LUMINESCENCE

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

  They’re all sitting in an attempt of a circle. There were far too many teenagers to actually fit the said circle, so the majority of them were hanging around, careful to stay close enough so the teachers could be heard.

  Sirius was, naturally, between James and Amelia. Surprisingly, Lily wasn’t glued to Lupin anymore, instead, she sat in front of Sirius, laying against his chest in between his legs. He played carefully with her flaming hair, and eyed Hooch talking with Hagrid while they all waited for the instructions.

  “It looks good on you, Pads,” Peter says from Sybill’s side.

  “Huh?”

  “My hat, twat. D’you think I wasn’t gonna notice it?”

  Oh. Yeah. 

  Peter loves using hats, and to be fair, they looked good on him. Not so much on Sirius, though. He felt his head being squeezed, and his sight wasn’t as wide as he was used to. But anything to stay away from a headache.

  “Thanks, Wormy,” he warmly smiles at his friend.

  “D’you want to keep it?”

  “I’m not sure if Sirius wants to keep a hat that says ‘It’s my duty to eat that booty’,” she recalls the enormous red sentence on the white and brown hat, laughing as the words leave her mouth. Sirius goes along, throwing his head back. Actually, he had chosen that hat exactly because of that, “but okay.”

  “It’s funny!”

  “It is,” she agrees, “Lord, I want to see McGonagall’s face reading that.”

  “She’ll love it,” James crooks his head into his friends’ direction.

  “Attention!” Hagrid shouts, ceasing the conversation within the students, “The first activity is about to start, and I want you to listen very carefully as I tell the rules! We’re going to play tug-of-war, and I'll separate you in…” he looks at McGonagall, who mouthers something at him, “5 groups. 6 per each. One of you will be responsible for watching over your classmates and see who won in each group.”

  “Does anyone want to be watching over?” Hooch asks, and James immediately jumps, raising his hand as high as he could, “Alright, Mr.Potter. Come here while we settle the groups.”

  “Prongs?!” Sirius exclaims irritably, and James shrugs, jogging towards the teachers, “He can’t leave me alone,” he mumbles to Lily.

  “He loves being in control,” she lifts her head, shining her green eyes at Sirius, “Let him have his fun.”

  Sirius isn’t sure if he is extremely lucky, or if the Gods simply hate him harshly for all the sins he has ever committed. Hooch explained the rules, and then, she was calling the students.

  His group wasn’t bad. It was him, Marlene, Lily, Simon Bucket and Kingsley Shacklebolt. He should be fine, considering he has played sports back in middle school, and Simon, Marlene and Kingsley are part of the basketball team. Besides, Lily was extremely strong and competitive when she wanted to. They should be fine.

  If the other group wasn’t better.

  Fabian and Emmeline played football together, Gideon was anger in its pure form, and Lupin had some strong arms taken by the sight of his rolled up sleeves early that morning. The only member giving him any hope was Amelia.

  Sirius was in between Lily and Simon when the game started. His hands were tightly wrapped around the rope, and he couldn’t even see the rival group because Simon Bucket was bloody tall.

  “One, two, three!” he hears James’ whistle, and then he’s pulling. Feet glued on the ground and all his muscles pressed together as he feels the rope swinging alongside their bodies.

  “Shit!” Marlene hisses, and Sirius pulls the rope even harder, leaning his body back.

  No one gives a signal of losing for the first while. All of them were giving quite a fight, and it frustrates Sirius when he moves his head to the side, and Lupin is in front. He is devilishly grinning at Shacklebolt, and his arms are flexing as he puts all of his strength on that rope — veins popping out and jaw clenched as his cheeks grow pink at the effort.

  There’s a moment where he gives a particular hard push, and Sirius and the rest of his group are being pulled forward.

  “Bloody hell,” he grunts, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds.

  “Shacklebolt’s team seems pretty shaken,” James comments.

  “Seriously, James?!” he hisses, turning his head to his best friend.

  The boy swings the whistle around his neck, and walks over to the other group.

  “C’mon, Lil!”

  “Shut the fuck up!” she yells, and Sirius obeys.

  “We’re gonna pull together in 1, 2, 3, go!” Marlene makes her voice heard, and they all collectively pull the rope towards them. He sees Lupin’s feet forcing themselves still as he involuntarily moves forward, and then he’s looking back, whispering something to Emmeline, who does the same.

