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Chapter Text

Narcissa

Narcissa rests her head in her hand while staring at nothing in particular, deep in thought. She never understood why the older students had to listen to the ceremony each year time and time again. It bores her to no end. She definitely could have done with a smaller audience on her first day. Sometimes she still feels like that scared first year, desperate for her parents approval.

Her eyes start to wander through the great hall. As always her eyes find those big, brown bambi eyes sitting across the hall from her, almost immediately. It’s really not Narcissas fault, that those eyes and the face belonging to it are the most captivating thing in this room. She doesn’t understand why not everyone is staring at this girl, when she’s really the only person worth your while around this castle.

Narcissa can‘t say that she was sad about this being her last year at Hogwarts. At the same time she knows that it won‘t get better for her once she leaves the castle. It will not get better at all actually. This summer has been the beginning of the end for her.

Narcissa gets startled out of her thoughts, when the girl she had been staring holes into notices her staring. Alice Fortescue. This bright light in Narcissas life of misery. A Gryffindor through and through with a heart of gold and a constantly optimistic demeanor.

She meets Narcissas eyes two tables over now, a huge grin stretching across her face. She smiles so brightly even Narcissa can‘t help but answer her with a small secretive smile of her own. This only brightens Alice’s smile and she winks at Narcissa before continuing on with the conversation she had been in.

Narcissa feels a small blush creep up her cheeks. She clears her throat and looks back up to the first years. There are only very few left to sort.

After they have all taken their seat, Dumbledore holds his speech and they finally get permission to eat. Narcissa hadn’t even noticed how hungry she is, but now that there is food in front of her she practically devours it. She has to remind herself to keep her composure around the people she is currently amongst. Still she wants to be done with eating quickly, to sneak out of the great hall. There is something much more important than food waiting for her once she gets out of here.

After being done with eating Narcissa makes her swift exit, leaving the great hall. She knows she is being reckless sneaking around the castle after curfew, but she had done it so many times now and it had always been worth the risk.

After wandering around the third floor aimlessly for a while she feels herself being pulled into an empty classroom. She can only just slap her hand over her mouth before letting out an embarrassing squeal. She can hear familiar giggling beside her.

“I told you to stop scaring me like that”, Narcissa scolds, unable to contain her own little giggle. “Yeah, but you always make that cute little surprised face”, Alice smirks, while slowly guiding them to a table. She lifts Narcissa up to set her on the table, settling herself between her legs. Narcissa looks down at her. She still can‘t believe that she gets to have this. That this beautiful, strong girl decided to give her a chance.

“You’re beautiful”, she whispers, before leaning down to connect their lips. Alice kisses back just as eagerly as always, if not a little more than usual. When they come up for air after a while, they just rest their foreheads together, sharing each other’s air.

“I’ve missed you”, Alice breaks the silence. “You have no idea”, replies Narcissa. Alice looks up at her with complete understanding in her eyes. At first it scared Narcissa how she seemed to be able to read her like an open book, but now she is glad to have someone knowing her, when she sometimes feels like she doesn‘t even know herself.

“You seem very lost in thought. What’s wrong?”, Alice asks, her brows furrowing a little in concern. Narcissa wants nothing more than to wipe that look of concern off her face.

“Let’s not talk about it”, she answers, without meeting Alice’s eyes. ”Oh, so there is something wrong”, she lifts up Narcissas chin. Narcissa sighs. “Not right now, Alice”

Alice searches her face, when she finds that there is really no point in continuing this, she moves her hands from Narcissas chin to her cheeks. She takes her face in her hands, first pressing a kiss to her forehead, before lightly pressing their lips together.

“Alright, I’m going to leave it alone for now, but you will have to tell me sooner or later.”, she says sternly, looking into Narcissas eyes. Narcissa nods tiredly.

“Now let’s get to the fun part”, her eyes take on a mischievous glint. She lightly pushes Narcissa back on the table by her shoulders and starts leaving featherlight kisses along Narcissas collarbone. She slowly works her way lower unbuttoning each button of Narcissas blouse. Narcissa eagerly helps her in taking off her blouse leaving kisses along her neckline. Alice looks up at her grinning like a devil, while dropping down on her knees. With her head between Narcissas thighs she pulls down the lacy underwear she wears and starts eating her out on a table in an empty classroom.

Narcissa is way too preoccupied to obsess over whether they bothered to lock the door or not. She just trusts that no one will be walking around these corredors at this time. And as always no one is. Alice comes up again after Narcissa climaxes. With one swoop of her wand she cleans the mess they made up again, pulling Narcissas panties back up.

Alice pulls Narcissa back into an upright position again observing her face with a proud look on her face.

Narcissas face is flushed in a deep red, her lips are swollen, and she has a glossy kind of look in her eyes. Her long, wavy platinum blonde hair looks a bit disheveled.

“You want to tell what’s up with the hair? Last time I saw it, it was still at least half brown.”, Alice asks, feigning casualness. She leans back on a table opposite to the one Narcissa sits on and pulls her blouse back on. “It wasn’t my decision. Not completely at least.”, she avoids giving the full, honest answer to the question. Alice tilts her head to her side. “Well, I liked it better before anyways”, she answers as honest as ever. Narcissa just blushes a tad more. She smiles and drops her head in amusement.

“There is not much different about you, is there? Had a good summer?”, Narcissa changes the topic. Alice smiles brightly and begins telling Narcissa all about her family holiday and how her cousin fell into the lake fully clothed, swearing and squealing, while everyone just laughed at him.

They stay in the classroom for a few more hours just talking about light and easy topics. They say their goodbyes, give each other one last goodnight kiss and go to their respective dorm rooms.

Later in her dorm Narcissa falls asleep quickly, feeling way lighter than she did arriving at Hogwarts hours before.

They do that a few more times the following week, sneaking off to some classroom during the night. The first few times Alice still tries to bring Narcissa to talk about her summer, but she always dodges questions in that direction. Eventually Alice gives up. Narcissa knows that it wouldn’t be for long. Alice never just gives up on anything. She sees things through, that is part of what Narcissa admires about her. Yet this time she really wishes for her to just drop it for once.

She knows, if she gives away what happened to her over the summer, that would be the end of what they had and she needs this. She can not under any circumstances give up Alice right now, not when she is the most important and only good thing she has. She hates lying to her, but if that is what it takes to keep her she would stick to half truths. And it worked really well, until it didn’t. Everything was going great until it wasn’t.

The evening starts out as usual. Narcissa locks eyes with Alice during dinner, quickly eats her food and then makes her way up to the third floor. Alice drags her into some classroom and Narcissa tries not to jump out of her skin when it happens. Narcissa avoids the topic of her summer altogether and they quickly get to the point they came for in the first place.

Alice drops to the floor and Narcissas panties not much later.

Just when Narcissa is nothing more than a whimpering mess on the table the door gets slammed open and loudly falls shut again. Alice and Narcissa both jump up and away from the table in shock. Narcissa quickly pulls her bottoms up again.

“Look what we have here”, Bellatrix smirks, speaking in a sing-song voice, “if that isn’t my little sister getting fucked by some Gryffindor slut”. “What the hell are you doing here? Did you follow me?”,Narcissa riles. Her face is bright red from embarrassment and anger. “I knew you’ve been sneaking around with someone. I mean those lovey dovey eyes across the hall, really? Makes me wanna puke every time.”, Bellatrix muses.

Alice follows the conversation wide eyed. Narcissa takes a deep breath composing herself, then she turns to Alice. “Could you give us a moment alone please?”, she asks her pleadingly. “I’m sure whatever you want to say you can say it in front of your little girlfriend, Cissa”, Bellatrix teases. Narcissa just ignores her shooting Alice a pleading look. Alice understands immediately and makes her way out of the room.

“What are you really doing here?”, Narcissa shifts her focus back to Bella again. “What would our parents think, if they knew their perfect little daughter, who is just about to marry, is in actuality hooking up with a blood traitor. And it’s a girl nonetheless.”she tuttis.

“Oh. come one, like you are much different. Not having to share a room with three other girls, but one has come in real handy for you hasn’t it?”Narcissa narrows her eyes.

Bellatrix’s unbothered facade only falters for a second, but Narcissa still saw it. “I don’t know what you are trying to insinuate here. I for one am very loyal to my husband.”, she answers.

Narcissa laughs in her face: “As if loyalty ever existed in your marriage.”

She quickly reclaims her serious composure. “Okay cut the chase. What do you want? You’re gonna blackmail me?”, Narcissa asks accusingly. “No, there is nothing you have that I want.”, they both know that’s not true, “Anyways this thing won’t last much longer, will it?”, Bellatrix fake pities.

Narcissa just shakes her head in disbelief. “You’re so messed up. You know your thing will end just as soon as mine, if not sooner. Good luck, really”, Narcissa ends the conversation. “Good luck to you too, little sister”, Bellatrix shoots back, while leaving the room, never the one to not have the last word.

Bellatrix

Bellatrix had come into the room with the intention of blackmailing Narcissa. But Narcissa had caught her off guard, when she revealed knowing her secret. She has always had a talent for noticing things.

Bellatrix resents her for it. She resents her for many things, like always being the perfect, exemplary daughter for example. It is obvious to everyone that she was the favorite daughter. It’s not like Bellatrix wanted that fate. Being forced into a marriage was bad enough, having to produce children with that husband sounded like hell to Bellatrix. But little Miss Perfect Narcissa will fulfill this duty with flying colors, like every other one. It gives Bellatrix some twisted satisfaction knowing that it wasn’t easy for Narcissa either. That she was giving up something too.

Bellatrix doesn‘t do love. But even she can see how truly gone her sister is for that girl. “It’s pathetic really”, she thinks as she enters her dorm. Unsurprisingly the light on the nightstand next to the only other occupied bed in her dorm is still burning.

“I was waiting for you”, her roommate Rita whispers. “You didn’t need to”, Bella answers simply. “I know, but I wanted to”, Rita didn’t give up. She looks at Bellatrix from her bed with a sultry look in her eyes. And there was really no way Bellatrix could resist such a fine offer. She makes her way to Rita’s bed, taking off her shirt in the process.

A few hours later Bellatrix wakes up in Rita’s bed alone.“Oh, good you‘re awake“, Rita’s cheery voice sounds from the bathroom,“I‘ve put your school uniform together with clean underwear on your bed. Hurry up and we won‘t miss breakfast.“

Bellatrix just rumbles with a murderous look on her face. She hates how much Rita takes care of her. She is a Black and now a Lestrange too. She comes from a very noble, pure blood house who demands respect. A Black took care of themselves. At the same time, even though Bella would never admit this to anyone, Rita could be very helpful sometimes.

Rita is a gossipy cunt and she knows it. Her actions are almost always purely selfish and Bella really respects that about her. She puts on a facade around most people making them trust her, just to later use their trust against them. She is a true Slytherin, even if she isn’t pure blood.

“It is a pity really“, Bellatrix thinks, while following Rita up to the great hall,“she would make a perfect death eater.“ Maybe if she put in a good word for her the Dark Lord would make an exception. She quickly dismisses that ridiculous thought, though. Bellatrix didn‘t put in good words for anyone and the Dark Lord didn‘t make exceptions.

Rita is happily chattering about some new gossip she picked up over the last few weeks.“Did you know that Crabbe peed his pants in front of you-know-who this summer? His parents wanted him to get the dark mark. There are already so many rumors about his punishment and let‘s just say I wouldn‘t want to be him for any of them.“, she gossips while eating her cereal next to Bellatrix.“Pathetic.“, Bellatrix scoffs.

Bellatrix has her first class together with Rita, then they have to seperate for their next classes. Bellatrix doesn‘t see Rita again after that. It‘s not really unusual. If Rita isn‘t in the library working on a new copy of the Hogwarts gossip magazine she runs, she is wandering around the castle collecting rumors and gossip.

Socializing isn‘t really Bellatrix’s strongest suit. She is happy being a loner. It gives her time to do what has to be done. Like expanding her knowledge and talents for the dark arts for example. There is something so fascinating about the power dark magic holds. Bellatrix intends to teach herself all of it, to gain such power no one would dare come near her.

Even though the reading and theory was probably her least favorite part she needs to borrow a book about dark magic. That‘s how she finds herself in the library arguing with Madam Pince.

“Miss Lestrange, you can not borrow a book from the restricted section without a teacher’s written permission to do so.“, Madam Pince tuts rather exhaustedly. Bella grows more irritated as the conversation goes on and so does Madam Pince apparently. That is until a third voice chimes into the conversation.

“Madam Pince, I happen to have a written permission from a teacher for entering the restricted section. Could I borrow a book there or is it a bad time?“, Rita interrupts the argument. Then she shows Madam Pince the signed permission. Madam Pince just sighs in resignation.“Of course you can, my dear“, she puts on her best fake smile and sends Bellatrix a last stern look. Rita motioned for Bellatrix to follow her. Bella doesn‘t really know what‘s happening, but after a short contemplation she decides to follow Rita. She tells herself it‘s because of her curiosity not because she takes orders from anyone.

„So what book did you want to borrow?“, Rita interrupts her train of thoughts. „Oh just something about transfiguration spells with dark magic“, Bella didn‘t know why she is even telling Rita that. „Alright, sure thing“, Rita winks at her and gets up.

This incident is followed by many more random acts of kindness from Rita. And Bellatrix would be stupid not to recognize what was happening. Rita had clearly taken a special focus to her. She is acting like a little school girl with a pathetic crush.

Somehow she must have found out about Bella’s mark and now wants to make an article about the youngest female death eater at Hogwarts. Bellatrix still has to figure out how she did it. She paid such close attention to covering it up everytime she took her clothes off in their dorm.

To give her some credit she had been approaching the topic really inconspicuously. She never brought it up directly. She just told Bellatrix small anecdotes about other people that were rumored to have gotten it over the summer. Half of them weren‘t true, but Bella would never tell her that. She refused to give her what she wants and give into her manipulation. That‘s why she refuses to share any information about her with Rita, which visibly hurts the other girl.

At the same time their before only rare nightly escapades become a daily thing. Bella couldn‘t say that bothered her. Rita was really good in bed. She followed Bellas orders while still holding her ground. The only thing Bella could live without was her rambling after they finished. Sure maybe she could just go back to her bed, but it was so cozy with Rita. Rita would stroke her back and her endless babbling would put Bella in a dreamless sleep.

Rita

Rita knew Bellatrix was hiding something from her. She always acted really closed off in conversations with her. It started to make Rita get increasingly more obsessed with her. That was only natural, of course. She is a journalist after all.

It’s a hopeless situation, Bellatrix won’t give up any true information during their talks. Even after they both finish and just stay together in bed for a while, which they started doing more often. Not even then would Bella reveal anything about herself. It’s driving Rita insane.

That is why she decides to get her mind off things. Even if it wouldn’t be Bellatrix there still had to be a new Story for her Hogwarts gossip magazine. With the yearly prank on Slytherin missing, there were even less worthwhile stories to tell.

With a clear mission in mind she decides to do what she does best: spy on people. She was truly like a fly on the wall. There were little to no relationships, friendships or illicit affairs going on without her knowledge. Being an actual beetle was of course very helpful for her occupation.

In a hidden alleyway she transforms and starts her flight in the direction of the Gryffindor common room. She could always count on the Gryffindors to have some heartfelt, sappy confersations. They can never just feel, they also always to share it with everybody.

“Hey, Lily. You want to lift your eyes up from these books and look at something much prettier?”, James says while batting his lashes sugestically. Lily does not lift her eyes up and responds with a sharp: “Oh yes? Like what exactly, your big untamed mob of hair or that shit eating grin you always wear?”

