Chapter 7- Hogsmeade
The week passed quickly again. Tarin said yes when Sirius asked her to Hogsmeade, as everyone except Sirius had known she would. What they hadn't predicted, though, was who James asked: Renee.
When he did, she gave him an odd look. "James, did you get hit in the head with a Bludger at the game? You're in love with Lily, remember?"
He grinned at her condescendingly. "I know that, Ray. Everyone knows that, actually. I just meant as friends. Peter got detention for blowing something up and Remus is staying to do an essay, so I figured you and I could keep each other company."
She grinned back. "Oh, right. Well then, sure, I'd love to be your 'date'. But, er, where did Ray come from?"
He ruffled her hair, which was seriously annoying. Was she five? "'Cause you're a little ray of sunshine, of course."
Fixing her hair and scowling at him, she said, "Yeah, right, and Peter's a butterfly. Please. Now really, where'd you come up with that?"
"Hm... I'm pretty sure it was in the loo, when I skipped Herbology. Why do you ask?" He said with a completely straight face.
She wacked his arm, and was relatively sure it didn't feel like it does when Powell hit a bloke's arm whilst whoring around. She growled, only half-playing. "Now, really, James, what gave you the idea for that nickname?"
Wincing and rubbing his arm, causing Renee to grin to herself, he whined, "Merlin, it's just a nickname. Why'd you have to hit me so hard?"
When Renne didn't offer an explanation, he sighed and gave up the pretense of rubbing his arm. "Merlin, chicks, I swear. Right well, I dislike calling people by their real name. Boring."
She didn't really see the sense in that, but she let him continue. "So, I had to think of a nickname for you. I could've used Nay, as in Re-NAY, but that makes you sound like a horse, so I decided against that." She hid a smile and chose not to tell him that she'd been called Nay-Nay for years.
He pressed on. "So, I used the first syllable. 'Re' in Renee sounds close enough to Ray, so I'm just gonna pretend your real name is Ray-Nay and I'm just lazy." Eying her warily, he asked, "You cool with that?"
She threw her head back as she laughed. "James Potter, you strange strange child, that made no sense."
He pouted at her, obviously not appreciative of being called a strange child.
Grinning, she said, "Oh Jamesiepoo, stop pouting. Of course I'll go to Hogsmeade with you."
She hurried off before he could whine about his new nickname, laughing to herself as he yelled down the corridor after her.
Before the teenagers knew it, it was Saturday morning. James and Renee had arranged to meet in the Common Room at noon, while Sirius and Tarin were going to meet in the Entrance Hall just after that. Currently, it was 11:45 A.M. and Lily was putting the finishing touches on Renee's hair.
"I still can't believe you're going on a date with James bloody Potter," Lily growled as she magically curled Renee's hair.
"For the last time, it's not a date! We're just two friends going to Hogsmeade together because our other friends are busy. Which also means this whole nonsense isn't necessary," Renee said exasperatedly, gesturing to her new ringlets.
Lily sniffed. "Even if it's not a date, and even if it is with that prat, you should look good."
Renee laughed as she freed herself from Lily's clutches. "I know you mean well. Thanks Lils! Have fun shopping with Alice and Mary." With a quick hug, she bounded out the door and down to the Common Room.
She was just in time to catch Sirius before he left. "Oy, Sirius!"
He turned around, looking very nice and nonchalant in casual jeans and a t-shirt. Renee couldn't help but notice that he looked a bit paler than normal.
She grinned. "Breathe, Sirius. Remember, keep it simple. It's not like she'll say no. Good luck." Then she all but shoved him out the portrait hole.
She didn't have to wait long before James came down the stairs, looking boyishly cute with his hair still sticking up all over the place. "Hey, Ray. Sorry to keep you waiting; Padfoot was hogging the bathroom. Shall we?"
"We shall," she said, and they left the castle.
They talked lightly of Quidditch all the way to Hogsmeade. Soon, however, Sirius' plan with Tarin came up.
"I don't think he slept a wink last night, he was so worried," James said, "I've never seen him like this before."
"Good," then on an impulse, she added, "Now if only Tarin were the same way."
He looked at her oddly. "You can't be trying to tell me she doesn't like him. I saw them at the party; they were all over each other. Both of them."
