Peter had tied a sheet about his shoulders to look like a toga and he was now strutting towards James, pouting. James was grinning as he swaggered forwards, his hands resting on his hips as he walked. Remus could almost not see through his tears as he continued to laugh hysterically. Every now and again he would pause to look at Sirius’ face. Remus could tell that Sirius was trying not to be amused; he was making every effort to exude offence. Yet the humour could not be lost to him, he would not be able to remain serious for long, as Peter suddenly took a deep breath, and began in a scarily high pitch, “Oh Sirius, my darling, I can’t keep our love a secret no longer. Tell me that it has all been worth it. Say that you will be mine.”
James’ cheeks were full with the laughter he was trying so hard to suppress. He shook his head to rid himself of it and, after staring down at the floor for a moment or two, he raised his head and replied in a deep voice, “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but you’re just not my type.”
Peter raised a hand to his forehead and, leaning back in a mock swoon, his voice reached a whole new level of pitch as he said, “But my love, the promises you made me? How can you just forget all the things we have shared?”
Remus clutched the sheet beneath him in an attempt to stop laughing, yet the tears were falling fast now. His stomach ached as he watched James shrug nonchalantly before, turning, he swaggered off to the opposite side of the room. The performance had ended and Remus clapped as James flung himself back on his bed, finally succumbing to the hysterics of the act.
Sirius was still not laughing and, after he watched his friends laugh at his expense, he finally scoffed and hurled a pillow at James with the words, “When would I ever call anyone sweetheart?”
James sat up, cleaning his glasses on his jumper, laughter still clinging to his words as he said, “That was artistic license. If you will insist on chatting up The Fat Lady…”
Sirius scowled and threw his other cushion at Remus, which he skilfully dodged. “I wasn’t chatting her up; I was just trying to get her to tell us the password…”
“That’s what he says now…” Remus couldn’t help but add and he was in little doubt that if Sirius had another cushion to throw, it would have been heading his way. “But you should have seen them together back in the corridor.”
James continued to chuckle on the opposite side of the room as he unlocked his trunk and finally begun to unpack. They had been back for almost an hour and half, and so far the most any of them had achieved was hanging up their robes on the peg by the door. Remus was laughing to himself as he unlaced his shoes, replaying the more comical moments of James and Peter’s act in his head, before he dumped his shoes down by his bed. There had been no way Sirius was going to get away from this; it had been too impossibly funny to ignore. The hilarity of the situation seemed to have subsided slightly, however, as each of them turned their attention to the task of unpacking. Remus carefully piled the textbooks he had taken home to study on the end of the bed, his attention caught by a square of parchment that had lain buried beneath them. He had barely glanced at it and yet he already knew what it was; he recognised the tiny, cramped handwriting of the hurried address.
“Did you write?” Sirius’ voice caused Remus to jump; he hadn’t realised he had been staring so intently at the parchment. There was none of the bitterness in the question that Remus had learnt to expect, and he was somewhat confused by the way that Sirius simply carried on stuffing his clothes in the drawers.
“No I forgot…” Remus mumbled, placing the parchment inside his copy of Bamboozling the Boggart Within before he quickly snapped it closed.
Sirius shrugged, his eyes fixed determinedly on the last pair of socks he was now attempting to shove in the drawer, and said, “You shouldn’t leave it too long. She might loose interest, and then where would you be?”
Remus could say nothing and, after finally managing to push the bursting drawer closed, Sirius flashed him a quick smile before crossing the room to retrieve something from the pockets of his robe. Surely something more was to be said; Sirius had never offered anything in the way of words of friendly encouragement. He had not snapped back with sarcasm or insult. He had asked a simple question without malice, and Remus had been surprised at his calm reaction to the answer. Maybe what James had said over the holidays had really had an affect? Maybe Sirius was beginning to make an effort to understand.
All at once the door to the boy’s dormitory flung open and Lily Evans strode purposefully into the room. Sirius, who had returned to his robes to fetch his wand thought fast and, without even a moment’s hesitation, performed a quick charm to shrink the neck to the jumper James was in the process of pulling over his head so that it stuck fast. James panicked, tugging violently at the jumper that was now refusing to budge.
Sirius was laughing hard and Lily, ignoring both of them, walked over to where Remus was sitting and said, “I needed to speak to you. I thought you were going to meet me in the library at four?”
