Chapter Seven

Friends and Enemies

I thought Professor Flitwick's class would never end.

Charms – while not an easy class – was a tedious one, and, more often than not, my mind wandered during lessons, much like I was doing now. It didn't help that the classroom had also become distracting as of late; since we had entered our N.E.W.T. year, the class sizes had gotten smaller now that students had either dropped courses or failed to qualify for N.E.W.T.-level, which meant that a lot of our classes were now shared by students from all four Houses, instead of our traditional two. Normally, I would've been fine with this, except nearly all of my lessons had at least one Marauder in them, if not all. And unfortunately, I was stuck with all four of them in Charms. I'd made sure that Hestia and I had gotten seats as far away from them as possible, especially since Potter kept making secretive winks to me whenever he was in my vicinity, and I didn't feel like explaining to her why.

Flitwick's class was also tense due to the presence of Sera, who had bestowed a cold glare on Hestia and me before purposefully taking a seat in the back next to one of the Slytherin students. I couldn't help thinking how fitting that was, but a part of me still hoped that she wasn't entirely gone, that she could still come back to us somehow. That hope was quashed, however, when she whispered something to the Slytherin girl she was sat next to, and they both sneered at me when they saw me looking.

I glared back before turning to the front again, dabbing my quill in some ink before beginning to doodle on the edge of the parchment I had taken out for notes. I was so focused on sketching out my flower that I barely noticed the glistening ink at the top of the paper before it had faded away: Boring class, eh?

The words vanished after several seconds, and I was left staring at a blank piece of parchment again except for my doodles at the bottom.

What the bloody hell was that? Had N.E.W.T. year already cracked me within the first week back at school?

My eyes widened when more words appeared at the top of the parchment.

Stop gawking at your paper. You look mental.

I snapped my mouth shut, my eyes narrowing again. Someone was using my parchment to communicate to me within the classroom, which meant that they were here with me if they could see what I was doing. And I had a sneaking suspicion of who it was.

What do you want, Potter?

My words faded into the paper, and a few seconds later the hasty reply was scrawled back.

How'd you know it was me?

I glanced up at Flitwick, but he was still droning on, so I responded.

A lucky guess. Seriously, what do you want?

Don't you mean Sirius-ly? Haha.

I refrained from snapping my quill in half.

I will kill you.

That wouldn't be very productive for our partnership, would it?

Is there something you'd like to say, or are you just trying to annoy me?

Why, is it working?

I whirled in my seat to glare at Potter, who gave me a cheeky wave from the left-side of the room. Pettigrew was zoned out next to him, his eyes glassy, while behind him, Lupin was studiously taking notes, and Sirius (it was still weird to refer to him as his first name) seemed to be making origami figures out of his parchment paper.

Just kidding, he scrawled back. Sirius said you had Saturday night free. Meeting at midnight? I'll send Sirius with the cloak again.

Fine. Can I go back to taking notes now?

Sure. Later, Georgie.

I sighed in relief, only to scowl at my paper as Potter wrote again.

P.S. Sirius says hi.

My face warmed. I turned slightly to see Sirius wink at me, wagging the paper crane he had made proudly. I gave him a thumbs-up before quickly facing the front again, my cheeks still flushed, and wondered if I would make it to Saturday without spontaneously combusting first.

Saturday arrived far too quickly. I'd kept my secret meeting with the Marauders at the back of my mind all week, but when the sun fell below the horizon and the hours whittled down to midnight, my nerves returned. I still hadn't told Florence and Hestia about my little rendezvous, but whenever I opened my mouth to explain what was going on, the words were caught in my throat when I realized that I had absolutely no clue what was going on, either.

"G, you're suffocating your knight," said Florence from where she sat across me, a game of wizard's chess between us.

I loosened the hold on my black horse's head when the chess piece squirmed uncomfortably in my hand.

"Sorry," I said to it before placing it on the board.

Florence shook her head, clucking her tongue. "And now you've sacrificed your knight to my queen."

