On the Astronomy Tower

Peter:

Peter hadn’t stayed at the party for long. It was deafening. Loud places made him anxious. That’s why he had only stayed until he had finished the drink that Marlene had forced into his hand. She had instantly disappeared into the crowd with Dorcas and left him. That happened a lot. So Peter stood in the corner sipping his drink and watching his friends. He was good at watching.

So, as he took the last sip of his drink, as the clock hit 11, Peter set his drink down and left. He had gone to the Owlery, where he went whenever he didn’t want to deal with people. Sure, sometimes people might come in and look at him strangely but he didn’t mind. They would look at him strangely whether he did what he wanted to or not.
This time, while Peter sat in the Owlery, he looked out over Hogwarts. You could see all the towers and buildings, you could even see the lake on a clear day. He muttered a quick warming charm for his hands.

Peter looked to his right and saw the Astronomy tower. Regulus Black was sitting there like he often did. He didn't disturb Peter so Peter didn’t disturb him. If Sirius had been there he probably would’ve shouted at Regulus even from a rooftop away. Peter thought that everyone deserved the comfort of looking at the stars and being alone if they wanted it.
He heard the door on the opposite rooftop where Regulus sat burst open and he started for a minute and looked over. James had walked through the door. At least, Peter thought it was James. The person had James’s red sweater and messy hair and was about his height. Yes, this was James.
James walked over to Regulus and sat down next to him. Regulus looked at him before looking back. They seemed to talk back and forth before a hint of laughter reached Peter’s ears. Regulus Black was laughing. James and Regulus seemed to stop talking for a little while and Peter returned to watching the stars. He heard the sound of the door opening and caught a glimpse of Regulus leaving. James sat there for a few moments on the edge before standing up, turning around, and walking out the same as Regulus had. Peter wasn’t sure whether James was going back to the dorms or following Regulus or something else entirely but he was getting tired so he decided to head back to the dorms.

Peter had just left the Owlery and had only walked a few steps down the corridor when he heard a noise coming from behind him.
“Hey Pete, wait up!”
He turned around and saw James walking towards him with a flush in his cheeks from the cold. Peter smiled and paused for him. Once James had caught up, they started walking in the direction of their dorm again. James didn’t mention Regulus so Peter didn’t. They got back to the dorm where Remus and Sirius quickly went upstairs. Peter sat and played chess with James for a little bit before they both went up to bed.

The Next Morning

Peter woke up to the sound of James screaming. He sat up and sleepily rubbed at his eyes before looking for what had made James cry out. After a quick scan of the room, it became obvious what had prompted him to scream. James was standing in front of Remus’s bed where Sirius and Remus were curled up together under the covers. James had a finger pointed at them while his other arm fell slack at his side.
Peter spoke first, “Finally got together then? Right on.” Remus mumbled some kind of thanks, though confusedly whileSirius widened his eyes and looked at Peter, who was now changing out of his pajamas and into clothes.
Sirius spoke, “What do you mean finally?” Remus’s eyes widened, “Pete, if you value your life don’t say anything” Sirius looked at Remus before looking right back at Peter, “Wormy if you tell me I’ll buy you a new chess set”. Remus scoffed, “Fucking rich boy, Pete, if you don’t tell Sirius I won’t destroy your chessboard”.

Peter looked between them as they continued to speak, talking faster and faster until they were speaking over each other. Peter couldn’t take it anymore and was about to blurt something out to make them stop before James beat him to the punch, “You've been in love with each other for years. Both of you.”

Peter sighed in relief as they both stopped talking to look at each other and he pulled his sweater over his head. If this conversation was any indicator this would be a long morning.
After one more prevented argument, throwing a couple of books (Sirius at James), the four of them arrived in the Great Hall.

