Men were deceivers ever;
One foot in sea and one on shore,
To one thing constant never;
Then sigh not so,
But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny;
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into. Hey nonny, nonny.
Sing no more ditties, sing no mo,
Or dumps so dull and heavy;
The fraud of men was ever so,
Since summer first was leavy.
Then sigh not so,
But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into. Hey, nonny, nonny.
Part 1: Then Sigh Not So
Henrie surveyed her friends carefully. “So tell me,” she said. “How were everybody’s summers?”
Her twin sister, Izzie, giggled. “You know how mine was, Henrietta. Oh, Antone, how I miss thee!” she cried, passionately.
Henrie rolled her eyes, and looked over at Lily. “Isabella here met a very ...”
Izzie filled in her sister’s search for the right adjective, “Gorgeous, divine, sexy, dishy, beautiful, handsome, heavenly“”
““willing Italian boy while we were on holiday.”
“Oh yeah?” Lily grinned. “Antone, you say?”
Izzie lay across the long seat, and sighed, resting a hand on her forehead as if she was dizzy or about to faint. “He was so amazing,” she sighed. “Not like puny English guys, oh no sir. Of course, Henrietta decided to sit around pining for one of them anyway.”
“Yes, well, we all know that Henrie only has eyes for the mighty Sirius Black,” Lily replied, grinning, and Henrie pushed her a little.
“Shut up, Lily, I don’t see you with a boyfriend,” she said. Lily was now the one rolling her eyes.
“Nor do I want one. Merlin. I couldn’t think of anything worse than having a guy trailing around after you, panting over your shoulder. Still, it’s excellent fun watching you guys run around like headless chickens. I was obviously just not born to love.”
“And what were you born for?” asked a voice. The girls whipped around to see the face of James Potter standing in the doorway to their compartment. There was a sudden scrambling as Izzie sat up straight and tried to make herself look a little more dignified.
“Well, obviously I relish in these little meetings which are forced upon us so often,” Lily replied scathingly.
“Well, I know it’s hard to behold your face whenever I look upon it, but “”
Lily cut him off “ “Well, you’d know all about people recoiling away from you in horror, wouldn’t you?”
“Recoiling in horror you say? More like double-taking in wonder.”
“At how such a scrawny guy like you could ever have been let within a mile’s radius of a Quidditch Pitch? I know. Maybe that’s why you always seem to win, the other team are too distracted by your face.”
James grinned. “And yet, someone decided to make me Head Boy this year, so it can’t all be bad. And I understand you, O fair one, will be my counterpart.”
Lily looked shocked as comprehension dawned. “It’s you! Why weren’t you at the Prefect’s meeting?” she burst out, angrily, all playful banter forgotten to make way for genuine fury. “I should have “ well, obviously it could only have been “ I mean, anybody else would have “ at least, you would think that “” As Lily continued to stutter in horror, someone behind James pushed him into the compartment, allowing the way to be clear for his three friends to follow him in. First came Sirius “ the one who had evidently done the pushing “ who sat down next to Henrie, with the flabbergasted Lily on her other side. Remus and Peter squeezed in next to Izzie, who had moved up to the edge. James, who had been forced into the middle of the room, decided it would be easier to sit on the floor, right at Lily’s feet, much to her disdain.
“Sorry to crowd you like this,” Remus said, smiling apologetically. “But everywhere else was full.”
“So what have you been doing for the last half hour while Lily was in the Prefect’s Meeting?” asked Izzie, curiously. If the same question had come from Lily, it would probably have been more accusatory.
“The one you “” Lily jabbed James with her foot ““ should have been in?”
Peter winked. “I guess that’s for us to know, and you to all wonder.”
Sirius was being unusually quiet. There wasn’t much room in the compartment, and he couldn’t help but feel his thigh touching Henrie’s. He doubted she had even noticed, but it was making him extremely uncomfortable. She had always interested him, although he hadn’t admitted it to anybody. She and her twin sister had been identical when they first arrived, but as the years had gone by, their separate personalities had changed each of their appearances. Henrie’s dark hair was shorter, kept naturally straight and simple, while Izzie curled hers in an attempt to make it more attractive. And Izzie was always the one to pull her skirt just that bit too high, her neckline that bit too low, while Henrie always had a more reserved, demure appearance. To him, this was much more alluring than such an open attempt to grab boys’ attention.
