. The stout blonde man looks like he wants to ask more, go forward, but he just nods and scurries into the kitchen.

That’s fine. James’ll relay it all to his friends, to the Order.

And everyone will know just what you did.

Your stomach rolls threateningly.

————-

Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.

First- you soar on it. It carries you through, you can’t feel pain or time as it curses through your bloodstream. But then,then, after your body’s flight or fight checks off, it makes you crash. You stumble down from the high- pain throbbing and world going molasses slow. Your stomach churns and your head pounds from the whiplash like stop.

You empty what feels like your soul into the porcelain toilet of a spare bathroom that you’d barley found before you started spewing. It’s violent, your whole body convulses with every gag, and it seems to go on for an eternity even though you can’t even remember what and when you’d last eaten.

You choke on bile a bit before you stumble over to the sink, turning on the creaky faucet and putting your mouth right in the stream.

You’d been able to stand the questioning and the looks and the pricing for just about a half an hour before that familiar wave of anxiety that you’d managed to keep at bay overwhelmed you and sent you running.

A breakdown was very much due. You’d rather no one bare witness to it.

Not even Lily who’s threatened to plow down the door at least twice now.

When you connect eyes with yourself in the mirror you almost look away. The reflection that stares back at you is alien. The woman feels so far away- that you raise a shaky hand, touching the glass. Trying to convince yourself that it’s real.

That you’re real.

There’s blood, mostly dried, that has run into your eye from the cut in your hair line that’s really more of a sloppy open bruise and you rinse it off, scrubbing with your fingers til’ it hurts. The blood won’t come off, your hands stained red. Blood everywhere. Your blood. James blood. That Death Eater’s. Those muggles that had just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time-

Your breath goes choppy again, sobbing on air as you think about it. You just need the red to be gone, you’ll feel better once it’s gone.

In the corner of the mirror, you side eye the shower behind you.

——————

Part ll

The rooms in this place remind you of the girls dormitories back at Hogwarts.

Or maybe you just miss the girls dormitories back at Hogwarts.

You bet it’s the latter, because the only thing similar is the fact that there’s a row of beds. There’s no Lily laughing, or Marlene painting, or Mary dancing. All of those things feel so distant now, memories that you never thought to cherish but that you now hold on to with claw like ferocity.

You’d do anything to be fifteen again, cooped up in the castle on a sunny afternoon.

Instead you stand in the middle of a drafty room, your skin raw and flushed from the blistering temperature of the shower, the ends of your curly hair dripping down your back as you clutch the towel that someone (Lily) had left outside the bathroom door to your body.

You sit down on the bed where your nap sack had been dumped- the extender charm you’d put on it had been a bitch to get right, but you're grateful for it as you dig around it’s never ending contents- able to find a clean cream colored sweater and leggings.

You're shimmying the clinging black fabric up your thighs when there's a knock at the door.

You sigh. You can’t keep putting her off. You’re being a shitty friend when she’s trying to be a good one, and you know it.

“Come in, Lily. I’m dressed” You call, back to the door as you drag the towel over and through your hair, frowning at the curly untamed state, before beginning to twist it into some semblance of a bun.

“Actually, not to disappoint you but it’s just me”

The voice is deep, silken. Familiar. Distinctly masculine, and definitely not Lily’s.

You turn fast, and hopeful. Your eyes wide when they land on the tall figure that looms in the doorway.

“And I was hoping you wouldn't be dressed”

Sirius stands there, his slate eyes combing over you, a small grin tugging at the left side of his mouth. He looks a little tired- the fine lined wrinkles on the outer corner of his eyes and the bags under them both deep, pronounced. He obviously hasn't shaved since you’d last seen him, weeks ago. What had been a shadow was now dark scruff. His hair is scraped away from his face, tied in it’s usual knot at the back of his neck and he’s donning his signature worn leather jacket. He looks so familiar that it almost brings tears to your eyes. Standing there, being crude and handsome and real.

You felt so foreign in your own skin that seeing him so solid is a relief that you can't quite explain. He’s a strong boulder, a rooted tree, that you can tether yourself to.

You want to tell him that. That you didn't realize how much you needed him until that moment. You kind of hate that realization because needing Sirius Black was stupid, so stupid.

“What are you doing here?” Is what comes out instead. Wrong, you always say the wrong thing when he’s around “I thought you we’re stuck at the Cabin”

He doesn't look offended, but he does look concerned, as he closes the door behind him. “I was. I was able to slip past them though.'' He shrugs, casually, as though he hadn't risked his life leaving the McKinnon’s.

He was always so blase about everything. It drove you absolutely bonkers.

“I’m taking it you did that on four legs?”

Ever since you’d learned about Sirius, James and Peter's Animagi sized secret, everything made sense. You knew they weren't lucky enough to get away with all that shit they had back in school. Definitely not smart enough, either.

He shrugs again and you bite the inside of your cheek hard as he sits down on the bed that you had claimed for the night as your own. He's so much taller then you that even sitting in this position, the two of you are almost eye level.

“I heard what happened, I wanted to make sure you guys were okay. Plus, once my cousin got her pound of flesh she took off- left Crabbe and McNair in the forest. Fucking idiots couldn't find their own noses in a mirror. There’s no IQ test for up and coming Death Eaters, is there?”

Of course he’d heard. You can't meet his gaze- that intense stare that he’s been giving you since he’d walked in. You don't know what to make of it, don't really know how it makes you feel.

But then again none of that was anything new. There was no label to slap onto what you and Sirius had started, onto what you felt for him. Marlene had accused the two of you being fuck buddies, but that wasnt it.

You’d have to have been friends before it for that to be accurate, which you weren't.

You weren't even sure that you were friends now.

All you knew is that you were glad to see him, even if that happiness was laced with confusion.

“I suppose not. Your cousin isn't the brightest bulb either. She’s just cunty enough to be through most of the time” You’ve always despised Bellatrix Black- ah, no, she’s a Lestrange now isn't she? Figures she’d marry one of those fucked up inbred brothers. Trash congregates with trash.

“True. She always was committed to being cruel”

“She needs lend some of that commitment to brushing her hair regularly”

Sirius snorts, shaking his head a bit. You’re good, so fucking good at deflecting “You know Dorcas is still looking for you. She wants to check out your head”

“It’s a shallow cut, I’m fine” sounds hollow even to your ears and his small scoff is honestly what you would've given him if the roles were reversed. “I am” you start stronger, trying, really trying “I’m just...tired. I’m rubbish at combative spells- I know you remember me in D.A.D.A. I could barely pass my Newt. It took a lot out of me, is all”

Sirius lets you ramble, which is a nicety for him because you can see that he’s fighting himself from cutting you off. Sirius doesn't take bullshit, can't stomach it.

“You went head to head with Voldemort tonight and you’re trying to tell me that you’re ‘rubbish at combative’ spells? What the fuck, Y/N?” He says bluntly, grabbing you by your wrists as you try to back away, holding you steady, not letting you run away. “It’s just me. Talk to me”

The vulnerability you feel in that moment is only just weighed out by your stubbornness as you stare right back at him, teeth clenched, unwilling to break that eye contact. He was calling you out, almost challenging you.

“What do you mean what the fuck? You what the fuck, Sirius! I don’t know what you want me to say-” You’re defensive, your hackles are raised and your voice is razor sharp.

“What happened?”

“Oh, bugger off. Don't act like you didn't talk to James before you came up here. You know exactly what happened”

“I want you to tell me what happened- no, don't look at me like that. I’m not the others, I’m not- I’ve told you everything. All the ugly that I’ve seen, that I’ve done. I would never judge you, and what you were forced to do tonight? That’s not something that anyone is going to judge you on” His voice is too soft, it doesn't match the strong grip of his long fingers around your wrist.

Doesn’t match the rough way he usually fucks you or the lukewarm looks he gives you when the two of you are in public.

You tug on his hold, if only to make sure he won't let go.

He doesn't.

Tethered, your brain again supplies that word for the feeling of security he gives you.

“I killed three people tonight, I think. I don't know- it was all so fast, everything happened so fast. We were just supposed to be gaining intel, you know? And then out of nowhere they were swarming us, Sirius. Blocking is in. James got hit right before Voldemort apparated in and I- I knew we were going to die. So I- I just blew everything up” Tears are rolling down your face as you recount the events. You don't know how to describe to him how cold it was, how scared you were. You’d never experienced fear like that “I didn't have control of that spell, I’d read about it, but I had no idea that it was going to…”

The fucked up part is that you knew it might. You knew that it could incinerate everyone and everything. Including you and James and Moody. But in that moment...that desperation you felt out weighed it all.

“Hey, hey look at me- we’ve all been there. You did what you had to do. You dont think we all throw out spells that we have no fucking idea how to use In the heat of the moment?” You didn't realize that you’d said that last part aloud, but confessing to Sirius had gotten all too easy these last few months.

He made your lips loose, lowered all your inhibitions without your permission. You hated him for it. Craved him every moment that he wasn't around for it.

This war was turning you to stone. Cold and rigid, but You didn't feel like you had to be marble hard when he was around.

“I could've killed us all. I killed those muggles- fuck. They didn't know- they didn't do anything” You’re sobbing again, soft underbelly exposed. He could gut you right now if he wanted to. “They were innocent”

“Shh, C’mere” He pulls you in between his spread legs, lets go of your wrists in order to envelope you in his gangly arms, to squeeze at your thick waist and shoulders as he holds you. “You didn't kill them, Y/N. James said it was the counter curse that Voldemort used that hit them- think about the positioning. They were on the same side of the alley that you were- crossing that street, they got hit with a curse that was meant for you”

You shake your head, burying your face in the soft thin skin of his neck because he’s wrong. You know he is. James was out of it, pain clouding his senses. You knew what you did.

Sirius doesn't argue it further, just lets you cling to him. Allows your cries, ugly and snotty, to shake you both.

He lets you get it all out- until you're hiccuping on the last of your tears. You're completely slumped against him, pretty much sitting in his lap as he supports all of your weight. You’d be more self conscious in that moment if you had any energy left to be.

“It was so horrible. There were...pieces of people. Everywhere” You shudder because you can still see it. Like you're still there.

Sirius’ arms tighten at that, squeezing you to him for a minute. A hug within a hug,

“There are casualties in war...it sounds fucked up, and it doesn't make any of what happened tonight better, but it is what it is”

He’s not nice, not really. He gives you the hard truth that you don't want to swallow. They aren't the pretty words that you want, but they are what you need.

War is ugly, and up until tonight, you’d been willingly ignorant to that fact. You’d heard the horror stories of what Voldemort and the death eaters had done, and were doing, but you'd never experienced any of it first hand.

Seeing changed everything.

No one, from either side would come out of this clean. Everyone and everything would be blood stained, tainted.

It’s a heavy realization, that the world you were fight for would never be the same.

You pull away from Sirius then, grabbing his hand and losing your fingers with yours when he goes to grab, to keep you close. He watches, dark brows pulled together, as you lie down on the lumpy old bed, head resting on the singular flat pillow.

“Lay with me? Please?” You give his hand a tug, tac on that pretty please at the end.

Like it’s necessary.

Like he wasn't planning on staying since the moment he’d walked through that door- you could have thrown a fit. Hit him, hexed him, and he still wouldn't have left you. “I’m so tired”

He stands from the bed and you make a small hurt little sound.

“I’m not going anywhere, hush” He smiles, canine grin and crinkled nose as he sheds his leather jacket, combat boots and scratchy dark jeans coming off next, leaving him in a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of threadbare black boxers that had seen better days and definitely were sporting a hole or two.

“Lumos Nox” with a flick of his wand, the lights in the room go out.

The bed really wasn't big enough for two people, but you made due. Sirius all but laid his entire long lean body on top of yours, acting as a sort of human blanket.

“Oof, bloody hell, Sirius!” you tease, squirming under him for a minute but loving every inch of him pressed down on top of you. You felt secure, safe. So different then you had in the car when you’d wondered if you’d ever feel this way again. You twine your arms around him, giving him the room to nuzzle his face into your bosom, nosing at the soft fabric of your sweater as your fingers bury themselves in his thick onyx hair.

He’s all but purring as you scrape your nails against his scalp. He’s not really a big scary dog at all, no. He’s more pussycat than anything.

The silence is peaceful, his head rests on your chest and everything smells like him. Sandalwood and cigarette smoke, and something sweet that you could never quite put your finger on. Dark and sensual and overwhelming. It always sticks to your clothes, after nights like this. You know you'll smell him in your hair for days.

Sometimes it’s still mind boggling that this is where the two of you had ended up. That you got to have him like this. You remember the days that you would pine for him, years one through four at Hogwarts had been hard on your fragile little heart. Too young to fully understand that boys like Sirius didn't look twice at girls like you.

And he hadn't.

The girls he dated, and Merlin was there a slew of them, had been beautiful in a way that you just...weren't. You’d never have a thin nose or mile long legs. And so you dropped the torch you carried for him, let the flame die out until all that was left were low simmering, angry, embers. Because fuck Sirius Black for not wanting you.

Even now, you wonder if he really does.

Want you.

Yes, the two of you had shown each other your bleeding hearts, had let each other see the dark, odd, ugly puzzle pieces that didn't quite fit into the persona’s you publicly displayed...but you wonder all the time if it wasn't just...trauma bonding.

Clinging to the only available warmth during a blizzard, trying to find someone to weather the storm with.

Without this war, without the two of you being forced together by the horrible things that were being done, that you were doing, would there even be anything there? The two of you weren't James and Lily, weren't destined to be together, to get married and live happily ever after. Your love, if that's what it was at all, wouldn't survive the war like theirs would.

“Your going to hurt yourself” Sirius’ words are muffled as he speaks them into your sweater.

“Huh?”

“You’re thinking too hard. I can practically hear the muscles straining in your brain Y/L/N” You tug on his locks at his statement, lightly enough to not cause pain- even though you knew now that he liked that.

