A/N: I actually managed to upload a tiny bit earlier, what with my Abitur written and gone well so far (an oral test is still due). I'd be happy if you found the time to review!
XII. FIDES
Some days later, Emma, Leslie, Melissa, Sirius, Remus and James met in an empty classroom. The boys hadn't let Peter in, as they all agreed he couldn't keep secrets. ("Not that he wasn't one of my best friends", Sirius had said, "but chances are he behaves weirdly around Leslie's relatives, they ask him what his problem is and he feels pressed to tell them.") Emma and Leslie had decided to keep their conspiracy as small as possible – Jemima, Jolanda and Desiree didn't have to know. Melissa had willingly assured her participation. Now that they were all present, Remus, being the pragmatic one, pulled out a sheet of parchment and suggested they make a detailed plan. "We need a date and place first", he said. "How long do you think rehearsing will take?"
"We should do it shortly before the summer holidays", Sirius answered, "which leaves us two months…"
"'scuse me. I still don't quite understand why this is necessary." James frowned. "Least school couples stay together after one or both of them leave Hogwarts. Why all this effort?"
"Do you plan to break up with Lily?"
"No, but your families might assume the theory is valid for the two of you!"
Leslie and Melissa exchanged a look. Then the latter said, "This would be nice, but in this case they are very suspicious, especially Leslie's parents, our dear aunt Isebella, and their children. They would continue to importune her. We had better make them believe Leslie and Sirius aren't seeing each other anymore, and have plenty of witnesses for their quarrel and breakup."
"Apart from that, it will be hilarious", Sirius grinned. "Not that I'd like to fake a grudge against you, honey."
"Likewise", Leslie answered amiably as he put an arm around her. Emma sighed. "Oh, get a room, you two. Is the point of this meeting a rehearsal for the big Breakup Scene?"
"We need a script first", Remus commented matter-of-factly. "How about we invented a story, so you actually know why you're quarrelling?"
They met frequently after that. Rehearsing a melodramatic row was, as Leslie bashfully admitted one day, funnier than it should have been. Especially Melissa took much delight in her role. James practiced keeping a straight face every time he saw his best friend being given a mock dressing-down. However, as even the actors were scarcely able to restrain themselves, many of their meetings ended with laughter and exhilaration, causing Remus to frown and Emma to grow more and more impatient. "Goodness!" she exclaimed one day. "If you're not able to stay composed, for Heaven's sake, stop this nonsense and think of another way to put an end to your families' ridiculous issues concerning your lovey-dovey happiness!" With that, she stormed out of the room, leaving the others with big question marks in their eyes. Leslie recovered first. "I'll go after her" she said, "excuse me." Outside, she didn't have to look for Emma long. Her best friend stood at a window further down the corridor, clasping the window sill. Her lips trembled and she was as white as a sheet. When Leslie stepped up to her, she shuddered and turned away.
"Emma", Leslie said softly. "Emma, what is the matter?"
"You really care to know?" Emma replied bitterly. "Are you sure? It might interfere with the happiness you take for granted. Have you ever considered that someday you and your loverboy could have a real problem or argument?"
"Of course, but it is not my situation which makes you so unhappy, is it? You have been different these past few weeks. Something is bothering you and I think you should relieve yourself – at least a bit – because I cannot see you suffer."
This was too much for Emma's strained nerves. She turned around and flung her arms around Leslie, sobbing heartbreakingly. Leslie hugged her and stroked Emma's thick brown curls. Suddenly Emma released her, wiped her eyes, gulped and whispered, "I'm pregnant."
Leslie was sure her ears were playing a trick on her. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me – I'm pregnant." Emma hiccoughed and tears streamed down her blotchy cheeks. "Oh Leslie, please – please don't look at me like that – I know it's wrong, it's all kinds of wrong, but it's true…" Her sobbing stopped her lament and she covered her face in her hands. Leslie hugged her again, hugged her so tightly she felt Emma's ribcage jerk with every hiccough. Her mind raced as she considered the full consequences of what her friend had just told her; she tried to find the right words, words which wouldn't hurt the sensible yet sensitive girl she was trying to comfort. "Is Amos…is he the father?"
Emma nodded against her shoulder.
"And – and it happened in mutual agreement?"
Another nod.
"Then it isn't wrong. How can it be wrong, Emma? Everything will be fine."
"But I'm only s-seventeen. My mother is mentally unstable. Amos already has an emp-employment but it will hardly be enough to p-provide for a child. Oh, what will his parents say, and my father? It'll grieve him so m-much!" Her stammering sounded muffled through the fabric of Leslie's shirt.
"No, you mustn't say that. His first-born grandchild! Imagine how proud he will be! You are of age, you can leave Hogwarts for a year and finish when your child is old enough to be left with its grandparents. We can look after it, too, Dessie and the twins and me – Emma, you have Amos, you have friends, you won't be alone."
"You…" Emma lifted her head and looked at Leslie with incredulous hope. "You would help me?"
"Always."
"And I should k-keep the child?"
"If you want it, dearest: of course."
Emma's shoulders slumped. "Thank you", she whispered. "Oh God, thank you."
"What? Merlin's pants, Emma, I hardly know you!" Desiree squealed and beamed. "Unbelievable – when is it due?"
"Mid-January, I think", Emma answered, blushing.
