Fulfill dreams

Friday, practical OWL Potions exam in the Great Hall, two hours ahead to prepare a potion. Benches sufficiently separated for each student and all the necessary materials, including a collection of ingredients, not all of which were used.

Two different potions for alternate students, so not everyone got the same one. Luckily, Lily and Sev got different ones and each one took care of the friends who had theirs, including Heather and Fiona, to whom they projected the complete recipe as they were preparing it, since they both needed Outstanding in the subject.

All, the three Gryffs and the five Slys, for Outstanding.

Four in the afternoon, Potions theory exam, the sun coming fully through the high windows of the large space. The vast majority of students had dispensed with their robes, but even so, those it reached, including Sev, were sweating bullets.

Five questions to be graded out of ten, two points per question. Three complete recipes and two others on properties and applications of the ingredients and uses of the potions. The recipes, which could be answered practically verbatim, were dictated by Sev and Lily to their classmates, including the Sly girls, and the questions to be written were corrected by Lily to Cecile and Lauren and by Sev to Remus in terms of content and Anthony also in style.

Saturday, first of five full days off for Lily and almost for Sev. Morning training, commanders' meeting, probably the last of the year.

The previous Sunday the issue of notifying the seventh graders who were about to graduate that they could continue coming to train next year had been settled on Alice and Frank's own initiative, without the need for Sev to require them to be the ones to do it.

The eight commanders made an assessment of what that little more than a month of experience had been like. They chatted about the general level of those they were training and more specifically about the most problematic ones, the seventh-year Huffles who had to pass the entrance exam to the Auror Academy and the fifth-years who had to achieve Outstanding in the OWL. The commanders who had taken care of them were confident that they would not have any major problems.

Sev also communicated to them several of Dumbledore's provisions that he had agreed with him the previous days, which were pleasantly received, so that they could spread the word in the training groups and in their Houses, and that day the break was dedicated to that. He only reserved the surprise that the Headmaster would give at the End-of-year Fest, the end of segregation in the Great Hall and in classes.

The remaining time until the break was dedicated to James to, among other things, discuss with him how to donate money to the school, suggested by the Headmaster. They had to do it by means of bearer checks of not excessive amounts, so that they could be cashed gradually without raising suspicions at Gringotts.

They could wait to deliver the checks when they returned in September, or better yet, send some already during the summer, so that they could begin to collect and purchase the material already in the summer period.

Two in the afternoon, Sly Quidditch team training. The entire family, including the third and fifth graders, went to the field with the team, and everyone went up to the stands to enjoy it for two hours, under a blazing sun.

Shortly after, Remus and Sirius arrived.

"What are you doing in the heat, fools?" was the lycanthrope's greeting. "Have you forgotten that the temperature of the heating spell can be regulated? It is the same for not being cold as it is for not being hot."

"You should have come to tell us, Remus. Give me a hug," Sev told him, getting up to receive him.

They embraced. How happy he is since I looked at myself in Erised and my premonition changed, we managed to change the destiny between the two of us.He also went with Cecile to see it by themselves.

All the snakes stood up to warmly welcome the two lions, and introduced Sirius to the little ones, who were the ones who still didn't know him.

"Sev, Sev, this is one of those who attacked you," Ariel told him.

"Yes, Ariel, it is."

"And why is he your friend now?"

"Because he is Remus's friend and I have forgiven him," Sev replied. "Remus also attacked me, don't you remember?"

"Yes it's true."

"That's it, we have to forgive those who hurt us if they repent."

"Sure…"

They conjured the heater as a cooler to stay comfortable and chatted animatedly while enjoying the training. About exams, about the Army, about plans for the summer that now also included Sirius, about Quidditch.

"Hey, Sirius! Do you know that next year they are going to let me play a game?" Sev told him.

"Oh really? In which place?" Black asked.

"Guess."

"As a Seeker."

"That is."

"I already know which one you're going to play," said the Gryff.

"Against Potter!" they both exclaimed.

Everyone laughed.

"You're going to beat him," Black said, with absolute conviction.

