"Rose, come back!" Sirius called, but she ignored him. He swore loudly and slammed shut the portrait hole, glaring at the students in the common room as he did so.
"Remus, take that stupid cloak off," he demanded.
It was James, not Remus, who reach out and pulled off the cloak. A rat jumped down off his shoulder, but before it reached the ground, it had transformed into Peter Pettigrew.
Remus stared blankly at Sirius. He looked unusually pale.
"Remus," Sirius pleaded softly. "You know I would never - not when I know how you feel about her. Besides, she is infatuated with you, not me."
This confession was followed by a long and awkward silence as Remus continued to stare at his friend. He closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
"I trust you, Sirius," he said finally, shaking his head. "I can't believe Mary would think…"
"She's jealous," said James darkly. "She fancies Sirius and being out alone with Rose after curfew does look pretty suspicious."
"Remus asked me to make sure she was okay - I didn't really care either way," Sirius replied, scowling.
"We know that," Peter pointed out. "No else does."
At that moment, the portrait of the Fat Lady flew open, startling the boys. Lily stepped out, looking stricken. She seemed surprised to see Remus, James and Peter there with Sirius.
"Where did you lot come from? And where is Rose?"
"She walked off," said Sirius.
"She walked off? And you just let her? It's after curfew!" exclaimed Lily, looking furious.
"Well maybe if your stupid friend hadn't just humiliated her in front of -" started James.
"Don't you dare call Mary stupid!" snapped Lily, glaring at James.
"How can you defend her after what she just did?" he replied, clearly annoyed.
"I'm not defending her," Lily said quickly, looking from one boy to the next until her eyes landed on Sirius. "She shouldn't have called Rose that word. But even I have to admit it did look pretty suspicious. Sirius?"
"You should know better than that, Evans," Sirius scoffed. "You know I don't go for girls like Rose. You know that Rose is infatuated with Remus -", at this Remus turned bright red, "- and you know that Eloise is a jealous gossip!"
"Then why were you together after curfew?" Lily asked uncertainly.
Sirius hesitated before looking at Remus.
"Because of me," Remus admitted, looking bleakly at Lily. "I was worried - I wanted Sirius to make sure she was okay."
Lily looked at Sirius, who was nodding along to Remus' explanation.
"Well, in that case," she said, and she turned angrily towards Remus. "The next time you lead a girl on and then break her heart, talk to her yourself!"
Remus looked ashamed. He knew he deserved to be told off. He had been too much of a coward to talk to Rose himself, and now the whole situation had gotten out of control.
"Now, get inside, all of you!" Lily said, pointing at the portrait hole.
"Don't tell us what to do, Evans," said James stubbornly, standing firmly in his spot, but he gave in when he saw the expression of Remus' face. "Oh, fine."
The common room was unusually noisy as the students discussed the latest gossip. This seemed to push Sirius over the edge.
"Oi!" Sirius shouted over the noise. The common room instantly fell silent. "Anyone - and I mean anyone - caught repeating these rumours will suffer a most unfortunate fate," he said, before turning to Lily and adding scathingly, "And you can tell MacDonald to sod off. I can sleep with who ever I want. I don't have to answer to her."
Lily looked rather offended, though before she could retort, Sirius stormed off to the boys dormitory. The other boys followed him, though Remus stayed behind.
"I'm sorry, he's just a bit - well, you know how Sirius can be," Remus said apologetically as he leaned against the wall.
"Hot tempered? Arrogant? Entitled?" Lily suggested, still fuming. "Mary isn't angry at him - she is angry because she thinks her friend betrayed her! He is so full of himself!"
"I know that," said Remus reassuring. "Sirius knows it too. He is just annoyed that Mary created a scandal about him and know that he is very secretive about his private life."
At the mention of Rose, Lily's fury seemed to extinguish.
"I'm worried about her. She looked devastated. Mary really was horrible to her," she said. She bit her lip. "I should probably go and look for her."
"I know you want to, but you can't," he said. "She could be anywhere and it's after curfew. She'll come back when she is ready."
Lily nodded.
"She was so excited about Hogsmeade tomorrow, and now I won't be able to go with her," she said sadly. "You know what Mary is like. She is so insecure - I can't leave her at a time like this. I suppose she could go alone, but that's just horrible… unless..." she said, looking at Remus curiously. "Unless you go with her?"
"Me?" he said, looking startled. "I'm not interested in her that way."
"Don't lie to me, Remus Lupin," said Lily sharply. "I know you fancy her. Besides, I didn't mean as a date. I mean as friends. Maybe Potter or Pettigrew can invite her so she doesn't get the wrong idea? I'm sure she will have fun with you."
