Respect
Sev got up to open the door and Remus left. He closed it again and sat down.
"Finally alone, Padfoot!"
They both laughed.
"Shock that one. Come on, talk about whatever you want," said Sev.
They high-fived.
"Remus is very serious, isn't he?" Sirius asked.
"He's not, the talk was serious. You have to know how to make him laugh, to get him out of his eternal melancholy."
"I will never be able to thank you enough for giving him back to me, I am having the best week of my life."
"How glad I am, Padfoot. Come on, go ahead with the list, if we finish early I have a little surprise prepared for you."
"Are you going to fight against me?" excited.
"No, not me, even better. But come on, I'm not going to tell you."
"First of all, a very serious topic, to which it is not necessary for you to respond," Black began. "I just want to warn you in case you haven't realized it, although I imagine you already have."
Ugh… what a mess he gets into. "Don't think about it so much, Sirius, get to the point," sarcastic, laughing.
"I think Dumbledore will try to make you his double agent."
"Wow man! You have discovered America…" laughing. "Everyone tells me so."
Sirius was laughing too. "You are incredible, you take everything as a laugh."
"What remedy do I have left? It's better to laugh than cry. Don't worry about it, I will know how to take care of myself in due time, I was already warned before I uncovered myself. Move on to the next topic."
"I was talking about this with Lily and she told me to tell you about it."
"Tell me," Sev encouraged him.
"Remus was telling me some things about your family life, Lily told me that she had given him permission."
"She did well, she knows me very well and she knew that it was not going to make me feel bad."
"Yes, that's what she told me too," the Gryff continued. "I think it would be good to also tell James, so that he takes your side even more, he is very compassionate about these issues."
"When you hurt me he wasn't, nor were you."
"Now we have matured."
"I already know."
"I'm so sorry, Sev. If we had known that you had such a hard time at home we would never have behaved like that with you."
"Well, now it's done. Tell him what you want, I planned to do it, to both of you, when I caught you together. If you want tomorrow."
"Yes, it is better if you do it, before the end of the school year, because I plan to spend the summer campaigning for you and it will be better the more information we both have."
"Oh... Thank you very much, Sirius, because I have a serious problem with James."
"Of course you have it, but not you, he has it," very sure of himself. "It's shameful how he has behaved with Lily and you all these years. I already told her, because of his obsession and my cowardice we have stolen your youth, you have not been able to enjoy being young."
"That was not the case either, Sirius. We have enjoyed it a lot in our own way, and the difficulties have made us unite more and be prepared for what we have to do now."
"Of course, you are exceptional, both of you. I admire you both very much."
"I admire you too."
"Just so you know that I have also been trying to get James out of his head about his obsession with Lily since the summer. Not only for you and her, but also for him, it's ridiculous. He could have any girl he wanted and he has been stubborn with her, and she has never given him any hope. I also told him all this on Tuesday, did I do it right?"
"You did perfect, Sirius."
"Thank you. That's why the joke you made on him on Sunday, calling him Prongs to his face, made me so funny. I did it every time Lily gave him a good cut, I didn't tell him that."
"Yes, Lily has already told me this before, and you were also right not to emphasize it to him, perhaps you would have humiliated him and he would have been able to realize the true meaning of the joke, something he didn't do last Sunday."
"He's very silly."
"Indeed."
They laughed.
"And every time he harassed her, I later reproached him, he is arrogant and sexist," Black went on. "That's why I told you before that I know which foot he limps on and that you are a much better person than him. You are everything you are by yourself, he is a spoiled child, he has lived through cotton wool, that is why he cannot get used to the idea that someone like Lily rejects him and does not fall at his feet. I told him all that too. Did I do it well?"
"You did it perfectly, Sirius, telling him off. How did he take it?"
"He was very embarrassed, he is not going to bother Lily again."
"Great, Sirius, thank you very much. I'll tell Lily this afternoon, tell her too so she can know it from you too the next time you see each other alone."
"I will do that. As far as I know her, she's not like this at all. She will always put you ahead of him, you are her friend for all her life, you came first and you have known how to win her over by waiting for her for so many years, knowing how to be by her side without compromising her to anything. Do not answer me if you can't or don't want to answer anything I'm going to ask you, I'm not doing it out of curiosity, just out of concern for you, to get to know you better and think about how I can help you both. Were you already friends before Hogwarts or did you meet on the Express?"