  “Again!” Shacklebolt takes the lead, “One, two… three–”

  Sirius knows he should’ve pulled, but as soon as his group makes his move, Lupin’s group is doing the same. He sees him throwing his head back in a grunt, Adam's apple bobbing on his throat and sweat wetting his flushed skin. Bucket’s back hits him, and then Sirius falls against Lily’s legs. The girl shakes, letting go of the rope in a startle. With that, the other group pulls again and the lack of two members causes Shacklebolt, Bucket and Marlene to trip forward. Kingsley’s feet break the sand line dividing the two groups, and he’s letting go of the rope, too.

  “Fuck!” Marlene grunts, “What the fuck, Sirius?!”

  “I fell!” he defends himself, getting up on his feet to shake the dirt from his legs and shorts.

  James’ whistle is sounding, and the boy laughs, “Lupin’s group wins!” he announces, “Hagrid! They lost already!”

  “Thanks a lot, Prongs.”

  “I didn’t do anything, my love.”

  He’s just pleased because Shacklebolt lost, and for the first time, Sirius does not support him in that at all.

  Hagrid steps closer as Lily flexes her hands in a painful expression. Marlene pulls her shirt up to clean her sweat, while Shacklebolt shatters on the floor, arms up his head. Bucket, on the other hand, was panting with his hands on his hips, his face far too unpleasant.

  Looking at the other group, he sees Gideon throwing Lupin a bottle of water on which Lupin quickly opens, drinking all of it in fast, desperate gulps. Sirius rolls his eyes at the way Emmeline and Amelia were jumping onto each other, celebrating with Fabian smiling at them, just as tired.

  “They cheated!” Sirius accuses, pointing at Emmeline’s group, “I fell and they took advantage of it!”

  “That’s literally how the game works, Sirius,” Amelia laughs.

  “Oh, fuck off! I want to go again.”

  “It’s just a game,” Hagrid states, “losing is a natural part of life. Now, I want each of you to shake your rivals’ hand, and congratulate them for the victory.”

  “Fuck’s sake,” Sirius utters as he watches his partners walk towards the opposite group, shaking their hands. He saunters towards Emmeline, shaking her hand and muttering a ‘congrats’. The girl nods her head, and then he’s doing the same to Gideon, Fabian and Amelia.

  He didn’t want to shake Lupin’s hand. He wanted to bury him in the woods for winning once again.

  It’s like Lupin was allergic to let Sirius have one small victory, like he’s a demon sent from hell to purposely make Sirius’ life harder.

  He’s standing in front of Lupin eventually, forced smile on his face as he watches the relaxed expression of the other. He’s using the back of his hand to clean sweat off his forehead, and looks down at Sirius, gazing at his hand before hesitantly taking it.

  Lupin’s hand is warm, and big. Sirius’s thumb lays perfectly against one of his scars, and he has to control himself not to move out of curiosity on what it felt like. Instead, he gulped, opening his mouth in an attempt to congratulate him.

  “You won,” he says.

  “I did.”

  “… Congratulations, Lupin,” he fumes, plastic smile and nostrils softly gapped. He didn’t mean it and hoped Lupin was aware of that fact.

  “You gave it a good game too, Black,” his smoky tone is what makes Sirius finally detach from his hand, and turn his back almost immediately.

  “We would’ve won,” Marlene holds his shoulders when he approaches her at the bonfire, “But you fell.”

  “I lost balance, oh my God, Mckinnon, let it go!” he rushes through the words in a whimper, and takes off Peter’s hat before sliding to the floor.

  “How did it even happen?!”

  “My foot froze, okay? It happened.”

  “Let him, Marls,” Lily coughs slightly, “Does anyone have water?”

  “Ask Emme,” Marlene points at the black haired girl high-fiving Lupin.

  Great, now he wants to steal the rest of his friends.

  “Hey, Marls?” the girl looks down at him, “Is the party thing still up for tonight?”

  “Sure,” she shrugs, “But the cabins are quite small, no? Where can we even have it?”

  “My cabin. It’s me, James and Pete, so it’ll be fine.”

  “Gid and Remus…?”

