Monday, December 12, 1977
"So what're we doing today for Operation Blackdonald?" Peter asked as he settled into his seat in Transfiguration.
"Did you come up with that, Pete?" James asked, taking a seat and pulling his homework out of his bag.
"Yeah, but it sounded better in my head," Peter said hastily. "We don't have to use it if you think it's stupid."
"Are you kidding? I think it's perfect," James said, and Peter beamed.
"I think we should make sure they're both in the common room and then leave them alone," Lily said. "Maybe get their favorite snacks and set it up so we're all going to do our homework or play Exploding Snap or something, except we all make excuses and disappear."
"But what if one of them leaves once we've all left?" Remus said, frowning. "How can we make sure they both stay and talk and enjoy the snacks together? I guess maybe if they think we're coming back..."
"Padfoot better hurry if he doesn't want to be late," Peter said, casting a nervous glance at the door. "When he was late last week, McGonagall said next time would be a detention."
"Mary too," Lily said, frowning and reaching for James's hand to check his watch. "She's on McGonagall's bad side, too." She sighed and added, "I can't believe she's going to Slughorn's party with Eddie Edgecombe. I still feel like I should try to convince her to ditch him."
"No, don't," James said, flashing her a reassuring smile. "I think it'll work out to our advantage, actually. Slughorn's party might be the perfect situation for them to finally get back together." At the front of the classroom, McGonagall cleared her throat, but James ignored her and continued to speak. "Get them dressed up and a bit drunk, and forced to spend the evening with people they don't really want to be with, and I don't think we'll even have to do much except maybe distract their dates."
Lily took the seat in front of James, but turned around in her seat and whispered, "I hope you're right, I really do, because I can't take much more of this."
"I'm right, Evans, don't worry," James said, leaning forward to touch her arm. "I usually am."
"Mr. Potter, what topic of conversation could be so interesting that it has caused you to completely miss the fact that class has begun?"
James turned to find McGonagall standing beside him, her lips pressed into a thin, hard line as she stared down at him over the edge of her glasses. Unabashed, he ran a hand through his hair and smiled at her.
"Well, professor, we're working on a plan to get Sirius and Mary back together," he explained. "We haven't worked out all the details yet, but we're hoping to make it all happen by Slughorn's Christmas party, so-"
McGonagall held up a hand, and James fell silent.
"Potter, that was a rhetorical question," she said with a sigh. "If you choose to meddle in your friends' love lives, that's your business, not mine, but please discuss it later, because I am going to start class now, and this lesson requires your full attention."
She bustled back to the front of her room, shaking her head and muttering under her breath while James exchanged a sheepish look with Lily, Remus, and Peter. McGonagall had just called for the class's attention and began to discuss the homework when the door of the classroom swung open to admit Mary. She scurried to take the seat next to Lily, bringing with her a whiff of cigarette smoke. She slid down in her chair in an attempt to deflect detention, but it was futile, as McGonagall had stopped mid-sentence to fix her with a stern glare.
"Miss Macdonald, class began three minutes ago," she said, looking past Mary to the clock on the wall.
"Sorry, professor," Mary said, pushing her hair out of her face and fumbling in her bag for her homework and textbook. "I was-"
Before she could offer an excuse, the door banged open and Sirius dashed in, dropping his bag onto the floor before sitting down beside James. He still wore his leather jacket over his uniform, and he smelled even more strongly of cigarette smoke than Mary did. When he realized McGonagall was watching him, expectant, he shrugged in resignation.
"This time's a detention, isn't it, Minnie?"
"Black, how many times have I asked you not to call me Minnie? And yes, it is a detention. You too, Macdonald."
"But-" Mary began.
"No buts. My office, 7:00 tonight. Now, kindly take out your homework, Mr. Black, because we have a lot to do today, and we've already lost a good five minutes to interruptions."
