METANOIA, james potter.

11. SECRETS WE HOLD

(  11 — SECRETS WE HOLD.  )

WEEKS PASSED since students had returned to the castle. Every so often Carina found herself sitting with James Potter in the Room of Requirements. After rounds, Carina made her way up the dark stone spiral stairs being lit by the tip of her wand, heading in the direction of the seventh-floor corridor. The halls were no longer illuminated by the torches as it was long after hours. Opening the two large wooden doors it revealed two halves of the Marauders. Sirius and James fooling around in front of the fireplace sat on the rug.

"Ah, Carina! Great of you to join us!" Sirius greeted in the chirpiest tone he could muster up. "Come on in, cousin." he welcomed her in as Carina suspiciously eyed between them and slowly shutting the door behind her. The Slytherin treaded towards the two Gryffindor's in a cautious manner. "Well come on!" he ushered, getting impatient with her pace.

"All right. All right. Don't get your knickers in a twist, Sirius." she cracked, taking a seat on the sofa. "What's the occasion?" she questioned, leaning back against the sofa.

"How do you mean?" James asked, not looking away from the object they were fiddling with.

Sirius went back to helping James with whatever it was they were previous attending to. "I mean, why are we all here? At the same time nonetheless." she replied with a question, crossing her leg over the other.

"No occasion. Decided it was worth a while to spend the evening with my best mate and my favorite cousin." he answered, no sarcasm present in voice causing Carina to sit up straight, examining the two of them.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she sat there, staring at mainly Sirius. "Are you feeling ill? . . . I'm your favorite cousin?" she asked in disbelief, her face expressing her feelings the way her voice was. "I'm your favorite cousin?" she repeated, still very much in disbelief.

Sirius nodded, rotating his head to glance at Carina. "Yes, that's what I just said. . . I'm sorry, do you need help with your hearing?" he quipped, letting out a low chuckle.

"Stop messing with me, Sirius. I don't think we've reached that stage of me becoming your favorite cousin — even before your falling out." she shifted her attention to the object before them. "What's that?" she curiously asked, her finger pointed to the box.

James finally looked up, "Nothing that concerns you, love." he answered, a huge grin resting on his face.

Carina rolled her eyes, "All right, Potter." she responded with an annoyed tone. "Where are the rest of the merry men?" she jokingly enquired.

"They left a while ago, something about chocolate." he nonchalantly responded, catching Carina's attention and setting the object down to look at her. "An awful lot of questions from you today, Rina. You must be feeling unwell, sure you're feeling all right?" he asked in a serious tone.

The Slytherin had long ago tuned them out, not responding to Sirius' question. Carina pushed herself up and sat down across the fireplace, next to the two Gryffindor's. "What was it that they said about chocolate?" she asked sitting down on her feet.

Sharing a look before turning to Carina, "What's it to you, Black?" he suspiciously eyed her, trying to read her but she remained stoic.

Carina didn't answer again, pressing her lips together. "No particular reason. . . I was just curious." she replied after a moment of silence.

"Don't you know, Carina? Curiosity killed the cat." Sirius ominously stated, a smirk resting on his face.

Huffing in frustration, she pushed herself off the rug and sat herself back on the sofa. "Fine. Don't tell me. All these secrets. . . you'll both go mad one day," she matter-of-factly stated.

"Is that a threat?" James raised an eyebrow, his eyes still trained Carina.

"No, it's not. . . sadly. A warning, if you will." matching Sirius' previous tone. Leaning back on the sofa, Carina pulled out the book she was gifted a few weeks ago. Silence filled the room with only the cracking of burning wood filled the room and the occasional hushed conversations between James and Sirius. Spending the rest of her evening immersed in the story of star-crossed lovers and forbidden love. Carina found herself asking — was love really worth it all?

AUTHORS NOTE. This was meant to be a filler but it is shorter than I anticipated but here it is! If I'm being honest this wasn't my favorite chapter but next chapter will be Valentine's Day! Also the twins' birthday but I have a few plans for the next chapter. Two updates in one day! Yay!