While entertaining, James Potter getting rejected by Lily for the hundredth time certainly wasn’t a story to write down in a newspaper.

“Have you heard what happened?”, some third year girl whispers to her friend, “Jackie’s dog died over the holidays”. Her friend looks shocked by this news. “Yes, that is why she won’t leave her dorm. She visited her family and they broke the news to her”

After that huge let down Rita decides to leave and go to the lake. That was where most people spent their time in the summer anyway. This time in human form she makes her way down the hill.

“Rita! Rita, wait.”, a voice greets her once she reaches her favorite spying tree. “Dolores. What is it? I am really quite busy.”, Rita brushes her companion off.

“We didn’t speak yet after the holidays”, Dolores doesn‘t quit, putting on a sugary sweet voice.

“Have you seen how Trelawny’s sense of fashion got even more atrocious than last year? I think she has finally gone mad. I am telling you one of these days she’ll accidentally curse us during a divination lesson”, she starts rambling, trailing alongside Rita.

“If you really want to gossip, at least give me something interesting. I just can’t seem to find something worth writing down.”, Rita decides to share her problem.

“You could always write about me”, a boy’s voice sounds behind Dolores. Rita rolls her eyes, while Umbridge just smiles apologetically.

“That weirdo is still following you? Seriously you need to quit it. No one cares about you and your non existing successes.”, Rita snaps. “I mean tell that to all the girls lying to my feet, following me through the halls everyday.”, Gilderoys cocky reply follows.

“Ugh, whatever. I need to find someone talking about actual meaningful topics”, Rita brushes him off.

“What has got you in such a bad mood? Trouble in paradise?”,Dolores hit the nail in the head. At this moment Rita really regrets telling them, drunk on firewhiskey, about her little rendezvous with Bella. “No. It’s just that I need a story for my magazine.”, Rita denies, while blushing furiously. “Aha, you can not lie to us.”, Gilderoy grins at her mockingly.

“It’s none of your business. I’ll be off now gathering information. Come back only if you have a good story. And no Gilderoy I don’t mean the tragedy of your hair looking a tad bit worse than the day before”, Rita pointedly looks at him, then she makes her way down to the lake in confident strides.

Opening up to someone was maybe one of the stupidest things Rita ever did. I mean, how could she have been so stupid, letting her guard down around some younger grade students. She is a journalist. She gathers information she doesn’t give it, that is why she needs to make up for that mistake so badly.

With that she forms a to-do list in her head. At the top in big bold letters stood: Figuring out Bellatrix Black.

Then way more pressing but less important: Finding a story for this year’s first issue.

Ending with a mental note, not to slip up around random people again. There were secrets that simply had to be kept and Rita was sure if Bellatrix knew how much she spilled already she would not be happy. Perhaps she would even end things and that filled Rita with dread, she was not quite sure what for.

Narcissa

Alice didn‘t come back the next few days after Bellatrix crashed their meeting. Narcissa doesn’t know what to make of that. Maybe Alice is just as embarrassed about the whole thing as Narcissa, but then again there is much more at stake for Cissa than for her.

Narcissa doesn’t want to quit. Alice would come back. She is sure of it. That‘s why she goes up to the third floor for one last time this evening. After dinner she makes her way up the stairs and finds an empty classroom, ready to be the one surprising Alice this time.

She tried to meet Alice’s eyes in the great hall, but she seemed to be deeply involved in a conversation with Frank Longbottom.

Narcissa hates how good they look together. Everyone at Hogwarts knew that Frank is gone for Alice and everyone hoped that one day Alice would agree to a date with him. So far she never did and it gave Narcissa some satisfaction to know that she‘s the reason for that. At the same time it filled her with endless doubts.

Now standing here waiting for Alice she thought:“Maybe she was smart enough to quit. To leave while she still could“ But that‘s the thing about Alice, isn‘t it? She didn‘t quit. That‘s why she came back. Narcissa dragged her into the classroom by her sleeve and a tired smile stretched across her face.

“Hey“, she speaks softly. “Why didn‘t you come the last few days?“, Narcissa gets straight to the point trying not to sound too disappointed.“Didn‘t think you‘d want me to“, Alice shrugs. “Why wouldn‘t I want that? I came here every evening waiting for you.“, Narcissa frowns.

“I know I shouldn‘t have but I ear dropped on you and Bellatrix“, Alice admits, “Is it true? You‘re gonna get married?“

Narcissa thinks she can feel something break inside her after that sentence. She could swear she hears her heart drop. Feels it freeze in her chest and come to a stop after a few last speeding bumps. This was it. It ended here and with that. The thought terrifies Narcissa.

Alice looks at her with pure heartbreak and betrayal in her eyes. Narcissa doesn’t know what to say. “I don‘t want it. You know I don‘t. I just want you.“, she begs for forgiveness she knows she doesn’t deserve. She is selfish after all. “Do I know that? Do I really? You‘re still going to do it, aren‘t you?“, Alice asks with tears shining in her eyes. „She looks so much like a doe right now“, Narcissa thinks,“entirely innocent and utterly beautiful“.

„I don‘t have a choice. With Dromeda gone someone has to produce the heir. My family isn‘t really progressive. If you have a daughter she must marry rich and a pureblood and give birth to an heir for the family line“, Narcissa tries to explain. „I know and I get it. But what does this mean for us? I can‘t do this, if it has no future.“, Alice gives back.

„This never had a future. We were doomed from the beginning. I just didn‘t think it would end this fast“, Narcissa mumbles, afraid to speak up. Alice looks at her in disbelief after that. She look outraged. „If this thing is doomed then there is no use dragging it out now, is there? I guess I‘m gonna go now. It just hurts to know that I am worth this little to you. I misjudged you and you are just a selfish coward like all the other Blacks, Black“, she spits her last name like it‘s an insult, which at the moment it is for Narcissa.

Narcissa wished she‘d run after her, when she slammed the door and ran out crying. At that moment Narcissa just stood there frozen. This little bubble she‘d created bursted into a thousand pieces left for her to pick up. There were hot tears trickling down her cheeks and yet she didn‘t wipe them off. She didn‘t even notice them.

There was no way to know how long she stood there in the classroom. Her body is completely numb and her eyes dry and puffy from crying, when she makes her way back to the slytherin dorms.

Chapter Text

James

It‘s been two weeks since they arrived at Hogwarts and Sirius has been acting weird. First he was unusually quiet on the train ride. Then he started acting overly cheery. He started being super loud and always laughing obnoxiously and hysterically. Later at night James heard him crying in his bed.

Something must have happened during the holidays. Sirius didn‘t talk about his family a lot. He didn‘t like to be vulnerable like that. James was the only person he opened up to sometimes. That is why James knew how terrible the children got treated in the Black household. But there must have been something new that went down. Something even worse than what has already been happening.

James felt helpless. He knew he just had to trust Sirius to go talk to him when he was ready. It was just the waiting that got to James. It will probably pass, once Sirius has settled into Hogwarts more and realised he was safe here. It‘s just that James didn‘t know what to do until then.

They are eating in the great hall. All around James his friends are chatting and eating the delicious food in front of them. But James didn‘t feel like eating. Sirius is putting on an over the top imitation of McGonagall making the third year girls gathered around him giggle. Remus is glaring daggers at the small crowd. Peter seems to not even notice what is going on around him, being too preoccupied with his copy of the Daily Prophet.

After he finishes his small performance Sirius sends the girls one of his most charming smirks and winks at them. Remus rolls his eyes at that and demonstratively turns his head away. If James was being honest the audience watching him have breakfast started to annoy him too. Just when Sirius is about to start mimicking Mrs. Norris, he decides to intervenere.

“Hey, sorry could we have some privacy for a moment. It‘s about our next class“, James interrupts. Remus sends him a thankful nod, while Sirius glares at him. It earned him some boos from the girls who go away reluctantly after James sends them another look.“The hell was that for? I was just starting to get to the good part.“,Sirius pouts.“This needs to stop. We have an audience every breakfast.“, James disciplines.“I am having an audience. Don‘t think they even notice you that much.“, Sirius gives back childishly.“Yeah, well we notice them. It‘s either you sit here and eat with us or you can go find another place to sit“, Remus joins the conversation. James thought he was being a bit harsh, after all he would rather have Sirius sit with them with a group of girls, than him not sitting here at all.

“Fine“, Sirius spits, picking up his so far untouched toast. Remus sends him a last glare and then also resumes his breakfast.

That is another thing James has noticed. Remus was acting more cold towards Sirius. He was more often than not annoyed at him and sometimes it even felt like he was avoiding him. They were bickering so much these days, James started to feel like a child of divorce.

„Guys they are selling new caramel wobble wands at honeydukes. We‘ll have to go down there sometime, to try them.“, Peter looks up from his newspaper.“That‘s great, Peter," Remus mumbles disinterestedly over a sip of coffee. „Yeah sure, Peter," James agrees, lost in thought.

The next morning it‘s the same thing. Sirius puts on some show for a bunch of swooning girls. Remus looks at the scene like he is plotting the most brutal ways to murder all of them. Peter is completely unaware of the situation around him or at least pretending to be.

It also stayed the same way for the next few mornings.

One morning James was not having it anymore. Either his friends got their shit together or he wouldn‘t sit with them. He just can‘t stand that passive aggressiveness sitting between them. That is why he joins the girls this morning.

Upon entering the great hall his eyes search for flaming red waves on the gryffindor table. He finds them almost immediately and makes his way over.“Hey ladies, mind if I join you this fine morning“, he says in his best flirty tone. Lily narrows her eyes at him.“Sure, why not?“, Marlene answers, while making room for him on the bench.

“What is up with you and your marauders? No prank on slytherin and we‘re this far into the year. Have you finally found your dignity and realised how childish you are?“, Lily prods. Mary snorts next to her, but also kicks Lily’s shin under the table, once she catches herself. “No, we would never. The slytherins are snakes who absolutely deserve what we do to them.“, James carefully avoids the underlying question, hiding the truth behind a snarky reply. “Maybe if you grew up, you would realise that some slytherins are actually more than tolaborale“, Lily sticks up her nose. “Like who? Snivellus?“ James shoots back. “Yes, like Severus," Lily emphasizes his name, giving him her most murderous expression. James just snorts at that and even Mary and Marlene shoot each other a doubting look.

The breakfast goes on with the girls gossiping and talking about annoying teachers who already buried them in school work. James feels the gaze of his friends burn into the back of his head the whole time.

After breakfast the mood between the marauders seemed to have worsened. Sirius shot James questioning looks all throughout class. At the same time he clearly tried to overplay his insecurity by making an even bigger deal out of flirting in the hallways. That just seemed to piss Remus even more off, which was very counterproductive for James. It was all one big mess and made James’ skin crawl with anxiety.

After a day filled with charged silence between the group Sirius seemingly decides he has enough. “Why were you avoiding us during breakfast?“, he asks bluntly, as soon as they are back in their dorm.“I‘m sorry. I shouldn‘t have gone about it this way, but I really can‘t stand you fighting anymore“, James admits apologetically. “Who’s fighting?“, Remus asks confused. „You guys.“, James gives back,“Sirius you have been acting differently ever since summer break. It‘s fine I won‘t ask, if you‘re not ready. I just can‘t figure out why Remus is so pissed off about it. You are avoiding each other like the plague. I mean Remus is just glaring daggers at you the whole day and you don‘t even acknowledge his existence and when you talk, you fight.“ Sirius and Remus stand dumb founded in the middle of the room. No one anticipated such an outburst from James. Even James himself seemed surprised.

Peter draws the curtains for his bed closed, wanting nothing to do with this conversation. “I wouldn‘t be avoiding him, if he didn‘t start glaring at me first. Don’t think I don‘t notice you looking at me like you‘d rather I‘d be dead.“, Sirius accuses Remus, pointing his finger at him. “If you want me to stop glaring, then finally start being normal again. You are acting like an asshole. Leading girls on and acting so full of yourself. It is disgusting to watch. When did you start being that way?“, Remus defends himself, by tossing the blame back to Sirius. He takes a step in Sirius’ direction. They are only separated by an armlengh and look ready to start throwing punches. “Okay, both of you stop. I really just want you to sort your shit together. The girls already noticed the absence of our slytherin prank. We have got a reputation to uphold.“, James steps between them, literally, ever the mediator.

The next morning James sits with the girls again. Remus and Sirius started ignoring each other completely. Sirius still acted like everything was fine. It was getting on James‘ nerves.

Regulus

Two weeks. That is how long he has been back at Hogwarts now. The pain is supposed to be less now. It shouldn‘t hurt the way it did anymore. The last three years he had been fine this time around. Especially since he started brewing his own sleeping draught.

This year it‘s different. The sleeping draught just won‘t start working. Each night he woke up at least once from a nightmare. Then he would have to calm himself down and realise he wasn‘t in that place anymore for at least an hour. It was absolutely miserable.

The whole day he had been grumpy and unconcentrated. It bothered him to no end how much his sleeping habits disturbed his productivity.

The evening starts out as always. Regulus gets ready for bed at the same time his roommates do. They say their goodnights and draw the curtains closed. Regulus lights up a small lumos and takes his potion. Then he proceeds to toss and turn before he falls into a restless sleep. He wakes up only a few hours later in the middle of the night.

He awakes with a gasp, shaking and sobbing. The same as every night. His mind plays the images the nightmare produced on loop in his head, torturing him. The only difference to the other nights was Regulus apparently forgot his silencing spell.

„Regulus?“, a small voice sounds from another bed. When Regulus doesn‘t respond except for a small muffled sob, footsteps approach his bed. Regulus begins to shrink in on himself, shaking even worse. „Hey, Reg. It‘s me Barty.“, his curtains draw open and a worried voice talks. Regulus takes a moment to recognize the voice of his friend. Then he relaxes, meeting his eyes in the dark. In Bartys eyes a silent question shines. Regulus just nods his head and Barty climbs into bed with him. Carefully he takes Regulus into his arms, spooning him tenderly. „You‘re fine. I‘m here. You‘re at Hogwarts, in our shared dorm, safely tucked into your bed“, Barty lists off soothingly.

He continues to whisper sweet nothings into Regulus’ ear until his breathing becomes even again. As soon as he can form a coherent thought again he sits up straight, freeing himself from Bartys grip. „There you are.“, Barty smiles while sitting up too. „How did you know how to calm me?“, Regulus decides to ask. „I know what it‘s like to be stuck in a different place after a bad dream“, Barty responds honestly. A quiet understanding passes between the two.

„You had a lot of nights like these? You have been acting more grumpy than usual.“, Barty observes. „Fuck off.“, Regulus bites back weakly. Barty just smirks.

„You know you can talk to me“, he offers. Regulus contemplates that offer.

„This summer was bad. Even worse than the ones after the last two school years. Sirius and I had a huge fight. He is acting more rebellious and reckless. It is like he‘s asking for punishment. I think he hates me for how much I play their perfect son. I don‘t know how he can not see it, how this is not helping either of us.“, Regulus opens up.

„Fuck him. You are doing what you are doing to stay alive. He should be grateful for you.“, Barty looks ready to march into the Gryffindor dorms and show Sirius exactly what he thinks of him. Regulus just hums. Barty regards him for a moment. „Don‘t break your head about him. If this happens again, you can always wake me. I am here for you. You know that, right?“, Barty urges. „Yes, I know“, Regulus responds, looking into mud-green eyes. „I can sleep here if you want.“, Barty gestures to the bed. „No, I should be fine now“, he declines.

