Sirius and Kirsty were sitting beside one another on the sofa, looking through narrowed eyes at the happy couples chatting away to each other on the far side of the room. Peter was the only one absent as a fifth year girl had challenged him to a game of chess, and so far they seemed to be getting on very well.
Tuh, even Peter’s getting more action than me, thought Sirius bitterly.
Sirius turned his gazed away from Peter and watched with interest instead as Kirsty continued to fold and unfold her arms whilst sighing huffily. “I want someone!” she suddenly declared, her voice that of a whinging child.
“Me too!” agreed Sirius vehemently, not mentioning that he had someone in particular in mind. “I mean, why is it that everybody else has managed to find someone, and we’ve been left on the shelf? What’s wrong with us?”
“Maybe that’s a can of worms that’s best left unopened,” confessed Kirsty with a small smirk. Sirius gave her an amused sideways glance and chuckled. “Surely it shouldn’t be that hard to find a guy who could put up with me, provided that he fit my checklist at first of course.”
“Checklist?” asked Sirius, feeling puzzled, amused and slightly apprehensive all at the same time.
“You know, to see if he conforms to my ideas of the perfect man,” replied Kirsty, giving him a look that dared him to mock her.
“Ah, I understand,” offered Sirius diplomatically. “And pray tell, what exactly are these attributes that the lucky son of a gun would have to possess?”
Kirsty, looking slightly taking back, started to look him up and down as if sizing him up. With an expression that seemed to scream ‘Sod it,’ Kirsty began to tick off the things on her fingers. “Well, first off, he has to be able to make me laugh.”
I’ve got that one down to a tee, thought Sirius happily.
“I’d like him to be manly, but at the same time be capable of being a perfect gentleman, who’s not afraid to show his feelings. He’d have to be relatively intelligent “ to match up to my own intellectual standards”“
Sirius scoffed at this, and as Kirsty glared at him, he couldn’t help mentally ticking off all these attributes as they too were not overly unlike him.
“Courageous, I suppose, which would signify a Gryffindor or maybe even a Hufflepuff. He’d have to be an animal lover of course and get on with all of you lot, and I’d like a man who was not overly romantic, but who was still capable of being spontaneous””
Check, check, check, check, thought Sirius, growing happier by the minute.
Kirsty paused then, closing her mouth and swallowing the rest of what she’d been about to say. Her brain seemed to be furiously ticking away, as she had that glazed look that she always got when thinking hard. She shot Sirius a sideways glance before smirking a little. “He’d also have to be able to cook. It’d help if he was Scottish “ I have to indulge one of my fantasies at least. He couldn’t be too egotistical, nor too popular - that’d drive me insane - and I tend to go for guys who have dark hair and brown eyes.”
Sirius frowned slightly, not as impressed with those last few points. Right, he plotted, I need to take some cooking lessons, perfect my Scottish accent, become modest, lock myself away like a hermit until the fan girls forget all about me “ or maybe set them after the younger, less good-looking Black instead, and borrow James’ eyeballs. Maybe it would just be easier to find himself another girl after all.
“So, how about you?” asked Kirsty, gazing at him inquisitively.
“How about me what?” he asked hazily, his mind still on his impossible tasks.
“What makes up your ideal woman?” she persisted, seeming genuinely interested.
“No way, I’m not answering that!” exclaimed Sirius.
“Why not?” asked Kirsty, affronted.
“Because it’s private!” argued Sirius. After all, Kirsty was never supposed to know the real reason behind his secrecy.
“But you just made me tell you mine!”
“Ha ha, loser!” taunted Sirius. Kirsty poked him hard in the stomach.
“I bet I can guess yours anyway,” announced Kirsty with an evil grin. “Blonde, long legs, big boobs, and a complete airhead who is in awe of your every move. Someone who’d continuously praise the vision of masculinity that is Sirius Black, and somebody who hated hunky, Scottish, Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers with a passion!”
“If only,” said Sirius, talking more to himself than to the brunette with attitude sat looking up at him with a barely concealed gloating delight. If Kirsty had named all those things when he had been thirteen, then she’d have hit the nail right on the head, but now Sirius looked for somewhat different attributes in a woman. And heading the list was the fact that they had to be an exact replica of a certain Miss White.
