Well, that's Sirius for you.
The common room, which usually was filled with many of its students, now stood almost empty. As the clock had struck twelve, most of the students had already retreated to their dormitories to catch up with their friends and get settled back into their room.The room didn't lack any spirit as the walls were decorated with warm colors of red and gold. Along with a few banners here and there, with the symbol of a lion on it. One look into the room, and you could immediately recognize it as Gryffindor common room. Currently, the only two people in there had occupied the sofa in front of the fireplace while watching the fire continued to burn and give off a soft warmth.
These past few months had been the longest the two had ever gone without seeing or properly talking to each other, between Cassies' newly founded engagement and their mother obsessively planning the most significant moment of her daughter's life, as she calls it. The opportunity to sneak off to James's house hadn't presented itself.
She let her eyes wander to his face and noticed the positive changes that the Potter manor had acquired him with. His hair had grown slightly longer while the dark rings under his eyes had disappeared. His skin now had a more healthy complexion, and the twinkle in his eyes had returned. He looked happier than he had been in a long time. Sirius turned to face his sister, his grey eyes met her brown, and a soft smile was sent her way. However, he felt the knot in this stomach grow slightly more prominent than before and let out a small sigh trying to figure out a way to make this somehow easier. Before he could even open his mouth, she beat him to it.
"You don't have to say anything, I know. I know what you're thinking, and you're wrong."
"Cassie.." She shook her head, took his hand in hers, and gave it a gentle squeeze, the look she gave him was full of determination. He didn't want to bring it up. He didn't even want to think about it, but during the summer, Remus had told him that there was nothing that they could do. However, talking about it might make it easier for her. At least she would know that he supported her no matter what happened. Remus had also said that sometimes the only thing that helps is talking about it. Pretending that it never happened or that it won't happen will only make it worse.
"It would have happened sooner or later, we all know that. And trust me with this, it could have been worse." Her eyes left his face as her voice trailed off. She hadn't heard anything from Rabastan since the moment their engagement had been announced. However, it wasn't as if she had tried to contact him herself. Not that she would let her mother know about that.
She knew that just because he was a Lestrange didn't necessarily mean that he was the same as his brother, and she hoped that was the case. Though she wouldn't admit it, her mind wandered to him from time to time; she wondered what he thought about this arrangement. Did he also agree to be put in an arranged marriage to please their parents? Most likely, as it was quite usual with the pureblood families, whose goal was to keep their blood as pure as possible.
She could live with spending the rest of her life with someone who might or might not come to love or like her. But what she couldn't live with was that her older brother felt guilty and blamed himself. Most of the letters from Remus over the time he had been at the Potter manor had been about Sirius. She understood that it wasn't like he could talk to James, he was a terrible liar, and he couldn't keep a secret even if his life depended on it. Not that Remus would have had any problem, he was the one that could bullshit his way out of anything. Along with Peter, an excellent liar, those two managed to keep the group out of trouble.
Most times.
"What do you mean? It could have been worse." Her eyes meet his again as his face bore an unreadable expression. She meant that it could have been worse. However, the news that she was engaged to the brother-in-law of their crazy cousin might not sit in the best place. "It's not Snape, right? Please don't tell me it's Snape."
The words came out so abrupt that Cassie wasn't sure if she had even heard him right. Sirius took her silence as an answer and began a long rant about how in merlins' name could it have been worse. He stood up and started anxiously walking back and forth, panicking about the idea of his sister with that greasy haired git. While he was spurting out mumbles like git and never happening and save my dear sister. Cassie just sat there, not quite believing what she was hearing nor what she saw. "Wha-, are you serious right now?"
"Sirius?"
He ran his hands through his curls and continued to rant, ignoring his sister. The worst part was that he could see it, he could already envision their wedding, and honestly, Sirius had never felt the urge to burn his eyes out as severely as at that moment. Anyone... there had to be anyone else other than Snivellus, had his parents officially gone mad after he moved out?
