14
"Good luck, Marls!" Lily waved dramatically as their very tired roommate slung her broom over her shoulder and started towards the exit, James hurrying to shovel another slice of toast into his mouth before he spun towards the red-head.
"Oi! Whuboutme?" He asked through a mouthful of rushed breakfast, earning a round of laughter even as Lily grimaced.
"Yeah, all she's got to do is whack a ball with a stick! James is the one earning points!" Peter pointed out, the second liveliest at the table. James seemed as if he was running on a full 24 hours of sleep, though according to Marlene, he had been the last one to come down off the pitch last night.
"Nice, Peter." Marlene called back as James thumped Pete softly on the back of the head, grabbing his broom and hurrying after the rest of the team.
"We'll see you out there!" Mary called, the five of them watching as the red and blue uniforms vanished from the Great Hall, marching down towards the quidditch pitch. Charlotte looked up to the sky above their tables, a light snowfall disappearing against the invisible ceiling as they finished up their breakfast, Peter urging them on, anxious to get down, as if the match would start any earlier if enough students showed up.
"Calm down, Pete. We've got plenty of time." Remus said, calmly, taking a final sip of his tea and standing from the table, Peter hopping up to join him at once. "We'll see you lot down there? We'll save you some seats."
"Where's Sirius?" Charlotte asked, looking up at the tall boy a few feet before her, his eyebrows raising slightly before he answered.
"Sleeping, as usual. He claims he set an alarm, but we could go-"
"Not our fault if he's late! He's always late!" Peter piped up.
"We've got to go up anyway. I want a warmer jacket." Lily glanced up to the ceiling once more. Charlotte reached over the table, grabbing a chocolate muffin and an apple and tucking them inside a napkin before starting after her roommates back to Gryffindor tower. They climbed the steps slowly, sleep still lingering in their limbs.
"Can't believe Peter wants to spend any more time out there in this weather." Lily shook her head as they reached the seventh floor landing.
"And they always want to sit so high up." Mary grumbled, muttering the password as the portrait door swung open to let them through.
"Well at least when we're that high up, we get to watch all of James's theatrics for Lily." Charlotte teased, turning up the boys staircase, her friends stopping in their tracks. "I'll wake Sirius up, will one of you bring down my coat? And my hat?" Charlotte trailed off, knowing she would be missing her lost scarf in half an hours time when the wind was whipping through her jacket.
She clambered up the stairs much quicker than she and Sirius had the night before, pausing for a second outside of the boys dorm. At least she knew he would be clothed, as she had watched him fall into bed last night still in his school robes. Just as she raised her hand to knock, the door swung open, a very sleepy looking Sirius shrugging on a thick jacket before his eyes fell on hers, jumping back from the doorway.
"Morning." She smiled at his surprise, holding out his breakfast. "Everyone was quite worried you were going to miss the match."
The corners of his lips twitched into a smile as he grabbed for the muffin, his eyes scanning over her quickly as he took his first bite.
"I'd never hear the end of it if I missed even thirty seconds of a match." He assured. "What are you doing up here, Charlotte?"
"Well, I thought you'd miss breakfast..." She trailed off, his gray eyes fixed onto hers. "And I just thought I'd see if you were alright after-"
"Don't go pitying me because I had one nightmare. I can't control what my brain does in my sleep." He ordered, taking his last bite of his breakfast and tucking the apple still in the blonde's hand into his pocket. "Is that what you're wearing?"
"No, Lily and Mary are bringing me down my coat. I said I'd get you."
"Oh, this is you getting me, eh?" He grinned, leaning over his dresser and pulling a Gryffindor hat into his empty pocket, nudging Charlotte down the steps. "Let's go, blondie, I'm not getting a lecture from James because you made me late."
They hurried down the steps, emerging into the common room where Lily and Mary were waiting, Charlotte's coat thrown over Mary's arm as their eyes flew to the stairway.
"About time! Let's get a move on!" Mary grinned, excitedly, the four Gryffindors hurrying down the empty staircase, everyone else gathered outside for the final quidditch match before break.
"Okay, honesty time, Black." Mary broke the silence as Sirius held the front door for the girls, snow falling against their skin at once. "Is Gryffindor going to win, or are we all going to have to listen to James whine until Christmas?"
Sirius laughed, glancing towards the pitch as they drew closer before answering. "According to James, they're guaranteed to win. He does say that before every match, though."
"They usually do, though." Lily pointed out, starting up the steps to where she knew Remus and Peter would be camped out. At the top row in the stadium. The wind whistled past them as they reached the other boys, sliding down the cramped rows and taking the seats Remus and Peter had saved. Charlotte shrunk down into her seat as low as she could, hoping to use some of the students around her to block some of the wind.
"We couldn't find your hat anywhere, Charlotte, we did look!" Lily looked over to her friend, sympathetically.
