VIII. JEALOUS BOY FRIEND

      There is a sense of relief when you tell a secret, and that was what Remus Lupin felt right now - relief. He was thankful that Sirene didn't leave him when she found out he was a monster.

     Sirene Black on the other hand, felt nothing but a shit ton of guilt, she felt like she'd crossed the limit - like she'd forced him to tell his secret and he wasn't ready. Worst comes to worst - he won't want to be her friend anymore, and she would get it to be honest, she pushed those thoughts out of her mind as soon as they rushed in, she didn't want to ruin the last day of this year that they would get to spend together as a group.

      Sirene and Remus walked up to Three Broomsticks with a tray of chocolate each, talking about random little things on the way. Soon the sign of the place could be made out, and not much later the warmth covered their faces, a smile making it's way on their faces as they took in the familiar scene.

People laughing, some drunk out of their mind, some people just sleeping on the table even though it's just around noon.

"Oi, Moony!" Sirene and Lupin heard Sirius shout from a table, with his hand raised, both of them made their way towards him, James, Marlene and Peter.

"Where have you guys been?" Sirius asked them, making Sirene and Remus look at him with a shrug.

"Shopping" Sirene said, putting down the two trays of chocolate on a chair right next to them, and taking off her coat.

"Woah.." Marlene said looking at the amount of chocolate in front of her, it's almost like it's calling her name - taunting her - to eat it, "Can I have some o-"

"Sure"

"No"

Remus and Sirene said at the same time.

"It's Remus's Christmas gift, Mar!" Sirene says, hoping Marlene will give it up then, but Marlene's still Marlene and ends up taking two bars and three chocolate snitches.

"I'll get the butterbeer" James said, getting up with a smile on his face, he winked at Sirius and Marlene that made Sirine gag and wonder what had happened before she arrived.

"I'll come with you, James!" Peter said, getting up to help him get the order.

"Wait! I want extra-" Sirene said, before she got interrupted.

"Foam, yeah I know!" James called out to her, giving her a thumbs up.

"Weirdo" she muttered, rolling her eyes.

Sirene was going to talk to Marlene when she saw her brother and her giving each other the goo-goo-eyes only much less p.g.

"Ugh" Sirene groaned, looking at both of them with annoyance, "Are you guys going to do that all day? Because I'm running out of bile to choke on."

"I'm sorry" Sirius said, looking at her with a fake sad expression, "Interested in talking to me now, are you?"

"No." She deadpanned, "I'm interested in knowing whether my best friend realizes what she's doing"

"Si, I think I'm smart enough to make my own decisions" Marlene said sharply, with kind of a rough tone.

"Oh." Sirene says, a bit hurt by her attitude, but she brushes it off, "Alright then"

Remus just sits there, looking at everyone awkwardly - he didn't really know what to do when his best friends are having a passive aggressive conversation about whether dating Sirius Black is a smart move.

"Uh, so Si, how's your potions essay coming along?" Remus asks, trying to ease the tension.

Sirene's eyes widen with surprise, "Oh shit, we had a potions essay?"

"Yeah...it's kind of one of our assignments to do during the break-"

"Oh yeah, I forgot this is our last day before the break" Sirene said, shaking her head before chuckling a bit, "Wait a minute, why have you started it already?"

"It's always great to get an early start" Remus said, shrugging.

"I- you realise it's three weeks away right?" Sirene said, a concerned expression her face as she stared at Remus.

Remus was no doubt one of the brightest minds of Hogwarts, being the prefect and all, and to be honest Sirene had always thought he was too smart to hang out with James, Sirius and Peter - but then again, who was she to judge she had completely different friends herself.

Remus Lupin was also the reason her brother hadn't been expelled yet - he's always known just the extremes - and James isn't any better, it was nice to see Remus as the friend who kept them grounded and out of trouble as much as he could.

"Moony, you'll let me copy it, won't you?" Sirius asked, with a huge smile on his face.

"No."

"Worth a try."

"What's taking them so long?" Marlene asked, well she more like whined, but same difference.