“It’s nothing” you insist.

The last 24 hours has been hard enough, you aren’t about to fuck them up further by questioning feelings, stirring up the inevitable end of this...thing.

“”It’s something” he’s an insistent pushy tosser.

“I’m just wondering why you came back tonight, is all” you try to keep a casual cadence to your tone, but still.

Sirius props his chin on your chest. The room is dark enough that you can’t see him, but you can feel him studying you “When I heard about what happened and then found out that it was you and James that’d been there...I knew I had to find a way to get here. The two of you-“

There’s a long gap of silence. You wonder if he can hear your heartbeat hummingbird fast in your chest as you wait for him to continue.

“- Are my best friends. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost one of you. And then I hear that I almost lost both of you at the same time? It was fucked. I don’t know what I would’ve done if...I’d things would’ve gone differently”

You know this is hard for him.

Sirius is just about the most emotional person you’ve ever met- he feels everything so intensely, it’s alarming really. And yet he can’t ever voice those feelings in a way that’s not screaming or drunken declarations.

His parents had really done a number on him.

“We’re friends?” Your question might sound stupid, but really, you were curious. You never thought he wanted you as a friend.

“Blimey, Y/N, are you serious?” He sits up even further, voice laced with disbelief as he rests his elbows on either side of your head, his face hovering above yours now.

“I’m just asking! I never knew, and you’ve never said. Don’t be a dickhead about it” Is your barbed reply.

He lets out a barking laugh and you can’t tell if he’s annoyed or amused. Probably some mixture of the two.

“I told you about my father breaking my fingers when I refused to learn the piano” He sounds...guarded. You hate it, that you caused that. His guard to go back up. You should’ve kept your big mouth shut. Your right hand planes up and across his biceps. Resting on his shoulder.

“I know. I’m sorry”

“Don’t be sorry, just know that I would never tell that to someone that I didn’t consider a friend. That I didn’t care about”

See? Emotional. So emotional. It’s like it bubbles up within him, always threatening to overflow. You could never guess when the next outburst would be.

“Well that’s good, I guess I consider you a friend too. I never did before, when we were kids, but now I don’t know what I would do...without your friendship”

Friendship is a deceitful word, a mask of something else that was far too big for either of you to attempt to tackle.

“I don’t know what I’d do without your friendship either. I never want to find out. I really did lose it a bit when I heard about what you did. Ask Marlene. She said I was overreacting”

This is a confession- it’s I love you without the strings. It’s I need you without the commitment.

It’s not fair, to either of you and it’s messy and doomed.

But it’s beautiful, all the same.

“I bet you were” you give a watery chuckle, and he presses his forehead to yours, nudging your nose with his.

“Maybe just a bit, but if we would’ve lost you tonight, I would’ve-“ he breathes deep through his nose “I don’t know what I would’ve done. Hunted them all down, probably”

It’s hot, no, physically hot. You’re burning up, his words striking a match and lighting an inferno inside of you that’d laid dormant for years.

“You can’t leave me anytime soon, got it Y/L/N?” His mouth is less than an inch away from yours, his words feel feathery against your parted lips.

“Mmhmm, I’ve got it” you're breathless already, on the verge of whining and Sirius is just a man, only human. How is that not supposed to drive him mad

“Good” he grunts out fast, before slamming his mouth to yours. He’s not slow like he’d like to be, like he knows you deserve. His kisses are hungry and wet and consuming and you just part those pretty lips and whimper into his mouth, begging him to keep going. To keep taking, so he does. Bracketing his hands on either side of your face, using it as leverage to fuck his tongue in and out of your mouth as his skin hips slot between your fatty thighs.

You pant into each other's mouths as tongues explore the places behind teeth, and Sirius hips find a rhythm that matches his tongue.

“Fuck” you pull away with a gasp and Sirius just drags his spit wet mouth down, across your chin, down your neck. When he sucks an earlobe between his teeth you mewl, legs coming up, your feet propped against the back of his thighs as you pull him closer, nestling him even deeper into the center of your thighs.

He very much likes being between your legs, as he’s told you that very fact before.

It’s warm and you’re plush and soft all over, his fingers dig into the meat of your thighs, hips, belly as yours muse his hair, slipping the elastic out so that the tendrils fall freely, long enough now to curtain the two of you, brushing against your cheekbones.

It’s needier than it’s ever been, and when Sirius tugs off your sweater impatiently he literally groans as his hands map out your bare skin touching all the places that usually make you flinch. Rolls and stretch marks- it’s like he needs to feel everything. When he cups your large breasts, one in each palm you full body shiver. He paws at them, thumbing your nipples until they pebble under his touch, before his mouth takes over.

His tongue swirls around the hard buds sloppily. Too much spit, less teeth that usually are biting and sharp. He’s suckling, all over, marking you up, taking his time.

“Sirius, please” your whines are high in your throat and almost pitiful as you fist his hair. He hushes you gently, suckling turning to open mouthed kisses, before he pulls away, stripping his shirt off, in one elegant sweep.

His torso, long and lean- yet toned and sturdy is on display then and honestly you kind of want to turn the lights back on just to look at him for a while.

Usually, Sirius loves to tease. To draw things out at an almost painful pace. It’s maddening. But not tonight.

No, he’s helping you peel your leggings off your curvy calves, then stripping himself of his boxers quickly.

Things are different- somethings shifted. Everything feels all consuming, passionate, both of you are gulping for air as you rut against each other, rubbing and writing. Trying to press as much bare skin together as possible.

He presses two fingers inside of your wet cunt as he rubs his scruff against the sensitive skin of your neck and you keen, high and loud.

Instead of shushing you, he reaches blindly and clumsily for his wand. “Muffilato”

He really is a great multitasker- he manages to cast the silencing charm as he crooks his fingers inside of you, padding at your g spot and making you wail brokenly.

“That’s it, pretty. You can be as loud as you want, go on love” he coos in your ear and holy shit sex with Sirius has been good since it’s inception- but this is something else.

Maybe it’s because of what you’d experienced earlier- all of those negative emotions being combated by all of these good ones but fuck. It felt so good.

He fucks you with his fingers, two and then three and you’re sobbing even before he kisses down your body. Lips scorching and brandishing. When his hot wet tongue slithers between your lips, zeroing in on your clit you’re done for.

It’s embarrassing how little time it takes for your body to tense up, for you to clench around his pounding digits.

“S-s-shit- oh fuck! Sirius!” You grapple at his shoulders, yank at his hair as you convulse, lost to the orgasm that rips through your chest like a bullet.

He works you through it. With little licks, and then soothing words as he pulls his fingers out of you. Your legs fall even farther open and you feel like a well wrung out dish towel.

He’s still being so sweet, as he situates you both on your sides, spooning you from behind. He nuzzles at your still wet curls and really, you’re almost asleep at this point- but not so out of it that you’re unaware of him hard against your lower back.

“Sirius” you mumble, reaching behind you, your short chubby fingers wrapping around his cock. It’s so perfect in your hand- skin hot. Rock hard and velvet smooth.

He groans low at the contact, stills your hand with his “No, it’s okay. I just wanted to take care of you”

You frown at that, whining- and not a happy one “But I want you inside of me”

“You’re barely coherent right now- you’re gonna’ fall asleep any second” he counters back, although you can hear there’s little fight in his strained voice.

“So fuck me while I’m asleep. I want you. We can do it just like this, gonna feel so good” you’re exhausted, but you’ve never wanted anything more. You rub your ass against him, you can feel the tip at the top of your crack and he’s breathing raggedly into your hair.

“Fuck woman. You’re insane” It’s a laugh, or maybe a moan as he grabs the back of your knee, raising it, giving him access to the wet hot flesh between your thighs. He hisses as he guides himself inside of you, and you both sigh when he bottoms out.

Hells, this angle is so good. You get to be completely lazy, just laying there like a doll and taking it as he holds you close and pumps his hips.

The room is filled with wet slapping and breathless panting.

There’s no way you can come again so soon, you’d never been one of those multiple orgasm kind of girls- Sirius gives a strong thrust, the tip of his cock brushing your cervix and sending shockwaves down your tailbone.

Your nails dig into his forearm as you gasp. You’re totally going to come again. Everything is hypersensitive, molten fire, pleasure so bright it’s almost pain as you hold onto him.

“God- you feel so bloody amazing” Sirius’ mouth is right at your ear, you can hear how close he is, that stutter in his breathing “I’m not gonna last- I can’t- fuck. It’s too good”

“Come inside me. Please. I want- fuck I want you closer. Never want you to stop. Want you like this forever, Please” It’s your own words that tip you over the edge for the second time. Thinking about Sirius being close like this, forever. You want him, balls deep inside of you for the rest of your life. You’d never really had an orgasm that was completely internal, your neglected clit not responsible for the tightening of your walls, for the screech that leaves your throat.

Sirius curses, chokes on a loud moan, and then stills inside you. Grabbing you, holding you still as he buries himself to the hilt and empties himself in hot spirits into your womb.

He feels shaky and uncoordinated as he tries to regather himself. Merlins fucking beard- he’d never come that hard. Ever. He swears he’s still feeling the shock waves minutes later when he’s finally able to move.

He breathes in through his teeth and you let out a squeaky mewl as he pulls out.

“Sorry, I’m sorry” he kisses your shoulder soothingly.

Never want you to stop

The words that you’d spoke in the throws of your pleasure ring in his head as he manages to locate that towel you’d used earlier and clean both of you off. It’s half assed and you’d both certainly need to shower before you but back on clothes but at least he’d tried.

“You still awake?” He whispers to you because you’ve gone so still, your body loose and your breathing even.

You make a noncommittal sound, half of an ‘mmhmm’ and he chuckles, managing to get the blanket up and around the both of you before curling himself back around your body.

He’ll let you have the only pillow, that’s fine. You’re so plush and soft anyway. One big pillow, really. More comfortable than the expensive peacock feathers his mom used to fawn over when he was little.

You’re out like a light, and yet Sirius’ mind is going a mile a minute.

I want you closer

You’d almost died, less then twelve hours ago. James has told him how close it had been for both of you. How narrowly you’d escaped death's grasp.

Sirius presses his face onto your back, off centered from the nape of your neck. You smell like your shampoo here- blackberries and sweet lavender.

He had ran, lungs heaving and paws aching through the woods around the McKinnon Cabin. Desperation fueling him. He’d been so scared. The moment he’d been out of sight, he’d appirated to this safe house. He’d only been here once and could barely conjure the image in his head, but he’d still done it.

He could’ve gotten caught, he could’ve been splinched.

Even now, he doesn’t care.

He can pretend that it was out of concern for his best friend, and yeah a big part of it was. James was his brother. The only family he had left and seeing him to make sure he was safe and okay was important to Sirius…

But in the dark, with his arms wrapped around you and the smell of you all over him, he can admit that he’d snapped in a way that he never had before. When he’d heard that you’d been the one to lift your wand and fight, that Voldemort had thrown curses directly at you…

He was terrified.

Not much scared him these days- and that was the sad truth. He was brave to the point of recklessness, he’d always prided himself on that fact.

But the idea of losing you? That he was scared of.

Want you like this forever.

Please.

Another thing that Sirius Black was scared of? The fact that he wanted you forever, too. He wasn’t made for love, not the kind that he knew you wanted. Not the kind that he watched his friends partake in.

He’d let you down eventually, he knew it, and with as smart as you were, he knew you knew it too.

But not tonight.

Tonight he’d hold you, breathe you in, and pretend that there wasn’t a war waging in the world outside.

————

Many years later, while he lay on the dirty stone floor of his Azkaban cell- he stares wordlessly at the ceiling and remembers how you smelled of lavender and blackberries. How you’d giggled like sunshine and fought like hell.

And he remembers, most, how much he loved you.

Alright guys! Thank you for taking the time to read this massive one shot! I hope you enjoyed it. As always I ask that you comment, and reblog if its possible. Love you all!

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@peacefulwriter88 @jalapenobarnes @jaamesbbarnes @gifsbysimplysonia @brieannakeogh @allaboardthereadingrailroad @all-about-sirius @spidey-babe-parker @propertyofpoeandbucky @hufflepuff-always-and-forever @autirobo @louisianaspell @lostinthoughtsandfeelings @hufflepuffing-all-day-long @threeminutesoflife @writeturnlove @benbarnesescape

Well, that was painful lol. I’ve been feeling really angsty with everything that’s been going on in the world- so I decided to lean into it. I will be writing some fluff pieces soon too, to cope with this quarantining, so keep an eye out.

Okay so we all have the time I thought I’d write a kind of long author's note down here. Harry Potter is my all time favorite Fandom(and fun fact, was the first fandom I ever wrote for) and I definitely don’t give it the love it deserves here on my page.

Sirius Black *chefs kiss while sobbing* That man taught me how to love. He was my first true male character love.

My Fan-Casting has always been a little different then everyone else’s, but lately I’ve really tightened up my dream cast and I love it so much so I thought I’d share(obvs, please feel free to imagine whoever you want in these roles):

Sirius Black: Okay this is probably the only casting I have that is like OG dawn of time Sirius fan cast. BEN BARNES IS SIRIUS BLACK. He always will be to me and nothing will ever change my mind. I imagine Ben with like some Harry Styles mannerisms when I write my Sirius.

James Potter: Chance Perdomo. James Potter was brown and that is that. Chance won me over as Ambrose in Sabrina. He’s so cheeky and thoughtful and arrogant and perfect.

Lily Evans(Potter): Sophie Skelton! This is actually a pretty popular cast for her which makes me so happy because Sophie is so perfect for Lily. I could never get behind the Karen Gillian wave. Sorry.

Remus Lupin: Daniel Sharman- I recently came across a post with Daniel as a young Remus and omg my life is changed for the better!

