chapter twenty five
It was the last morning of their stay when the girls decided to stay in bed a bit longer, pretending that would make the stay last longer. The boys had grown tired of waiting and trekked up the hill to find them.
Mrs. Apostolos was strict about keeping the girls out of the boat at night, and boys out of the girls’ room the same. However she let it slide when she heard them enter the front door, she sat down below in the kitchen having coffee with her husband.
“Are the girls still upstairs?” Sirius popped his head down the staircase, Remus right behind him.
“Yes, but they’re awake, heard them laughing half an hour ago,” Mr. Apostolos nodded.
“Go ahead and go up,” Mrs. Apostolos gave in, surprising her husband.
“Love?” He asked after the guests had quickly left in search of the girls.
“They’re only young once,” She shrugged. He smiled and squeezed her hand.
The girls slept with the door open, feeling completely at peace. This made it all that more obvious that the boys had arrived when they heard clearly the jokes of the Marauders and their footsteps climbing the staircase.
“Hurry up and get out of bed, we want to spend time together on our last day here!” Sirius groaned, appearing in the doorway.
“We were just discussing how surprising it was that you lot didn’t try and get in bed with us to spend time-“ Lily piqued, but was caught off as James pushed past his adopted brother, jumping to land just to the side of her. The air mattress dipped under his sudden weight, making the girls shriek as they jumped up slightly.
Sirius was quick to follow, finding space between the girls to hold Marigold to his chest. Peter grinned sleepily at Marlene and sat at the foot of her bed. She returned the affection, placing her feet on his lap and perching herself up on her elbows. Remus pretended to roll his eyes, slipping between Marigold and the side of Marlene’s bed. Dorcas laid on her side to better face her friends, Mary peering from over her shoulder, spooning the brunette.
“We’re gonna be in so much trouble if my grandparents find you!” Marigold tisked.
“Not as much as you’re in now for avoiding us,” Sirius smirked, winking at Remus.
Remus nodded knowingly and sat up to tickle her sides with his hands. She laughed and tried to wiggle away but Sirius held her down against him to prevent her escape. Dorcas threw her pillow at them, laughing. She missed but only by a few inches, hitting Lily square in the face, but she was unscathed and only responded with a chuckle.
“Mary, get your girl in order!” James scoffed, throwing a pillow back at their bed.
“Wait I want in!” Marlene cheered, throwing hers at Dorcas as well.
“No!” Peter tried, but James had already thrown Lily’s at him.
Soon it was all-out war, pillows tossed throughout the air, laughter and yells echoing. Remus and Sirius continued their assault on Marigold between them, and she now cried with laughter from the stimulation.
Mr. Apostolos appeared in the doorway, an amused look in his eyes at the sight. His granddaughter still lay between the boys tickling her, the widest grin on her face he’d seen in a long while. The rest of the teenagers were still chucking their soft weapons back and forth but now they stood and were even jumping on the small beds.
He chuckled and shook his head, shutting the door before ascending back down the stairs to report to his nervous wife that no hanky-panky was occurring.
They found themselves racing down to the beach not an hour later, Marigold barefoot and masterly leading them down the tricky terrain. Sirius was quick on her heels, trying to grab her. Remus chased after him to make sure he didn’t tackle the girl down the rest of the way.
She had only just touched her toes to the flatter sand when his arms wrapped under her legs and around her shoulders, sweeping her up. She shrieked and reached for Remus, but he only shook his head and smirked.
Barking his characteristic laugh, Sirius slowed his run as his ankles met the water.
“You want me to put you down, baby? Is that what you want?” He teased her by dipping her head towards the small waves, walking further in.
“Yes! Wait, no-“ She protested, albeit delighted.
“Alright Goldie, here you go!” He cheered, tossing her lightly into the now waist-deep water.
She stood up, glaring harmlessly at him, blinking the salt water from her eyes. She bit her lip and splashed him, stalking closer to him again. He walked backward, grinning shamelessly as he admired her bikini-clad body.
“Siri, there is something the matter with you,” She taunted, splashing again. He laughed in response, biting his own lip.
Mary, Dorcas, and Marlene were some dozen feet away warming up to the water themselves. Lily was on the boat with Peter and James as they fetched a football. Remus was setting up some towels to lay on the dock, glancing up to watch his two favorite people in their game of cat and mouse.
Sirius wanted to be caught, he was just enjoying the slow chase. He let his gaze linger on Marigold’s chest, then her lips, completely enraptured. She had the upper hand now that his focus had slipped, and so she acted on it.
Throwing her arms around his shoulders and pressing most of her body weight into him, she leaned up on her tippy toes and landed a passionate kiss. His own arms snaked around her waist, spinning her around once before setting her down. Her chin dipped and his head followed, letting the kiss grow deeper.
That was, of course, until Peter had tried to toss the football in the water behind Marlene to scare her and it ricashed up and hit Sirius’ leg. He looked up, confused but not hurt, and broke into a smile again, yelling at Peter and going to fetch the ball.
Marigold’s eyes scanned for Remus’ and he gave a small wave, his shades back in place. He looked devastatingly handsome, she thought, so at ease and uncovered. At Hogwarts he would have never worn short sleeves and shorts, always conscious of his scars. His hair blew in the wind and his cheeks were rosier than usual due to the sunshine.
She set out on her prowl once more, stalking Remus now. His small smile morphed into a smirk after his tongue ran over the inside of his cheek trying to contain it. His arms crossed nonconsipiculsly over his half-buttoned shirt. She wished he’d always leave his collarbones out.
She climbed onto the dock without breaking their eye contact but halted once she stood only a foot in front of him. She batted her eyes innocently, slipping his shades onto his head to get a better view of his hazel iris.
“Hi Remy, how are you doing darling?” She hummed, cocking her head, leaving a hand in his hair.
“Shut up,” He chuckled, swiftly leaning down to grab her by the legs and swing her over his shoulder. His other hand pressed flat against her ass, and he strolled casually towards the largest town he had placed down a few minutes earlier.
The hand on her ass came to the back of her neck for support as he lowered her back down on it. He laid over her, pressing her under his weight so he could make out with her now.
Sirius had turned his head, ignoring the small football game occurring between the rest of their friends just on the water's edge. He nodded in encouragement as if either one of them would notice.
The rest of the day passed much quicker than any of them would like, the girls dancing to some disco on the deck of the boat while the boys cheered from the dock. The setting sun symbolized the cue for most of the teenagers to return home.
Marigold hugged them all tightly, kissing Lily’s cheek before they departed via Floo powder, and promised to write more letters. Her Tawny Owl, Dandelion, was rather temperamental and hard to train, so she usually resisted using her as much as possible. Dandelion was notorious for biting and flying away whenever she wanted, but Marigold thought her entertaining still.