Once McGonagall had turned her attention to the board, James leaned forward and tapped Lily's arm. She turned and shot him a pointed look over her shoulder, and James knew she was thinking the same thing he was: Thanks for the help with Operation Blackdonald, Minnie.
"I need a bit of help with a different plan," Remus said, setting down his bag and swapping out his shirt and tie for his favorite cardigan. "Seven really wants to go to Slughorn's party so she can meet Rosie Roberts. Her friend is going, so I thought great, they could just go together as friends, but he's planning to ask Abby Gamp."
"He already asked her," Peter said, a note of apology in his voice. "I overheard them at lunch."
"Why don't we just sneak her into the party?" James suggested, flopping down onto his bed after changing into his Quidditch clothes. "It's not that hard. She's small and doesn't attract attention. Slughorn won't even notice, I bet."
"Hmm…" Remus sat down on the edge of his bed and considered this suggestion. "I don't think she'll go for it. She likes to do things by the book, you know?"
"She could get someone else to take her," Sirius suggested. "What about Jeffrey Broadmoor? His bloody dad is coming. I bet he won't want to look like the sort of loser who can't get a date."
"I don't know if I want Jeffrey Broadmoor taking her," Remus admitted. "He's a bit of, well…"
"An arsehole?" Sirius finished. "Yeah, fair point. Well, who else is there? Bertram Aubrey? Merlin, that's even worse."
"What if she doesn't have to go to the party to meet Rosie Roberts?" James said, standing up and retrieving a Quaffle from his trunk and beginning to toss it from hand to hand. "What if there's another way?"
Remus waited for him to continue, but when James remained silent he prompted him,"What other way?"
"Hang on, I'm thinking," James said, tossing the Quaffle to Sirius with only a brief glance as warning. He watched Sirius lurch sideways to catch it, then reached up and caught it easily when he sent it soaring back. "What if we organized a meet and greet before the party? So they could just chat without having to deal with idiots like Padfoot who only want to meet her so they can ogle her cleavage?"
"How dare you!" Sirius jumped up onto his trunk to continue the game of pass. "I want to meet her so I can tell her I admire her Quidditch abilities and tell her off for leaving the Cannons. Ogling her cleavage is just an added bonus." He twirled the Quaffle in his hand as he smirked and added, "Besides, I'm more of an arse man, everyone knows that."
"A meet and greet is a really good idea, actually," Remus said, a grin spreading across his face. "She'd love it. But how could we manage that?"
"I think I can get Sluggy to set it up," James said, jumping straight into the air to catch the Quaffle. "If Evans puts in a good word, too. Leave it to me, Moony." He tossed the Quaffle onto his bed, then headed for the door. "I'm off to practice. Have fun in detention, Padfoot."
Sirius scowled as he loosened his tie and threw it down onto the floor.
"I'd almost forgotten about bloody detention," he muttered, removing his shirt and tossing it over his shoulder, where it landed in a heap beside Remus's bed. "Why couldn't McGonagall cut me a break?"
"Well, she cut you a break last week," Remus said, picking the shirt up gingerly and placing it on Sirius's bed. "I'd say she's exhausted her break-cutting quota for the next month."
"At least you won't be alone," Peter pointed out. "You and Mary can keep each other company."
"I dunno." Sirius pulled on a t-shirt and threw on his jacket, trying not to think about how much the idea of Mary keeping him company appealed to him. "If she starts talking about Eddie Edgecombe's sexual preferences, I'm walking out. Come on, I suppose I should attempt some homework before I have to go and do whatever McGonagall has planned for the evening."
At twenty to seven, Sirius snapped his book shut and made his way out of the common room. He intended to smoke a cigarette first, and Mary had apparently had the same idea, because when he drew to a stop next to the window near the Fat Lady, he found her leaning against the wall lighting a cigarette.
He nodded at her without speaking, then lit a cigarette and rested his arm against the wall next to Mary, exhaling smoke into the chilly evening air. They smoked in silence for a minute before Mary glanced over at him and brushed a lock of hair out of her face.