Peter Pettigrew: Okay so I feel like Peter is so hard to cast- but when I think of Rowling’s book desript of him I always come back to one actor. Jonah Hill. I feel like he would tear this part uppppp. Also he’s plus sized unlike all the other actors I always see people fc him with.

Marlene McKinnon: Okay so idk where this came from but I’ve always seen Marlene as Latina? Like always. Her fc has jumped around for me but has recently landed, hard, on Ana De Armas

Dorcas Meadows: Ashley Blaine Fearherson!!! Dorcas is cannonly black which I fucking love because she was so bad ass that Voldemort’s bitch ass had to go take her out himself. A queen. She’s always been a fave of mine

Alice Longbottom: Florence Pugh! She didn’t make much of an appearance in this particular one shot but I love her!

Frank Longbottom: So I know Nevilles like really white in the movies, but I’ve never been able to get over Diego Luna as Frank. Sweet sunshine man.

#Sirius Black #sirius black x plus size reader #sirius black x reader #harry potter #ben barnes #ben barnes x plus size reader #Sirius black x plus sized reader #billy russo #billy russo x plus sized reader #Jilly #james and lily #james potter #lily evans #marauders #wolfstar

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saudadeonly · 3 years

Text

burn my heart out: last breath calling out (Chapter 3)

Read on ao3. Part 8, consisting of 4 chapters.

Death Eater!Sirius Black AU

Lord Voldemort wages war on Hogwarts but he is unaware of the years-worth of battle fought against him.

(or, several instalments following the Battle of Hogwarts with Sirius Black standing on the wrong side)

Catching up in the middle of battle shouldn't be as much of an art as Marlene and the others have made it to be.

Word count: 2827

___

Marlene is upon Sirius moments after he's stepped back from James and for several seconds everything else fades away. There is no battle to be fought, no wounds to be healed - only them, two friends properly reuniting after years, and Marlene doesn't want to let go. Even the weight of the encounter with the Dementors seems to have eased.

“It's good to see you,” she mumbles into the dip of his collarbone.

He sounds like ash and dust but he gives her a faint smile when they part. “You too.”

When they completely break away from each other, Gideon's wand is pointed at Sirius's chest, his eyes hard. His crooked fingers, one of the remaining marks left from the torture he and Fabian suffered when they were caught by Death Eaters two years ago, are wrapped so tightly around his wand they've turned white. If Marlene didn't know who did it to him before, she’s sure got her confirmation now. Her heartstrings stretch thin between them, between their different shades of grey.

Sirius lifts his hands placatingly but with no sense of urgency. “I know you intend to keep your promise,” he says in a low voice, brows furrowed down over his eyes, “but you'll have your chance if we live to see the morning.”

“Gideon,” Marlene murmurs, reaching out with feather-light fingers against his arm. The pain inflicted on him was, unlike hers, real but its memory won’t lessen if he kills Sirius – not now, not later.

A muscle in Gideon's jaw ticks. A moment passes, then two, before he jabs his wand into Sirius's chest and lets it drop back down to his side. “This isn't over, Black,” he growls.

Sirius's hands, too, fall. His mouth settles into a grim line. “Believe me, I know.”

The edge of danger in the air around them dulls a little. James looks between Gideon and Sirius and then between Sirius and Marlene. He swallows and runs a shaky hand through his hair. It has to be different now, with the shock wearing off, to try and forget that for all Sirius has done to keep them safe, there is still a path between them that he paved with their pain. Marlene has had months to come to terms with it, to go over every horrible, cruel thing he has done and love him despite it; sometimes even because of it, because of how he poured enough blood out of himself to make up for the lack of theirs. James has had neither the insight nor the time to deal with it and probably won't get either for a while. Marlene doesn't know how to help him or Dorcas and Gideon past it.

Dorcas narrows her eyes at Sirius. She's always kept her words about him sharp and then doubly so when he had them all convinced he was a Death Eater but she remains the only one that has been able to fully separate herself from their shared history and treat him as simply one of them – until the night that, as far as she knew, Sirius went for Marlene. Then her vengeance became a single-minded fury, a driving point honed to precision. With anyone else, it would have been admirable; with Sirius, it became the centre-point of Marlene's helplessness. “The ransom was your idea, wasn't it?” Dorcas asks, eyes flitting between Sirius and Gideon, the brilliant mind that Marlene adores working tenfold.

The sum of money offered by Lucretia and Gideon Prewett in exchange for the lives of their nephews was a bolder offer than anyone had tried to make in the decades of war but perhaps the more surprising fact was that Voldemort accepted it. It couldn't have been anyone else other than Sirius that made him see reason in it.

Sirius studies her for a moment, then nods. “You always were the smartest.”

“And yet I couldn’t figure you out.”

“If only that had been my plan.”

“Thank you,” James says suddenly, breaking through the tension that suffocates down over them, “for the Map.” He presses his mouth into a line, fingers twitching by his side, and then opens it again. “Lily and Harry –”

“Don't tell me anything, James,” Sirius cuts in, turning to look at him with a determined line cut between his eyebrows. “The less I know the better.”

He's right. They all know he's right. It doesn't diminish the pain of the fact that he deserves to know as much as all of them do – even if their own knowledge is scarce.

With a grimace, Sirius reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small leather-bound book, pushing it into James's hands. Marlene catches the edge of an antler pressed into the cover and remembers James's last Christmas gift to Sirius. He jerks his chin at the gash running down the length of Gideon's arm and says, “Lestrange came up with some nasty curses. Try the spell on page seven.” He pulls out his own wand and steps toward Marlene.

This time, it's Dorcas who points her wand at him. “Don't touch her.”

“Dorcas,” Marlene says softly before Sirius can ever open his mouth. She meets her eyes, dark and lovely, and sees the question there, a painful one that neither of them wants to have asked or answered. It's been there longer than it should be, probably since Dorcas cursed Sirius all those months ago and Marlene went to pieces over it. “It's alright.”

Dorcas frowns but nods and lets it go. She watches with sharp eyes and a hand in the pocket where she keeps her wand as Sirius taps the wound on Marlene's head and intones the healing.

“I thought we were supposed to have until sundown,” James says absently, staring at the edges of Gideon's wound that slowly stitch themselves together. Marlene's own wound itches as it heals and leaves behind half-dried blood.

Sirius looks up, catching the light from the torches all around, turned on just now after the sun's set. “So did I. He changed his mind.”

Marlene would ask why but the question itself remains in Sirius's voice. The others must sense it too because Gideon frowns down at the book in James's hands and says, “These are the same spells Aunt Lucretia had when she was healing me and Fab.”

“Are they,” Sirius answers without looking up, eyes now trained on his own scraped-up hand as he touches the tip of his wand to it. New skin blooms up across it and it's not until it's fully healed that he looks up at Gideon. Lucretia loved them both, her nephews, Marlene had years to see it. “You think I don't know the limits of my own magic?”

Gideon holds up his hand, waggling the misshapen fingers.

“Some appearances have to be kept.”

“You little –” Gideon starts as he jerks forward but James stops him with a hand on his chest and the sentence dies in his throat. “Fabian,” he continues instead but a booming sound far below, harsh enough to make the floor underneath their feet tremble, all the way down to the foundations, renders him silent again. Sirius sucks in a breath.

They exchange wide-eyed looks. The corridor they're in might be empty of actual Death Eaters but the rest of Hogwarts certainly isn't and they've allowed themselves to forget it. “The common rooms,” Dorcas says, pressing a hand over her collarbone. “Hardly could be anything else.”

Gideon runs a hand through his hair, all anger gone from his face, now white as a sheet. His oldest nephew, Marlene remembers, started at Hogwarts this past September. “Come on.”

They start down the corridor and get all the way to the top of the staircase before a silver streak shoots up before them, materialising into a silver cat. “They are retreating,” McGonagall's voice says, hurried but alive. “We are gathering in the Great Hall.”

When Marlene looks at Sirius, relief is trickling into the corners of his mouth, curving them up softly. He murmurs a quiet, thankful word. In the next moment, he's turned into a large dog that follows them down to the Entrance Hall, silent-footed and with eyes careful on their surroundings.

The Entrance Hall is half-ruined but by no means empty; there is a groaning woman caught beneath a pile of debris and a couple of students huddled over a shaking body. James and Gideon break off towards the woman and Dorcas toward the students, all murmuring their reassurances before they’re even within earshot.

Marlene goes to follow them but Sirius catches his teeth in her sleeve and pulls her into a small alcove behind the wreckage. He shifts back to himself and muffles their conversations to prying ears, then spins some sort of illusion that makes the world outside go all blurry. He rolls up his sleeve and shows her the Mark writhing across his skin, summoning him, demanding his presence by its master's side.

Marlene looks up at him, heart hammering its way into her throat. “You're joking. Sirius, you just attacked some of his most vicious soldiers. If they manage to make it back to him –”

“They won't.”

“But if they do –”

“They won't,” Sirius insists, just as stubborn as Marlene remembers him in this very building, just as infuriatingly confident in his abilities. He shrugs with one shoulder, a little helplessness cutting through the determination on his face. “What else do you expect me to do? Just walk into the Great Hall, full of people whose loved ones I tortured and killed?” At Marlene's wince and her pained expression, he adds, “Just a couple more hours, Mack. It hardly makes a difference.”

Except you might not survive this time.

“Sirius.” Marlene grabs onto his wrist, the digits of her fingers digging into the soft, blue-veined skin there, the proof of a life still bleeding beneath. At the point in her life when she thought she'd die it was him who kept her anchored to life, on his knees against everything that he was supposed to be standing for. It's her turn now. “You've done enough. Let go.”

Sirius shakes off her hand and covers the sides of her face with his warm and calloused hands. He blinks at her, slow and steady, familiar as childhood. He won’t listen and that’s familiar, too. “Don't let the others show the truth, okay? I might have some use yet.”

It's something about the set of his jaw and the rigidness of his shoulders, something about the line his eyes make and the way he doesn't fit. She thinks of the boy he was, raised between cold walls and loving warm despite it, and the man that he's become and the prints of himself he left behind, so harsh he ripped too much of his soul away, so much, too much –

“Sirius –”

But Sirius slips out of her reach and vanishes into the darkness drawn over the courtyard. His goodbye cuts itself into her ribcage.

Marlene steps out of the alcove, skin burning cold. Following him would be foolish at best and suicidal at worst. She tries to remind herself that he's been doing this for years, for longer than she's known about it. The thought is horrible but he's the only one that knows Voldemort well enough to outwit him. There’s nothing else she can do but let him go. She turns away.

In the defiant hum of the Great Hall, she sees the others at the very end of it, where the professors' table has been pushed back to form a sort of protective brace. Dorcas is leant over the dark-haired woman from the Entrance Hall while Gideon is talking to a faint-looking boy. James is off to the side, deep in conversation with Remus, oblivious to the way Remus is frowning at the book in his hands. Fierce relief crashes through Marlene at the sight of him, tawny hair ruffled and skin drained but without a scratch otherwise. He's safe, at least for the time being, which means that Harry and Lily, whom he was meant to accompany to the edge of the Apparition line, are probably okay, too. Now they only have to make it out of Hogwarts unscathed.

Between one blink and the next, a house-elf appears in front of the two of them. It takes Marlene a moment longer than Remus and James, both pulling out their wands, to establish that the house-elf means them no harm, judging by the way James’s face lights up and Remus’s eyebrows knit together in concern. Marlene quickens her step and arrives within earshot several seconds later, just in time to see James's mouth fall open again and hear him, with his voice on a breaking point, say, “My mother had something to do with it?”

“Something to do with what?” Marlene asks when she's close enough. Now that she is, she can see the house-elf, with big brown eyes and soft-looking ears, is none other than Linsy, the one James had to let go when they started moving around for Harry’s safety. She’s wringing her hands and gives Marlene an unsure bow.

Remus's head shoots up at the sound of her voice, the shock still very firmly in place on his face when he explains faintly, “Regulus sending Kreacher to tell Linsy to get Harry and Lily out of Hogwarts apparently.”

“Regulus Black?” she repeats incredulously. It shouldn't make sense, is the thing, but if Sirius got to Marlene in time why wouldn't he have got to his own brother, too? Or maybe – maybe Sirius isn't the one behind it this time and this is all about to go from bad to worse very, very quickly.

“I'm just as lost as you are.”

If they had time, Marlene could probably tell him all the different ways that sentence doesn't exactly track but they don't so she doesn't; besides, it might even be true at this moment.

“You can be lost after you tell Linsy here where Lily and Harry are, Mr Lupin,” McGonagall says as she strides up to them. One of her glasses' lenses is cracked but it does absolutely nothing to ease the severity of her piercing eyes as she measures them out. At the sight of her, Linsy's ears go flat along her head. “Mr Potter,” she continues as she turns to him, with absolutely no regard for the way Remus stares at her, “I believe that book would be better used with people actually doing any sort of healing.”

“Did you not hear the part about Regulus and Kreacher?” Remus asks with more doubt in McGonagall's judgement than Marlene would have dared to openly show.

“I very much did.” McGonagall straightens her glasses. “But I fail to see the importance of it when Linsy is here, completely devoted to saving her family.” She favours Linsy with a short smile that Linsy returns a little shyly.

A strangled sound escapes Remus. “Have you lot lost your mind?” he asks with wide eyes, voice rising a pitch. He points to James. “He asks me where's Sirius like that's something normal to do and you want me to give up life-threatening information to someone sent here by a man apparently risen from the dead after three years who was also a Death Eater the last time we heard of him. What is wrong with you?”

Marlene holds in a wince. Given how seriously Remus lacks any sort of context, the beginning and end of which they cannot afford to outline right now, it isn't strange he must think them all to be under Imperius or worse. But here's what's she's gleaned from his words: Lily and Harry aren't out of the woods yet, they are still somewhere here and in the light of everything, Linsy is probably the safest and quickest way to get them out. Now, Marlene isn't stupid enough to blindly have faith in the good intentions of Regulus Black but she does trust McGonagall.

