Sirius
The dorm was quiet.
Far too quiet for a Friday night.
Both Prongs and Wormtail were out doing Head Boy runs and kitchen runs, respectively.
As for Moony, well, he was lounging on his bed while reading Quidditch Monthly.
I looked down at my desk and stared at the blank parchment paper. I was supposed to writing a report on lesser-known Dark Art spells for D.A.D.A. but reading so much about it in the newspaper made me sick enough.
"Moooooooony," A huge sigh left my body "When is our D.A.D.A. essay due?"
"Monday." He flipped a page of his book, not even bothering to look up at me.
"Merlin…well, Saturday night is the night I'm most productive." I said this with false confidence, which he completely saw through.
"Uh-huh." Again, he didn't even bother to sound interested.
"Since it's only Friday night, I think I'll just take a break and relax." My legs met my desk as I leaned back on my chair. From my angle, I could see the calendar we all shared, which was marked with dates for potential pranks, exams, homework assignments and…a weird little heart thing on random days.
What the bloody hell?
"Hey," Moony finally looked up at me "Who's been drawing hearts all over the calendar?"
"Oh, that's Prongs's doing. He's been keeping track of days that Lily gives him positive signs for, dunno, a romantic relationship of some sorts. I think when he reaches a certain number, he's going to legitimately ask her out."
"That seems awfully elaborate. He has almost a week's worth on here. Not bad. Say, Moony?" I called out to him once more.
For some reason, I was just in a very chatty mood.
Moony and I could really carry a good conversation about pretty much anything, but it was hard to talk lately what with N.E.W.T.s destroying everyone's lives.
"Prongs said he had some big news for us." Now Moony had put his book down and was actually talking to me.
Huh, that's a nice change.
"He said the same thing to me. I wonder what it is. Knowing him, it's probably something that's not too significant." I said this while remembering the time when Prongs made a huge commotion over the new super-deluxe Dungbombs.
"If it's about Dungbombs again…" Moony started as I laughed at the coincidence of us having the same thought.
"I was just thinking about the same thing! I don't know if I have the money right now to spend on Dungbombs. If we're going to Zonko's tomorrow, I think I can only manage to buy the normal ones. I don't think Prongs is even going to spend tomorrow with any of us. Instead, he'll probably be nipping at Evans's heels." Part of me cringed as I imagined how the last Hogsmeade trip went for everyone last year.
It ended up with Prongs getting a black eye while Lily ended up being a bachelorette once more.
"Well, Sirius, one could say that you've been nipping at someone's heels as well." Oh, how sly of Moony.
"I just find Katherine to be fun. You know, I asked her to come with me to Hogsmeade tomorrow." A shit-eating grin started to form on Moony's mouth before I could even elaborate.
"So you two are a thing now? A little item?" Now homework was the last thing on his mind.
"No, no, no. Fuck, it's not like that. I just…she's a friend, I'm a friend. We're both friends. Nothing more. Her two little friends, Kirk and Oates, they're kind of preoccupied with fulfilling their sexual desires so they'll be busy with that tomorrow. I figured that Prongs would running after Evans, and well, you and Wormtail always slink off together somewhere." Memories of tonight started to replay in my head and my face started to warm up.
I mean realistically, when a man is friendly with a woman, there is natural attraction.
It's not like I want to shag her endlessly, though.
"Peter actually has a date tomorrow with an Agnes Clearwater. I guess I can stay up and go to the library tomorrow…"
"Wait, wait, wait, the same Agnes that we caught picking bogies out of her nose? And forget the library, mate, you're coming with us tomorrow. The more, the merrier!"
"She was just scratching her nose, you know that. And Sirius, that's rather kind of you but I don't want to…"
"Nonsense, nonsense! It'd be nice for Katherine anyways. She wants new friends!" Before Moony could object any further, Prongs burst into the room with the dumbest grin on his face.
"Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail…where is he," Prongs cut himself off as he looked around the room while I shrugged, not having a clue.
"Out with that Agnes girl, I think. Maybe. Dunno really." Setting his book on the nightstand, Moony made his way out of his bed and started to stumble towards the bathroom.
"Wait, wait, wait. Before you go piss, I have exciting news." said Prongs as he stood in front Moony, waving his hands all over the place.
"Out with it, James." I didn't have to see Moony's face to know that he was rolling his eyes.
"Well, okay, so I have a date with Lily. Not like it's a big deal or anything. But I mean it's a fucking date with Lily Evans, so I mean it's a pretty big deal." Prongs said this while trying to keep a straight face, but he had that all too familiar, Marauder, mischievous grin.
"Well, way to go Prongs! Finally managed to tame the crimson chimera! So, uh, what love potion did you use?" I got up to clap him on the back but he pulled away, waving his hands in a grand gesture as he jumped onto the side of the bunk bed, grasping one of the wooden poles for support as he puffed his chest.
"I merely used my natural charm! No, but seriously," He dropped down on the bed and fell against it "It just kind of happened. Which is odd because we got into an argument last night about our essays. I critiqued it but she didn't take the criticism well and we kind of left things on an awkward note. But then during breakfast, she seemed to be in good spirits and I thought 'Well, why the hell not?' and asked her. She said yes and we're doing homework at the Three Broomsticks."
"That's a terrible place to do homework. Good work, Prongs," He started to frown at me as I said this but I continued "Hold on, don't glare at me. In her mind, it's just some silly study date but hardly any studying will go down because it's the bloody Three Broomsticks! Flawless!" I applauded him as he sat up and bowed a bit.
"That is actually clever. Did you think that through or just realized it now?" Moony chirped in as he came back from the toilet.
"Well, of course I thought it through. I plan accordingly to every occasion!"
"Oh, put a sock in it, you arse." I chucked one of my textbooks at our bunk bed, missing Prongs's head completely.
Bollocks.
"In all seriousness," Prongs took a sincere tone "I'm a bloody genius and did plan out the whole thing." I threw another book at him with it this time grazing his face. He responded with mad laughter as he continued to taunt me.
"You just have to point out the obvious, Padsie! Moony and I share a telepathic bond, so we're always on the same page. In fact, we already have your wedding with that Wright girl planned! Isn't that right, Moony?" Now the both of them were laughing while I sat there trying to think of a clever response.
"You mean Katherine? That's her name." Well, that was all I could think of.
"Oh, look at how big my wittle Pwadfoot has gotten! He's like a big, brave, knight defending his fair maid—oi! Watch it, you little shit! You're going to break my glasses!" Prongs cried out in defense as I pounced him.