I looked on disinterestedly as my knight was kicked ceremoniously off the board to join the rest of the black pieces piled on Florence's side, her collection considerably larger than mine. Though Florence was the best chess player of us all, I usually never lost to her this badly. She seemed to notice too, for she sighed and sat back in her chair.

"You're not even trying, Georgie," she complained. "It's no fun this way."

"Sorry," I repeated, sitting back as well and turning to stare out the window, lost in thought.

Hestia looked up from her Charms homework and kicked my shin lightly. "Why so distracted, G?"

I've made a deal with the devil and now I don't know how to get out of it, I wanted to say, but I just shrugged instead.

Florence snickered. "Don't worry, Hess, she's probably just thinking about Sirius Black and how best to dissect him."

"I really don't understand your fascination with him, Georgie." Hestia shook her head. "There are probably a million blokes exactly like him around the world. He's not that special."

"I'm aware," I muttered, my mood souring by the second.

I sensed them exchange a glance behind my back, but I didn't really care. I'd spent years trying to rationalize my interest in Sirius Black, but I was never any closer to conjuring an answer, if I would ever get one at all.

Hestia and Florence left me alone to brood for the rest of the evening. At eleven-thirty, they called it quits and bid me goodnight before disappearing up to our dormitory. Deciding that I should probably get a move on, as well, I stood up and stretched before making my way to the door of the common room. Before I had a chance to reach for it, it swung open of its own accord, and the person allowed entry scampered inside so quickly that they ran straight into me.

A glimpse of silvery blonde hair alerted me instantly that it was Sera, and whatever scowl that had been on my face earlier deepened as she straightened and made eye contact with me. I noticed suddenly that it looked like she'd been crying, but any former feeling of friendship that would have prompted me to ask her if she was all right was gone as soon as her face twisted into a sneer.

"Watch where you're going," she snapped at me.

"My bad," I said scathingly. "Forgive me if my lowly half-blood status wiped off on your pure self."

She rolled her eyes, moving past me, but I was already in such a foul mood that everything that had been left simmering under the surface now came to a boil.

"What were you doing out so late, anyway?" I called after her. "Did your new Slytherin pals want you to perform a blood sacrifice for your initiation? Or did they rather you just torture a few firsties to prove you're one of them now?"

"Shut up, Georgie!" She whirled on me, and I thought I saw a glimmer of fear in her eyes before it was gone, her expression one of purest loathing, and despite my anger it still hurt to see my former best friend looking at me with such disdain. "If anyone in this school thinks that they're better than everyone else then it's you!"

"Look me in the eye and say that again," I said, my hands clenching into fists by my sides. "At least I'm not the one lining up to get my Dark Mark like you and your new friends."

"Sweet, witty little Georgie," she said derisively, her eyes sparking with blue fire and her pretty face contorted in a snarl. "You're so clever, aren't you? Such a good girl, who does everything that's always asked of her. Is that why Sirius Black has taken interest in you? Because you'll let him do anything to you?" She snorted. "And I thought he liked a challenge, but I guess easy birds who lift up their skirts at his beck and call work, too—"

"You're despicable," I hissed. "Have you always hated me this much, Sera, or did Mummy and Daddy finally manage to brainwash you into the perfect little pure-blood princess you were always meant to be?"

"Leave my family out of this, Georgie!"

"Or what?" I yelled back.

Her eyes narrowed, and her expression turned dangerous.

"Pray you never find out," she said lowly before whisking away up the girls' staircase.

I kicked out at the table next to me, satisfied when my shoe managed to chip off a big chunk of the wooden leg before storming out of the common room, the guilt from that one small action already making the anger drain from my body.

How did Sera end up like that in the span of a few short weeks? What had happened over the holiday to morph her into such a terrible person? The part of me that considered her a friend was already feeling guilty over what I had said to her, of what I had accused her of, but the rational part of me knew that this wasn't okay. This wasn't her. My mind drifted in the direction of the Imperius Curse, but her family wouldn't do that to her.

Would they?

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't even see Sirius until I bumped into him at the bottom of the staircase. He didn't even stumble, he was so much bigger than me, but I had to reach out and grab the banister to right myself.

