“Yes, as far as I can tell,” murmured Lesley, looking up at her roommate with an expression that meant business, from her crouching position at the top of the girls’ staircase.
“Do Homenum revelio or something just to make sure,” ordered Kirsty, her voice a frightened whisper.
Lesley rolled her eyes but did as commanded. “Okay, we’re safe!” she announced after the spell had been cast, and she breathed a momentary sigh of relief.
It was the morning of February the fourteenth, and Kirsty and Lesley were now the only ones left to conduct their pre-breakfast Valentine’s Day ritual “ avoiding mushiness at all costs.
“Okay then, go, go, go!” shouted Kirsty, bounding forwards out of the dormitory, hot on Lesley’s heels.
Kirsty thundered down the stairs, the adrenaline coursing through her making her heart beat wildly and a wide grin fix itself on her face.
The two of them burst into the common room in a flurry of movement and noise. Even though her eyes were averted, Kirsty could feel intrigued gazes on her and her companion. She could hear numerous people calling her name, voices that she recognised, but today was not a day to waste time in exchanging pleasantries.
She and Lesley charged through the common room. “Smooching couple at two o’clock, veer left, veer left!” instructed Kirsty, shielding her eyes with her hand and looking down at Lesley’s trainer-clad feet.
They had almost made it across the full stretch of the common room when Lesley’s pounding feet disappeared from Kirsty’s line of vision. Risking everything, Kirsty stopped and quickly scanned her surroundings for her partner in crime. It didn’t take long for Kirsty to pinpoint Lesley’s location, and when she did she felt like she had been kicked in the stomach.
Lesley was standing mere millimetres away from their desired destination “ the entrance to the common room, and seemed to be receiving a modest yet thoughtful Valentine’s card from Gryffindor Beater Billy Harper.
“Lesley!” cried Kirsty in a small voice full of despair. “Soldier down,” she muttered to herself as she turned on her heel and shuffled morosely off into the middle of the common room.
“Hey, Kirst!” someone yelled from over to her left. Kirsty, feeling vulnerable and disappointed now without Lesley’s comforting presence, looked up to see who was calling her.
All of the couples were sat by the fireplace, basking in each other’s company and smiling invitingly over at her. Begrudgingly, Kirsty made her way towards them “ there was nothing quite as sickening as loved-up couples on Valentine’s Day.
“What was all that about?” asked Sam, looking amused, as she came to stand before them.
“I’m boycotting Valentine’s Day “ like I do every year, but this time I’m doing it alone.” She glared at the three girls sat before her. “You three have deserted me, and now I have to be a singleton all by myself.”
Hayley chuckled softly. “We’re sorry, Kirst, but we can’t really boycott Valentine’s Day when we have boyfriends in tow, that’d be slightly hypocritical of us. Plus, we thought we’d be leaving you in the capable hands of Mary and Lesley.”
“Yeah, what happened there?” asked Lily, looking genuinely perplexed as she shot a surreptitious glance in Lesley’s direction.
“Mary is now apparently going out with Conner Appleby and, well, now it seems that Lesley is soon set to be going out with Billy. Valentine’s Day sucks!” finished Kirsty vehemently, her bottom lip jutting out in a sulk.
“Aw, Kirst, surely there’s someone else who could shun Valentine’s Day with you,” said Emma, seeming to try her best to prise herself away from Sam’s loving grasp so as not to make Kirsty feel even worse.
Kirsty furrowed her brow. Was there someone else she could turn to? She stood there, watching the loved up couples and feeling more and more depressed whilst her mind furiously ticked over.
In a flash of inspiration, the answer came to her and without a word of explanation to her friends, she darted off in the direction of the boys’ staircase.
“Hey!” shouted James. “You can’t just barge up there in the morning without permission!”
“Hypocrite,” Kirsty heard Lily say in a reprimanding yet playful tone, before she heard the unmistakeable sound of Lily gluing her lips to James’.
Kirsty’s steps grew progressively slower as she neared the entrance to the boys’ dormitories. Half of her feared walking in on the two remaining boys in various states of undress, but the majority of her apprehension came from the thought of soon being within close proximity to Sirius on the most romantic day of the year.
Her desire to avoid boycotting the holiday alone eventually won out, and she entered the dorms with trepidation.