Attacking him was the only way I could of think of to shut him up.
We wrestled around on the bed, getting various headlocks and throwing wild punches until the door busted open.
"Wormtail! My best mate! Lily agreed to go on a date with me. And Padfoot is getting married." Prongs grinned unabashedly as I held him in a chokehold.
"Not to Marlene, I hope." Wormtail's nose crinkled as he watched the two of us with amused confusion. There were a few red marks on his neck.
From the looks of it, he had been snogging.
"Oh, Wormtail, you sly little tosser. Who's the girl leeching away at your neck?" I spoke up as I loosened the hold on Prongs's neck. That was a mistake as he quickly flipped me over and pinned my arm behind my back.
"Yeah, Wormtail, who's the lucky," Prongs grunted as he continued to force the pin "girl?"
"Uh, ah, Agnes…I think…I think we're kind of dating? I don't really know. She asked me to eat at the Ravenclaw table tomorrow. Is that a good sign?" Wormtail loosened his tie as he went to sit on the edge of the bunk bed he shared with Moony.
"Well, if you want to date her, then yeah," I twisted out of Prongs's grip and flipped him over, his head hitting the bottom of the top bed in the process "But if you don't want to be tied down, then oooh, bad luck."
"Fuck! That really hurt, mate!" Prongs shoved me off and punched me in the arm in a half-playful, half-serious manner.
"Well, I've never really seriously dated anyone but she seems really nice…" Wormtail started to drift off but Moony intervened, giving some good insight.
"Don't back out of something that you know deep down is a good thing. Giving into nerves will only give you regrets. Agnes seems to like you and you seem to like her. You're not marrying her; just take it slow. Like Sirius and Katherine." Moony said this as he turned his head towards me, wearing that dumb, stupid, idiotic, shitty, grin.
Tosser.
"Do all of you really think I'd be stupid enough to get involved with a girl right after a nasty break up with a psychotic bint?" I rubbed my sore arm as I made my way back towards my desk, trying to hide my irritation.
"I don't know, Padfoot, from the looks of it, it seems like you actually like psychotic bints. But Katherine is a good type of loony. She's interesting and seems to be a good pace for you." I glared at Prongs in frustration due to the fact that he didn't seem to get that neither her nor I wanted date one another.
Tired of the relentless badgering, I decided to turn the tables on him.
"Speaking of paces," I moved towards the calendar that Prongs had been marking with little hearts "All of this seems to be going pretty fast and well. Good for you, mate! Here, I'll just take my quill and add a big fat heart to your little date tomorrow." I started to dip the feather in ink while Prongs's face reddened.
From the looks of it, he had been hoping none of us would notice the calendar.
"Oh, just leave it alone, Padfoot. Put the quill down, just…damn it all to bloody hell!" said Prongs as he scrambled off his bed to stop me from making any alterations to the calendar but alas, the job was done.
Though, instead of a heart, it was an ejaculating penis.
"Oh bollocks, did I do that?" I grinned at him only to be tackled onto the floor in response.
That night none of us did any homework.
James
"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, but the scrimmage game today is cancelled. Too many teams have been caught practicing outside of their allotted training schedules. Frankly, I don't think it needs any more explanation than that. If you want further details, I suggest you take it up with Madam Hooch. Now if you would excuse me." McGonagall was curt as always and walked away before I could get a word in.
Originally, the plan for the weekend was going to be eventful with a scrimmage Quidditch match to kick off the season, and then a trip to Hogsmeade.
It was going to be a first attempt at a scrimmage but due to the lack of advertising and it coinciding with Hogsmeade, a lot of confusion probably arose from the student body.
The game was scheduled for Saturday but then people kept saying that Hogsmeade was on the same day.
In fact, Professors didn't even know the difference.
The result was that the Hogsmeade trip ended up being today.
McGonagall probably used the excessive practice excuse just so I couldn't argue back because I knew that normally it was one of the few things she turned a blind eye to.
The faculty probably couldn't risk students trying to throw its own game without proper supervision while trying to chaperone a Hogsmeade trip.
But it wasn't fair! My team had worked their tiny little bums off for that dumb, make-believe game that wouldn't count towards the House Cup Tournament.
"Aw, what a shame, mate. Looks like I could have slept in this morning." Padfoot clapped me on the back, not seeming to really care about the cancelled match.
That of course irked me but I bit my tongue.
I turned towards the rest of the team.
Only Gibbs and Other James seemed to be upset while the others were indifferent.
"Well, I know you lot probably have other plans in mind. Might as well head towards the Great Hall." The group promptly dispersed with various 'Sorry James's while Padfoot stayed behind with me.
"You think Kirk would have dominated our arses?" I asked him with a great sigh.
"No, of course not, mate. He'd be too busy staring at yours." We both chuckled as we made our way to get breakfast.
We started talking about how Katherine and Kirk would have started bickering like they always did during matches.
One time Katherine actually punched him in the nose and had to be out for the rest of the game.
"Did she really do that? Merlin's Beard! I wish I could remember." His face continued to light up as we entered into the hall, his eyes set on the Hufflepuff table.
She was sitting by herself, unaware of everything around her as she quietly ate her food.
Just as about as Padfoot was going to venture off to her, Kirk quickly brushed past us dragging Mary along.
He stood across from her and called her attention while Mary, as always, looked uncomfortable. He seemed to be asking her something to which she shook her head and started to eat once more. Kirk visibly frowned as he put his arm around Mary as he spoke again.
Katherine only shook her head once more. Huffing and puffing, Kirk dragged Mary to the Gryffindor table without further questioning.
Goodness, she barely spoke to Kirk and he was already angry.
No wonder Padfoot loved her.
"Wonder what all of that was about." I thought aloud while Padfoot shrugged.
"Dunno. I think I'll go ask." And there went any attention I held from Padfoot.
Oh well.
He deserved some happy times!
"Good morning everyone!" I greeted the Gryffindor table as I sat down.
Everyone, save for Kirk, seemed to be much more chipper than usual.
Even Lily was smiling a bit, and she wasn't a morning person.
"James, is it okay if we also review some stuff from Defense? Reading about the Imperius curse got a little confusing as to how its origins came about. I just, I'm not sure," She paused as she looked at me with those insanely, adorable, eyes "I figured you'd know more about that, I suppose."
"Oh, that's completely fine, Lily. I mean, to be honest, I was little bit confused at that part too. But I could try." My face grew red as she looked at me with such a peaceful expression.