Marlene points her wand at her. “When you came to visit me in the hospital, what did you make me promise?”

Without a second's hesitation, McGonagall says, “That you would tell no one what Sirius did.”

Marlene could have used a better memory for it but in the wake of recent events, it was the first one that resurfaced. She turns to Remus, willing him to understand by the sheer determination she puts in her words. “Remus, listen –”

The voice that cuts over her makes the entirety of the Great Hall flinch and turn around in search of it. “We have Harry Potter,” it says, the high, raspy pitch of it unmistakably Voldemort's. It surrounds them, getting their hearts into an ice-cold grip, no source to it, only bone-deep dread. “Those of you who wish to come kneel before me and accept my triumph will be received graciously. Those who still plan to oppose me will die where you stand.”

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starryeyxdmckinnon · 3 years

Text

REMUS & MARY’S BIRTHDAY PARTY PART 1

dates ooc rping: 13/03/2021 - 15/03/2021

date ic: Saturday 12/03/1983

discord group thread with: @luhpxns @macmary @padfoot-chaos @peterpxttigrew @suchadorcas @oh-evans @jamspctter @starryeyxdmckinnon

summary so far (to be continued)

location: Marauders apartment, fun chaos and drinking games. Awkward questions left lingering silences numbed by alcoholic beverages. Spin the bottle ensues with a Kiss, Question or Drink scenarios. Remus and Sirius kiss, Peter and Remus shot duel, Sirius and Marlene slip to the bathroom for an almost kiss, while Potter shamelessly flirts with Lily. Dorcas reminisces on favourite songs and Mary worries over their questions during spin the bottle.

Marlene McKinnon

Wine glass in one hand and wand in the other, Marlene absently sipping with gentle flicks of her wand as she strung up some bunting for more decorations. "How long has it been?" The witch called over her shoulder and light quirk of an eye brow, asking for a time check on Remus and Mary's location. "We should have confiscated their wands and keys so atleast we'd have some warning. Anyone fancy volunteering to run after them to give a loud warning of arrival? A howl, a screech, saying how beautiful we all look tonight?" A small smirk pulling onto her features before she added, catching one of her friends with a bottle of liquor in their hand. "Hey not so fast-" She asked with a charming warm smile pulling onto her features as she held out her wine glass for more alcohol.

Lily Evans

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you," Lily crooned, topping up Marlene's glass. "We all know I can't go, I'm so shite with surprises." Lily's lack of a poker face unfortunately made her possibly the worst liar in the room. "They should be round any minute- what if we told them there's a fire so they've got to run up?" An awful idea, but she'd probably had a little too much to drink already. "If they don't hurry, I'm going to be absolutely sloshed by the time they get here," she groaned.

Sirius Black

“Red, we’d all love to see you sloshed so don’t tempt me.” Sirius had a bottle of his own in his hand and used it to pour just a little bit extra into Lily’s drink. “Remus is a creature of habit. He’s never spent longer than half an hour at the shop so they’ll be back any minute now - just trust me.” He took a long swig of his own concoction, glancing between the two women. “Until then — shots? And just so you know that wasn’t really a question, it was more a warning that I’m about to pour you both shots regardless of what you say.”

James Potter

James quickly made his way over beside Lily and jokingly wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "A sloshed Lily at a surprise party sounds like the best surprise," laughing he looked over to Sirius. "We got this all planned down to a T! He won't expect a single thing, I would be surprised if it doesn't throw him off his rocker," he let go of Lily moving to his best friends side. "Don't have to tell me twice Padfoot, shots sound amazing, do you guys want any?" He looked over to Marlene and Lily set on this being an amazing time with good friends.

Dorcas Meadowes

Doe giggled as the last of her decorations went into place finishing her fire whiskey. "There's always a refill here." With a flick of her wand she raised her bottle and refilled her glass. "Just happy to vibe." She smiled to herself, propping herself up in the corner. Keeping this a secret had been hard but also worth it and she needed to turn off her brain every now and then.

Marlene McKinnon

Marlene couldn't help but draw her eyes briefly away from James and Lily as he looped his arm around her. It shouldn't have bothered her, it was years ago it didn't matter. Still, how could she say it didn't sting even now when the person who'd supposed to love you for five years loved your best friend all along instead. She was definately going to need another drink to deal with that. An easy warm smile pulling onto her features the witch went back to stringing up last minute decorations with a light tilt of her head. "Do I want a shot? Do you even have to ask? I'll take two, maybe three. Unless you don't think you can keep up?" The witch smirked, a challenging quirk of an eye brow directed in Sirius' direction.

Sirius Black

Sirius shared a grin with James because they both knew where this narrative led. It wasn’t an unusual occurrence to find the pair suggesting shots at a party, and that more often than not led to chaos. “I’ve got a selection for you beautiful people - wizard or muggle alcohol? Strong or extra strong? Are you weak enough to need a mixer?” He stood there amongst his various bottles as if he was some sort of bartender, but the grin was too mischievous to be professional. His eye caught Marlene’s as she looked in his direction. “And you’re getting doubles.”

Marlene McKinnon

"Trying to get me drunk Black?" The witch questioned with a smirk and quirk of an eye brow before she finished stringing up the last of the decoration. "Now you-" Marlene spoke turning to point lightly at her room mate, pausing only momentarily to link her arms with Lily's. "-firewhiskey. You'll be dancing ontop of the tables tonight if I have anything to say about it."

Dorcas Meadowes

"GUYS HOLD UP!!" She spoke loud enough for everyone to hear her jumping up quickly. She paused wrinkling her nose to make sure. Her voice dropped and she nodded. "They're coming. They're here." Now she perked up a little more excited knowing they were right outside.

James Potter

James glanced at Sirius with a look of complete excitement. "Hide! Or you won't get shots," he mock threatened quickly swishing his wand so the lights began turning off.

Remus Lupin

“Now I know that Sirius and James like a drink but this is a bit excessive.” Raising the two bags up toward Mary he laughed. “Who needs this much beer? Apparently it was just to stock up but they look like they’re stocking up for the apocalypse.” Juggling the bags in his hands, Remus attempted to dig a hand in his pocket to get the house key out of it. “Mary can you get the key out my pocket please? I can’t reach it with all the beers.” @Mary Macdonald

Mary Macdonald

❛ i think time has proven that they can each handle their drink fairly well, sirius more so but perhaps they're just planning on going completely balls to walls for the occasion. ❜ mary adds, looking down at the two bags with playful dismay, tutting quietly. unable to keep the smile from their lips. in truth, they couldn't talk. they'd always been one for taking things a step too far on occasion too. ❛ no problemo, birthday boy. ❜ moving to reach into his jacket's pocket, their fingers wriggle around a moment before taking it between their fingers. going right ahead and unlocking the door for him too, pushing it open for them both, only to be met with an incredibly dark, lonely looking flat...

Remus Lupin

“You’re a good egg, birthday pal.” Remus watched as Mary reached their hand into his jacket pocket and opened up the front door, walking in ahead of him into complete darkness. “Have we had a black out or something?” Remus asked, standing in the dark front room with the bags in his hand. “Stick a light on will you Mary.”

Sirius Black

Mary didn’t have a chance to put a light on, because all of a sudden the flat was illuminated with bewitched lights and the smiling faces of their friends who all stood around with drinks in their hands. “Happy birthday, you old gits!” Sirius shouted, taking it upon himself to walk over and push pre-prepared, obnoxiously strong drinks into both of their hands. “Happy birthday.” He repeated. “Are you surprised? Down those. You’ve got some catching up to do.”

Remus Lupin

Remus blinked twice, dropping the bags to the floor as the room became illuminated. The first thing he noticed was the faces of all the people he loved staring back at him and Mary, big smiles on their faces and drinks in their hand. Remus was deeply touched, more than any of them could ever really know but it wasn’t very Marauder to cry at your joint birthday party. “You fuckers.” Remus laughed as Sirius pushed a drink into their hands. “I have to say I didn’t suspect anything, I just thought you and James wanted to get plastered in the front room. This is amazing. Honestly, thank you.”(edited)

James Potter

James let out a loud cheer alongside a surprise snatching a shot from the ones Sirius had made for himself. "Hey! Guys!" He took three shot glasses over to Doe, Marlene and Lily. "The promised shots, and Marlene yes I can count but right now I can only carry so many," he sassed before running over to Remus. "Happy birthday bud, yeah I definitely wouldn't want to get plastered with everyone else. Also Mary, happy birthday are you also surprised?"

Mary Macdonald

mary was just as taken aback. this was really the last thing they had been expecting to come from today and yet, it wasn't unlike their friends at all. so much so that they really should have been expecting this. a bright smile spreading across mary's lips as they take in the sight... all their friends together, their found family gathered in the living room celebrating their birthdays. ❛ well shit! ❜ they cried, exchanging the keys in their hand for an unspecified drink from sirius, ❛ you lot are fucking amazing, and i love each and every one of you so much! ❜ mary grinned, eyeing the drink. really, it was all happening so fast, that within an instant, the drink was downed without another word said. they had catching up to do, didn't they? ❛ yeah, i'm surprised! i was surprised way back when you guys wanted me to join in on your birthday drinks for remus... but this? this is... kinda, truly incredible! ❜

Lily Evans

"Happy birthday, love," Lily ran for her best friend, throwing her arms around Mary and squeezed them about as tight as she could before moving on to hug Remus. "Love you both endlessly. Now drink that," she motioned to the drinks in their hands before grabbing her own shot from James. "Black is right, you're both massively behind."

Marlene McKinnon

A wide warm smile pulled onto the corners of her lips at the sight of the pair. "Happy Birthday-" The witch called setting her drink down so she could go and loop her arms tightly around Mary first, planting a kiss on their cheek before doing exactly the same to Remus as she stepped back to look at the pair. Thumb moving up to rub a bit of lipstick off Mary's cheek with a small oops. "And as your best friends who love and adore you both, that it truly is our duty and really our honor to make sure you have a truly terrible hang over come tomorrow morning." Marlene spoke sarcastically a smirk pulling at the edge of her features. "So- drink up both of you-" The witch paused to nudge Remus lightly as she looked down at his drink before adding: "There will be shots in the kitchen when you've finished that."

Remus Lupin

“Jesus of course there will be.” Remus laughed, watching Mary down their drink like a trooper. “You legend MacDonald, you’re showing me up now.” Exchanging a grin with Sirius, Remus downed the drink. It tasted like goblin’s piss and burned the back of his throat as it snaked it’s way down. “Black that’s actually vile, whatever you’ve mixed in there should be registered.” He replied with a laugh and a slight cough. “No but really guys. Thank you.” Grabbing two of the beers out of the box, he opened one with the other and passed one to Mary before signalling for James to throw him the bottle opener for his own one. “Happy Birthday Mary. Can’t wait to not remember it with you.” Raising his beer in the air toward them he clinked it against their’s.

James Potter

James never downed beer as fast as he did shots of hard liquor. He sipped at it, letting the drink make him warm. With a soft sigh he smiled. "I'm happy to be of service for the two of you, so may this be one of the best parties we have," he winked at Remus finally downing half the beer. "I'm gonna annoy someone else -- birthday people, who should I annoy? Other than you two? I also have your gifts don't let me forget."

Sirius Black

If looks could kill James would be six feet under, because Sirius’s expression could kill a man. “Acting like you’re moving elsewhere - finish the rest of that beer and stop acting like a wuss.” The grin on his face was the one he often wore during the parties he threw. Mischievous, ready to get everybody drunk, and ready to get drunk himself. “You’re all partying in my flat, so i dictate that you all need to be drunker, and that we have a lot of catching up to do because we’ve not all been in the same room since school.”

Remus Lupin

“Christ that makes me feel old.” Remus remarked, taking a sip of his beer. “What are you drinking anyway Padfoot? You’re doing a lot of talking and not a lot of drinking for someone trying to get everyone drunk.” Remus teased with a smirk.

Sirius Black

It was a challenge that Sirius had never been able to deny. He and Remus locked eyes, and he lifted his bottle of firewhiskey to his lips and took a very painful few sips. “I’ve drank more than you and Mary combined. Don’t give me that.” He pushed his bottle towards Remus. “Who do you take me for? I’m almost offended.”

Remus Lupin

“I take you for a fool Padfoot.” Remus joked. “Also yeah of course you’ve had more to drink than me and Mary we’ve just turned up. As the birthday boy I think I order birthday shots because as everyone keeps saying I’ve got catching up to do and apparently you’re a man on a mission.”

James Potter

James laughed. "Okay, okay, I will stay I have missed you lot an awful bunch," he pouted leaning up against Sirius. "If drunk is what you want -- drunk is what you get as long as my pants stay up unlike at the Yule Ball," James chugged the rest of his beer before moving to do what Remus said and take a shot.

Marlene McKinnon

Quirking an eye brow as the boys started to get into a competitive spirit, Marlene found her eyes drawing to Lily with a pointed look one that was shared often and simply known as 'Boys'. "Well as delightful as it is to watch this- I think some more drinks are in order. I'm sure I spotted a bottle of giggle water in the kitchen. Lil, do you want to come?" Mar asked with a light quirk of an eye brow as she turned to her flat mate @Lily Evans

James Potter

Remus Lupin

“Okay but honestly what happened with the pants situation because I never got any clarity on this?” Remus asked with a chuckle.

Lily Evans

Lily hopped up and grabbed Marlene's hand. "Yes, let's leave them to their glory day reliving," she teased, pulling her to the kitchen. "Do you think we really got Mary? They looked surprised, but I can never tell with these things." She took a perch on the countertop. @Marlene McKinnon

Remus Lupin

“Okay but honestly what happened with the pants situation because I never got any clarity on this?” Remus asked with a chuckle.