She could hear the low rumbling of Peter and Sirius in early morning conversation, and hoped that the fact that they were talking meant that they were both fully clothed.
“Hey, Pete!” Kirsty called out, deciding that being blatant was the only way to go about a situation such as this.
Seeing a sweet and innocent young girl such as herself frighten the living daylights out of two adult male wizards was definitely a sight to behold. Sirius and Peter practically jumped out of their skins upon her arrival. “Merlin! What are you doing in here?” asked Sirius, clearly not amused.
“Tuh, and a good morning to you too!” Kirsty retorted.
Kirsty was glad that she was not witnessing a naked Sirius Black, or even a half naked one for that matter. However, the fact that Sirius was simply standing before her in a way too baggy t-shirt and his boxer shorts was still managing to unnerve her. She had to force herself to stare up at his face to refrain from glowing red with embarrassment. Peter’s appearance was also safe. He was actually dressed and ready to go “ unlike the fourth Marauder.
“What’s up, Kirst?” asked Peter, as he went back to packing his books into his schoolbag.
“Well, I’m actually in need of your services, Peter,” she announced, giving him her most winning smile.
“Wait, are you not in need of my services too?” asked Sirius, sounding a little disappointed and hurt.
“No,” responded Kirsty as if it was the most absurd idea she had ever heard. Sirius gave her a searching look before flopping back down on his bed in a groaning of bedsprings. Kirsty shook her head and went back to concentrating on the task at hand. “Anyway,” she continued, addressing Peter once again. “How do you feel about shunning the hideousness that is Valentine’s Day with me?”
“And what would that entail exactly?” queried Peter, straightening up from putting the last textbook in his bag and slinging it over his shoulder with the air of someone who was very much in a rush.
“You know, generally avoiding smooching couples, professing our hatred for aforementioned couples and trying not to look too miserable about the fact that we’re still single.”
“Sounds like a blast,” commented Peter dryly.
“Oh, please, Pete,” Kirsty begged him, aware that Sirius was now moving around the room collecting his wash things. “The girls and me used to do it every year, as I’m sure you recall, but now they’ve all deserted me “ even Lesley and Mary.” She looked at him out of puppy dog eyes in the hope that that would somehow persuade him.
“And why, may I ask, am I being left out of such shenanigans?” demanded Sirius, retrieving a towel from within his trunk and draping it over his shoulder.
Kirsty scoffed. “Oh please, Sirius, the only thing you have to worry about on Valentine’s Day is the paper cuts you’re going to receive from opening your cards in their masses!”
Peter laughed appreciatively whilst Sirius stood and scowled. Without another word he turned on his heel and entered the bathroom, and seconds later Kirsty heard the sound of running water.
“So, what do you say?” pressed Kirsty, returning to bugging Peter once more.
Peter deliberated for a moment and then sidestepped Kirsty before providing her with his answer. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to count me out of this one, Kirst,” he said, not even attempting to sound all that sorry.
“What? Why?” demanded Kirsty, trying her best not to sound as desperate as she felt. She then proceeded to dog Peter’s every footstep as he tried to make his hasty retreat down the stairs.
“Because I was hoping to try and spend more time with Heather,” he retorted irritably.
“Who the hell is Heather?” asked Kirsty, furrowing her brow and wrinkling her nose in puzzlement.
“The girl I’ve been playing chess with every evening over the past few weeks!” he exclaimed in exasperation.
“Oh yeah,” she said, the pieces all sliding in to place. “Does this mean that you no longer want to be a singleton?”
“Erm, no!” replied Peter, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Kirsty harrumphed. “But what am I supposed to do?” she wailed.
“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Peter assured her, darting passed. “You may have to put up with Padfoot’s company after all.”
“Oh God, but he’s so unbearable on Valentine’s Day!” argued Kirsty, helplessness creeping in from all angles now.
“You’re right, he is,” agreed Peter. “Have fun with that!” He lunged down the stairs before she could stop him.
“Damn you, Peter, damn you to hell!” she yelled after him, half furious and half jealous at the fact that he had someone that he wanted to spend Valentine’s Day with. Although, technically she had that too, but with her it was more an issue of not being able to spend the day with Sirius “ not in the way she wanted to anyway.
Kirsty stood and listened desolately to Peter’s footsteps as they thudded down the stairs, and eventually trailed off into nothing.
