When Sirius woke up the Friday after Halloween he had little to no memory of the night before, and he preferred it that way. He didn't feel worlds better as he had hoped, but definitely had improved. He woke up earlier than usual, his dry throat begging for a glass of water to quench his thirst from the night before. As he got up to pour himself a cup, James Potter opened his eyes, hazel meeting grey as Sirius sent him a silent request to keep quiet for now. He wasn't ready to talk about it. James nodded, rolling over to try and catch a little bit more sleep before they had to wake up for classes that afternoon.
Lily woke up in her room, having come in later than the rest of the girls and so not gotten the chance to be updated about the events of the night prior. She yawned loudly, but forced herself to get out of bed. Her and Alice had alchemy that morning, an extra course that they had both decided sounded interesting and would be nice to add on. It would have been nice, that is, if it hadn't been such a small class that Severus Snape, who had also signed on to take it, was in there as well. Not to mention the fact that defense against the dark arts was with the Slytherins in the afternoon, meaning that Fridays were always Lily's least favorite day of the week. Having to see Snape after everything that had transpired between them was not the easiest for her.
"Lily, you ready to go?" Alice asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. Her friend was already dressed and ready, but always waited around for Lily to come down to breakfast on Fridays.
"Yeah, just let me have a quick shower and then we can head down for breakfast?"
Alice nodded, sitting patiently on the edge of her bed as Lily yawned again and moved towards the bathroom. Once she'd finished the two girls snuck quietly out of their room, allowing their roommates to continue sleeping. They made their way to the great hall where Lily picked at some oatmeal, trying to ignore the black eyes that she knew were always on her. She wasn't stupid, Severus hadn't stopped thinking about her, and she had rarely stopped thinking about him. But every time she considered this her mind reminded her of the simple fact that Severus Snape, her best friend for so many years, had called her a mudblood. And she couldn't shake it, couldn't drop it, couldn't pretend it hadn't happened and go back to ignoring all the warning signs that he had exhibited before that pivotal moment in their relationship.
"Lily, you alright?"
Lily looked up, realizing that she hadn't been listening to a word Alice had been saying.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I was just asking you about your paper." Alice bit her lip, not the best at bringing up awkward conversations, but she plowed through anyway.
"If he's bothering you, we can leave. I'm not very hungry anyway."
Lily shook her head.
"No, I can't leave the room every time I see him. It's not practical. Thanks though Alice, it means a lot." She smiled and Alice reached out and squeezed her hand.
"Of course. Come on, let's get to class anyway. I have to ask Professor Vector about the essay for next week."
"Alice, she hasn't even officially assigned it yet." Lily laughed as Alice began packing up her work, preparing to head towards the Alchemy classroom.
"She told me about it when I saw him the other day though and I just want to make sure I did it right."
Lily's laugh like bells carried over to the young man with the dark eyes. They became ever darker as he remembered that this laugh would never ring for him again. It was a problem of his own making of course, but he couldn't help but glance at the other end of the table to a boy whose hangover did nothing to quell the glow in his eyes. He couldn't help but see the bedhead which fell in such a perfect way, the easy-going smile that became so sinister when in Snape's presence. And he couldn't help but blame him for starting that fight in the first place, for starting the countless fights that had made his blood boil to the point that he called his best friend in the world something unforgiveable. And before he realized what he was doing he was shooting a hex across the table which knocked that moron James Potter on his ass, bats shooting from his perfect nose on which his glasses rested so carelessly like the rest of his demeanor.
As everyone laughed at the boy's misfortune Snape joined in with them, clutching his side with his housemates as his moronic friend Pettigrew tried and failed to undo the curse. He got a few looks shot his way from the professors in the room and from the Gryffindor table, but he ignored them. He made his way towards the exit and his Alchemy class with Lily Evans, a new spring in his step with his mind locked on those perfect green eyes, shiny red hair, and smile that made him melt into a puddle of himself when he saw it. And with James Potter's bat boogers still creating chaos in the Great Hall he thought to himself that he could and would do anything to win her back, and he would win her back.
Snape was staring at Lily more than usual throughout the class. His intense stare was so uncomfortable that Lily didn't hear a word that Vector said for the final half, just staring eyes front trying to ignore the black beetles boring into her skull from the other side of the classroom. The minute Vector announced the class's end Lily left, not glancing back at Alice who had grown increasingly worried by her friend's blank expression.
