"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars.


"What about….this one?" Lily scrunched her nose at the costume Hailey was fitting.

"Like a legit hooker, Hails." Lily chuckled.
"I don't know if you're saying I'm sexy or I look like a slut…" Hailey laughed.

It was Hogsmeade weekend and they were looking for costumes for the party. Lily already knew what she wanted that's why she finished faster than Hailey. Hailey, however, kept on changing her mind and wasn't satisfied with the ones that she was fitting.

"This is hopeless, Lily. I've already tried out gazillions of costumes but I still can't find any!" Hailey flopped down on the couch next to Lily.
"You just got to keep on looking! We still have time, Hailey, don't worry!" Lily reassured her.

Hailey tried a few more costumes but ended up buying nothing.

"Hey Hails? Umm…I need to go meet up with James in a while. We still need some decorations for the party…" Lily flashed an apologetic smile at her.
"Oh that's okay! I'm meeting up with Evan in a while too, you go ahead Lils!" Hailey said.
"Someone's going out on a daaaateee!" Lily said in a sing-song voice.
"Are you talking about me or yourself, Ms. Evans?" Hailey grinned and Lily slapped her playfully on the arm.


Evan came up behind her and kissed her.

"Mmmm…I'll never get used to that." Hailey giggled.
"Well I'll never get over the fact that you're mine, doll." Evan held her hand as they walked to Honeydukes. He opened the door for her and once she stepped inside, she saw Sirius flirting with a brunette this time and his hand was travelling slowly down her back to her behind. The girl was giggling uncontrollably and began planting kisses on Sirius' neck.

"You okay, doll?" Evan approached her. She didn't realize that she was already staring at them while frozen on her spot.
"Oh yes, yes. I just zoned out for a bit.." Hailey laughed nervously.
"You're too cute when you laugh. Come here." Evan held his arms open for her as she came up to him. He hugged her and squeezed her tight.

Sirius saw how happy she was with him. He didn't understand why he was feeling the way he was at the moment and just decided to give all his attention to the brunette standing beside him. What's her name again? Jane..? Janice…? Jess?


While they were walking back to Hogwarts, she saw something glisten in the corner of her eye.

"Hey, I'll be right back…I forgot to buy something. You go ahead!" Hailey said.

"Sure doll? I can wait for you if you like…"

"No, it's fine. No worries!" Hailey said as she walked backwards and then towards the shop's window. She immediately fell in love with what she saw and she knew she had to buy it for her costume.


"I think I'll dress up as a pirate! Arrrrr!" James exclaimed with a pirate voice. They were back in their usual spot in front of the black lake.

"Or I can just come in my animagus form, that's a lot easier." Said James.

"Ha ha imagine if I do that, 5 seconds inside and I'm already squished to my death." Peter said and they all laughed.

"Imagine if I come inside in my werewolf form…there wouldn't be a party anymore." Remus sulked.

"Oh there will be…but inside your stomach though." They all laughed hard. The rest of the marauders always looked at his condition positively and they never failed to make him feel better about it even just a little.

"What about you, Pads? What're you going to be?" Asked James. Sirius seemed lost in his thoughts and continued to pick on grass. Remus nudged him on the shoulder and nodded to James.

"Huh?"

"You weren't paying attention, Pads.." James said sternly.

"Sorry, what?" Sirius asked.

"Okay spill it, what's wrong mate?" James sat up and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong…really." Sirius lied but he knew he wasn't going anywhere. His friends know him better than anyone else and sometimes, they knew him better than he knew his self. He saw Evan and Hailey holding hands as they walked a few feet in front of them. He saw how red she was from laughing and her eyes were watery from tears of happiness. What does she see in that stupid git?

James looked at where Sirius was staring at and immediately realized the answer to his question.

"You can tell us anything, you know that right? No matter how silly they are…"James assured him. He sighed and laid his back on the grass.

"It's weird you know? That I'm actually…"

"A pompous git? Well everyone knows that already." Remus said and they laughed.

"Way to ruin my moment, Moony," Sirius chuckled. "It's weird that out of all the girls I could fall in love with…I fell for the one who wouldn't want me." Sirius watched the clouds as they floated above him. James, Remus and Peter did not need any more explanations because they already know whom he was talking about.

"She doesn't really hate you, Sirius. She just hates how you treat her." Remus noted.

"You too got along really well! What happened?" Peter piped up.

"Rosier happened…"

"Don't need to act like a total ass about it." James said.

"You sounded just like her...that's scary mate." Sirius said wide-eyed and pretended to be haunted.

"In all seriousness, just stop being an ass. It was partly your fault, Sirius. Think about it. You two were engaged for crying out loud but still suggested to date other people. Let's say that somewhere along the road, you took it back and wanted her, and you could have. But chose not to. And now that she's found someone else, you have no right to be an ass about it since it was your suggestion." James said and no matter how painful that sounded, Sirius knew he was right.

"So what am I going to do now?" He asked.

"You can wait…?" Remus suggested.

"Moony's right, you could wait and don't be a total douche. She didn't do anything to you after all, mate." James pointed out. Sirius sighed and closed his eyes. I hope when I wake up, all of this drama will be over…


It was a full moon that night. But even if it was a particularly rough full moon for the marauders, they still managed to get through the night with just a few scratches here and there. Sirius arrived at their common room very late and saw Hailey curled up on the couch. Her things were scattered around her and she was hugging a book. She must have fell asleep while studying… Sirius smiled to himself. He carried Hailey to her room, careful not to wake her. He laid her carefully on her bed and tucked her in. She looked so small in her oversized hoodie and even more so in the king sized bed. He took a few pillows from her bed and placed it around her, creating a small nest of pillows to surround her. He approached her one last time before going back to his room and kissed the top of her head. Maybe one day, he'll be the one to take up the space on her bed instead of her pillows…he would envelop her in his warmth and protect her while she sleeps.

If only things were different.


Sorry if it took longer to update than usual (and quite a short chapter) :-/
I had a hard time writing this one because I honestly didn't know what to put because I'm too excited for what's about to come! Lololol. Stay tuned my lovely readers, things are getting better ;)

Review?

Much Love,
Awkward Wild Child