Minutes passed, in which the two of them simply sat and stared at the rest of their friends. Sirius was of course happy that they had all managed to pair off with each other; he just wished things could be that easy for him.
Kirsty gave a huge yawn from beside him, and he suggested that she go to sleep.
“No I’m fine,” she insisted, slumping further down on the sofa nonetheless. Within seconds, her eyes were beginning to droop, and Sirius manoeuvred her head so that it rested against his shoulder. To Sirius’ surprise, she made no objections but instead snuggled into him further with a contented sigh. Sirius’ heart leapt with joy - he must have been a very good boy of late.
“Hmm, you know, I think I might understand why your Animagus form is a dog,” she murmured complacently.
“Really? And why’s that?” he asked, draping his arm around her shoulder and laying his head on top of hers.
“Because you’re nice to cuddle up to,” she admitted happily.
Sirius chuckled softly, and breathed in the smell of her cherry-scented hair. Now this was the sort of evening he could get used to.
Emma lifted her legs up off the floor and draped them over the top of Sam’s as she snuggled closer towards him on the sofa. She felt him smile into her hair, and she began to trace small circles on the fabric of his t-shirt with her index finger.
Her eyes had been slowly drifting shut for the last five or so minutes, and she knew that, if she didn’t become more alert soon, she would be in real danger of falling asleep. She tucked her head beneath Sam’s chin, and her forehead encountered the small, spiky bristles that resided there “ Sam was currently going for the look of an eighteen-year-old Gryffindor ruffian, and Emma wasn’t too amused.
She grudgingly opened her eyes, knowing that in the end she’d be grateful for waking up in her own comfy bed the following morning. She did a quick scan of the room, taking in Lily and James all cuddled up on the armchair across from them and Hayley and Remus who were seated on the floor, holding hands, a game of Exploding Snap lying discarded beside them. She allowed her eyes to travel further, and she took in the activity at the other side of the common room. Plenty of students were studying, but about twice as many more were either playing games or stretched out in any available space with their tongues lolling out like tired out dogs.
Emma looked over to Peter and the fifth year girl, who were still playing chess. It looked to Emma as if Peter had just said something to make her laugh, and Emma couldn’t help but feel a warm glow inside at the thought that Peter may have also found somebody. She wished the same could be said for the other two members of their group. Sam was still refusing to let Emma say anything to Kirsty, based on the sheer fact that nothing had occurred between Kirsty and Sirius over the last few months. The forced silence was killing Emma though, and lovesickness was definitely not a good look on Kirsty.
She quickly rescanned the room, trying to pinpoint her two friends. Had they gone to bed already? When Emma’s gaze finally landed on them she felt like she had just taken a Bludger to the stomach. Oh my God! How had she not noticed them before? Her body a trembling mixture of excitement and nerves, she whipped her head up to show Sam and gloat accordingly, but instead, this flurry of movement resulted in her head butting Sam’s chin.
His curse and her stream of devastated apologies caught the attention of the other two couples, who immediately burst out laughing upon realising what had just occurred.
“What did you do that for?” asked Sam through clenched teeth as he tenderly massaged his sore jaw. “I know you don’t like the stubble, but did you really have to take things this far?”
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to. I had something I wanted to show you,” Emma apologised, turning giddy once more as the recollection of that something returned to her.
“Well, I hope it’s worth nearly breaking my jaw,” he commented in annoyance.
“Oh it is!”
“In whose opinion?” he asked dryly.
She hit him on the arm, and mindful of the four pairs of eyes that were watching this exchange with interest, she whispered in his ear, “Look over at that sofa.”
Sam did as he was told, looking more than a little wary. Emma watched transfixed as Sam caught sight of the scene in question. His eyes went wide, but at the same time, one corner of his mouth slid up into a small smirk. He seemed to mentally shake himself, however, before turning to look at Emma’s beaming face “ he knew precisely what she was thinking. “Oh dear God,” he groaned.
“See, I told you we should have said something to her sooner!” announced Emma, feeling vindicated, as she poked Sam repeatedly in the ribs.