"I hope so."

"You deserve it, I will cheer you."

Remus and Sirius had flanked Sev in the front row of the stands. They smell that I need to be tucked in, Lily must have told them something.

When the lively chat between the entire family faded, Sev told them both in confidence, while they admired the girl's developments, about Hippolyta's problems.

"Ugh..." said Sirius. "How awful, poor girl."

"I don't know if we are achieving anything," Sev lamented. "On Thursday she had both courses for lunch and at dinner she only left half of the second course and ate the entire dessert, but yesterday she complained that she had been too full and it had not sat well with her, and now she only wanted to eat the starter and dessert. It took us a while to convince her to eat some of the main course and not the entire dessert. That happened at lunch, and the same thing happened at dinner."

"Of course, very typical of capricious and poorly accustomed kids, you spoil them a little and they want everything," Remus said.

"It makes me very angry, it's as if we had screwed it up by spoiling her, when we did it to make it easy for her. When I proposed to her on Thursday to sit with us, she felt bad that we were going to so much trouble for her, and now she doesn't care."

"Ugh… how difficult. Who does she listen more to? Whose opinion matters most to her?"

"Mine," Sev answered.

"Then chat with her alone and appeals again to that feeling he had on Thursday. Make her see that she is giving you a hard time."

"Sure, I'll do it when we finish training so she behaves well at dinner. At least she has a good breakfast because she really likes sweets."

"Yes, but if she gets used to eating a lot of sweets, she won't be well nourished either," Lupin objected. "Sweets give a lot of calories but they don't nourish you."

"Yes, I know, but at least it makes her gain weight and get used to eating more until she can eat full meals."

"Ugh… how difficult. Furthermore, you are doing everything by intuition, without advice."

"Deborah has already written to her parents, they are going to look for and consult a doctor who specializes in the subject as soon as possible to guide us on how we should treat her," Sev informed them. "Today she behaved better because I threatened not to fly with her this afternoon if she didn't eat at least half of the second."

"Ugh... but having to resort to threats and blackmail..." Sirius said, overwhelmed.

"Well, what do you think? It hurts me more than anyone else because I see her suffer and I suffer twice as much, I don't eat calmly and the food also makes me feel bad."

"Ugh, Sev..." Remus told him. "Talk seriously to her about all that. If she cares about you, let her know what you are going through too. You can't afford it either, you don't have a pound left over."

"I already know. In the not too distant past I had the same problems as her. I managed to gain weight through a lot of willpower."

"Of course, you were much thinner before."

"When I arrived at Hogwarts I was in my bones, coming to school saved me," said the Sly.

"True," Black said. "I remember."

"How are you doing, Sirius? You are also very thin, even more than me, you weigh very little for how tall you are."

"Pure blood! Fine bone, boy!" showing him the wrist that he wrapped his other hand around.

They laughed. How good, he's great, he has already taken me out of my distress. "True, it's your constitution," said Sev. "You are very thin but strong."

"Well, don't think I'm that strong. I still need to check if I am capable of training the two and a half hours that we train with the Army."

"It's true, you haven't enjoyed a complete training yet."

"Let's see tomorrow," the Gryff hoped.

"Of course, let's see tomorrow, it is going to be the last one of the year. I will fight you."

"At last!" triumphant.

They laughed. He's wonderful, I love him. "How was this morning with the rat?" Sev asked.

"Nothing, no matter," derogatory. "I have gotten rid of him with the excuse of studying."

"Very well done!"

They laughed.

"Something else occurred to me about the topic we were talking about," said Sirius.

"Tell me."

"I eat little, not only do I not have dessert, but I almost never finish the dishes."

"Oh... And is it enough for you?" the Sly asked.

"At the moment yes, I am not losing any more weight."

"Yeah."

"What I do is eat the first and the second equally even if I don't finish either of them," Black said.

"Sure, good idea," Remus said. "Eat less but more varied, more balanced."

"And how do you make the second one appear without having finished the first one?" Sev asked him.