“Did I miss something?” came Sirius’ voice from behind her.
Kirsty spun around, startled, to see him standing over by the bathroom door dressed in nothing but a towel, which was wrapped rather precariously around his waist. Kirsty swallowed hard. Great, just what I need. His hair was still dripping wet from his seriously quick shower, and Kirsty watched as a miniscule drop of water escaped from his dark locks and made a trail all the way from his shoulder to his stomach before disappearing beneath the white fabric of the towel. She snapped her head upwards before she combusted from embarrassment, to see Sirius watching her with a raised eyebrow.
“That was quick,” she commented lamely, ungluing her tongue from the roof of her mouth. Sirius gave her a strange look, and Kirsty mentally slapped herself. “But you’d at least think that the presence of female company would make you dress more appropriately,” she said, reprimanding him, her tone teasing.
“You’d think,” Sirius replied, a mischievous glint in his eye. “So, I’m guessing that Wormtail didn’t go for the Valentine’s Day boycott?”
“No,” sulked Kirsty, bowing her head, and surveying Sirius out of the corner of her eye. Then, deciding that she had nothing to lose (except her dignity) she propositioned him. “Sirius,” she began, putting on her best pleading voice.
“Oh ho ho, now you want me!” he exclaimed dryly.
More than you’ll ever realise, mused Kirsty traitorously. “Oh please, I don’t want to put up with all the couples by myself. Plus, it seems as if we’re soon going to be the only two singletons left in the group.”
“Why? What happened to Wormtail?” asked Sirius, looking both confused and intrigued.
“He’s making a play for Heather,” she informed him grumpily.
“Woo, nice one Wormtail!” cheered Sirius.
“So, what do you say? Do you reckon you could stand to spend the most romantic day of the year with little old me?” she asked, feeling apprehensive.
“Actually,” he announced after a long pause. “I can think of no one else I’d rather spend it with, Kirst.”
They stood and looked at each other then. Kirsty’s heart was pounding hard against her ribcage “ thud, thud, thud. The way Sirius was looking at her made her want to run and hide but at the same time she felt drawn to him. Her head was pulling her in one direction, and her body in the other. Her body reacted instinctively to him, there was no helping it. He seemed to pull her towards him as if he were some powerful magnetic force. Her head told her that Sirius was dangerous and not to be touched. However, it was her heart that posed the biggest problem. Her heart forbade her from risking anything with Sirius because she didn’t wish to ruin the strong bond of friendship they had developed. She was definitely a girl in a pickle.
“So that’s sorted then! We are officially shunning Valentine’s Day!” she exclaimed joyfully.
“If you say so,” replied Sirius, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready.” He then reached down and grabbed a hold of his towel as if he intended to undo it and start getting ready right in front of her.
Kirsty coughed pointedly “ though she was surprised that she managed it with how restricted her throat had suddenly become.
Sirius glanced up at her out of innocent eyes. “What?”
“Do you mind?” she asked in a strangled voice.
A devilish smirk played across his lips and his gaze turned smouldering. Sirius was definitely hot - hot and dangerous. He was too hot to touch. He was like the sun; if Kirsty got too close she would get burnt.
“Sorry,” he apologised. “If it bothers you so much, I suggest you turn around.”
Kirsty gaped at him. “You’re seriously going to get dressed with me in the room?”
“Yeah, I have nothing to be ashamed of,” he said, smiling seductively. Kirsty made a general noise of disgust, and did as he suggested. “Now, no peeking,” he warned her.
“Yeah, right!” Kirsty retorted sarcastically, trying hard to make this a flippant remark. She had a feeling that the next few minutes were going to be the hardest she had ever experienced.
She stood there with her eyes firmly fixed on the canopy of Remus’ four poster bed. She could hear Sirius dropping and picking up various items of clothing, and she found herself unconsciously holding her breath. She couldn’t believe that just a few feet behind her Sirius Black was stood naked “ the thought alone was enough to make her cheeks burn. She balled her hands up into fists to try and exercise some self-control, and she felt the sharp pinch of her nails as they dug into the flesh of her palm.
“Okay, ready!” announced Sirius, his voice sounding much more chipper than she could ever recall hearing it.
Thank God, she thought, breathing an inward sigh of relief. Slowly, and with a feeling of immense unease, she turned to face him. His uniform was now on “ if it could be called that what with his loosened tie and overhanging shirt - and Kirsty felt as if they were finally on safe ground.
