𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗚𝗘

𝘚𝘈𝘛𝘜𝘙𝘋𝘈𝘠𝘚 𝘐𝘕 𝘏𝘖𝘎𝘚𝘔𝘌𝘈𝘋𝘌

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It took Camille a few hours to fall asleep and Lily refused to close her eyes until she was sure the blonde girl was no longer crying, but sleeping instead. And that happened long past midnight, but it didn't stop Lily Evans from waking up early.

When she opened her eyes and saw the dried tears on her friend's face, Lily couldn't help but sigh. This was unfair, nobody deserved to cry themselves to sleep, in silence, like Camille did last night. She wasn't sure what happened, the girl didn't talk about it and Lily didn't want to ask either, but she knew better than most that when something involved the Marauders in any way, it was most likely to end up hurting.

It has always been the four of them and their jokes, the pranks they pulled on other people, and as much as some tried, they couldn't get to be part of their group. Particularly girls. The boys were popular not only for their mischief making, but also for their good looks and that made most of the girls at Hogwarts fall head over heels for them. And sometimes, they got a bit of their attention, but it never lasted for long and it always, always, ended up with one more heartbroken girl.

This time, she was suspecting that the girl was Camille. Actually, she was pretty sure of it.

She felt sorry for her. Camille seemed like a very sweet girl and it broke Lily's heart to listen to her muffled cries for hours, all because of Sirius Black. And even if she didn't know what truly happened between them, or why Sirius refused to leave her alone, she wanted to have a little talk with him and maybe knock some sense into his troublemaking brain of his. It's been a week since she met Camille, it was far too early to get really attached to her, but she liked her. Lily liked her very much and she was sure that they were going to be great friends from now on. And she couldn't let her friend be hurt like this.

When she felt a gentle shake, Camille's eyes started to flutter for a short while before they opened and the first thing she saw was a smiling Lily.

"Morning, Camille!"

"Good morning, Lily," Camille mumbled, slowly rising into a sitting position. "Merlin, my head hurts."

"I figured it would," said Lily. "You fell asleep crying and I thought you would wake up with a headache. But!" Lily pointed a finger at her. "No more crying, okay? It's Saturday. We have to go down for breakfast, and then I'm going to treat you with some Honeydukes sweets!"

"Honeydukes?"

"It's a candy shop in Hogsmeade. Oh, you're going to love it! And then we can get some hot tea or some hot chocolate!" The red haired girl smiled at the thought of their visit to Hogsmeade. "It's going to be a lovely Saturday!"

"Actually, I wanted to go to the library and study a little bit. I have O.W.L.s this year," Camille said with a sigh.

"Right! I forgot about that. Hear me out: we'll go to Hogsmeade and then we can study and do homework together! How does that sound?" Lily suggested.

Camille thought about it for a while and nodded. "Yes, just give me a few minutes." The blonde got up from Lily's bed and stretched her arms out, then headed to the bathroom for a morning shower.

Since it was Saturday, they didn't have to hurry to get to breakfast, so she took her time taking a shower, letting the lukewarm water run down her hair, her face and her body, washing away any trace of sadness she might have left. She used a drying spell on her hair, then tied it into a low ponytail, securing it with a light blue ribbon. Looking through her clothes, Camille picked a slip dress whose color perfectly matched her ribbon, and a fluffy sweater in a shade darker than the dress she had underneath, pairing her outfit with some white boots that went a few inches above her ankles and whose high heels made her look even more more imposing and elegant than she already was. Before they went downstairs, Camille applied her usual rosy tint on her lips and cheeks, and sprayed some perfume behind her ears and on her wrists.

"You look splendid!" Lily proudly said, wrapping her arms around the girl as soon as she was ready. "You have to style my outfit some time!"

"It's settled. Let's go, I'm starving."

Luckily for her, today's breakfast also included cappuccino and with a glass of orange juice and a croissant with butter, it almost made her feel like home. Over breakfast, Camille and Lily continued to discuss their plans for today, settling for a visit to Hogsmeade until late afternoon, followed by homework and individual study until bedtime. And for tomorrow, the plan was just the same, but with a little more studying on their schedule. Lily agreed to test Camille's knowledge on Sunday.

"Ooh, I'm so excited to show you around Hogsmeade!" Lily said, scrunching up her nose in enthusiasm. She rose from her seat and she was about to say something to Camille, but she noticed somebody approaching them.

"Good morning, Camille. You look quite lovely today," the boy said, greeting her with a warm, charming smile right before he introduced himself. "I'm Myles Hemlock, seventh year."

The boy's compliment came as a surprise to her. Even though he wasn't wearing the school uniform, he still had a Gryffindor scarf wrapped around his neck. She cleared her throat and smiled back at him. "Thank you. It's nice meeting you, Myles Hemlock."