She grimaced, then avoided his gaze, looking out at the village instead. "No, she likes him, definitely... I'm just afraid she doesn't like him as much as he likes her."
When he still didn't seem to see the problem, she explained. "See, Tarin's like a female version of Sirius, meaning she's gone through too many blokes to count. And well, you said Sirius is acting different? Tarin isn't. I'm afraid that in a week, she'll just move on."
James didn't say anything. When Renee finally brought her eyes up to his, he looked angry. Very angry. "Er, James? Talk to me, Jamesiepoo."
"So, you mean to tell that you knew this and didn't try to stop it?" He demanded.
She jerked her chin up, not responding well to his accusation. "Hey now, I didn't say that. I warned him. I really did. I said she might hurt him. He said he could take care of himself. Do you even know how hard it was to warn someone off my best mate?"
"Some best mate," he snapped.
She recoiled as if he'd slapped her. His expression slowly smoothed over and he apologized. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You did everything you could. And you're right, it couldn't have been easy. I'm sorry. Er, I guess we'll just have to hope you're wrong and they live happily ever after."
Renee still felt uneasy, but didn't push it. "Yeah, maybe. Want to go to Zonko's?"
He grinned devilishly. "Do you even have to ask?"
Laughing, they put the topic behind them. After loading up with everything they could carry at Zonko's, they went to the Three Broomsticks. They managed to get a table to themselves in the crowded pub and were laughing about all the possibilities of their new prank items when the door opened and Sirius and Tarin walked in.
Noticing the couple's joined hands, Renee grinned and called them over. They had to budge up a bit, but eventually they were all sitting comfortably at the small booth. Renee didn't miss the fact that Tarin and Sirius were sitting even closer than the small space made necessary.
James seemed to be thinking along the same lines as he gave them a knowing grin and asked, "So, guys, what's up?"
The two in question grinned and, not the type to conceal anything, Tarin said, "Guess who has a new boyfriend?"
Renee smirked. "Who, me? How'd you already know? James just asked!"
Sirius and Tarin both burst out laughing, clearly giddy. Tarin couldn't focus on the joke though. "No, idiot, US! I mean... Me. I guess you didn't really acquire a boyfriend, did you, Sirius?"
Sirius leaned in, though he didn't have far to go, and kissed her. "No, I most definitely did not."
While the new couple got a little distracted with each other later, Renee whispered to James, "I don't know about you, but this has been a bit more cuteness than I can handle at once. Ready to go?"
James nodded quickly and they made their excuses. "Well, as lovely as this has been, the lady and I would like to continue with our date. See you back at the castle."
Leaving the pub, they wandered around Hogsmeade a bit more until the growing darkness forced them to head back to school. On the walk back, James said, "Today was fun."
Renee smiled up at him. "It was. And I even got through it without having to do anything illegal. Not going to lie, I had my doubts. I mean, this was an entire day with a full-fledged Marauder."
"Merlin, how'd you have the courage?" James teased.
She laughed. "Oh, I was terrified the whole time. Scared senseless."
"Somehow, I highly doubt it," James said, laughing with her. They were still laughing when they went to their respective dormitories.
The next month or so was a blur leading up to Easter break. Sirius and Tarin got hot and heavy fast. A couple weeks after they'd been going out, Tarin came up to Renee and gushed all the details of the night before.
"Wait, what?" Renee said, having kind of been tuning her out before that.
"I said, it was romantic and beautiful and just perfect for our first time," Tarin repeated impatiently.
"Woah. You guys already shagged?" Renee asked, confused. "Isn't it a bit early?"
Tarin shrugged. "Not really. I mean, neither of us were exactly virgins before, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Plus, I mean, it's Sirius bloody Black. You try snogging him for two weeks and not going any further. Let me tell you, it is seriously difficult." She giggled. "Siriusly. Haha."
Renee laughed. "Well, whatever floats your boat I guess. Which he clearly does."
Tarin giggled again. Renee asked herself when Tarin had started giggling so much. They hadn't really been hanging out much lately, a fact that Renee had figured Sirius was the source of.
"So, don't you want to know all the juicy details?"
Renee was snapped out of her musings. "Eurgh. No thank you. I was hoping to actually be able to eat. But thanks."
