"Are you going to mope around all year?" asked James as he walked into the dorm he shared with his friends, only to find Sirius lying across his bed, attempting to read a Defense Against The Dark Arts book awkwardly. The window closest to his bed was open, allowing the cold, crisp air to fill the otherwise stale room. "Or are you doing to do something about it?" he enquired, hoping for the latter. In the months since returning to Hogwarts, it had been all but torment for those who resided in Gryffindor Tower. Mischief seemed at an all-time low, although the first and second years tried their hardest to make up for the havoc missing. That, however, didn't erase the tension building every day that passed.
"Depends, are you doing to apologize to Lil?" responded Sirius, recalling the recent almost vicious fight between the two. The argument only added to the tension already present and came with its consequences. The group of girls many had proclaimed the Marauders' more sensible counterparts had become distant. The small group of girls faced their troubles, too, appearing as if the friendship they'd once prided themselves on was falling apart. Even worse, many pinpointed the trouble starting during the summer holidays.
Since Lily and James's argument, the distance between the two groups seemed to grow every day. It was as if the girls had disappeared completely. They'd get to the Great Hall just as the girls were leaving or minutes after they'd left. Classes seemed void of fun now, too—quieter, even awkward. Although Marlene did her best to retain some normalcy, it yielded no hopeful results.
"Perhaps Helena can help you with your troubles?" commented Remus as he entered the room. Peter followed behind seconds later. "For the record, the girls are doing okay mostly, although it's still bloody awkward between (Y/N) and Isolde. Other than that, Lily's still pissed off but acts like nothing happened," he added, refusing to word what most of them already knew when it came to (Y/N) struggling with her abilities more since the holidays. Her private lessons with Dumbledore weren't helping as much as they previously had, just as it was clear the popular theory of puberty being the course wasn't the answer many wanted it to be.
"What about Peter's girlfriend?" joked James, a chuckle escaped him as Peter squeaked upon being reminded of the girl trouble he faced with the Quartet; their games from the previous school year had continued upon returning from the holidays to the point many in the school truly believed Peter was dating at least one of them. "Sorry girlfriends, you're up to what four now?" he corrected himself, noticing as the horror passed over Peter's features. Still, he'd yet to find answers as to what the four girls wanted from him and what he'd done to gain their awful attention. "Since when did you care about studying?"
"Since I was practically told by Wolffe's brother, I wasn't good enough for her," voiced Sirius with frustration. Recalling why he'd actively tried to avoid the drama of school romance in the first place and purposely done his best to ignore all the attention he got from interested parties. Still, his heart had betrayed him; it had chosen (Y/N), set on her, someone he had previously deemed out of his league; she was one of a few he could confidently call a friend. Now he found himself with a difficult choice: remain friends or continue chasing after her, knowing there was a chance things could end badly. The distance wasn't doing anything to help the pining; where they'd once been so close, he felt like he was losing her. Detentions didn't seem to last as long, classes they'd be paired together ended far too quickly, and conversations seemed filled with awkwardness rather than the typical laughter. "I miss her."
"We all miss her, Marlene, Lily, and Isolde," replied Peter. Oblivious to what Sirius meant, a bout of laughter escaped his lips when the book Sirius had been reading fell from his grip, hitting him in the face. Sirius did nothing to remove it; instead, he dropped his arms on the mattress. However, despite Peter's blindness, he was telling the truth; he missed each of them. They were a few he wasn't afraid to be himself around, the four girls he could confidently call friends and have fun with, they accepted him for who he was rather than who they wanted him to be.
"Have you thought about telling her how you feel?" questioned Moony, throwing his question at both brothers plagued with love troubles. Although he knew James would never admit it out loud, he cared about Lily regardless of her friendship with Snape. After all, Lily was the only one he had eyes for; like Sirius, he ignored all others. All the bullying against the Slytherin boy on James' part was out of jealousy; Severus got to spend time with Lily and be the person she went to when she needed someone. "Both of you."
"She'll think I'm pulling a prank on her or something cruel like that," admitted James with a raised voice, sadness ringing through it too. Even more so upon realizing his years of tormenting Severus had come at a cost and one he wasn't fond of paying now. He hoped there was a way of making it up to her, proving he wasn't the asshat he'd thrust far proven himself to be. He could do as Sirius was and try to improve himself, to prove he could be better than the pompous prat he'd been so far. "Did you see how she reacted the last time I tried being friends?"