"Lily" The familiar voice saying her name was like a dagger in her heart, but she turned around. How could she not turn around?
"What do you want Severus?" It came out a lot colder than she maybe intended, but she didn't regret it.
He seemed shocked all the same, like he hadn't really expected her to stop for him.
"I just..." He was at a loss for words, just staring.
Lily was growing impatient. He took a deep breath, about to speak when another familiar voice shot through the conversation like a bullet.
"Lily! I've been working on my potions essay, but I'm honestly useless. Can you look it over for me?"
"Get out of here Lupin." Snape said, not trying to hide the venom in his voice.
"Oh, Severus, didn't see you there. Hey, you're good at potions take a look at this for me." He shoved some papers in Snape's face, a murderous look crossing his countenance as he turned his attention away from Lily and onto Remus.
"I know exactly what you're doing Lupin, but this is none of your concern." He said.
"Actually, when you make a friend of mine uncomfortable it becomes my concern. You've lost somebody I understand." He lowered his voice to a whisper, trying for the comforting angle, but Snape was not interested.
"You understand nothing." He said, that same venom creeping into his face along with his manner of speaking.
"I've lost people too" Remus kept going, unfazed.
"You have no idea what I've lost." Snape responded, getting closer to Remus in his anger.
"You're right. I can't tell you that I understand what you're going through, but Lily has moved on and you reminding her of that is only making things worse for her. Leave her be."
Snape was about to say something else when he looked up and realized that Lily wasn't standing by his side anymore. He looked around finding that she had left in the midst of Remus' distraction, just as Remus had intended. He pulled out his wand, a cold fury entering his eyes. Remus looked back calmly.
"Whatever you plan to do to me I promise you I've been through worse. So shoot bats out of my nose if you want, but it won't change the fact that Lily doesn't want to speak to you right now. In fact, it will probably make that worse."
Snape looked at him in shock, wand still up and ready in an attempt to look menacing. But he bit his lip, thinking once again of Lily's resigned face, hatred in her eyes at first, then pity. He changed his mind, lowering his wand and not striking this time, straightening his tie as he spun on his heel, cloak billowing behind him. Remus stared as he walked away, taking a deep breath and rubbing the back of his sore neck. That interaction had taken a lot out of him, energy he really didn't have in the days preceding the moon, but Lily was worth it.
Sirius took his time getting downstairs that morning, not even leaving the dormitory until around 11:30. He was in bed for most of that time, but he didn't sleep, the hazy memories from the night before reminding him that he had certainly embarrassed himself, although he wasn't sure exactly how. He thought he remembered Marlene being there, but he didn't love the idea of that given their shaky status at the moment, so he ignored the thought, pushing himself downstairs to make sure he got some lunch before Defense Against the Dark Arta. He was no good when he was hungry, and being hungry and hungover did not make for the start of a good day.
When he arrived in the great hall a good majority of his classmates seemed to have had a similar morning to him, limping through their hangovers to get some food in their stomachs. The lucky students with no Friday classes were grabbing some toast before retiring to the darkness of their rooms for the remainder of the day for a much-needed rest. Meanwhile, a lot of the sixth years like him were pushing themselves to get through the rest of the Friday before the freedom of the weekend finally encompassed them. He looked up and before he could stop himself, locked eyes with Marlene McKinnon. She didn't look away, and he desperately wanted to win the silent exchange, but was forced to look down. The awkwardness of the night before was about the only thing he was able to grasp.
He made his way over to James, Peter and Remus. He knew Remus had class in the morning on Fridays, poor bloke, and James was an early riser anyway, so he had probably dragged Peter out of bed that morning to get in some extra quidditch practice before the match next weekend. Peter hadn't been improving much, and Sirius had been doing whatever he could in the stands to help him along. The one day they had tried to ease up it had been a disaster to rival Peter's tryout, so since then they had fallen into a routine of Sirius giving Peter the help he needed, while he and James made up lie after lie about why Sirius wanted to be at every practice. It had been working so far, but Sirius could tell Walsh was starting to get suspicious. He took his seat across from James and next to Remus, an awkward look passing between the four boys at his arrival.
"Alright, what's the damage?" Sirius asked, grabbing a sandwich and some pumpkin juice, faking nonchalance at the obvious consequences of his drunken night of fun.