“Let’s go,” he commanded, striding towards her and taking her by the crook of her elbow. Before Kirsty could even begin to protest, he was frogmarching her down the stairs as if the situation between them a few minutes ago had not been in the least bit intimate. “Valentine’s Day, here we come!” he cheered as he jumped down the steps two at a time.
As they neared the common room, Kirsty’s composure gradually started to return. Her focus shifted from traitorous thoughts of Sirius to fixate instead on boycotting Valentine’s Day in spectacular fashion.
When they had descended the last step, Kirsty succeeded in wrenching her arm free from Sirius’ grasp and peered cautiously into the common room. More couples seemed to have agglomerated since her last visit, and she tried in vain to suss out a route by which she could avoid all contact with them.
Sirius was shooting her impatient glances “ he wasn’t too accustomed to her Valentine’s Day ritual of avoidance.
This was why Kirsty was to be found minutes later conducting her scheme alone “ Sirius was point-blank refusing to do something so ridiculous. So Kirsty had to once again rely on the pleasure of her own company.
Leaving Sirius to his own devices, Kirsty made a mad dash through the middle of the common room, her hands firmly pressed over her eyes this time. She actually surprised herself by making quite good progress. She only smacked her shin against a chair or table leg three times in all, and only once did she fall headlong into the wall, after tripping over someone’s discarded game of Gobstones.
Again, just as she sensed that the exit was within her grasp, it was rudely taken away from her “ or rather she was taken away from it. Running blindly had definitely not been one of her better plans, since she had run straight into someone and forced both them and herself to the floor.
Wincing in pain, she removed her hands from her eyes, and looked down into the amused face of her Gryffindor team-mate, Luke Tyler. “Luke!” she cried, pulling back a little in order to properly gaze into his face.
“Kirst,” he replied, with rather a curt nod.
“Would you like me to get off you?” she asked.
“If it’s not too much trouble,” he requested, his tone conversational.
She smiled at him and lifted herself to her feet.
“Kirst!” called Emma, coming towards her with the rest of the group (minus Peter) in tow.
“What was that supposed to be?” demanded Remus, coming to a halt in front of her and looking as if he were trying hard to suppress his laughter.
“Oh, shut up!” Kirsty exclaimed, feeling irritated by all the happy, glowing couples around her. “It’s not my fault that I’m not used to shunning Valentine’s Day alone.”
“Hey, I thought you’d enlisted my help!” argued Sirius, looking dejected.
“You just refused to come and do that with me!” she replied heatedly.
“Yes, because that”“ Sirius made an articulate gesture to where Kirsty had just been lying on the floor. “”was stupid.”
Kirsty pulled a face at him.
“Well, I think it’s about time we ventured down to breakfast,” announced Lily, in an attempt to try and avoid any temper tantrums.
To Kirsty’s and everybody else’s astonishment, the moment Lily had spoken she had been showered with little, pink confetti hearts, which looked to have appeared from nowhere.
As one, Lily, along with the rest of the gathering, turned to look suspiciously at James.
“What?” he asked, trying to look like the epitome of innocence.
“What did you do?” demanded Lily, becoming showered with hearts once more.
“What makes you think it was me?”
“Oh please, James, you’re notorious for pulling things like this on Valentine’s Day. Why break tradition just because were an actual couple now? Oh, for Merlin’s sake!” cried Lily, as what looked like a tonne of the tiny hearts came cascading down upon her.
“Come on, Kirst,” exclaimed James jovially, choosing to ignore his currently not so loving girlfriend and grabbing hold of Kirsty’s upper arm. “What do you say we go down to breakfast and meet all the adorable loved up couples down there?”
Kirsty shot him a horrified look and tried to wriggle free of his grasp.
“What a truly superb idea, Prongs,” commended Sirius, grabbing a hold of Kirsty’s other arm. Together they began to drag her towards the portrait hole.
“I don’t think you understand what boycotting means,” Kirsty hissed at Sirius.
“You’re right, I don’t,” he informed her with an infuriating smile.
And so it was that Kirsty was dragged into the sickly fray that was Valentine’s Day, with the rest of her so-called friends giggling away behind her, and Lily cursing James to high heaven as she was swallowed by a mass of girly pink hearts.