He lies back down again, signaling Barty to get up now. Barty understands and leaves the bed drawing the curtains closed.

Regulus lied. He remembered the silencing charm this time and then woke up two more times. The next morning he was only slightly better than the last two. Barty calming him down that fast maybe gave him thirty extra minutes of sleep.

All throughout breakfast Barty sent him worrying glances. He also protectively sat down next to him, scowling in the direction of the Gryffindor table. Evan looked between him, Barty and the Gryffindors confusedly the whole time.

He shoots Regulus a silent question, when their eyes meet. Regulus chooses to ignore that. He’s more embarrassed by Barty antics than anything.

That is why he’s very happy, when Pandora gets up from the Ravenclaw table to sit next to them towards the end of breakfast. Also he was just happy to see her. Everyone who knew her had a soft spot for her. Regulus was no exception to that.

“Hey, guys. I signed up for extra curricular plant care taking. Does one of you want to join me watering the plants in the greenhouses between classes today?“, she asks cheerily. „I‘ll do it Panda“, Regulus immediately jumps in. „I‘ll see if I can join. I‘ve got pretty intense classes today“, Barty joins in. „Yeah, same here. I have divinationon on the top floor immediately followed by potions in the dungeons today. I mean seriously who made that schedule“, Dorcas complains. „That sucks. I am happy astronomy is my last class.“, Evan patts her shoulder sympathetically.

“Just Regulus then, alright. You can meet after the fourth period by the greenhouses”, Pandora takes her seat on the other side of Regulus. “I really would like to come, Panda, maybe next time.”, Dorcas apologizes. “Oh no, it’s fine. I wanted to talk with Regulus alone, anyway.”, Pandora replies easily. “You did?”, Regulus raises a questioning eyebrow. “Had one of your dreams again, Pan?”, Barty inquires. “Yes and No. I had a dream again, but that is not only why I want to speak with Regulus”, Pandora answers, leaving the rest of them even more bewildered than before. “Okay, whatever. I have to go to my first class now.”, Barty decides against questioning Pandora further.

He gets up from his seat. “You coming, Regulus?”, he asks not leaving his side. Rolling his eyes Regulus gets up too, sending the rest of his friends a quick wave. Evan gets up to leave too and leaves with them. “Where are you going?”, Barty questions him. “We take arithmetics together, remember?”, Evan answers, more than a little annoyed. “Oh right”, Barty replies, sounding disappointed for some odd reason. “Don’t sound too excited now. I can leave, if you don’t want me here.”, Evans eyes spark with anger, as he storms off.

“What was that?”, Regulus demands. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe he’s just in one of his weird moods again.”, Barty quickly brushes it off. “No. I don’t just mean what just happened. I also mean breakfast. You don’t have to baby me now, just cause you saw what you saw last night”, Regulus expresses his anger. Barty looks a bit taken aback by that. Then he quickly regains his cocky demeanor. “Alright, you’re not into protectiveness, got it, baby”, he winks at him. Regulus lets out a big exasperated sigh.

“Never call me that again”, he growls in a serious tone. Then he just starts walking further in the direction of their classroom.

Four boring lessons later Regulus is waiting in front of one of the greenhouses for Pandora to come. She walks around one of the greenhouses and a big, bright smile overtakes her face, once she spots him. “Hey, you came”, she cheers happily. “Of course I did. I promised I would. So what did you want to talk about?”, he gets straight to business.

She starts walking him in the direction of the first greenhouse. Then she fills up a watering can, taking her sweet time to start talking. She is the only person, where it doesn’t annoy Regulus. Normally he would’ve impatiently asked the question at least two more times and then just give up, if he didn’t receive an answer. With Pandora he knows an answer will follow, she is just taking her time to sort through what she wants to say, so she can get it out correctly.

“I dreamed about you.”, she starts talking, watering the first flower. Regulus didn’t probe further. He knew she wasn’t done yet. “It was a strange dream and I don’t know the meaning of it. There was a lot of darkness surrounding you and it seemed to be pulling you in. Like there were shadow hands that pulled on you to pry you deeper into the darkness. And then there was a sudden light. It stopped the darkness from pulling you in. You were free to leave the darkness, but it seemed like you didn’t want to. And I was screaming for you to just get to the light but you couldn’t hear me of course”, Pandora began shaking somewhere during her retelling. “I have no idea what that dream could mean. Just promise me to follow the light. Choose the light, when you get the chance, promise?”, Pandora implored him instintently.

The watering can sits long forgotten on the ground, as Pandora looks at him with big pleading eyes. “I have no idea what the dream could mean either, but I promise to follow the light, if I ever get the choice.”, Regulus promises her. It’s not entirely true, he does have some vague idea what that dream could maybe have symbolised. He just doesn’t want to concern Pandora and upset her even more.

Pandora seems lost in thought for a minute, then she picks her can bag up, continuing her watering. “There was something else you wanted to tell me”, Regulus starts a new topic, trailing alongside her. “Yes. I found another seer at Hogwarts.”, she turns to him smiling. “She is a year below us. Maybe we can figure our skills out together.”, she sounds genuinely hopeful telling him that. “That’s great, Pandora. You know we are all here for you and we try our best, but we can’t always understand what your powers mean. It could be great for you to have someone, who gets it.”, Regulus really is happy for her.

They chatted about some other small topic, while Pandora watered the rest of the flowers and they made their way back to the castle. Hanging out with Pandora always left Regulus feeling somehow refreshed. She was like a breath of fresh air or a flower in its most flourishing form. Having to separate from her just to face history of magic alone sucked. Not that he was bad at it, Mr. Binns just had this special tone of voice that could lull you into a deep sleep in seconds. It was a shame really, that such an interesting subject got taught by a teacher this incompetent. At least it was his last class for the day.

After class he immediately makes his way to the library as always. He takes his books and sits down in the most closed off corner of the library. What he however did not expect was Potter bothering him not even half an hour after sitting down.

He’s fully engulfed in his transfiguration homework, when suddenly a voice disturbs him. “Regulus, hey. Can we talk?”, James Potter interrupts his study session. He is wearing a serious expression, which intrigues Regulus’ interest. “What could we possibly have to talk about?”, Regulus feigned disinterest, continuing on “reading” his book. “It’s about your brother”, James didn’t beat around the bush. Immediately Regulus’ expression turns into stone. “No”, he just says cooly. “You can go now”, he tells James, when he continues on staring at him. “Please, Reg”, James presses on. “Do not call me that”, Regulus presses out through tight lips. When he didn’t react to any more of his attempts James seemed to get the message and left him.

James walks away from his table disappointed just as Barty spawned next to him. “What did he want from you?”, Barty furrows his brows angrily. “Don’t know. Something about my brother. I told him to fuck off”, Regulus answers short lipped. “That’s odd. Anyways I wanted to talk to you”, Barty brushes the topic off. Regulus knows exactly that this was going to be about last night. It’s a topic he would really rather avoid, but he knew Barty would not let that slide. “Alright, what is it?”, he puts down his book to give Barty his full attention. He is looking at him with a mixture of concern and something else Regulus has never seen on his face before.

“It’s about last night,” Barty bursts out. “Oh wow, who would’ve guessed?”, Regulus thought. “What about it?”, is what he says out loud. “I didn’t want to say it infront of the others, but I just wanted to make sure that you know you’re always welcome in my bed. You know, in case it happens again. Or you could just wake me up. I just want you to know I’m here for you and I won’t tell anyone and we don’t even have to talk about it during the day.”, Barty rushs out with an earnest expression. “I’ll consider that offer and please let us not talk about it again”, Regulus replies as honest as he could. “Alright, man. You want to let me copy that homework?”, Barty immediately understands and changes the topic with a raised eyebrow towards the books in front of them.

Regulus did let Barty copy his homework. He did not however consider his offer. The short interaction with James kept going through his head. The summer had been horrible for Sirius, Regulus would know it. He was glad that Sirius had friends that were concerned about him and noticed when something was wrong. It just hurt him that Sirius didn’t feel the same for him anymore. It wasn’t like his summer had been particularly easy. That just didn’t seem to concern Sirius anymore. That is why he would not answer James. Sirius and his friends did not concern him anymore, that much Sirius had made clear.

A bitterness creeps up inside of Regulus. He isn‘t sleeping and getting harassed by his brother’s annoying friends does nothing to lighten his mood. He downs two dreamless sleep draughts this night, to really make sure he won‘t wake up more than once. Then he lays down to sleep, pretending not to notice Bartys concerned stare from across the room.

A few hours later he jumps out of his sleep, awoken by a nightmare. This at this point is routine for him, only this time it had been a particularly bad memory his brain has decided to haunt him with. In his head he could still hear his brothers screams and they were so loud he really can‘t separate them from his own anymore. When he has exhausted himself enough with crying and shaking and falls back asleep, he does not expect to wake up again that night.

The universe, of course, isn‘t that kind to him. He does wake up again. He is kicking and shaking and crying, but just can‘t remember his dream at all. That is fairly odd and he can‘t decide whether it‘s better or worse. When his shaking still doesn‘t stop after what feels like endless tossing and turning, he decides it‘s worse this way. His body is in a state of complete shock. He is terrified and has no idea why.

His brain is not fully functioning at the moment and all he really wants is to just fall back to sleep. The only answer his brain can come up with, as to what has helped him calm down the best, is Barty. That‘s how he finds himself tiptoeing over to his bed. He pulls open the curtain, his body moving of its own accord and shakes Barty awake.

„What is it? Have I slept in?“, Barty rubs his eyes trying to make out what is going on right now. „It‘s me“, Regulus brings out shakily. It‘s not really saying anything, but Barty seems to understand. „Oh“, and then a few seconds later the full realisation hits, „Oh.“. Barty scoots over to make room for Regulus to get in his bed. Reglus climbs in without hesitation. Immediately Barty lays an arm around him, spooning him and Regulus finds that it really grounds him. „You want to talk about it?“, Barty asks without any pressure attached. „I can‘t remember.“, Regulus takes a few shaking breaths, „I can‘t remember the nightmare. Usually I can. It helps me to remind myself I am not in that situation. But this time I can‘t. I don‘t know what situation it was, so I can‘t prove to my body that I‘m not in it.“

Barty seems to consider that for a moment. “Right now you are not in a situation of danger. You can tell that to your body. I am here and I’ve got you. You can feel me and you can feel the bed underneath you. Remind yourself of that. Think of what you can hear and smell and feel. This will help you calm down and remind you you’re safe here”, Barty whispers softly, firmly and directly to him. Regulus takes his advice and takes deep breaths in and out, while reminding himself of where he currently is. Briefly he wonders, when Barty became so good at calming him down. He had his rare moments of emotional intelligence he supposed. He couldn’t dwell on it too long though as he felt himself drifting back to sleep.

He wakes up in Bartys arms the next morning. Barty seems to still be asleep so he frees himself from his embrace and makes his way to the bathroom. Evan must’ve noticed him waking up in Bartys bed though, because he keeps sending them puzzling glances all throughout the morning.

Evan

Evan has noticed that there is something going on between Barty and Regulus. It stings knowing they are keeping secrets from him. It hurts, because he sees how much Barty genuinely cares about Regulus. It’s already painful enough to see him sneak off with some random person every other day, but now he has seemed to find someone he’s ready to commit to.

Evan really likes Regulus. He would even say they are best friends, but at this moment he loathes him. He loathes how he is the one getting showered with Bartys care, attention and love. He loathes how he doesn’t even seem to notice it, how he doesn’t even appreciate it.

He gets that Barty and Regulus have been friends long before he was even in the picture. They grew up together and that is something no one can take from them. It is a bond that makes them inseparable. That has never bothered Evan that much. It’s alright that he will never be Bartys closest friend. It’s fine, because he doesn’t want to be his friend. Regulus and him can be best friends, he wants Barty in a different way anyways.

He doesn’t even remember when this crush started. Maybe it has always kind of been there. He just always felt differently about Regulus and Barty.

Now Regulus had to go and take Barty from him. He knows it’s not really Regulus’ fault. He can’t help who Barty decides to fall in love with even if it’s him. He could decide not to encourage it and that is all Evan wants from him. It is clear as day, at least to him, that Regulus does not feel the same about Barty. Nothing in his demeanor has changed. If anything he is acting more distanced and annoyed towards Barty, whenever he is trying to show some public affection to him. That really pissed Evan off. Having Bartys affection is a privilege and to have the audacity to act annoyed is frankly just rude.

Evan couldn’t stand watching it. The whole day he gave his best to avoid Barty and Regulus. Dorcas kept sending him strange looks, noticing his cold temper against his roommates. Pandora acted like her normal cheerful self and Evan was so grateful to have a twin sister this amazing. She kept his mind from spiraling into negativity. By dinner he had almost forgotten why he was avoiding his friends in the first place.

He sits down opposite Barty and Regulus, greeting them politely. He got a small “Hi”, from Regulus. Barty didn’t even seem to notice his presence, too preoccupied with glaring at something behind Evan. Immediately Evans’ smile shrunk. “Potter is staring at us”, Barty growled like a possessive guard dog. Evan and Dorcas turned around looking for him. Regulus didn’t even lift his head.

“He tried to approach me again today”, Regulus said with pretended boredom. “Again? What does Potter want from you?”, Evan asked, confused and surprised by this information. “Don’t know. Something about my brother”, Regulus answered shortly. “Don’t you think you should talk to him? Maybe it’s important, if he’s coming to you for help.”, Dorcas furrowed her brows in concern, having abonend her food in favour of the conversation.

“He should just leave him alone”, Barty mumbled under his breath, continuing to send James death glares. Regulus rolled his eyes at that, which made Evan glare at him. „I‘m sure he can figure it out himself. Sirius is his brother now, isn‘t he?“, even though Regulusacted nonchalant about this statement, hurt was in his voice. Dorcas seemed momentarily stunned by this and got lost in contemplation. Evan did not miss the way Bartys eyes softened, when he turned them on Regulus. It made bile rise in his throat.

„Fuck them, alright? These Gryffindors are not worth your time. They think they‘re so much better than us. That they are so noble and the born heroes. It‘s important to remember that even Gryffindors can be selfish. It comes with their self righteousness and self centeredness.“, Bartys voice is soft and kind, when speaking to Regulus. Regulus just hummed at this, sending Barty a tight lipped smile. Regulus‘ expression was grim for the rest of dinner. Barty tried to wrap his arm around Regulus or hold his hand under the table multiple times. Regulus brushed him off every time. Evan really wished Pandora were with them right now. Her light mood could‘ve probably lifted the awkwardness from them. She told them she would eat with her seer friend today, which Evan was really happy for her, but also really sad for him. The rest of dinner proceeds quietly. It‘s miserable.

Chapter Text

James

„Rise and shine, darling.“, an overly cheerful voice wakes James from his slumber. He blinks in confusion searching for his glasses on the nightstand. A hand reaches out to hand it to him. James takes his glasses and sits up rubbing his eyes to wake up. When he finally registers what is happening around him, he becomes even more confused.

Remus and Sirius are sitting on Sirius‘ bed together, looking at him. The latter is grinning at him a bit madly with anticipation. It seems to be the middle of the night, as James is usually the first to wake up.

„What is going on? Why are you grinning like that?“, James asks them suspiciously, turning to face them. „Remus and I decided to make up, after another ridiculously unnecessary fight tonight“, Sirius declares with such happiness one could think he‘s won a medal. „You fight at night?“, is all James’ foggy brain can come up with, as answer to this statement. „We always use a silencing charm to not disturb your sleeping“, Sirius brushes over the topic as if that was a perfectly normal circumstance.