Marlene was the first person at the Gryffindor table, Mary was right next to her, and Lily brought up the rear. Marlene was slumped down with her head in her arms while Mary was clutching her head in her hands. Lily was staring down at the table in front of her and her plate which had a few sausages on it that she was pushing around with her fork. James slid into the seat across from Marlene and smiled cheerily at her, “Morning”. Marlene just barely lifted her head to glare at him, “Shut up Potter.” James merely grinned and shoved a piece of toast into his mouth. Mary lifted her head and stole James’s coffee. “Hey!”, he protested. She shot him a look and he backed off and started to pour himself some more coffee.

Mary:

Mary wasn’t hungover like Marlene. She had woken up and instantly remembered the deal she had made with Emmeline. Mary instantly ran to the bathroom to throw up. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Emmeline; rather the opposite. Emmeline Vance was cool. Mary hadn’t realized last night how cool she was. Emmeline Vance got good grades, she was a Keeper on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, she was a prefect, she went to Slug Club, and she was gorgeous. She was who every person either wanted to be with or to be and Mary was going to fake-date her. Reasonably, she was scared of the school's reaction, but more importantly, the reaction of her friends.

Mary hadn’t told her friends about Emmeline at all. How could she when 1- it had only happened just last night and 2- They were all quiet as a mouse at the table this morning? Mary would have to be the one to break the silence because Emmeline had just walked into the Great Hall and was looking around for Mary. Mary quickly ducked her head down. She grimaced before speaking to her friends, “Guys, I have something to tell you”. They all turned their heads toward her in some capacity before breathing and starting to speak, “Last night-” before an arm reached around her shoulders and a mouth kissed the top of her head. She looked up and saw Emmeline standing above her with a smile, “Morning sunshine”. Mary tried- unsuccessfully- to bite back the grin that appeared on her face, “Morning Em”. She glanced at her friends who looked shocked, Remus most of all, before glancing back at Emmeline who spoke again, “Come sit with me?” Mary nodded, “Okay, but tomorrow you sit here.” Emmeline nodded, “Fine by me”. Mary slowly got up and looked at her friends whose shock seemed to only grow, “See you in Transfiguration”. Then with a quick smile, she followed Emmeline. Emmeline grinned at her as they walked, “Eager to sit with me aren’t you sunshine”.
“In your dreams Vance.”
Mary looked at Emmeline when the two of them passed the Ravenclaw table, “Not Ravenclaw?” Emmeline shook her head, “No, most of my friends are Slytherin so we sit there”. Mary froze and Emmeline stopped with her and turned to look at her, “ What’s wrong?” Mary tried to control her breathing, “ Just, Slytherins aren’t always the nicest to muggle-borns.” Emmeline’s eyes widened and she shot a glance at the table before focusing back on Mary, “I promise my friends don’t care about that. Even if some of them have shit parents who believe that- that doesn’t impact how they feel. If anyone tries to hurt you I’ll hex them”. As Emmeline spoke, Mary felt her breathing slow back into a normal place, “Okay.” Emmeline smiled and then muttered something under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing just- I just realized that my friends won’t believe me unless we-”, she trailed off and looked at Mary who realized what she was saying.
“They won’t believe us unless we kiss”.
Emmeline nodded, “We don’t have to though, I’ll tell them that we’re just taking it slow or something- “. Mary grabbed Emmeline’s face in her hands and she trailed off, “I’m fine with kissing you Em.” Emmeline smiled, “Okay, thank you”. Mary nodded and as Emmeline took in a breath, Mary kissed her.. Mary couldn’t describe it precisely if asked. She just remembered her hands in Emmeline's hair and Emmeline's hands that were on her shoulders but fell to land on her waist. Emmeline broke away first and looked at Mary. Mary, for her part, just smirked, “Up to your standards Ms.Vance”. Emmeline smirked back and seemed to relax, “Adequate Ms.Macdonald”. Mary gasped in mock outrage, “How dare you Ms.Vance. I’ll have you know that I’m renowned for kissing.” “Sure, darling”.