"Careful, Georgie," he said, smirking. "It could've been anyone at the bottom of this staircase instead of pretty ol' me."

"Just take me to Potter before I regret any of this," I said wearily, allowing him to throw the Invisibility Cloak over us and lead the way down the corridor.

"What's got you in a mood, eh?" he asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I muttered, not even attempting to deflect his question. I was in a mood, and there was no use hiding it.

He snorted. "What, did you get an E on an essay or something?"

I ignored him as the dull embers of my anger flared again. The last thing I wanted was to have a screaming match with Sirius after I had just had one with Sera, but he kept pushing.

"C'mon, Georgie," he said, bumping my shoulder with his. Normally I would've started hyperventilating at that point, but all I felt was tired. "You're being pensive, even for a Ravenclaw."

"How do you deal with it?" I blurted out. "Your family and your brother are all Slytherins, but you're not. How do you handle it?"

He didn't speak. I looked at him questioningly to find him staring straight ahead, his face stony and his mouth pressed into a hard line. I wanted to kick myself; everyone knew Sirius didn't get along with his family, and I had stupidly brought up the one thing he wouldn't want to talk about.

"Never mind, you don't have to answer that," I said hastily. "I just—" I sighed, shaking my head. "I thought I knew someone who turned out to be so different, and now I have no clue what to do."

He took my advice and didn't answer, and we spent the rest of the walk in silence. By the time we reached a tapestry of a knight riding a unicorn on the fourth floor, I was feeling distinctly awkward, but he merely pulled the tapestry aside and all but shoved me inside a passageway I had never seen before.

We removed the cloak to find Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew sitting on the floor, playing cards. Lupin's wand tip was illuminated to give them some light, and after we had entered the passage, Sirius waved his wand and muttered, "Muffliato."

"What is this place?" I asked, looking around in confusion.

"Secret passageway," Potter said proudly. "We found it in our first year."

I shook my head, not even surprised at this point; the Marauders had always been notorious for sneaking around at night, I'd heard, so it would make sense for them to know more about secret passageways in this castle than anyone.

"Come sit, Georgie," he said, patting the floor next to him. "Let's get down to business."

I sat beside him reluctantly, sitting at an angle so my dress wouldn't expose anything. Sirius took the space on Potter's other side, next to Pettigrew, who seemed to be steadfastly ignoring me.

"So," Potter said, clapping his hands. "What do I do?"

I stared at him blankly. "Erm, what?"

"About Evans!" He looked at me hopefully. "How do I get her to be with me?"

"Firstly, by not getting her to do anything," I said. My row with Sera had made me more blunt than usual, but that didn't seem to deter him. Instead, he rested his chin in his hands and listened to me carefully. It was oddly endearing, in a way, and it softened me up a bit as I continued. "You have to understand that she's her own person. It's admirable to want her, but you shouldn't be forcing anything on her. It has to be her choice, too."

I paused, letting the words sink into his brain, but also to congratulate myself a little bit. I had worried that I would end up rambling incoherently, but that was actually a solid piece of advice I just gave. Maybe this wouldn't be a complete disaster after all.

Potter seemed put out for a moment, but he recovered quickly. "Yeah, of course. I mean, it'd be devastating if she never wanted me – I'd be heartbroken and probably die soon after and end up withering in a grave and mourning for lost love for an eternity – but I see what you're saying."

Rowena, I'm sorry for tainting the reputation of Ravenclaw by agreeing to this partnership with James Potter. Please forgive me.

"Er, yeah," I said. "And maybe instead of publicly declaring your undying love for her every Tuesday, you could try, I dunno, treating her normally?"

He looked as if he had never heard of the word normal before. "But then how would she know that I have feelings for her?"

"Something called subtlety?" I suggested. "You know, by hinting at it. Think of it as…leaving clues for her to find or something."

"So, a scavenger hunt?"

"Not a literal one," I said hastily before he got any ideas. "Just…you know, little things. Dropping a compliment during casual conversation. Brushing her arm and smiling as you walk by. Those sorts of things."