  Sirius rolls his eyes at the reminder. He can get his mind around Lupin being a better student than him, maybe a better friend than him, and winning him in tug-of-war, but he could not let his presence destroy a plan that was up ever since they even got the paper for their parents to sign.

  “Who cares? We’re the majority.”

  Marlene blinks softly at him, considering. She then glances at their friends. Some still in the game, others recovering their breaths.

  “I’ll talk to Lils and Am,” she replies, “They brought snacks for us, so if they don’t want to go, we can’t do the party without them.”

  “Music or not music?”

  “Seriously, Sirius?” she crooks her head, “The keyword of a secret party is the ‘secret’.”

  “So we’ll just drink and chat?”

  “Basically. I’m sure everyone’s up for ‘Never Have I Ever’, so it’ll be fun. It’s a nice way of getting pissed and also getting good laughs out of it.”

  Sirius nods. She’s right — they didn’t need to be blasting music and dancing. Firstly because the cabin didn’t even have space for that. Secondly because he doubts the wooden walls will ever muffle the sounds.

  It’s settled then. The party was still going to happen, and neither Lupin nor Gideon could get in between that.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

  “Oh, no,” Sirius raises his hand to stop Lupin once he’s fixing the sleeping bag, “We’re gonna need the floor.”

  “What?” he blinks up at him.

  “Our friends are coming over,” he shrugs, “therefore, if we want to fit 9 people in here, we’ll need the floor.”

  “And where am I supposed to sleep?” an empty laugh leaves his throat as he stands up from his previous crouching position.

  “I don’t know. Go to Shacklebolt’s cabin or whatever.”

  “I’m sorry, are you serious?” Gideon steps in, “We need to sleep. Go party somewhere else!”

  “Of course I am. In both senses,” he smiles brightly at the boys, “We don’t have anywhere to go, or we’ll be caught.”

  “Then don’t do a fucking party,” Remus says, “You’re not the only one in this cabin, arsehole.”

  “You were not even supposed to be here, Lupin,” Sirius chuckles, leaning against the bunk bed’s ladder, “This was planned for weeks. If you’re so mad about it, go into the woods.”

  Lupin’s eyes sparkle, and he laughs in disbelief, “You’re a proper tosser, did you know that?”

  “Oh, no!” Sirius places his hand on his chest, sobbing dramatically, “Remus Lupin called me a tosser?! How am I going to keep on living? Oh my God, yes Remus, you’re so right. I’m a tosser and I will ditch my friends because you said so. I’m so sorry, Remus for ever coming against your words,” he can’t help but let a laugh escape by the hand, dropping the fake desperate expression as Lupin locks his tongue between his teeth.

  “Alright. Throw the fucking party, I’m staying on the showers, then.”

  “You’re so dramatic!”

  “Rem, don’t do that. Just… ignore them. Stay on my bed with me.”

  “Or… you can partywith us. We’re not friends, but Lily’s gonna be here, so, I guess it wouldn’t hurt for you to have fun.”

  “I don’t want to party.”

  “You’re so boring, Lupin,” he laughs again, not letting go of his grin as Remus gulps at him.

  “I’ll stay here, but I won’t party.”

  “We are pretty much settled then,” he claps, sighing happily, “I’ll get my friends, and you can work on… taking away the sleeping bag while I'm gone!”

  Neither of them reply as Sirius throws them a kiss, leaving through the door.

  Sirius Black successfully wins this time. 

 Get ready for the comeback, Lupin. He thinks to himself. You can’t win forever.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

  When Sirius got back with the rest of the group, Remus was sitting against the window, nose buried in a book while Gideon had his eyes closed, laying on his bed with headphones on.

  “Rem!” Lily walks towards him in a bright smile, and Sirius feels his stomach twist — why is everything always about him?! 

  “Hey, Lils.”

  “What are you reading?” she crouches in front of him, hands on his knees.

  The boy shrugs, “I don’t even know, to be honest. This book is pretty boring, actually,” he laughs softly, closing the book.

  “I’m sorry that we’re bothering you,” she seems sincere.

  “That’s okay,” he, on the other hand, does not.

  “Maybe you can join us? We’ll be playing ‘Never Have I Ever’,” she suggests.