"Well," he replied uncertainly. The prospect of spending the day with Rose both thrilled and horrified him. "I'll think about it."
"Please do. Good night, Remus."
"Good night, Lily."
Ignoring the curious stares of the students, Remus made his way up to the boys dormitory. Not wanting to talk to anyone, he took the Marauders Map from James and pulled his curtains closed around his bed. He quickly spotted Rose in a nearby classroom. He stared at her name until she returned to her dormitory hours later.
Rose woke up the next morning to an empty dormitory. The other girls had already gone down to breakfast. Rose had hoped that Lily would wait for her but she knew it was wishful thinking - Lily and Mary had been best friends since first year, whereas she had only known the girls for two months. Still, she had hoped that she would have a chance to explain herself to Lily before they left for Hogsmeade, but that seemed unlikely now.
Rose was so excited to explore the village but the prospect of going alone was too depressing. She also did not want to go down to breakfast, not if there was a chance that Mary was there. She was still furious at the way her friend had insulted her.
So, she decided that her best option was to sneak out of the common room and have breakfast in the kitchens. This plan did not last very long, for when she entered the common room, she was surprised to see that someone was already there.
She blushed furiously when she saw Remus was standing at the bottom of the girls staircase. They were the only two people in the common room: it was obvious that he was waiting for her.
"Hi, Rose," he said uncertainly when he saw her.
"Oh, hello, Remus," she said. "Er, why aren't you at breakfast?"
"I was waiting for you. I need to talk to you," he said, before taking a deep breath, as though bracing himself, and continuing. "I - I think I owe you an apology."
"It's okay, you don't have to apologize," said Rose quickly. "It was my fault, I shouldn't have gotten so upset."
"No, it was definitely my fault, and I'm very sorry. Do you think we can still be friends?" Remus asked, looking at her hopefully.
"I would like that," Rose said, smiling shyly. His face lit up in a broad smile at those words.
"Thank you," he said happily. "Are you by going down to breakfast?"
It was a simple question but it wiped the smile of her face. She suddenly realised that she had no idea if he knew about what Mary did.
"You're worried about what Mary said yesterday, aren't you?" he asked shrewdly, as though he read her mind.
"You heard about that?" she asked, too embarrassed to look at him. "You don't believe it too, do you?"
"Certainly not. Unfortunately, I have the rather dubious privilege of knowing everyone who Sirius has even been with, or has ambitions to be with. You'll be glad to know you aren't on either list."
Rose could not help but smile as she looked up at Remus.
"I'm not ready to see Mary, not after what she said about me," she admitted hesitantly.
"You are going to Hogsmeade though, aren't you?"
"Well…" she started uncertainly. "I'm not sure. I don't really want to go alone."
"Oh," said Remus. He paused for a moment before saying rather quickly. "Do you want to go with us? As friends, of course?"
"Go with you?" she repeated. "Are - are you sure? Won't your friends mind?"
"No, of course they won't."
She thought about it carefully - it was not a good idea to be seen with Sirius given the rumours Eloise was spreading, but the opportunity to spend a day in Hogsmeade with Remus - as friends - was too exciting to miss.
"You're sure you want me to tag along?"
"Of course I am," said Remus, looking amused.
"Okay. Okay, I'll go," she said, unable to suppress a smile. "Where are James, Sirius and Peter? Did they go down to breakfast already?"
"No, they had a bit of a sleep in. They should be down any minute."
As though on cue, Sirius appeared at the bottom of the stairs to the boys dormitory, followed closely by James and Peter. Sirius and James both smiled gleefully when they saw Rose and Remus standing together.
"Oh, I hope we aren't interrupting anything?" Sirius said, not bothering to hide his smirk.
"Would you two like some privacy?" James said innocently, while Peter winked at Remus.
Rose felt her face heating up and she knew she was blushing again. Maybe this was not such a good idea afterall…
"Actually we were just getting ready to leave to Hogsmeade," Remus clarified calmly. "I've invited Rose to come along with us."
"Oh, this should be fun," muttered Sirius, still smirking.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rose asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," James replied, too quickly for her liking.
Rose looked uncertainly at Remus but he smiled at her encouragingly.
"Come on," Remus said, "Let's go. Breakfast at the three broomsticks today. James is paying."
"Is that some kind of traditional?" Rose asked as they made their way out of the common room.
"No. I lost a bet," James replied with a grimace.
As they walked through the castle, Sirius pulled Rose away from the group.
"Can I have a word with you?" Sirius asked as they trailed behind the others.