"The pleasure's all mine." If she didn't know any better, she would say he was lightly intimidated by her, judging by the shy color of his cheeks that didn't really match his bright, dazzling smile. "I was, uh—I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade today. With me."

Camille's lips slightly parted when she heard his invitation. "Well, Lily and I already.." Taking a quick look at her friend, she was even more surprised to find Lily nodding excitedly, as if she was encouraging her to say yes. "Actually, we were heading there ourselves. Would you like to join us, Myles?"

"I would very much love to."

"What is that?" Camille asked, starting to laugh as soon as Myles opened the package and something jumped out of it, making a ribbit sound. "It sounds just like a frog."

"Lily, catch it!" Myles said, gesturing towards the chocolate frog that was right behind Lily Evans, on the wall, before he proceeded with the explanation. "These are chocolate frogs. The best—and worst—part about them is catching them. But they taste good, and they come with cards of famous wizards."

"That's so silly." The girl brought up a hand to her mouth, she simply couldn't stop chuckling while the three of them were trying to catch the fugitive chocolate frog. "I love it. It's entertaining, it makes you feel like you really earned your frog."

"If you can catch it, that is," Myles joked, then reached his hand in the air and finally caught it. "I got it! Alright, Camille. Open your mouth."

"What?" she asked, her cheeks quickly turning into a shy pink color. "But why can't I—"

"I can't give it to you, it might flee again. And I can't hold it for long either, so it's up to you. Do you want to find out if chasing it was worth it?" he asked, lifting both of his eyebrows.

Not having too much of an alternative, the girl ended up parting her lips and allowed Myles to feed her the little chocolate frog, making Lily Evans chuckle with enthusiasm. From the other side of the shop, however, two people were carefully watching the trio, but with way much less enthusiasm than the red haired girl.

"Gross," James Potter said, taking out his tongue to express his disgust with Myles Hemlock's actions. "Poor girl looks like she had no choice. And what's worse—Evans seems to be enjoying it. How disappointing."

"Should we tell him about this?" Remus asked, letting out a short sigh. He could only imagine their friend's reaction, but they couldn't keep it from him either.

"I don't know, Moony. Honestly, I want to wipe this out of my brain, not tell the story to somebody else," he complained, then walked out of the store. "But we have to tell him. Just not right now, let's wait until we get back to Hogwarts. I doubt he'll take it very well."

Remus waited for James to finish his Quidditch practice, while Sirius and Peter were already at the Three Broomsticks, waiting for them. Normally, they would go there together, but this morning seemed quite busy, so they agreed to go occupy the best table before somebody else did. By the time James and Remus got there, Sirius and Peter were already enjoying themselves and when they saw their friends at the door, they both waved in their direction.

"It was about time you two would show up!" Sirius said, motioning for the waitress to bring them another round of Butterbeer. "How was practice, Prongs?"

"Good, actually," James agreed as he took a seat next to Sirius. "It's a sure win against Hufflepuff on Saturday. Did you have fun without us?"

"We've had quite some company until a few minutes ago," Peter said with a laugh. "Some Hufflepuffs, actually."

"Let me guess, they were Sirius' girls!" James exclaimed, then turned around to look at his mate, speaking to him in a teasing tone: "Fraternizing with the enemy, are you, Padfoot? That's betrayal and I'm hurt."

Sirius couldn't help but roll his eyes at his friend's feigned pain. "There's no need to get so dramatic, Prongs. I was just helping them get emotionally ready for the disappointment they will feel on Thursday, that's all."

"Ah, yes, I'm sure you were." James patted his shoulder before reaching for his cup of Butterbeer. "Have you been to Honeydukes today, by any chance, mate?"

Remus cleared his throat right before Sirius could reply.

"Honeydukes? No, why would I?" he asked. "I thought you two were going to stop there before coming here. Did you forget?"

"No, no, of course not," James was quick to reply, then he took out the jar of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and placed it on the table. "Here, I got you some beans."

They all took some beans and tried them, and Sirius was the only one who didn't choke on his, while James, Remus and Peter had to take a sip of Butterbeer to make the bad taste go away.

"Absolutely gross!" James complained, wiping his mouth after drinking from his mug. "I don't even want to know what that was, it tasted like a bloody nightmare! What did you get, Padfoot? I don't see disgust on your face."

"Strawberries."

The Marauders continued to laugh and chat about random topics, like Quidditch, gossip that's been going around Hogwarts and obviously, pranks. One topic neither James nor Remus dared to bring up, however, was what they saw at Honeydukes. No, they were saving that for later, preferably for when they were alone. They didn't want to risk for Sirius to make a scene and draw even more attention to this matter—as if people weren't already talking about Sirius' reaction when Dumbledore announced Camille as their newest colleague, or about Camille setting Sirius' paper crane on fire right after reading it in Flitwick's Charms class.

"We should better get going, it gets oddly cold over here on evenings, and I don't want to risk waking up with a runny noise or a headache tomorrow," said James. "I have to be on top of my game for the Saturday match."