Very interesting assessment, he has perfectly summed up my relationship with Lily, and she has hardly told him anything and Remus has not done so at all, he has deduced it himself.I'm going to answer everything honestly, as I already had in mind. "We have been friends since we were nine years old, we are neighbors. We both live in a Muggle town, where we are the only witches. We met as children, in a park near our homes."
"So you are together on holidays," Black deduced.
"Yes, whenever my father is not there and I can leave the house. In August we didn't see each other all month and at Christmas I stayed at the castle."
"Oh... I remember that on the Express trip in September Lily was looking for you."
"Yes, that's how it was," Sev confirmed.
"And then you separated when you arrived at school."
"Indeed, because the vipers threatened to attack her if I didn't do it. I was scared, because last year one of your housemates was attacked."
"Yes, Mary, I am with her," Sirius said.
"Oh... I didn't know that," Sev lied.
"I told Lily and asked her advice on how to handle it, because at first I thought I would tell her everything so that she could help us with Peter, but now I have thought better of it and I'm going to wait."
"Trust Lily's judgment on those issues."
"Of course, it is very accurate. So, have you been secretly together all year?" the Gryff asked.
"Yes, since the end of October."
"I smelled it around that time, because Lily used to disappear. I was trying to distract James so he wouldn't notice."
"Wow, Sirius, thank you very much."
"I do not deserve. In the end he realized it because of Bethany."
"I already know."
"And he changed places in the Great Hall when we returned in January, stealing it from Lily to check if you saw each other," said Black. "You did it from table to table, didn't you?"
"Yes, we did, and we stopped doing it because of him, after all the Christmas without seeing each other."
"How awful, how irritating..." with contempt. "That season I stopped sitting with him, for not supporting him and reproaching him."
"Thank you, Sirius."
"Stop thanking me for everything, I wasn't doing it for you, I was doing it for my own principles. I think that everyone is free to have the relationships they want and have them their own way, and I hate people who get involved in other people's relationships without being invited to do so. Can you see each other in the Great Hall now?"
"We can."
"Great. Did you see each other during the Easter holidays?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, we spent them together."
"Lily told me you hadn't done it since before."
"She didn't tell you the truth because it is dangerous for non-occlumants to know that we are neighbors, but many people who are not occlumants know this and you are no more at risk than them of being read," Sev replied.
"And how did you disclose it like this?" somewhat alarmed.
"I needed to tell my story to many people so that they would join us for the uncovering."
"Ugh… how awful, how you guys took a gamble to clean Hogwarts," said Black. "And since Easter, have you seen each other again apart of in class and training?"
He fully realizes that I wouldn't have needed to do it like that, that I would have gotten me off by simply refusing Lucius's appointment.He has, he has a lot of information, more than I had before I contacted Lauren. "Yes, quite a few times, because as I told you last week, we are both under Dumbledore's protection, but we have always done it out of obligations, and we have not been alone."
"Ugh… almost two months," very overwhelmed.
"That's why I'm looking forward to it this afternoon," Sev said.
"And she must be too, a lot. Why don't you take the opportunity to fight her for a while now?"
"I have already done it other times, but it is not yet appropriate for it to be public knowledge that we are together. About thirty people know it, more than a hundred would be too many, I must continue treating her like everyone else. Also, they screwed it up, do you remember that on Sunday I told you that the camouflaged malefics waited for me in the Library to ambush me and I escaped thanks to your Map?"
"Of course I remember" Sirius replied.
"Well, they saw her pass by with my escort, Cecile and Remus, and deduced that we were together. Then Dumbledore read one of them and they were thinking of snitching on Voldemort."
"Ugh… how awful," very alarmed.
He is very worried about Lily, I have to try to reassure him as much as I can, without lying to him or revealing essential information, so that he has all the information possible, Sev thought. "That's why we lynched them like we did, to intimidate them. Neither of us will be able to take the Express or walk freely around Diagon anymore, at least until we win the war, if we win it."
"Ugh… how sorry I am," very overwhelmed.
"She's also going to need an escort in the summer. It is already ready for both of us, eight occlumants of legal age and well prepared, instructed by us and by the old man."
"Wow… great," Black said, relieved.
"I have complicated her life a lot."
"Don't feel guilty. She was already in the spotlight for being a Muggleborn and in the long run it would be better if you two were related. I think that if they attacked Mary last year and not her, it was precisely because she was with you."
"Yes, I think so too, it is not the first time they have told me this nor will it be the last," said Sev. "Either way, she's only going to be in danger on holidays. She already has Floo at home and when we graduate she will stay protected at Hogwarts. She is going to succeed Slughorn as Potions Professor."