“Should have told who what sooner?” asked James as he loomed high above them, scaring Emma.
“How’s the jaw, mate?” he asked, addressing Sam. “I do wish people would stop trying to sabotage my Quidditch team,” he said, staring pointedly at Emma, who stuck her tongue out at him.
“What are we looking at?” he continued to ask, straining his neck to look over the many heads bobbing around the packed common room.
“Nothing!” exclaimed Sam in a rush, simultaneously pinching Emma’s thigh to prevent her from voicing her own response.
James, however, didn’t seem to be paying any attention, since his eyes had just locked on to something in the distance and his body had stiffened.
“All right there, James?” asked Emma, shooting Sam a look of pure annoyance.
“Yeah, fine,” James replied, turning back to face them, looking a bit dazed.
“What? What is it? What’s going on?” asked Hayley, coming over to investigate the commotion. It didn’t take long for her to also see the thought-provoking vision. “Aww! Will you look at that? How cute do they look?”
“I know!” agreed Emma with a girly squeal as she jumped up to stand at Hayley’s side.
Remus and Lily soon rushed over, their faces pictures of puzzlement and intrigue, to see what they were all looking at. Remus, upon seeing Kirsty and Sirius all cuddled up together, shared an apprehensive look with James, and by this point Emma was fit to explode. Who cared if Sam thought that Sirius and Kirsty should not be told of the other’s feelings? This was living proof that they both still fancied each other rotten, surely this meant that she was allowed to tell people now?
“Bless!” exclaimed Lily, and Emma watched as Sam buried his head in his hands.
“Hey, guys, what are you all looking at?” asked Peter ambling over and trying his best to see over the sea of heads.
“Pete! You’re back!” cried Emma. “How did it go? Did you win?”
A red tinge appeared on Peter’s cheeks, and he shuffled his feet. “Not exactly,” he admitted.
“You let her win, didn’t you?” guessed Remus with a knowing smile.
“Kind of,” confessed Peter, looking bashful. “So, what’s going on here then?”
“Nothing!” replied James hurriedly. “Nothing’s going on, in fact, I think we should leave this very unimportant thing that we’re looking at and go and talk more about you and this girl. So, is there going to be a rematch?”
Emma knew why James had opted for this rapid change of subject, and she couldn’t help but be impressed by how loyal James was when it came to protecting Sirius’ privacy.
Peter, however, refused to go for this change of topic and instead looked quite amused. “You do realise that I can see them snuggled up over there just as easily as you can.”
James stopped trying to drag Peter away by his elbow and flung his arms exasperatedly up into the air, before perching himself down on the corner of the coffee table looking defeated. “So, I’m guessing that Padfoot has dropped himself in it yet again?” ventured Peter.
Remus’ head whipped around so fast that it was almost a blur, and James looked up at Peter out of murderous eyes. Here it comes. Emma counted to three inside her head.
“What?” asked Lily and Hayley in unison. James shook his head. “What do you mean Sirius has dropped himself in it again?” pressed Lily. “What’s going on here? James?” she finished, throwing him a highly stern look.
However, it was Emma who provided the two girls with their answer. “Sirius likes Kirsty!” she blurted, unable to keep the secret under wraps for even a minute longer.
Lily and Hayley took a sharp intake of breath and stared at Emma with wide, hopeful eyes, whereas Sam groaned loudly and turned away as if he no longer wished to be involved with the situation. Peter, James and Remus, however, looked at Emma with a mixture of anger, worry and a little curiosity.
“You’re kidding!” squealed Hayley, doing an excited little jump in the air.
“Nope, not kidding. It’s great isn’t it?” asked Emma, equally as gleeful.
“How do you know?” James suddenly shot at Emma, looking apprehensive, probably on his best friend’s behalf.
It was Sam, who was in Emma’s opinion the actual guilty party in this whole commotion, who provided James with his answer. “Sorry, mate, but I overheard you and Sirius talking on Christmas Day, right after he gave Kirsty that expensive-looking necklace. And I’m afraid that I made the mistake of telling blabbermouth here.”