She just seemed so relaxed today and, Merlin did that ever make her all the more attractive.
"You two are awfully chummy." Marlene spoke up from the other side of Lily, smiling from ear to ear.
For once, she didn't seem fixated on Padfoot and instead appeared to be rather charming, much like her old self.
"Oh, Marlene, please. We've just learned how to talk like adults. The two of us being nice to each other shouldn't be such a big thing." Some of Lily's hair brushed against my face as she turned to face Marlene.
It smelled rather pleasant, like some generic flower scent that I really didn't know what to call.
I mean it sure was bloody better than the cheap shit that Padfoot washes his bollocks with.
"Lily and I have always had the potential of becoming great friends, we just lacked the proper timing!" Had I known that Lily wasn't really too fond of rough housing and all around acting like a cad, I probably would have stopped years ago.
But, oh goodness, did I have a knack for mischievousness.
I was a genius when it came to pranks, really.
"Proper timing, huh? That's a way to put it," murmured Lily before she took a bite of her pancakes.
Her cheek lifted up slightly and I felt myself blush as I noticed her secret smile.
She glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, catching my gaze.
I expected her to look away but she kept her composure and stared back for a full minute.
"Speaking of great friends," Kirk's voice broke our silent conversation "Where's your little lapdog, Black?" Lily's eyes widened in alarm as she slightly shook her head.
I took that gesture as her way of telling me not to add fuel to the fire.
"Well, Kirk," I spoke up without bothering to look at him "I can't really say that I know. Sorry, mate." It was quiet for a moment after that, but just as everyone was relaxed…
"Oh, there's your little whore friend, Henry. She's with Sirius, of course. They seem to really suit each other." Marlene smiled bitterly as we all turned our attention to the Hufflepuff table.
There they were, the two of them sitting without a care in the world.
In fact, they looked so carefree that they weren't so hyper as usual.
No, instead, they seemed to be eating in a comfortable silence.
Huh, from the looks of it, they really did look like a couple.
"Such a shame, really. Katherine had never shown any interest in boys before and when she does for the first time, it's Sirius Black. She's just delusional. Take pity on her, she surely will need it." Kirk's tone was nastier than usual as he glowered at the two of them.
"Is that why you were shouting at her?" Marlene spoke more so with curiosity than viciousness, which surprised me.
Her emotions about the whole situation seemed to be all over the place.
"Well, Mary and I wanted to see if she was still spending the day with us but she decided she wants to run around with Black all over Hogsmeade." Both he and Marlene sighed, while Mary looked around the room, trying not to take part of the conversation.
"What a stupid girl. She'll learn soon." She said this with a sneer.
Every breakfast for the past couple of weeks had been so awkward because of this whole break up nonsense.
"I'm spending the day with them, actually. And I think we're meeting up with James and Lily later on for lunch." Before I could pounce on Marlene and Kirk for their ignorance, Moony surprisingly interjected.
I didn't even notice him take a seat at the table.
"Oh, they are?" Lily inquired with a tone that I couldn't really read.
It didn't really sound like her usual irritation.
"I, uh, I guess. Is that fine with you?" I asked cautiously to which she nodded, ending the conversation.
Man, she was so laid back today.
"Remus, my good ol' chap!" We all looked up to see that Padfoot had joined us while Katherine remained at her table with that Oates fellow.
"Morning," Moony, in return, slightly raised his cup in greeting.
"Jamesie, my little crumpet, how are you today?" Without a care, Padfoot nestled himself between Kirk and Remus, sitting himself directly in front of me.
"Oh, lovely and dandy. A beautiful day indeed." And everything was even more awkward as Marlene sniffed and harrumphed, trying to…I don't even fucking know.
I don't really understand women, if that hasn't been obvious.
"Say," he turned towards Moony "Katherine and I were thinking of ideas of what to do today. Do you like knitting?" I snorted at this but wasn't able to make a smart comment on it since Marlene cleared her throat.
Padfoot, in turn, looked at her with an incredulous expression and then towards Lily with his brow raised, expecting some sort of explanation.
"She's ignoring you, but wants it to be known that you two eating so close together cannot carry on." Lily explained in a bored tone, not bothering to look up from her work.
"Oh? Is that right? Well since I'm so dense, I don't think I can fully comprehend that. I think I'll just make myself comfy over here." He didn't even bother to look at her as he stretched his arms behind him, lacing his fingers behind his head.
"Oh, come on," Lily groaned in protest "It's all bloody strange for all of us to talk to each other with this passive aggressive nonsense going on. You can at least sit with Katherine Wright for a few more weeks."
"Or, or, or," Padfoot's voice grew into that excited tone he had when he was especially cruel "She and her imp, Kirk, could move their bloody arses up a bench where they used to sit. Or they could put up with lil' ol' me."
"Sirius, come on, we can go wait by the gates to beat the Hogsmeade rush…"
"No, Remus, no! This is complete and utter bullshit! I'm going to eat my breakfast in peace, so, she," He nodded towards Marlene with a vehement tone "Can just get her knickers adjusted out of that fucking knot because I'm not moving." He grinned as he piled his plate with bacon and sausage, maintaining eye contact with Marlene.
Merlin, what nerves of iron steel.
Little did he know, we were all in just the in the eye of the shitstorm.
The worst was yet to come.
"For goodness's sake, Sirius! You just ate breakfast over at the Hufflepuff table with that stupid bint." huffed Marlene as she gripped hard onto her cup, the skin on her knuckles becoming taut.
"The only sodding bint I know of is you, you dumb bint. And I can eat as much breakfast as I want! I'm a growing lad! Don't mind me, I'm just getting my daily nutritional intake. And don't you fucking dare dump that juice on me. That tactic is old, love." He smiled bitterly as he took a big bite off of piece of bacon.
I myself was fighting laughter during the midst of this.
At one point, I just snorted loudly through my nose, which set off a bunch of bubbles in my drink.
"You're the lowest of scum! I hope you rot in hell!" Marlene hastily stood up, knocking over her goblet of juice in the process.
Well, at least this time it was on accident.
"Marlene," Lily's voice was surprisingly soft "…FUCKING HELL."
Oh never mind, the juice had gotten all over Lily's notes.
Before Lily could scream at her anymore, Marlene scampered out of the Great Hall.
"Some friend that is, Evans." A piece of bacon was sticking out of Padfoot's mouth as he smirked a little.