And she had changed over the summer, too, he realised, as he studied her out of the corner of his eye. She had tanned “ from their holiday in Italy, although Sirius did not know this “ and parts of her dark hair seemed to have bronzed in the sun. She was laughing at Lily and James’s bickering, and it lit her face up considerably. He shivered. He was surprised at himself. Why couldn’t he stop watching her? Why was she making him feel so uncomfortable without even doing anything?
Unbeknownst to Sirius, Henrie was thinking very similar thoughts. Feeling his leg next to hers was making her just as uncomfortable, but unlike Sirius, she had had a lot more practise at hiding her emotions when she needed to. He looked good, she thought, studying him discreetly, while pretending to be watching Lily and James quarrel. His hair had grown, it kept hanging in his eyes, making her want to brush it aside “ I’ll have to keep that urge VERY under control, she told herself, frowning.
The train rattled on, and soon the sound of bickering gave way to a calmer, quieter sound.
Remus was reading a play by William Shakespeare, but looked up for a moment to survey the scene carefully. There was Peter on one side of him, talking to James, who was sitting on the floor, routinely ignoring Lily, who was “ oddly “ knitting a very colourful scarf.
On the other side, Izzie was slouching in her chair, staring upwards. Her eyes seemed to have clouded over, and Remus concluded that she wasn’t even aware of what was happening around her anymore, as she was so lost in her daydream “ probably reliving her holiday romance, he thought, remembering the way she had described this “Antone” earlier, as the rest of the compartment had tried to look interested.
Sitting on the floor in between her and Lily, opposite, was James, looking increasingly uncomfortable down there, but trying to pretend he wasn’t by talking to Peter. Remus knew the only reason he hadn’t got one of the rows of people to squeeze up even more to let him in, was because Lily had told him scornfully that he wouldn’t last sitting on the floor for the whole journey. So, naturally, that was what he was trying to do.
Lily, of course, was ignoring him just as determinedly as he was ignoring her. The scarf she was making was an explosion of bright yellows, pinks, blues, purples and greens, and it was slowly growing longer and longer. She was talking quietly to Henrie, who was sitting next to her, although her friend seemed a little distracted somehow “ but only Remus, with his astute powers of observation had actually noticed this.
He soon located the source of Henrie’s distraction, as his eyes fell on Sirius, staring at his knees with his jaw set. Remus chuckled to himself. He hadn’t expected poor Sirius to fall headlong for a girl any time soon. And yet, he realised, there was the evidence right in front of him. And why not? Henrie was a lovely girl. A lot more reserved than her twin sister, but after some of the rumours that had gone around last year about Izzie (not that she had cared) that was probably a good thing. However, if someone didn’t give Sirius a distraction soon, Remus felt his friend might explode.
“Hey, Sirius,” he said. Sirius jumped, and looked around wildly, before locating Remus, and sighing with relief.
“Yeah?”
“Did you, uh ... do anything interesting over the summer?” he asked, smirking a little.
“Yeah ... yeah, me and James had some fun together. I mean “” he glanced at Henrie, realising how that might have sounded ““not that kind of fun, obviously “ I mean, it was all perfectly innocent “ I mean, maybe not innocent, as such, but “ well, you know, we certainly weren’t “ that is to say, we’re not “ I mean “ we “ I “”
Remus raised his eyebrows, and burst out laughing. Sirius flushed red.
“Shut up, Moony!” he hissed, glancing at Henrie again, who was now watching Remus clutch his sides laughing with a baffled expression on her face.
“Smooth,” Remus said, after he had calmed down. “Real smooth, Padfoot.” He went back to Shakespeare, still chuckling to himself occasionally.
And so, the train rattled on.
The next day at Breakfast, Sirius was feeling just as uncomfortable as he watched Peter and Henrie talk. What if his plan didn’t work? What if Peter used it for his own means? That little rat!
His mind cast back to the night before ...
“So, Sirius, you seemed to be very interested in Henrietta all of a sudden ...” Remus said, as they each sat down on their beds.
“What?” asked James, sharply.
“Did you notice how pretty she looked?” replied Sirius to Remus. If anyone else had been in the room, he would not have said anything, but these were his friends, and he knew he could trust them.
“What?” asked the anxious James again.