"Yeah, you need to organize your dresser! It's getting hard to steal stuff from you now if even I can't find it!"
"I wonder why that is!" Charlotte teased, glaring towards Mary who shrugged, innocently.
"Well, now you'll need a whole new set! Hat and scarf!" She joked, flinching out of reach as Charlotte aimed a smack to her arm.
"What happened to your scarf?" Sirius asked from the row below the girls, craning his head back to look between them.
"That's what she went down to look for the night you lot tried to drown her!" Mary teased, Charlotte holding in a groan as guilt flooded into Sirius's eyes.
"I'd like to remind everyone that I had no part in that prank." Remus cut in.
"Yes, that explains how it went so poorly." Lily smirked towards him and he shot her a grin, turning back to the pitch as the crowd began to applaud, the teams making their way out from the locker rooms.
"Here, blondie." Sirius's hands reached around her waist, pulling her up before she had even noticed him move. He spun around in his seat, trading places with her so that she was sat between a large Gryffindor fifth year and Remus, Sirius blocking the wind from her back. She opened her mouth to protest, sure that Remus would rather sit beside his best friend and that Sirius would get just as cold as she would have in the top row. Before she could speak, Sirius had pulled the red and gold hat from his pocket, tugging it over her head and down to her eyebrows, nodding, satisfied with himself and biting into the apple from his other pocket.
"And they're off! Potter at once with the quaffle, Samuels is on his tail! McKinnon launching after a bludger, good hit from McKinnon, Samuels swerves just in time! Potter scores! Ten points to Gryffindor!"
"It's been forty seconds!" Remus glanced at his watch, shaking his head as they watched James loop around the goal posts, the icy wind seemingly unnoticeable by the chaser.
"Bloody show off," Sirius chuckled, "Let's go, Potter! Pick up the pace!"
"He's got nothing to do with it! It's the seeker that has to win the game." Lily pointed out.
"You don't say, Evans." Sirius smirked back at her, earning an eye roll.
The game sped on, the girls cheering on Marlene any time she caught up to the rogue bludgers, James weaving in and out of blue uniforms, soaring past his friends in the stand and winking towards Lily any chance he could.
"Potter! Head in the game, I swear to Godric!" Marlene's shout echoed through the pitch, the rest of their team breaking into laughter as James shot back towards the center of the action. While it was still freezing, Charlotte had to admit she was much warmer with Sirius's hat, pressed in between two tall bodies, the wind more of a sound now than a feeling. Every few minutes she would pick up the scent of forest pines and ginger, cigarette smoke, though she couldn't say if that was from Remus or Sirius. Still, she ran her hand beneath her nose quickly, breathing in the droplets of perfume she had spritzed that morning in an attempt to pull her mind from the boy beside her.
"Your lips are turning blue." Remus's voice pulled her attention from the game, watching as his eyes flickered between her and the pitch. "You want my scarf?"
"No." She rushed out, pulling her eyes from his lopsided smile, sure that she wouldn't be able to focus on anything but him with his scarf around her neck. "I'm alright, really." She forced out a short laugh.
"No, seriously. You look ready to pass out-" He had already begun unwrapping the red and gold scarf from his neck, moving to pull it over his head.
"Robbins has the Quaffle! Passing it to Potter and, oh- intercepted by Samuels again. Samuels headed for the Gryffindor hoop, here comes McKinnon - no, wait! King sees the snitch! Both seekers have spotted the snitch, it's anyone's race!"
"Let's go, Gryffindor!" Peter stood in his place, cupping both hands around his mouth as he screeched over the pitch, knocking against Remus as everyone too jumped to their feet. The snitch glided into the Gryffindor seeker's fingers as the stadium went wild, a mixture of cheers and groans as James circled the pitch once more, diving towards the ground and dropping from his broom, tackling Marlene into a bear hug and spinning the tall girl around.
"Oh, she's going to love that." Mary giggled, the six Gryffindors jumping from their seats and pushing through the crowd to get to the ground to meet their friends.
☾
"I never knew anyone could be that sweaty," Marlene teased, enjoying the glare James shot back as the friends sipped on drinks by the fire, letting the heat seep into their bones after the long hours at the quidditch pitch.
"Pardon me for showing some team spirit!" James grinned, "And you were sweaty too."
"And I wasn't forcing anyone else to be a part of my sweat." She pointed out, draining the rest of her drink and jumping up to get another.
Lily glanced around, the boys were all grins, James already louder than half of the room, Remus watching as James and Peter re-hashed nearly every shot James had made, the rest of the room listening in and sharing in cheers every few moments. Mary was talking to a seventh year boy off in the corner, the drink in her hand tilting precariously without her notice. The table of alcohol was visibly sticky, empty bottles over turned, some half filled and missing caps.
"Where did Charlotte go?" Lily asked, the group scanning around.