  Sirius knows he’s staring, body frozen still within his chatting, excited friends. James took the alcohol out of Sirius’ bag, while Fabian sat on the bed, talking to his brother. He should’ve been helping James, and getting them all to sit in a circle, instead, he was blinking at Lupin and Lily on the other side of the room.

  “I don’t feel like getting pissed.”

  “You don’t have to. It’d be fun if you were just there. Same to Gid.” There’s a sigh of consideration, “C’mon, Rem. You’ll have fun.” He can’t hear his answer, because Lupin is whispering it against Lily’s ear, and she giggles, “Oh, don’t you worry,” she looks over her shoulder, locking eyes with Sirius and the rest of her friends. When she’s back at Lupin, he can’t hear her anymore either.

  He rolls his eyes, giving up on watching them. He can’t help but feel jealous that they have secrets between them. Did she know that Lupin didn’t like her friends? Was she okay with it? 

  No, Lily wouldn’t be. Ever.

  Unless she loved Lupin more than she loved them, which would be the biggest heartbreak of Sirius’ life. He couldn’t even imagine that.

  “Okay, lads, and girls,” James pointed at the women in the cabin, “We’ll start the game. Everyone sitting down,” he slaps his hands together, “Chop chop! Go on!”

  “Gid will play with us,” Fabian warns.

  “Brilliant. I know you wouldn’t disappoint me, Gid,” James shines a smile at the boy.

  Sirius looks back at Lupin and Lily, waiting for any of them to announce his presence in the game. As neither of them speak, Sirius allows himself to ask, “You’re in, Lupin?”

  “Not drinking,” he states, “But fine. If you can’t beat them, join them.”

  There’s a smirk growing on Sirius’ lips, as he softly nods at Lupin, “That’s the spirit, clever boy,” he then says, pressing his tongue on top of his mouth.

  Lupin licks his lips, looking away immediately.

  The game starts smoothly. The questions are soft, like ‘Never have I ever lied to my parents’ or ‘Never have I ever kissed someone’, but then, things start spicing up as alcohol runs up to their brains.

  “Mmm,” Marlene smirks, looking around at the group. Supposedly, they were supposed to be sitting in a circle, but instead, there was Lupin on Gideon’s bed, elbow against his knee; Sybill and Peter on James’ bed, and Gideon leaning on the window, “Never have I ever… done anal.”

  “Oh shit,” Emmeline giggles, while the group is filled with laughter.

  Fabian rolls his eyes, snapping the vodka bottle from Sirius’ hand to take a gulp, and then, they’re all chuckling.

  Sirius covers his mouth with his hand, belly hurting from laughing so hard, “You’re kidding?!”

  “How did we not know this?!” Peter argues, excitedly.

  “Who?!” James asks, and Fabian squints at him.

  “I’d rather die.”

  “No, now you’re gonna tell us!”

  “Never. C’mon, who else is drinking?”

  Lily taps his leg, and stretches her hand in an embarrassed smile.

  “Lilith Evans!” Amelia exclaims.

  “I was dating John, alright? He was into that stuff. I hated it, though,” she explains, taking a sip of the drink.

  There’s a soft raise of hands, and then they’re looking at Lupin. Before they could laugh, he’s cutting in, “Does being in someone’s arse count as ‘doing anal’?”

  “Obviously, dummy,” Lily laughs.

  Sirius’ eyes linger on Remus. Oh.

  “Okay, then that’s it. Pretend I’m drinking.”

  “Wait,” Sybill laughs quietly, “man or woman?”

  “I reckon that’s none of your business.”

  “Shush, Lupin. That’s my girlfriend you’re talking to.” Lupin raises his hand in redemption, “No one else is going to drink up?” he asks, and when no one moves, he’s talking again, “Never have I ever done it with a bloke.”

  There’s the usual protective, teasing smile Peter gets whenever he’s defending Sybill from something, even when she’s totally capable of doing that herself.

  Lily, Amelia and Sybill share the bottle, before Fabian is drinking it again.

  “Oh my God, Fab! Please, who did you fuck?!” Sirius practically begs.

  “Crouch,” he lets out, and gasps fill the cabin, “It was Crouch. We were pissed and he was all over me. That’s it.”

  “Barty Crouch Junior?!” Emmeline searchers for the confirmation.

  When he nods, Sirius waits for anyone else to grab the bottle, and, naturally, he’s gazing at Lupin. The boy shifts uncomfortably in the bed, sitting in a better position. 

