Hiding {Marauders AU}

Chapter 3

While the boys thought Hogsmeade was fun and enjoyed talking to the odd siblings, it didn't seem that they felt the same. Sure, Zared, Adonis and Phoenix talked to them, sometimes Ajax as well but that was only if they came up to him, but it wasn't like they were friends, or getting close. This surprised the Marauders because they were unsure of what else they could do, it just seemed as though the Jones' didn't want friends, but why?

The boys weren't ones to give up, anyone could tell you that, just look at James, six years in and he's still chasing after Lily. So while the six Jones kids seemed set on keeping to boys at arms length the four were coming up with a plan to break through what seemed to be an unnecessary barrier. Their first idea was to go back to watching them and seeing if there was anything they had missed the first time that could indicate why they didn't want people close. Remus, however, was quick to point out that not only did the six know they had "stalked" them but that could also be a reason they were keeping them away. And he was right, stalking someone doesn't exactly give off the vibe of friendship, so the boys started thinking again.

"Okay, what if we use the map and invisibility cloak? Then there's no way they could know?" James suggested.

"It's still stalking, come on guys stalking someone isn't going to help us be friends with them!" Remus was really getting annoyed at this point.

"Okay, okay. How 'bout we continue talking to Zared, Adonis and Phoenix, since they seem to be more open. Then while doing that we can try and find out why the others are so cold?" Sirius suggested.

"Yeah, if you think about if Ajax is incredibly nice but he's always with the other girl-"

"Hedy" Remus cut Peter off.

"Right, so maybe they just keep us away because Hedy and um..."

"Acacia" Remus once again interrupted.

"-Because Hedy and Acacia are cold." Peter finally finished.

"What do you mean? Like the others don't let people in because their sisters aren't open to the idea or something?" Sirius asked.

"Hey that kind of makes some sense Wormtail!" James exclaimed. That's when the plan was formed. The boys knew that couldn't just go back to stalking and not talking because that would become obvious, so instead they would continue to talk to the siblings that were willing to, and slightly watch those who weren't. It wasn't that they were trying to find out their secret just to know it, they just thought that if it was anything like Remus's then maybe having support wouldn't be bad. While the Marauders had weird ways of trying to prove their friendship it really wasn't as malicious as it sounded.

The next morning, the boys thought it was time to up their game, so when they walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, instead of heading to the Gryffindor table they moved towards the end of the Hufflepuff table, where only three of the six siblings sat. When the boys took their seats, Sirius and Peter sat on Zared right, Remus on his left, James was the only one brave enough to sit on the side occupied by the two Ravenclaws, but even he sat to the left of Ajax not daring to sit next to the girl.

"Uh - Ahem" Zared cleared his throat, surprised by the four boys' presence. "Hey guys, 'Sup?"

"Sup!" James replied, filling his plate.

"We know that we don't normally sit here, but um we just thought why not? If it's a problem we can leave, no big deal." Remus clarified, he was quite nervous about their bold move.

"Oh! Don't worry about it, no trouble at all. We're just waiting for the rest to show up!" Ajax said extremely welcoming and happily it surprised the boys because they hadn't ever really talked to him. The boys just smiled and they all went on eating, there wasn't conversation but it wasn't exactly awkward, before it could reach that point they were joined by none other than the Hufflepuff himself.