They all agreed and sat up from their table. But as soon as they stepped out of the Three Broomsticks, James wished he would have kept his mouth shut, because only a few meters away, Myles Hemlock was walking out of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, a well-known place for dates, followed by Camille Rainier and Lily Evans.

When his eyes laid upon her, Sirius' steps came to a sudden stop. Then, he saw Hemlock offering her his arms and Sirius pressed his lips together in a straight line, breathing through his nose. It was only when Lily left them that he was about to lose it.

"Oh, there's Marlene and Cassie. I'll go say hello and I'll catch up with you guys at Hogwarts, alright?" Lily said, waving to their other two roommates. "Let's meet at the library in an hour. Alright, Camille?"

Camille nodded, then waved at the other two girls herself. But unlike Lily Evans, who was headed in their way, she stood right where she was, her hand wrapped around Myles Hemlock's arm.

The seventh year reached forward and bent his head a little to whisper something in the girl's ear, something that made Camille blush and giggle instantly. Never had Sirius Black thought that the sound he learned to love so much, the sound of Camille's sweet laugh, would make his heart ache. But now, he wasn't the reason behind her happiness anymore. If he were to be anything, actually, Sirius was the reason for the tears that ran down her beautiful face last night.

"So it was him," Sirius said, reminding himself of the dialogue he heard on the night when they all returned to Hogwarts. It was Myles Hemlock that said he would take Camille on a date to Hogsmeade and Saturday, and he actually did.

He was supposed to be happy for her, wasn't he? Last night, it broke his heart to see her crying because of him, and he wished he would never bring tears of sadness to her eyes again. So now that he saw her smiling—no, laughing, why did he feel just as broken as he did last night? Was Sirius Black that selfish?

He didn't realize when he started walking, and he didn't hear his mates calling out his name either. It was like he was under a trance until he eventually reached Myles and Camille and his steps came to a halt right in front of her. And when Camille's eyes laid upon him, she stopped laughing all of a sudden. Before Sirius could do something foolish, Remus caught up with him from behind, followed by James and Peter.

"Black," Myles said, shooting him a confused look.

But Sirius didn't even look in his direction. His eyes were fixed on Camille, who looked behind his shoulder, instead of looking in Sirius' eyes. She refused to look at him even when Sirius called out her name, "Camille."

"Good afternoon, Remus," she said politely. When James and Peter arrived, she greeted them too and only after that, Camille allowed herself to shoot a cold glance to the boy who rudely interrupted her date. "Sirius Black."

If he thought last night was bad, the situation only just got worse. As mad as she was back then, she wasn't addressing him in such a formal manner. Hell, he would rather hear her calling him by his first name only, but he knew that was out of the question for now. His surname would have been better too. But no, Camille choose to call him by his full name, as though they were nothing but strangers to each other.

It was needless to say that Sirius wasn't thinking straight. He was irked by the sight of her hand wrapped around Myles Hemlock's arm, and he was even more annoyed to see them coming out of the tea shop. And he had to let that anger out, somehow.

"You two having fun, I assume?" Sirius said, arrogantly scoffing as he looked at Hemlock from head to toe.

"Indeed," Miles replied, then cleared his throat. "Hope you had a day as lovely as mine, Black. Or did you not run into any of your girls yet? I think I saw Kendra Dovetail earlier. You know, the Ravenclaw?"

At the mention of his girls, Camille felt a slight lump in her throat and she let go of Myles' arm. "I will leave you two to talk."

When Myles reached for her hand, Camille whisked it away and she was about to start walking, but Sirius stepped right in front of her and stopped her.

He reached forward and tilted his head to one side, apologetically whispering in his ex-lover's ear, "Please, let me walk you back to Hogwarts. Alright, Camille?"

"Go walk Kendra Dovetail," she coldly replied, then walked away from him, leaving him speechless once again.

Maybe he should have taken that as something good, a hint of jealousy maybe, a sign that she still cared about him enough to be bothered by such a foolish thing, but instead, Sirius felt like it was a mention of unfaithfulness. And the last thing he wanted her to believe was that he already moved on to somebody else, like she didn't mean a thing to him.

There was nothing the boy could do, but to hopelessly stare at her as she walked further and further away, until her silhouette was no longer in his sight.

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guys!!! we hit 700 reads, i'm crying! thank you so so much for all the love you showed to this story. it means the world to me, i cannot even find the right words to tell you how happy i am whenever i see people voting and commenting on my story 🥺 it really keeps me going. i'm eternally grateful

i can't wait to dig even deeper into this story and show you guys the chapters i wrote! i'm trying to update it weekly or maybe two times a week, but school is also crazy so please be patient with me!

i'd love to hear your thoughts on this chapter! thank you for reading and don't forget—don't be a ghostie! feedback is always welcome 🥰

yours truly,
vega