“So how long has this been going on for?” asked Lily, fidgeting with her fingers in her impatience for answers.
“Well, Prongs guessed that Padfoot fancied her after Halloween, but I think he started liking her seriously not long after their detention together with Typicus by the sound of it,” answered Remus dutifully.
James threw a scowl his way. “Stop talking, stop talking now!” he ordered.
“Come on, Prongs, they know now, so they may as well understand it all a bit more,” argued Peter, jumping in and allying himself with Remus.
“I just don’t think this is very fair on Padfoot, that’s all,” confessed James loyally.
“Hang on a minute, weren’t you the one who told Moony and me when Padfoot specifically asked you to keep it a secret?” challenged Peter, gaining the upper hand.
James mumbled incoherently under his breath. Clearly, having his loyalty questioned was not a favourite pastime of his.
Emma, Lily and Hayley were sharing excited glances with one another, unable to make the smiles slip off their faces “ the boys had yet to hear the best of it.
It was Lily who took up the mantle of explaining the most exciting aspect of the situation to the three, clueless boys. “You don’t realise, do you?” she began, her grin broadening.
“Realise what?” challenged James, in a grumpy mutter.
“Can I just take this opportunity to say how much I truly value loyalty towards friends,” interrupted Sam, sharing a pointed look with both Emma and Lily, probably in the hope that one of them would come to their senses and refrain from divulging Kirsty’s most protected secret. Emma knew there was little chance of this happening “ besides, Kirsty would probably thank her later. After all, there was nobody better than the Marauders for coming up with innovative schemes, and that was just the sort of scheme that they were in need of.
“Realise what?” repeated James, choosing to ignore Sam’s interruption.
Lily looked to Emma and Hayley once more as if seeking permission to go ahead. “Kirsty fancies Sirius too!”
“Yay!” Hayley added in a small, jovial voice.
Like three out of control puppets, Remus’, James’ and Peter’s mouths all dropped open.
“W-w-what?” stammered Peter, testing to see if he had indeed heard right.
“Yes, their feelings are very much mutual!” Hayley had great pleasure in explaining.
Emma watched the change in James’ expression with avid interest. His look of anger and weariness at Sirius’ secret being divulged was replaced by a glazed look signifying his confusion. Then a light seem to shine from behind his mottled, hazel-coloured eyes, and his whole face lit up like a beacon with his grin becoming broader than those of the three girls. “But this is fantastic!” he cheered, jumping up from his perch on the coffee table.
“Don’t change emotions too fast, Prongs, you’ll give yourself a head rush,” commented Remus dryly, still not looking overly amused himself.
“Too late,” said Peter, looking dazed by James’ mood swing.
James turned his blinding smile on the two boys, and Emma shared a smug look with the other two girls “ they’d managed to get one of the Marauders on their side at least, and the ringleader no less.
“But this means that I “ we “ won’t have to put up with Padfoot’s moping for a minute longer! Oh the joys of mutual romance!” cried James, grabbing hold of Lily and doing a little ecstatic jig. “So, how soon can we tell them the great news?” James asked the council of girls.
“Now hang on a minute!” exclaimed Sam, sitting up straighter in his seat. “Let’s not jump the gun here!”
“Yes, exactly, I think we should all cool down a minute,” agreed Remus.
Hayley gave her boyfriend a stern look and stood before him with her hands placed commandingly on her hips. “You know, anyone would think that you’re not too happy at this news, Remus.”
“And they’d be right,” confessed Remus. “Don’t get me wrong - I’m happy that they both like each other, but we have to take into account whether or not we’d be doing the right thing by anyone in getting them together.”
“What do you mean?” demanded Emma, not liking the fact that her great scheme might be snuffed out before it had chance to materialise.
“What I think Remus is getting at is that we don’t know how much they really want to be with each other,” said Sam, stepping in. “I mean, Kirsty has specifically told you three that she doesn’t want to be with Sirius because she doesn’t want to ruin the friendship that they have, and I’m sure that Sirius has probably said similar things to you guys,” finished Sam, addressing the three flummoxed-looking Marauders.
“Actually, he hasn’t,” admitted Peter. “Padfoot’s just sorry that nothing could ever happen between them because of their friendship.”
