Puzzles

“SHE SAID YES!” James shouted, bursting through the dormitory doors. “SHE SAID YES! GOOD GODS SHE SAID YES!” 

Remus looked up from his book at the abrupt commotion before shutting it and sitting up on his bed. “Who said what, James?”

“Lily! Said yes!” He was giddy, practically hopping on the tips of his toes as he bent over his trunk, shuffling through his clothes.

“To what? Hexing you into oblivion?” Sirius asked, also sitting on Remus’s bed, fiddling with his guitar. 

“No! To go to the Yule Ball!” Remus and Sirius gaped at James, jaws on the floor. “But I don’t have any dress robes…”

“Wait wait wait… to clarify: Lily Evans, about yey tall, ginger hair, green eyes, and freckles? Agreed to go with you, James Potter, to the Yule Ball? No coercion involved?” Sirius asked, placing his guitar on the side of the bed. “What exactly did she say?”

James thought for a moment, pausing his ruffling through the trunk. “Well… I stood on the table of the Great Hall and shouted ‘Lily Evans, most beautiful girl in all of Hogwarts, will you go to the Yule Ball with me?’” James imitated his proclamation by standing atop his bed and shouting the same way he had done mere minutes ago. “And she said ‘Potter, I would go to the bloody moon with you if you’d get off of that table.’ So I got down, and here I am.” 

“Well, that’s not coercion,” Remus muttered. 

“Hm. A bit shaky on the details, but yeah, she definitely did agree.” Sirius smirked. “Good one, James.”

James squealed and returned to his search for dress robes, all the time whispering “Going to the Yule Ball with Evans! Going to the Yule Ball with Evans!” 

Later, once James had left the room to “plan for the Yule Ball with Evans,” Sirius and Remus found themselves perched atop Remus’s bed once more. Sirius fiddled with his guitar, playing quiet tunes while Remus leafed through a book. This had become their routine, as of late. They would wait for the other boys to leave the room, then join one another on Remus’s bed. Sirius would play about with his guitar, or snitch, or create small charms, and Remus would read or do homework. They wouldn’t talk for a while, but after several moments would slip into light conversations. 

Lately, though, these conversations have been more meaningful. The presence of one another seemed to bring out their darkest thoughts and secrets. Sirius told Remus the depths of his relationship with his family. Remus told Sirius how deeply his lycanthropy impacted him mentally. They shared broken pieces of their own lives, letting the pieces join in a makeshift puzzle of sorts, completing each other in only the way two broken people could. 

“So, James and Lily are going to the Yule Ball, huh?” Sirius murmured as he plucked the tune of Deep Purple. 

“It appears so.” Remus flipped the page of his book. “If James can get a date with Lily Evans, anything can happen.”

“I’d say it’s high time we levitated a pig,” Sirius said. He put his guitar onto his lap and moved a bit closer to Remus. “Do you have any Yule Ball plans, Moony?”

“Same as ever, going with you and Pete. Unless you have a date this time, in which case I’ll go with Pete. Or study.” He closed his book and pushed it to the side, looking up at Sirius. “Do you?”

“Do I what? Have a date?” Remus nodded. “Nothing confirmed… Although Emmaline Vance did ask me. As did Mary Macdonald. Bit of a pickle I’ve got myself in.” Sirius chuckled. 

Remus suddenly stood from the bed and walked to the door. “Go with Mary. You’ve had it in for her for years.” He opened the door and stepped through. 

“Wait, where are you going?” Sirius shouted to his back.

“Dinner. Join, if you like. Or plan out your outfit.” He slipped through the doorway and shut the door behind him. 

Sirius threw himself back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. What had he done to piss Remus off like that? I mean, he had asked! Sirius reached for his guitar once more and began plucking out another tune he was familiar with: Elton John and Kiki Dee’s Don't Go Breaking My Heart.