"She was just here." James stood from his spot, as if he'd be able to see over the crowds filling the room.
"I'll go look." Sirius offered, staggering a bit as he tried to step over the many legs around the couch.
"Yeah, go on, Sirius. I'd love to see it." Marlene encouraged him, watching as he finally disentangled himself from the limbs before Remus yanked him back down by his collar.
"Can't get up the stairs, Pads." He reminded, Sirius groaning as he fell back against the couch. "Come on, let's go have a smoke."
"You two have to quit that!" James hollered over the crowd as the Remus led them towards the windows. "That's all I want for Christmas! Cancer-free friends!"
Lily bit back a laugh, turning quickly towards the staircase and finding her way towards their dorm. She pushed the door open easily, spotting Charlotte at once. The blonde was leaned over the mirror above her dresser, messing with the top of her hair, blue eyes slinking to Lily's in the reflection.
"What are you doing up here? They're all celebrating and Mary's left me, I can't listen to Peter grovel over James anymore." Lily grinned and Charlotte laughed back, sounding nervous. "What's wrong?"
Charlotte paused, leaning one hip against the dresser and running her teeth over her lip as she looked to her friend.
"I think I'm going to ask Remus... to Slughorn's party on Friday."
"What?" Lily breathed out a nervous laugh. "You're going to ask Remus... to the Christmas party?"
"I... Yeah. I think I am." Charlotte answered, scanning over Lily's face to get an idea of her thoughts. "You don't think it's a good idea."
"No! I mean, I don't know. Has... Have things been going better with him?"
"I don't know." The blonde sighed, looking back to the mirror and trying to get the stray pieces of hair, which had been stuck at odd angles since she had given Sirius his hat back, into place. "But, I mean, maybe it's like you said. Maybe he's just shy. Maybe he doesn't know I like him and... this will make it... perfectly clear."
"Charlotte, I think as long as you know it could end up one of two ways... and you're prepared for that, then I say go for it. You'll never know if you don't try." She smiled, stepping over and waving her wand over the blonde's hair, the strands lying flat at once. "And I want you two together so bad."
"Oh, you want us together?" Charlotte teased, nodded at her reflection at last, and pulled Lily towards the stairs, both of them stumbling back down to the common room. She hardly needed to scan the room, spotting the boys at once, gray smoke seeping through the air before disappearing through the crack in the window.
"Good luck." Lily offered her friend an anxious smile and Charlotte started towards the windows, pulling the sleeves of her sweater down, nervously, as she drew closer.
"Hey! There she is." Sirius grinned up to her, his head rolling lazily against the chair he was stationed in, the chill seeping through the window panes obviously having no effect on his mood. "Where've you been? Want a drink?"
"Uh... Yeah, maybe in a bit?" She nodded, smiling back at the dark haired boy easily. "Could I actually talk to Remus for a minute?" She paused as Sirius's eyes flicked between the two. "Alone?"
Sirius's face fell, gaze tracing over Charlotte for a moment before he pulled the cigarette from his lips, dropping it through the small crack in the window and getting up from his seat.
"Yeah. Sure. I'll get drinks. Want something, Moony?" His voice sounded different now, though Charlotte hardly noticed, her eyes stuck on Remus who was still puffing away on his cigarette, glancing up quickly towards his friend.
"Er, yeah. Whatever." He replied, Sirius stalking away as Charlotte took his seat. "What's up?" Remus looked to her, waving some of the smoke towards the window, as if that would make it any less noticeable.
Charlotte paused, linking her hands together in her lap and looking up at the tall boy before her. He had part of a smile left on his lips, the cigarette gone from them now, held between two fingers against his knee as he waited for her to answer.
"Slughorn's having another party." She dove right in, not giving herself the option to chicken out. If she didn't ask tonight, she was sure someone else would. Remus looked too good, a thinner sweater than she usually saw him in and blue jeans, his bangs were growing out now, nearly falling over his forehead. "A Christmas party, on Friday."
He brought the cigarette back to his lips for what felt like minutes, not even offering her a nod.
"And, well... we're supposed to bring someone... A date." She went on, praying he wouldn't make her spell it out.
"Charlotte." He started to shake his head, but she cut him off. She couldn't let him say no.
"I thought... it might be fun. We could go together. He usually has really good food and there's good music and Lily and James will be there,"
"Charlotte, you don't want to go with me." He insisted, tapping some of the ash of the edge of his cigarette over the open window.
"But I do." She breathed, a pool of nerves rested in her stomach. "I'd really like to." She hated the way her voice sounded, like she was begging.
He sighed, reaching the end of his cigarette and lurching it out the window with Sirius's, honey brown eyes finally returning to hers.
"Alright... I guess, maybe... we can..."
Charlotte could practically feel her face light up as she grinned. "Yeah? I promise, I won't let you get bored." She could practically hear the blood racing in her ears as she noticed the movement from the side of the room. Sirius was back, holding three drinks, his eyes stuck on Remus as if he didn't recognize him.