“I noticed that you seemed to find her pretty,” Remus said, ignoring James completely.
“What?” James demanded, agitatedly, obviously uneasy about where this conversation was headed.
“You and Henrie, Sirius? What a great idea!” Peter exclaimed. “You’d be great together!”
“WHAT?” James was starting to look a little deranged around the eyes.
“Do you think so?” Sirius asked, lounging back on his bed.
“GUYS!” James cried, and they finally all looked at him. “What are you saying?”
“Sirius and Henrie,” replied Remus, looking amused.
“TOGETHER?” James yelled. “Are you crazy? We’re not meant to be all gaga for girls! Don’t you remember what we said? We said we’d be the lone bachelors of Hogwarts, that life would be more fun that way!”
“Why did we say that?” asked Sirius, sitting up again, and scratching his head. “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway, that was when we didn’t realise what it is to love.”
“LOVE?” James shrieked, clutching at his heart. “How can you possibly love her already?”
“How could anyone not?” Sirius replied. “Come on, guys, help me out. Talk to her for me, won’t you? Find out if she likes me?”
“Are you crazy?” James cried, appalled at these words coming out of his friend’s mouth.
At the same time, Remus said, “I think you should do this by yourself.”
And also at the same time, Peter said, “Okay.” He was the only one Sirius listened to. Remus shrugged. James began muttering and cursing under his breath, and didn’t speak to anyone else but himself all night ...
But now, as Sirius watched Peter and Henrie, he began to wonder whether he had made the right decision. Henrie laughed at something he was saying, and Peter leaned his head towards her to whisper something.
Sirius felt like someone had stabbed a knife in his chest. He kicked Remus under the table, but knew not to bother disturbing James, who was still sulking immaturely.
“Ow!” Remus cried, looking offended.
“Peter’s a traitor!” Sirius hissed. Remus’s eyebrows went up.
“What makes you say that?” he asked.
“Look! Look, Moony! The little rat! See what he’s doing?”
“What you told him to?” Remus suggested, doubtfully.
“No. He’s stealing Henrie for himself! I should have known we couldn’t trust him. I mean who turns into a rat, for goodness sake?”
“Sirius you really shouldn’t jump to these conclusions. I can’t help noticing that you do that sometimes. Remember the Flitwick Incident of ’73?”
Sirius glared, and said slowly and deliberately, “He asked if I wanted to stay behind after class sometime. Who wouldn’t think he was a pervert?”
“And what did he actually mean?” Remus asked, knowing exactly what the answer was.
“He could have meant anything ...” Sirius began to protest.
“He actually meant that he wanted to help you get to grips with a spell you’d been struggling with for three weeks.”
“On a one to one basis,” Sirius pointed out. “Like I said before, who wouldn’t think he was a pervert? Anyway, Moony, my psyche is not the issue here. The issue is that Peter is a traitorous rat and we should never have trusted him in the first place. I mean, look at them!”
Remus, Sirius and James (who was trying and failing not to be interested in what was happening) turned to watch as Peter and Henrie both nodded, before Peter stood up and headed towards them. Henrie turned to Lily and said something, before they both looked over to where the boys were sitting and giggled.
“I knew it,” Sirius muttered, darkly.
“Knew what?” asked Peter sitting down with them. “That I’m a genius?”
“Genius?” Sirius burst out angrily. “What, because you’re slimy enough to offer to talk to the girl I like and then steal her away for yourself?”
“What are you talking about?” asked Peter confused. “I told her you liked her, and she said she liked you too.”
Sirius blinked. “I don’t get you,” he said.
James fell forwards and started banging his head on the table, while Remus laughed.
“That is what you wanted me to do, isn’t it?” asked Peter, looking worried.
“It “ well “ yes “ I mean “ did she really “ why would “ so you weren’t “ oh, Merlin, Wormtail, I freaking love you!”
Peter grinned. “I am rather loveable, aren’t I?”
“So what was that about your psyche not being the issue?” asked Remus laughing. As the other two joined in, James shook his head, sadly. The bachelor dream would soon be over.
That evening, the Marauders sat by the fire in Gryffindor Tower, with Lily, Izzie and Henrie not far by. There were two other Gryffindor girls, Louise and Ruby, but they didn’t have much to do with the rest of the Gryffindors in their year “ not that there was anything wrong with them, they were perfectly nice girls. It’s just that they’d never really clicked, was all.