The boys glanced between each other before James took the lead.
"How much do you want to know?" James asked.
"Enough to make amends if need be." Sirius replied matter-of-factly.
"It was scary mate. You were talking about your family, well your mum and dad. We got you upstairs pretty quickly when you started to break down." James started.
"And…well Marlene helped us get you up there." Peter spoke up.
James shot Peter a look. "Yeah, I was getting to that."
"Bloody hell. She saw me like that?" Sirius asked, eyes darting to the blonde girl across the table, who seemed to have him constantly in her peripheral vision.
"Yeah. And you sort of…" James glanced at Remus who sighed.
"You told her you loved her. And that you were sorry." Remus finished.
Sirius looked at her fully now.
"Well, that's not too bad. Thanks for looking out Prongs, Moony, Wormtail."
They all nodded, looking at Sirius as if he might fall apart again at any moment. The shell of the boy they knew from the night before having been replaced once again by Sirius' confident façade.
"I'm fine guys, don't worry. Just had a little too much, I won't make that mistake again."
James snorted at that.
"Or at least, next time I won't be a bloody mess on the floor."
He chewed on his sandwich, but pushed it away, more nauseous than hungry.
Marlene grabbed him on the way to class, pulling him into a small alcove behind a tapestry of some famous wizard or other. Sirius had never been one to pay attention to the history of magic.
"We need to talk." She said matter-of-factly.
"I'd really rather not." Sirius replied, wincing.
"Sirius Black embarrassed? That's a new color on you." She said.
"Look whatever I said I'm sorry, but everyone says stupid shit when they're knackered. I'd love it if we could just forget about it and go back to tolerating each other like always. You go your way and I go mine." He said.
He knew they hadn't just been tolerating each other lately, they had been a lot more. But he cared too much about Marlene to keep leading her on the way he'd been. Before he could leave, she put a hand on his chest, stopping him.
"I can't do that." She said.
"Marlene, I'm not a one girl type of guy." He said, trying to be clearer.
"Who says I'm a one guy type of girl?" She asked, biting her lip as she glanced ever so subtly towards his.
"I can't ask you..." He tried, but Marlene held up a hand, cutting him off.
"We're not dating Sirius, never were, but we have fun, don't we?" She asked.
"Yeah, we do." He said with a mischievous grin.
"So, let's have some fun then." She said.
He leaned in, but she put up that pesky hand once again, stopping him.
"Just as long as we know where we stand." She said.
Sirius nodded eagerly.
"Understood." He said.
He pulled her in for a hard kiss, desperate, having missed the taste of her lips on his. She responded in kind, strawberry lip gloss mixing with cigarette smoke as the two worked to capture the memory of each other behind the tapestry.
They ended up late for Defense Against the Dark Arts, his raging hangover only slightly dulled by the intense makeout session. Marlene seemed to share the sentiment, having had a lot to drink herself at George's party and then even more once she returned. And Sirius had to stifle his pride just a little bit when he noted the amount of exhausted sixth years surrounding them. He glanced at James, who wore the same goofy smile, the pride of a party well-done to the point where everyone in their year, save a few people who didn't feel like partying on a school night, were struggling to make it through the next day. As Professor Carraway began his lecture the group of students fell into a bored and exhausted stupor, many of them laying their heads down on their desks, heads aching and stomachs reeling from the night before. It didn't go unnoticed, and by the middle of the lesson Carraway woke the students with a rap of his pointer on the desk.
"That's better. What is with all of you today?" He asked as James and Peter shot awake, having practiced quidditch that morning on top of everything else.
"We're just having a hard time sir…" Peter said.
"Yeah, with your ugly face distracting us how can we be expected to get any work done?" Sirius finished for him.
Carraway turned purple as a prune, the fury in his eyes-only helping Sirius' case. The man glanced at the group of students like they were a group of acromantula, with Sirius as their outspoken father. Needless to say, Sirius scored himself a detention as well as 20 points deducted from Gryffindor. When Peter tried to speak up in his defense he was tossed in detention as well, and so the remaining Marauders shut their mouths, holding in their carefully crafted speeches as the lesson continued, boring as ever. Snape's smug grin after this occurrence didn't go unnoticed and Sirius vowed that when his stomach wasn't swimming with nausea and he couldn't hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears he would curse that smile right off of his face, and maybe hang it in the center of the great hall for everyone to see.