“Oh,” replied Sam, the wind taken out of his sails.
“So, he wants something to happen?” pressed Lily, sounding breathy with excitement.
“Oh definitely!” piped up James, practically shaking with excitement.
“Mate, calm down,” instructed Sam firmly.
“Come on, Sam, stop being such a party pooper!” reprimanded Emma. “You’ve already stopped me from doing this before and now that we have proof”“
“”but we don’t have proof!” argued Sam in an exasperated tone.
Emma gaped at him. “What do you call that?” she cried incredulously, pointing flamboyantly over to the plush, red sofa where Kirsty and Sirius lay.
“Yeah, North, proof!” added James, sounding vindicated.
“You’re getting way too into this,” observed Lily with amusement.
“Well, I care about Padfoot’s wellbeing.”
“More like your own,” observed Peter under his breath. James shot him a dark look.
“Look,” suggested Remus, attempting to reason with the group, “if you’re all dead set on telling them what we know, then you’re going to have to be sensitive in how you do it. Now, I know that I owe Padfoot big time for his help in getting me and Hayley together, and that’s why I’m going to agree to this against my better judgement. So, yes, feel free to tell them the good news, but don’t go in there all wands firing.”
“But, Moony, just think - no more moping!” exclaimed James, jutting out his bottom lip in an attempt at sulking.
“I know, but just think how much more unbearable Padfoot would be if he and Kirsty got together and then broke up because all Kirsty had was a crush,” said Remus, giving the only bit of intelligent insight that any of them had yet offered that evening.
James took a moment to let Remus’ words sink in, and when they did, a look of pure horror formed on his face. “Oh God! So much unbearable moping!”
“Precisely,” replied Remus with a small roll of his eyes.
“So what exactly do you suggest?” asked Hayley grudgingly.
“Well, we find a way of gaining further proof that they’re still interested in one another “ to check that tonight is not just a one off - and if the result is positive and the lay of the land is right afterwards, then we tell them,” announced Remus smugly.
“Okay, sounds good,” said Emma.
“Fine,” agreed Hayley.
With words of affirmation from everybody else, Remus turned to James. “Prongs?”
“I suppose that might work,” he relented.
“Good, good.”
“Now, how are we going to go about doing this?” asked Sam, shuffling forward to perch on the end of the sofa.
Silence descended as everyone put some serious thought into how they would gain further proof of Sirius and Kirsty’s feelings towards each other.
“Wow, this is hard,” announced James after a few minutes.
“I know, you’d seriously think that between us we’d be able to come up with something good,” agreed Hayley, clearly stumped.
Emma, too, was not having much luck and was disappointed with the chief Marauder’s lack of success.
“You guys are all kidding me, right?” demanded Peter, looking rather pleased with himself.
“No, I seriously can’t come up with anything,” admitted Remus. “Why?”
“Wow, this is the first time that I’ve ever felt like the most intelligent one,” said Peter with a small chuckle. “I better lap it up while I can, I suppose.”
“What are you talking about, Pete?” asked Sam, perplexed.
“I have an idea and, I think, rather a good one,” confessed Peter, turning a little bashful now.
“Come on then - spit it out,” ordered James, growing impatient.
“Well, it seems to have escaped all of your notice that it’s Valentine’s Day in two week’s time.”
“By Jove, I think he’s got it!” cried James in euphoria, his broad grin making a welcome return.
“So, I reckon we should try to persuade Kirsty and Padfoot to send Valentine’s cards to each other, and if they take the bait, then we’ll have our further proof!” expanded Peter.
“Wormtail, you’re a genius!” exclaimed James, running forward and planting a rather disturbingly euphoric kiss on Peter’s lips.
When they broke apart, Peter pulled a horrified face, and proceeded to wipe the back of his hand across his mouth. Emma offered Peter a sympathetic look before laughing quietly, whilst Lily simply stood shaking her head at her boyfriend’s eccentric actions.
James, seeming not to notice the amused, and partially horrified, glances that he was receiving, turned to face the group and gleefully announced, “Operation: Get Kirsty and Padfoot Together is now in motion!”