James thought that he’d entered an alternate dimension when he arrived at the entrance to the Great Hall, along with Sirius and Kirsty, who was still trapped by the two boys’ powerful grips. Valentine’s Day had come to Hogwarts, and this time it was taking no prisoners.
Someone had gone all out with the decorations, and the Hall now looked like a division of Madam Puddifoot’s tea shop - only it was larger, louder and even sicklier looking, which James wouldn’t have thought remotely possible.
The walls were coated in a tacky-looking lurid pink paint, and from the enchanted ceiling hung red, swirl-shaped hanging strings that all ended with red glittering stars. In true Madam Puddifoot’s style, floating golden cherubs were flitting around the room and throwing pink confetti, much like the sort that kept showering Lily. These cherubs were interspersed with live turtle doves, which refused to fly solo, and what looked like real golden arrows. James couldn’t quite figure out the purpose of the arrows that continued to whiz over the proceedings and hit different people at random, all he did know was that, as of yet, Snape hadn’t been hit by any, MacIntosh kept on good-naturedly batting them away and that there seemed to have been a hesitance in their movements as soon as Kirsty, Sirius and himself had all arrived at the entrance.
James turned to Sirius and the look on his face mirrored what he himself was feeling “ pure, undiluted horror. As one, he and Sirius glanced at Kirsty. In James’ opinion, she looked about ready to faint. She stood between them, mouth hanging open in mortification and her eyes wide and disbelieving.
Seconds passed in which the three of them just stood there, frozen by the horror of what lay before them, and James could feel Kirsty pulling backwards against his grip in her attempt at fleeing the scene. James, however, was not going to let her get away that easily “ if he was going down, she was going down with him. He tightened his grip on her upper arm and along with Sirius he dragged her forward into the ghastly pink patterned fray.
Things seemed to get progressively worse as they made their journey down in between the tables since it looked as if the tables too had been decorated to reflect the holiday spirit. As they passed flittingly down the aisle, James noticed heart shaped place mats, plates decorated with little Cupids and little candy hearts littered the table tops, each one emblazoned with such phrases as ‘Be Mine’ and ‘Kiss Me’.
However, the extent of the damage did not become known until they sat down to breakfast. All around James, Valentine’s themed breakfast treats beamed enticingly up at him. There were plates piled high with heart-shaped slices of toast, mugs of hot chocolate had been sprinkled with cocoa powder to form a heart shape and rather than the usual pumpkin juice, the jugs on the table were filled with some sort of baby pink concoction “ the list was endless.
Kirsty’s disgust was evident. Within five seconds of sitting down at the Gryffindor table she had refused point-blank to eat a thing. Sirius seemed to be going through a similar conflict; he didn’t usually eat breakfast so it should have been easy for him, but his growling stomach swayed his decision and he was forced to tip a heart-shaped fried egg onto his plate to accompany his two rashers of bacon.
When James glanced up at the staff table, his suspicions about who had decorated the Hall in such a manner were quelled. It only took one glance at the beaming professor MacIntosh and the giggly professor Vector (who had only started teaching last year, but who had managed to provide the boys with a very enchanting female teacher “ not that they’d ever admit that to the girls of course) to see that it was they who had forced this horror upon them all.
Similar reactions to the décor could be seen when the rest of the group arrived. Sam, Peter and Remus’ faces in particular had been a picture. As soon as Lily caught up with James she ordered him to remove the charm he had cast upon her, and she grew even more infuriated when the confetti cascaded down onto her hair during their discussion. James was eventually forced to comply, and Lily’s mood softened slightly when her eyes beheld the Valentine’s Day treats that were on offer.
Somewhere between Lily being showered with even more pink confetti from the golden cherubs above and Emma trying to force Kirsty to eat a normal slice of toast, which had been buttered and then spread with jam in the shape of a heart by Emma’s artistic hand, the post started to arrive.
When the flurry of owls overhead finally caught Kirsty’s attention she slumped even further into her state of depression. As predicted, the post owls flocked towards Sirius like salamanders to a fire. Kirsty looked on in disdain whilst making many indignant noises under her breath.
“Good haul this year,” James noted, glancing at the towering pile of cards that Sirius had managed to receive.
“Doesn’t look like you’ve done too bad yourself, Prongs,” observed Sirius, staring at James’ meagre pile. James got the distinct feeling that his friend was trying his best to humour him.