"This is all your fault! Why do you insist on antagonizing her? She can't handle it!" Her hair became a little wild as she gathered all of her damaged notes, casting a drying spell on them, and then further inspected the damages.
"She simply cannot tell me what to do. I can sit where I want to when I want to." He slurped at his cup and wolfed down another piece of toast.
He hadn't eaten this furiously since he first hit puberty.
"Maybe if Marlene wasn't so antagonistic…" I started but Lily's glare cut me off. Putting my hands up in the air, I resigned the topic and continued to let the two of them duke it out.
"You guys dated for awhile and you're acting…"
"Would you stop repeating the same thing every morning? I wasn't dating both you and Marlene. You weren't involved in our relationship. So let us work this out ourselves. She's already using two people as little dogs against me. Don't stoop that low, Lily." Surprisingly, Padfoot's tone was calm despite his candid words.
"Maybe if you took your head out of your arse, you would see that I'm trying to help both of you. If you tried to be the bigger person…"
"Like you? Because you're always the biggest person, Evans. Tell me, how does it feel to be perfect? I'm honestly just touched that you choose to grace me with your presence." Lily flushed at his words and remained quiet for a moment.
"Oi," Both of them looked towards me "You don't have to be a downright cad. Lily's not the only one who's tired of this shit. I wouldn't say it's your entire fault, mate, but you don't help the situation at all."
"Oh, well, thank you, James, for the making me suddenly see the clarity of the situation. Situation? There is none! It's been practically a month and I'm done, she should be too. Moony, let's go get Katherine and leave since I keep antagonizing everyone here." He shot us a dirty look before sauntering over to the Hufflepuff table, where he put his hand on Wright's shoulder and spoke to her.
"Have fun with pulling the stick out of his bum." I said to Moony, who only sighed as he gathered his materials in his arms.
"I'm sure he'll be agreeable when Katherine simply looks in his direction." said Moony with dry smile.
Sure enough, Padfoot was already speaking animatedly with her and grinning like a dumb bloke.
After Moony left, it was only Lily and I left. She was a little quiet as she stared at her open book, which was still wet. Her eyes weren't moving though, instead they were bit glazed over as if she was in deep thought. She hadn't noticed my presence until I dried her book with my wand.
"Oh, uh, thank you." And then I saw it.
A faint hint of pink across her cheeks.
Without thinking, I looked away and mumbled a "No Problem, as I, too, blushed.
We both sat in silence for the rest of breakfast, but it was a good silence.
A very good silence.
Sirius
"I thought we were done with pranks." Moony's voice was not amused, but nevertheless, all three of us entered a bustling Zonkos. Immediately, I rushed over to their new arrivals, forcing myself through a group of third years.
"Hey! Move your fucking arse!" one of them bellowed at me.
"Such hostile language. Can I help you, gentlemen?" I turned around with my hand in my pocket, fingering my wand. Any aggression died down from them once they saw my face.
One of them murmured to another about what happened to Henry Kirk's head.
Which was a shame, really, because that wasn't even my work.
"Quit pissing around," said the same bloke who yelled at me, though his voice was softer now.
Apprehensive looks came from the other clueless gits, all of them pretty much pretending they didn't know him.
"What?" I smiled at him, ignoring the glare from the shopkeeper.
I wasn't going to be stupid.
"Nothing." The same boy mumbled as he looked away.
I stayed silent for a moment.
Trying to think of the best way to approach this conflict was challenging, but I finally had an idea.
"What's your name?" He seemed unreceptive to my question, but after a moment or two, he spoke.
"Logan Nelson."
"Well, Logan, I won't lecture you on how rude it is to bark orders at people, especially upperclassmen. I'm assuming you normally have that much common sense. But in case that you don't, I could always send you a prompt reminder." I turned partially away from him, eyeing a new, improved version of itching powder.
That would come in handy with the Slytherins' broom closet.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Logan asked indignantly, ignoring the quiet protests of his friends.
"I'll leave that to your interpretation." I grabbed the new and improved itching powder and made my way to the cash register while the group of boys stared at my back for a minute before deciding to leave.
After my purchase, I went back to the entrance of the store to see that Moony and Katherine hadn't even bothered to look around.
They just stayed in one spot and seemed to be in midst of an interesting conversation.
"Does your mum insist on odd, Muggle, things like mine? Like gift wrapping by hand! It's so irritating when she can just do it with a flick of a wand but she makes me do it for every holiday."
"My mum is actually a Muggle. So, I've probably done most chores like you do since my father is away at work a lot."
"How did they meet if she was a Muggle? It's probably because I've been sheltered but I've lived in an almost exclusive wizarding area, so I haven't had much exposure to the Muggle world as much as my mum would like." The way the two of them spoke so freely made me feel odd since Moony was normally reserved and Katherine didn't seem as nervous as I expected.
"My father stumbled upon her in the woods when she encountered a Boggart, so he defeated it and they hit it off. He admitted that she wasn't really in danger but I guess she didn't mind since here I am. I think they had a Boggart topper on their wedding cake as well." He held his chin in contemplation, most likely trying to recall if that last bit was true or not.
"Well," I found the moment to speak up and the two of them looked at me "I found some supplies. Where should we go next?"
"Sirius," her voice immediately became excited "I saw you verbally abuse those poor children. They shoved past us all 'Stupid, dinky, Sirius Black and his perfect hair.' They were so huffy and puffy for Hufflepuffs." For some reason, her dumb joke made me laugh really hard.
"It's probably because they're going through the pains of puberty." She laughed at my observation as the three of us left the store.
I held the bag under my arm, expecting her to ask about what I purchased but she continued to speak with Moony.
"Does your mum ever randomly decide to get offended by something just because it's purely magical? We have a whole Muggle room in my house, which is actually rather cool, but I guess it's to help my grandparents whenever they visit." Katherine laughed some more while Moony nodded enthusiastically.
"Believe me when I say my mum is more stubborn than yours. While she loves magical objects, she's always afraid to interact with them in the fear of accidentally breaking something. I've been more accustomed to Muggle living than any of my friends." Moony spoke easily.
It was surprisingly how talkative he was since he seemed rather apprehensive of spending the day with us in the beginning.
Now they were having intelligent conversations and bonding over Muggle things, something that I kind of lacked expertise in.
"That's really adorable, wow. I wish I could meet your mum. She sounds like she's extremely cute." Gushing noises came from Katherine while I fought the urge to gag.
"I suppose she is in her own way." Moony laughed some more and suddenly I was the fucking third wheel.