"What do you think McGonagall would do if we showed up late, stinking of cigarettes?" she asked. "Maybe some extra horrible punishment, like scrubbing the floor tile with toothbrushes or something?"
"Nah, I bet we'd just get a lecture about how disappointed in us she is," Sirius said, tapping his cigarette against the windowsill to dispel a bit of ash. "Maybe ask if there's anything we need to talk about. That's even worse than scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush, if you ask me."
"Bloody hell, you're right." She sighed and blew out a long stream of smoke, then smiled and tilted her head sideways to look at him. "How have we never had detention together before?"
Sirius considered this, running through the many detentions he had accumulated over the years. "We haven't, have we?" he said, laughing. "I guess we're better at staying out of trouble than we give ourselves credit for."
"Guess so." She looked as though she wanted to say more, but instead she stubbed out her cigarette and flicked the butt out the window. "You coming? We'd better hurry if we want to avoid the lecture."
Sirius took a final drag on his cigarette before setting off down the corridor next to Mary. It felt natural, walking with her this way, and for a moment he could pretend they were back to the way they used to be. He almost lost his head completely and pinched her when she bent down to retrieve her dropped wand outside of McGonagall's office, because she looked extra nice in this particular pair of trousers, and it would be so easy to just reach out and do it. But instead he knocked on the door, then held it open for Mary when McGonagall beckoned them in.
"Don't get too comfortable," McGonagall warned them as Sirius began to sit down in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "You're going to be helping Madam Pince in the library tonight."
"Oh, no, but I was looking forward to spending the evening with you!" Sirius said, and he heard Mary emit a soft snort of laughter. "You're my favorite professor to serve detention with, Minnie."
"You're already in detention, Black," McGonagall said, her mouth twitching the slightest bit into what might have been a smile. "Don't push your luck."
Madam Pince led them to a small room off the library, filled with various piles of books, and set them the task of sorting through each one and setting aside those with bent pages, loose spines, or spills. After issuing her brisk instructions, she bustled away and left them alone in the cramped room, sneaking glances at each other as they tried not to topple over any of the precarious piles of books.
"You want to take this stack and split it in half?" Sirius suggested after a moment, clearing a space for them on the floor and taking the top half of a stack of books.
"You think Pince is going to track down whoever folded these pages and tell them off?" Mary asked, paging through the first book in the pile to find half the pages dogeared. "I feel like she's one of those people who thinks dogearing a book is up there with murder."
"Moony, too," Sirius said, flipping through his first book and setting it aside without bothering to give it more than a cursory inspection. "They should start a campaign to rid Hogwarts of the page-folding delinquents."
"Lily's a page-folder," Mary said, leaning in and lowering her voice as if imparting juicy gossip.
"I know," Sirius said, grinning as he examined a second book that had several loose pages. "I tried to warn Prongs, but he insists on dating her anyway." He picked up one of the fallen pages and jammed it back into the book, then set it aside and reached for the next book. "Mind you, I'm not above throwing books at the wall when I'm angry, but at least I use a spare bit of parchment to mark my page like a decent human being."
She raised her eyebrows at his mention of throwing things at the wall, but she didn't comment, instead pointing to a mysterious crusty stain in a biography of a famous Potioneer.
"Do I want to even guess what this is?"
She held the book up to his face but he batted it away in disgust.
"Ugh, get that away from me," he said, laughing. "Someone absolutely wanked off on that book and you can't convince me otherwise. Merlin, imagine going at it and thinking, 'Where can I do this? Oh, I know, right on this fucking book!'"
"And where's the correct place to do it?" Mary asked as she nudged the book into the corner of the room with her toe.
"You Vanish it like a normal bloody person," Sirius said, incredulous. "Come on, Macdonald, everyone knows that."
"Imagine the look on Pince's face if she found out people were treating her books that way," Mary said through peals of laughter.
