Disclaimer: The original characters belong to me. The rest of this wonderful world belongs to JK Rowling.
A/N: This took me longer than I intended to post. I hope those who are continuing to read my story are enjoying it! Reviews of any sort are appreciated.
"No!"
"Yes."
"No!"
Yes!"
"Honeydukes?"
"That's what I am telling you," Sirius laughed at the expression on James's face.
"An underground tunnel? Brilliant!" he marveled.
"See, while you were busy listening to lectures from Grandpa Henry, I was actually doing something of importance," he smirked.
"Oi!" James tossed a pillow at Sirius. "Grandpa is a legend - you'd be lucky to hear a story from him."
Peter snorted from the corner of the room.
"Watch it, Wormtail!" James half joked.
"How was your Christmas, Remus?" Sirius asked his tired friend. "How are your mum and dad?"
"Great actually. They are living out in the country now. Neighbors are few and far between. Older. Dad's even talking about working at the ministry again."
"Any luck with…?"
Remus gave the boys a sad smile, "No luck yet, but the new place will help in its way."
Remus's father, Lyall, was a small, quiet man. Ever since Remus had been bitten as a child, Lyall had worked tirelessly on discovering a cure for Remus's transformation. He had only been met with frustration with each failed attempt, but as always, Remus's kind nature left his father optimistic.
"That's good mate," Sirius nodded along.
"So, what have you two been up to?" Remus inquired, nodding to Sirius and Peter.
"Well, Peter spent his time eating. Sleeping. Eating…Did I mention that he did a lot of eating?" Sirius piped in.
Peter laughed holding his tummy, "That I did! Sirius seemed to occupy his time well enough without me - took it upon himself to show some girl the new passageway."
Sirius shot a look towards Peter. Prick.
Remus looked up surprised while James looked irritated, "You did what?"
"Don't pay too much mind to Peter; He was in a food induced coma half the time," Sirius joked trying to diffuse the tension.
"You came back with her jacket," Peter fired back pointedly.
"Is it this girl from Potions?" James fumed. "We had a deal for the four of us only."
"Her name is Lou, and no, I haven't told her anything," Sirius defended.
"These are trade secrets, mate. We can't have you messing up years of work over some girl."
Some girl.
"Look. She was alone over the holidays. The most fun she's ever had was probably reading an adventure novel. Maybe I was feeling charitable."
Remus shot him a disapproving stare, "She's a nice girl…I'd hope you weren't giving her the wrong impression…"
"Is she your rebound to Margot?" James pushed.
Rebound?
"She doesn't know about the map. She doesn't know about the cloak," Sirius stood gather his things.
"Whatever," James rolled his eyes. "So whenever you decide to move on to the next shiny new toy, do you mind keeping her out of Marauder business?"
"Piss off."
Needing to clear his head, Sirius headed towards the grounds of the castle.
What is his problem?
Sirius dug hastily through his bag, searching for his dragon skinned gloves. Not looking where he was going, he collided into another figure.
"Watch it, will you," a surprised voice said from below.
It was Lou's Slytherin friend. He knelt down, helping her collect the spilled contents of her bag.
She quickly reached for a pink and gold book and shoved it into her bag.
"Do you usually make it a habit to knock girls down in the hall?" she laughed.
"Sorry - wasn't looking where I was going."
"Clearly," she smirked.
"Vera, right?"
"The one and only," she did a mock curtsy. "And you're Sirius. I've heard all about you, of course."
He raised an eyebrow. Lou?
"It's not hard, considering how loud you and tend to be."
Nope.
"I wouldn't say we are loud, per say -"
Cutting him off she asked, "Are you looking for Lou? I am pretty sure she's catching up with Damon."
"No - just needed to get some cold air. How is she?" Sirius added, trying to sound nonchalant.
Vera flashed him a big grin, "Well silly, you would know better than I would. After all, you were here with her for the break."
He didn't know what to say.
"She's fine," she eased the awkwardness. "Damon though…"
"What?"
"Do you two get along?"
"I don't really know enough about him to have an answer to that."
"Oh. Hmm," she pursed her lips together.
"Is there something I should know?" he asked, confused.
"No, I suppose not. Damon's just very…protective of Lou."
"OK?"
"He doesn't want her to get hurt," she added.
"I am failing to see your point here."
"I don't think he likes you."
She's blunt.
"Whether he likes me or not is really none of my concern. Lou's my friend. I have no intention of hurting her."
"Yes well, I believe you. It's Damon you have to convince."
"If Damon's so concerned he's more than welcome to have a chat with me."
"For now, I would just do nothing. Unless of course.."
"What?"
"Never mind that. That's for you to figure out," she winked. "Tell James hello for me."
Sirius looked on confused as Vera left. Jenkins was a name that he never thought much about, other than his obvious involvement with Margot. Even with the conflict of a past shared love interest, Sirius wasn't one to go stirring any unnecessary trouble…unless of course it was a mischievous matter.
However, he cared for Lou and their unexpected friendship. For some odd reason her general awkwardness, coupled with her sweet beauty was endearing. The least he could do was set a positive foundation with her brother…He made up his mind.
Might as well talk to him first.
A/N: Sort of on the fence about how I feel about this chapter. There will be more Lou and Sirius interaction to follow. Thanks for reading!
