Chapter Fourteen – Cara

Making Friends

I let Rose go; she needed space. I wanted nothing more than to run after her, to apologise for screaming at her, but the boys would have questions and I couldn't just leave them.

"Guys, I'm sorry. We never wanted you to get dragged into this mess and if you want nothing more to do with us we'll understand," I said slowly, looking at them all. I could feel tears forming in my eyes as I spoke. The thought of losing the only friends we had ever had was killing me, but as much as I wanted them around I wanted them safe much more. I knew Rose would feel the same way. She never wanted anyone to get hurt for her. I guess I was the same, though, while I hated the idea of anyone getting hurt for me, I'd die to protect anyone I loved or cared about. If I could I'd have taken Julian's place – I would have in an instant – or even mum or dad's place. I would have done anything to save them.

"Ca, I don't care what you've done or who wants to hurt you; I'm not going anywhere. You can't scare me off that easily," Remus said softly, coming over to where I now stood alone and wrapping his arms around me. "You're not alone; you'll always have me. No matter what," he whispered so only I could hear. He let go and pulled me back down to sit on his lap once more. Sirius was looking worriedly at the door as if he wanted nothing more than to follow Rose.

"She'll be fine; she just needs some space. This is hard on her. She's been forced to accept it and that's not easy. Give her a few more minutes okay?" I spoke softly, mainly as I didn't want to hurt his feelings, but Rose needed some space; this was harder on her than it was on me.

"Okay, and for the record, there is no way in hell you two are getting rid of me." He sounded more normal now and even managed a small grin. James looked at Peter and nodded. Peter looked worried, but nodded back.

"Looks like you're stuck with us, like it or not. Bet you didn't see that coming, seer girl," James said. I smiled at his lame joke, but it seemed to ease the tension that had formed at our confession. I looked around at the boys and felt lighter than I had in months. We weren't keeping anything secret now and we still had the marauders.

"Thank you. It means a lot to know we have you on our side," I whispered, so softly I thought they might not hear, but they heard and smiled at me.

"What are friends for?" James asked, before going, "Now can we please go down to dinner? I didn't get any lunch and I'm bloody starving." The boys laughed and grinned. I looked at him incredulously.

"You think about food at a time like this?"

"Well, it is dinner time, Cara," he said, as if that explained everything. I stared at him for a moment before turning to Remus.

"Is he being serious?" I asked. Food was the last thing on my mind; how could he be thinking about eating?

"I think you'll find I'm Sirius; he's James. Really, Cara, don't you know our names yet?" Sirius teased with a grin. I laughed and we stood up. Remus grabbed my hand and held me back as the others left. When they had all left he faced me. My heart started beating faster as I wondered if he would kiss me again.

"Cara, you are the most amazing person I have ever met and I wanted to ask you something. Will you go out with me on Friday night?" he looked me right in the eyes as he spoke, but I could tell he was nervous. I looked in to his gorgeous brown eyes and saw my own scared face looking back.

"Remus, I want nothing more than to go out with you on Friday." I reached on tiptoes as I spoke and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around my waist and my arms snaked round his neck as the kiss deepened. It may have lasted seconds or days but all I could think was that it was amazing and I didn't want it to end. But of course it did. Sirius, James and Peter came back in looking for us. Damn. Why did they have to come in then?

"Are you coming to dinner or what?" Sirius asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. I looked at him sheepishly and nodded. We all left the room (this time) and walked to the Great Hall. We were halfway there when Rose appeared. I gave her a smile as Sirius grabbed her by the waist and kissed her. He whispered something to her so quietly I couldn't hear but whatever it was it made her smile.
We reached the Great Hall and the boys walked in. Rose and I stopped outside, staring. I couldn't go in there; not after lunch – never again. I knew Rose felt the same. Looking at the floor, I spoke.

"Library?" Rose nodded and together we made our way up to the library. When we got there, we sat down, unsure of what to do. I remembered we had an essay for charms and transfiguration to do, so I pulled my work out and began the transfiguration essay on vanishing spells. Rose quickly did the same and together we worked in silence. After a while, Lily Evans came in and sat down at our table.

"Hi," she said shyly. "I think we got off on the wrong foot the other day and I just wanted to tell you that I'd quite like to make friends with you."

"We did, didn't we? It's our fault really; we didn't even try. Sorry," I said quietly.

"Hey, we'll make more of an effort from now on. After all, we flower girls have got to stick together," Rose teased with a smile. We got back to work, chatting with a relaxed ease. When we finally finished we walked back to the common room to see the boys.

Once we got there, Sirius and Remus were in the middle of a game of chess. I walked over to watch them and Rose ran off to get her own set to play with Lily. We started a tournament, one that ended up lasting all night. Lily fitted in with us perfectly, but she made to leave as soon as the tournament was over.

"I'll see you guys in the morning; I'm going to bed," she called over her shoulder.

"Night," we all called, before turning to face each other. With Lily gone the tension was unbearable. It was as if an elephant was sat in the room with us. We sat in silence for a nearly five minutes before Rose finally spoke.

"So, how are we turning Grey's office into a swamp?" The boys all shared incredulous looks as she tried to carry on like today had never happened. I wanted nothing more than that. So I launched in to discussion with her over how we could do it.

"Girls, are we going to pretend all that didn't happen?" Remus asked. Rose and I shared a look before nodding and saying in unison, "For now please." That was all they needed and we launched back into the plans. Turning his office into a swamp would be harder than what we were doing to the toilets on Saturday, after all, and no pranks were ever easy to begin with. Most needed careful planning. We spent the night making plans and not once did we mention what had happened. At about two a.m., we went up to bed. We were exhausted but I knew that, like me, Rose was dreading sleep and what would come with it.