  “Hey, Lils,” he calls, and the girl hums at him, “Pass me the bottle.”

  “Are you gonna drink?” 

  “Yeah, just this time.”

  “So is that your answer, Lupin?” James grins at him, “You play for the other team?”

  Lupin doesn’t reply, instead, he glues the bottle to his lips, taking one, two, three, four, five gulps, and gasps, grimacing at the taste before returning it to Lily.

  “Alright,” Sirius smiles softly, “Never have I ever… mm let me think…” he looks at Lupin again. He’s staring at the wall in front of him, like he wasn’t even part of the game, “Never have I ever kissed a friend’s ex.”

  He locks eyes with Marlene, who’s shaking her head softly before taking a gulp.

  “What?! Who?” Amelia kicks the girl's leg.

  “Me,” Lily shrugs.

  “We– we were together in secret for like a month or two last year.”

  “And when were you thinking of telling us?” Fabian argues.

  “We told James, he didn’t care. That’s all that matters. It didn’t last anyway.”

  “I feel as betrayed as Sirius did in the bus,” Emmeline says, dramatically.

  “What happened on the bus?” Lily asks, softly.

  Sirius blinks, and wides his eyes at Emmeline. He opens and closes his mouth, trying to get any sound of it. 

  “Nothing. Just a… silly thing that James did. Don’t even remember now.”

  Coward.

  He was a coward. That’s what he was. It didn’t harm anyone to be jealous that your best friend is trading for someone she met a year ago — it was normal; so why was he so scared of saying it in front of both Lily and Lupin?

  “Never have I ever sent a nude,” James saves him smoothly, because then, they’re all too focused on Peter, Sybill and Marlene drinking and their stories to even care about what happened in the bus.

  The sex-related questions kept going for a while, and Sirius tried not to notice how Gideon was dead silent all the time, not taking one little sip from the bottle. Maybe he didn’t feel comfortable sharing his personal life, or maybe he was just a virgin. But that’d be fine, he could be at least interacting with the group — except he looks more annoyed than ever.

  “Rem, you didn’t ask anything yet,” Lily points out, crawling to his feet, “C’mon, shoot us something.”

  “I– I’m not good with questions.”

  “I have one,” Gideon finally opens his mouth. All his eyes on his, “Never have I ever been an absolute arsehole to someone without any apparent reason, because you’ve never spoken in your entire life. Yet, you feel like you have any right to treat them poorly, simply because in your head you’re better than anyone else in this cabin.” Silence. Gideon is smiling at Lily, and then, he’s looking straight at Sirius, “The bottle is in front of you, Sirius.”

  “What?” he laughs in disbelief, weight supported by his hands.

  “Don’t be a mood breaker, Gid,” James utters.

  “It’s a fair question, I mean…”

  “Gid, what the fuck?” Lily frowns at him, “What was that for?”

  He eyes Lupin once more. The boy sucking his cheeks in and looking straight at the floor. His discomfort far too apparent, because Lupin clearly struggled with his body language announcing every single thing he’s feeling.

  “Never have I ever stayed overnight in the Hospital,” Lupin says, and then raises his own hand, “Done. Lily, next question.”

  “Uh– I– Never have I ever…” she looks around, confused. Gideon was now looking out the window, and Fabian was hitting his arm. The rest of them were extremely quiet, and Sirius suddenly felt like throwing up.

  Having this much attention thrown at him didn’t feel good. He felt overwatched, sick to his stomach.

  “Never have I ever given head,” her voice was low, uninterested. Basically all of them drank up, just as quietly. Gideon kept his eyes glued on the window, and Remus didn’t even bother looking at the group — just raised his hand for short seconds, before crossing his arms.

  “Maybe it’s time for us to stop,” Sybill suggested, “It’s late, anyway.”

  “Yeah,” Sirius agrees in a smile, “Tomorrow’s a long day.”

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

  “Are you mental?” he hears Lupin’s whispers during the night. Sirius couldn’t bring himself to fall asleep, alcohol making him far too dizzy.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Gid, why would you do that?”

  “Peter and James outed you for nothing!”

  “And what does Sirius have to do with that?!” he angrily mumbles. The sleeping bag ruffles as he speaks.

  “He’s being a prick, Rem.”