"What do you suggest I do? Write (Y/N) a letter?" inquisitively asked Sirius, "She's been distracted since that dinner. Her brother said something. She's avoided almost everyone in favor of punishing him and trying to regain control of her abilities," he added, reminding his best friends of the troubles he faced. However, he did question if Isolde was also on the receiving end of the cleverly disguised punishment as well, after all she'd mindlessly agreed with whatever Joaquin had said.
"Not a letter," replied Remus, a wicked grin akin to (Y/N) mischievous one soon painted upon his lips. "A howler, something she can't ignore easily," he added, ignoring James, throwing the Are you crazy look in his direction. Even though he would admit, it was a good idea, especially considering Sirius had a talent for making them. "The winter dance is coming up. Do us all a favor and ask them to go."
"We both know (Y/N) likes watching howlers explode," spoke Sirius from beneath the book, muffling his voice. Doubt rang through his voice, although that would be an opportunity to bewitch the howler to shout when it exploded. "I'll have far more luck standing on the desks during class and making an idiot of myself," he added after a moment of silence. He liked to think he knew (Y/N) better than almost everyone in the school besides her siblings.
"Then do it," replied Remus, all too happy to encourage his friends. After all, they did all they could to help him, and he was determined to return the favor. Although even he knew there was little James could do to earn Lily's forgiveness outside a heartfelt apology and serious attempts to change for the better. "At the risk of sounding like a hopeless romantic, you and (Y/N) are better together and stronger. If you two don't work, what hope do the rest of us have?"
"You are a hopeless romantic," replied Sirius, sitting up and leaning on his elbows, again allowing the book to slip. "Especially when Marlene is concerned," he added before reaching for the goblet of pumpkin juice resting on his bedside cabinet. His face soon scrunched up and soured. "Bloody hell, the mandrake leaf tastes revolting," continued Sirius, resisting the urge to pull the soggy leaf from his mouth. He knew it was one of the steps to becoming an animagi, even if he did think (Y/N) was joking when she told them they'd have to keep a leaf in their mouth for a month, from full moon to full moon.
"You guys hear that?" asked Peter, prompting James, Remus, and Sirius to fall silent. He was sure someone was calling their names in what could be mistaken for a playful tone, but despite his efforts to identify who was calling them, he couldn't say who it was. Maybe it was one of the four girls they trusted, although he doubted it with the growing distance.
"One of your admires again?" questioned James as he dragged himself toward the door to investigate. The moment he stepped from the boy's dorm, he all but crashed into (Y/N), sending her to tumble toward the spiral stairs and drop the latest collection of books from the library. She appeared exhausted; her typically black hair was a silvery blonde, and all evidence of her previous mischievous ways had vanished, even her contagious grin. "(Y/N)!" exclaimed James, startled, but he soon moved to help her gather the books and pull her back to her feet.
(Y/N) nodded in acknowledgment, too tired to interact with anyone; all she wanted was to sleep and find the comfort and safety of her dorm room. The last week had been a disaster one way or another, and almost everything had gone wrong, even more so with the latest attempt to brew the required potion for those trying to become Animagi. The explosion had been a nasty one, causing her several injuries and almost constant pain.
Before she could step toward the girl's dorms after offering a small wave, something else stopped her; this time, a hand gently gripped her arm and pulled her back toward the spiral stairs. Once again, she crashed into James; a collection of colorful sparks flew past the spot she'd previously stood, followed by yelled comments from the Common Room below.
"Thank you," voiced (Y/N), looking up to her savior. She'd originally believed James had pulled her back, so she was genuinely surprised to see Sirius. He looked at her with concern shining in his icy eyes; she had little doubt he'd spotted her limping and the exhaustion that never seemed to disappear. Just as he'd likely noticed, she'd become more clumsy lately and determined to punish her brother for the controlling behavior he'd recently displayed toward her and Helena.
"I'll take those," commented Marlene as she walked past, a light but sweet chuckle escaping her as she all but ran across the walkway, narrowly missing the colorful sparks flying past from the Wicked Quartet below. Sirius glanced toward Remus and James before gently gripping hold of (Y/N) arm again. He led her back down the stairs to the Common Room, deciding to take advantage of the opportunity Marlene was practically throwing at him.