Remus’ face has taken on a deep shade of red and he buries it inside his hands. James decides not to question it any longer, since Sirius clearly wants to tell him something more pressing. „Anyways, your words a few days ago really got through to me. Because you‘re right, we really do have a reputation to uphold. It would be a shame to not pull our annual Slytherin prank off. Tell him your plan Remus“, Sirius rants off, ending with an expecting look at Remus, like he was a dog and about to show off a new trick Sirius taught him.

„Don‘t you think we should wake Peter for this?“, James interrupts, still a bit confused by the whole thing. „Sure, if you want to deal with a moping Peter, complaining about us disrupting his beauty sleep.“, Sirius gestures a motion signaling a sarcastic „go try, it“. „We‘re just going to fill him in tomorrow. It will be fine.“, he reassures James.

Remus takes a big breath in, now choosing to take part in the conversation. „Right now we have waited long enough with the prank, that we have the factor of surprise on our side. People usually expect us to do one in the first three weeks. The slytherins are basking themselves in false security. Which means we can do something bigger and closer to them, as they won‘t be as on guard around their property“, Remus explains to him insistently.

„That is why you are our mastermind. Isn‘t this genius James?“, Sirius praises with a grin that is still a bit too fake and big. James is not following the conversation at all. „It‘s great, really. I‘m glad you finally made up, just let us discuss the details some time tomorrow. During the day, you know?“, James takes off his glasses and lies back down, signaling the end of the conversation.

Only a few hours of sleep later he gets up to go on his morning run. James takes Quidditch very seriously. His goal is to become team captain once Frank is gone. Frank is one of James‘ biggest role models. He has so much respect and admiration for him. Everything he does is just so cool. That is why James wants to honour his legacy and try to be as good of a captain for his team as Frank is to his.

Also morning runs always help to take his mind off things before class starts.

He gets up and checks if any of the others are awake. Peters curtains are drawn close. A smile creeps up James face when he spots Remus and Sirius. They seem to not have had enough time to get back in their own beds. Now they are both lying in Remus’ bed with Siris spread on top of the other in a way that makes it hard to tell where one starts and the other ends. James is very pleased to see that at least in sleep the two of his best friends still get along with each other.

Back from the run and freshly showered James makes his way down to the great hall. The others must have woken up and went down already, since the dorm was empty. It didn‘t bother James. They had agreed that it was fine with him, if they already went down as long as they waited for him or got him something. With his head empty and free of worries James goes down for breakfast.

Once he arrives at their table he immediately feels the tense and awkward atmosphere. „Oh not this again“, he thinks, about ready to just go sit with the girls again. Remus and Sirius are sitting across from each other and apparently trying to avoid all eye contact. Even Peter isn‘t trying to act normal anymore and is instead looking between the two with furrowed brows. Every once in a while he opens his mouth to say something but seems to decide against it every time.

„I‘ve got a long day ahead of me today. Especially with Quidditch after class. But I still think today calls for a marauders assembly“, James decides to break the awkward tension. It seems to break Sirius and Remus out of their stupor at least a little. „You‘re right. We have a few things to discuss. Let‘s just do it after your Quidditch training. I don‘t think we can find a better time.“, Siris reasons, abandoning his barely touched food. Peter and Remus give their grumbled agreements and James claps his hands together. „Great. That‘s settled then“, he declares.

The rest of the day goes on quietly. No abnormal incidents at all. James rushes from class to class, his head fuming with all the material the teachers are already torturing them with as preparation for the OWLS by the end of the school year. Everything is totally normal except for this one interaction.

James is walking down the hall alone on his way to divination only he and Peter have taken, but Peter had his last class on the other side of the castle. He walks alone, when suddenly someone stops him by grabbing his collar and shoving him across a wall. James grunts and is ready to fight the attacker, thinking it‘s one of Mulciber’s group members. The voice that speaks now made him pause.

„You leave him alone, you hear me, Potter?“, no one less than Barty Crouch Jr. speaks. He is pointing at a person standing behind him. Regulus Black is standing there looking mildly uncomfortable and embarrassed as he iss checking their surroundings for spectators. „I didn‘t do anything to him“, James wrinkles his forehead in confusion. This seems to only fuel Barty’s anger. „You don‘t talk to him anymore, get it?“, Barty has James in a steel grip with his arm across his shoulders. James also isn‘t really fighting back, too confused by the whole interaction.

He couldn‘t remember when he last talked to Regulus. He tries to think really hard and then the memories come back. His and Regulus’ interaction in the library. Now that things have calmed down he completely forgot that he went to Regulus for help.

„I‘m really sorry if I upset you, that wasn‘t my intention at all. It‘s just that Sirius was acting so strange after the summer break. I thought it must have been something that happened during it. And no one at Hogwarts knows what happened except for you“, James turns to speak with Regulus, ignoring Barty.

At his words Regulus’ expression turns to stone. His otherwise ocean blue-grey eyes now seem to be brewing thunderstorms. „What happens in my house during the sommer does not concern you. What Sirius decides to tell you about it is his business not mine. If you‘re really that desperate to know, ask him. Don‘t come to me again.“, he spits the last words in a low tone, having come closer the more enraged he got. Then he gestures for Barty to let him go. He stalks off without a single glance back, as Barty gives him a last snarl. James is left dumbfounded by the interaction. He obviously arrives late for divination, after that.

The rest of the day now moves on truly uneventfully. The whole day James’ mind keeps going over the strange encounter with the younger black. It was like he could visibly see Regulus build his walls up. At Quidditch he is completely distracted and misses more passes than usual.

Later in the changing rooms Frank pulls him aside. Marlene has sent him worrying glances all throughout training and now sends him a reassuring smile and squeezes his shoulder. Then she leaves the changing rooms to leave him and Frank alone.

Frank gestures for James to sit down next to him. „What is going on? This is only one training and I don‘t hold it over your head, that maybe today you weren‘t in top form. It happens to us all. It‘s just strange because you seem so in your head. Usually during training you seem to be able to turn your worries off pretty good. What is bothering you right now? Talking may help brush it away“, Frank starts the conversation, looking at James with an open expression. „It‘s Sirius. He has been acting strange since the summer. It made me really worry for him and I think that made me make a bad decision," James opens up. Frank is someone he fully trusts with anything. He is great at giving advice even more so than Peter. „What decision?“, he asks back, not in a demanding tone, just interested.

James takes a deep breath in, considering his next words. „I went to Regulus“, James states bluntly, not bothering with beating around the bush. „Sirius’ younger brother?“, Frank asks confusedly now. His body language changes and he turns a bit more to James, his expression now bewildered. „Yes. I figured whatever brought the change must‘ve happened during summer. And who knows better what happened to Sirius during the summer, than his younger brother? Anyways I think Regulus is mad at me now and I feel like I‘ve betrayed Sirius somehow by talking to him in the first place.“, James rants off, getting everything that has been clouding his mind out at once now.

Frank looks at him for a long while now, choosing his next words deliberately. It is clear that James is having a small crisis at the moment. „I don‘t know why you think Regulus is mad at you, but I think you shouldn‘t let it get to you so much. I get why you went to him and the way I know you, you probably went about it very politely. Whatever it had been that upset him was probably outside your power. Also I don‘t think you betrayed Sirius. Sure, it would‘ve been smarter to just wait it out, until he talks to you. You didn‘t though and there is no point in beating yourself up about it. Sometimes we make decisions based on emotions more than on logic and that is alright. Just don‘t go to Regulus again and wait for Sirius to approach you first. I‘m sure the situation will handle itself on its own.“, Frank reassures James. He is smiling at him warmly and gets up from the bench now. This conversation seems to be over for him.

James lifts his head to look up at him. „You‘re a really great captain, you know“, James tells him earnestly. His eyes filled with admiration. Frank huffs out a laugh grabbing his bag. „Go spend time with your friends.“, with that he leaves the changing room, leaving behind a smiling James.

The conversation with Frank really worked to ease James worries and he made his way up the hill with new found hopefulness. Back in the dorm he takes his after training shower to fully clean his mind and body. Feeling refreshed he gets dressed, opens the bathroom door and is met with three pairs of eyes looking at him in expectation.

„Now that we‘re complete, I think we can start our meeting“, Sirius declares impatiently getting up from Remus’ bed. Peter is sitting on James’ bed and is looking at Sirius with big eyes. „Why are we doing this again?“, he asks, his eyes searching for an answer by alternating his gaze between the three of them. „We have to plan our big Slytherin prank“, Sirius takes the word for himself. „Right exactly, also I have been thinking about something else“, James’ memories now slowly come back to him and he enthusiastically participates in the conversation, „We should throw a party.“

Sirius immediately seems convinced by the idea, while Remus looks a bit sceptical, but that’s no surprise he‘s not much of a party goer. „That‘s a great idea. I‘m always up for a party. Let‘s plan that later and first decide on the Slytherin prank“, Sirius agrees passionately.

„If we plan the prank first we will know how long it will take and then can decide on a date for the party to celebrate it“, Peter contributes his opinion to the conversation. Everyone including Remus seems to agree with that. „Then stop wasting time. Tell us what you‘ve been thinking, Moony“, Sirius sits back down next to Remus.

„I have an idea. I‘m not sure it‘s good, but it‘s the best I came up with.“, Remus looks around a bit nervously. Sirius looks at him encouragingly and James gives him a thumbs up. „We all know how self-obsessed and vain Slytherins are. They are filled with so much house supremacy, I want to shove it back up their asses. And I thought how can we do that? What is a way that is even for a Slytherin a bit too much demonstration of their pride? Let‘s dye their fucking hair. Let‘s dye it in a bright green and see how much they like their house and it‘s colors then.“, Remus starts gesturing more and more agitated throughout his plan gaining more confidence with every word.

For a little while no one says anything, then Sirius slowly begins clapping. Then James joins in and soon they are cheering and screaming and throwing themselves on top of Remus. „Oh, Moony, you‘re a genius“, Sirius praised a bit out of breath, still half lying on top of Remus. Remus’ face went bright red and he was wearing a sheepish grin. „Yes, this will show them, Moony," James high-fived him, shoving his shoulder playfully. „Yep, really great idea and all. It‘s just how can we do it?“, Peter quickly brought the mood down.

Sirius and James pull down the corners of their mouths, into a thoughtful pout. Remus’ eyes light up with a new spark. „I may have already thought about that. What we do is, we put it into the shower water. We hex the pipes in a way that will block the water for the Hufflepuffs. They won‘t have water for a day or two, but it will protect them from the hair dye.", Remus explains to them with a scheming smirk on his face. „That‘s amazing. I can find us the spell for that in under a week and then it‘ll only take us one evening and all of Slytherin will be wearing a new hairstyle“, Sirius says with a satisfied shiteating grin.

With that it‘s settled. They split the tasks between the four. Remus and Sirius will look for the necessary spells in the library and Peter and James will look into the Hogwarts pipe system to figure out where to block it and where to hex the water. The evening gives James new hope for Remus and Sirius to finally put their bickering behind them, since they voluntarily chose the same task.

Peter

The morning after their big marauders meeting Peter decides he has to get away from the group for a while. He has to talk to someone outside of the group. While the others may think that he‘s clueless about what‘s going on in their group, he was anything but. He does notice when they’re fighting.

The strange atmosphere between Sirius and Remus didn‘t escape him and James growing worry about Sirius neither. It‘s Peter’s curse: he notices everything and he understands it, he just doesn‘t know how to help. That‘s what he needs help with. He needs someone to give him good advice, so that he can give his friends the right advice. And he knows just the person for it.

During breakfast he sits down with his friends clearing his throat to gain their attention. „I signed up for extra curricular plant care taking. I promised Pandora to help her today“, he announces alongside, snatching himself some jam. „Pandora the Rosier twin from Ravenclaw?“, James asks perking up. „Yes, she‘s really kind and a great plant caretaker. Do you know her?“, Peter answers, happy to have gained someone’s interest. „No, not really. Isn‘t she part of Regulus’s friend group? She seems like a great person“, James seems thoughtful, his eyes searching for someone across the hall. „I thought about inviting her to our Party“, Peter dares to say with a hesitant smile. „Sure, tell her she can bring her friends“, James reassures him, taking a bite from his toast, ending the conversation.

Remus and Sirius have just silently followed the conversation. Now Sirius perks up, new life jolting into him. „Didn‘t you just say she‘s part of Reggie’s friends? I don‘t want them at my party“, Sirius intervene. This seems to bring Remus out of his slumber. „Don‘t be like this, Sirius. If Peter and James say she‘s a nice person then her friends will probably be nice too. Also I doubt your brother would want to come to one of our parties.“, Remus reasons with Sirius. They seem to have some sort of fight through their eyes. Sirius is pouting up at Remus with big eyes, who is giving him a stern look. They are caught in this silent argument for a while, before Sirius gives up. „Fine“, he huffs petulantly.

After class Peter makes his way down to the greenhouses. From far away he can already make out Pandora’s long, platinum waves. Once he‘s in reach he greets her.:“Hey, Pandora, so glad to see you.“ „Hi, Peter. What‘s on your mind? I can tell that you’re tired.“, she greets back in her light, dreamy tone. Peter isn‘t at all surprised about this strange greeting, on the contrary he is very glad about it. After all this is why he wanted to talk to her and of course to know how it‘s been going with her seer friend.

„Can I ask for your advice? You can tell me about your seer friend later, because I really want to know more about her, but I just really need someone to talk to right now“, he asks of her a little desperately. Pandora looks him up and down for a second and then wanders off to grab them both a water can. It takes a while before she answers, but Peter knows not to rush her. Patience is very important when talking to Pandora, because it always pays off. „Is it about your friends? Your group has been giving off weird vibes. It‘s like you‘re all stuck in a rain cloud“, Pandora starts talking again. This is basically her way of saying „go on“, so Peter gladly takes the invitation.

„It is about them. Sirius has been acting so off since the summer break and it would just be annoying if it didn‘t make you so concerned for him. I mean James has been dying of concern for him. I don‘t think Sirius even needs anybody else to worry about him, since James is doing all the worrying for a castle of people. Remus seems to agree with that, because he is just pissed at Sirius and not worried at all. They have been fighting like cats and dogs. Now they made up, but it just seems like the quiet before the storm, because still no one knows what happened to Sirius.“, Peter explains everything that has been plaguing his mind the past weeks. He is glad Pandora has paid attention to actually watering the plants, since his can is still full to the brim.

„This reminds me of my own friends. Regulus has always been acting weird since this summer, but I think he opened up to Barty. This seems to annoy Evan, for some reason. Now Barty and Evan are acting weirdly cold towards each other. This angers Dorcas and she started to distance herself from us. It makes me really sad, you know.“, Pandora’s eyes have taken on a quiet sadness. „What can we do to help?“, Peter asks the real question, he‘s been asking himself. The question that has been keeping him up at night. „I don‘t think we can do anything but be there for them. You can‘t pressure Sirius to come and talk to one of you. It would only drive him away further. I can‘t force Barty and Evan to talk it out, because I don‘t even know what is really going on between them. We can just hope for them to come to us“, Pandora answers truthfully. It is not the advice Peter has hoped for, but he knows she‘s right.