James Potter

James almost choked on his drink, mainly due to the horrid choice of alcohol Sirius decided to go with. "Snape give me a potion that he kind fo hexed to make my pants fall off. Anti climatic sorry mate."

Remus Lupin

Remus laughed loudly. “That’s not anti-climactic in the slightest. That’s actually just hilarious.” His gaze flitted to Marlene and Lily for a moment as he watched them go into the kitchen leaving James and Remus in the living room. “The real question I have for you Prongs which can in no way be anti-climactic and an answer is demanded as it’s my birthday is - how was your date the other day? I know it was with Lily but I haven’t been able to catch you and find out how it all went.” @James Potter

James Potter

James felt his cheeks burn red the minute Remus asked the question he knew he was sure to get anytime soon. Clearing his throat he searched his mind for a way to say how it went to the best of his tipsy ability. "Oh um -- about as well as you would expect? Thought it was decent at first but," James shrugged. "She's different, my charms don't work on her like it does on you guys," he dramatically pouted resorting to joking. "It was nice though." He kept repeating. @Remus Lupin

Lily Evans

Marlene McKinnon

A small scoff fell off the witch's lips at Lily's comment as she gave her best friend's hand a light squeeze. "Clearly they need to get out more." Mar teased as they left the boys to it and headed into the kitchen. "Didn't you see their face? I think we definitely did." Marlene assured with a soft smile as she went to looking in the boys cupboards. "Now what was that muggle drink you said again the other day? Bloody Mary's? What was in that again?" The witch asked with a pondering frown being huffing lightly and pulling out her wand from where she kept it attached to her thigh. "Or we could simply make a batch of punch or cocktails for each? And we can make it as deadly as we desire." Marlene spoke a mischievous grin pulling onto her features. "Mary's we could make sparkle and spell like roses? And Remus' of course, chocolate." @Lily Evans

Remus Lupin

“Well you know how I feel about you Prongs. You’re the love of my life and no dates will change that.” Nodding at James, he took a long sip of his beer and surveyed his friend. Talking about Lily in any way other than a joking one always prompted some kind of awkward response from James, but he didn’t want to make him squirm. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to mate, I’m not in the business of making you sweat a puddle on the rug.” He chuckled. @James Potter

James Potter

James smiled hugging Remus tightly. "No, no you should be able to ask me these things," he nodded knowing whatever kind of awkwardness passed through him at the mention of Lily should be thrown out the window. "Listen mate, it was lovely though -- I found it lovely because she gave me a chance," he poked his chest taking another beer. "And for your second present I'll talk to her tonight." @Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin

Remus was surprised by the sudden display of affection but welcomed it warmly, smiling as he accepted the hug from his friend. “I’m glad you had a nice time mate, whatever happens with you and Lils, you get on so well it’s nice that you’re hanging out more outside of the group so if anything that’s the perfect gift for me.” Although his own love life was as empty as it always had been, Remus loved it when his friends were happy and having fun, living vicariously through them was more than enough for him. “Where did Griezl send you anyway?” @James Potter

James Potter

James took a deep breath. "A muggle book store opening, it was quaint and so nice -- Remus you need a lover who isn't Sirius," James tapped his chest, the alcohol Sirius kept giving him clearly affecting him. "I think you have my love one hundred percent, I do love you," he smiled softly. "But I love Lily a different way don't tell Marlene," he whispered. @Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin

“I love a good book shop, that’s a perfect first date Prongs.” Remus couldn’t help but smile at James’ comments, being a big fan of both James and Lily, they going on a date had made his February but hearing James say that had possibly made his March as well. “I’ll keep my lips sealed.” He replied with a wink. “I’m shocked and appalled you’ve not asked me who I went on a date with. Thanks for the submit you cheeky sod.” Remus laughed @James Potter

James Potter

"I wish I asked her and we weren't set up but," James shrugged blushing only slightly. "Who did you go on a date with? Liked my entry," he winked. "Well I had to deal with a weird entry too Remus, we seem to be twins in the sense." @Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin

“I actually told the girl I went on a date with that it screamed James Potter, I only wondered it the other two had a hand in it as well.” Remus replied with a laugh. “Well I actually went on a date with a goddess so I should probably thank you and whoever else had a hand in that because I could never land a girl like that unless someone had engineered it.”

Sirius Black

"We most certainly did." Sirius seemed to appear out of thin air, having been in the kitchen creating all sorts of concoctions he planned to donate to some blissfully unaware souls later on. "We figured you needed a swift kick up the arse before you became a born-again virgin. Who was the lucky lady?" Sirius grinned at his two best friends. "And I'll be grilling you about your date afterwards too so don't think you've gotten off easy, Prongs."

James Potter

James jumped slightly at Sirius' arrival and let out a hearty laugh. "Yeah Remus! Who did you land, who was this goddess?" He nudged him playfully. "Sirius mate I'll give you the run down now -- it went well but not enough to land the elusive Lily Evans," he pouted drinking more of his beer. "But sh I care more about Remus right now."

Remus Lupin

His gaze flitted between Sirius to James and then grinned. “Dahlia Blackwood?” He said questioningly. “I don’t know if you guys know her or not but she’s absolutely stunning, older woman, vampire. Massively out of my league by a long shot. So thanks I guess, date was fun.” Remus didn’t have any confidence when it came to women, but having a pleasant date with someone as beau as Dahlia had definitely helped.

Peter Pettigrew

Peter managed to turn the key in the door, the keg that he had brought from the Leaky Cauldron firmly at his feet. He had been on the evening shift at the pub, meaning that he had missed the initial fun of surprising Remus and Mary. Still though, a keg was sure to make a great addition to their evening. Pushing open the door, Peter looked around at the sight in front of him. "Oi, you fucking grannies." He called out to his friends in front of him, pushing the keg into the flat with his feet. "Have you all forgot how to party without me or something?"

Remus Lupin

“Ay up here comes trouble.” Remus laughed, looking over at Peter rolling a large silver cylinder into the room. “Wormtail... what the fuck is that?” @Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew

Glancing down at the keg at his feet, Peter laughed. “Just a little something something I picked up from work.” He grinned wickedly , stepping into the flat and closing the door behind him.

Sirius Black

“And this is why you’re my favourite. Life and soul of the party, you are.” Sirius matched Peter’s grin as he clapped his best mate on the shoulder, and then turned his attention on the group as a whole. “What do the rest of you fuckers say to a little drinking game of some sort?”

Lily Evans

"That sounds like trouble," Lily reappeared from the kitchen, fresh glass in hand, to give Peter a quick side hug. "Would be very seventh year of us. Let's do it."

James Potter

James looked over to Lily with a bright smile. "You heard the lady, game time!" He took the keg from Peter and brought it over to an area he could easily set it up and have people take drinks easier. "Okay, sit in a circle in the living room?"

Mary Macdonald

❛ oh because this could only end well... ❜ mary teased, quirking a brow in sirius' direction though a bright smile played at the corner of their lips. particularly upon seeing the closeness of james & lily this evening. ❛ what we playing then, lovers? ❜ mary asks, moving to sit on one of the marauders' sofas, taking a sip of their drink as they awaited the game to begin.

Dorcas Meadowes

With everyone gathering up, Doe sat down, cross legged on the floor, refilling her glass again just in case a soft smirk on her face. "Maybe I should keep a count on the number of bad decisions made tonight."

Marlene McKinnon

"Life and soul of the party umm and we're not here?" Marlene hummed with a light quirk of an eye brow as she came out from the kitchen. "-I feel personally offended. You deserve atleast two shots for that-" The witch spoke sarcastically, before taking a sip of the new drink in her hand only to then notice Peter and the keg. "Well Merlin alive- I stand corrected. It's a hero himself baring gifts-" The witch spoke with a smirk as she raised her glass briefly to Peter before joining Mary on the couch. "Doe darling I wouldn't waste your ink, I don't think even your quill could write fast enough to keep that tally." Marlene commented before taking another sip of her drink. "What about spin the bottle? That was always a seventh year favourite wasn't it?"

Lily Evans

Lily settled on the floor next to Doe, leaning her head on her friend's shoulder. "More like a fourth year favorite, Marley." She would normally be apprehensive- but she'd already drank enough that this seemed like a phenomenal idea. "Your call, birthday friends!" she motioned towards Remus and Mary.

James Potter

James nodded in agreement. "The birthday twins should go first, in turn and in choice of game," James looked over to both Remus and Mary, smiling like a fool.

Dorcas Meadowes

"I'll drink to that, 'Lene." She laughed before taking a sip for fun. It was veryctrue there would far too many shenanigans to document and most of them were likely to happen to the girl sat next to her. "Just let me know if I need to give you some space Lil', okay?" She teased.

Remus Lupin

Narrowing his eyes Remus looked at Mary, trying to gage their reaction. A small grin played upon his lips. This was only going to end badly but maybe after all of the pressure they’d been under recently, all the drama, all the death this was that they needed. “I’m down if you are Mary.” Remus didn’t feel like wearing his sensible hat today. @Mary Macdonald

Mary Macdonald

looking to remus, they shrug playfully. feigning indifference. quite sure that no matter the game it would end in just as much chaos. fun chaos. fun birthday chaos. ❛ of course i fucking am! ❜ cheers mary in response, raising their glass to in fact, their smile only growing, ❛ bring on the fourth year nostalgia then... as lily so beautifully pointed out. ❜

Sirius Black

“Now it’s a fuckin’ party.” Sirius took his place on the arm of the sofa next to where Marlene sat. The night was about to get messy and he was very okay with that. After all, what’s a party without a bit of chaos? Being the selfless man he was, Sirius silently nominated himself to provide the bottle the game would need so he raised it to his lips, chugged the seven or so mouthfuls it had left, and then dropped it onto the wooden floor. “Go on then you two, who’s up first?”

James Potter

James smirked at his friend and without a doubt -- and in true James fashion inserting himself in a conversation that he wasn't in truly at the moment. A good bit of fun and chaos was the best look for him. "I vote Mary, since they seems the most confident," he smirked. @Mary Macdonald

Mary Macdonald

hearing james' words, mary puts their hands under their chin, elbows out, showing off proudly as if the drink hadn't already gone straight to their head. obliging, they reach forward for the bottle sirius had put down, flicking it with the tip of their finger, causing it to jump to life, spinning wildly for a few, tense moments before finally landing on @James Potter. the very man who'd just put them forward no less! ❛ well, well, well... what will it be, prongs? kiss, drink or question? ❜ they ask, wiggling their dark brows deviously.

James Potter

James looked a bit shocked and surprised, just his luck it would be him who got chosen after throwing them under the bus. He hid the shock with a dramatic thinking session. "I'm going to be daring and choose question," he smiled knowing full well it would bite him in the ass. @Mary Macdonald

Mary Macdonald

daring was one word for it. stupid might have been another. particularly when there was already one, rather big question mary had regarding him. feigning similar consideration over what it was they'd say next, despite knowing very well what it was they were going to ask, mary attempted their best, well-meaning smile in spite of the drink veiling what might have been better judgement. hoping whatever tumbled from their lips next wouldn't be damaging, instead... rather motivating?

❛ okay, so... how are your feelings for lily doing? ❜ @James Potter

James Potter

James felt his heart skip a beat, he knew that question was coming he couldn't-- and shouldn't have been surprised. And he was sure his blank stare towards Mary's direction didn't help. He was tipsy but it wasn't enough for a question like this, he knew he didn't choose drink but he downed a cup hoping it would be easier to answer. It didn't help that Marlene was right there and so was Lily -- the person in question. "They're good," he forced a smile. "Friends -- and good ones -- and yeah, good." He knew his face was red and he knew that was going to be painful. @Mary Macdonald

Sirius Black

Sirius felt the tension as soon as the question was asked - everyone did. It seemed the only two people unaware of Lily and James’ feelings for each other were themselves. He felt for his best mate, he really did - he knew how uncomfortable he must be, so Sirius barked a loud laugh. “Well it’s definitely a step up from being on the scary end of Red’s hexes, isn’t it?” He joked. Laugh the situation off, always a good method. “Lily can be pretty fuckin’ scary when she wants to be. Quite fit, really.”

Mary Macdonald

mary could see plainly in his face that he had.... not been expecting that. perhaps it'd been too much for the very first round of this game and yet, they'd hoped, in all their hopeless romantic glory, that he'd take the opportunity to confess his love or... something at least, resembling that. but perhaps, just perhaps... being sat around a bottle, in his joint flat's living room, in front of his ex was not a prime love confession setting. ❛ i'm glad to hear it! ❜ they agree, as if that had been the answer they'd been waiting to hear. it wasn't. playing it off cooly, they offer up a smile, shaky... if not from the drink than from the tension you could now cut with a knife. ❛ who's next then... birthday boy, remus? ❜

Marlene McKinnon

With her walls already a little down from the several shots of tequila, Marlene wasn't expecting the question to sting and without her usually built sober walls barricading any kind of emotional tells slipping on the topic; it hit more of a sour note than she's ever admit. Marlene felt her jaw tightening ever so slightly as she took a large gulp of fire whiskey from her glass. Figuring if anything, she'd need atleast another round of drinks to sit happily through listening to those kind of questions. "Yeh really good friends." The witch muttered utter her breathe before shaking her head dismissively. "Remus- You're up-" Marlene spoke with the nod towards her friend hoping the quick change of topic could divert attention from Mary's question.

