𝗰𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗸, remus lupin

˗ˋ 50

CHAPTER FIFTY
✧
-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH SIRIUS
MAKES A POINT

. . .

Sirius Black had known Pandora for a long time. Since their childhood, in the years were Dysnomia wasn't so unstable and she had hosted one or two pure-blood elite only events and even brought her husband and child into others that the members of the Sacred 28 held. He couldn't remember much of the matriarch - which quite frankly is only a plus for him considering the stories he had heard through the grapevine and what Remus had mentioned - but he did have some pretty resounding memories of her daughter.

She was pretty, even as a child, in an almost doll-sort of fashion that contradicted greatly with the grown up, dark clothes that her mother dressed her in. She was quiet, always sitting in a corner and only ever speaking when being spoken to, and never ever said anything nice. Pandora, even if she didn't realise it as a child, spoke the truth and nothing but. Which was often hurtful, and increasingly rude for someone of her status, age and familial values.

But when she stopped attending the parties, Sirius wasn't going to lie to everyone and claim that he wasn't thrilled by the concept of it. In fact, he was quite prepared to never see Pandora Rosier until he was forced to in the corridors of Hogwarts, and even then it was deeply integrated into his thoughts that he would spend his time ignoring her. 

He had never imagined that her father was unhinged enough to kill her mother for that matter, and he supposed there was some sort of influence there that only deepened his disliking, but even without that it was plainly obvious to him that out of all the pure-bloods he knew, Pandora Rosier wasn't a good one.

And Sirius had never once thought that he would be sitting in an armchair merely three feet from her in the Gryffindor Common Room. He had never thought that James Potter would be  sat across from her, Peter perched by the fire and out of everyone, he had never imagined that Remus bloody Lupin would be sat right beside her, pointing something out in her textbook. 

It was a miracle that they had found the Common Room empty, free of any other students during their free period that afternoon. Both James and Sirius were skipping their hastily picked Care of Magical Creatures lesson to be there - but they weren't about to let Peter get eaten alive whilst sitting in a room with only Remus and Pandora Rosier. 

And he wasn't ever going to approve of this happening, hands clasped across his lap as he discarded the Transfiguration homework he was attempting to concentrate on. He couldn't quite frankly. He had never approved of Remus being so nice to people, especially not those who didn't deserve it. And Pandora, who had done so many things that directly impacted him that by now Sirius would have thought that even calm, patient Remus Lupin wouldn't be able to deal with it now, did not deserve that kidness.

"So." Sirius clasped his hands together, shoving the textbook down the side of the armchair. "This is lovely. Just me, my best friends and the girl who is devoted to utter insanity. Who hears voices and makes butterflies and jumps out of windows and doesn't care about anyone other than herself. This is so nice."

Pandora paused, her hand tightened around the parchment she was writing on. Her eyes flickered up over to Sirius over the top of the book on which the parchment was balanced on. "I care about other people." She replied. 

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"Remus." 

"As if. You do all this shit to him and then you say that you like him? Please." Sirius scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Because you are just so nice."

"Padfoot, please, stop with the passive-aggressive bullshit. If she cares about me, so be it." Remus hummed, not even averting his gaze from his book, instead reaching forward to dip the tip of his quill into the ink well on the coffee table in front of him.

James watched in amusement, a sort of smug smile on his face as he looked between Sirius and the pair sat beside him.

"Something to say, James?" Sirius asked pointedly. He was getting far too wound up over this, that was becoming increasingly obvious.

"It's not me you're annoyed with, mate." James rose his hands up in mock surrender. "Go back to your 'this is so nice', 'aren't we having a great time here?' sarcasm, it's going really well for you."

"Fuck off." Sirius eyebrows furrowed slightly, looking back to them with a slightly accusatory element to his glare. "So, if Pandora cares about you, Remus, do you care about her?" 

The Lupin did look up at that, a deadpan look in his eyes as he let out an exasperated sigh. "Sirius, by process of elimination, considering that I spend as much time with her as I do, don't you think that's definitely a possibilty?" He asked, eyebrow raised. 

Pandora looked rather remotely amused. "Does that surprise you, Sirius? Is it so shocking that after someone has spent time with me they actually like me?" 

"What?" Sirius blanked, staring at her. It was the first time she had actually said something that wasn't in whispered tones to Remus since entering the room. "Actually, you know what, it does surprise me. It surprises me that you've been able to somehow keep my best friend under your tethers for months, it surprises me that he's able to hold a conversation with you, and it surprises me that he's able to spend any time with you at all." 

"Sirius-" Remus' eyes flashed with something that Sirius couldn't identify. Something quite akin to panicked worry, glancing towards Pandora pointedly. 

Pandora stared at him. "Do you not have eyes?" She asked.

"What?"

"Do you not have eyes? Can you not see?"

"Yes, I can see." Sirius scoffed. 

"Then you shouldn't be surprised. It's been happening for a while now." Pandora replied, averting her gaze back to her parchment. James chuckled, Sirius glared at him and he stifled it with a cough. 

But no more would be said on that, the Rosier had proved it.

✧

a/n
i'm so sorry for
this being up a day
late!