Chapter 1
Sirius sighed as he squashed the butt of his cigarette under his well-made shoe, staring at the door in front of him for a moment before knocking on it.
"What was the first person I told you I had a crush on?"
"Caradoc Dearborn."
The door opened a crack, and then fully. There stood Cecilia Bowman, looking as flawless as ever with no make-up on, wearing casual trousers and one of Sirius' too-big T-shirts, with her hair done in a messy bun, giving her a shabby sort of look.
She quickly ushered him in, checking the corridor, before closing the door behind her and smiling at him. "Hey, love. Only Indian take-out today, I'm afraid."
"That's fine," Sirius smiled at his best friend as they entered further into the four-bedroom flat. There was an open kitchen on their right, and a bathroom further into the living room in the left corner. Sirius quickly went into his room - messy with not much stuff - and changed into casual clothes as well before coming out again and meeting Celia on the sofa in front of the TV, biting into a chicken tikka.
"I love this stuff," he mumbled, and she sighed. "Me too... so, how was your patrol?"
"Like a patrol," Sirius shrugged. "Boring, pointless. Stayed there a whole hour. Nothing happened. And how was your day?"
"Much the same as yours," Celia sighed. "Boring, pointless... Grabbed a tea at Marls', and then went to order this stuff... nearly completed reading my book. Now that Remus isn't here to keep me company..."
The silence hung in the air as Celia trailed off. Remus... he'd been out on special missions for Dumbledore a lot lately. Of course, they weren't informed of what it was. Confidential, and all. But they still worried.
After graduation, Sirius, Celia, Remus, James, Lily, Peter, Martha Noman, and Marlene McKinnon had all moved in together in Sirius' house that he had inherited from his late Uncle Alphard, one of the good ones of the Black family. Two weeks later, Marlene had left to move in with her girlfriend Dorcas Meadows, who had left Caradoc Dearborn and Benjy Fenwick. The next to go had been Martha and Peter, who had left for a smaller flat.
Then, after James and Lily had married and all, they lived in Godric's Hollow, with their four-month-old twins Harry James and Charles Oliver (after Peter, whose middle-name was Oliver). Sirius and Marlene were godparents to Harry (and Sirius was also his blood-adoptive father), while Remus and Alice Longbottom were godparents to Charles.
After that, for only three (or two, if you exclude Remus, he was hardly ever there) people, Sirius' house had seemed to big and extravagant, and so they'd bought a cheaper and smaller flat.
"The plan for James' still on?" Sirius tried to change the topic.
Celia laughed. "'Course it is! James will go ballistic if you don't come!"
Sirius cracked a grin at that. It was true; James had been practically dying to see all the Marauders together, and it had been very hard for them to fix a date at which they'd all be available, having been busy with work lately. Remus was coming in the evening, and they'd go to James' tomorrow.
Sirius was one of the best Aurors on the force, with James as his partner, though the man had been on a break due to his newborn sons, same as Frank Longbottom, whose son Neville had been born only a day after Harry and Charles. Remus was jobless at the moment and dedicated all his time to the Order. Peter and Martha both worked for the Department of the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and Celia was currently modelling until she found a proper, stable job. Though, she'd admitted that if she could, she'd like to continue to model even if she found proper work.
"Hey," Celia suddenly said, swallowing her last bite. "I was thinking maybe I shouldn't come to James' tomorrow."
Sirius blinked at the unexpected announcement. "Wha-? Cel, if James has said anything-"
"No, it's not him," Celia was quick to say. "I just... it's a day for you marauders, Siri-"
"Lily'll be there-"
"Lils is a fully-fledged marauder at this point," Celia said with a shrug. "I mean, it's quite obvious since they're married..."
"Cel-"
"Besides, I don't want to sit with you all boys as you talk your animal language, get it? I just... I know I've never really fit in with your band, and that's okay, 'cause I don't want to! I'm supposed to be your rival, not one of you guys. I was thinking of a girls' night with Martha, actually."
Sirius leaned back, resigned. If Celia didn't want to come, he couldn't exactly force her... "Fine."