Who in the ever-loving hell decided three was a good number?
"Well, we all know my own mother ranks number one in the cuteness factor." Both of them looked at me with huge grins as I squeezed between the two of them.
"Didn't James meet your mum once?" asked Moony as I shuddered at the memory of it.
"Er, I suppose he did. It was when he helped me gather my things when I left home. She screamed blood traitors left and right as she threw hexes. It was a good thing she was swinging her wand about like the mad bitch she is, because otherwise I'm pretty sure one of our ears would have been sliced off."
"You left home? Where did you go?" It shocked me that Katherine didn't manage to hear the whole hellish story that was spread around Hogwarts during the last half of our sixth year.
"Moved in with Prongs and his family. They've been more of parents than mine ever were. Moony here spent a lot of time with us this summer. It was a blast, wasn't it, mate?"
"If you call doing your summer homework a blast, then yes, it was." His remark was dry but he let on a bit of a smile.
He sure as bloody hell didn't complain when his pockets were filled with Galleons.
"Rubbish! We did plenty of exploring and got you drunk for the first time…"
"Oh! What fun! I never imagined Remus Lupin would ever consider getting drunk." The three of us rounded a corner to one of the busier streets.
"Well, it wasn't intentional and what do you mean by that? I can have fun, believe it or not." Even though his words sounded sore, his tone was warm.
"Oh, I didn't mean anything like that. You just seem like you have a glass of brandy with a book every evening, so I imagine you'd have quite the tolerance. Ah yes, I can see it now. Remus Lupin reading Alvra Allure and Her Quidditch Keeper while sipping fancy wine by his ten foot long fireplace." Moony let out a sudden laugh and soon the three of us were all laughing at stupid things—like how Moony put up with Prongs and me or how Katherine found extremely silly things hilarious.
Katherine kept looking to me with that wild smile during the midst of the conversation.
I could see that perhaps she was nervous.
And so she looked to me.
It was kind of strange how well the three of us were getting on. Moony had been rather sullen since this beginning of this school year but he seemed pretty chipper today.
In fact, he even declared a genius prank for the two of us to execute—it involved charming Henry Kirk's textbook to say "wanker" instead of wand—but we got distracted when Katherine pushed me into a pile of leaves.
We had wandered to a small patch of woods near by the Shrieking Shack.
Both Moony and I let out surprised yelps as Katherine cackled.
"This just explains why your reflexes are so bad during Quidditch matches." She taunted as she hid behind a tree.
"Excuse me?" I scrambled off my feet as she skittered off to another tree. We ran around the naked trees as Moony leaned against one himself, watching us with great amusement.
"The thing is," Katherine dodged my attempt to grab her "I bet it's because you're too busy thinking of secret handshakes to do with Potter that when a Bludger comes, you just kind of use your beater as a shield!"
"Is that so? I swear I've never seen anyone drop a Quaffle as much as you!" We neared the pile of leaves she pushed me into.
"That's because Kirk gets the damn thing all wet with his clammy hands…" Before she could finish, I grabbed her as I threw both of us into the pile of leaves.
Almost immediately, the pile diminished as some leaves went drifting away in the breeze. She was on top of me, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
We looked at each other while our breaths became foggy.
Her eyes were so round and so…so brown.
Well, brown normally sounds so boring but in this case, it was anything but that. I'd never seen so much delight as I did in her eyes. It was something truly…
"If you two want to roll around in leaves all day, that is completely fine but I'm pretty keen on getting something for lunch." Moony spoke up from a few feet away, still amused.
Katherine rolled away from me and started to get up, but I pulled her back into the leaves as I sprang forward, getting a head start.
"Ah, yes, a good idea, mate. All of this tomfoolery works up quite the appetite." I started to adjust my clothes when Katherine dumped a bunch of leaves onto the both of us.
"Huh," she thought aloud as we tried to get small leaf bits off our heads "That was pretty anti-climatic. Just wait until it snows. I'll be sure to get more creative with that."
"Please do, because leaves just get stuck in the collar of your shirt." Moony itched his neck as he shifted while I pulled what I thought was the last leaf from behind my ear.
We all fell into the same step as we headed back to the bustling Hogsmeade, unaware of the fact that we were indeed ridiculously covered in leaves.
James
"So, in this paragraph, you're presenting the contradicting point of view but it just kind of seems like it's rattling off facts." I looked up to see Lily scrawling something on a piece of parchment. She handed it to me as she took a sip of Butterbeer.
It left a frothy mustache on her upper lip, something she was quick to wipe off with her sleeve.
I smiled to myself as I looked down at the parchment, realizing it was further commentary on my essay.
"Thanks, Lily. This is really thorough." She simply nodded as she began to drum her fingers against the table. I noticed that my own foot was jittering up and down against the floor as well.
"It's a bit hard to focus in here, honestly." I admitted as I set aside the essay.
Honestly, it was stupid of me to suggest the fucking Three Broomsticks but Padfoot insisted that it genius since it meant we had more of a chance of socializing.
"Well, in all honesty, I've gotten more done here than I would have in my own dorm. Dorcas likes to hover over my shoulder or Marlene wants a therapy session." I noticed that she blushed easily, with it starting at her ears and then spreading along her cheekbones.
"Remus has similar problems with us. One time Sirius spilled Firewhiskey on Remus's desk and it burned a hole through it. Remus has never hit anyone in his life but Merlin, was he close to murdering Sirius that day." Lily rolled her eyes at this but chuckled softly.
"Why am I not surprised? And alcohol in your dorm? That bloody well have been last year because you're Head…"
"Relax, Evans," I leaned back against the padding of the booth "I have all of that under control."
She raised an eyebrow in return.
"That isn't very reassuring because last time you said that, Other James ended up passed out and naked in the Common Room." My mouth twitched hard as I fought a smile, remembering how he quickly made a toga out of a nearby blanket and lounged around the Common Room for the rest of the morning.
"Oh, but Other James handled himself quite well, considering he consumed so much Butterbeer that he managed to get completely drunk from it."
"Why do we all call him Other James? If I recall, he's the older one." I was quiet for a moment, letting her believe that I was seriously considering her question.
"It's just…" I looked away dramatically while peeking at her out of the corner of my eye "I'm cursed with such beauty that I had to be the one to bear the responsibility of the one, true, James."
"You're beginning to sound like that Katherine girl." She said dryly as she twirled the Butterbeer around in her tankard.
"She said I had a nice bum, you know." I grinned at Lily as her face scrunched in disgust and disbelief.