Remus Lupin

Remus fell quiet as he watched the awkward scene play out in front of him. James and Lily were two of his closest friends, but over the past few weeks after what had happened in October, he and Marlene had become very close as well. Having been with her when they brewed love potions that one night drunk in the kitchen he had a feeling her deeper feelings lied elsewhere but he had no doubt that Mary’s question had stung, although Mary was so kind they won’t have done it on purpose. Taking a long sip of his beer before spinning, Remus reached out to the bottle in the middle and spun it hard. It went round the circle a few times and finally landed on... SIRIUS. “Well well Padfoot.” Remus began, grinning at Sirius wickedly. “Kiss, question or a downing my brother? Sips are for chumps.” @Sirius Black(edited)

Sirius Black

Sirius was already grinning when the bottle slowed and came to a stop in his direction, and he waggled his eyebrows at Remus. “Is ‘all of the above’ an option?” He asked. There was only one option, really - one clear way to rid the room of any lingering awkwardness, and considering himself as somewhat of a hero, Sirius had no choice. “C’mon then, you sexy piece of meat. Give us a kiss and try not to fall in love with me.” @Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin

He couldn’t contain an eye roll. Classic bloody Sirius. “This is only gonna fuel all those rumours, you do know that right?” Remus questioned before standing up and walking over to Sirius. “Do it quickly, I don’t want Peter and James getting jealous.” @Sirius Black

James Potter

James saw this as an opportunity to jump back into the groove of things after that question. He could clearly tell Marlene was pained but this was a different conversation for a different time. "Hey Remus, that's my man!" He smirked waiting to see what his friends had done multiple times before in different parties.

Remus Lupin

“Well apparently he’s mine now.” Remus called behind to his friend. “Kept trying to throw him off but apparently the heart wants what it wants.” He added in a sarcastic tone.

Sirius Black

“Are they rumours, or are we really in love?” He smirked as he got to his feet. The rumours in question had began years ago but instead of trying to quash them the two boys had their fun with it. Sirius vaguely remembered getting up on the Gryffindor table one breakfast and professing his undying love for Remus in front of the whole school. “Don’t worry lads, there’s plenty to go around.” Sirius grinned, before grabbing Remus’ face between his hands and planting a loud kiss onto his lips. @Remus Lupin

Peter Pettigrew

Leaning his back against the couch, Peter laughed loudly "Don't worry, James darling. We'll get back at them." He acknowledged by sending a wink in James' direction. Thoroughly amused by this game, Peter took a swig from his drink.

Remus Lupin

Allowing his face to be pulled forward and pressed against Sirius’ he felt the kiss be planted on his lips before recoiling in comedic horror. “God you really should use mouthwash Padfoot, would get rid of the dog breath.” He joked before turning back around and sitting down cross legged next to Peter with a laugh. “Think it’s your turn now Wormtail, try beat that display of affection if you can.” @Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew

At the mention of dog breath, Peter snorted. Times like this reminded him of Hogwarts, when they all could just hang out for the night and have a laugh. It felt like home. "If that's what you call a display of affection, I fear for your lovers." He teased, leaning forward to spin the bottle. "Now, if you don't get your turn now, don't fear. There's enough Peter to go around everyone." Peter reassured with a laugh whilst watching the bottle spin until it landed on @Dorcas Meadowes "Alright, my dear Meadow... What's it gonna be? A kiss, drink or question?"

Dorcas Meadowes

She laughed at Peter's comment about Sirius, before taking a swig of her drink. It wasn't exactly the best timing as she nearly chocked after the spin landed right on her. Doe pretended to think on the matter although being appalled by one choice and another being a cop out there was only really one option. "Question, please."

Peter Pettigrew

"Question," Peter repeated to himself as he thought, it definitely wasn't going to be as hard hitting or quite as exciting as Mary's was. "If you could choose one song to listen to for the rest of your life, what would it be?" @Dorcas Meadowes

Dorcas Meadowes

At least it was a question she could answer without feeling like the room dropped severaldegrees. "Probably Mr. Blue Sky. Its track one on my most played mixtape. Its one of those thats just great for a mood boost for when you need to dance around the house without caring. So yeah, we'll go with that one."(edited)

Peter Pettigrew

"That's a class song, Dorcas." Peter nodded, "So, who's next to spin?" Glancing around the circle wiggling his eyebrows. His gaze landing on Marlene, Peter chuckled, "Right, go on Mar, fling that bottle." @Marlene McKinnon

Marlene McKinnon

"Well clearly after this game that's the first song we need to play. If we don't end the night with you and Lily dancing on tables, we'll have done you a disservice as your best friends." The witch grinned warmly in Does directly. "Alright alright-" She spoke, shifting from where she was sat on the couch to give the bottle a spin with the tip of her red finger nail. Eyes watching as it spin in a blur only to grind to a slow halt, eyes following the bottles guide to look up none other than Sirius Black himself ( @Sirius Black ). A mischievous smirk pulling onto her lips as she leaned back on the couch, the witch quirked an almost challenging eye brow at the other as she asked: "Well Black, kiss, question or drink? The drink being atleast three shots of firewhiskey, seems only fair as clearly the forfeit option. So-" The witch paused only momentarily before adding: "What'll it be?"

Sirius Black

“Is that supposed to be intimidating, three shots of firewhiskey? That’s easy. I’m insulted you think that would deter me.” He snorted. It was a cop out though; there were only 2 real options, and Sirius knew bloody damn well which one he truly wanted to choose. A question would be easy. It was the safer choice. But he was several drinks deep and his better judgment was somewhat lacking, and it was all too easy to give into his innermost desires which, when sober, he pretended didn’t exist. “I don’t trust you not to think up some awful question that makes me regret everything. So...” Sirius felt a smirk tug at his lips as their eyes met. “C’mon then. Come over here.” @Marlene McKinnon

James Potter

James raised a brow at his friends option, but a part of him was happy that this was the option chosen. He wanted Marlene to be happy, and if it meant snogging his best friend for a bit then it would make him happy.

Marlene McKinnon

"And how many have you alright had? Three just adds to what you'll inevitably drink later; making you reckless enough for trouble but not so drunk I'm holding your pretty little hair back by the end of the night. Not a pretty sight Black, even for you." The witch spoke with a light smirk and shrug of her shoulders. The questions where already running through Marlene's mind of what chaotic thing she could ask him, because really did she expect him to pick the former? No, not even close. Maybe a part of her didn't want to think he'd pick it, the lingering sober part of her mind which knew it would only lead to some kind of heartache pleaded that he wouldn't. Too hopeful for stolen moments and lingerings glances, was this seriously how she'd pictured their first kiss? No because as much as much as she wanted, Merlin knew she did, the lingering hidden butterflies and tightness of her jaw whenever they accidentally brushed hands left her with a lingering feeling of dread. Feelings she dared not speak out loud or even let herself feel from fear.* It's just a kiss, it doesn't mean a thing*. She had a right mind to tell him if he wanted it to come get it, but she doubted Mary would appreciate them snogging on the couch by them. "Fine- but you're using mouth wash first. I'm not kissing you when you've got dog breath." The witch spoke a smirk pulling onto her lips and matching his as she pushed herself up off the couch and downed the rest of her drink. "Come on Black, bathroom." @Sirius Black

Marlene McKinnon

Moving over and grabbing Sirius' hand to tug him to the bathroom before he could object, Marlene turned to glance over her shoulder at Lily as she added: "Lily- Your turn to spin, don't have too much fun without us." The witch spoke with a light wink before the pair disappeared @Lily Evans

Lily Evans

Lily blinked as they walked out, still a little caught up from the bizarre energy in the room, especially from Marlene, after Mary's question to James. Filing away a mental note to grab her roommate later and figure out whatever that had been, she finished off her drink. "Er, guess we'll leave them to that," she giggled, leaning in to spin the bottle that landed on the birthday boy ( @Remus Lupin ). "Come on then, you know the rules. Which one?"

Remus Lupin

He had predicted chaos from playing their, as Lily had quite rightly said, fourth year favourite- but Marlene and Sirius in the bathroom chugging mouthwash and getting off wasn’t something he’d considered when Peter had rolled in with a keg that evening. Brown eyes watched Marlene drag his former kissing partner out of the room, a small smirk spreading over his face before his gaze flittered to Lily who had spun him in the game. “Give me your best question Lily, but I’m prepared to do a birthday shot in the event you can’t think of anything.” He replied, taking a long sip of his beer. @Lily Evans

Marlene McKinnon

Sirius Black

If he'd had any less than a stupid amount of alcohol Sirius would have known it was a bad idea and almost certainly wouldn't have chosen to go down that route. This sort of behaviour with friends had gotten him into trouble more than once in the past, and not only that, whatever small part of his brain that remained sensible knew that his own feelings would suffer the consequences of waking up tomorrow remembering everything that happened and having to laugh it off as if it was nothing. Not to mention the fact that Marlene, as much as he considered her to be his own best mate, was still his brother's ex-girlfriend. Messy didn't begin to cover it. But he was drunk, and none of those things seemed to matter as he got up, waggled his eyebrows at Remus over his shoulder, and followed Marlene from the living room. "What is all this bollocks about dog breath? My breath is just fine. A little tequila-y, sure, but I've never had any complaints before tonight." He mirrored her smirk. "We both know this is just your little tactic to get me alone. Cute, McKinnon." @Marlene McKinnon

Marlene McKinnon

Snorting lightly with a light roll of her eyes, the witch quirked an eye brow lightly up in his direction as she asked: "You really think I'm going to trust your word over Remus when he's got the lingering Black lips to prove it? I think I trust his judgement more than yours." Marlene stately simply a small smirk gracing her lips. "Please, in your wet dreams Black. Besides if it was a tactic, I can think of alot better ways than that." Granted maybe internally a part of her didn't exactly want to kiss him in front of everyone else. Particularly Potter. Even if James had never loved her at all when they were together and was doe eyed for Lily the whole time, seeing an ex kiss your best friend wasn't exactly on the top of her fun things to see and Marlene highly doubted it was on his either. "They were all probably too distracted by the hair to notice the breath." Marlene spoke sarcastically with a grin as she pushed open the bathroom door with her hip and holding it open for him. "Ladies first-" @Sirius Black

James Potter

James had expected a kiss, and then it was over. But now that it essentially was Marlene leading him into the bathroom, he had a rock in the pit of his stomach. A part of him that did love her didn't like the idea of her dragging his best friend off into the bathroom. But he knew the slight jealousy he felt was the product of something that wouldn't have been fair to Marlene. He chose instead to sip at his drink and be very interested in what Lily was going to ask Remus.

Sirius Black

"You bring up my hair a lot, have you ever noticed that?" Sirius asked casually. Marlene opened the door and as he passed he nodded his head. "Why thank you, kind sir." He beelined for the mirrored cupboard above the sink and pulled it open; one side was perfectly tidy and organised, and the chaotic mess that was the bottom shelf, belonged to him. He plucked out Peter's mouthwash (which he'd been using for weeks rather than buy his own), turned around, and gave it a little shake in Marlene's direction. "Happy now?" Sirius twisted off its cap, taking a swig into his mouth and swishing it around for a moment. When he spat it out his nose wrinkled. "Mouthwash and whisky is not a good combo, I'll tell you that for fuckin' free. The things I do for you, McKinnon. I treat you better than I've treated any other woman." @Marlene McKinnon

Marlene McKinnon

"Umhm?" The witch hummed, brows furrowing slightly. "What can I say, must be jealous of it." Marlene spoke simply, dismissing it with a light shake of her head putting it simply down to her being drunk. "Who said chivalry is dead-" Marlene spoke with an amused grin and let the door swing ajar as she moved to sit on the edge of the bathtub. "Not too late to back out Black- those three shots of whiskey are still on the table. And truly, I feel honored- maybe you should use mouthwash and whisky more often I'm sure they'd appreciate it. You might even get more knocking on your door than you do already." Shrugging one shoulder, her eyes flickered briefly around the boys bathroom for a moment just so her eyes didn't have to meet his. Though as the lingering reality started to dawn on the Scottish born witch, despite how much she'd already had to drink even she'd couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that this wasn't a good idea. "Sirius-" Marlene spoke voicing going a little quieter, features dimming ever so slightly as she looked over at him. There was a part of her that just wanted to throw caution to the wind. To kiss him and pretend that nothing else mattered and pretend that it wouldn't cause a turmoil in her chest come morning. No matter how drunk she was it was, still him and not just another stranger she could easily forget. But the very person she'd been actively trying to pretend didn't she didn't care for in anything but a romantic sense. She wanted to, she really did, to reach her hand for his and close the distance but instead she found herself giving a small shake of her head as her shoulders sunk. "You know we shouldn't.. right?" @Sirius Black

Remus Lupin

Lily Evans

"Oh, don't you worry love. I'm sure I can dig something out," Lily grabbed a handle of Merlin-knows-what and refilled her glass, running through her available options. "Alright. If you could swap lives with anyone in the room- or anyone in the bathroom," she snorted, "who would it be? And why, you have to say why or it's a cop out," she insisted. @Remus Lupin

Marlene McKinnon

Sirius Black

The second she uttered his name in that softer voice, he knew all pretence was over and they couldn’t ignore their reason for being alone in the bathroom anymore. With no more jokes to hide behind the tension seemed to double and he turned, leaning against the sink and crossing both arms across his chest. “I know we shouldn’t.” He sighed. It was hard not to sound ever so slightly disappointed, as hard as he tried. “It’s messy. I don’t think James would have a problem but...” he drifted off slowly, not quite sure why it was a bad idea. Or, at least, not having an answer that he could say to her face. “It’s a game and it doesn’t mean anything, but... yeah, you’re right.” He glanced around the room for a silent moment until their eyes met again. “I don’t know about you though, but I don’t want any more shots. And if I have to do them then you’re doing them with me.” @Marlene McKinnon