Lily was leaning over James’ shoulder, watching like a hawk as he started to rip open the envelopes. “I didn’t realise you had quite so many admirers.”
“Feeling possessive, are we?” asked James, unable to keep from sounding gleeful.
“Of course not! Don’t be absurd!” she retorted vehemently. “Who do you reckon that one’s from?” she then questioned, trying her best to act nonchalant.
“I don’t know,” he answered truthfully. “And quite frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!” He then dropped the card and swivelled around on the bench to kiss her passionately on the lips.
“Looks like you’ve got competition this year, Padfoot,” commented Remus.
James unglued his lips from Lily’s to see what Remus was talking about. Remus was staring pointedly up at the staff table, and James followed his line of sight to see the large group of owls that surrounded their increasingly popular Scottish professor. When James turned to Sirius he saw that his face was looking very much as if he had just eaten a particularly sour lemon, and James was sure he heard him mutter, “Right, right,” under his breath.
As they ate breakfast, and in Sirius’ case opened numerous Valentine’s cards, James and the rest of the group soon became introduced to the cunningly fast golden arrows. Several times James found himself being attacked by their pointy tips, and every other member of the group got attacked at least once. All except Sirius that was, which James found most peculiar.
Sam, fed up of having to swat them away, turned to Lesley to find out what the deal was with them. According to Lesley, the arrows were designed to be a replacement for Valentine’s cards. They hit people in order to let them know that somebody had a secret crush on them; it was designed to voice the opinion of those who were too shy to pluck up the courage to send an actual card.
James found this very puzzling, especially in light of the fact that Sirius had not been hit, not even once. Maybe it was because all of his admirers (minus Kirsty) were very open in their feelings for him “ and no one more so than his little group of fan girls.
However, all was soon made clear as Sirius endeavoured to open the last of his mountain of cards. In the blink of an eye all of the arrows had gathered together in a huge golden cloud above the heads of the mostly oblivious students. When they careered downwards in a spiral of speed James got the distinct impression that the attack had been in the pipeline for a very long time.
Sirius didn’t even have time to protect himself before he was jabbed from all angles by the pointy messengers. It was like watching a swarm of giant wasps descend, and Sirius was powerless against them. There seemed to be at least fifty of the wretched things “ apparently not all of Sirius’ admirers were quite so vocal in their adoration of him.
Kirsty couldn’t help but shriek with laughter at Sirius’ current predicament, and whilst James joined in with a few guffaws he also made the mistake of once again glancing up at the staff table. MacIntosh was looking on with glee at Sirius and his new friends, and it wouldn’t have surprised James in the slightest if MacIntosh was somehow responsible for the organised attack on his eighteen-year-old rival.
At long last Sirius managed to fend off his pointy foes; he didn’t look the slightest bit amused and his temper was not very much improved when he caught sight of Kirsty still laughing openly at the unfair attack. Sirius scowled at her and hastily finished his bacon before it disappeared into nothingness.
Kirsty was so busy laughing at Sirius that she failed to notice the small post owl that had hopped down in front of her. In fact, James was the first to notice it and he also didn’t fail to notice the fact that it carried within its beak a bright red envelope.
In the time that it took for Kirsty’s laughter to quell itself down into a few minor hiccups, everybody else at the table had also noticed the tiny card-carrying owl. Sirius was showing more than a normal amount of interest in the little creature, and James shared a significant glance with Lily, Hayley and Peter. Over the past few weeks the little group’s schedule had been packed full with attempts at getting Sirius and Kirsty to send a Valentine’s Day card to each other. James, Peter and Remus had of course been the ones to tackle Sirius about it, and the girls and Sam had been left to wear down Kirsty’s carefully constructed defences. However, it seemed as if all their attempts at gaining further proof had failed “ until now. Could this card really hold the key to Sirius and Kirsty’s future happiness?
James watched with eager anticipation as Kirsty finally spotted the small, weather-beaten owl out of the corner of her eye. She blinked in shock and quickly scrutinised the red envelope that it held firm within its beak, before doing a brief scan around the table to see who the owl was looking for. James caught Remus’ eye and Remus smirked back at him.