They continued their walk to the Slytherin table, Mary’s nerves mostly squished. Emmeline sat down first and Mary immediately sat down next to her before looking at the people around them. Across from them sat Regulus Black, Evan Rosier, and Pandora. Next to Emmeline was Barty Crouch Jr. and next to Mary was Dorcas who she muttered a small hello to. Rosier and Crouch were looking at her with a matching odd expression on their faces. Regulus had an unreadable expression while Pandora and Dorcas had smiles on their faces.

Mary’s hands fidgeted under the table until Emmeline looked at her, noticed, and grabbed the one closest to her and held it. Emmeline rubbed her thumb over the back of Mary’s knuckles unconsciously. They both looked at each other and smiled. Crouch blurted out, “Okay I think I speak for all of us when I say ‘what the fuck’.” Emmeline grinned at him, “What Crouch? Are you jealous?” He scoffed, “No, obviously not. I’m just wondering how this”, he used his hands to motion at Mary and Emmeline, “ Started? Emmeline- you haven’t said anything.” She shrugged, “ I don’t kiss and tell.” Mary fought back a laugh. Dorcas leaned forward on the table, “No, but Mary does and Marlene hasn’t told me anything”. Mary smiled, “I’m allowed to keep some secrets from my girls. Plus we’re still new”. Emmeline nodded and looked at Mary, “Yeah, we’re taking it slow”. Rosier scoffed, “You? Emmeline Vance? Taking it slow? Has the world come to an end”. Emmeline stole a piece of melon off his plate, “I mean it. Drop it Rosier.” Regulus looked at Mary, “Hurt her means you die.” Mary gulped and nodded, she sat up a little straighter, "I understand". He nodded, "Good". The rest of breakfast was a great deal more peaceful with Mary mostly talking to either Dorcas or Emmeline.

The biggest issue was Mary’s next class- Transfiguration. It was one of the classes that she had with the whole group: Lily, Marlene, Dorcas, James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter. This was going to be a disaster.

Emmeline walked Mary to Transfiguration since it was on the way to her Charms class. She kissed her on the cheek right before Mary walked into the room. Right away she saw Marlene and Lily staring at her from their table. Dorcas-who sat with them- patted her on the shoulder, “Good luck” before she walked over and sat next to Marlene at their table. Mary braced herself and took a deep breath before walking to the group.
“Hi”
Marlene tilted her head and looked at Mary, “ Hi? That’s what you’re saying?” Mary grimaced, “Yes?” Lily raised her eyebrows, “So, Vance? How’d that happen?” Mary sat down next to Lily and shrugged her bag off her shoulder with a smile, “It just kind of did. We started talking and one thing led to another. We’ve been taking it slow though. We just agreed that we’d be okay with people knowing.” Marlene scoffed, “And you kept this from us.” Mary sighed, “I didn’t want to exactly. We just both agreed to keep it secret so it wouldn’t have been fair. I tried to tell you this morning but-” Lily finished her sentence, “But Vance interrupted you.” Dorcas interjected, “If it helps- Emmeline is being genuine. I’ve never known her to take a relationship slow but she hasn’t told any of us about it.” Mary nodded, “See? I would’ve told you.” Lily sighed, “ I just don’t get it. What’s the appeal?” Mary grinned- this was easy, “Well she’s smart, and she’s gorgeous and so athletic. Her eyes are just stunning-”. Marlene cut her off, “No need to wax poetry or anything. I get it- she’s great at Quidditch.” Mary smiled, “See?” Lily nodded, “Not for me, but I guess I could see it. We’re good Mac, don’t worry”. Marlene smiled, “ Yeah we’re just messing with you. Glad y’all are happy”. Dorcas just nodded in agreement. Suddenly McGonagall started her lecture and they all turned to the front. Mary zoned out and got lost in her head, she hated lying to her friends but she had promised Emmeline and they wouldn’t understand.