They let this linger between them for a while, before Peter decides to break the silence. „Alright, now tell me about that seer friend. Have you already made progress?“, he opens a new topic, genuinely interested. „She‘s a year younger and I feel like I am helping her more than we are helping each other, you know? Her powers are stronger than mine. While I only get visions through dreams, she sometimes gets them at random times of the day. Hers are clearer too, though the messages of mine are often more definite. She will have visions of the future, with people she doesn‘t even remember knowing. It is extremely interesting, but also confusing. Right now we are figuring out the similarities and differences in our skills to see where we can help each other“, Pandora is explaining almost casually, while Peter is listening to her completely captivated.

He lets her go on about her new friend for some time longer, until they reach the castle and go their separate ways. „Hey, Pandora, I wanted to ask you one more thing“, Peter interrupts her, in the opening hall of the castle. „Sure, what is it?“, she stops her rambling, looking at him expectantly. „My friends and I are going to throw a party in two weeks in the Gryffindor common room. I was wondering if maybe you and some of your friends would like to come?“, he proposes to her verily, unsure how she will react to the offer. A bright smile overtakes her face. „I‘m going to be there. I‘ll ask my friends, if some of them would want to join me“, she promises him, giving him a quick hug as a goodbye.

Remus

Remus must admit that he was surprised about how little Sirius complained about spending most of his time this week in the library with Remus. The library apparently wasn‘t so horrible when researching was done for a prank, instead of studying. One could even say Remus had a pleasant time with Sirius this week. They have made real progress. This evening they would present James and Peter their spells.

The spells aren‘t the only thing they made progress on. Remus feels like they have made real progress in ending their conflict. Most of it stemmed from Sirius finally stopping his asshole act. He was really pissing Remus off. How could he now see what all this flirting with other girls did to Remus?

Sometimes Remus could swear there was something more than friendship on Sirius’ mind, when he looked at him. The way he would talk about him or to him. He was sending Remus so many mixed signals, being near him felt like a rollercoaster.

Remus felt almost sad that this was their last day of research. He wasn‘t sure he had ever spent this much time with Sirius alone. Today they will meet up at the library one last time after class.

Remus is at the library a bit early. He is sorting through his parchments, when Sirius arrives. „Let‘s get this show on the road“, Sirius makes his entrance, dramatically throwing himself in the seat next to Remus. „I hope James and Peter did their homework. Our work here is basically done. Most spells we can just cast ourselves, there‘s only two we should try to teach the others.“, Remus goes straight to business. „Does this mean our time together at the library is over?“, Sirius asks with an unreadable expression.

„Are you happy the torture is finally over or what is up?“, Remus asks jokingly. „No, I actually had a great time. We make a really good team, don‘t we? You made the library bearable, Moony.“, Sirius answers unusually earnestly. His eyes are wide and honest, the blue seeming uncharacteristically dark, as he looks up as Remus. His pupils are blown wide and something in Remus stomach twists.

Everything in his head is screaming at him, that this is dangerous. Still he keeps looking trapped in a trance. He has to forcefully pull his eyes away, clearing his throat. „Yes, we‘re a great team. Let‘s hope Peter and James are just as good“, Remus quickly changes the topic back to something safer. „They can‘t be, because we‘re the best.“, Sirius puts on his most determinded expression. Remus just laughs at his ridiculousness.

Later this evening they all meet up in their dorm to discuss their plan for tomorrow. Sirius hops on top of Remus bed again as he has been doing so often lately. Peter sits on the floor leaning back on James bed and James is sitting on top of his bed. „We only have two spells you‘ll need to know, so I say you start. Then we can quickly teach the spells and are finished.”, Remus suggests in a matter of fact tone, that leaves little room for negotiation. James jumps up from his bed excitedly.

“Pete and I spied on the area of the pipes we’ll need to block with my invisibility cloak. It’s not easy to separate what pipes lead to Slytherin and which don’t. That is the bad news. The good news is, no one usually is in that area. It’s going to be a bit difficult to get us all there without raising suspicion, but once we’re there no one will disturb us.”, James proudly presents their results. Pacing up and down excitedly. He stops to look at Sirius and Remus expectantly after finishing. They just blink up at him, their minds still catching up. In Remus’ head the wheels are turning.

“Sirius teach them the spells. I’ll work out a plan”, Remus orders, too lost in thought to feel bad about it. He reaches across Sirius grabbing a quill and a parchment. Then he starts scribbling down eagerly. Sirius gets up and takes James and Peter a few steps away, giving Remus space to think.

“Alright, I think I got it. Take a look at this.”, Remus looks up from his notes, beckoning his friends over. They all sit down on top or in front of James’ bed, looking at Remus. Remus turns his parchment around showing his hastily drawn sketch. “James and Sirius, you will take the coat. Me and Pete will walk there normally, totally inconspiciously. We can just say we are visiting Pete’s Hufflepuff friends, if anyone raises questions, which they most likely won’t.”, Remus begins explaining.

No one interrupts him throughout his explanation. Afterwards no one argues with his plan. Sirius praises him for his mastermind, which makes him blush horribly. With that the plan is set and they agree on doing it the next way.

The whole day Remus felt that usual pre-prank giddyness. A small part of him knew it was childish, but his mischief always topped that. This evening after dinner Remus and Peter make their way down to the dungeons.

Luckily they didn’t get stopped on their way. Everything went smoothly. They meet up with James and Sirius at their agreed spot. James and Peter cast the spell that makes the wall see through. Then Sirius and Remus perform their blocking and hairdying spells. “My brother and cousins are going to hate this. Being vain about your hair is a family trait.”, Sirius snickers after finishing up the last spell. “Too bad this won’t be affecting Snivelus, since he never uses the shower”, James fake pities, causing the rest of them to break out into laughter. “Good one, James”, Sirius high fives,pretending to wipe a tear of laughter from his eye.

They joke like that a little longer, before Peter nervously tells them it would be better to leave before curfew. They make their way back the same way they came, with James and Sirius under the coat. That night they all fall asleep with big grins on their faces, ready to see the faces of the Slytherins the next morning. ​

Chapter Text

Rita

Rita gets woken up from her slumber, rather rudely, this morning. She fell asleep in Bellatrix bed again this evening and was deeply snuggled into her sheets now. Bellatrix’s bed always had that certain smell of expensive perfume and something distinctively her.

Even though they fell asleep together Rita always wakes up alone. Bellatrix makes sure to get up before her. Their activities are something reserved for the night. During day time Bellatrix pretends it isn‘t happening. Rita knows she‘s married. She had gotten married this summer the second she turned 17. She doesn‘t know the details and doesn‘t ask. Their connection is not like that. They‘re not a couple. They‘re just roommates.

This morning Rita gets woken up by a screeching scream. She puts her pillow over her head trying to drown out the noise, but it won‘t stop. Bellatrix is throwing an absolute fit about something and there is no point in trying to sleep now. With a heavy sigh Rita sits up unsure of what to do next.

When she opens her eyes and blinks a few times to focus them, she lets out a hearty laugh. Whatever it is she was expecting, it certainly wasn‘t this. Bellatrix’s hair is green. It is from the roots to the ends colored in a bright green. Bellatrix is casting spell after spell upon it, looking into the mirror fouriously.

„Don‘t laugh. This is not funny“, she turns to Rita, her eyes glistering dangerously. Immediately Rita straightens her face, holding back a grin. It was a little adorable how worked up this made Bellatrix. „No, it totally isn‘t. It‘s just surprising. I mean how did this happen?“, Rita asks appeasing. „How the hell should I know? It turned this way when I stepped out of that merlin forsaken shower“, Bellatrix muses, still standing in front of the mirror. She looks at her hair with a crazed expression, having given up trying to fix it.

Rita wisely chooses against showering this morning, not ready to risk anything. Bellatrix refuses to go to breakfast looking that way. She dramatically throws herself on to her bed. „I‘m going to figure something out to fix this. As soon as I find a suitable cover up for this mess I will go to the library“, she swears, her voice muffled by the covers. „Sure, you‘ll do just that. I‘m going to breakfast now. Should I bring you something?“, Rita talks to her as if talking to a toddler throwing a tantrum. Bellatrix lifts her head to glare at her, already drawing out her wand.

She sends a quick stinging hex in Rita’s direction. It sends a small jolt of pain through her left arm. „Ow“, she complains. „The person who did that, tied up, but alive. That way I can show them exactly how funny I think they are“, Bellatrix eyes narrow dangerously.

Rita hears the chaos before she sees it. In the common room Slytherins of all ages sport new green hair and are angrily discussing who did this to them. Rita’s interest as a journalist obviously peaks through this. She listens to some theories in passing as she makes her way to the breakfast hall.

In the breakfast hall it becomes clear just how great the extent of this prank goes. Almost every second Slytherins hair is green. The Slytherins are glaring daggers at the students from other houses, especially the Gryffindors. The other houses seem to be having a blast. They are laughing and pointing at their table, already mumbling about who might be the mastermind behind all of this.

Evan

In Evans’ room Barty was the one who showered first and ended up with green hair. As much as Evan hates not having a shower now, he must admit that something good came from this prank. There was no denying how stunning Barty looks with his new hair. While on most Slytherins it looks terribly out of place, on him it looks like it was meant to be.

Barty was not happy about this surprise at all at first. He scowled in the mirror, saying he looked like a clown. Once it became clear that the color wasn‘t going anywhere, since no spell worked to fix it, he made due with it.

Now even he finds it hilarious how worked up some Slytherins are about it. Avery is basically fuming from his mouth, his hair still a bit damp, making the green look more muddy. Regulus looks extremely unimpressed by this childish behaviour. That‘s when Dorcas joins them with the biggest grin on her face.

„It hit Emma“, she tells them, grinning from ear to ear. Unlike the other Slytherins she looks like she was having the best day of her life. Evan understood her, Emma was a mean cunt to her most of the time. Dorcas didn‘t get along with her roommates at all. They both bullied her in the first two years, before Regulus scared them so bad, they now only send her nasty looks. „You should have seen her face. I have never seen such disgust“, Dorcas says still giggling. Even Regulus cracks a smile at that, looking up and down the table to find Emma.

His smile grows as he sees Pandora approach their table. Evan sits with his back to her and doesn‘t notice her coming. She quickly steals a toast from his plate, sitting down next to him. „Oh, I see Barty got affected by this mischief“, she giggles after scanning their group. Barty only smirks, taking a sip from his pumpkin juice. „I have sacrificed my hair for little Reggies, here. I don‘t think he would leave his dorm, if this had happened to him“, Barty grins at him softly, too softly for a friend who is just messing around. Evans’ eyes narrow and he has to look away and drink his own juice.

„I think the green suits you“, he comments off handed, not willing to show just how much he likes it. „Really? I‘m not sure if I like it, yet.“, Barty runs a hand through his hair, as if it would feel different. „ I agree with Evan. It makes you look more alternative, even in the uniform“, Dorcas tells him sincerely. Pandora nods in agreement. „What do you think, Reg?“, Barty turns to him. „Hm?“, is all the reply he gets. „My hair. You think it suits me?“, Barty asks again, his eyes big and expectingly. „It matches your eyes“, Regulus answers uncommittedly. Barty’s whole face lights up in delight. „Alright, I guess I should really keep it this way“, he says cheerfully.

Evan didn’t like how bitter he could be. He resented himself for it. For his jealous streak and for always wanting what he couldn’t have. But more than he resented himself, he resented Regulus. Regulus who acted so oblivious to Barty’s flirting, but then still did his best to keep his hopes up. Regulus, who kept stealing glances towards the Gryffindor table, in a completely different way than the rest of the scolding Slytherins. He also resented how little he actually hated Regulus.

He is his best friend after all. “It’s not his fault who Barty falls for”, Evan kept reminding himself. Still it was hard being around them. The whole day Evans’ bitterness only grew. With every joke Barty made to get Regulus attention, Evans’ smile shrunk.

At lunch Evan is quiet and annoyed. He greets Dorcas half heartedly, when she joins them and doesn’t speak after. He doesn’t participate in any discussion about the prank and doesn’t laugh at any jokes. Regulus seems to notice, but just ignores it, while Dorcas sends him puzzled glances from time to time. The only oblivious one seems to be Barty.

The thick air only lifts from their corner of the table, when Pandora joins them. In her typical cheery, uncaring manner she takes her seat next to Dorcas. “I’ve got news for you. I forgot to tell you about something”, she says mysteriously, waiting for their reaction. “What is it, Dora?”, Dorcas turns towards her, playing into her dramatics.

“We’ve been invited to a Party.”, Pandora smiles brightly, her expression giddy. Nobody at the table seems particularly amazed at this. Pandora’s smile doesn’t even falter, at that. “You know Pettigrew from a year above us? We take care of the plants together. He told me the Gryffindors are having a Party this week and I should come with some of my friends”, Pandora explains further, still absolutely ecstatic.

“I’m sorry, Panda. Pettigrew is definitely a friend of my brother and I am not going to parties hosted by my brother and his friends.”, Regulus tells her finally, but still consoling. It’s hard to reject Pandora especially, when she is so clearly excited. “It’s fine. I get that.”, Pandora says sadly, but understanding. “If Regs not going, I’m not going either. Sorry, Panda. Just the Gryffindors have kind of started a war between us, with the whole hair thing. I’m not about to make friends with the enemy”, Barty declares absolutely. Now Pandora is full on frowning, turning to Dorcas and Evan with puppy dog eyes.

“My dearest brother, please will you come with me to this Party?”, Pandora pleads with him, battering her lashes. Evan snorts at that, but makes an over the top thoughtful expression. “Of course, my sister dearest, will I accompany you on this quest.”, he answers her sarcastically. She giggles a little. “Are you really?”, she asks hopefully.

“Yeah, sure. I don’t see why not.”

The others watch this exchange more or less interested. “I think we should just throw our own party. Prove those Gryffindors, that we can have more fun than them.”, Barty proposes the idea with a hint of vindictiveness. Barty holds on to grudges. They all know that and clearly he has found a new target for his evil streak. Nobody else seems particularly fond of this idea, especially not Pandora.

“I’m not part of this house war and I think it’s rude to turn down an invitation for an event that wasn’t even planned then. You can throw your party, just without me”, she tells Barty resolutely.

“I don’t really like the other Slytherins. There’s no reason for me to party with them. Maybe I stay a bit, look how things are going, but I’ll for sure join you, Dora”, Dorcas tells her thoughtfully. “I stand by what I said. Once the Slytherin party is in full swing I’ll leave”, Evan says and with that the conversation is over for him.

“You know what? Fine. You can all go play best friends with the Gryffindors. Me and Reg will stay here and have a fucking amezing Slytherin party”, Barty spits out defiantly. There doesn’t seem to be a reason for his outburst. The others just ignore it. Regulus does not dignify this with a response, even though his face is speaking for itself. Barty can clearly do this party on his own, if he’s really so fond of it.

Lily

Lily’s hanging out at the great lake with her roommates, who are all still gossiping about the Slytherin prank. It was as clear as day that James and his friends were behind it. Lily could not stand them.

James Potter had taken a special liking to her the first day they came to Hogwarts and had not let it go since. Had not let her go.

It pissed her off so terribly. The way he would flirt with her every chance he got. It was so humiliating. Also it felt like such a big joke. He was a master of pranks and Lily never asked to be part of his biggest one yet.

“Earth to Lily”, Marlene snaps her out of her thoughts. Lily blinks at her a few times, having long abandoned following the conversation. “Huh?”, is the best response she could muster. “Even you have to admit this prank is pretty hilarious. It causes no harm or hurts anyone. It’s just a bit petty.”, Marlene fills her in on their conversation. Lily hates giving them the satisfaction, but she supposes they aren’t here right now.