Kirsty, unable to decipher the owl’s purpose at the table, then went back to finishing her heart-shaped cornflakes. It was then that the owl grew impatient. The group all watched in fascination as it hopped over to stand resolutely in front of Kirsty’s bowl of cereal. Kirsty gave it a half-irked, half-puzzled look, and then proceeded to try and shoo it away with her index finger “ but the owl refused to budge.
“I think it’s for you, Kirst,” Remus informed her, sounding amused.
Kirsty looked over to him and scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous!” Then, probably against her better judgement, she reached down and gently prised the red envelope from the owl’s tiny beak. In a flutter of wings and sharp, talon-like claws the owl hastily took off, not once looking back.
Kirsty gazed down at the envelope in wonderment. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
The group all craned their necks to try and observe whether or not the writing was recognisable as Sirius’. Sirius, however, aimed for looking unconcerned and simply placed his last piece of fried egg into his mouth and chewed it with content.
“Well, open it then!” exclaimed Emma, her impatience getting the better of her.
“No!” retorted Kirsty, holding the card protectively against her chest.
“If you won’t open it then I’m going to do it for you,” Emma warned her.
Kirsty looked over to her and scoffed “ clearly she viewed this as an idle threat. The two girls then locked eyes, and Emma’s intent became obvious. In a flash, both she and Kirsty had risen from the table, and Kirsty ran full pelt out of the Hall with Emma in hot pursuit.
James laughed along with the rest of his party, and curiosity burned within him.
“Well, who would have thought it?” announced Sirius, aiming for a nonchalant tone. “Looks like Kirsty has got a reason to like Valentine’s Day after all.”
James looked at his friend, and Sirius did a very good job of looking very interested in the tips of his fingernails.
Kirsty and Emma didn’t return until twenty minutes later, and when they did Kirsty was looking uncharacteristically smug and Emma defeated. They returned to their respective places at the table and were immediately questioned about the contents and whereabouts of Kirsty’s surprise Valentine’s card.
James and Sirius were the only ones who held back from the inquest, Sirius because he was too busy pretending not to be interested and James because he was too busy watching the supposedly uninterested Sirius.
The contents of the card, it seemed, were never to be established, but the task of divulging the whereabouts of said card came to Emma. In a rather grumpy fashion she explained, “Kirsty, the ever wonderful person that she is, Vanished it before I got a chance to steal it of off her. It’s in our dorms somewhere, floating around unseen.” Emma then folded her arms and sulked, and Kirsty took the opportunity to stick out her tongue gloatingly at her friend.
With an air of disappointment, talk turned to other things. All around them students were making the best of the last few minutes that were left before their first lesson. Many students had actually waited until the last moment of breakfast to give their sweethearts their presents “ and Hayley and Remus were no exception.
All eyes were upon the newly instated couple as they exchanged their gifts “ both wrapped in lurid pink paper. Hayley was the first to rip off the paper to reveal a rather large tube of spot cream. She looked up at Remus looking flabbergasted and a red tinge appeared on her cheeks, but James wasn’t sure whether this was from embarrassment or rage.
Remus, looking perplexed, cautiously opened his own present, and this time beneath the wrapping paper lay a pair of festering yellow socks. The couple looked at each other in complete horror and disbelief, and then as one they turned to glare accusingly at Sirius, James and Peter. Lily and Sam, sharing the view of the annoyed couple, also turned their condemning gazes to the only plausible guilty party.
“What?” asked Sirius with every air of innocence. “You seriously believe that we have something to do with this?”
“Yes!” exclaimed Hayley, Remus, Lily and Sam in unison.
“Charming,” commented Peter dryly.
“Well, it wasn’t us, I assure you, though I kind of wish it was,” James replied, rubbing his temples in his confusion.
The three Marauders were all receiving highly sceptical looks from the other four when a snort of laughter emanated from right beside them. The eight heads whipped around to stare in amazement at Kirsty and Emma, who had now collapsed onto the table laughing madly.
“Y-you did this?” stammered Sirius, looking shocked and impressed at the same time.
“Ha-ha! You should have seen your faces!” announced Kirsty, trying to choke back her laughter as she pointed over at Hayley and Remus.
“Such a picture!” added Emma before going into peals of laughter once more.
James shared an amused look with Sirius, who had a very strange look on his face - a look that James could never remember seeing before.
“You two seriously did this?” asked Peter, his voice sounding filled with pride.