"Very easy, I give what I have left over to Peter."

They burst into laughter. Sirius is great, he's the bomb, brilliant.

"That's how he is..." Sev was laughing.

"Indeed…" laughed Remus.

"But it occurs to me that you can simply leave it on the table or on a napkin, and when you finish your dishes you can put it back when they clean up the Great Hall," Black suggested.

"Sure, Sirius, thanks for the idea," said Sev.

"Yes, it is very good," said Lupin, "Because the second ones are more consistent than the first, they suit her better."

"Sure."

"And I have one more idea."

"Say, Remus," the Sly asked.

"Let her snack, now that we have lunch at two it is not so necessary, but today that we have had it at the usual time she should do it.

"Yes, we had already thought about that. Deborah has brought her a snack, because she is going to spend four hours flying. In fact, she also took it for me, because I couldn't finish my lunch either. "

"Tell her all that when you finish training, Sev. Tell her that you were hungry as a child, tell her off."

"I already told her about it the other day, but very briefly and without relating it to the topic. Yes, I think I should talk to her about it, get more serious, because the last time I talked about it with her outside of meals I was very soft."

"Perfect, issue settled?"

"Yeah."

"Is there anything else that worries you, that you want to tell us, together or separately?" asked Remus.

"Booff… yes, but I'm going to get terrible."

"Hasn't it been good for you to talk about this? You started out very overwhelmed and you ended up laughing."

"True, it has been great for me," Sev agreed.

"And we have given you good advice."

"Of course."

"You're calmer now," Lupin said.

"I am."

"Well, talk about the other thing too, Sev, don't keep it inside, don't get stuck. Who do you want to talk to?"

Sev sighed deeply. "To both of you."

"Well, come on."

"I no longer feel for Lily what I felt," Sev confessed.

"Explain yourself better. Don't you love her anymore? Don't you want to be with her anymore?"

"Of course I love her and want to be with her, but she is no longer my priority."

"Normal," said Sirius. "Now you love more people and you have spent almost two months without seeing her alone."

"Do you think that's why?"

"Of course."

"I think so too," Remus said. "And not only that, you have spent the entire year without living together and in constant tension. At Easter you were great."

"True."

"And last Saturday you were too."

"We were too," Sev confirmed."

"You lack warmth, closeness, coexistence. As soon as you are together on holidays you will love her the same again."

"Do you think?"

"Surely so, Sev."

"I don't even want her anymore."

"Well..." rolling his eyes. "Because you have become saturated with women. I already told you last Saturday that how could you handle so many."

"True," the Sly agreed.

"What happened to me," said Sirius. "I have been following a strict regimen on this topic for a long time now, no more than three times a week, and if I still get saturated, I rest. Now I've been resting for almost two weeks."

Since he came into contact with Lily, he has also lost the desire to do it with anyone else because he is so caught up, Sev thought. "Oh…"

"Besides, desire comes and goes, it's something cyclical, I don't want Cecile all the time either, but what you feel for Lily is far above all that, Sev," Remus continued. "You're going to get it back as soon as you spend a week with her, and also the rest. Rest between now and the end of the term and you'll see."

"I've been resting for almost a week."

"You are doing well. You're not like that, man. You live everything very intensely, that is why you fall in love so easily, and you have let yourself be carried away too much by your impulses. You must let yourself be guided by your heart, give yourself time to initiate and develop relationships."

"Which I never do," Sirius said.

But now he's doing it with Lily. "It's not like that, Remus, when I felt things I really felt them, but now it's gone," said Sev.

"And how long did it last?" Remus asked. "With Deborah?"

"Two weeks."

"With Valerie?"

"One week."

"That's not love, Sev, you've been hallucinating for a while." And vehemently, showing him the number with his fingers, "Lily, seven years."

"Remus is absolutely right," said Black. "What happens to me has happened to you, I hallucinate for a while and then it goes away. That's not loving."

