The Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were stomping the mud off their shoes and the bottoms of their robes as they splattered into the greenhouse. Although, it had stopped raining, the day was still overcast and the ground was wet and the students were happy to be in the warm greenhouse after the treacherous route from the castle to Herbology class.
"Alright class, three to a pot. Now begin," Professor Sprout said.
Skylar moved to a table with Anna and Meg and began to work with the plant. Skylar looked surreptitiously towards the table that Sirius was working at with James and Peter. Remus still must have been ill. She wondered how she could consult Sirius about her plan. Although, she thought she was being stealth, Meg noticed Skylar's glance and leaned over and whispered:
"Which friend do you think he'll bring? I hope it's James," She said breathlessly. "He's the most handsome after Sirius."
"What are you two whispering about? Who's handsome?" Anna asked irritably, she hadn't gotten much sleep last night.
"Um," Skylar said, giving herself away by staring at the table where now just Peter and James were standing at. "I'll go get us more dirt," She added quickly as she spotted Sirius near the manure pile.
Skylar set the pot down that she was supposed to fill and stared at Sirius steadily.
"We're dating," She said simply.
"Excuse me?" Sirius asked looking up at her across the pile of dirt. His nose wrinkled slightly, whether a result of the manure or the proposition, Skylar couldn't tell.
Skylar told him of her plan to have the four of them doubledate while she scooped manure into the plant pot.
"You want to date me?" Sirius asked, his eyebrow raised.
"No," Skylar said as she continued to fill the pot quite unnecessarily as it was already full. "I want to fake date you. I reckon I wouldn't try to woo anybody over a pile of dragon dung."
Sirius smiled in response then said: "So when are we doing this?"
"Next Hogsmeade visit."
"Excellent," Sirius said as he began to walk away before stopping abruptly. "Hang on, we don't have to be fake dating all the way until Christmas holiday, do we?"
Skylar was sure she should have been offended by this and a small part of her was, but mostly she was just amused.
"Just one fake date," Skylar said as she picked up the overflowing mound of dirt and made her way back towards Meg and Anna.
"What took you so long?" Anna asked. "These things get angry without dirt." She rubbed a tiny burn on her hand as she said it.
"She was probably just talking to Sirius about their date," Meg answered.
One of the Gryffindor girls at the next table dropped her pot with a gasp in an explosion of smoke and dirt. Skylar instinctually bent down to help her pick up the pieces but the girl magicked them up and gave Skylar a cold stare.
"What was that all about?" Skylar asked as she stood back up and faced Anna and Meg.
"Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing," Anna said. "Since when are you dating Sirius Black? I know you two had detention together and became friends but dating? Why didn't you tell me? I know I've been sensitive about boys lately but I'm your best friend, it hurts when you don't tell me things."
"I know that," Skylar said softly, upset that she had hurt her friend. "And I'll tell you everything later. We'll go for a walk just before dinner, just the two of us, okay?"
And so Skylar explained and Anna was also surprised that Peter had a crush on Meg. They both agreed that maybe those two would be a good couple after all. They wondered what was up with the Gryffindor in Herbology. Anna guessed that maybe she had a crush on Sirius and was jealous of Skylar. Skylar hated to have anybody dislike her, would one fake date leave her with a few enemies?
And before she knew it, the day of the fake date arrived. Snow had been gently falling all of Friday night so by Saturday morning, the Hogwarts ground was covered in a blanket of pure white snow. The sun shone brightly so that it glared against the snow, threatening to melt it, if only it wasn't so cold. The Hufflepuff fifth year girls were sitting grumpy and sleepy in their dorm, having been awoken by Meg who decided to rise before the sun.
"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Skylar asked Anna as they both stared at Meg comb her hair for what seemed like the five-hundreth time.
"And be your fifth wheel? No thank you." Anna snapped before settling into a large yawn.
Meg rushed out of the room to go the bathroom to finish her last minute primping. Skylar leaned into whisper:
"You can help me. Have you seen that girl? She's a nervous wreck. Today is going to be difficult."
"Well you and Black are the ones with the brilliant matchmaking plans so you two have to deal with it."