"Oh, you naughty girl! I knew something was bound to happen when you went to meet him wearing that sexy brown dress."
"Right, the dress", Emma smiled weakly. "Perhaps I should blame you girls."
"Feel free", Jolanda giggled, "I'll take responsibility for that anytime."
"As if you'd take responsibility for anything, Jolly, but I'm with you this time." Jemima stretched across her bed and grinned at Emma. "Honestly, you, of all people in the world. It's almost absurd."
"Thank you very much", Emma replied huffily. "I was born with a female body after all, you know."
Leslie finished the last sentence of her Transfiguration essay and put away her quill. "All avowals of disbelief aside – Emma and Amos will receive any possible help from us, won't they?"
"Of course!"
"Sure thing!"
"We're there for you, Emma!"
The girls readily agreed. One after the other got up and hugged Emma until they were huddled together on her bed. Their friend was close to tears again. "I love you, girls. I'm so grateful for your help and understanding – and the dress", she added, half laughing, half crying. Desiree patted her shoulder. "Pleasure, Emsie. But don't say you love us; save that for Amos."
Melissa entered the Great Hall with the usual swing of her hips. The door closed behind her with a surprisingly soft click. Leslie stared at it for another two minutes until she squared her shoulders. "Alors", she muttered. Sirius, who had been leaning against a pillar, stepped beside her. "Ready?"
She grimaced. "Not really…"
"Look at me." As she did, he put his arms around her and kissed her. Just once, very lightly, but nevertheless loving. Then he looked her in the eyes. "Ready?"
She smiled. "Ready." Another squeeze of the hand and she pushed the door open with way more vigour than Melissa. "You swine", she hissed audibly. "I should have known better than to keep company with someone who can't control his hormones!"
"Leslie, wait!" Sirius said insistently. "It was wrong, I know –"
"– how nice for you –"
"– but it doesn't have to change anything between us!"
"Oh, doesn't it? Fine, let's just pretend you didn't snog my cousin!" She turned around, in the middle of the hall, and glared at him furiously. About thirty students watched them in the expectation of great drama. Sirius glanced sideways at Melissa, who bit her lip and got up. "Leslie, we can explain…"
"Shut up! I don't want you to explain anything, you pourriture! So, what excuse do you have, Sirius?"
He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "We had been playing Truth or Dare, and I was Dared to kiss Melissa. Really, there was nothing more to it than that."
"And why would your friends Dare you to kiss her in the first place?" she spat. "They knew you had a girlfriend. Or did they know you had two?"
Melissa gasped. "Don't be ridiculous!"
"How long? How long have you been hooking up, laughing at me behind my back? Silly, childish little Leslie, who never has a clue?" Her voice cracked and those who were near enough could see tears in Leslie's eyes. Sirius stepped forward and tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she swatted it away. "Don't you dare touch me!"
"I have never 'hooked up' with Melissa!" he exclaimed exhaustedly. "I wanted to tell you. I thought a single meaningless kiss couldn't separate us, I thought we were strong enough!"
Leslie constantly shook her head. "You're not putting the blame on me, Sirius Black. My family were right to warn me about you."
"Your family", Sirius said icily. "Of course. You are the wayward offspring, but you still listen to them. That Mondegreen pride you detest so much, it's engraved in your heart just as deeply as in your brother's and sister's. You want us to be over? Go ahead, I don't think it's worth objecting." They glared at each other for another moment before Leslie's hand shot up and slapped his cheek. Emma and Desiree jumped to their feet and held her back, dragged her to the door and left the hall with Jemima and Jolanda behind them. Sirius sat down next to James. Lily frowned at him. "That was abominable, Sirius. Of you, too, Melissa", she added, addressing her roommate. James took her hand. "It's alright."
"Alright?" She drew back her hand. "No, it's not!"
"Please, Lils, not now", James muttered. Remus bent towards them across the table. "Believe him, Lily. We can tell you later."
This evening, neither Leslie nor Sirius could be found anywhere. Desiree was frantic with worry. "Imagine she jumps off the Astronomy tower! Or she goes into the Forbidden Forest to be killed by some slimy, hundred-eyed monster!"
"Don't be silly, Dessie", Emma said, calmly darning a hole in her trousers. "She's more sensible than you are. She'll be fine."
Jolanda gaped at her. "You're her best friend!" Jemima followed. "How can you be so indifferent?"
"As you said, I'm her best friend. I know her better than you do, and I say she will be fine. Now stop pacing a hole in the floor, Dessie. You've got homework to do."
Peter Pettigrew was confused as well (and, as usual, annoyed his friends with it). "Where is Padfoot? He said he was going to put rose hips in his brother's Quidditch robes with me tonight."
"He's very probably making out with a long-legged bird brain in a dark corridor", Lily assumed disdainfully.
She was partly right. The location was a dark corridor all right, but the person in question was neither birdbrained nor did she have exceedingly long legs. Sirius had lifted her from the ground in a passionate embrace. They were both shaking with relief and the remaining shock from the morning. When they finally broke apart, Leslie buried her face in his shirt and breathed in his scent, an odd mixture of manly perfume, starch, and wet dog, to assure herself he was really there. Though fake, their argument had bothered her all day – and him as well, gathering from his breath-taking hug as he pressed his face against her hair. "I still love you", he muttered. "You know that, don't you?"
"I know", she whispered back. "Love you too."