“When should I ask her?” Sirius whispered, keeping his voice low. Only Peter was really listening, as Remus was reading Shakespeare again, and James was playing Gobstones against himself and muttering darkly whenever the subject of Henrie was brought up.
“I dunno,” Peter said. “Do you think ... I mean, when would be the best time?”
“I dunno,” Sirius replied. “Will there ever be one? Should I just gather my courage and go over there?”
“I suppose you could,” Peter mused. “But maybe she’d prefer something more romantic? You know how girls are.”
“Oh, Merlin,” Sirius muttered, clutching his head in his hands. “What do I do?”
Lily, meanwhile, was getting impatient. She’d been listening to Henrie talking about Sirius all day, and was getting bored of the subject.
“Do you think he really does like me?” she asked. “What if it’s a prank?”
Lily watched as Sirius started hitting himself over the head in frustration, and Peter looked around nervously. “It’s not a prank,” she said.
“Henrietta,” Izzie said patiently. No one really knew why the sisters only ever used their counterpart’s full name, for everyone else just used the shortened versions. “Why don’t you just go up to him and snog the hell out of him? I bet that would tell you if he’s serious or not.”
This, of course, was exactly what Izzie would do if it was her in her sister’s situation. Actually, she had already done this many times when she had been in her sister’s situation, but never with any of the Marauders, luckily.
Lily looked over at her, both incredulous and disgusted at the same time. “Henrie, don’t listen to your sister. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“Yes I do!” Izzie protested. “How many boyfriends have you had, Lily?”
“And how many have you kept?” Lily shot back. “No, this requires a different approach. If only because I would never get over the mental scarring of seeing one of my best friends and Sirius Black “ oh, mother of Merlin, no. It can’t happen that way.”
“So what should happen?” asked Henrie.
Lily sighed. “I’ll tell you what should happen,” she muttered, grabbing Henrie by the wrist and pulling the girl after her towards the Marauders. Izzie looked shocked at this sudden movement, but scuttled after the two to see what would happen.
“Right,” Lily said, standing in front of the Marauders with her hands on her hips. “Let’s get this straight. Sirius, do you like Henrie?”
Sirius, completely shocked at this sudden intrusion, took a moment to regain his composure. “I “ yes, I “ yes, I think so.”
“Good,” Lily said, briskly. “And Henrie, do you like Sirius?” she asked. “As if I need an answer,” she then muttered to herself.
“Yes,” Henrie said, not taking her eyes away from Sirius.
“Well then, what’s all this fuss about? You love her, you love him, she loves you, he loves you, everybody loves everybody, and the rest of us are rotting away while we wait for something to happen.”
Remus and James were now watching as well, and Remus chuckled a little. Even James had to admit that at that moment, Lily was the only one speaking any sense.
Sirius stood facing Henrie, but neither said anything.
“It’s your cue, Sirius,” Lily told him.
“How could I possibly say anything?” he muttered.
Lily sighed. She had never really been a romantic, unlike these two.
James, as he watched the scene, had felt his defences melt. Sighing, and putting his bitterness behind him, he said, “And now it’s your turn, Henrie. Or, if you can’t possibly find the words, then kiss him for goodness sake, so that neither of you have to speak.”
There were many thoughts as Henrie and Sirius finally had their first kiss.
Izzie was sent straight back once again to her own excursions that holiday in Italy. Lily was mostly just glad that all the waiting around was finally over. Peter was proud of himself, and the hand he had had in the alliance. James was still resigning himself begrudgingly to the realisation that their time as Hogwarts’ most popular bachelors was over. Remus was smiling to himself, happy for his friends, but “ if truth be told “ a little sad for himself.
The only people with similar thoughts, in fact, were Henrie and Sirius. And they were just happy that everything they wanted had finally happened.
If only they knew how much trouble still had to come to pass.
AN: Ah, there goes Part One of Five! As I said before, this is based on Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare, and the verses at the start were taken directly from it. I was watching the film with my family when it occurred to me how well the story would fit the Marauders & co, and the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. And the more sense it made ... the more I felt I had to write it. =D You don’t have to know the play to enjoy this, but I’m sure you’d enjoy it just as much “ if not more “ if you did. Don’t forget to leave a review!