"I don't want to leave you here alone all day." Skylar said, forgetting all pretense and getting to her main point.
"It's fine. I have that History of Magic essay to work on anyway. Just bring me back some Honeydukes."
"I don't know, " Skylar said in fake thought. "Remember what happened last time I tried to bring you food?"
"From the kitchens?" Anna laughed. "Yeah, I recall you ended up with a date."
"A fake date," Skylar added, noting the tiny bit of jealously in Anna's words.
"Well maybe bringing me Honeydukes will ensure a real date. I bet Michael will be there. He's one of those freaks that actually likes Acid pops."
Skylar laughed in response but her insides were squirming. What would happen if Michael saw her on her fake date? What would he say? Would he get jealous? Angry? Lose respect for her? Before she could say anything to Anna, Meg rushed back in.
"How do I look?" She asked nervously.
"Beautiful, honestly. Much to good for that Pet-" Anna said with a smile.
"You do," Skylar interrupted, throwing Anna a look. They hadn't told her that it was Peter, scared that she would back out if she knew.. Anna shut her mouth firmly and gave a small apologetic smile.
"I don't understand why you aren't primping more." Meg said to Skylar. Meg had been using some magical sort of magic elixir that made her hair smooth and shiny and she looked much more put together then any of the girls had ever seen her. Skylar looked at the mirror, hanging on the far wall. Her hair was still in position and her nicest sweater still looked nice.
"Don't I look okay?"
"You look fine," Anna said,
"But fine isn't enough for Sirius Black. Come on, we'll be late. Where are we meeting them? Oh, I hope my hair..." Meg's voice faded as she got further away from the dorm door.
Skylar rolled her eyes at Anna and then followed Meg, answering: "At The Three Broomsticks."
"Why are we going to The Three Broomsticks?" Peter asked Sirius as they walked the path to Hogsmeade, their shoes crunching against the snow.
"Because I have a date." Sirius answered promptly.
"But that still doesn't explain why I'm going."
Sirius sighed in annoyance. He had been through this a thousand times before. "Because James has Quidditch and Lupin is...ill." Sirius concluded as a group of third year girls giggled past them.
"But why do you need one of us on the date with you?'
"Oh," Sirius said and he thought for a moment. "Because that's what Skylar wants. She doesn't want to go on a date with me alone Yet." He added with a grin.
"So you're date is with Skylar? That's the one James is always going on about?"
"No, Peter." Sirius said incredulously. "That's Lily, not Skylar."
"I know who Lily is, I meant that-"
But Sirius cut him off with: "Oh look we're here." He was already annoyed and was beginning to think that his little matchmaking plans were foolish.
As the two boys walked in, Sirius couldn't see Skylar or Meg anywhere. Peter, on the other hand, spotted them right away.
"Meg is with her. Wow, Meg." Peter ended in a whisper. Sirius followed his friend's gaze and he understood his amazement in an instant.
"That's Meg? What happened to her?" Sirius asked with a laugh as he walked towards the table.
"Shut up," Peter said in a squeaky voice, still not moving.
Over at the table, the unrecognizable Meg looked up and let out a little squeak herself.
"Oh, He brought along Peter."
Skylar noted the disappointment in her voice and said: "Peter is really nice. He's..." She tried to think of something else to say but couldn't. Luckily, Sirius reached their table in that moment.
"Ladies," He said smoothly as he bent down to kiss Skylar's cheek. Surprised, Skylar flinched and began to push him away. Sirius laughed by her ear and whispered: "We're supposed to be on a date, remember?"
Skylar forced herself to smile and faced Sirius. Through her smile, she said: "I don't care. Boundaries."
Sirius turned towards Meg and said: "Hello Meg. You know my friend Peter, right?"
Meg nodded and turned towards Peter: "Hello. It's nice to see you,"
Peter gave a half-nod and sat down not really looking at any of them. Meg's smile faltered and she looked towards Skylar, who gave an encouraging smile in return. Skylar looked at Sirius who just shrugged. As they waited for their butterbeers to arrive, no one said anything. Skylar was looking between Meg and Peter to see if anything was happening but as far as she could tell, Peter had no interest. Meg looked disappointed and then turned her gaze to look at Sirius and Skylar, when she caught Skylar's eye, she gave her a questioning look. Skylar thought of anything to say and noticing that it had begun snowing again, she said quite abruptly:
"I hate the snow. It's just frozen rain. And rain is terrible so snow is worse."