"This is about what Mary said, isn't it?"
"I assume you haven't spoken to her yet?"
"No," she replied, shaking her head. "She was gone this morning before I had a chance. Lily too."
"Don't worry about Lily. I explained everything to her. Mary in the other hand… she should know better than to believe rumours about her friends. Especially from Eloise Pritchett. That girl is one of the dumbest Ravenclaws I have ever meet."
"You don't think the rumours have spread around the school, have they?" Rose asked anxiously.
"If they hadn't before, they definitely have now. You can thank Mary for that. Her outburst will be the talk of the school," he replied, scowling darkly.
It was not until they reached Hogsmeade that the extent of the rumours became apparent. Rose hardly had a chance to appreciate how beautiful the village was before she noticed students were staring at her, Sirius and, to her confusion, Remus.
Sirius, who had noticed this too, grabbed a Hufflepuff boy who looked to be in his third year by the robes. The boy had been openly gawking at her.
"What are you staring at?" Sirius said threateningly.
"N-nothing!" the boy stuttered as his little friends watched on in fear.
"You'll tell me why you are staring if you know what's good for you," Sirius growled.
"Sirius!" said Remus sharply.
"Stay out of this, Remus," he snapped.
"I - I heard that you and Lupin weren't friends anymore," the boy stuttered, too afraid to look Sirius into the eye.
"And why aren't we friends anymore?"
"Because - because - because -"
Sirius glared at the boy.
"Because you slept with Rose Wilson when she was already sleeping with Lupin!" the boy said quickly, flinching as though he expected Sirius to hit him.
Rose felt as though she were punched in the gut. She felt herself trembling uncontrollably. People thought she was sleeping with Sirius and Remus?
"Who did you hear that from?"
"I don't know! Everyone is talking about it!" the boy cried.
"Get out of my sight," Sirius said as he pushed the boy away. The boy did not need to be told twice - he and his friends ran off without looking back once.
Rose did not know what to do. She could not look at any of the boys - especially not Remus. She was still trembling when she realised that she could not continue into Hogsmeade.
"I need to go back to the castle," she said as clearly as she could manage. She surprised that her voice was reasonably stable.
"Rose, just ignore -" started Sirius.
"I can't! How can I face the school when everyone thinks I'm sleeping with you and Remus?" she said, now sounding almost hysterical.
"Rose."
She drew in a sharp breath when she realised Remus had addressed her. Reluctantly, she looked at him. He looked at her grimly.
"I know you are upset. But you have to understand that the best way to put a stop to these rumours is to just act normal. If students see that the three of us are all friends, they will realise on their own that the rumours aren't true," he said. Rose was amazed at how calm he was.
She closed her and took a deep breath. She knew Remus was right. Hiding will only fuel the rumours.
"Okay," she said softly. "I'll try."
"Excellent!" James said happily, immediately defusing the tension. "Where do you want to go first?"
"The Three Broomsticks! You owe us breakfast," Peter said, clapping in excitement.
James groaned dramatically and lead the way through the village. Rose was amazed at how quickly the four boys had recovered. They were loud and boisterous, laughing and teasing each other as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Rose found that it was much easier to ignore the staring students when she focused on the boys conversation. They even made an effort to include her, which she appreciated.
"That's Honeydukes - they have the best sweets," Remus said. "Their chocolate is unbelievable."
"Remus is the leading authority on chocolate," said Peter proudly.
"And that's Zonko's - you won't find better joke products anywhere," Remus continued, ignoring Peter.
"That's where Remus buys his love potions," said Sirius in a staged whisper.
"And you'll want to visit the post office - they have an amazing owl collection," said Remus, giving no indication that he heard Sirius.
"That's where Remus goes to write to his multiple lovers," exclaimed James.
"Here we are - The Three Broomsticks," said Remus, as he opened the door for Rose. She entered, and Remus followed after her, closing the door behind him before his friends could follow.
"I'm sorry about them. They can be foolish, but they mean well," he said, smiling sheepishly. "I do not use love potions, and I most certainly do not have lovers, multiple or otherwise."
"It was a little funny," she said, smiling apologetically, as the others forced their way through the door (Remus had tried and failed to hold it closed).
The boys sat down at a table in an isolated corner of the bar. Rose hesitated awkwardly. She had two choices - she could sit next to either Remus or Sirius. She was too embarrassed to sit next to Remus, but she was afraid that sitting next to Sirius would fuel the rumours.
"Aren't you going to sit down?" James asked, looking confused.
Rose quickly tried to sit down next to Sirius, but he pushed her away.