"You're saying I should take it slow then?" He had a strange look on his face that made me think he had never taken anything slowly in his life.

"Yeah. Like, keep it natural. Gradual. Let her warm up to you, then form a friendship out of that. And who knows? Maybe by then, she'll want it to go further."

To his credit, he seemed to be taking in everything I was saying with an open mind, and I couldn't help but breathe a tiny sigh of relief. Potter was perceptive when he wanted to be, making my job much easier.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said, nodding approvingly. "Now, let's talk about you, Miss Valentine."

I internally groaned. I had almost forgotten about my side of the deal.

Potter produced a slip of parchment from his pocket with a flourish. Skeptical, I took the paper and unfolded it, my eyes skimming the contents. "What is this?"

"That, Georgie, is your new holy book for this term," Potter said proudly. He gestured to the other boys. "A specially curated list made by the Marauders themselves. A checklist of ten ways of how to have fun."

I looked back down at the parchment. In a messy scrawl were ten lines of writing:

Use your prefect privileges for evil.

Prank your brother.

Purposefully skive a class or assignment.

Swim in the Black Lake at night.

Sneak into the Forbidden Forest for a midnight stroll.

Embarrass yourself in front of a crowd. Learn to laugh at yourself.

Play a late-night pick-up game of Quidditch.

Book it from Filch at least once.

Find a secret passageway and use it.

When you've learned how to have fun, write 'Mischief Managed' on this paper for a special surprise.

"What on Earth…" I made a face. "This is ridiculous! Almost all of these involve some sort of rule-breaking, or—or troublemaking! I'm not doing this!"

"I told you she wouldn't approve, James," said Lupin with a faint smirk in the other boy's direction.

"That's the point," Potter said, beseeching me. "How can you expect to have fun and live a little if you're always following the rules?"

"I've gotten by just fine, thanks," I said. I thrust the parchment back at him. "Keep your stupid list. I dunno why I ever thought this was a good idea in the first place."

I got to my feet with a huff. Potter scrambled after me. "Wait, Georgie! You didn't let me finish explaining!"

"You have thirty seconds before I'm gone," I snapped.

He grinned nervously, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "You won't be doing these by yourself. One of the conditions for this list is that you're always to be accompanied by a Marauder for whatever task you do. That way, if something goes wrong, one of us will take the fall for you."

I stared, my mouth a firm line while he grinned sheepishly. "Look, Remus told us about how much your future matters to you." I glanced at the sandy-haired boy, who shot me an apologetic grimace. "You can't afford a black mark on your record. That's why we agreed to be involved in case anything happened. Write-ups, detentions, whatever—we'll take the blame off you."

I looked around at the four boys. Potter seemed so earnest when he said it. Lupin gave me an encouraging nod. Pettigrew grudgingly did the same. I met Sirius's eyes. Uncertainty churned in my gut. A small part of me still wondered if there was a catch, a hidden clause I wasn't aware of when I agreed to my partnership with Potter, but his gaze held nothing but cool surety.

"You're sure about this?" I asked Potter warily. "I mean, you promise?"

He pressed a hand over his heart and nodded. "Solemnly swear."

He held out the list to me. I took it hesitantly in both hands like it might bite me. Again, I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but something about Potter's utter confidence, his ability to make anything sound appealing, urged me to take another plunge and trust him once more. If he was serious about being my friend, about protecting my stellar record, then I had no choice but to believe that he wasn't setting me up for future disaster.

"All right." I took a deep breath. "I'll do it."

He whooped, slapping me on the shoulder with so much force that I yelped and clutched at the stinging pain in my arm. "Shit! Sorry, Georgie!"

I waved him off as the other boys got to their feet around us.

"And on that note," said Sirius wryly, "I think we can adjourn and head up to bed."

Potter nodded. "We'll reconvene in two weeks to check up on each other's progress."

The boys packed up and made ready to move out. I saw Lupin extract a ratty piece of parchment from his pocket, but Pettigrew's big head got in the way, so I couldn't see what it was. The three Gryffindors then ducked out of the tapestry, leaving me alone again with Sirius.

