Main Characters:

Michelle 'Shelly' Evans - Sophie Gehrmann

Regulus Black - Timothee Chalamet

Lily Evans - Sophie Skelton

James Potter - Aaron Taylor Johnson

Marlene McKinnon - Lily James

Dorcas Meadowes - Sofia Bryant

Remus Lupin - Andrew Garfield

Peter Pettigrew - Dane DeHaan

Sirius Black - Ben Barnes


Sunday 11th April 1976 - 5th Year

"Shelly, come on. It's Lily - let me in,"

Silence.

Lily's shoulders drooped, her fist dropping away from the door as she gave up on getting her sister to answer the door. Clearly, she needed more time to herself. Making her way back down to the common room, she could only shake her head when the others looked up expectantly. The room was mostly empty, apart from 6 worried 5th years, all slumped on different plush sofas and armchairs around the room.

All of the other students were outside, enjoying the rare bit of Spring sunshine they got between the many downpours of April. The 6 of them had been about to make their way outside as well when Shelly, Lily's twin sister, had sprinted into the room with tears rolling down her cheeks and great sobs making their way out of her mouth. She had ignored their calls, pushing past them and running straight upstairs to her shared dorm.

"What do you reckon happened? I've never seen Shelly cry like that," James was sitting sidewards on one of the armchairs by the fire, his legs kicking up and down as he looked at the girls' staircase with worried eyes.

"I've never even seen her cry at all. She's never been one to burst into tears like that. Something really bad must have happened," Marlene was sitting next to Dorcas, resting her head on the other girl's shoulder. They had started dating only a few months ago, and they couldn't be happier. They had actually planned a small picnic to celebrate their 5 month anniversary but had put it on hold in worry for Shelly, one of their best friends.

It was silent for a few more minutes, no one daring to speak as they tried to listen for any movement coming from upstairs. Eventually, they couldn't stand it and began to talk quietly among themselves. After a while of this, Lily was about to offer to go knock on the door again when the portrait swung open and Sirius ran in, his face red and his chest heaving as stopped to catch his breath.

"Sirius, mate. What the hell is going on?" James had swung his feet off the side of the chair he sat on, standing up as he stared at his best friend in shock. Sirius never looked this much of a mess, even after a long Quidditch match. He was always the definition of perfection, never a hair out of place. The same couldn't be said about him now. His hair was a wild mess, probably one of the most shocking sights any of them had seen today. Shelly crying was one thing, but Sirius was obsessed with his hair and never let anything happen to it.

It took a while for Sirius to get his breath back, bending over slightly, hands resting against his knees, before he looked up, scanning the room. When he came up empty-handed, his face dropped but looked over at the next best thing - Lily.

"Where's Shelly?" His voice was raspy, great big puffs of air going in and out of his mouth as he looked at her expectantly.

Lily looked at him, confused. "She's in her dorm, won't let anyone in. But, Sirius, why-?"

She never got a chance to finish her question, Sirius rushed past her, running up the stairs. He only got halfway before the steps turned into a long slide. Falling forwards, he slammed his chin on the stone before sliding back down to the floor, cursing. Without even thinking of the consequences, he morphed down into a massive, black dog. Ignoring the astonished shrieks of the girls, he ran up the stairs, a burst of triumph blooming in his chest when the stairs didn't change into the slide.

When he found the dorm he was looking for, he stepped off the stairs and changed back into his human form, instantly knocking on the sturdy wooden door. "Shelly! Open up!"

Silence.

He wasn't surprised, knocking again. "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking and it didn't mean anything, I promise. I love you!"

Back in the common room, everyone's eyes widened at his words. Suddenly, Shelly's crying and Sirius' dishevelled appearance made sense. Lily's face grew murderous, and she stormed towards the girl's staircase but she was stopped and pulled back. She struggled, cursing at the person as she tried to pull free, screaming insults in Sirius' general direction, knowing he would hear them

"Lily, stop! You can have it out with him after. Let Shelly have a go at him first," James said, his grip strong as he pulled the furious girl away from the staircase, forcing her into an armchair.

