Apparently the Favorite Quote of Last Chapter: “Sirius, you’re purple,” she added, catching sight of his face. “That can’t be healthy.” I honestly didn’t expect that line to be so popular. I wrote it in a hurry, and I was just kind of like, “Oh yeah, that works, whatever, moving on,” and I think probably half of you told me that was your favorite quote. Hey, whatever works….
Finally, I know many of you will find this chapter a bit disappointing, but for the sake of the story this is how things had to go down. Whatever it is you want to find out… will be covered by the end the story….
I promise!
The Marauders were whole again. No one shouted at anyone; no one was malicious; and no one went up to London on weekends. They were, at last, after three terrible months, whole.
Of course, it had been rather awkward when they had been forced to explain to Professors McGonagall and Flitwick exactly what had happened during that memorable Charms class.
“Sirius has been under a lot of stress lately,” Jocelyn had provided, while Lily and the Marauders nodded fervently on either side of her.
“That does not excuse his conduct, Miss Black,” said Professor McGonagall severely. “Many of the students were very upset. Maria Brenham was particularly shaken,” she added, glaring at Sirius over her spectacles, as though Maria Brenham’s mental state were his responsibility.
“She was just upset Sirius didn’t kiss her,” Lily muttered under her breath, and the Marauders snorted.
“What was that, Miss Evans?” said McGonagall sharply.
“Nothing, Professor.”
McGonagall turned back to Sirius.
“Why have you been under a lot of stress lately, Mr. Black?” she demanded.
The Marauders exchanged glances.
“Oh,” said Jocelyn quietly, realizing her mistake far too late.
“Family trouble,” Sirius answered emotionlessly, meeting McGonagall’s piercing gaze unblinkingly.
McGonagall frowned at him.
“I see,” she said finally. “Well you should have spoken to the Headmaster or one of the teachers, instead of alarming your classmates. Ten points from Gryffindor and detention.”
And with that they had been dismissed.
Even more awkward for Jocelyn, however, had been the unavoidable conversation she’d had with Hector the next day.
“It’s no more than I expected,” he said coldly, when she attempted to explain. There was a pause. Then, almost as if he couldn’t help himself, he blurted, “Seems a bit wrong, though, doesn’t it? I mean, he’s your cousin.”
“He’s not my brother,” Jocelyn answered in a steely voice.
Hector flinched. Jocelyn didn’t know it, but Sirius had said nearly the same thing many months earlier. For a moment Hector stared at the floor. Then he looked up at her.
“I do want you to be happy,” he whispered sincerely.
Jocelyn smiled at him.
“I know,” she said quietly. “You’ve been a good friend to me…. Far better than I deserve.”
“Hey, I’ll always be here if you “”
“I know,” she cut him off quickly. “Thanks.”
And giving him a swift kiss on the cheek, she left him.
No one really knew what had happened between Sirius and Jocelyn after they had left the classroom. Sirius hadn’t even mentioned it to the other Marauders, and all Lily had been able to gather from Jocelyn was that the two had agreed to put the past behind them. However, James, Remus, Peter, and Lily were far too happy things were back to normal to pry about details.
The Easter holidays were very cheerful. Toffee-filled eggs were exchanged, butterbeer drunk, and Exploding Snap played well into the night. James and Jocelyn even managed to talk Sirius and Remus into playing two-on-two Quidditch. Lily and Peter had both declined due to fear of flying, though as Sirius had noted privately to Jocelyn, that was really no loss, as both were dreadful. Sirius and Remus were both tolerable, James was superb, and Jocelyn was horrible as Chaser, so the teams evened out quite nicely. All in all, they had quite an enjoyable holiday being deliciously lazy.
“But we do need to set aside time for homework,” Lily reminded them all a few days into the holidays. “And studying for our N.E.W.T.s.”
“I have better things to do than study for N.E.W.T.s,” yawned James.
“Like perfecting your chess skills,” smiled Remus, who had just spectacularly beaten James at chess for the seventh time in a row.
James glared at him.
“I don’t need to study for exams,” commented Sirius boredly. “I already know all that rubbish.”
“Really?” Lily was skeptical. “What is Golpalott’s Third Law?”
“Something we learned in sixth year that Slughorn was mad about,” Sirius answered promptly.
Lily passed him a copy of Advanced Potion Making, looking vindicated.
“And for future reference,” she added, “Golpalott’s Third Law states that the antidote for a “”
“Blended poison will be equal to more than the sum of the antidotes for each of the separate components,” Sirius finished, tossing the textbook she’d given him aside, and looking disgusted. “I was only joking, Lily.”
Lily retired to a corner, looking huffy, but she did not bother Sirius again. However, she did sweet-talk James into becoming a serious student, and they spent long hours in the library and corners of the common room together. Jocelyn often caught phrases like, “What is the advantage of using a nonverbal spell?” and, “List three of the dangers of human Transfiguration,” and noted to Sirius that, “They really are sickeningly sweet.”
Sirius eyed the couple with distaste.
“Homework,” he said with a shudder, “is not something I would term as, ‘sweet’.”
Jocelyn grinned, and kissed him.