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded, and he threw the cloak over us before leading the way out of the passage.

The walk back to Ravenclaw Tower was even more torturously silent than the last. I found myself gazing out of the white-washed windows as we picked our way through the corridors as there was nothing better for me to do. We had just reached the landing of the seventh-floor corridor when he finally spoke.

"I left," he said suddenly, making me jump at the unexpected sound. I turned to him in bewilderment, but he didn't make eye contact.

"What?" I said.

"The answer to your question," he replied. "About how I handle my family all being Slytherins: I left."

"You left," I said slowly. "You left…them?"

He nodded tightly. "Over the holiday. I moved in with James and his parents."

I blinked, shocked. "Why are you telling me this?"

He shrugged, seemingly unbothered, but I could see the strain in his eyes. "You asked."

I chewed on my lower lip, not even realizing how slow our pace had gotten until we stopped randomly in the middle of the corridor, each lost to our own thoughts.

"Oh," I said eventually. "Um, I'm sorry."

He shrugged again, his jaw tight, and I decided it would be best if maybe I left him alone.

"You know what?" I wriggled out from under the cloak. "I can take it from here. I'm a prefect, no one will bother me, anyway. Thanks, though."

"No, sorry," he said, beginning to walk again and forcing me to shuffle along with him. "I didn't mean to make things weird. We're almost there, and James would kill me if he knew I had let you walk alone at night."

"It's Hogwarts," I pointed out. "It's not like anyone's going to kidnap me."

He sighed. "Will you just let the Gryffindor do the chivalrous thing?"

I cracked a smile at that. "Fine. Lead on, O Brave One."

"Never say that again, O Wise One."

I laughed, and he turned to me, pleasantly surprised.

"So, she does laugh?" he said. I looked away, embarrassed. "I thought laughing was forbidden among Ravenclaws – too distracting from studying, I reckoned."

"Your preconception of House stereotypes is wrong, then," I said with a small, teasing grin.

We reached the base of the Ravenclaw Tower staircase. This time, he let me slip out from underneath the cloak. He did the same, stowing it in his pocket while I grabbed the railing. Our last goodbye the first night I met with his friends sat in the back of my mind, but this moment didn't feel as dreadfully awkward. He'd shared something personal with me tonight, and maybe I was mad, but it had felt like a small truce had sprouted between us.

"When do you reckon you'll start?" He nodded to the list still clutched in my hand.

"Dunno." I fiddled with the paper, flipping it over and over. "Soon, I expect. I wasn't exactly given a timeline, was I?"

He shrugged. "Who knows? James isn't exactly the planning type. He usually just charges forward headfirst, leaving the rest of us to follow and make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

I laughed. "He truly is a Gryffindor."

"I thought we weren't stereotyping, Ravenclaw?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

"Funny." I flicked my list. "I should probably head up now." But I stayed on the bottom step, once again caught in the gravitational pull that was Sirius Black.

He tilted his head. A shaft of moonlight caught his grey eyes, turning them silver. "Someone expecting you or something?"

"No. Maybe. I dunno." I shook my head. "Er, thank you again. For walking me back. And for telling me…"

"Don't mention it. It's not exactly a secret that I was disowned, isn't it?" He smirked.

"Still." I floundered for words. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"Like I said, don't mention it." He took a step back from the stairs. "Goodnight, Georgie. I'll see you 'round."

Before I could reply, he disappeared into the shadows, and I frowned at the spot where he'd vanished, ignoring the feeling that I'd just been yanked out of orbit.

"Goodnight, Sirius," I said.

Hestia, Florence, and Sera were all asleep when I crept inside our dormitory. I changed quietly and pulled the hangings around my bed closed before holding my wand aloft and whispering, "Lumos."

I used the light from my wand to read over the list Potter had given me, my eyes tracing over each word, each letter, until I had them memorized by heart.

Eventually, my eyes drifted shut, sleep finally lulling me under. I slipped into unconsciousness, my wand still gripped in one hand with the list in the other, and my dreams filled with moonlight and silver eyes.