When Sirius picked up the next book a scrap of parchment fluttered out of its pages, and Mary picked it up and examined it curiously.
"Anything interesting?" Sirius asked, craning his neck to read it.
"Nah, just a to-do list," she said, tossing it aside.
"Is 'wank off onto a potions book' one of the items on it?" Sirius asked, balling up the parchment and tossing it at Mary's head.
She snatched it out of the air and tossed it back at him, giggling. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound, but it had already attracted Madam Pince's attention, and she poked her head in the room to frown at them and admonish them to be quiet. Once she retreated again, Sirius and Mary exchanged a look before returning to the books, still grinning. They sat close enough for Sirius to catch a whiff of Sleekeazy's every time Mary pushed her hair out of her face, and he savored the familiar scent, letting it bring him back to all the nights and sleepy mornings and lazy afternoons Mary had spent with her head on Sirius's chest and her hair tickling his nose.
"I feel bad I'm not staying for Christmas," she said after a while, breaking the silence. "I'm a shit friend, not being there for Remus."
Sirius could see the guilt etched in the frown lines on her face, and her concern for Remus made him feel a sudden urge to push her hair out of her face and put a comforting arm around her. He picked up another book to give his hands something else to do, flipping idly through the pages.
"You don't have to feel bad," he said, his voice earnest and devoid of his usual sarcasm and humor. "He'll have the rest of us. And you've got to be there for Melanie." He hesitated, feeling the weight of everything they had been through together hanging there unacknowledged. "How is Melanie, by the way?"
Mary laughed, shaking her hair and sending a stray curl tumbling into her face. "She's Melanie," she said with a shrug. "About the same as always. She's moved back into her flat and has stopped seeing that bloke, so that's good, I suppose."
Sirius heard the relief in Mary's voice despite her best attempts to feign indifference, and he felt a grin spread across his face.
"I'm glad to hear that. I know I…" He trailed off, unwilling to offer a full apology for his sharp words about Melanie, although he had a nagging suspicion he would need to do so eventually. "Well, I'm glad to hear it."
Mary nodded, acknowledging both what was spoken and unspoken.
"Thanks, Black," she murmured, her eyes lingering on his for a moment before she returned her gaze to the books in front of her. He could sense she wanted to say more; he could almost hear the words she couldn't speak aloud, but like him she either couldn't or wouldn't muster an apology now.
They resumed their quiet examination of the books, both of them offering a comment every so often when they stumbled upon an interesting bookmark or another unusual stain, but they didn't discuss anything more substantial than musing over the recipient of a flirtatious note they discovered pressed into the pages of a Muggle Studies book. When Madam Pince told them they were free to go, Sirius strolled back to the common room with Mary beside him, smiling in spite of an evening spent doing a tedious exercise. He had a lightness in his step that hadn't been there before, and words crowding his brain begging to be spoken. At some point he would have to let them all tumble out, he knew this, but tonight he was content to walk in companionable silence back to the common room, enjoying the fragile friendship they had regained.
Thursday, December 15, 1977
"Are you lot ready for the next step of Operation Blackdonald?" James asked, lowering his voice conspiratorially..
"I don't think us forcing it is doing much good," Remus said. "But what do I know?"
Lily shrugged. "It seems like they made progress after serving detention together. Mary was laughing her head off telling me some of the things they talked about. Of course, she shut up as soon as she saw the smug look on my face, but still."
She looked up and saw a bunch of mistletoe nestled over the doorway, then glanced at James and pointed up at it.
"I've just remembered, there used to be mistletoe bloody everywhere during Christmas, but last year I don't remember seeing any at all," she said, frowning. "And now this year it's back again."
James drew to a stop and reached for her hand, an unabashed grin on his face.