"Hey, Siri, what'd you bring us?" Charlotte couldn't tone her smile down, her cheeks starting to ache as she watched the dark haired boy drop the cups on the table between them, some reddish liquid sloshing over the side before he stormed off deeper into the party without a word.
☾
"He'll be down, eventually." James sighed, Peter looking nervously towards the girls dropping into seats beside the boys for dinner. "He's going to get hungry."
"He could have the house elves bringing him food." Peter pointed out.
"Who are we talking about?" Lily asked, sliding her plate closer to herself and looking between the three boys. "Where's your fourth musketeer?"
"Our what?" Peter offered the red-head a confused stare as Remus scoffed beneath his breath, pausing his meal for only a moment.
"Where's Sirius?" Mary repeated.
"That's what we were just discussing." Peter answered. "Been up in the room all day."
"What?" Charlotte frowned, thinking back over the day's events. She supposed it had been quieter in the tower and there had been no pranks pulled that she had heard of. "Is he sick?"
James slid his eyes up to Charlottes face with a grimace and her stomach sank, thinking of her friend seven floors up all alone, missing an entire day off of school. She thought of the last time she had drank too much, Sirius sitting with her in the common room for hours just to keep her company.
"Well, he's got to eat something if he really hasn't eaten all day..." She stood, pulling the empty plate from beside Remus and piling dinner onto it, adding a few scoops of asparagus that she could already see Sirius turning his nose up at.
"Charlotte!" James raised his voice, standing when she did, the table looking towards him. "I really... I just think we should give him some space."
She scanned over her friends. Mary and Marlene looked confused, though Charlotte could see the realization dawning on Lily's face as she met James eyes, Peter hugging his arms to his chest as he watched on silently. Remus, however, had not looked up from his dinner since the girls had sat down.
"Is he puking?" She looked to James again.
"I dunno. Could be." He answered, looking defeated.
"What aren't you telling me?" Charlotte's eyebrows drew together as James fell back into his seat with a shrug.
"Nothing. Just... I wouldn't bother him."
Charlotte shook her head, confused, grabbing the plate she had made up for Sirius and starting out of the hallway and up the first flight of steps. She could hear the heavy door to the Great Hall fall shut behind her, taking the chatter of students with it, the corridors falling silent now as she continued towards Gryffindor tower.
She was practically out of breath by the time she muttered the password and climbed through the portrait hole, not looking forward to another long climb to the boys dormitory. She didn't see why the first years, with their infinite energy, couldn't have had the top dorms in the towers.
At last, she reached the now familiar wooden door, pausing outside of it. Although she knew the room held only one occupant, she wasn't sure if she should knock. He could be sleeping, or like James had said, puking. Though, if it was the other way around, Sirius would never bother to knock on their door. She sent a silent thank you to the founders of Gryffindor tower.
Balancing the plate of food in one hand, she knocked three times, listening to the sound echo through the quiet dorm before he answered.
"What?"
She took that as an invitation, twisting the door knob and pushing her way into the room, Sirius's eyes widening for a second when he saw her before a scowl pulled to his lips.
"Hey," She spoke softly, remembering the headache she'd had after her night of drinking a few weeks before. "You feel alright? The boys said you'd been up here all day."
"Feel fine." His eyes were stuck on hers, dark gray in the dimming light from the windows.
"Oh, good." She answered, pushing down the confusion at his attitude and stepping towards the bed. "I brought you some dinner. Peter said you might be abusing the house elves." She teased, the smile fading from her lips when he didn't laugh. "What's wrong?"
He laughed then, though it was more of a scoff and it sounded cold in the quiet room.
"Nothing's wrong, Charlotte." He answered, "Just leave. I want to be alone."
His words stung as she swallowed, setting the plate on his night stand and looking down to him. His legs were pulled up near his lap on top of the blankets, despite it feeling quite chilly in her opinion.
"Something's wrong." She started, speaking softer now. "You can talk to me."
"Oh, can I?" He sneered, "As if you'd actually listen."
"Sirius-"
"Did I not make it clear enough for you?" His voice was louder now as he looked up to her at last, darkness clouding his usually bright eyes. "Or do you prefer your men to treat you like shit?"
Her mouth fell open suddenly. It felt as if someone had slapped her, though it was only words. Words. From the person who had only ever spoken to her with smirks and laughter.
"What are you-"
"You want to go to that stupid party with Remus? Have so much fun, Charlotte. Maybe he'll even smile at you for once, wouldn't that be a dream."
"Why are you being like this?" She took a step back from the bed, watching as his scowl deepened.
"Get out, Charlotte." He demanded, his eyes dropping from hers as she backed from the room, pulling the door silently behind her and hurrying down to the common room once again.