"Oh…"

"Yours with Lily is for life, man, the fact that you have stopped feeling it in all its intensity for a week doesn't mean anything," Lupin went on. "They are ups and downs, I also have them with Cecile and we are constantly together. The incredible thing is the endurance you have had until now." And vehement again, "Seven years, Sev, more than six of which without being reciprocated, at the foot of the canyon, without ever giving up, despite us, despite the vipers, despite having to hide. You have a lot of stamina, don't be discouraged by faltering for a week, a month or whatever you need to recover from saturation. Lily will understand."

"And she will wait for you," Sirius sentenced.

That was a hint, he is also going to wait, he is not going to take advantage of the situation to start with her, Sev thought. He looked at him, Sirius winked. Spot on.

"What do you think?" Remus asked him. "Has it made you feel bad talking about it?"

"Not at all," Sev responded.

"Has it been clear to you? Or do you want to keep thinking about it?"

"No. It has become very clear."

"So next time I don't have to convince you to talk about things," said his friend.

"Thanks guys. You are awesome."

"Any other concern?"

Yes, Lauren, but I can't talk about her with them, Sev thought. "No."

"There is something."

"It's something I have to solve alone."

Remus sighed. "If you weren't an occlumant I would read you."

The three of them laughed. Well, Remus making jokes too, awesome. "You could have done it, I'm not occluding it."

"I would never do that, Sev, you know, just like you don't do it to me. I'm not occluding anything either."

"One day you have to tell me what you read in me that day you prepared the trap for us," Black said.

They laughed.

Sirius is very witty, and he's diverting the topic so that Remus doesn't keep asking me and he makes me uncomfortable. "We will do it verbatim, Sirius, when you are part of the gang," Sev told him. "Let it be known that we have not told each other yet."

"True, you haven't had time."

"We'll do it in the summer, Sev," Remus told him. "We'll laugh for a while."

"At Sirius's expense," said the Sly.

They laughed.

"What a shame you don't read James anymore, I had a good laugh with Lily at his expense," Black said.

Now I'm going to make jokes, you'll see, Sev thought. "Yeah, I've already found out about that, what you did," sarcastic. "Gryff Messes trademark, you don't know how to hide. Who thinks of laughing with a Muffliato with the Common Room full?"

They laughed. Mine are the best.I continue, I continue. "I had to solve it just before going to the Charms practical exam. Our dear Potter suffering for my lost love and telling on you, Sirius."

They laughed again.

"Has he made any comments to you during the week?" Sev asked.

"Nothing," Black responded.

"Thanks to me, he was thinking of telling you off because you were stealing my girlfriend, he, who has spent five years trying."

They laughed again. I am the most of the most.

"You're the bomb, man," said Sirius, admired. "Very witty."

I continue, I continue, you'll see, I change the subject. "Ah! One question, Remus. How do you clarify yourselves to read Pettigrew?"

Remus and Sev burst out laughing, Sirius laughed too.

"I have never read a more chaotic mind, I had to leave in three minutes, I would have gone crazy," the Sly went on. "I read things that I would have preferred not to know."

They couldn't stop laughing. When they stopped he asked Black, "Has he made any comments to you?"

"Yes, he did," Sirius responded. "I prefer not to tell you, it was very unpleasant."

"Booff… I'm already getting sick. He already was thinking you both were involved just because you had been alone in the Common Room for a while."

"Yes, Lily already told me, she also read him." He put his hand on Sev's shoulder. "Come on, forget about it, you were very happy."

"Has he said anything in front of Lily?" Sev asked.

"No, Sev, we told him off right."

"Great, I forget."

"We'll take care of the rat, Sev," Remus told him. "You've got enough on your plate."

"It seems to me that when we can finally get rid of him we are going to send him home very warm," said Sirius, and vehement, "I really want him."

"I also want to participate," Sev too.

"Of course. Are you done with your issues?"

"Yes, I already told you I am."

"Do you have something to say to him in private, Remus?" Black asked.

"I don't, Sirius," Remus replied.

"Then I'm going to talk to you about something that is urgent before the end of the term. It's about the money."