Remus shrugged; this was news to him. Lily, clearly noting that Remus seemed oblivious to the arrangements that he had supposedly agreed to, looked to James who had given up trying to yank the jumper free and was now standing shivering, his hands wrapped round his naked torso.
“Alright Evans?” he said as Sirius continued to laugh. Lily simply rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Remus once more.
“I wrote…I sent an owl this morning. Didn’t you get it?” Remus shook his head; he had left early that morning and he supposed that his parents would have forwarded on any post that he had received.
Lily sighed and pushed her hair from her face, shifting awkwardly on her feet. This was not the cool, calm Lily Evans they all knew. She seemed somewhat more vulnerable than usual; her shirt had become un-tucked at the back and one grey sock had slipped down to her ankle. Clarely, something was clearly wrong.
“What is it? Was it important?” Remus asked and for a moment Lily looked as if she was going to speak. Her lips froze and she flicked her head in the direction of James and Sirius before she said, “I don’t want to do this with them here.”
“Oh come on Evans,” Sirius began, returning to his own bed, his eyes fixed on her. “No secrets amongst friends?”
Lily cast her eye to James, who had once again returned to struggling with his jumper. With an impatient wave of her wand the jumper loosened and with an almighty tug James managed to free himself. Sirius laughed but Lily’s face was stern as she said, “It’s really important.”
“Look Lily,” James began, pulling on a crumpled shirt that he had hurriedly retrieved from his case. Remus watched the way Lily crossed her arms across her chest, her head tilted to one side, her face fixed with an expression of utter disdain. “I know you think that Sirius and I can be utter prats…”
“Well I’m glad you finally figured that one out.” Across the room, Sirius winced at this scathing remark. Remus half expected James to desist, yet he continued to approach her undeterred.
“And I know you think that a pig-head like me couldn’t possibly ever take anything seriously…” She nodded but Remus noted a small smile that had begun to curl her lips. “But I swear whatever you tell us won’t go any further than this room.” From his bed in the corner, Peter began to nod. James moved his hand to perform the automatic gesture of ruffling his hair, yet he somehow stopped himself and said, “You can trust us.”
As he had moved towards her, Lily had moved back; her legs were now pinned against Remus’ bed. Remus watched the looks that passed between them and, after a moment of silence, Lily sighed dramatically before sitting on the bed next to Remus with the words, “Oh alright…” James smiled and Lily almost smiled too; a small sort of victory had been won. Yet before James let this smile go to his head Lily seemed to correct herself and, brandishing her wand, she threatened, “But I swear to you Potter, if I find out you’ve told anyone…”
James raised his hands above his head and Remus noticed for the first time that Sirius had left his own bed, and was now leaning over the end of Remus’ to better see what was happening.
“Alright I promise.”
Lily then turned so her wand was pointed at Sirius, who shrugged and said, “I promise too.”
Lily pocketed her wand and turned to Remus and, after taking a deep breath, she began tentatively, “It’s about Severus…”
Remus automatically looked to James who had started forward at the mention of that name, and was now somewhat restrained by Sirius’ hand about his arm. Lily looked round and saw the gesture and she could hardly contain her anger as she stood up to leave.
“I knew this would be a mistake. How can I ever tell you anything with them here?”
“No look, I’m sorry…”
James had moved in Lily’s direction, yet had come to a halt when she rounded hotly on him and snapped, “This is really serious and if you’re just going to be like this than I might as well not bother!”
“Don’t be like that…”
“This is bigger than any bloody childish rivalry!” Lily’s face was red; her hair seemed to shake as she struggled to steady her breathing. Her green eyes were fierce yet desperate and Remus saw the way she was trying, so desperately, to remain strong.
“Lily, just tell us,” Remus’ voice was soft with encouragement. “I promise they’ll shut up now…they won’t say another word. If it’s this important we might be able to help you…or even if you just need to talk…”
Lily laughed and yet she was still shaking; her eyes were fixed on James’ shoes. When she looked up it was as though she was close to tears and James started forward in a desperate attempt to offer some comfort. Lily raised her hand and he froze and, after taking a deep breath, her voice wavered slightly as she asked, “Have any of you heard of a wizard called Voldemort?”
Without you, I'm nothing by Clare Mansfield
Chapter Notes: Sirius' flirtations with The Fat Lady come back to haunt him before the Marauders are interrupted and things take an ominous turn...