Marlene McKinnon

"I know.." Marlene sighed lightly as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The words shouldn't have stung, but the simple 'it doesn't mean anything' struck a small nerve. And maybe that was one of her problems; she knew it wouldn't have been as simple to process. If it was Mary, Lily, Peter, Remus, Doe- any would have been simpler in Marlene's mind. It would simply be a game and something they could laugh about come dawn because it wouldn't have meant anything. But even she could admit to herself that it wouldn't have been that simple her end with him. The last thing Marlene wanted was to add Sirius and this moment to the list of things she had to lase a fake smile to. "Yeh.. just a game." The witch repeated quietly as she pushed herself up off the bathtub edge, eyes pulling away from his knowing if they lingered too long he very well could just see right through her. "If you don't want anymore, we'll just say I forfeited. You already have minty whiskey breath, seems only fair doesn't it that i take the shots?" Words trying but failing to lighten the situation even if they fell a little flat. She wanted to say for the record she would have, something or anything that could change the situation but her mouth only shut that little bit tighter. "I'll see you back out there okay?" @Sirius Black(edited)

Lily Evans

Remus Lupin

Looking around the room, Remus debated his options. James- charming, loving family, handsome and wealthy, Lily- beautiful, smart, kind parents, Peter- funny, loyal, could down a pint quicker than anyone he knew, Mary- the kindest person he knew, pure of heart and sweet, Dorcas- brave, fearless, a great friend... He could list amazing qualities for everyone he was friends with, but there was one thing they all had in common, one thing he wanted more than anything else in the world. Normality. Looking down at his beer, he cradled it between two hands, one thumb running over the glass bottle as he tried to find something to see in the brown glass bottle. “I’d trade lives with any of you.” He finally said. “But I wouldn’t let any of you have my life.” He paused, catching sight of his face in the darkness of the television set which sat in the corner of the room. His eyes lingered on the three scars that cut through his face, his trademark. “Think that means I take the shots.” Smiling weakly, he stood up and walked to the kitchen, searching for the bottle of firewhiskey Marlene had left on the counter. Grabbing one of the plastic glasses he and Mary had brought home, he poured a hefty shot re-entered the room and downed it in one just as he heard Sirius and Marlene heading back in. “Who’s next?”(edited)

Sirius Black

It was a difficult situation, that much was evident, and yet Sirius found himself not minding the heaviness of the air between them. He was normally one to avoid situations where he had to actually had to present as vulnerable in any way, shape or form. But here they were in the silence of the bathroom and the smart idea was to leave it where it currently stood, but he didn’t want to. “I didn’t say I didn’t want to anymore.” He replied. But it was too difficult, and as much as he wanted it, they just couldn’t. “Ladies first.” He said instead as he opened the door and allowed Marlene to leave ahead of him, choosing to divert away from the living room and go outside for a smoke.

James Potter

James frowned slightly as his friends answer. "Remus Lupin I will gladly be you for a week, day or even a whole year," he took a deep breath and held his cup up to Remus. "I love you too much and I get to really see what's beneath those clothes," he winked joking as he downed his drink. "I'll happily spin next?"

Peter Pettigrew

At Lily's question, Peter's eyes scanned around the room. There certainly was a lot going on. First, there was the bombshell question that Mary had thrown James' way and then there was Sirius and Marlene sneaking off into the bathroom. The introduction of the drinking game had really spiced things up, but Peter wasn't too sure if it was going in the direction that many of them wished. Instead of a buzzing atmosphere, it seemed to be somewhat solemn. And at Remus's next words, Peter's heart dropped into his stomach. This was not meant to be how someone felt on their birthday. He was unable to stop himself from patting Remus on the shoulder, "I don't know what you mean mate, I'd kill to have those silky locks of yours." He tried to lighten the mood, catching a glimpse of how Remus looked at himself in the reflection of their tv. Peter admired Remus, and hearing his friend's defeat wasn't nice. "You're the best of us, Moony." He reassured before taking another sip of his drink. His eyes going between Marlene who had just entered and Remus who was standing in the doorway.(edited)

Marlene McKinnon

His words lingered on Marlene's shoulders and left a ache in her chest. "Sirius-" Marlene tried wanting to touch his shoulder, offer a wamr smile like she normally did something, anything to make the situation seem lighter but nothing came. Instead a simple: "I'll see you later." But she slipped out of the bathroom and back into the living room. But the atmosphere there was equally if not more heavy than the one she'd just left. Having missed the conversation completely, she looked around baffled at everyone's expressions before saying: "Who died?" The witch asked with a quirk of an eye brow only to pause and really look at everyone's expressions with concern. "..What happened?" Before moving to go and find a bottle of fire whiskey, evidently it seemed they all could use some. "And if Golden Boy over there hasn't spun yet he's spinning twice."

Remus Lupin

A small smile crept upon Remus’ face. “Thanks guys you’re too good to me.” He replied solemnly. Marlene’s voice echoed from behind him as her small figure appeared in the doorway. With a smirk, he held up the bottle of firewhiskey in his hand and flashed it towards Marlene. “It’s hairspray Peter.” He remarked, taking a shot of it out of the bottle before passing the bottle back to Marlene and entering into the room and settling down on the sofa. “I think it’s definitely James or Peter’s turn.” No more sad Remus tonight, he thought to himself as he settled in for an evening of fun with his friends.

James Potter

James took the bottle in hand after chugging his cup and spun it watching as it landed on -- Lily Evans. After Mary's question he just knew this night was going to be something. "Oh okay Evans, what would it be for you? Kiss, question or drink?" He hoped she said kiss. The alcohol making him a lot more confident when it came to her. @Lily Evans

Marlene McKinnon

Clearly she'd missed something with Remus, evident with the look in his eyes as she took the bottle of firewhiskey from him. Raising her free hand to squeeze his shoulder lightly and offer a gentle warm smile before he slipped back to the couch. Quirking an eye brow in the general direction of the spin the bottle game, Marlene instead diverted her attention to pouring three shots worth of fire whiskey into her cup with a grimace on her lips at the amount; some forfeit. Though figured it was better to focus on that than whatever answer was about to leave her best friends lips.(edited)

Lily Evans

Lily had never wanted to feel invisible more in her life. She couldn't believe she'd been so thoughtless- what kind of friend was she to make her best friend feel that way on his own birthday? If the energy was off before, she couldn't even describe what it was now. She was tempted to kiss him, and she would have if she thought it would make the room laugh, but she couldn't get Marlene's face from earlier out of her head and her gut said no, that wouldn't make the situation better at all. "Guess I'll take a question." It felt like that was her only option left, as it would seem particularly unfair to dodge a question after her own spin. @James Potter

James Potter

James knew she wouldn't have taken the kiss, but still it made his heart hurt just a bit. Now he had to think of a question, some small part of him sure she would have chosen either drink or kiss. That part being the stupid part -- at least it wouldn't have to be in front of Marlene. At least he wouldn't have to deal with that again. But also it was James Potter and he never thought through things. "What would it take for you to kiss me?" He smirked like if he had just cracked a code. @Lily Evans

Remus Lupin

If anything might have improved his birthday that ought to have done it. Leaning back in his seat, Remus exchanged a look with Peter before his eyes began to flit between James to Lily as though he were watching a Wimbledon match. “Wonder what’s gonna go on here.” He whispered quietly to Peter before folding his arms to watch the show. @Peter Pettigrew(edited)

Peter Pettigrew

Peter was not at all expecting that question, especially with the atmosphere that was previously in the room. But at James question, Peter could help but snort. Listening to Remus as he spoke, Peter chuckled quietly. “I suspect James is gonna get a kick up the arse or his feelings hurt. One or the other.” He replied, taking a sip of his drink. “Either way, we’ll be nursing the wounds.” Amused. @Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin

“You’ve got that right.” Remus replied quietly. Reaching into his pocket Remus pulled out his wand and flicked it once, causing two bottles of beer to rise from the box and float towards him and Peter. Doing his bottle top trick, her took the tops off and handed one to Peter. “Let’s see what happens then.” He added, clinking his beer against Peter’s new one. @Peter Pettigrew(edited)

Lily Evans

She was entirely unsurprised by the vein of the question- it wasn't the first time he'd asked something like that, that seemed designed to make her stutter and blush during a game like this. But maybe he hadn't counted on how much she had to drink, and maybe she didn't know how much she'd had to drink, because if she hadn't been absolutely piss drunk, she probably wouldn't have grinned dangerously, raised a brow, and said "For starters, you could try asking very nicely." @James Potter

Peter Pettigrew

Taking the cold beer off of Remus, “cheers mate.” Setting the empty bottle on the ground beside him, Peter couldn’t help but let out a joking, “uh-oh” at Lily’s response before leaning back to Remus. “James did always say he liked a dominant lady.” Peter whispered, unable to stop himself from laughing. @Remus Lupin

Marlene McKinnon

Both her eye brows raised at Lily's reply, the answer enough for Marlene to finally draw her eyes up from the fire whiskey in her hand to that expression that dancing over her room mates features only to then flicker over to James. Seriously? Was the only thing ringing through her mind as she pushed herself up to go and moved over to Mary. Offering them the bottle of fire whiskey with a small eye brow wiggle as she settled by their side. Uttering a quiet: "You having fun babe?" As to not disturb from the game. @Mary Macdonald(edited)

Remus Lupin

“Now where have I heard that before.” Remus replied, his whisper breaking into a laugh as he and Peter began snickering on the sofa. “Firey redheads and dominant ladies are his speciality I’ve heard somewhere.” Remus joked. @Peter Pettigrew(edited)

James Potter

James shot a glare towards Remus at his comment before clearing his throat and squirming as he stood up straighter. "Okay well, Evans may I please have a kiss?" He used his best posh voice for the first time actually being confident, which wasn't hard for him unless it was towards Lily. He knew it was best not look Marlene’s direction either. @Lily Evans

Mary Macdonald

mary was still planted on the corner of the sofa, nursing a bottle of prosecco all to themselves and watching the scenes unfold before them with a light grin. despite james having... evidently grown in confidence between their question and his own to lily, mary couldn't deny that they felt bad about calling him out like that. and putting marlene in that position too. so much so that turning to answer her question, mary sighs heavily, trying desperately not to let it get them down, particularly in their drunken state. the mix of emotions would do nothing for them. ❛ i feel... like i was too harsh asking james about lily.. ❜ they whisper, frowning ever so slightly as their words slur, ❛ i mean, they look great now so, maybe it was for the greater good but no one enjoyed it. i can tell... ❜ @Marlene McKinnon

Lily Evans

"Sorry, rules say you only get one question per round. Better try again later," Lily grinned playfully, feeling she already might have pushed it a bit too far with her last answer. She'd always thought the incessant flirting was a joke at her expense, but over the last couple years it'd had started to feel like an in-joke between them. Actually kissing him would ruin it, right? "Besides, I said you could try, not that it would work. Who's up next then?"

James Potter

James pouted and resorted to sipping his drink. "You bring a fair point, I'll go again?" He joked only to laugh and point at Peter. "I think Wormtail should go next!" @Peter Pettigrew

Remus Lupin

“Yes come on wormtail liven up the party!” Remus chorused, patting Peter on the back and grinning at him. @Peter Pettigrew

Marlene McKinnon

"I'm sure it's fine Mar-" The witch assured, offering the wix her perfected faked smile; even if it didn't reach her eyes. Maybe it was for the better that Marlene never told Doe, Mary or Lily the full story of what happened between her and James a few years ago. Of course they'd seen pieces, they were her best friends they were bound to, but only a shaded version. Never enough to allude to everything that had unfolded, if anything right now Marlene was more glad of that, even if in the end it hurt her more. "They seem fine don't they?" The witch spoke looking from the red head to the raven haired. "I wouldn't worry-" Marlene spoke, squeezing Mary's arm gently hoping it would offer them comfort. "Not on your birthday party atleast- especially when there isn't anything to worry about. If anyone can take it's Potter- trust me okay?" @Mary Macdonald

Remus Lupin

As the room watched Peter, Remus’ gaze fell on Marlene and Mary who were both settled in on the second sofa facing the game. Marlene’s smile looked like the one she’d offered people recently when they asked her about Halloween, painted on her face like a clown and didn’t match the expression in her eyes. “Mary and Marlene you’re awful quiet!” Remus shouted joyfully, bouncing up from his seat next to Peter and joining them both on their sofa. “Shot race with my two favourite Gryffindors?” He asked. “Loser has to do a dare.” He wasn’t sure if more chaos would ease the situation, but it was always worth a try. @Mary Macdonald @Marlene McKinnon

Marlene McKinnon

When Remus inserted himself in the conversation, Marlene couldn't have been more than thankful for the side track away from whatever was happening with Lily and James. "Alright- but you two need to catch up. I'm three shots deeper from not kissing Black and as the two birthday humans here I'm not being drunker than either of you." The witch spoke pointing at both of her friends before pushing herself up and offering them her hands. "Come on then kitchen or we'll be scrubbing alcohol out the furniture again. How abouttt-" The witch hummed a mischievous grin pulling onto her features before she turned to look back at them both. "Flaming shots for you two, then jäger bomb train?" Marly suggested with a wiggle of her fingers, eyebrows and then whole body. @Remus Lupin @Mary Macdonald

Remus Lupin

“I have another idea.” He replied, narrowing his eyes at Marlene. “If you’re three shots deeper than myself and the lovely Mary, why don’t Mary and I do a shot duel and you can be the judge?” His cousin had taught him the game at his aunt’s wedding in Cardiff over Christmas. “So basically Mary and I stand back to back and take a step forward and then Marlene you have a word you say and then when Mary and I here it we turn around and shot. You call the slowest and you make up a dare.” Leaning forward in his seat, Remus took a long sip of his beer and shrugged. “Or we do the flaming jäger train, drunkest member’s choice Marlene.” @Marlene McKinnon @Mary Macdonald(edited)

James Potter

James turned his attention to the three -- Marlene, Mary and Remus -- after smiling at Lily like an idiot. He was interested in whatever they were going on about. "A drinking game with Marlene? You're clearly asking to lose."