"Well, yeah, I used to put it up everywhere," he said without self-consciousness. "I even bribed a couple of the prefects to put up extra one year when they helped with decorating. But last year I was trying to be a bit less obnoxious, so I held off on the mistletoe, but I figured it couldn't hurt to put a few up this year, since it's really just an excuse to snog you."
"You don't need an excuse to snog me," Lily muttered, but then his lips were on hers and his hand was in her hair and he didn't seem to hear.
Remus ignored them, rolling his eyes. "I'm just saying, if we don't play this right, it could make things worse."
"You worry too much," James said, releasing Lily and setting off towards the common room once again. "Doesn't he, Pete?"
Peter nodded. "Maybe a bit. Although some people - not me, mind you, but some people might say you and Padfoot don't worry enough"
Remus grinned. "Yeah, I'm some people. But I'm still on board with the plan, just please note my concerns so I can privately gloat if things don't go as expected. So we're going with the Exploding Snap idea?"
James glanced backwards and saw Sirius hurrying towards them, so he merely gave a small nod in reply before slowing down so Sirius could join them.
"Padfoot, we're blowing off homework tonight to do a huge Exploding Snap tournament," James said, his face lit with excitement. "We can get snacks and pull over an extra table so we have enough room, and whoever loses the most rounds at the end can do an embarrassing punishment, to be determined."
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "What about the Transfiguration essay?"
"I figured you wouldn't mind pushing it off until tomorrow morning," James said with a shrug.
"Well, no, I don't, but I figured Moony would," Sirius said, frowning.
"I'm fine with it," Remus said, and Lily could tell he was striving for a casual tone although he hadn't quite succeeded.
"Well, I'm all for encouraging Moony's delinquent behavior, but I've just told Tremblay I'll meet up with her in a bit," Sirius said, a hint of resignation lurking behind his smirk.
"Ditch her," James said, running a hand through his hair and sounding entirely unconcerned. "This is a matter of utmost importance."
For a moment Lily thought Sirius was going to argue, because even to her ears James's words sounded ridiculous, but instead he shrugged, looking relieved.
"Yeah, all right," he said, looking back over his shoulder to see if he could catch sight of her. "I suppose I should go tell her…" His voice contained very little enthusiasm at the prospect.
"Don't worry, I'll handle that," James said, giving him a reassuring grin and a thumbs up. "I'll meet everyone back in the common room with snacks. Peter, you're in charge of setting up the game area, and Evans, can you make sure we have an even number?"
He bounded away before anyone had time to argue. Sirius looked around at all of them, his eyebrows knitted in suspicion, but Lily did her best to pretend she didn't notice.
"Evans, I know what you're up to," he began, but she fixed a puzzled frown on her face while determinedly avoiding meeting anyone's gaze.
"We're not up to anything, other than avoiding responsibilities," she said. "Now quit looking at me like that and help me think of a good punishment for the loser. Except it can't be too good, in case I end up losing."
When they got back to the common room, Lily dashed up to the girls' dormitory while everyone else gathered around the fire to set up for the game. The sound of one of Lily's ABBA albums filled her ears as she opened the door to find Mary, Olivia, and Anne gathered around Olivia's bed, comparing several pairs of earrings. When Mary caught sight of Lily, she held a pair of large gold hoops up to her ears and said, "Lil, what do you think of these for Slughorn's party?"
Lily pretended to consider the matter. "Nah, I think you should wear those sort of tinsel ones shaped like Christmas trees," she said, sitting down on her own bed across from the three other girls. "Eddie will love it."
For a moment, Mary's face went blank, as though she had forgotten who had invited her to the party in the first place.
"Sod you," she muttered, handing the gold hoops back to Olivia. "I thought you would be wearing those. They seem right up James's alley."
"Then wear the gold ones," Lily said. "And now that we've settled that pressing issue, do you fancy joining us for some Exploding Snap? We're making a whole evening of it and it'll be better with one more person."
"And that extra person has got to be me?" Mary asked, eyebrows raised.