“Alright, it is a tad bit funny. They look so miserable with their new hair.”, Lily admits, whispering as if telling a secret. Marlene barks a laughter and heat fills Lily’s cheeks. “Averys face this morning was hilarious. He had a constant expression of misery”, Mary remembers joining in on their laughter.

Lily shares their laughter, until her eyes land on four figures making their way confidently towards the girls. Her smile dies down and her expression turns stony. Marlene is the first to notice it furrowing her brows at her.

“What are we laughing about?”, none other than Sirius Black asks them with a cocky smile. “Maybe it’s our brilliance. I don’t want to brag, but even you Lily, have to admit this prank is pretty hilarious.”, James Potter grins his typical there-is-nothing-in-my-brain smirk.

Lily’s frown deepens. “You really do have an ego the size of the great lake”, she shoots the insult his way, giving it her most disapproving tone. James’ smile falters for a split second. “Yes, but he’s got a heart to match it”, Sirius quickly jumps in, winking at her. Mary lets out a fake giggle at that.

Both Sirius and Remus’ attention immediately snap to her. Sirius looks like a shark who found new prey to toy with. Remus looks about ready to murder someone. Lily wonders what that’s all about.

She doesn’t get much time to think, because in the distance she can already see another person approaching her. Severus Snape stops just a few steps away from them. Lily lets out a deep sigh. His hair is bright green and his expression suggests that he finds that everything but funny.

“Sorry, I’m just gonna…”, she excuses herself, trailing off at the end of her sentence. She gets up and walks over to Severus. Her friends shoot her confused looks, following her line of sight.

She reaches Severus and stops before him, lifting a questioning eyebrow. “What now you’re hanging out with them? There I thought you had standards for the company that you keep”, Severus wastes no time, snarling in the direction she came from. Lily knows that this conversation is about to become ugly really fast now.

Lately Severus and her have been fighting almost every time they talk. They disagree about too many things and not just little things, they have formed completely different moral opinions. It breaks Lily’s heart since he’s the first friend she ever had beside her sister and now they’re both as good as gone.

“What is it, Sev? You came here to criticize me again? And by the way I’m not hanging out with them. They just joined us and were about to leave”, Lily stands her ground, her hands balled into fists at her side. “You’re not really this dense are you. Potter is not going to give up until you agree to a date with him. Then he’s finally going to admit that it was a joke all along and break your heart. He does have a strange sense of humor. Don’t you agree? I mean look at my hair”, Severus rants off, each word piercing straight through Lily’s heart.

“Oh, so you think it’s impossible to want to date me, do you now?”, Lily quipped her hair starting to look like a halo of fire around her angry, equally red face.

“That’s not at all what I’m saying and you know that. You’re too good for a guy like him. You deserve something better”, Severus quickly back-paddles, trying to take his words back. “Something better? Like who? You?”, Lily scoffs disbelieving.

Severus’ whole face turns red, but he clearly tries to stay calm. “Lily,”, he starts, his voice now soft, “this has been coming for so long now. You must know how I feel about you. How I’ve felt since the first time we’ve met. Let’s just face what has always been between us. Lily Evans, come be with me.”

Lily can’t quite believe what she’s hearing. She’s starting to feel a little manic, about ready to start laughing hysterically. It takes her a few breaths until she has steadied herself. “You can’t mean that. This is insane, Severus. We haven’t even been friends for weeks now. All we’re doing lately is fighting. And now you want us to do what? Go around Hogsmeade hand in hand? No, I’m not going to be with you.”, each of her words is a carefully chosen weapon.

A million emotions flick through Severus’ expression, hurt, anger and betrayal until it finally turns to stone. “Here I thought you were different and smarter than the rest. I guess I was wrong. You are just a naive, dumb mudblood”, Severus spits the word with such venom in his voice, it knocks the breath out of Lily.

She can feel hot tears forming in her eyes, threatening to spill over and this pathetic wobble in her chin. Everything turns into a blur of tears, snot and arms hugging around her. The first thing she registers is James Potter’s annoying voice.

“I’ve lost so many bets, because your hair turned green. I was so convinced you never washed it”, James mocks him, his eyes filled with anger. “I mean the fact that you shower is surprising to everyone with a functioning nose”, Sirius joins in.

Severus doesn’t even respond before drawing out his wand. James, Sirius and Remus quickly draw out their wands, positioning themselves between him and Lily. Lily is still shaking in Mary’s arms, unable to step in. At the moment she isn’t even sure she wants to.

“Three against one? Not a very smart fight to pick”, Sirius snaps at Severus. “Stupefy”, Severus sends the first spell. Remus quickly reacts with a shield.

The duet doesn’t last long. Severus is severely outnumbered and his spells extremely predictable. James ends the duel with a stunning spell, causing Severus to fall backwards on the grass, frozen.

“He’s such a prick. Don’t listen to anything he says”, James turns to her. Something about it sets off new anger in Lily. “What did he say to her?”, Marlene asks, confused by the whole situation. “He called her a mudblood”, Sirius gnarls out, when nobody else wants to answer. Marlene’s eyes turn wide.

“Oh, that bastard. Next time he won’t come off so easily.”, she threatens, turning to Lily with caring eyes. Lily lets herself be pulled into an embrace by her. “I don’t need you to fight my battles”, she glares in Potter’s direction.

It doesn’t come off quite as strong as she wants it to, since her face is still teary and snotty. She frees herself from Marlene’s arms and runs back up to the castle. Marlene and Mary running after her.

Back in her dorm she lays down in her bed and cries herself to sleep. Marlene and Mary take turns comforting her. She falls asleep, while getting spooned by Marlene. Her sobs softly subdue and her breathing evens out.

Rita

News travels fast at Hogwarts. By the evening everyone in the house of Slytherin has been informed about the revenge party.

The news of Lily Evans and Severus Snape’s fight also made their way back to Rita. She negotiates putting it in her news letter, but decides against it. It’s way too insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Who wants to read about some petty fight, when there’s some hot gossip about the rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Rita really hates this, but there is no avoiding it. She needs help with that new article. There has to be someone she can get to spy inside the Gryffindor tower. Someone to bring her more inside knowledge and sadly there is only one person who comes to mind.

“Gilderoy”, Rita taps his shoulder, interrupting him mid conversation. She snuck into the Ravenclaw common room in beetle form and found him chatting with some girls. He turns to her a little irritated, sending the girls his best apologetic face.

“What is it? Is your psycho girlfriend not keeping you busy?”, he hisses, once they’ve reached a secluded corner. “I’m willing to give you a chance to use your charm for something useful”, Rita proposes, keeping it vague. “And what would that be?”, Gilderoy narrows his eyes suspiciously. His expression betrays how clearly flattered he feels.

„You‘ll finally get your mention in my newspaper“, Rita tells him, pushing all the right buttons. She has him almost completely wrapped around her finger by now. „Oh, and why is that? What did I finally do right?“, he asks her unconvinced. „It‘s about what you‘re going to do. You are going to spy on the Gryffindors for me. Find out everything you can about this prank“, Rita opens up about her full plan.

Gilderoy seems to contemplate this for a while. “Why can’t you do it? In your animagi form?”, Gilderoy asks her quietly, shocking her. For a second all color drains from her face. She has never told anyone about this. In this moment her fight or flight kicks in and she fights as best as she can. “You will never tell anyone about that. This is not a question, this is a demand. You won’t tell mine and then I won’t tell your secrets. You know about how everyone only finds you amazing for successes that have never been yours or that other small thing about your interest in girls or more so the lack thereof.” Rita uses her strongest power of using other people’s secrets as a weapon against them. Gilderoy does not seem amused by that at all, gesturing at her to keep quiet with a panicked expression.

But Rita is not done yet. She will make sure her secrets won’t get out, because you can always count on her to know more about your dirty laundry, than you do about hers. “I will make people remember about Emily finding you snogging some male Hufflepuff in a broom closet. Your obliviation may have made her think it was a girl, but people will think that she could have just remembered it wrong. Or how about that time you did not save your class from Cornish pixies, but instead hid underneath a table. You want to be in my newspaper. These are your options.”, at this point Rita is talking in a frenzy, her glasses sliding further and further down her nose, her red nails clawing themselves into her skirt. Gilderoy seems pretty intimidated, having gone completely still sometime during her speech.

“Okay. I promise no one will ever know about it. Really, I swear on my life. I will spy for you no questions asked. Just please never tell anyone about any of that”, Gilderoy begs quite pathetically once he finds his voice again. Rita lets him squirm for a little longer, pretending to think about it. “You will start by getting yourself an invite to this party. Otherwise just sneak in, you will just need someone to give you the password.” Rita explains the next steps. Gilderoy just nods eagerly. “I will leave you to it, but I expect daily updates.”, Rita lets him go, giving him one last intimidating look. He gulps, fixes his hair and quickly goes back to the girls trying his best to overplay his fear with charm.

Rita leaves the Ravenclaw tower, mostly satisfied with the interaction. Sure, it’s a bit inconvenient that Gilderoy now knows her two best guarded secrets, but she is certain he won’t spill them after her clear threats.

She enters her room in a good mood, which only lasts about two seconds. Bellatrix is standing in the middle of the room, her hair completely disheveled and still green. Her eyes are wild and furious and her wand is drawn. “Who did this? I have been trying spells upon spells on my hair and searched the library high and low and nothing worked. I even went to the Hospital wing. I want to see the head of whoever did this on a stick. I want to hang it above my bed, just like auntie does with her house elves above the stairs.”, Bellatrix rants off manically.

Now some people would maybe think she was just being dramatic. Rita knew better. Bellatrx is being completely serious and will do something brutal, if she even hears as much as a whisper about who might have been behind it. “You should just stay in this dorm until the spell wears off. I’m sure it will. I’ll just tell the teachers you’re sick.”, Rita tries to calm her down.

It does not work, of course. “I will burn down all of Gryffindor tower. See who’s laughing then.”, Bellatrix makes a beeline for the door. Rita blocks her path. Bellatrix glares at her, her wand raised to her throat. “Don’t do it. They’re not worth it. You’ll just get yourself thrown out of Hogwarts.”, Rita pleads with her, unimpressed by the wand at her throat. “I don’t give a shit. There is nothing this fucking castle has to offer me anyway.” Bellatrix spits out.

The thing is Rita couldn’t care less about the Gryffindors. They could all die a brutal death and she would not bat an eye. It’s just the fear of Bellatrix getting suspendend. “Acting in a fury is always a dumb decision. You are smarter than dumb decisions.”, Rita tells her, hoping she said the right thing and not something to get herself killed. Slowly Bellatrix lowers her wand. She lets out a frustrated growl.

In hindsight Rita can not remember who moved first, but somehow they ended up tangled together in her bed. They start losing more and more clothes and Bellatrix looks absolutely beautiful all riled up. Something dawns on Rita. The idea of losing Bellatrix made her sick to her stomach. There was only one logical explanation to why that could be.

Rita Skeeter is in love with Bellatrix Black. No less a married Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix would laugh in her face. Love does not exist in her world, obsession maybe or convenient acquaintances. Rita knows it’s silly, but she would love to just keep Bellatrix out of trouble for the rest of her life. She wouldn’t even have to know about her feelings. Rita will stay as long as Bellatrix lets her.

Chapter Text

Remus

Remus hadn‘t slept at all last night. After James, Peter, Sirius and him snuck out to Hogsmeade in the evening, he just couldn‘t go back to sleep. Thoughts of stormy grey eyes kept him up all night. He tried distracting himself with a book, when he was sure he would not fall back to sleep. Nothing worked.

Sirius was giving him a whiplash with his mood swings. First he acted like a total dick the first weeks after summer. Then he became all sweet and cheery, giving him compliments and voluntarily hanging out at the library with him. And now Sirius is kind of manically cheery.

He struts through the halls with the biggest grin on his face. Telling everyone who wants to or not wants to hear it, about the Gryffindor party. It‘s clear that he is trying to overcompensate with this behavior, but judging from James’ concern he hasn‘t talked to anyone about it yet.

Today is the day of the party and Sirius had been basically jumping up and down with excitement for the whole day now. They were busy doing the touch ups in the common room. Setting up bottles of fire whiskey and butterbeer for the younger kids.

Lily had been furious when she found out about the party. She hadn‘t really left her room after the fight with Severus, so she only received the news a day ago. She screamed at Remus, how he, as a perfect, could endorse such behavior. Remus truly feared for his life at that moment.

James jumping in did not help the situation at all, but at least she redirected her murderous glance at him not Remus. In the end Remus was able to calm her down, after Sirius made everything even worse with his big mouth.

Now Lily promised them not to inform McGonagall as long as they made sure no one under fourth grade joined the party. Remus had no idea how they planned on keeping that promise. Then again he seriously doubted Lily checking that, because as much as she refused to admit it, she loved to get shitfaced at parties.

An obnoxiously loud clap startles Remus out of his thoughts. „Now, lads, this party is going to be absolutely amazing. I can feel it in my bones“, Sirius tells them exaggeratedly.

„Can you also feel, if maybe one of my moves on Lily will finally work?“, James asks hopefully. „I‘m no seer, but you‘re James Potter and you can charm anyone.“, Sirius gives back, ruffling James hair. James looks at him disapprovingly, trying to fix his hair. It somehow comes out even messier than before.

„Let‘s get this thing started. Peter turn on the music. Time to get these people out of their dorms“, Sirius orders, already making his way to the drinks table. James shouts an over the top „Wohoo!“ and joins Sirius.

After Peter turns on the music the room slowly starts to fill. People from all houses come in through the portrait hole and the Gryffindors come out of their dorms. Remus decides he needs to get pleasantly drunk tonight, to get through this.

A little while later or maybe a few hours, it‘s hard for Remus to tell right now, he is standing in a corner of the room quietly observing his surroundings. The common room is absolutely packed with people. Nobody is sober anymore at this point of the night.

Worst of all is Sirius. He is standing on top of a table dancing to Bohemian Rhapsody with Marlene. He had been doing it for a few songs now. At first with James, but James got exhausted at some point and went to find Lily. When they heard the first notes of Queen, Sirius and Marlene completely lost their minds.

It‘s torture for Remus. Sirius just looks so unfairly good. He is moving his hips and throwing his hair through the air and Remus could get hard just from watching him. It‘s worse than alcohol. Remus is drunk off of Sirius. He just can‘t tear his eyes away from him.

For a moment he thinks Sirius might have found him in the crowd. He sends him a wink and everything stops for Remus. After the song ends Remus needs to blink a few times to find his way back to reality.

Sirius gets down from the table and disappears in the crowd. A few seconds later he pops up in front of Remus. He takes Remus glass out of his hands, emptying it in one gulp.

„Cool show, huh?“, he asks through hooded eyes. „You should dance too and not mope around in a corner“, Sirius tells him, not waiting for a reply. It takes a moment for Remus’ brain to adjust.

„I‘m not moping.“

„Sure, you aren‘t. Now come on, dance with me.“, Sirius is tugging on his sleeve, looking up at him pleadingly. Remus just shakes his head, refusing to move. „You‘re lame. I‘m grabbing you another glass of fire whiskey. You need to get more drunk“, with that Sirius disappears in the crowd again.

Remus doubts he‘ll remember to bring him his glass, after all he seemed pretty drunk. Remus sighs. Sirius has a point, he is not nearly drunk enough. He leaves his corner starting his own search for a drink.

He finds the makeshift bar quite quickly, because he really isn’t that drunk. He is not surprised to find a hammered Lily Evans sitting on a barstool. „Remus!“, she greets him cheerily, leaning over to hug him.