Remus Lupin

“Well that remains to be seen if she’s playing or not.” Remus replied, pressing on his knees and standing up. “Marlene’s been drinking a lot longer than myself and Mary so maybe a duel between birthday friends might be the best way to even things up.” @James Potter @Mary Macdonald @Marlene McKinnon. “Are you spinning some time today Wormtail?” Remus teased. @Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew

“A drinking game? I’d pay to see this.” He leaned forward before waving his hand up to Remus, “alright, alright. keep your knickers on.” Leaning forward to spin the bottle, an even louder laugh falling from his lips as it landed on @Remus Lupin, “Alright, Remus. Smooch, Drink or Question.”

Remus Lupin

“Hmmmmm. I don’t know if I can smooch you so closely after Sirius so Peter I choose drink, and whilst Mary and Marlene decide what they’re doing I challenge you do a shot duel!” As he announced his decision, Remus aimed his hand at Peter and flexed his thumb mimicking him shooting a gun. “Unless you’re chicken.” @Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew

Peter raised an eyebrow, “picking Sirius over me? I’ll remember this the next time we run out of milk.” He winked before standing up, “Chicken? Not a fucking chance.” Placing his remaining beer on the table. “Let’s get the shots going.”@Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin

“Is that a threat Wormtail? Or a promise not to get any more milk?” Remus wasn’t exactly bothered by whatever it was, he’d been the only on buying the toilet roll for about 3 years now. “Marlene! Pour the firewhiskey!” @Marlene McKinnon “Wormtail back to back we stand!” @Peter Pettigrew(edited)

Marlene McKinnon

“I would like all the records to state that for once in his life James Potter is right and I could drink any of you under a table.” Marlene boasted with a proud smirk lacing on her features despite the alcohol already talking for her. “Right you heard the birthday boy move it-“ The witch spoke, pulling out her wand to give and easy flick and move a table back to give the boys room before two shots laces came gently towards her through the air, firewhiskey poured into both of them before floating in front of the lads. “Right laddie-“ The witch spoke, an ever so slightly Scottish twang coming into her voice like it always did when she was hammered. “I want a fair match, no cheating or you’re answering to Lily. And she’s extra fiery tonight so don’t even try it.” Marlene smirked lightly. “Right boys shots at the ready-“ @Remus Lupin @Peter Pettigrew

Remus Lupin

A bright smile flashed over his face as the shots floated into their hands. Grasping his with his right hand, Remus held his left behind his back and prepared to step forward. “What’s the word Marlene? You’re going to have to call out words, each word we step forward then on the buzz word we’ll turn and shot. You call the loser.” @Marlene McKinnon

James Potter

"No this is for the both of them," James pointed at the two of them knowing Remus had challenged Peter. "You give them hell Marls."

Remus Lupin

“For impartiality, Prongs why don’t you give Marlene the buzzword.” @James Potter

Marlene McKinnon

“How about a phrase instead?” The witch questioned with a smirk lacing her features. “And come on Potter you heard the man, buzzword if you please.” @James Potter

Remus Lupin

“A phrase works fine as well. Bonus points if it’s a funny one.” Remus chuckled

James Potter

James took a deep breath. "I got one -- Moony is sexy. I gotchu you friend," he winked at Remus. @Marlene McKinnon @Remus Lupin

Peter Pettigrew

“Remus is sexy?” Peter exclaimed dramatically, “this game is already rigged.”

Remus Lupin

“It’s my birthday!” Remus retorted elbowing his friend and winking over at James.

Peter Pettigrew

“I’m not going any easier on you, just cause you’re old” He laughed, elbowing Remus back. “It’s a cruel world.”

Remus Lupin

“There’s no need to resort to age jokes Peter, that’s just cheesy. Are you a man or a mouse?” He smiled to himself at his ridiculous joke before tilting his head toward Marlene. “H’away Marls!” He shouted over to her, the Welsh coming out in his accent as he allowed himself to settle into the evening. “We ‘aven’t got all bloody day.” @Marlene McKinnon

Peter Pettigrew

“I’ve already considered myself more of a rat, if I’m honest?” Peter laughed at Remus’ joke, “But I don’t want to get too cheesy.”

Remus Lupin

“Not even Wensleydale?” @Peter Pettigrew

Peter Pettigrew

“I’ve always preferred Stilton, myself.” @Remus Lupin

Marlene McKinnon

"You boys are so needy-" The witch whined sarcastically before a grin pulled onto her features, having momentarily gotten distracted by Lily. Moving a space with a flick of her wand to stand on the coffee table simply because she always had a flair for the dramatics as she turned to face the pair. "Peter that was a terrible and I mean truly terrible joke even for you squeakers. Have you boys had enough of debating superior cheeses? Or do I have to wait till after Mozzarella and Parmesan?"

Remus Lupin

“You seem pretty cheesed off if I say so myself Marlene.” Remus snickered, elbowing Peter slightly. @Marlene McKinnon

Peter Pettigrew

“Needy but you need me,” Peter joked, winking at Marlene as he stood back to back with Remus. Laughing as Remus teased Marlene, “Yeah, Marlene. You’re really not gouda at this game.” Snickering as he tried to get the sentence out. @Marlene McKinnon

Remus Lupin

“That’s a good one!” Remus exclaimed, laughing loudly. “Couldn’t brie any better!”

Peter Pettigrew

“We better watch, otherwise Marlene might get really Swissed off.”

James Potter

James watched Marlene with fascination, and then laughed at the boys after the continuous puns about cheese. He moved so he was sitting beside Lily mainly to see this happening better.

Remus Lupin

“For fuck sake.” Remus was almost in bits now, all it took was a few stupid jokes and a beer or two and he was back to his old happy self. “Right come on then Marls.” He said finally. “I think Peter and I could go all night otherwise.” @Marlene McKinnon

Peter Pettigrew

Peter was glad that things seemed to have lightened up since earlier in the night. There was nothing a few drinks and laughs couldn’t fix. “Is that whiskey coming straight from the fire or something?” Peter asked, almost doubling over in laughter. @Marlene McKinnon

Remus Lupin

“Honestly I’m done!” He laughed again loudly. “Wormtail, you truly are on fire tonight, much like the whiskey, which, as you so rightly said, is cooking away nicely whilst Marlene makes us wait.”

Peter Pettigrew

“Anything for my birthday boy,” peter chuckled, finally able to stand up after his laughing fit. “I’ve got to keep em coming,”

Marlene McKinnon

"Merlin alive-" Marlene spoke, shaking her head in dismay as she rolled heavily at their comments. "Are you both done? okay good-" The witch spoke, despite an amused grin pulling onto the edge of her lips. With a small twist of her wrist and the utter of 'incendio' the shots of whiskey now had a blue flame dancing on top of them. "Okay shots at the ready- Whether we be old-" The witch paused pointing at Remus and Mary with a cheeky wink.The witch paused for them to step forward before pointing at Potter: "Or bold- ing-”

Remus Lupin

The sudden heat of the flame made Remus’ face feel hot and a small bit of excitement rose in his stomach. Putting one foot forward he stepped out, still facing away from Peter and looking ahead at the kitchen in front of him.

Peter Pettigrew

Peter stepped forward to get ready, trying to not laugh at the jokes. Still though his lips were twitching at the thought of the cheese puns.

Marlene McKinnon

Pausing again for them to step forward the witch pointed at the rat boy himself 'young with scabby knees'..'heads could do with filling' The witch added, turning to glance briefly at Lily to give her a cheeky wink.

Remus Lupin

Hearing Peter start to snicker, Remus did also. Stepping forward again and letting out a little laugh as he tried to keep his shot steady.

Marlene McKinnon

'Hoggy warty Hogwarts-" The witch sang last of all before shouting as loud as she could...'Moony is sexy-!" Eyes peeled on the fasted to take their shot.

Peter Pettigrew

Trying to keep the shot steady, Peter laughed before necking the shot at Marlene’s next few words

Remus Lupin

“Ahh! FUCK” Remus yelled necking the shot and turning around.“Marls! Who won?”

Marlene McKinnon

"Anddddd we have a winner-" The witch chimed hopping down off the table. "Sorry darling, you're getting slow in your old age." Marlene teased nudging Remus lightly. Raising her wand to decorate Peter's head in a small twisted floral crown. "Maybe next time Moony-"

Remus Lupin

“Damn! Guess you’re the big cheese Wormtail. Well done.” Walking toward Peter, he shook his hand once and grinned at Marlene. “Right Marls, what’s the dare then?” @Marlene McKinnon

Marlene McKinnon

"Grab your coat come on-" The witch spoke a smirk pulling wider onto her features as she grabbed a fresh bottle of fire whiskey heading for the door. "Who else is coming?"

Remus Lupin

“Oh no what is this gonna be. I thought it was gonna be like tell James he’s a sexy beast.” Groaning slightly, Remus pulled on his jacket and signalled for Peter to get him another beer for the journey before following Marlene outside.

Lily Evans

Lily pulled on her own jacket and trailed behind. "Oh, I'm sure I wouldn't want to miss whatever this is going to be."

Peter Pettigrew

Peter grimaced at the shot, satisfied that he had won. He grabbed another beer for him and Remus before following them out into the cold. “You tell James he’s a sexy beast everyday, Moony. That’s hardly a dare mate.”

Marlene McKinnon

"Lupin- you put me in charge darling. What exactly did you expect was going to happen?" The witch questioned with a wider smirk pulling onto her features as she shrugged her coat turning around to look at the rest of those following her.

James Potter

James quickly stood up grabbing his coat and rushing behind everyone. "I would love to know what kind of adventure you're bringing us on Marlene, and if you expect to be sharing that fire whiskey."

Remus Lupin

“When you live with someone that sexy you have to let them know!” Remus shouted back, waiting for Peter and taking the beer from him before taking a swig. As James filed in behind them into the garden, Remus caught his eye. “I truly mean that Prongs, you really are a sexy beast.” @James Potter He offered as they stood out on the small little patch of lawn.

Peter Pettigrew

“Oh tell me something I don’t know, Remy.” Peter sighed, clutching his heart. “I have to share my space with three handsome hunks.” He winked before taking a swig of beer.

James Potter

James rolled his eyes. "You guys are sexy too, I'd die to be with any of you -- especially Peter -- in a heartbeat," he placed a hand on his chest about his heart. "You guys are the best." He drank the rest of his drink.(edited)

Peter Pettigrew

“Oh baby, get in line.” Peter joked, winking at James. “Best Mates, til the end I say.” The outside air making him feel even tipsier that he was in the apartment.

Marlene McKinnon

"When you're done complementing each other's arses- which all lovely and ten out of ten by the way- hold onto each others hand tight. And who's had the least amount of alcohol so far?" Marlene called as she looked down the line of her friends.

Remus Lupin

“No but seriously, Peter you’re a babe. You both are.” Standing between his mates he gave them both a hug before turning his attention to Marlene. “Marlene I hope you know they’ll be no funny business on this lawn.” @Marlene McKinnon Dropping his hands, he offered one to James and then linked arms with Peter to enable them to keep drinking their beers. “Think that shot pushed me over the edge.” He replied, taking a swig of his beer

James Potter

James happily took his friends hand helping him out. "Listen mate-- I am absolutely plastered as well, I'll try to help you as best as I can," he squeezed his hand softly. "Marlene what are we doing out here?"

Peter Pettigrew

Grabbing his friends hand, holding the bottle of beer in between his lips. Peter tried to speak but was muffled, obviously. “I’m not that drunk, sober as a judge.” He tried to speak clearly around the bottle. Before leaning his head back slightly to take a drink. Where ever he was going, his beer was going too.

Remus Lupin

Wising up to what Marlene was doing, Remus raised an eyebrow at Peter and looked between him and James. “This might sound like a ridiculous question but can you travel with beer? Have we tried that?” He asked with a laugh. “If we have I’ve been too drunk to notice.” @Peter Pettigrew @James Potter

Marlene McKinnon

Putting the bottle of fire whiskey in her pocket she rolled her eyes lightly with amusement at the boys while offering her hand to Lily to take. "Considering I didn't trust any of you to fly a broom while plastered nor did fancy fishing any of you out of Thames; not to mention no fireplace-" The witch shrugging lightly. "Pass it here Remus-" Marlene offered putting her wand between her red lips as she offered her extension charmed purse in his direction. @Remus Lupin

Remus Lupin — Today at 12:36 AM

Dutifully, Remus passed Marlene his beer and stepped back into the circle, holding hands with Peter and James. “You might want to take Wormtail’s as well. I don’t fancy that hitting me in the eye on the trip.” @Marlene McKinnon

Marlene McKinnon — Today at 12:38 AM

"Alcohol give it here-" The witch ordered putting her own bottle in the bag before holding it out to the middle of the circle for any last ones. "Lily make sure you're grabbing onto one of the boys will you-" @Lily Evans

Peter Pettigrew — Today at 12:39 AM

Letting go of James hand for one moment, he took the bottle out of his mouth and passed it to Marlene before taking James’ hand again. “Don’t worry, babe. I’m not going nowhere.”

James Potter — Today at 12:39 AM

James took Peter's bottle and made sure he wasn't going to grab it again. At the mention of Lily taking one of their hand's he almost instantly volunteered holding his free hand out to Lily. "I got you and Peter don't worry," he smiled softly.

Lily Evans — Today at 12:40 AM

Lily took James's hand. "Aye aye, captain. Come on then Marley, where are we headed?"

Marlene McKinnon — Today at 12:43 AM

Holding onto Lily's hand tight, the witch took one last look at her friends with a light smirk tugging onto her features. Eyes closed focusing clearly on their destination before apparating

- scene change to be continued -

#I figured it would be good to have a record of it on the dash #cause if you think I was born yesterday you have got me wrong || james #midnight you come and pick me up no headlights long drive could end in burning flames or paradise || sirius #we'll keep on fighting till the end || peter #everyone keeps a darker place to lose control you're not alone || remus #I might brave the fire til the feeling hits until we both get lit || dorcas #tbd || lily #TBD || mary #ohevans #macmary #suchadorcas #luhpxns #padfootchaos #jamspctter #peterpxttigrew

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