When the class ended the students all grumbled at the extra amount of homework Carraway had assigned to them and Lily shuffled towards the Marauders to James' great surprise and pleasure.
"Finally give up on that boyfriend of yours Evans?" He asked with a cocky grin.
"Actually, I need to talk to the least annoying of the four of you."
James nodded. "Understood, Wormtail, Evans needs a word."
Peter looked up, eyes wide with nervous energy, but Lily saved him the trouble.
"You know who I mean Potter, Remus." She spoke up, catching the boy's attention.
"I don't know Evans. Moony can be a real pain in the arse if you get to know him."
"I'll just be a minute, go on Prongs." Remus gave him a look which meant business, and James rolled his eyes, before taking off with Sirius and Peter.
"Sorry about them. They're really not nearly as insufferable as they seem."
"I'll take your word for it." Lily replied with a disbelieving chuckle.
"So, maybe it's time I told you I didn't really need help with my potions essay." He said, making a play at the meaning behind the conversation.
"I worked that out for myself thanks." Lily said, chuckling at Remus' sarcastic humor.
Remus offered a shy smile, before accidentally meeting Lily's piercing green eyes, looking away with a blush.
"Really. Thank you, Remus. I wasn't sure what I was going to do." She said.
"Yeah of course. People can change but until they do, we don't owe them anything."
"I guess"
"I know it sounds far easier than it is."
"Yeah."
"Come here."
He pulled her in for a hug, which she returned gratefully, squeezing just a little bit too tight. He shuddered, trying to cover it up, but Lily looked up at him with concern.
"Are you alright Remus?" She asked, checking him over for injuries unseen.
"Yes, fine, just…" He cut himself off, not sure how to proceed. Lily knew about his illness, of course, but the intense agony of it was something that he only really allowed a few people in his life to see.
"Is it tonight?" She asked, quickly realizing what was going on.
"No," He chuckled a little bit at that prospect, "I wouldn't have been in class if it were tonight. Not for a couple more days. Sirius' birthday in fact." He said, a hint of regret tinging his tone.
"Oh, Remus. I'm sure he'll understand." Lily tried to say, all sympathy.
"Oh, don't worry about that. I've got something pretty original planned for the celebration." And he meant it, the twinkle of mischief in his eye removing any doubt in Lily's eye that this boy was a marauder.
She smirked back at him, before nodding and walking out of the room. He watched her go before leaving to meet up with his own friends.
That Saturday night, right after Halloween, the Gryffindors were at it again. The occasion this time, Sirius Black's seventeenth birthday. The group had made a unanimous decision that another weeknight party, although wicked as Sirius had put it, would be pushing the limits which most of their fellow students set for themselves. So they decided that they would sing to him at midnight on Saturday, given that his birthday was that coming Sunday.
That Saturday was filled with celebration from the moment the boys made it to the breakfast table where Sirius received his first present of the day. He winced when the package was dropped in front of him, closing his eyes before he opened the thing, expecting another howler despite his family having eased up significantly since he moved out. It was strange, Sirius was almost looking forward to the screaming. At least when his mother was screaming, he knew she cared, she hadn't given up on him. The radio silence from his family the past few months had been grating on him more than he cared to admit. But it wasn't a letter from his family at all. He tried to cover the tinge of disappointment in his eyes, and it was quickly replaced with genuine excitement. He ripped open the package to see a brand-new watch peeking out of the paper. He traced his hand across the golden watch, the Potter crest carved into the front. He opened it up and a small piece of paper fell out, with Mrs. Potter's neat handwriting across it.
The note read:
Happy birthday Sirius.
When you boys come back for Christmas we'll have a proper celebration. Enjoy your day, I'm sure you and James have something planned. Just make sure to stay out of trouble!
The floaty feeling the present gave him was enough to keep him going all day. His very own watch, he didn't think he'd receive one after he left his family behind. But with James by his side, he had found a new family, one he chose on his own. He looked up as Remus, who had been in the hospital wing for the majority of the day, limped into the great hall.
"Moony, what are you doing here? You should be taking care of yourself." Sirius said, voice laced with concern as he moved to make room on the bench for Remus to take a seat next to James.