Inside, the dorm room, Shelly could hear every insult her sister screamed up at Sirius and, despite herself, couldn't help the amused smile that spread across her face. She was lying on her bed, pillow squished between her arms as great, fat tears rolled down her face. The smile soon slipped off her face when Sirius' voice overtook the loud insults, his voice full of sorrow and regret.

"Shelly, you know I love you. The girl - she was nothing! A mistake!" His voice had a tinge of desperation in it as his persistent knocking slowly came to a stop. "I'll leave you alone. We'll talk later,"

His last sentence sent a burst of anger through Shelly's body, and she sat up, throwing her pillow away from her as she hopped off the bed. Her anger only grew as she approached the door. He was sorry? It didn't mean anything? We'll talk later? Did he seriously think she wanted to talk to him? He acted as if what he had done was simply a mistake that could be fixed with an apology - as if he expected her to forgive him.

Throwing open the door, she quickly spotted him. He had just been about to morph into his animagus form, but she had stopped him in his tracks, a relieved expression taking over his sorrowful one as turned to face her.

"Shelly, thank god-." He was cut off when she whipped out her wand, digging into his chest as she stepped forwards, forcing him to step back. His left foot touched one of the stone steps and before he could say anything else, he was flying down the slide with a girlish shriek.

As soon as he touched the floor of the Common Room, the slide turned back into the stairs, and Shelly followed after him, keeping her wand pointed defensively in front of her. The rest of her friends looked relieved to see her but she could barely smile at them before she turned to look at Sirius with a furious expression. He had lifted himself off the floor while she was walking down the stairs and was now staring at her with a weary expression.

"You seriously think that you could cheat on me, and then simply apologise when I find out? You weren't even trying to be discreet! You knew there was a chance someone would catch you-!" Shelly's eyes widened. "Did you plan this? Did you want to break up with me but you didn't have the balls to do it? You wanted me to catch you so I would do your dirty work for you!"

Sirius stared at her in shock. "What, no! Why would I do that?"

"I don't know - it would certainly make a lot more sense than just mindlessly cheating on me. At least you would have a reason for why you cheated on the girl you claim to love! What's your reason if you didn't do it to break up? Did you just get bored? Well, did you?"

Her voice had risen to a hysterical shout as she pointed her wand at him, her hand visibly shaking. Despite her anger, she had started crying again. Swallowing, she tried to force the tears away but only managed to make herself hiccup. She could barely get any more words out without a hiccup interrupting her. It was the last straw for her as she finally allowed herself to burst into tears, crumpling down to the floor.

Immediately, Lily rushed over, shoving Sirius out of the way as she knelt next to her sister, enveloping her in a tight hug. Shelly's sobs grew louder as she buried her face into her twin's shoulder. Everyone stood in silence, watching the two girls with sad eyes. Sirius stood, shocked, mouth opening and closing repeatedly, as he tried to think of something - anything - to say.

"I hate you, Sirius Black. I hate you."

The words were muffled by the material of Lily's cardigan but everyone in the room heard as if it had been shouted. Everyone, except Lily and Shelly, turned to stare at Sirius. He looked as if he had just been slapped in the face, his mouth hanging slightly open as he stared at the top of Shelly's head. He seemed to be waiting for her to look up and say she was only joking, to say she forgave him and that everything between them was fine.

But, of course, she didn't

Adam's apple bobbing slightly as he swallowed, he looked around the room, trying to catch someone's eyes, but they were all either looking at Shelly with sad eyes or simply avoiding his desperate gaze. Eventually, he gave up, breathing in deeply as he tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling before storming past everyone and slamming open the portrait.

The Fat Lady's angry shouts could be heard for a moment before the portrait closed once again and then the room was silent, the only noise being the occasional sob, followed by Lily's whispered voice.

One thing was silently agreed on as everyone looked at each other.

The dynamic of the group had been changed forever.


A/N:

Just a little clarification of the last sentence. Before Shelly and Sirius started dating, they had both been part of the 'boy group' and the 'girl group'. They had all been friends but the groups never really mingled apart from when James proclaimed his love for Lily, obviously.

When Sirius and Shelly started dating, the groups kind of reluctantly merged and after a month or so, they all became really good friends. They basically became one big group but, now that the S + S, who are the reason the groups merged, have broken up, the group won't be the same.

Does that make sense? Please let me know if you're confused.

- MPL