Selenophile // Marauders

|78| Tea, Sixth Year

"RILEY!" Lily screamed right after Riley told her she was going to have tea with Ralph Sherman. "This is absolutely fantastic!"

"There's no need to make a big deal out of it!" said Riley as Dorcas and Marlene simultaneously entered the dormitory. Lily was too busy smiling foolishly and screaming. Riley noticed the two girls holding hands and quickly going in different directions after seeing Riley look at them.

"Woah!" she mouthed to Marlene as she gave a quick nod. Riley smiled more to this than to her own date on Saturday.

"I can't believe it!" said Lily cheerfully.

"What?!" said Dorcas nervously.

"Riley got a date with Ralph Sherman!" said Lily. Marlene's jaw dropped as Dorcas' hands flew to her mouth.

"The Ralph Sherman?!" said Marlene. "That's so fucking amazing!"

"It's not a date!" said Riley as she smiled a bit without realizing.

"It is!" said Lily. "It definitely is, Riley! Stop being so bloody oblivious!"

"I don't even like him that much, Lily!"

"Yes, you do! When is the date?" said Lily.

"Saturday."

***

9th of January, 1977 (Saturday)

Riley put on a burgundy sweater and a black skirt. She left her hair loose and put on a black, fluffy beanie hat. She then put her coat on and walked out of the dormitory. She got out of the common room as she got stopped by two people.

"Where are you goin'?" asked Sirius. Remus was standing next to him, raising his eyebrow.

"Hogsmeade," said Riley flatly, sort of creeped out by how the two were acting. "Why do you care?"

"You never go to Hogsmeade on your own on weekends, Crim," said Remus. "And since we are not going, Lily's not going—"

"How do you know Lily's not going?" said Riley as she leaned on the wall next to her.

"We have our own ways," said Sirius.

"We literally just asked her, Padfoot," said Remus as he rolled his eyes. "And it's not Wormy or James because they are in detention with Flitwick."

"Why?"

"Because we blamed a prank on them," said Sirius. "The look on their faces was so fucking priceless!" he said with a grin and Remus laughed.

"So who are you going with?" asked Remus.

"That's none of your business," said Riley laughingly. "Why do you care anyway?"

"Because we are your friends and we are very loving," said Sirius as he slurred his words. "Who is it? Are you going on a date?"

"What?! No!" said Riley in defense. "I'm not!"

"She's lying," said Remus as he turned to Sirius. "She's going on a date with Ralph Sherman."

Riley's eyes widened and sighed in defeat.

"How do you know that?!"

"Because I happen to be friends with Sybill Trelawney, that strange Ravenclaw girl. She's a bit weird, to be honest— but she's friends with Sherman, and all she talks about is how her friend was going to meet up with this 'muggle-born Gryffindor girl,'" explained Remus.

"Don't you know anyone else who's a muggle-born and a Gryffindor?!"

"Lily, Mary, and you. Well you just exposed yourself, we asked Lily earlier, and Mary's dating Benjy Fenwick—" Sirius said.

"She's dating Fenwick?! That bitch never told me this!" said Riley in shock.

"Buh, buh, buh, bup! You're already late for your date Miss Spade!" said Sirius mockingly as the two started to walk away.

***

Riley entered Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. It was crowded with people sitting at little tables, having a tea or drink as they talked sweetly. Riley took her hat off and looked around to see Ralph Sherman sitting on a table right at the corner, waving at her. She walked towards him and sat in the chair right across from him.

"Hi," he said kindly as he shifted in his sweet. Riley smiled.

"Hi," she said back. "I've never come here before, it's nice."

"Me neither, I usually go to Three Broomsticks when I come to Hogsmeade but it's nice to go to new places."

"Yeah, I spend a lot of time in Zonko's—" she said but then went silent. "Not to prank anyone— it's just a nice place..."

"I remember what you guys did in first year, turned Snape's hair bright red. And then filled every common room with green bubbles, then tried to charm Snape's quill so that it would be useless... And then set dungbombs probably everywhere around the castle—"

"If you're going to list them all, it's going to be a long day..." said Riley smilingly.

"Yeah... I guess there is a reason why none of you are prefects!" he said with a laugh.

"Remus was a prefect last year, but then he quit. And you're not a prefect yourself either!" Riley said jokingly. "Maybe pranks aren't that bad, Sherman."

"I hate it when people call me by my surname," he then said. "You can call me Ralph instead?"

"All right, Ralph."

"Thanks, Riley."

"I haven't met you before in school all these years," said Riley. "I wonder why because it seems like I was the only one."

"Dunno," he said. "I guess it's just luck. I know your friend, Mary."

"How?"

"We are friends, but not too close," he said. Riley tried to process all of this.

"I'm learning a lot about Mary today..." she then said. "Turns out she is close with everyone in school..."

They chatted for an hour or so about different things. Riley didn't realize how quickly time passed by. Ralph was sweet, not like any other Slytherin Riley had met. He wasn't judging, he hadn't called her a 'mudblood' in this past hour, and he didn't comment on her family. Riley hadn't experienced a decent talk with a Slytherin without getting offended before. He was actually fun.

"Look," Ralph said. "You seem like a great person. So, maybe we should do this again another time?" he asked softly with a small smile.

"Yeah, all right," Riley said joyfully. "Next week?"