"She outright said that? Is that how she and Sirius started talking? She just went up to you and said 'Hey Potter, nice arse.' Is that what she did?" I started to laugh while she just looked at me in confusion.
"Sirius and I just happened to take a stroll to the Quidditch Pitch when Hufflepuff was practicing—to boost rival team morale, you know—and she was mocking Kirk for always following me around like a school girl and ogling my bum. So, in a way, it was an indirect compliment. I was rather touched, really. Made me tear up. Sirius didn't really take much of interest in her then, though. No, that was when Katherine accidentally stumbled upon Sirius after he broke up with Marlene."
"Wait, so they didn't know each other before that?" She leaned forward as she took another big gulp out of her tankard.
Honestly, she was so cute with how she drank.
"Sirius had no idea she existed. I guess she really made an impression because he talked about her more than the break up with Marlene…"
"Well, I suppose he would after having a wild rendezvous with a stranger…" Lily muttered but stopped as she looked towards me.
My face must have conveyed that falseness of that statement.
"I cannot stress enough that there is nothing like that going on between them—well for now anyways. I know their relationship is absolutely bizarre but absurd things suit Sirius pretty well I've discovered over the years." I said as I took my first sip from my own tankard.
Although it was served cold, the Butterbeer started to warm up as it slid down my throat. I never thought in a million years that I would be a having calm drink with Lily.
"You know," She brushed her hair behind her back as she straightened up "I always defend her to Marlene even though I don't know the girl. I don't even know why. Well, I do know that I can't stand girls picking apart other girls. It's the seventies. Women should be united rather than throwing each other to the pits. It probably lies with that, really."
"How do four girls share a dormitory anyway? Are there fights?" Lily nodded intensely at my question, so I pressed further.
"Like full out kicking and biting?" I imagined Lily throwing a punch to Dorcas's stomach and the image struck me rather odd.
"Oh, heavens no," She put her hand up to stop further questioning "It's all very backhanded and sneaky. It starts out over something small, such as someone never rinses out their spit from brushing their teeth or they leave hair all over the bathroom. So innocent things start to happen such as your toothbrush suddenly has a suspicious aroma or you're suddenly having much more breakouts. The thing is that none of it is ever brought up directly. Instead, you just assume who's behind it. And so you calculate on whether to charm their shampoo to frizz their hair or temper their scale so they think they're gaining weight. I'm pretty sure Dorcas and I have been spitting in each other's shampoo for years now but we're both too scared to use ours, so we use Alice's instead. She never notices though because she has a lot of shampoo. And…sorry, I'm beginning to ramble." She folded her hands on the table and looked away, as if she was embarrassed.
"No, I love this! Lily Evans pranking other girls…"
"They're not pranks! Honestly, they're just small, underhanded tricks." She insisted as she tried not to smile, but I saw that twitch on the corner of her mouth.
"You mean pranks. Because that is what pranks are." She furrowed her brow at my own insistence but remained quiet for a moment.
"Well, if I'm doing pranks then they're in an entirely different class from your pranks. I've never done anything like charm connect-the-dots on people's spots. Or when you made Robert Gillling's shoes dance for twenty-four hours and enchanted them to stick to his feet. I've never gone that far." She crossed her arms, pulling her cardigan closer to her.
"Well, when you've been in the pranking business as long as I have—don't roll your eyes because mischief is a form of art—you have to go big. I could have spit in Robert Gilling's drink but the fact he took Gryffindor's practice slot in two consecutive rows during fifth year made me feel that would have been inadequate. Sure enough, Gryffindor was always ensured its practice after that year." In fact, Gilling had been so kind that he gave us one of Ravenclaw's practice slots.
We basically called it even.
"Oh, but that just makes me angry!" Lily pointed her finger at me, causing me to prepare for a wave of verbal abuse "Because you're just stooping to their level. It just makes you a bully in some way when you're above that, James. And…"
"That was two years ago, Lily. I've wised up some since then."
"You made Snape and his friends spew their food all over each other a few weeks ago." She gave me a pointed look, which only made me sigh.
"That was technically all of Sirius's doing. But if it bothers you then, well, I'll stop." I brought my tankard to my mouth once more as I studied her.
She was so flustered by this subject when it started out so harmless.
"No, but you don't understand what messages it sends when you continue to prank…wait, did you just agree to stop?" She was waving her finger about at me again but froze as she realized what I had said previously.
"Yes. I'll stop." I said as I lowered her finger while she eyed me suspiciously.
"Well, that is shocking." I gave her a skeptical look as she said this.
"Really, Lily? Really? I haven't pranked anyone since then. Have you seen me ever so much as raise my wand at anyone?" She opened her mouth to object but nothing came out.
Frustrated, she took another sip of Butterbeer when suddenly her face lit up as she pulled her mouth away from it.
"Derek Abbott. Last week, you made his nose bleed for hours…"
"That was Sirius. Abbott made a smart comment about the whole Marlene thing and Sirius didn't take too kindly to it." She immediately frowned when I said this, but then put her fingers to her temple as she scrunched her eyes, thinking hard.
"Mulciber had that horn growing out of his head…"
"That was Sirius again. I wasn't there for that one though."
"But you were there for the other one? And you didn't do anything?" If her scowl was meant to be scary, she was doing a horrid job because I found it delectable.
"I wasn't there for the other one either." I said without missing a beat, even though it was a bloody lie.
"But you just insinuated…"
"Do you have proof? Nope! Carry on." Half of me expected her to get livid at this but she just heaved a huge sigh before she downed the rest of her Butterbeer.
"What about that third year whose kneecaps were twisted backwards—well one of them was actually twisted ninety degrees—that had to be you…" She had managed to get another frothy mustache but this time she didn't wipe it off.
"Nonsense. That was actually Peter, given the poor spell casting. I'd never mess up such a simple spell." Trying to hide my smile was inevitable because the accusations were getting to be too amusing.
"Normally, he wouldn't dare to…"
"Oh, but he has a girl to impress now. Things change when there's a pretty little lass around. You end up making yourself look like an arrogant little berk. Believe me, I'm speaking from experience." She gave me another pointed look but it softened as she let a smirk slowly surface.
"You know, Potter," Her fingers wrapped themselves loosely around her tankard "You can be quite…"
"Well, hello! Good afternoon chums!" We both looked up to see Padfoot, Moony and Katherine charging up to our table. All of them seemed to be quite jovial—even Moony, who had been rather moody lately.