Ugh… I don't want to talk about it, I was having a good time, Sev thought. "I already talked about it this morning with James, Sirius, let him tell you."

"He has already told me, but there is something else that he doesn't know."

"Yes, the Pensieves, but it's already solved. Since you are going to contribute money, rather than buy the material yourselves, it will be used on what is most urgent."

Sirius took him by his shoulders and spoke patiently, "No, Sev, it's something else. Be patient, let me talk."

"I feel very uncomfortable talking about the subject."

"Yes, I see it. Then you're going to have to put up with the trouble a little, because if that was making you uncomfortable, what I'm going to tell you is going to be even more difficult for you."

Sev took a deep breath. What a remedy, I will have to listen to him, otherwise we will have to talk tomorrow in training and I preferred to be calm, it is the last one of the year. "Go ahead."

"Last week you told me about the Dueling Chair."

"Yeah."

"And Lily's position as Potions teacher," Black continued.

"That's how it was."

"Lily told me something more about the subject."

"What?" Sev asked.

"That she guessed, from a conversation you had at the beginning of the school year, that you also aspired to that position when Slughorn discouraged you from being a Defense professor. You didn't say anything to her because she had thought the same as you and you gave it up so as not to compete with her. It was like this?"

"Yes, that's how it was."

"And now she has her job and protection insured and you don't. Is that so?" Sirius asked."

"Yes, that's how it is."

"Was the idea for the Dueling Chair yours?"

"Indeed," Sev confirmed.

"That's what Lily told me too. When did it occur to you? She didn't know."

"Two years ago."

"Wow... in third year," Black was admired. "While we were dedicated to harassing you, you thought about improving everyone's lives. Very good. Do you know anything about the efforts regarding the Chair?"

"Yes, the old man submitted the application and it was accepted."

"Great, I already knew that, she told me. Anything else?"

"Not at the moment," the Sly responded.

"Brilliant. Don't be scared by what I'm going to tell you. If I do it, it is because I need you as a mediator before him so that I don't have to see him in person, so that he can't read me and discover that we are all Animagi, otherwise I would do it on my own."

"I'm not scared, Sirius, speak up."

"I want to sponsor that Chair. Donate through the Ministry all the money that is necessary to start it and maintain it until you reach the age of being a teacher."

"Booahh…"

Sirius squeezed him. "Hey, I said don't be scared. I'm not doing it just for you, I want to use my fortune for something truly useful, so that every Hogwarts student who wants to learn to defend themselves can do so. Being a witch is very dangerous and even more so in these times. And I also do it for myself, to clear my name, my name weighs a lot on me, as much as yours does or more, and I don't have a second last name to give myself."

"But Sirius, keep enough money to live on."

"Of course, man, it won't be that big of a deal. We already have the infrastructure or the old man will set it up, don't forget that we are witches. No books are needed, it is an eminently practical subject, not even material, it's enough with everyone's wands and some mattresses to fall on them, we already have all that from the Army. We will have to create a new home in the castle for the new teacher who comes and one more space at the teachers' table. And when you both graduate and it's your turn as apprentices, a home for you. The old man already will do all that too, there will only be expenses on the things that have to be bought, what cannot be Summoned, and the salaries of the teacher and yours. And I am going to make it a condition for the donation that, in fact, you become an assistant as soon as you graduate and are the holder of the position as soon as you are of age to teach, because the idea was yours and you are going to be the best Dueling teacher we could ever dream of."

Sev had been crying for a while, hugged by Sirius, who was also crying. He has everything planned.I have saved his life, and without even knowing that I have done it, he is probably saving mine, the one that he almost took from me. "Wow, Sirius... you're going to fix my life."

"For everything I ruined it."

"You are going to fulfill my dream."

"For all those I stole from you and for mine that you are fulfilling. Don't thank me, you don't owe me anything, it's just money and it's just my way of trying to keep a clear conscience, be at your level, make myself worthy of everything you're giving me and help the person whose life I was about to take, have a dignified, long and fruitful life, safe from Voldemort, and can continue to do good to as many people as he can, who are already countless."