Three blank stares were the responses to Skylar's outburst. "You hate the snow too, right Meg?" She said in an attempt for any sort of conversation.
"Actually, I quite like the snow. Lots of fun activities you can do in the snow."
"Exactly." Said Sirius. "Like snowball fights. You like snowball fights, don't you Peter?"
"Not really. I usually end up getting hurt," Said Peter, looking embarrassed.
Sirius laughed. "You're right. Remember that time James-" He stopped abruptly and looked at Skylar who had just aimed a kick at him from under the table. Skylar had noticed how Peter was sinking lower and lower in his seat, as if he wished to disappear completely.
Luckily, their butterbeers arrived which saved them momentarily from the awkwardness. All four drank steadily and exchanged looks, still not saying anything. Skylar was mildly horrified to see that her mug was nearly empty. She set it down carefully and said:
"You know these mugs remind me. The other day in Transfiguration, we were supposed to be turning those mice into mugs only I did it wrong and mine turned into a slug." Skylar laughed nervously and clearly saw that the story wasn't so amusing to anyone but Meg.
"Oh yeah, That was really funny." Meg said with a smile.
"It just shows how useless Transfiguration really is," Skylar continued.
"Transfiguration isn't useless. I think it's one of the more useful ones. Potions on the other hand is useless." Sirius said.
"Potions? You're joking! There are thousands of things you can do with Potions."
"You mean to tell me that you think out there in the real world, knowing the correct way to stew toad eyes is going to help you?"
"I can't imagine turning a mouse into a mug will do you a whole lot of help either."
"That's the easy stuff," Sirius said dismissively, "But when you can do advanced transfiguration it is really helpful." He said smugly.
"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't realize you were capable of advanced transfiguration," Skylar said sarcastically. "I take it all back now. Of course, I'm probably at the advanced potion making stage so that's just as useful."
"Oh no, I'm sorry." Sirius retorted in the same tone. "I didn't realize you were advanced at being able to cook things up."
Skylar laughed, hardly offended. "I suppose you think being able to cook food is also useless. Who needs to eat?"
"Who needs to know how to cook? House-Elves can do that."
"Skylar can cook really well though." Meg said. "Last summer, she visited me and she made these chocolate cookies and they were amazing."
"Thank you," Skylar said before turning towards Sirius and saying: "Ha."
Sirius laughed a little, looking just as amused as Skylar felt. "Peter, what do you think about all this?" Sirius asked.
"Er, well I think Transfiguration is useful obviously but I also think potions can be helpful too. And," Peter glanced up at Meg and finally smiled. "And chocolate is always good."
Noting the exchange between Peter and Meg at this moment, Skylar said: "We should go to Honeydukes later."
"Yes." Said Meg. "I think I'm finally ready to try cockroach clusters."
"You've never had them? I love them but Fudge Flies are better." Peter said.
"Oh I love fudge flies! But one time I had a whole batch fly away."
"One time, a cockroach cluster walked right out of my mouth."
"That's disgusting!" Meg said while laughing.
As they continued to chat about sweets, Skylar looked at Sirius who was looking at Peter and Meg in disbelief. He turned his gaze towards Skylar after a moment and they smiled at eachother.
"Hey Sirius, Let's go get refills." Skylar said as she noticed Peter and Meg moving closer to one another laughing about something.
As Sirius and Skylar walked away from the table towards the bar, Skylar commented:
"Well that was awkward."
"Dreadful. I was about to fake getting sick just to get out of there. Of course, if we stayed for that lovely conversation, I probably wouldn't have had to fake it. "
"At least they're talking now though."
"But they bonded over cockroach clusters. It's unnatural."
Skylar was about to make a comment about how she and Sirius had bonded over trophy polish but bit it back. Had they actually bonded yet? As the two waited for their drinks. Skylar looked over towards Peter and Meg and was thrilled to see them still laughing and talking. She went to point this out to Sirius and but found him staring intently at a group of slytherins nearby.