"Hello, hello! Katherine, normally I'd express my condolences for the cancelled game but I'm pretty sure the Hufflepuff team is relieved." I spoke directly to her as I got up to let both Padfoot and her into the booth. Moony moved to Lily's side and slid in on the edge seat.
"Oh, very cute, Potter. I guess you could say that we're relieved of what would have been the guilt of demolishing you on the field. I don't know how Henry would have dealt with that, seeing how he is so fond of you." She replied from the other side of Padfoot, who was moving his head about looking for a server.
"Should we order something to eat?" said Remus as he glanced at a menu.
I looked over to Lily, who only shrugged.
"I just want Butterbeer, if that's okay." Katherine's voice had suddenly grown shy as she simply smiled with her hands in her lap.
She really chose the oddest moments to get bashful.
"Not Firewhiskey or Daisyroot Draught?" Sirius teased her while Katherine merely snorted while rolling her eyes.
"There's no way in bloody hell you would order that in front of me." Lily spoke bluntly as she leaned back against her seat, crossing her arms in disapproval.
"Or me!" I chimed in only to get skeptical looks all around.
How reassuring.
"Oh, yes, I am quite positive you would object passionately to your friends wanting to have a good time." I expected Lily to be angrier as she said this but a faint of smile was given away.
"Hey now," I gestured to everyone at the table "Butterbeer is plenty of enough for fun. Loads of fun. Never ending fun." Padfoot snorted at this while everyone else seemed to be exasperated.
"I'm a terrible drinker anyways." Almost immediately, Padfoot focused his attention on Katherine at this statement.
"A terrible drinker? What are you like…when you have too much fun?" His wording only made Lily give a frustrated sigh, but it was then I saw it.
I saw the same little smile.
She was enjoying herself but, as always, she could never admit it.
"Well," Katherine shifted her weight as she moved to take off her jacket "One time, Alden and Henry found me in their dorm—we were having a celebration in the Common Room for something stupid like someone had a lot of food so it just called for a party since that's all we Hufflepuffs do: share and eat—and somehow I stumbled in their dorm. Anyways, long story short, I found someone's dirty magazines and was getting angry because there was this spell advertised to make your penis bigger…"
"So, you got mad because you found out your mates were scoundrels for having smut laying around?" I asked as Padfoot chuckled while Lily looked highly uncomfortable, which made me feel bad because I didn't want her thinking that I had that stuff in my trunk.
I mean I did have it my trunk.
But that's beside the point.
"No, no, no," She waved her arms about "I got angry because I kept saying the spell over and over but my 'penis' wouldn't get large. Alden and Henry stumbled in pretty fucking tipsy themselves and I ended up yelling at them that my 'penis' wouldn't get large. Alden had to sit me down and explain that I didn't have a penis. He was so drunk though, so it was mainly like 'I have the penis, you have the gash.' I got so angry that I punched him in the face because I thought that he just didn't want to show me." Howls of laughter came from Padfoot while I fought hard to keep composure myself.
"That kind of reminds me of the time James was so piss drunk that he got angry because he said he wanted to join the Holyhead Harpies but Dorcas Meadowes told him that he was a fucking eejit. I…I…sorry, I can't stop laughing, but I still remember him yelling 'I'll show you! I'll join the Holyhead Harpies and when I catch the fucking snitch, I will mail that bloody snitch to you with a big FUCK YOU engraved on it!' It was so…so..." Padfoot was struggling to breathe while Katherine let out some unflattering laughter herself.
My face heated up as I looked at Lily, who gave me a bit of a smug look.
"Holyhead Harpies?" she asked not bothering to hide her smile this time.
"They've had a really good winning streak these last few years. I'm a big fan. Who wouldn't want to join the Harpies?" There was no shame in being a fan and there was certainly no shame in wanting to join the team.
Even if they were exclusively female.
"Hah," A disbelieving laugh came from Katherine "They have too much glory. Their plays have been terrible this season."
"Since you're physically disabled when it comes to Quidditch, I'll excuse that rubbish." I shot back at her, which made her mouth drop in both humor and shock.
"Oh, you'll excuse me? Oh, thank you very much, Mr. Potter. I'm very touched but I'm afraid that your team is still quite terrible this season." She leaned over Padfoot as she spoke to me.
"The season's barely started! They're off to a rough start. Don't tell me you're a Puddlemere fan?" I couldn't help but scoff because it was so typical for a Puddlemere fan to be so critical.
"A fan? Oh, no, I'm much more than a mere fan. Puddlemere United is my religion and I'll stand by it until I die." She pounded her first against her heart.
I couldn't believe that Padfoot was becoming infatuated with a Puddlemere United dimwit.
"If you could just tell me one reason why Puddlemere," Just saying that word was horrid "Is better than the Harpies, I'll give you my broom. Hell, I'll even throw in my broom kit. Oh, but that's right, the Holyhead Harpies have the highest percentage of a winning streak than any other team…"
"That is because they've only been around for twenty five years! Let's not throw statistics into this, considering Puddlemere United is the oldest team in the league. And even so, their percentage of winning is still in the top five." We were both now leaning over a somewhat uncomfortable Padfoot.
"James," Lily called to me "I didn't know you were such an avid Harpies fan, considering it's a team full of…"
"Women? Oh, Evans, love, their gender has nothing to do with how terrifying they are! I went to one of their big games last year—the one where Gennifer Holk punched the referee—and riots broke out. I was a believer in the Harpies ever since." Lily scrunched her nose at the pet name 'love' but nodded nonetheless.
"Gennifer Holk is a bloody terrible captain who just looks for excuses to fight! There is nothing honorable about it!" Katherine slammed her fist on the table as I stood up.
"Oh, you're just sore about how that Pennington bloke got suspended during the playoff game because he got into it with Holk…"
"That is because she started it. Went after like him like Julia Finnegan goes after men's pockets! He wasn't even a Seeker! He was just a Keeper who…" I cut her off before she could finish
"While it is true that Julia Finnegan has quite the business going on," Everyone laughed a bit as my thoughts went to the sixth year Ravenclaw who charged blokes for dates "Holk was all about tactics and your idiot Pennington fell for that. She knew that he was Keeper of the Year and she was going to make as much as a handicap as she could…"
"Exactly! She has no honor as a captain at all!" I was about to retort about how she punched her own team captain in the face last year but a server came up to us.
"What will it be, love?" she spoke quickly with little interest.