"Yeah, Remus, you shouldn't be forcing yourself out of bed today." James said, looking nervously around the table at the attention they were attracting.
"I couldn't miss your birthday celebration, could I?" He said to Sirius, exhausted and pale as he practically collapsed onto the bench.
Peter immediately filled a plate with proteins and meat, which Remus dove into gratefully, previous exhaustion seemingly forgotten as he scarfed down the food like he hadn't eaten in a year.
"Don't they feed you in the hospital wing Moony?" Peter asked, an equally concerned look in his anxious brown eyes.
"Pomfrey doesn't let me have any solid foods before I turn, says it tempts the wolf too much." He said with a laugh.
"How'd you sneak past her anyway?" James asked.
"Drew up a dummy, made it look like I was sleeping. I'd say we have about two hours before she gets wise." He said, standing up from his meal, and turning his attention to Sirius.
"Now, you come with me, James and Peter stay here."
"Come on Moony, we're all friends here." James tried to argue, but Remus wasn't having it.
"Not today, this is for Padfoot."
Sirius shrugged, turning to the others.
"You heard the man, come on Moony, let's see what that big brain of yours has in store."
They walked into an empty classroom where Remus uncovered a cauldron full of a bubbling substance.
"What is it?" Sirius asked, looking over the cauldron top, and putting the pieces together before Remus could answer. "You didn't."
"I did." Remus said, a pleased expression shown across his weary face.
"Polyjuice potion?" Sirius asked, unable to contain the glee that crossed his features.
"Exactly right." He responded.
"Brilliant! Moony you're the best." Sirius pulled him into a tight hug to which Remus winced. Sirius pulled back.
"Sorry. Hey, get back to the hospital wing. I'll make good use of this stuff I promise."
Remus smiled, and it was a testament to how bad he was hurting that he didn't protest.
"Yeah, I probably should."
"Need Prong's cloak?" Sirius asked.
Remus shook his head. "No, I'll be fine. Enjoy your gift Pads."
As Sirius was admiring his gift Remus was struggling a lot more than he cared to admit in getting himself back to the hospital wing. Every step felt like his bones were cracking, and his skin was racing with fever as he shivered under his thick cloak. So much so that he didn't notice when he passed right by Lily and George walking back from the library.
"Remus, are you alright?" Lily asked, immediately growing concerned for her friend.
"Yeah, just had to get Sirius his present before tomorrow." He managed to choke out, his face deathly pale as he forced a slight smile to the two of them.
"Remus, let me help you." Lily immediately moved forward, dropping her books on the floor and turning to George who was standing beside her.
"Go on, I'll catch you up."
"Are you sure?" George asked, not sure what to do.
"Yeah, I can handle it." Lily said, supporting Remus under his arm while George snatched up her books from the floor.
"Alright, I'll meet you in the library."
Lily nodded, practically carrying Remus to the hospital wing. Once they arrived Remus signaled for her to pause.
"Wait a minute, we have to make sure Pomfrey is in her office."
"Alright, give me a minute." Lily said, leaning Remus gently against the wall for support, and then moving to the door.
She peeked into the wing, noting that Madame Pomfrey was staring at her papers in her office, not looking anywhere near the door. Lily gave Remus a nod and he smiled gratefully, sneaking through the door on catlike feet and back towards his bed, collapsing once again into an exhausted stupor. He shot Lily a thumbs up, and gestured for her to leave despite her reservations. And ultimately thoughts of George waiting for her in the library, along with Remus' insistence were enough to sway her.
This is how Lily found herself walking back towards the library alone in order to meet George to study a bit before the party, though she wasn't sure how much studying the two of them would actually get done. Snape managed to catch her off guard, slinking out of the shadows in that terrifying way he had which used to make Lily laugh, but this time just made her uneasy.
"You shouldn't be hanging around him" He said before Lily even had a chance to speak.
"What do you know about it?" She asked, trying to keep the anxiety from sneaking into her voice.
"He's dangerous Lily, and it only takes one mistake for that danger to reveal itself." Lily ignored the cryptic nature of that message, turning back to him with a frown.
"Yeah, I can see that. Goodbye Severus." She moved past him to leave, but he shouted at her retreating back.
"Don't come crying to me when come next year you're running around like a bloody monster every full moon."
Lily turned back in a flash, putting her wand to Snape's throat.