Just then, Madam Rosmerta returned with their butterbeers. Sirius grabbed his and started back towards the table but Skylar grabbed his arm.
"We can't go back over there."
"Why not?"
"Because look at them!" Sirius and Skylar both looked at Peter and Meg, who had once again moved closer to one another and were deep in conversation. "If we go back over there, it will mess up the whole dynamic."
"Well I'm not staying here."
Now Skylar was the one to ask: "Why not?"
In response, Sirius glanced towards the group of Slytherins and Skylar recognized one of them as Regulus Black.
"Isn't that your brother?" She asked.
"How do you.-" But before Sirius can finish one of the other boys said in a loud and snotty voice:
"Not all of your family is in Slytherin."
"The ones who count are," responded Regulus.
Skylar was grateful that she already had a grip on Sirius' arm because he started for the group of boys. She tightened her hold and said:
"Don't even think about it. I'll give you detention."
"What? We're not even on school grounds."
"I don't care. Excuse me?" Skylar said talking to Madam Rosmerta. "Could you bring these two butterbeers to that table right over there? Thanks. Now come on," She said to Sirius as she dragged him out of The Three Broomsticks.
"I can't believe you're turning into a prefect on me,"
"I am not. I'm just trying to prevent you from doing something stupid over something that doesn't even matter."
"It does matter. You don't know-"
"Don't know what it's like to have Slytherin family members? Last I checked my father was one."
Sirius' mouth fell open in surprise but he shut it quickly when he saw a group of students nearby. Among them was Michael, the sixth year Hufflepuff boy that Skylar had a crush on though she didn't notice him. Sirius suddenly made a sharp turn and started to head down the road.
"Where are you going?" Skylar asked.
"We're going to the shrieking shack."
"Shrieking shack? But why?" Skylar's voice sounded squeaky.
Sirius stopped and smiled. "You're not scared are you?"
"They say it's haunted and all sorts of terrible things happen there. Why do you want to go there?"
"It's not," Sirius said as he continued to walk. "And because no one will be there and you now have my full attention."
Skylar hesitated for a moment but then followed him. It was still snowing lightly and Skylar regretted the fact that she hadn't grabbed a hat before leaving Hogwarts.
"See?" Sirius said when they finally arrived. "It's not so bad. Now, was your dad really a Slytherin or did you just say that?"
"Why would I lie about that?" Skylar asked leaning against a tree, in the hopes of taking cover from the snow.
"Because it's not exactly a secret that my whole family is in Slytherin but I'm a Gryffindor."
"He really is a Slytherin. Well, was 25 years ago."
"So are you the black sheep of the family as a hufflepuff?"
"Not really." Skylar said vaguely, not particularly wanting to talk about her family. "My aunt was a Ravenclaw. And I think my Grandma was a Gryffindor while my grandpa was a Hufflepuff. Or maybe it was the other way around, I never met them. But we're all sort of scattered."
"You're lucky," Sirius said after a few seconds, he was staring at the shrieking shack. "you didn't besmirch the family's honor by turning out decent."
"That's not fair. Not all Slytherins are bad. My father is great. And my being a hufflepuff was disappointing to some. Mostly my older cousin who was Slytherin and who was like a brother to me."
"Do you still talk?" Sirius asked after a moment.
"No," Skylar said shortly. "None of us talk to him anymore. He decided to become a death eater."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, me too. But that's his decision and there is nothing I can do about it."
"Doesn't it bother you though?"
Skylar stopped to think for a moment and answered with: "Do your family members bother you?"
They stared at each other for a moment and each gave the other a sad, little smile.
"Just because they are our family doesn't mean we're like them, Sirius. What they do isn't a reflection of us."
Sirius reflected on this for a moment as he watched the snow swirl down around them. He looked at Skylar:
"You're shaking."
"I'm cold is all."
"Right. We should go back."
"Yeah, we need to check on Meg and Peter. See how the rest of the date went."
"I think the rest of the date went brilliantly." Sirius said with a smile as they walked back along the snow-covered trail.
