╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ♡ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮
WHEN THERE'S A SMILE IN YOUR HEART
╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ♡ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

GAMBIT COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY two of the Marauders were acting strangely towards her. None of the others seemed to notice, she kept her mouth shut.

"What about you, Gami?"

"Hm? Sorry, I wasn't listening..."
Her eyes glanced towards James, furrowing her eyebrows at him as if to ask why he's looking at her.

"The Quidditch match this coming weekend. Who will you be cheering for?"
Sirius asked, smiling mischievously as he watched as Gambit looked troubled.

It'd be weird for her, a Slytherin, to cheer for the Gryffindor team. So she's decided,

"I'll just cheer for both! I'd be in a win-win situation either way,"
She smiled proudly, crossing her arms as breakfast had now ended.

Always spending breakfast at the Gryffindor table, no one seems to be asking questions why she's there anymore.
⠀

⠀⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

⠀
Peter was losing his mind.

Not only did one of his bestfriends express losing feelings for a long time crush, but he also confesses he might be falling in love with another.

He replayed the conversation they had,

"Who are you falling for again?"

"Guess who."
James chuckled, shaking his head from disbelief that he would soon fall for another. Only he fell from the start, not that he realized it.

Peter sighed, a hand wiped across his face.
"Gambit?"

James hummed in agreement, the brown haired boy picking at his tie as his mind was running all over while Peter promised he'd never tell a soul about this.

Of course, he'd hoped that James would talk to Lily before trying to pursue Gambit, but something tells him that James would be hesitant so he contemplated into dropping subtle hints at Lily that maybe James have moved on.

Peter didn't know Lily also liked James. Maybe a year after he tried pursuing her all these years, she had started to fall into the rabbit hole.

Gambit, however, knew Lily liked James, so she already crossed him off her list of potential lovers. She knew it'd be wrong to go after the same boy her best friend likes. She'd rather get the dementor's kiss than do that, as she didn't know that very same boy had already started falling for her.
⠀

⠀⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

⠀
The Slytherin's first class ended, dashing down the halls as she spotted Lily talking with a tall, pale boy with greasy, black hair, she decided to leave them alone.

Footsteps that tried to match hers echoed from behind, turning around to see a familiar figure, she giggled and continued walking.

She'd take two steps and the one following would take four.

"I know it's you Sirius,"
She chuckled, seeing him sigh in disappointment.

"Alright, fine... I was following you."

"Is there something you wanna say?"
Gambit asked, tilting her head as Sirius grabbed her wrist.

Leading her to a secluded area, he pinned her against the wall.

"Wait..! What are you--"

"Shh! This is for something important, just stay still and it'll be over soon.."
His smile looked grim, a finger on his mouth as he towered over the girl.

This was terrifying for Gambit, she'd never experienced this before and to think it's from one of her friends...

Did Sirius like her? Or was this just a plan for something else?

A moment after, Remus and James rounded the corner, their eyes bulging out as they saw the couple.

Sirius shot her a look to keep quiet and Gambit complied. Still not knowing why he's doing this, the two boys approached them.

"Hey, what do we have here..?"
James gripped Sirius' shoulder, prying him off the short girl.

"Nothing, Prongs, just playful banter.."
The curly hair boy held up his hands defensively before taking James' hand off.

Sirius was sure this would leave a hand print later on. He could already feel the anger coming off from James.

Gambit stayed silent, with buckled knees, almost pissing herself as James gave her a glare.

What was he so mad for? She thought as the moody man walked off. Looking at Sirius for answers, he reassured her it was nothing and just to get on James' nerves.

She quickly dismissed Remus and Sirius as she still had class, saying goodbye, she ran off.
⠀

⠀⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

⠀
"What was all that, Pad?"
Remus asked, scratching his stubby chin.

"Just a plan. I'm trying to figure something out,"
He left his answer vague. But he was sure Moony already knew,

"You mean, how James obviously had a crush on Gami?"

"Yup. It's so obvious, it's painful to look at."
He shudders with disgust.

Remus pondered, if James likes Gambit, what about Lily?

"I'm sure James would talk it out with Lily--Actually, maybe he doesn't need to."

Remus furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

"Come on, James can like whoever he wants. He doesn't have to tell people who he likes, it's not their business."

"That's true, but it is Lily's business because what if she fell for James too? What would we do then?"

The two stayed silent, sighed and just shook their heads.

"To feel young love.."
Sirius sighed,

"Yeah right, as if you don't sleep with people as often as you'd change your clothes.."

"Hey!"
⠀

⠀⊱ ──────ஓ๑♡๑ஓ ────── ⊰

⠀
The afternoon rolled in, with Regulus and Gambit in the library together.

Eyes would sometimes burn through their back as whispers would go around, but they dismissed it.

"Wolfsbane can be used in Wolfsbane potions, and is very useful for people with Lycantrophy so they'd retain control of their mentality,"
Regulus stated, seeing Gambit grin as he remembered.

"You're doing great, Regulus. I'm sure you'd do fine from now on, your occlumency lessons are also really great."

"Learned them from a family member..."
He sighed, remembering the maniacal woman who taught him this valuable ability. Especially since a student in Hogwarts is a skilled Legilimens, he'd thought, out of consideration, that Gambit would like to keep most of her privacy a secret and not have that greasy haired boy invade it.

"Occlumency is useful, so better use it to your advantage, Perryl. Don't forget the lessons I taught you, I'll best be going."
He gathered his belongings as Gambit had bid him goodbye.

The young boy was very serious, Gambit thought.