Talking
The pranks continued nonstop for the next couple of days. The ones who weren't joining in had learned to be careful and stay out of the way. After Fred, George, and Skyler had all been on the receiving end of two simultaneous pranks, which literally exploded, they decided to call a truce.
Even after the truce, though, the pranks hadn't stopped. The trio of pranksters combined their efforts into pranking others.
"Bloody hell!" Remus cursed under his breath as he walked into the dining room, where Sirius was reading a paper.
Sirius looked up to see his friend covered in green slimy goo. He couldn't help himself, he burst into laughter. Remus shot him a scowl, but to no avail.
"She really is your daughter," Remus stated as he took out his wand and removed the goo. "You definitely weren't kidding when you said she acted like you," he continued, sitting down by his friend.
"Why would you think I was?" Sirius asked, setting down his paper.
"I didn't," Remus retorted. "I was hoping."
"Sorry," he muttered, without much enthusiasm. "You have to admit, though, it does liven the place up," Sirius added with a smile. Remus looked at his friend intently.
"So what exactly happened with Maria?" Sirius' face fell, but Remus didn't back off. "I knew you guys were involved, but you never even hinted at having a kid."
"I know, and I'm sorry," Sirius told his friend solemnly. She found out she was pregnant during seventh year. We wanted to keep it a secret until we graduated. Of course, Lily figured it out, and told James. We convinced them to not say anything. When Skyler was born, we made James godfather, but with the war we didn't want to put her in unnecessary danger. So..."
"You kept her a secret," Remus finished.
"Yeah."
"So why did Maria leave? You two were always so close."
"I don't know," Sirius answered honestly. "She'd been acting weird, distant even, for a while. Then one day, they were gone." Sirius paused, taking a moment so his emotions wouldn't get the better of him. "I found this note from Skyler, but nothing from Maria." He handed Remus a piece of paper.
It was a child's messy handwriting.
Dad,
Mum says we gotta go. I be back tho! I LOVE YOU!
Sky
"Wow..." Remus muttered as he read the note. He handed Sirius the note back. "That was it?" he asked, unable to believe Maria wouldn't have given a reason.
"I didn't see or hear from either of them until I saw Skyler a couple years ago."
"How did she find you? What did Maria say?"
"I'm not sure how she did. I guess she just tried where she thought I'd go," Sirius answered. "I still haven't heard from Maria, and neither has Skyler."
"What do you mean?" his friend asked.
"Skyler said Maria left pretty much the same way several years ago."
"I can't believe it," Remus muttered.
"Neither can I," Sirius agreed.