"Let me go, Siri," spoke (Y/N) as she was practically pulled from the Common Room by Srirus.
"Not until we reach our destination."
"Being a hostage wasn't on my list of things to do before Christmas."
"That's a shame," Sirius responded. "Temporarily kidnapping you has been on mine for ages."
"Lucky me."(Y/N) signed; although tired and wishing for nothing more than to sleep, she was determined to make it difficult for Sirius, even if she would be on the losing end of said battle. Ironically, he was just as if not more determined the two would be back on the same page again. It soon dawned on her where they were going; the moving stairs were making it easier to get to the seventh floor, to the room that came and went as it pleased. The mysterious room had become a hiding spot for those who were part of the Animagus plan.
Upon entering the mysterious room, the pair noticed it appeared like a smaller version of the Gryffindor Common Room, complete with a warming fire burning away and a few bunks to the back, parted from the rest of the room by thick red and gold curtains. The last time (Y/N) had personally entered the room, it looked like a never-ending storage room, as if the school was giving her all she needed to get revenge on her brother, Joaquin. She'd found a little army of the Monster Book of Monsters, perfect for what she had in mind. However, it took her a little time to build trust with the snappy books.
"What are we doing here?" asked (Y/N), trying to hold back her curiosity. It had been a while since it had been just the two of them. Christmas the previous year had been the last time they'd both bolted there to escape the warring Smith Twins. Now, it seemed like she was constantly avoiding both: one she didn't particularly like, and the other she'd thought was her friend had hurt her and didn't seem to care.
"Dance with me?" countered Sirius, changing the subject as he wafted his wand toward the record player with the oversized trumpet attached; soft music began to play, echoing around the room. "I know you're not intentionally dodging me, but for Merlin's sake, let me help you with whatever you are doing," he added as (Y/N) hesitatingly stepped close. Sirius gently placed a hand on her waist and held her hand in the other. Together, they began to sway with the music's rhythm.
"You want to help me torment Joaquin?" asked (Y/N), after some thought. "Considering I'm currently testing how long it would take a daft Ravenclaw to notice, you'd have to be subtle about it," she added, at least hinting at what she'd been up to. Although she didn't let it slip, Helena also helped in a more obvious way. Whereas Helena was out in the open, (Y/N) worked from the shadows, doing the little things that would eventually add up.
"What did he say anyway?" asked Sirius, asking the question that had been bugging him since the dinner he'd attended with the Wolffe family. He knew it had to have been bad as the dinner had been cut short, and Helena and (Y/N) had practically been on a war path since. "What did Isolde do?"
"He said he had a right to control me and Helena as our elder brother. That I was too young and naive to know what I wanted," replied (Y/N), recalling how her parents reacted to Joaquin following the family dinner. Her mother had been irate, considering the controlling trait had been somewhat of a tradition in her own family as she grew up; the oldest three always got to control what the younger four siblings did; her brother and one of her sisters had been kind, however, eldest sister had been the opposite, cruel and heartless. "Isolde agreed with him, even when she, too, is too young and naive to know what she wanted by that same stupid logic."
"Wanna go to the Winter Dance with me?" asked Sirius, changing the subject completely, instead focusing on the hopeless romantic end of things. After all, he wasn't about to give up without a fight, no matter what some prat thought. He was willing to take a leap of faith if (Y/N) was. "As Moony said, we're stronger together?"
"More mischievous, too," replied (Y/N), her hair turning from silvery blonde to a dark purple, which was associated with her mischief-making side, something that had become a rarity since the new school year began. 'Is that why you asked me to dance?"
"Yup, even when I know you can barely walk in a straight line."
"Took your time asking, didn't you?"
"Took your time noticing, didn't you?" replied Sirius
"Oh, you dear sweetling," spoke (Y/N) with a bright smile forming on her lips, "I noticed back in the second year when you purposely got detention after I'd been given one," she laughed, even more so at Sirius' expression changed to a quizzical one. "I just wanted to see how long I could keep the oblivious game up before someone questioned my sanity," (Y/N) explained, recalling Remus had worked it by the end of the second year and Marlene in their third. However, both had thankfully kept it to themselves, if only to see how long the game would continue.