"Relax, Mar, it hasn't been that long" Sirius said, smoothly putting his arm around Marlene's shoulders by leaning back into his seat - that made Marlene blush a bit - "He'll be back soon"

"Kill me now" Sirene mumbled, getting disgusted at the thought of her brother and her best friend being together.

It wasn't really her brother she was worried about, it was her best friend, Marlene - well she has a tendency to get attached(?) too much to a person too soon and Sirius would rather die than commit to something.

It worried her, because 1- she hated seeing her best friend cry and 2- she hated picking sides. Not only that but it was kind of unsettling to see someone you consider family with your actual family member.

    "I'm going to go check what's taking so long" Sirene said, getting up from the table and making her way up to the counters to see Peter and James just sitting there and talking to Madam Rosmerta with the butterbeers in their hands.

     "Seriously?" She said, smacking James at the back of his head and taking the butterbeer from his hand, "They're gonna get cold!"

    "Jeez!" James said, rubbing the spot where she had hit him and then throwing her a glare, "This one's yours - extra foam" he switched the one she had in hand with his, and then nudged Peter to follow him back to the table.

    "Thank you, Rosie!" Sirene said, thanking the lady with a small smile and walking back.

    "Finally!" Marlene exclaimed, jumping up from her seat to take one of the butterbeers from Peter, "It took you guys bloody forever!"

    "If I hadn't gotten there, they would've spent more time just chatting to Madam Rosmerta!" Sirene said, an annoyed look on her face as she took a sip of the warm butterbeer in her hands.

     "What the hell, James!" Marlene scolded, "These could've gotten cold!"

     "Well, they didn't!" James retorted back.

    "Uh, James" Remus said, with an unimpressed look, "You only bought four and there's six of us"

    "Oh-" James said, a mischievous smile making it's way on his face, "Guess I'll have to go and ask Rosie for more"

   James got up from his seat, and looked at Peter expectantly.

    "I'll come with you" Sirene said, narrowing her eyes at the two boys who looked more than eager to go back to the counter.

    "It's really no problem, I can-" Peter said, with a convincing look.

     "Sit down, Peter" Sirene ordered and Peter sat down immediately.

    James gave Peter a look, to which Peter just shrugged a bit.

   "Come on, James" Sirene said nonchalantly.

    The two of them made their way up to the counter and ordered two more butterbeer, "James? Forgot to order again?" Madam Rosmerta said with a smile, but Sirene could tell she was tired too - her eyes said it all.

   "Yeah, don't worry about it though" James said smiling charmingly at Rosmerta, "I was thinking-"

     But he didn't get to finish that sentence because of someone's loud laughing, he turned around to see Lily leaning on to Bridger Mclaggen's shoulders as she laughed, making her way inside Three Broomsticks.

    Sirene's eyes widen at the sight in front of her, oh shit, she told me she was going to Madam Puddifoot's WHAT THE FUCK am I supposed to do now? She thought to herself as she turned to face an angry Potter with an awkward smile.

    "Surprise...?" She laughed awkwardly, "Lily's feeling better"

     "I can see" James said, glaring at Bridger who was now helping Lily take off her coat.

    "James before you do something-"

   "Our butterbeers are ready" James said, his expression turning from one of anger to sadness, "Let's go"

    "What?" Sirene asked him, her eyebrows furrowed with confusion, is this the same James as literally 2 seconds ago? She thought to herself.

    "I asked her out, ya know?" James started, looking at Lily.

      "Yeah, I was there when she said no for the fifteenth time" Sirene spoke, her voice calm.

     James, after throwing a well deserved dirty look at Sirene, continued, "Regardless, she didn't want to go with me, I can't do much about it, Can I?"

     "Well, you can always not act like you're in kindergarten and try to express your crush by teasing her and her friends but whatever-"

     "I wanted to be her first date" He said calmly, shrugging at Sirene.

    "There's still time" Sirene said, with a reassuring look, "Who knows, someday you might end up being her last"

     "I can only try."

      "Don't worry I'll hex him for you as soon as her date is over" Sirene said pulling a face, "Ew, I've been nice twice today - I don't feel like myself"

     Lol hey this is chapter 7 I think yeah wtv anyways I know it's more of a filler but I really do want to focus more on their friendships before I start dumping shit on them