She almost falls off the barstool in the process and is now more being held by Remus, than hugging him. „I‘m so glad to see you“, she slurs against his chest. He strokes her hair, gently sitting her upright again.

„I‘m happy to see you too.“, he smirks at her, amused. „I hope James doesn‘t find me again. He already asked me to go to Hogsmeade with him thrice, now. One time he actually went down on one knee“, Lily fills him in, her expression dark.

„Sounds like James“, he snorts. Lily just rolls her eyes. „Why do you hate him so much anyways?“, he asks her, knowing this answer is the most honest one he can get. „I just wish he‘d start leaving me alone. It‘s too much. I don‘t want to go out with and I told him so. I don‘t get why he won‘t stop. Is it a prank? Just why?“, she looks more distressed the longer she goes on.

Remus furrows his eyebrows. He never knew just how much this bugged Lily. He always thought she was just a little annoyed and honestly didn‘t really like her, because of this. James was so heartbroken after every rejection and Remus saw it every time. Now hearing this through Lily’s perspective he understood how it hurts the both of them. He made a mental note to talk to James.

„I‘m so sorry, Lily. I promise it‘s not a prank. James is not like that. He just really likes you and I think he doesn‘t quite know how to not show it“, Remus tries to explain. Lily is quietly sobbing now. „He doesn‘t even know me, Remus. I‘m just this obsession he has“, she says with a gloomy expression.

Remus thinks about that and he supposes she‘s right. James never took the time to get to know Lily before he dove fully into loving her. In first year he decided she was the one and since then he has been obsessed with this idea of her in his head.

Lily‘s sobs have stopped and she went quiet next to him. He turns around to her and notices that she fell asleep. The conversation with her fully sobered him up and he decides he can’t just leave her here.

„Come on, let‘s find your friends“, Remus gently shakes Lily awake. He helps her off the stool and supports her while walking. It thankfully doesn‘t take them long to find Marlene. „Help me bring her to the girls’ dorms and bring her to bed“, he orders Marlene, who immediately goes to support Lily from the other side.

Alice

The party has been going on for quite a while now and Alice is definitely drunk. Her and her friends are dancing to music and enjoying letting loose, before the seriousness of life kicks in. Nobody in their grade could ignore what was going on outside the walls of Hogwarts anymore.

It’s hard to focus on exams, when your future is so uncertain. Most of them seem to be in a quiet agreement that they would use this last year in Hogwarts to enjoy being young for one last time.

It feels good to act your age and get drunk at a party. Everything is buzzing with energy. You don’t have to think at all. In this moment Alice feels amazing and like she could do anything she set her mind to.

Her peace gets disrupted by a tap on her shoulder. At first she doesn’t even notice it or pay it much mind, but then she feels it again. She turns around a little annoyed, but startles when she sees who the hand belongs to.

“Frank?”, she stutters, a little disoriented, “What is it?”

“I was wondering, if maybe you would want to…”, he nervously rubs the back of his neck, a group of his friends cheering him on behind him.

“I was wondering, if you maybe wanted to dance with me”, he blurts out. Alice just stares at him for a few seconds, her brain short circuits. Her friends have all stopped mid movement and the whole room seems to be on pause.

It’s no secret that Frank is interested in Alice. It’s also no secret that she always rejects him. Her friends quickly jump in for her.

A chorus of “Of course, she wants to”s and “Come on, Alice. Say yes”s erupts. She can feel someone push her into Frank. She moves on autopilot, everything happening to her in slow motion.

All of a sudden she finds herself in Frank’s arms in the middle of the makeshift dancefloor. A slow song starts playing, clearly purposefully put on for this moment. She can feel everyone’s watchful eyes on her. It makes her extremely self conscious.

It’s not that Alice absolutely dislikes Frank. Quite the opposite, actually. She thinks he’s a great guy. He is attractive, good at sport, a great friend and overall a pleasant person to be with. He always treats Alice with respect and if it wasn’t for this one small thing, she could totally see herself in a relationship with him.

The thing is just that Alice’s heart is already taken. Her thoughts aren’t about kind brown eyes and the body of an athlete. They circle around sharp grey eyes and a slim feminine figure.

She hates how she left things unresolved after their last fight. She had felt so angry and betrayed, she let her mouth run and said things she shouldn’t have. It has been gnawing on her the whole time and now in her drunken state she makes up her mind. She has to find Narcissa and apologize.

She frees herself from Frank’s grip, wanting nothing more than to get away. He lets her go a bit surprised. “Everything alright? Are you feeling sick?”, he calls after her, but she doesn’t acknowledge him.

With her mission clearly set, she pushes her way through the crowd. She leaves the common room and stumbles out into the quiet, dark corridor. Someone rushes out beside her looking for her. “There you are. Hey, is everything alright? I’m sorry, if my friends were a bit too much there earlier.”, Frank moves closer to her, his eyes open and caring.

“I’m fine. It isn’t their fault and yours neither. I just had to go out for air, for a second.”, she reassures him, offering a small smile. He just hums in agreement. They stand in awkward silence for a while later. Alice looks at him expectantly, waiting for him to say something else or leave.

He seems to be thinking about something, opening his mouth to speak, but then closes it seemingly having thought better of it. “I’m gonna go back in. Find me, if you need anything”, he rushes out and all but sprint back through the portrait.

“Strange.”, Alice thinks and shrugs. Now able to think a bit better she realizes she has no clue where to go next. It’s a long shot that Narcissa would even be awake at such an hour, but then again the Slytherins are also throwing a party tonight.

Narcissa hates parties and she would always sneak away to avoid them. This is one is most likely no exception. At least Alice hopes so.

Alice is almost certain that Narcissa is hiding somewhere in the castle, probably on some hidden windowsill. The problem is just that there are about a thousand of these in Hogwarts. Still this wouldn’t stop Alice from finding Narcissa tonight. With drunken determination she starts aimlessly walking further away from the common room.

She strays through Hogwarts for what could be hours. Her legs are tired and the alcohol is slowly starting to make her tired and dizzy. The world starts spinning around her and she slides herself down a wall. The next moments are happening to her in a blur.

Someone is picking her up from the floor by her armpits. Next she feels herself getting dragged over the cold, hard Hogwarts floor. “Rude”, she thinks, close to unconsciousness. In her state she is not really able to worry about who is currently kidnapping her. Whoever it is, is currently unceremoniously dropping her against another wall.

Alice comes back to herself, when someone starts aggressively slapping her on both cheeks. “What the fuck?”, Alice murmurs properly annoyed now. “I should ask you the same question?”, the person above her scoffs.

“Cissa?” Alice could recognize that voice anywhere. “You can thank your lucky stars that it was me who found you. Are you out of your damn mind? Running around alone and drunk at night.”, Narcissa fusses over her, her hands moving frantically. Alice stops her in her tracks by catching Narcissas hands in her hands, forcing her to look at her.

“Hey, I’m fine. I was looking for you.”

“Well, you certainly found me.”

A small laugh escapes Alice’s lips at Narcissa’s cheekyness. She really can’t help herself, not when it’s been so long since they last saw each other. Maybe it’s drunken courage that makes her pull Narcissa closer and gently connect their lips.

Narcissa doesn’t immediately kiss back, but after the initial shock reciprocates hungrily. Just as fast as it started, Narcissa pulls back again. “You’re drunk”, she states matter of factly.

“Doesn’t make me want you any less.”

“We shouldn’t. You’ll wake up tomorrow morning and regret this.”

“I could never regret you.”

A tear runs down Narcissa’s cheek. Alice tracks it with her eyes, lifting her hand to wipe it away gently. Narcissa looks at her with eyes full of fondness and quiet sadness.

“Let’s get you back safely.”, with that Narcissa breaks the moment helping Alice up, by her armpits. It’s a long walk back to the Gryffindor tower. Alice falls half asleep against Narcissa’s shoulder, making it even harder to carry her.

Narcissa doesn’t speak. Once they reach the Gryffindor tower Narcissa asks her for the password, but Alice can only mumble incomprehensibly.

“Could you get Frank Longbottom?”, Narcissa asks the portrait lady urgently.

She complains a bit, but eventually gives in and does as told. Narcissa gently lays her down next to the portrait. Alice feels her kiss her forehead, before quietly running off.

The last thing Alice remembers before passing out is Frank screaming her name in concern.

Barty

Barty has never left a party without getting at least one prober snog. This one is not supposed to be any different and he already has his eyes on someone. His eyes have been set on that someone for quite a while now.

Given the circumstances a drunken make out session probably wasn’t the best approach to the situation. Then again Barty doubted that he could find a better approach. It’s not that he acted that much differently drunk than sober. He is always unhinged, that’s part of his charm.

His current position is him standing in the middle of a crowd, cheering him on to down his firewhiskey bottle in one gulp. He thrives in the chaos. Regulus and Evan are standing off to the side somewhere, sending disapproving looks his way.

He makes his way over to them with a smug smirk on his face. On his way he grabs himself another glass of liquor.

“You might want to slow down with that. Otherwise you’ll be passed out by the end of the night.”

“Aw, are you worried about me, Reggie?”

“I’m more worried about my sanity and don’t call me that.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”, Barty smirks down at him, putting one arm over his shoulder.

“He is right. This night won’t end well, if you keep drinking that way.”, Evan destroys their moment. “And who are you? My mother?”, Barty turns to him, annoyed.

He just can’t seem to leave them alone. Whenever he is with Regulus, Evan is also there. It never bothered him before, but now it was starting to get on his nerves.

“Piss off, Barty. It’s not my fault Regulus doesn’t want you in the same way.”, Evan spits at him, turning around and disappearing in the crowd. Barty is shocked for a second. He can’t believe Evan would betray him like this.

“What does he mean? About not wanting you the same way?”, Regulus asks with a small voice, next to him. Barty refuses to make eye contact, taking another sip from his glass. “Nothing, he was just talking shit.”, Barty lies through his teeth.

“I’m not stupid, Barty. What is going on with you lately? You really think it would be a smart idea for us to cross this line?”, Regulus snaps at him, forcing Barty to look at him. His eyes are dangerously calculating. “When was anything I did ever smart?”, Barty tries to joke.

Regulus just glares flatly. “Maybe it’s not smart, but I do want you. Come on Reg, be young for once. Just let loose and act your age. Think about how mad this would make our parents.”, his voice has taken on a desperate, whiny tone. Something unreadable flickers across Regulus’ expression.

Then he seems to decide “fuck it”. He takes Barty by surprise, tugging him down by his T-shirt and smashing their lips into each other. It’s not a gentle kiss. It’s messy and Barty has to bend down uncomfortably to meet Regulus at his height. Yet for Barty it’s perfect, because it’s Regulus.

Barty snakes his arms around Regulus’ shoulders, deepening their kiss. Regulus pulls back just enough to take a breath. Barty lets out a delighted laugh, full on throwing his head back.

Out of the corner of his eye he can see Evan looking at him with a hurt and betrayed expression. He catches him staring and quickly grabs Pandora by the arm, running off. Barty furrows his brows.

Regulus notices him being distracted and follows his line of sight. “What is it?”, he asks Barty confusedly. “Nothing”, is all Barty mutters in reply. “Let’s go somewhere less crowded", Barty suggests, wiggling his eyebrows. Regulus rolls his eyes, but lets himself get dragged toward their dorm room.

Peter

It’s well into the night Peter that gets startled out of his drunken haze by a tap on his shoulder. He is sitting on one of the armchairs, pushed away to make room for a dancefloor. He is quietly enjoying the party, nursing a drink in his hand.

At the disruption he whips his head around, feeling dizzy for a moment. “Hey, Peter. It’s me Pandora. We came to join your party”, Pandora smiles down at him happily. “Pandora! S’ great you’re here.”, Peter slurs out, getting up to hug her. She gladly reciprocates, not flinching at how Peter is leaning into her almost knocking them over. “This is my brother Evan. I brought him and Dor​cas with me. Dorcas has already disappeared somewhere”, Pandora introduces them to each other, pointing to the boy standing next to her.

“A friend of Pandora is a friend of mine”, Peter lets himself fall into Evans arms. Evan catches him with a bemused. “Whoopsie.” Peters ears turn a bit read and he sits back down flustered.

“Pandora would you be so kind and get him a glass of water?”, Evan asks of his sister, not taking his eyes of Peter. “Could you scoop over?”, Evan nods his head in the direction of the armchair. Peter gulps, but follows his request.

Evan sits down next to him, sitting more on the armrest than the seating surface. His thigh is squeezed against Peters, sending heat through Peters’ whole body.

“Your part of this group with James Potter?”, Evan starts the conversation casually, while they are sitting impossibly close to each other. “I guess so.”, Peter shrugs in reply.

“You’re more of a quiet one, aren’t you?”, Evan turns a challenging look on him.

“Not around my friends”, Peter replies cheekily, joining his game. A genuine smile takes over Evans face. He turns his body even more towards Peter, if that is even possible.

“I hear a lot of things about your group, but never you.”, Evan scans over his face, looking for something Peter isn’t sure of. “I do my best to stay out of gossip. I only collect it about other people. I never cause it.”, he confesses with a smug smirk.

“You know any gossip about me?”, Evan asks curiously. Peter takes his time to think about that.

“Not about you specifically. More about your friends. You’re friends with Barty Crouch and the younger Black, right?” ​

Something dark flickers across Evans’ expression for a second, then he collects himself again. “I guess we have that in common.”, he grits out smiling tightly. “I guess we do”, Peter agrees lamely. “Want to talk somewhere quieter?”, Evan gets up, offering Peter a hand.

They disappear upstairs, Evan letting Peter lead him. They completely forget about Pandora looking for them. Peter leads Evan to his dorm immediately falling into his bed. The alcohol is making him really tired now.

Evan laughs at him, not unkindly just amused and cautiously sits down on the corner of the bed. “Hey, you wouldn’t mind if I slept here tonight, would you? You’re friends won’t get weirded out or anything.”, Evan asks, unsure of himself. Peter is already halfway asleep. “S’fine. They won’t mind”, he pats the space next to him.

Evan hesitates for a second before carefully lying down next to Peter, making sure they don’t touch at all. Peter lets out a yawn, turns to lay on his stomach and drifts off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Peter

Peter wakes up the next morning to a shrill scream. A headache is already pounding behind in his eyes. He rubs his eyes open, blinking disoriented. “What the fuck, Pete?”, a hysteric sounding James takes a stunned step away from his bed. Peter just looks at him confused, trying to find the reason for his outburst.

It doesn’t take him long, because said reason jumps out of the bed like it burned him. Peter’s face turns bright red and he groans into his pillow. “What is going on here?”, Sirius’s voice interferes with the scene. His eyes grow to the size of tea plates.

“I was just asking Pete that”, James eyes narrow on Pete. Sirius’s eyes switch confusedly between Evan and him as if trying to solve a particularly hard puzzle. “I can explain”, Peter holds his arms up in surrender. “You better”, Sirius hisses at him, putting his hands on his hips.

“Nothing happened. He helped me get up here, because I had a little too much to drink and then we kind of fell asleep”, Peter tries to explain himself. “Who even is he?”, Sirius asks judgementally.

“What the bloody hell is Pandora’s brother doing in our dorm?”, Remus seems to have also woken up by now. All attention once again redirects itself to Evan. A blush creeps up Evans neck at the attention.

“I slept here…Just not in a weird way or whatever. Me and my roommates are like fighting right now and I didn’t really want to stay with them”, Evan, who has stayed silent throughout the conversation so far, now also decides to explain himself.