"Ah," Padfoot spoke for all of us "Just a round of Butterbeer."
The server nodded and walked off to the bar section while I was finally able to get my point in.
"You know what strikes me silly is that you're going on and on about honor while you went and knocked out Kirk last year. Practice what you preach." A snort of laughter came from Padfoot while Moony chuckled.
My eyes went briefly to Lily and a small bit of panic struck me.
She looked rather bored.
"Oh, come on! We both know that Kirk is worst captain! It's like he wants Abbott and me to chase his tail like little cheerleaders while he pitches all the goals while we all know that I throw the most goals. He's fucking terrible and we all know it." Katherine crossed her arms as she slumped against her seat.
"But he's your captain, so if he's fucking terrible then are you atrocious?" Padfoot grinned at her while she rolled her eyes.
"Oh how your words hurt me so." Her tone was dry but she started to grin as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
Looking down at the table, Padfoot smiled back as I tried to keep down the rest of my Butterbeer.
They were…
They were so disgustingly oblivious that it made me want to knock both of their heads with the cup in my hand.
"Here you go. Just give me a call if you want refills." The server roughly put down all of the tankards and quickly left before we could say anything else.
The frothy mugs of Butterbeer were distributed all around the table.
"I don't know why I order Butterbeer because it makes me sick half the time." Moony spoke softly as he cautiously sipped it.
He never did have the stomach for sweets.
Well, besides chocolate.
I'm pretty sure the reason he's never really dated is because he's waiting for the right girl to come around—a girl made out of chocolate that is.
"I'll drink the rest of yours if you can't finish it." The offer from Katherine made my nose wrinkle in disgust.
"It would have his spit in it. That is disgusting." I couldn't help but speak my mind.
"Is that so, mate? Does this," Padfoot picked up Katherine's drink "…Does this disgust you?" Before I could protest, he took a sip so big that the froth covered the tip of his nose.
"That is just cruel. I just…" I began to berate him but he then took a huge sip of mine.
Before I even got a sip of it myself.
Whatever.
It's not like I wanted it anyways.
"Looks like you've got two things of Butterbeer, mate." Cheers came from both Katherine and Padfoot as they started to down their drinks.
"To Puddlemere United!" Katherine's declaration rang around the table as Padfoot nodded his head in agreement.
"Here, here!" said Padfoot as he wiped his mouth.
They made a rough toast and then proceeded to polish off even more Butterbeer.
"Had I known you two would be so offensive I wouldn't have extended the invitation." For some reason, Lily found my complaint humorous since she began to laugh.
Just as I was going to ask about her thoughts on the situation, Katherine spoke up once more.
"Oh, it's not like I'm trying to defend the Chudley Cannons, at least give me that." I opened my mouth to debate further but when I thought it about it, she had a point.
"I suppose you're right. You could be much more belligerent and say that they're a wholesome team. Puddlemere is one thing but the Cannons? That's just a bloke's wishful thinking." Nods of agreement came from everyone except Lily, who instead looked a bit bored and somewhat lost.
"What teams do you like?" My question hung in the air without an answer for a long moment until she glanced at me.
"Oh, you're speaking to me? Well, I…uh, I'm not sure. I don't really follow Quidditch that intensely. I suppose the Holyhead Harpies are fun…"
"More like blood-thirsty traitors." Katherine muttered under her breath to which Lily smiled apologetically.
"I think it's empowering for a whole team of women to be united like that." I nodded at Lily's explanation maybe a bit too enthusiastically because Moony gave me a skeptical look.
I merely shrugged and played it off but I couldn't help it.
My passion for the Holyhead Harpies could not be contained.
"Oh, I agree with that part. It's the decade for powerful women, yes I couldn't agree any more. Oh but Hulda Grimes…"
"Oh, no you don't! Speaking poorly about Gennifer Holk was bad enough but I stand hundred percent behind Grimes! You take that back!"
"I rather like the Chudley Cannons." Both Katherine and I gave Padfoot incredulous looks to which he shrugged off.
"It's not like I expect them to win but it's kind of adorable how they try, really." Well, he made a valid point as well.
You really had to be strong to wake up and get out of bed despite the fact you played for Chudley Cannons.
"I feel bad whenever I see a Cannons fan. I don't have the heart to even make the slightest fun of them. Instead I just want to ask them how they have so much hope. They're some of the most optimistic people I've ever met." Katherine's tankard was empty by now and she raised her hand for another.
The rest of the meal went rather well.
Except for the fact that Katherine went on with her Puddlemere antics, but that was somewhat expected.
Before we knew it, an hour had well passed by. I had gotten so caught up with comparing the stats of Holk with the stats of the captain from Puddlemere United that Padfoot had to point out they had other things to do today.
They left as sudden as they came.
It was once again just Lily and I.
I looked at her to see that she had gotten more homework out.
"So," I broke the silence "What is that you're working on?" She gave me an expression that I couldn't read.
Which only made me feel like an insecure little first year.
"Potions." Her tone was a bit curt.
What did I do this time?
"I was thinking we could maybe…"
"James, maybe I should just go. I mean we haven't gotten much studying done and I wasn't under the impression that your friends were going to come by. You're being really tense around me and maybe," She paused as she moved out of her seat "Maybe you should go catch up with them since I don't want to hold you back from…"
Without thinking, I grabbed her hand before she could walk away any further. She froze for a moment and looked at the ground.
For sure, I thought she was going to hit me but when she looked at me, the most incredible feeling soared through my body.
"Let's go look for some new quills." This was the first suggestion to come mind, as stupid as it was.
And then I slowly let go of her hand, letting her decide.
She stood still for a moment before speaking.
"The tips of my quills kept breaking last week…"
When we left the Three Broomsticks all I could think about was if I'd ever actually seen Lily Evans blush like that before.
As hard I tried to search my mind, I really couldn't think of any other time where she looked like that.
With that one look alone, I truly understood what it meant to be besotted with someone.
Holy shit you guys hi. Do people still read this? Well I am actually being organized and I have chapters written ahead so I can start posting regularly. I am also looking for a beta-reader because I believe it is good to have two beta-readers. I know of the beta reader feature on here, I am just looking to you guys first since you might have a better feel for the story. I just need someone who catches punctuation, typos and grammar really. My other beta reader works with plot development with me. Anyways, if interested please pm me! Next chapter (which is half way done) is the continuation of the Hogsmeade trip! We'll hear from our leading ladies in the next chapter. xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxopeepeepenisxoxoxoxoox ox- Bobby