"Of course it doesn't have to be you, but what else do you have to do tonight? Come on, you may as well join us. James will just harass you until you change your mind."
She stood and held out a hand to Mary, and after a moment her friend took the proffered hand and got to her feet before following her down into the common room. James had returned with snacks, and Peter was dealing out six piles of cards when the two girls sat down to join them. Lily and James exchanged a look before James grinned at Mary and suggested she go first.
"We'll be right back," James said after the game had proceeded for around ten minutes.
He glanced at Lily and raised his eyebrows, and together they stood and crossed to the portrait hole before exiting out into the corridor.
"You didn't bother to even give an excuse?" Lily asked. "You don't think that will look suspicious?"
James shrugged. "I assume they'll just think we're going to snog. And they don't have to be wrong…"
He laced his hand through hers and pulled her a little ways down the corridor to wait for everyone else. A few minutes later, Remus emerged from the portrait hole and came over to join them.
"I pretended to be meeting Seven," he explained. "I dunno what Pete's going to use for an excuse, though…"
They waited until Peter stepped out into the corridor looking flustered.
"I couldn't think what to say to get out of there," he said, leaning against the wall next to Remus. "It's easy enough for you lot to pretend you're sneaking off to shag."
"So what did you end up saying?" Remus asked.
"Told them I was going to the loo," he muttered, blushing.
"Pete, what are they going to think when you don't come back?" James said, roaring with laughter.
"I couldn't think of anything better," Peter said, laughing in spite of himself. "Anyway, if this works they'll be too distracted to care where we've gone to."
"Right, let's get under the Cloak and try to sneak back in to see what they're doing," James said as he pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and held it out for everyone to gather underneath.
"Don't be stupid, we're not all going to fit," Remus objected.
Peter glanced sideways at him and grinned."Is that a fat joke, Moony?"
"Oh, sod off, of course it's not a fat joke," Remus said, exasperated. "I'm just saying, there's no way our feet won't show."
"Well, you're the one who's freakishly tall, so that sounds like a you problem," James said, pulling Lily close and scooting back so Peter could squeeze in beside them. "Just hunch over and we'll be fine."
Remus sighed and crouched down next to Peter so James could drape the cloak over all of them. With Remus hunched over it just covered all four pairs of feet, although Lily had to hang onto James to avoid toppling over, and Remus and Peter were pressed together and both looked extremely uncomfortable.
"How are we going to get through the portrait hole like this?" Lily asked, stifling a giggle in case laughter brought them all toppling to the floor.
"Very carefully," James said before giving the password to the confused Fat Lady and taking a tentative step forward, taking care not to step on the end of the Cloak. "Evans, you come next."
Lily followed him through the portrait hole, holding tightly to his hand, then reached down to help Peter through. Once Remus followed them through and they did a quick check to make sure they were still hidden, they shuffled forward, moving at a glacial pace. They almost gave themselves away when Peter bumped into the wall and Lily started laughing too hard to move. When she got herself under control they continued to inch into the common room, navigating around a group of first years until they could crouch down behind an empty sofa and peer around it to watch Mary and Sirius. If Lily strained she could just make out what they were saying.
"Either Peter fell in, or they gave us a load of rubbish excuses to get us alone," Mary said, casting a glance at the door before returning to shuffling her cards. "That sounds like something Lily and James would do, doesn't it?"
"Oh, that's absolutely what they're doing," Sirius said as he reached for one of the biscuits James had brought back from the kitchens and took a bite. "I can always tell when James is up to one of his plans, it's so obvious. I just didn't have anything better to do tonight, so I figured I'd just go along with it."
Lily recalled Sirius telling them about his plans to meet up with Stacy this evening and nudged James, eyebrows raised. He seemed to have had the same thought, because he gave her a meaningful look and nodded.
"What was that look for?" Peter whispered.
"Weren't you listening?" James said, rolling his eyes. "He said he had nothing better to do, but he told us he had plans with Stacy."