"No... That's not.. no. Oh, Merlin, my precious darling sister and - and... that. No, just no"
"I won't allow that slimy git near my dear darling sister. I swear to you, merlin, I will give you my beloved hair if you can stop this madness."He looked up at the ceiling and pointed dramatically at it as if Merlin himself were hovering above them, amused by the dramatic sixteen-year-old boy." Merlin! I'll jump off the astronomy tower!" he exclaimed as he furiously ran his hands through his hair-
Biting her lower lip, the girl turned her head away for a moment as a grin threatened to appear; however, the sight of her brother having a dramatical outburst amused her more than she thought possible, and it wasn't long until her grin broke through and decided that it might be best, though not as fun, to put the poor boy out of his misery.
"Sirius...You do know that Snape is a half-blood, right?"
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"And then what happened?"
"Well, first of all, he hugged me for a bloody long time. Then his face turned red, and he started sprouting out that; of course, he knew that and that he was just kidding with me. Changed the conversation rather quickly if I might say so, don't think I've seen him so worked up for a while."
A burst of soft laughter filled the air in the small corner of the library. Having found a slightly hidden part of the library in their previous years, it became a usual studying spot for the group of friends as it allowed them to talk without being too worried that Madam Pince would hear them. In the center of the room stood a rather old long table that was for the moment covered in all sorts of magical books and what looked like papers that were on their way to becoming assignments. Three of the chairs surrounding the table were currently filled by three Gryffindors trying to work on their charms essay.
"Well, that's Sirius for you." James looked up from his essay for a moment and let a small smile cover his face. "When it becomes too much for him, he resorts to actions rather than words. That, and we all know he's a giant drama queen." He ran his hand through his hair, making it messier than it already was. "By the way, have any of you actually seen him?".
A thoughtful look covered Cassie's face until she shook her head slightly. "No, not since Charms class this morning."
A brief snort was heard, and the two immediately turned their gaze towards the culprit, who was trying to hide an unmistakable grin and failing miserably. "He and Pete got detentions during Transfigurations. They thought that the Slytherins would look wonderful with some new pink robes and a new hairdo along with a hat. However, professor Mcgonagall thought that it was unacceptable, though she did look a bit impressed when the hats started to sing."
His grin widened as he thought about their two friends who, at this very moment, was stuck in detention along with Filch cleaning the trophies without magic. In all secret, Remus had been the one to suggest the prank to Sirius.However, the moment the prank had gone off, he suddenly found his transfiguration book far more interesting, and after years of training, he had mastered the oh Merlin, what just happened? look. So to say that he fooled Professor McGonagall would be an understatement. Remus could sometimes be the worst of the marauders, but he was a genius with getting away with it.
This, however, was well-known within their group, which was why James was looking at the sandy-haired boy with his eyebrow raised slightly and his lips drawn up in a slight smirk. "Aha, so... Moony, might want to tell me how you managed to get out of that one?"
"Yeah... Not really"
"Thought so." Remus's face flushed as he turned his attention back to his essay. James's smirk widened, and he met the gaze of Cassie, who was smiling.
She shook her head and let out a slight chuckle before returning her focus to her homework. Or at least tried to, she had been stuck at the same part for almost a half-hour, and she knew that there was no way she would be able to continue until she could talk to Lily and get some tips. Her fingers caught the loose strands of hair that had fallen from her ponytail and pushed them behind her ear; her eyes followed her quill as it moved over a different parchment, drawing the outlines of what looked like to be a quaffle. After the quaffle was done, she moved over to the bludgers and the snitch, and so she was well on her way, drawing the quidditch pitch itself.
She liked charms, she did. But sometimes, it was as if charms didn't like her. Her strength had always been Defence Against The Dark Arts, which was slightly ironic considering her family, although she did enjoy some potion making here and there. However, at this very moment, charms didn't like her at all. It seemed to despise her, which only made her frustrated and a lot more easily distracted, what she would have given to get out of this torture.
"You guys want to go to the kitchen?" Remus asked as he closed his charms book and grabbed his quill, putting them back in their case and into his bag.
"Bloody, yes."
"Thank Merlin. I thought you'd never ask." James and Cassie moved quickly out of their seats and went straight to the library entrance. Remus had not seen the duo move that fast since the time Lily had once brought some muggle chocolate with her. A smile spread over his face; while slightly shaking his head, he took his bag and exited the hidden room.
Those two were impossible, but he wouldn't have it any other way.