Tarin giggled. Yet again. "What a silly little virgin. Oh well, I need to go tell Sydney anyway. She'll want to know every detail."
She started again. "Who, Sydney Powell? I didn't know you guys talked."
"Sydney? Yeah, we've been friends for awhile. We have a lot of classes together. Didn't I tell you we were cool now?" Tairn asked, looking confused.
"Er, no, must've forgotten. How exactly does that work? Isn't she kind of bonkers about Sirius?" Renee asked, her turn to look confused.
"Eh, she likes him, but what girl doesn't?" Tarin shrugged. "I've gotten used to it and I think she likes having inside information on him."
"And that isn't... weird? Awkward? Just plain odd?"
Tarin shrugged again. "Like I said, I've gotten used to it. Plus, she's really, really sweet."
Now Renee was just astounded. "Er, Tarin, this is the same chick who wanted to disembowel me for talking to 'her man'. How is she sweet?"
"She's really nice about Sirius and she's friendly, and... She's nice okay? It's not like I'm asking you to be her friend, okay?" Tarin replied defensively.
Renee backed down. "Okay, then. Whatever you say, I guess. Hey, I'll see you around; Quidditch practice."
Jogging down to the pitch, Renee prepared to hear about Sirius and Tarin's 'perfect' night again, as she'd pretty much had to listen to double accounts of everything that went on in their relationship. She was somewhat surprised, therefore, when Sirius didn't mention. After a few days and Tarin saying they'd done it multiple times since, Renee was just confused.
One night when they were just hanging out in the Common Room finishing up an essay by themselves, Renee brought it up. "So, Sirius, how's the whole 'shagging Tarin every chance you get' thing going for you?"
Sirius choked on air. "Ahem. What?"
Renee looked at him, amused. "Tarin says you guys have been shagging for days now. I just thought I'd ask, since you haven't mentioned it."
He looked uncomfortable. "Er, it's going well, I guess."
Renee inspected his uneasy expression. "Sirius, are you... embarassed?" When he just went back to working on his essay, she continued. "Are things, you know, okay? If you're like... having issues-"
"Woah, WOAH!" Sirius said, finally speaking up. "First off, Sirius Black doesn't 'have issues' in that department. Just no. Don't even imply it. And second, things in that department are going swell. I just didn't mention it because it's, well, awkward to talk about it with a chick."
Renee laughed. "What, shagging? Isn't that pretty much all anyone talks about these days?"
"Yeah, blokes talk about it with blokes, and chicks talk about it with chicks, but like... Guys talking about it with girls. That's just awkward." He sounded horrified at the thought.
"I'm confused. What's so awkward about talking about it with the other gender? How's it any different?"
"Well, guys and girls do it together. So if they talk about it together, then they'll just end up doing it together."
Renee burst out laughing. "Sirius, that's ridiculous!" When Sirius didn't seem to agree, she went on. "Look at you and I, for example. I do not want to shag you. I'm assuming you don't want to shag me. Mentioning that you and Tarin are shagging isn't going to suddenly make me want to drag you to a broom closet. That's not how it works between friends. No matter if it's you and James or you and me. Just ew."
Sirius laughed. "Oh please, Renee. That's such a lie; everyone knows you're already dying to drag me into a broom closet. And trust me, if I'm involved, it is not ew."
"Now see, was that so hard?" Renee asked, laughing too.
"No, but's that's all I'm saying to you about it. Tarin and I shagged. It was most definitely NOT ew. The end. Good night." And he quickly gathered his stuff and went to his dormitory. Renee laughed all the way up to hers.
AN:/ So, this chapter took FOREVER to write. And about halfway through the chapter, I didn't write for almost six months. So if there's a difference in the writing style... Oops, I guess? Anyway, hope you enjoyed. This chapter definitely wasn't filler, right? Well maybe a little at the end, but it's something I've always wondered about. I mean, it's true, right? There is some gender separation in those conversations. Or is that just me? Anyway. Tell me your thoughts. Or at least the ones that pertain to this story. I mean, I guess you could use the review space as your own personal thought blog, but that's not very useful. No offense to your thought process or anything.
AHEM. Anyway. Review. KTHANKSBYE :)
-Nikky