"What are you doing?" she asked, bewildered.
"I like to spread out," he replied. "You'll have to sit next to Remus."
He wore a sickly sweet smile that Rose did not buy for a minute, and she reluctantly sat down next to Remus, glaring at Sirius as she did so.
"What's wrong?" he asked, feigning innocence. "Is there a reason you don't want to sit next to Remus?"
"Sirius," said Remus warningly. Rose felt a rush of gratitude to Remus, but was too embarrassed to look at him.
"Yes, dear Remus?" said Sirius.
Remus did not reply, but gave him a look that plainly said don't-be-stupid.
"Oh, come on," he said, sounding exasperated, "You don't expect us to act like nothing happened, do you?"
"You know what Sirius, I think they might…" mocked James.
Fortunately for Rose, Peter's stomach grumbled loudly at that exact moment. The boys thought this was hilarious and were soon too busy ordering food to tease her.
"This is delicious," Rose commented when the food finally arrived.
"Yes, especially because James is paying," said Peter as he scoffed down his waffles.
After breakfast, they spent the morning touring the village. Peter was right - Remus certainly was an expert on chocolate. He pointed out all the tastiest flavours to Rose and he walked out of Honeydukes with a large bag full of assorted chocolate blocks, which he shared with her as they continued through the village. James and Sirius spent a small fortune on items from Zonko's (she thought better than to ask them what they were for), and she wrote a short letter to her parents from the Post Office, which she sent off with a beautiful snowy owl.
"Where to next?" asked Peter.
"I heard that there is a haunted house in the village," Rose replied, as she accepted another piece of chocolate from Remus (mint flavour). "I wouldn't mind having a look."
To her surprise, the boys seemed uneasy with her suggestion.
"Do you mean the Shrieking Shack?" asked James.
"Is that what it's called? It sounds dreadful," Rose replied. "Do you know where it is?"
"Yes," said Sirius, though he looked uncertainly at Remus. She noticed that Remus looked uncomfortable.
"I don't understand," she said, looking from one boy to the next. "Is something wrong? Don't you want to go there?"
"No, no, nothing's wrong," Remus said quickly. "It's just that, um, it's a - it's -"
"It's a popular make out spot," said Peter.
Everyone stared at him.
"You probably shouldn't go there today, if anyone sees you there with Sirius and Remus, they might get the wrong idea," he said, nodding seriously.
"Oh," said Rose, blushing slightly. "Maybe next time, then?"
"Why don't we head back to the Three Broomsticks?" Remus suggested. "We can have some butterbeer then head back up to the castle. We have that Defense Against the Dark Arts quiz to study for."
"I don't need to study for that," Sirius scoffed, but he agreed that butterbeer was a good idea. The Three Broomsticks was more busy than it had been that morning and they only just managed to find an empty table. This time, Rose sat down first and to her relief, Remus did not sit down next to her. Instead, she was seated between Sirius and Peter. James and Remus had gone to order drinks for the group.
"I can't believe these idiots are still staring at us," Sirius sneered.
"It isn't as bad as before," Rose replied as she poured herself a glass of water. "I think people are starting to realise the rumours aren't true," she added hopefully.
"Probably," he said, not sounding too convinced.
"Hey, isn't that Mary?" said Peter suddenly.
Rose looked up and followed his gaze. She could not believe what she was seeing. Mary was sitting at a booth at the back of the room with Eloise Pritchett and Jacinta Fawley. They were so involved in their hushed conversation that they did not seem to notice that Rose and Sirius were there.
Sirius frowned.
"Peter, go see what you can find out," he ordered.
Peter immediately stood up and, to her surprise, walked into the mens toilets.
"Where did he go?" Rose asked, confused.
"Nevermind," he replied tensely.
Rose watched the toilets for a moment, as though expecting Peter to come out, but he did not. She raised the glass of water to her mouth, still watching the toilets, when suddenly, her glass exploded in her hands, sending water and glass flying everywhere. Rose screamed in shock and Sirius swore loudly. She looked down at her hands and saw that they were covered in blood.
"Wh - what happened?" she stuttered.
"Your glass exploded," said Sirius, looking dumbfounded.
Rose looked up and saw that Remus and James had hurried back to the table. Remus grabbed her arms and looked at her hands.
"You need to go to the hospital wing."
"But – I don't understand. What happened?" she repeated meekly.
"That isn't important now, you're losing a lot of blood – those cuts are deep," Remus said urgently. "Come on, we need to go."
AN - many thanks to everyone who has read/favourited/followed/reveiwed. Much appreciated!