"You have no right to talk about that. It's for him and him alone. And if you let on to anybody..." She gazed into his eyes and saw only cold indifference. No fear, not even fury, just boredom. He wasn't threatened by her, not in the slightest, and that only infuriated her more.
"Oh, don't worry about that. Your little friend made sure that if I talk, I'll be expelled." He said with a dark undertone.
"As you should." She responded, a cutting edge in her own voice.
"For protecting innocents?" He replied.
"For being vindictive and cruel to someone who has done nothing to you." She said.
"Remus Lupin is not some innocent victim Lily, and the sooner you realize that the sooner you'll come back around to my side." He said, looking triumphant in that moment.
"The side that wants me dead or enslaved Severus?" She practically whispered.
He was shellshocked at that, not sure how to respond.
"That's what I thought." She then shoved past him without a second glance, not bothering to look back to see his reaction.
When Lily arrived in the library George kept asking her what was wrong. But she ignored the questioning, eventually offering him a smile and a "Nothing, I'm fine." When pressed she followed it up with a white lie about being worried about Remus.
"He's always sick though, isn't he?" George asked.
"Yes, I'm sure he'll be fine." She offered him a kiss on the cheek to try and appease him and turned back to her books.
His eyes didn't leave her, worry creasing his brow but, not wanting to pry, he decided to let her figure it out on her own. They sat in silence until it was time for them to leave to get ready for the party. George was invited, of course, because despite James' distaste for the boy the party was for Sirius, and he believed firmly in the saying: "the more the merrier".
"Hey, how was studying with George?" Mary asked with a suggestive tone as Lily entered their dormitory.
"What's wrong?" Susan asked, immediately noticing the distraught look on Lily's face.
"I…"
"Was it Snape?" Alice spoke up from her own bed, having some more knowledge from that morning than the others.
They all looked at her in shock, then back to Lily, who just nodded.
"What did that bastard do now?" Marlene asked, enraged at the idea of anyone bringing harm to her best friend.
"Nothing he did, just something he said." Lily said, anxiety lacing her tone as she began to slowly fall apart.
She sank onto her bed as her friends gathered around her, Susan holding her hand as she tried to coax an answer out of her.
"You don't have to tell us, but we're here for you Lils. Always." She said.
"Yeah, and how hard I jinx him is going to depend on what exactly he did." Marlene finished off, receiving a glare from Susan.
"It wasn't a big deal, just an interaction." Lily dodged the question, not wanting to give up the real reason Snape's words had hit her so hard.
She was shaken by the fact that he knew, like a time bomb that could go off at any moment, it filled her with a dread that sank into her stomach like a rock.
Mary spoke up so quietly that Lily had to strain her ears to hear. "Did he call you a…?" The unfinished question hung in the air, but they all knew what it implied.
"No, it wasn't something about me." Lily gave that much up, and her friends didn't need to hear much more, assuming that it had something to do with Mary or Susan or any number of other muggleborns in the school who Snape could have insulted.
"Screw him." Marlene said. "None of it matters. You've got more talent in your little finger than that toerag has in his whole body. And it's not your responsibility to make him feel better about himself because he has to tear you down to build himself up. Now let's go have a great time and celebrate our friend, alright?"
"Our friend?" Lily's ears perked up at that. "What do you mean?"
"Oh shoot I didn't get a chance to tell you. Sirius and I are…well…"
"They're snogging again." Mary finished for her to which Marlene threw a pillow across the room at her.
"When did this happen?" Lily asked, a smile gracing her features for the first time that day.
"Sirius got smashed last night and was crying like a little baby telling Marlene how much he loved her." Mary said again as Marlene practically jumped across the room to get to her.
Lily was laughing so hard she had a stitch in her side watching Marlene hit Mary with her pillow for revealing such sensitive information.
"Oh, shut up Suzie or I'm coming after you next!" Marlene shouted at Susan who was rolling around on the floor with Lily, as even Alice joined in with some barely contained giggles of her own.
"S,o let me get this straight, big bad Sirius Black was crying? On his knees begging you to take him back?"
"I never said that." Marlene said with a huff, but the smirk on her face told Lily all she needed to know, and she doubled over laughing once again.
"Oh, that is priceless, how could I have missed that?"