James and Sirius still seem a bit unconvinced. An awkward silence settles over the five, until Evan clears his throat. “I should better go”, he mutters already halfway out the door.

“Wait, it’s fine. You can eat breakfast with us, if you’d like to”, Peter offers him, looking at his friends for confirmation. Remus gives an off handed shrug. “I shouldn’t. I think that would just worsen the fight, sorry.”, with that Evan disappears through the door.

“Isn’t he roommates with my brother?”, Sirius mutters with a small voice. “Pretty sure he is. Yeah.”, is all he gets from Peter. “They’re fighting…”, Sirius trails off. His eyes have taken on a thoughtful expression.

James’s attention switches over to him and something unreadable crosses his face. Peter follows the exchange with a furrowed brow. He sends a questioning look Remus’s way, who just shrugs cluelessly. He decides to let it go for now and get a few more hours of sleep.

James

James is still a bit confused about a random Slytherin waking up in Peter’s bed, but he supposes that’s what you get, when you leave him drunk and unsupervised. Besides James has way bigger concerns right now.

Sirius is still acting weird and James has no clue what is going on with him. He won’t talk to any of them. The situation is also worsening again, since the full moon is around the corner. Remus has gotten more moody again and James feels like they are back to square one.

Remus and Sirius are constantly bitching at each other. Sirius still tries to keep up his over the top confident act. Remus then calls him out on it and a new fight begins. It’s extremely exhausting.

At the same time Sirius has been crying himself to sleep more lately. James can hear the sniffling from his bed. He doesn’t mention it, but when he notices it happening for the fifth time in a row, he decides it’s time to speak up.

They have all previously drawn their curtains closed and said their good nights. James waits for the room to go quiet, before rolling over to sleep. The room doesn’t go quiet. A few moments after Pete’s snoring can be heard another noise fills the night.

Sirius’ quiet sobs break the silence of the room. James can’t stand it anymore. He wants to help. He needs to help, otherwise his brain won’t shut up and he’ll feel like a terrible friend.

He grasps for his wand and glasses on the nightstand. Then he casts a small lumos and opens his curtains. He lets his feet fall slowly to the ground, being cautious to not make a lot of noise. He tiptoes over to Sirius’s bed. He whispers:”Sirius? It’s me, James. Can I open the curtain?”

He can hear a surprised hiccup and the sobs stopping for a second. Then he hears the sniffle of a nose, before a tentative hand brushes the curtains to the side. The curtain opens just enough for James to quickly slip inside.

James sits down next to Sirius, trying to give him some space. Sirius is trying to collect himself and calm down next to him. James doesn’t ask. A few moments pass in strained silence.

All of a sudden Sirius moves and buries his head in the crook of James’ shoulder. James sneaks his arms around him, holding him tight. Sirius shakes silently against his shoulder for a little while. Afterwards he sits up straight again and stubbornly rubs the tears from his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, James”, he apologizes quietly. James is taken aback for a moment. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for. You are allowed to cry whenever you feel like it. It’s no trouble for me to comfort you.”, James reassures him honestly.

Sirius scoffs. “It’s not that. I am acting like an asshole and I know it. I’m screwing everything up, especially with Moony. But James, I feel terrible about it”, Sirius eyes once again water at this confession. James is unsure what to say to that. He can’t speak for Remus and also he feels like there is something underneath that he’s still hiding.

“You’re not screwing everything up. A fight is nothing, a good friendship can’t survive. I’m sure, if you apologize and talk to Remus everything will sort itself out”, he chooses to say, not sure about what would comfort Sirius the most right now. Sirius hums thoughtfully.

His eyes glass over for a moment. James lets him think. He won’t pressure him to talk, because the moment feels far too fragile. “It’s not just about Remus. I know Remus and I have a chance at making up. There is something else I feel I’ve already ruined.”, Sirius starts carefully, avoiding eye contact.

James is unsure how to react. He just lets the silence stretch on as a quiet invitation for Sirius to go on. “My brother hates me”, Sirius states slowly, but surely. This is new. Sirius doesn’t talk much about his brother.

He used to. Before Regulus came to Hogwarts, he was all he talked about. James honestly couldn’t wait to meet Sirius’ amazing, intelligent and kind little brother. Then he got sorted into Slytherin. James never spoke to him and Sirius never spoke of him again. James could feel that Sirius regrets it. His initial reaction to the sorting is something the brothers never came past.

It’s safe to say James knows very little about Sirius’ brother now. He only knows him through childhood stories told by Sirius. That’s why he can’t find a fitting response to that answer. Most people would just soothe Sirius now and tell him “No, of course he doesn’t”. The thing is James doesn’t know that and his and Sirius communication relies on strict no bullshit policies.

Sirius seems to sense James unease and finally turns around to face him again. A quiet sadness fills his red swollen eyes. “I took it too far this summer. I just can’t stand it, acting like Mother’s little puppet. It makes me sick. And he does it so perfectly. He is Mother’s little prince and I’m just the disappointment. I acted out too much and we both faced punishments. She took the worst out on me, as always, but I can’t go back there next summer. I told him I need to leave. I practically begged him to promise me he’ll come with me. He just wouldn’t promise.”

Walburga Black truly brings out the worst of James. Hatred is a strong word, but it’s the only word that fits his feelings towards her. James has never met the woman, luckily, because if he did he’d probably start a fight.

Right now he can feel that deep hatred building up again. With Sirius sitting in front of him still shaky and looking absolutely terrified, he truly wants to do unspeakable things to her. James carefully reaches out towards Sirius. He rubs his shoulder soothingly and thinks of the right response.

“He has to understand that this house is killing you. It’s not your fault Sirius. You can still fix it. Nothing is screwed up, yet. Why don’t you tell me what she did, that is haunting you in your sleep?”, James looks into his eyes through his round glasses.

Sirius slowly moves away from his touch, never breaking eye contact. James sends him an encouraging smile. Eventually Sirius breaks eye contact and turns around, lifting his shirt up. James sucks in a harsh breath at the sight of Sirius back. It is littered with scars and scratches.

“Did she…”, James trails off, afraid of ending the question. He starts again. “Did she use an unforgivable on you?” Sirius nods looking down at his fidgeting hands.

“We have to tell someone. That is illegal.”

At this Sirius looks up alarmed. He shakes his head frantically. “Did you at least visit Poppy?”, James asks. Sirius once again shakes his head. His gaze returns to his hands.

“We will go to Poppy first thing tomorrow”, Sirius tries to protest, but James shushes him. “No discussion. A professional needs to look at this.”

Sirius looks like he’s about to protest again, but then he lets out a big yawn. James smiles warmly and takes him in his arms caringly. “Let’s try to sleep,mh?” Sirius just nods already drifting away.

“One last thing. We need to tell Remus before this full moon.”, Sirius mumbles almost asleep now. James nods thoughtfully and then remembers Sirius’s eyes are closed. “We will”, he assures him, laying down next to him.

Remus

The full moon is fast approaching and Remus’ whole body hurts. Everything is aching. Each time he moves all of his muscles cramp and his mood is at an all time low. He feels like he’s trapped in the body of an eighty year old grandpa.

Sirius’ constant mood swings also don’t help with lightening his mood at all. First they are bitching and snapping at each other every time they are in close proximity to each other. Now all of a sudden Sirius is acting like his goddamn care taker all sweet and caring.

Every time Remus tries to get somewhere and starts limping, Sirius jumps up to help him. Just like right now. Remus has been sitting in an armchair in the common room, reading his book. Then he decided it’s time to do his homework and got up.

Now he’s standing up and stretching out his burning muscles. He starts limping towards the stairs up to the boys dorm, when Sirius appears beside him offering him his arm. “I don’t need your help. I’m fine”, Remus snaps at him. He slaps his arm away and walks up the stairs alone.

About halfway through his knee starts to cramp and he crumbles into himself. Immediately Sirius is at his side helping him up the rest of the way. Remus isn’t strong enough to fight him right now.

Up in the dorm Remus collapses onto the nearest bed. He curses under his breath. He hates feeling this helpless and vulnerable. Sirius sits down on the bed opposite to him, watching him with wide eyes.

“The fuck is up with you?”, Remus growls at him. Sirius fiddles with the hem of his jumper. “We should talk”, he settles on saying in a calm voice. Remus narrows his eyes.

“What do we have to talk about?”

“I wanted to apologize. I know I’m acting like a right cunt, but I had a really terrible summer. I know it doesn’t excuse anything. It’s horrible of me to take it out on you. You don’t deserve it. It’s not fair”, Sirius avoids his eyes, instead choosing to look down at his hands.

Remus takes a moment to process this. He honestly didn’t expect an apology from Sirius. It’s not the first time he’s been taking his anger out on others and normally he just pretends it never happened, once he calmed down. Remus felt strangely special for receiving a sincere apology.

“You’re right. It wasn’t fair”, Remus tells him sternly. Sirius lifts his eyes looking at him. His eyes glisten like tears are about to spill over. Remus takes a deep breath. “You’re forgiven. Just act normal again. Not this scarily kind Sirius and not the asshole Sirius. Just be the real Sirius again. I like that bloke way more than all of your performances.”

Sirius eyes light up and a smug smirk overtakes his face. “Well, if you like him so much, I suppose I’m going to be the real Sirius from now on”, Sirius comes over to Remus’ bed tackling him in a hug. Remus lets out a low “Mhmph”. Sirius pushes himself away from Remus. “Sorry. I don’t want to hurt you”, he smiles sheepishly.

Remus rolls his eyes, but pulls Sirius closer again. “I have a surprise for you, but we have to wait for James and Peter first. Then I can show you.”, Sirius murmurs against Remus’ jumper. He gets up a bit to be able to see Remus. A bright smile is stretching over his face, which is only mere centimeters from Remus.

Remus cheeks turn pink at their proximity. It makes it hard for him to concentrate. He just offers Sirius an unsure smile, not able to come up with a response. It seems to satisfy Sirius and he rolls off from on top of Remus. He helps Remus in a sitting position. “So what did you come up here for?”, he asks and opens a new topic.

Remus has to think about it for a moment. He has already forgotten why he initially abandoned his book. “I still need to write my transfiguration essay. I wanted to start on that”, Remus remembers out loud. “Boring”, Sirius boos him, but gets up to collect Remus quill and parchment.

They study in silence for a while. Sirius manages to stay quiet for a surprisingly long time. Remus appreciates the distraction studying brings him. It doesn’t allow him to dwell on his pain or focus too much on the way Sirius and him have been so close just mere moments ago.

Chaos enters their dorm in the form of James Potter. He storms in laughing with his hair impossibly more disheveled. Peter follows in after him, grinning cheekily. “Then I told Muliciber it’s embarrassing how he follows after Rabastan like a trained bulldog, because it is. Anyways he didn’t find it funny and sent a hex my way. Luckily I could escape through a secret passage and still got to see his red, bulky face”, Peter finishes up his story, making James fold over in laughter.

Peter grins smugly and makes his way to his bed. That’s when he notices the other people in the room. “Oh, hey guys. Didn’t mean to disturb you.”, Peter acknowledges them. “Nah it’s fine you’re coming just at the right time. I told Remus we have a surprise for him​”, Sirius jumps up. He sends both Peter and James meaningful looks.

James is still wiping tears from his eyes, but quickly sobers up at Sirius’s announcement. They have one of their silent conversations with their eyes, which Remus stopped trying to decipher years ago. Peter seems a tad confused for a moment, but then sends Sirius a questioning look. Sirius answers with a stern nod, which Peter follows up by sending a questioning look at James. James sighs and shrugs seemingly reluctantly conforming whatever they’re planning.

Remus sits up straight on the edge of his edge. He senses something important happening. Sirius takes a few steps forward towards him. James and Peter stay behind Sirius by an armlength, fiddling nervously.

“We know that right now there is a full moon coming up and we know how hard that is for you”, Sirius starts measuredly, “We think we might have found a way to make it more bearable for you.” Remus raises a questioning eyebrow at that. Sirius takes it as a signal to go on. “At least to make the full moon more bearable”, Sirius continues on.

Remus grows even more suspicious of whatever they have been doing behind his back. “And what is it that you have thought of?”, Remus asks unconvinced. Sirius looks nervously at the others for help. They seem just as clueless. Sirius mutter “Let’s just get this over with”. Then at full volume he adds, “You have to promise not to freak out.”

Sirius looks at him earnestly and holds up his pinky. If Remus weren’t so confused, he would’ve laughed at Sirius for wanting to pinky swear. Instead he hooks his pinky around Sirius shaking one saying “Promise.”. Sirius takes a deep breath and turns around the others, sending them a mute signal.

Remus lets out a small yelp, when in the place of his friends three animals appear. A black dog, a tiny rat and huge fucking stag fill their places. “Merlin’s balls”, Remus curses, calming down from the shock. His friends quickly retransition.

“We read about everything we could find on the topic of werewolves. There is not much you can do about the condition. An interesting fact we did find out is that werewolves can form packs with other animals and are less likely to harm them. Since we know your scars stem from you scratching yourself due to a lack of space and outlet, we figured we could take you outside the shed as animals”, Sirius explains their plan to Remus.

Tears dwell up in Remus’ eyes. No one has ever done something so nice for him. “You became animagi for me?”

"Illegal animagi. We’re not registered. Nobody can know about this.”, James corrects him, looking at him urgently. “I won’t tell. I swear. But you shouldn’t have done this. This is incredibly dangerous and reckless and risky.”, Remus insists. There is no way he can accept a gift this grand, if it comes with the risk of losing his friends.

Sirius just shrugs sheepishly. “Anything for our Moony.” This statement actually makes Remus’ heart stop. Something in his brain completely rewires and he is unable to come up with any arguments.

“I don’t know how I could ever thank you for this”, Remus tells them honestly. “You don’t have to. We did it because we are your friends and this is what friends do for each other”, James looks at him seriously. Peter nods affirmatively.

The next full moon comes and everything is going as planned. Madam Pomfrey takes Remus down to the Shrieking Shack. Peter sneaks in after them in his rat form and when the coast is clear he sends James and Sirius in. They hide under the cloak of invisibility during Remus’ transition.

Remus protested a lot against this plan, but against all odds it works. James and Sirius turn into their animagus shortly before the transition ends and no one gets hurt. Obviously Remus really can’t remember much of the night, since his brain as a werewolf works differently.

He wakes up shaking and naked in the shack in the morning. He feels incredibly exposed. His friends were never meant to see this version of him. This little furry problem as Sirius has chosen to call it, is probably his biggest insecurity. Everything about it is ugly. He feels dirty and wrong after each full moon.

It takes him great effort to stand up and face his friends. They promised him to leave directly after he transitioned back. Immediately a sense of danger dreads over Remus. Something must’ve happened.

Instead of finding terror or fear in his friends eyes, they were smiling and awkwardly averting their eyes from his naked form. “Here take this”, James passes him a pajama over. “Thanks”, Remus nods awkwardly and puts it on immediately.

They stand in front of each other a bit unsure for a second, until Sirius breaks the silence. “That was awesome. Seriously magical. Moony seemed to have a great time”, Sirius recalls with the biggest smile on his face. Remus must admit he hasn’t felt this little pain after a full moon for a long time.

“Guys, I think it’s best that we go now. Madam Pomfrey will be back any minute now”, Peter shifts uncomfortable from one foot to another. Sirius’ smile shifts to a pout. “We’ll visit you in the infirmary later”, he shouts a last promise at him, while James drags him out. Remus can’t help the small smile that curls over his lips.