  “I don’t care. He didn’t ask me anything and I answered the questions because I wanted to.”

  “But it wasn’t nice.”

  “Were you really defending me or were you just sore because you never fucked anyone?!”

  Silence.

  “Piss off, Remus,” the bed squeaks, and the room gets quiet before Sirius hears ruffling again.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

  The cafeteria is loud when they all settle themselves in the wide tables. James was in front of Sirius, eating his toast quietly. He never functions well during the morning, and Sirius could not blame him for that — especially for the considerable amount of vodka he had drank last night.

  Lily and Marlene talked within themselves, and Amelia seemed like she’d fall asleep any second, forcing her eyes open to focus on her food.

  “Hey, Sirius,” Fabian calls from James’ side, “I’m sorry for Gid.”

  “Nah,” he laughs it off, “it’s okay.”

  Fabian takes a look at him, before he’s nodding. It wasn’t okay. Gideon was right somehow, Sirius was an arsehole and he treated Lupin not so friendly. But that is only because Lupin doesn’t like him, either — he was just unable to be fake about that.

  Still, sometimes Sirius forgot that not everyone will take that smoothly. Sometimes, they’ll really hate Sirius for it, and it wouldn’t matter if Sirius wasn’t so self conscious about it. The reality, though, was that he was. He had to turn himself inside out to be better, to make people like him — Lupin took that away from him. Perhaps not intentionally, but Sirius still felt overshadowed by him. 

  And, Lupin not being his biggest fan was fine. However, Gideon turning against him was totally different.

  He had basically grown up with him. Although in different classes, he was still his best mate’s twin brother, and they still spent a lot of time together. He might be a bit mean, but Sirius never thought of him badly for it.

  He sighs, feeling more resentful towards Lupin than ever.

  “I’m actually never drinking a sip of vodka ever again,” Marlene announces, “My headache is nearly deadly.”

  “Don’t be a weak bitch,” Emmeline accuses, “You didn’t even drink that much.”

  “You know, Emme, right now I would really enjoy to swap bodies with you, just to see if you’d have the same opinion as you do now.”

  Emmeline smiles, collecting her hair in a loose ponytail, “What do you think we’re gonna do today?”

  “Hopefully not tug-of-war,” Lily mumbles, “My hands still hurt.”

  “If we do play tug-of-war, I want to be in the farthest group from Sirius,” Marlene states.

  “Oi!” he snaps his head, “I’m right here.”

  “I know.”

  He shakes his head in a roll of eyes. His food was pretty much untouched on his plate, but he kept drinking the orange juice as if that would fill him up. He never ate breakfast back at home. Always trying to stay in bed as long as possible to not bump into his family so early in the morning. By the time he was up, it was close to lunch time.

  “Mm, y’know what I wanna do?” James speaks with a mouthful, “Go hiking.”

  “Absolutely not,” Amelia replies from Emmeline’s side.

  “Why not?!”

  “I’m hungover,” she lowered her voice in hopes no one around would suspect their little hang out, “I will not be walking around the woods with a headache.”

  “I’m with Am in this one,” Marlene shrugs.

  “You’re so boring.”

  There’s footsteps, and then Sirius is lifting his head to meet Lupin’s figure. He was standing between Marlene and James. His hair was wet from showering, and he had rings on his fingers that Sirius hadn’t seen yesterday. His clothes were lighter, too — just a green t-shirt and black baggy jeans. Sirius wonders if he even has a single piece of tight clothing in his dresser.

  “Good morning,” he says.

  “Hey there,” Marlene moves her head around, smiling at him. 

  The rest of them share their greetings, and Sirius finds himself forcing a ‘hi’ out of him.

  “Lils, I was wondering if we could talk…?”

  There’s a flash of concern in her face, and she’s swallowing her food before nodding, “Of course, Rem. What’s wrong?”

  He points to the exit with his head, and Lily immediately throws her legs off the bench, following him outside.

  “That was weird,” James comments.

  “What? You think Remus would talk about whatever he wants to talk about in front of us?” Marlene arches an eyebrow.

  “Unless someone has died, I don’t see where the problem is.”

  “Just say you want the gossip,” Fabian presses his lips together, and James is nodding in agreement.

  Sirius wouldn’t deny, he was curious as well.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