Love You In My Mind // Sirius Black

Chapter 60

Marlene snickered when we sat down on our usual seats, and I couldn't suppress a small smile either.

I didn't feel comfortable, but a little, sadistic part inside me wanted Lina to suffer a tiny bit.

"Alright," Marlene said giddily, handing me the phial with the blue tinged liquid in it.
"This is never going to work," I said, but took it none the less.
"Oh my Merlin, thank you so much, Marls, I've wanted that for ages!" I said really loudly, making heads turn towards us.
I wanted to dissappear, but kept my act up and hugged Marlene happily. "You deserve it," She replied with a smile, a little quieter than I had been. "You should test it as soon as our break starts!"

"Oh, I will," I said enthusiastically, but not too overdramatic. We had to be careful to not exaggerate, so I kept my voice at a normal volume. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"Sh, now don't make a scene. The lesson's about to start." Only the twinkle in her chocolate brown eyes let me know that she couldn't care less about the lessons.
But we had to wait for the lunch break, so we had to listen to the formalities of being an Auror and the protective measures we'd always have to take first.

As soon as the lunch break finally began, Marlene pushed me onto my feet. "Go, go, go," She murmured and winked at me. "Good luck!"

"You too," I replied and headed off to the bathroom. I could feel my heart beating against my ribcage nervously, but I had to do this. Marlene had talked for hours to convince me that this would be good for me, and I wouldn't let her down.

I gulped when I pushed the door to the girls' bathroom open. I stepped in front of one of the sinks and waited a few seconds before taking out the phial from my robes' pocket.

I concentrated hard to make out noises from outside the bathroom, and when I thought I heard quick steps come closer, I uncorked the phial and held it over my head.

The door opened just when I tilted the phial, making it seem as if I had been about to pour the liquid over me.

Marlene was a mad genius. It was actually Lina, who walked towards me and quickly snatched the phial out of my hand.
Now Marlene only had to be right a second time, and then this prank would be a success.

Lina smiled at me and studied the liquid inside the phial with curious eyes. "What is it?" She asked me in her usual, poisonous sweet voice.
But now I knew that her smile was fake whenever she directed it at me.

A lump appeared in my throat. It still hurt me that she'd just suddenly stopped liking me. Seeing her act as though she'd never stopped being my friend hurt me more than I wanted to admit.

But I smiled my perfect fake smile and pretended to be oblivious to her false kindness. "Oh, a present Marlene gave me. I've searched for something like this for ages, and she's finally found it! It's super rare, you know?"

"What is it?"

"You'll see." I held out my hand, waiting for her to give it back to me.
Just like Marlene had predicted, Lina didn't hand the phial back.

Her eyes traveled back to the blue liquid as she grabbed the phial a little tighter. "Marlene got this for you? You're pretty close, aren't you?"

I didn't know what she wanted to say with that, but I thought it would be best if I did a little smalltalk to not raise suspicion. Besides, that was what a kind person would do, and I couldn't just switch off the fact that I always wanted everyone to like me. Despite everything, I still wanted her to like me. "Yeah. Honestly, I first thought that she didn't like me for spending so much time with Sirius, but it was the opposite, really. She knew me through Sirius already, so she sat down next to me in class and the rest is history."