"It wasn't his finest hour, but I mean it Lily don't bring it up. It's his birthday and the least we could do is let him celebrate uninterrupted." Marlene said, and the earnest look in her eyes told Lily that there was more to the story than Sirius embarrassing himself in a drunken stupor.
She sent a silent question Marlene's way, but she shook her head meaning that she would either tell Lily in private later or not at all. At the moment Lily didn't care too much because her friend was no longer broken-hearted, and was silently asking her to trust her judgement, which was good enough for Lily. The group got together in front of the mirror, helping with makeup and trying on each other's best robes before finally putting themselves together into what they deemed was a suitable look for each of them. And as a group they made their way down to the common room, fashionably late as the party was in full swing. James was trying desperately to flirt with some Hufflepuff girls using Peter as a wingman, and was failing miserably, while Sirius sat in the corner sipping on a bottle of butterbeer. He was positioned cooly, pretending not to care, despite this event being thrown in his honor. Marlene excused herself from her group of friends and made her way over to the wall, where Sirius greeted her with a hasty grin, finishing off his drink as he swaggered towards her.
"Happy birthday." Marlene said, being the first to break eye contact as Sirius fixed her with an intense stare.
"Beat you." He said, smiling as Marlene shoved him towards the wall again.
"Shut up." She said, glancing around at the group around them.
An awkward silence fell between them.
"Some party." Marlene spoke again.
"Yeah, well this was all Prongs and Wormtail, Moony being in the hospital wing and all."
Marlene nodded.
"You want to see something funny?" He asked, a mischievous smirk gracing his face.
He had a slight scruff that he'd been growing out for the past week or so. It suited his long hair well. His grey eyes had a darkness inside them that Marlene hadn't noticed before either, but looking at him now, she realized there was far more to Sirius Black than meets the eye.
"Yeah, I'd love to." She replied.
He dragged her to his room where he had a cauldron full of Polyjuice potion no less. He offered her a cup, and she took it gladly, watching Sirius drink first to be safe. She laughed as Sirius shrunk before her to a much smaller size and a larger stature, his hair shrinking back into his head and turning a much lighter shade of brown. It wasn't long before an exact copy of Peter Pettigrew stood in her midst. She laughed before taking a large gulp of her own cup of potion, not sure which body she had in store, as she nearly gagged on the disgusting taste of the liquid, and felt herself shoot up in height, her golden curls shrinking into her own head. The final touch came when she suddenly noticed a distinct inability to see more than three feet in front of her face, and Sirius offered her a pair of glasses that she assumed must be a spare pair of James'.
"Am I James Potter?" She asked with a smirk as the sound of James' voice coming from her mouth confirmed what she already suspected.
"You are indeed." Sirius/Peter said before her, his mischievous grin looking quite out of place on the normally timid boy.
"Ready to cause some chaos?" He asked, glancing towards the exit door.
"Ready." She said with a smile.
And that's just what they did. James caught on quickly, claiming Marlene as his twin brother whom he never spoke of before as Sirius and Marlene each took turns doing their best James and Peter impressions. Peter was a lot less amused, screaming out loud when he saw the copy of himself, and nearly fainting when he saw two James Potters before him. When James brought out his invisibility cloak, creating one two-headed James Potter to the amusement of everyone in the common room, Peter finally began to loosen up, laughing with the others at Sirius' impression of him screaming and floundering around.
"It's all in good fun Wormy." Sirius said in Peter's voice, which made Peter wince but nod, not wanting to rock the boat.
Marlene watched as Sirius transformed back to normal to the oohs and ahhs of everyone at the party, and joined in when the group sang "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" as the clock struck 12. But the whole time her eyes didn't leave Sirius. They focused on the little things she never looked for in the boy beforehand. The way he winced whenever someone startled him or a noise was too loud, the way he seemed to thrive off of James' presence, but became rather stoic and subdued when James found himself occupied elsewhere (which was so rare that she only noticed it once that entire night), and the way that he kept glancing at the watch he'd received for his birthday as if it was both the best and worst gift he'd ever received. Yes, Sirius Black was a troublemaker and a git and an all-around buffoon, but he also had a vulnerability that Marlene hadn't thought to look for before. But now it was like she couldn't not search for it in every motion, every instinctual movement. And she found herself determined to find out who had hurt this beautiful, funny, intelligent boy before her, and the best way to jinx them into oblivion.