Sister (slow updates)

Chapter Three

The rest of the train ride, after James, Sirius, and Peter came back, was chaotic and seemed to go by quickly. I always knew James and his friends were the Hogwarts pranksters. Troublemakers. Class clowns. However, it was always rare for the five of us to be in one place together, so I never really realized exactly how excessive they could be.

I tried to sit quietly and read, but James kept pulling me from my book. I finally gave up, sighing as I closed my book and set it back in my bag. James and Sirius were messing around next to me, so I got up and moved next to Remus on the other side. He gave me a small smile before turning his attention back to his friends, exasperatedly attempting to make them stop.

A small knock on the compartment door, signaling the arrival of a particular small witch with a sweets cart, was enough to make James and Sirius come to an immediate halt. I laughed as they tumbled over each other to open the door. The group of friends bought a small pile of sweets to share among themselves. The small witch gave us a smile and moved on, the compartment door sliding shut behind her. I watched James and Sirius dig through the sweets, separating the chocolate from the rest of the pile. They each took one chocolate frog, Sirius tossed one to Peter, James handed me one, and the rest of the pile was pushed towards Remus, who rolled his eyes.

"You've got to keep stocked up somehow, Moony," James laughed, digging into the other pile for a box of Every Flavor Jelly Beans. He turned to Sirius with the box in hand and a large grin on his face. "Come on, Padfoot, let's see who gets the most nasty flavored ones."

"Would you like some more chocolate?" Remus whispered as I watched James conjure a bowl and dump all of the jelly beans inside. I turned my head to look at him. "They always do this. I usually slip a few pieces in their trunks when they've gone to change into their robes. You can have some more if you'd like."

"Oh no, that's all right. I don't need any. I probably won't even eat this one." He didn't respond, just gave a small nod and watched my brother and Sirius eat one singular jelly bean at a time, looking at each other to see who got the worst one that round. Peter sat nearby, keeping score.

Sirius was winning by the time we needed to go and change into our robes. James wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we walked. "How are you?" he whispered.

I shrugged. "What's it matter?"

James frowned. "I don't want you to feel left out, Jo. I want to make sure you're okay. You're my sister, and I care about you. Isn't that reason enough?"

"I'm fine, James. Honest. Remus and I have had some lovely conversations, and you and Sirius seemed to be having fun."

"Really? What did you talk about?"

"It's none of your business," I smiled, shoving him playfully. James grinned, shoving me back.

"Does somebody have a crush on the Remus Lupin?" he laughed.

"Of course not," I stated indignantly. "He's just very kind. He's one of your best friends, James. I doubt he sees me like that."

"Come on, Jo, it was a joke," James laughed. "I know you're not like that. You think about it more than most."

"What about you and Lily?"

"Oh, she's obsessed. She just hasn't admitted it yet."

"Yeah, sure," Sirius laughed, coming up from behind us and draping an arm around James. "Positively obsessed with the bloke she hates."

"She doesn't hate me. She's just covering up the fact that she loves me," James argued, shoving Sirius off with a grin. "Let's just go change our robes. We should be getting close to the station."