"Oh really?" amazed. "And you already know it?"
"Yes, and I also aspire to be a teacher. From a new optional Chair, Dueling."
"Wooow… fantastic," Black explaimed, admired.
"It can be said that things are going very well for us."
"Of course, you deserve it. Do you think I can do something about James to make him forget her and get him off your back?"
"Of course you can do it," Sev replied. "Find him a girlfriend, one of the many that you have plenty of."
They laughed.
"Don't laugh, one nail pulls out another nail," the Sly added. "We'll look for her between the two of us if you want, think about candidates."
"I had already thought about it, now he will meet more girls in the Army. I will also campaign on that in the summer."
"Thank you, Padfoot, how well we understand each other."
"I want to talk to you about something else about Lily that makes me feel a little embarrassed."
"Speak without fear."
"I like her a lot, but a lot, a lot, since a long time," said the Gryff.
"I already smelled it, Sirius."
"And I think I like her a little too since we got in touch."
"No wonder, Sirius. You are irresistible," ironic.
They laughed.
"I will not have anything with her without your authorization," Black said.
"Well... please... I'm not her owner," laughing. "You can have with her everything she wants, as long as you make her happy and don't make her suffer, otherwise you'll have to deal with me."
"How healthy you are for these topics."
"You are too, Sirius. You are very considerate and delicate, you waited until Remus left to talk about Lily, you respected our privacy as much as possible."
"Of course, that is sacred to me."
"Then you must have been shocked by what Valerie told you."
They laughed.
"Not at all, everyone is free to handle it however they want," Black replied.
"Well, about that, you should know that Lily and I tell each other everything in that regard, she is aware of my other relationships, and if it is true that she likes you, I am going to find out this very afternoon in detail, long before you."
"Buff… what am I going to do to it?" overwhelmed.
They laughed.
"And I'm not going to say a word to you on the subject, I won't play matchmaker with my own girlfriend," said the Sly. "You're going to have to win her over on your own, and she's miles ahead of you, so you can start putting all your effort into action and preparing for a long, long conquest. It took me more than six years."
"That's what I like, a good challenge," looking at him defiantly.
Wow… what look he has.He is certainly irresistible. "Do you have any urgent issues left in the pipeline?"
"I don't. Keep the list so you know what I have left to talk to you about."
"Thank you, Sirius." Sev took it, folded it, and put it in his pocket. "Well, I'm going to surprise you, come out in a couple of minutes. You are going to fight against the best fifth year warrior, personally trained by me."
Sev got up, opened the door, went to the fifth year group, motioned to Lily, who went to the meeting room door and waited for Sirius to come out. Sev watched from about ten paces away.
"How are you, Padfoot?" Lily extended her hand to him. Deep surprise, she thought. "Would you like to fight against me for a while? I'm going to teach you a lot."
He smiled at her and shook her hand. They went to a vacant space and fought until the end of training. Sev spent all that time watching them from very close up.
In that time, both Sev and Lily saw nothing from Sirius other than an attitude of deep respect accompanied by looks of admiration and appreciation towards her, while she taught him, in just under twenty minutes, to cast non-verbal spells.
Then they went to lunch. Sev explained to Lily, with Deborah and Lauren listening, what he had talked to Sirius about her.
When he finished Lily projected only to him, "I want to talk about this privately with you, Sev."
He unbonded from Deborah and projected to Lauren, "Lauren, let's hang up for a while, I'm going to chat with Lily."
"Okay, Severus."
He projected to Lily, "Tell me honey."
"Sev, we must respect Sirius' discretion."
"Of course, my love."
"I don't want us to talk about him again between four people."
"Sure, you are right," he agreed. "I did it this way because you did it on Thursday at breakfast, otherwise we would have talked privately."
"Yes, I should have cut you before. He has been very respectful to me while you have been present. He doesn't like you finding out everything."
"I understand."
"He already explained to me the other day that although he doesn't fall in love, he lives relationships very intensely, very deeply," she explained. "In his own words 'it is something very intimate of mine'.And I don't think he dares take another step while he suspects I'm going to tell you everything."
"Of course, you are absolutely right. Yesterday I also decided to keep to myself what I am beginning to feel for a certain person, which seems very special to me."
"So I will be honest with you, but not explicit, Sev. I like him a lot and I want to respect him, I must deserve him too."
"It seems perfect to me, Lily."
"I will tell you the progress, but without giving you details."
"I totally agree."
"In any case you will find out everything when we do the Union of Souls," she said.