“Yeah,” replied Emma, managing with great difficulty to calm herself. “After all, the Marauders can’t be the only ones who are allowed to have all the fun.”
“When did you even do this?” asked Sam, looking at his girlfriend in wonderment.
“You didn’t seriously believe that it took us over twenty minutes to argue over me Vanishing my card, did you?” Kirsty demanded of him, smiling gaily.
“You two really are the limit,” observed Lily, a wide smile plastered over her face. “This is quite a spell you’ve pulled off!”
From beside him James could hear Sirius roaring with laughter and he turned around to see what the commotion was. “Ha-ha! Avery just ended up giving his girlfriend a pair of hole-ridden boxer shorts for a Valentine’s Day present! Oh, girls, this is gold!”
Kirsty looked over to Sirius and smiled, a blush appearing on her cheeks, and Sirius in return seemed unable to take his eyes off her.
James then realised what the strange look had been on Sirius’ face before, and why it was that he hadn’t recognised it earlier. He hadn’t recognised it because he wasn’t accustomed to seeing such a feeling grace the face of Sirius Black, but there was no denying it, the emotion that Sirius had been displaying so proudly upon his face had been love “ love!
He stared at Sirius with undisguised interest and properly studied the lovesickness that was evident in his face; it was almost as if it were seeping from his every pore. In James’ opinion this definitely provided him with the proof he needed. Sirius was so busy staring at Kirsty with fascination at the prank she had just pulled that he didn’t even notice the in-depth character study that James was performing on him.
It was then that James decided that it would be in the best interests of everybody to drag Sirius away from the table. Sirius seemed to have fallen even deeper in love and James thought it best to drag him away then and there before he started drooling all over the place.
“Right, I think it’s about time we got off to Defence Against the Dark Arts, don’t you, Padfoot?” James announced rather loudly. Without waiting for Sirius to give his consent, James grabbed a hold of the collar of his robes and manhandled him out of the hall “ he wanted a word with his dearest friend before everybody else learned of James’ new-found proof.
“Ouch! What was all that about?” Sirius barked as soon as they were out in the Entrance Hall.
“I wanted to drag you out of there before you ended up declaring your undying love for Kirsty!” James retorted heatedly.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” announced Sirius, sticking his nose up in the air in a pompous way.
“Oh yes you do! You couldn’t take your eyes off her, it was like you’d fallen for her all over again “ understandable I suppose with the awesome prank she just helped pull. Plus, I know it was you who sent her that Valentine’s card.”
“Okay, I admit it, that was me, I finally succumbed to your ceaseless pestering, and I’m glad I did send her the card, all right? But what is it to you if my feelings have grown?” demanded Sirius, on the defensive yet again.
“Look,” began James as they started to ascend the grand staircase. “I know I’ve not always been overly supportive of your feelings for Kirsty, but if you really do feel that strongly for her then I think you owe it to yourself to try your luck.”
Sirius stopped halfway up the staircase looking startled. “You do? Where’d my boy go? You know, play the field, find someone else, it’s just a crush?”
“Yeah, I know, but I was just looking out for you, I had your best interests at heart. I just wanted to make sure you were happy, but just now I realised how much Kirsty is the person who makes you happy, and if she agreed to it I think you’d make a pretty awesome couple. I’m not trying to pressure you into anything, I just wanted to let you know that I personally think you should go for it and ask her out,” James finished and gave his best friend his most sincere look; he wanted him to know that he was serious.
“It’s an awfully big risk though, Prongs,” admitted Sirius, starting up the stairs again as if in an attempt to leave Prongs and his problems behind.
“I know, I know,” said James, deliberating over how tough Sirius was finding this whole situation. He grabbed hold of his friend’s arm, halting him once more in his tracks. Sirius looked at him with intrigue and annoyance. “But since when have Marauders been afraid of taking risks?” he demanded of his friend, knowing very well that he had Sirius beat.
Sirius gave him a hard look, and James was worried that he was going to hit him. However, just as James was about to cower, Sirius took on a thoughtful disposition.
Not another word was exchanged between the two friends and Sirius started off on his way to Defence Against the Dark Arts again, always remaining just a few paces in front of James.
James couldn’t tell if his ploy had worked, but the new spring in Sirius’ step suggested to James that it was highly probable that his words had had the desired effect.