"They're going to hear us if you both don't shut up," Remus muttered. "Although I don't know that it matters, seeing as they know this was all just a ploy to get them together."
James and Peter both fell silent and returned to peering over the top of the couch, but the hopeful grin didn't leave James's face.
"I suppose it serves us right," Mary was saying. "After all the ridiculous things we tried to get the two of them together. Snogging in front of them and spying on them and Merlin knows what else."
"Those things weren't ridiculous," Sirius protested, grinning and stretching his legs out in front of him. "They ended up working."
Mary laughed and pushed her hair out of her face. "That doesn't make it any less ridiculous."
Their eyes met for a moment, and Lily could almost feel the mutual attraction and longing passing between them. She glanced at James; the expression on his face made it clear he was noticing the same thing. He reached for her hand and squeezed it, and his face contained the same sense of earnest hope and joy that she had seen there so many times before, when he decorated the dormitory for Christmas or talked about the strategy for an upcoming Quidditch match or when he had hovered outside her window on a broomstick and recounted the reasons he liked her. James believed Sirius and Mary were meant to be together, and he had never given up on them, in spite of the shouting and retaliatory shagging and the belongings flying through the air. Lily felt a smile creep over her face as she considered James's relentless faith, even in the face of seemingly impossible obstacles.
Sirius said something inaudible, and all four of them leaned forward to try to catch his words. In the process James caught the edge of the Invisibility Cloak under his elbow, and for a few seconds the top of his head was revealed. Lily clamped her hand over her mouth to suppress her laughter while James gave the cloak a hasty tug to fix his error, but both Sirius and Mary had gone quiet and were staring at the sofa with identical expressions of suspicious amusement on their faces.
"Bloody hell," James muttered. "I think they've spotted us."
They watched as Sirius reached into his bag and retrieved several bits of crumpled parchment, then tossed them at the sofa and landed them on the taut section of the Invisibility Cloak that covered their heads. He continued until there was a small collection of crumpled parchment seemingly floating in midair. Grinning, Remus reached up to dislodge the parchment, but James shook his head and gestured at the door. With slow, deliberate steps, they retreated back across the common room to the portrait hole, managing to keep the parchment balanced on top of the Cloak although they nearly lost one bit when James had to come to a sharp halt to avoid running over a third year. When they made it out into the corridor, the Cloak tumbled off of them as they leaned on each other, laughing.
"That was the dumbest thing we've ever done," Lily said, wiping away tears of laughter. "I can't believe I was a part of that."
"Sorry to inform you, but that wasn't even close to the dumbest thing we've ever done," Remus said, adjusting his cardigan which had become askew during the time crammed underneath the cloak. "It definitely wasn't smart, though."
"Shall we go back in, then?" Peter asked, frowning.
"Yeah, but don't say anything about us spying on them," James said. "Just play it off like everything's normal."
"Right, because they didn't notice the pile of crumpled parchment just floating in midair," Remus said, rolling his eyes, but James ignored him and led the way back into the common room.
"Sorry about that," he said, taking his usual seat and reaching for his abandoned pile of Exploding Snap cards. "Do you remember whose turn it was, or should we just start a new game?"
Sirius and Mary exchanged a look as the rest of the group returned to their seats, repressing laughter.
"We're really just going to pretend that didn't happen?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrows.
James frowned down at his cards. "What didn't happen?" He thought for a moment, then selected a card and threw it down onto the table. "I'm pretty sure it was my turn. Can you go on that, Padfoot, or are you going to be the first loss of the evening?"
Lily watched out of the corner of her eye as Sirius and Mary exchanged another look, and somehow the mutual exasperation was more intimate than physical touch. James put his arm around Lily, and the half-smile on his face told her he had noticed the current of attraction between their two friends. She smiled to herself for a moment, marveling at the success of James's ridiculous plan, before she settled back into her chair and focused her attention on the game.