"I will find out when you want me to, for me there is no problem. I respect your secrets, you know I always have, I never read you thoroughly while we didn't have a Pensieve."
"Thank you for understanding, Sev. Now let's see if he dares to do something else, he hasn't looked at me the entire lunch."
"And is he chatting normally with others?"
"No, he is not."
"He is thinking about you," he deduced. "Don't worry, he won't back down.Better yet, then he also takes it patiently, you have each other too handy and you would have fallen too early, like I have with the girls at my House."
"I suspect that it will never be possible for both of you to be with me at the same time or the four of us together, and not precisely for the reason that Lauren said, that of you being a very macho man, but because he would consider it an invasion of his privacy."
"Of course, I understand it perfectly. I have been like that until very recently. Ugh… now I feel bad for having told him that you would tell me everything and for having kept watch."
"Don't do it, Sev, it wasn't your fault. Don't feel bad, you've been honest, so far I've told you everything. The fault was mine for doing it on Thursday, after he told me how he handles relationships. I should have known better, but I was amazed at what I was feeling, I never thought I could do it for someone other than you."
"Normal, honey, don't torture yourself either. We have made a mistake, and now we will do everything possible to correct it. You can say that we just met him, it is normal to make mistakes like that."
"In addition, he has brought up the subject openly, he has confessed to you that he likes me a lot."
"But I think he did it only to ask my permission," Sev said.
"Of course it was for that. He hasn't talked to you about Lauren, has he?"
"Not a word."
"Even though you could make things easier for him with her," Lily said. "He prefers to have to do it by his own risk in order to maintain discretion."
"Sure. Tomorrow I'm going to tell him something about you so he can relax. I'm going to tell him that we have talked about him and we are going to respect him, what you have said, you will tell me the progress but you will not be explicit."
"Perfect, Sev, tell him, because otherwise I would have to do it and reveal in a certain way what I feel for him. Also tell him that you haven't told me how he feels about me."
"It's ok, I'll do it. In the end I'm playing matchmaker for my own girlfriend."
"You owe me, like I did with Lauren for you."
"True."
"Next year I will teach Sirius Occlumency personally, when we return in September, as long as you consider it safe," she said.
"I think it's great, honey. So you will share one more thing."
"How generous you are, Sev. Not being able to be with me yet, you are glad that I have found another person, precisely one of your worst enemies until recently."
"Not be that surprised," he said. "Another of my worst enemies is now my best friend forever, and Sirius has been sorry for almost as long as Remus and has been confronting James ever since in his own way.And those who I thought were my friends until six months ago are now mortal enemies for me.Maybe I'll kill them myself one day, my hand wouldn't shake."
"Speaking of Remus, we should talk about something else before we finish lunch, he had a brilliant idea. Reconnect with Deborah."
Sev did it, he bonded with her. "Deborah, listen."
"I'm listening, Prince."
"Go ahead, Lily."
"Remus has proposed that the two of us Bond right now in the Room of Requirement with the entire escort, not just the Gryffs," Lily said. "This way we will all be communicated in the Great Hall."
"Fantastic idea!Can Genevre be notified?" Sev asked.
"Of course, Remus has already told her during training that she should be attentive to Alice at the end of lunch, that she should not leave without talking to her."
"Remus is magnificent!"
"Because he doesn't spend time with birds in his head," she said.
"You're right." He unbonded from Deborah. "We are in private, Lily.Apply the story.You should have told me as soon as we sat down to lunch.The Sirius thing wasn't that urgent."
"You are right, Sev, as always."
"Now we won't fit in the piano classroom. We'll meet where we trained with the Guard the last two weeks. You don't know it, the demand is 'Dueling Training Room'. Wait until Sirius has taken them to the Library."
"Okay, Sev."
"I reconnect with Deborah."
"Do it."
He bonded with Deborah again. "Lily, tell Deborah the schedule for the afternoon."
Lily did so, telling them the plans she, Cecile and Alice had made for the afternoon in the Forest for the summer escort. She concluded, "Let Anthony also come to join in, even if he is not going to be part of the escort."
"Of course. We're breaking up, Lily, they're finishing dessert and we have to let everyone know about the change in plans."
"I already did it, Prince," Deborah told him.
"You are the best, Deborah," Sev said, admired. He projected to Lily, "Nothing, honey, they have been warned.Tell me more things if you want."
"I prefer to cut, Sev. I also have to tell Alice to do it with Genevre."
"Great, then I'll see you in a little while in the Room of Requirement. Do you remember the demand?"
"What a stupid question, Sev. Of course."