fatal love

chapter 76

They had only been back at Hogwarts for a couple of weeks, but everyone had been incredibly busy. The oncoming danger of OWLs had become more scary now that the holidays had passed, and most students either spent most of their free time revising, or procrastinating while worrying about their revision.

Remus, and to a lesser extent, James, fell into the first camp. Remus was spending at least an hour every day making notes in the library, while James was carefully scheduling his revision around his Quidditch practice, and his commitment to practical jokes.

Peter, on the other hand, was in the group of students who never did any work, but constantly talked about how much work they had to do, and was looking increasingly anxious whenever he finally got the motivation to open one of his textbooks.

Sirius had resigned himself to distracting each of them, one at a time, to prevent boredom from setting in. He also spent a lot of time with Marlene, getting her to help him analyse every single interaction he had with Remus, or really anything Remus did at all, though he got the feeling she was getting bored of hearing about whether Remus had chosen toast or cereal for breakfast that day.

Andromeda had also replied to his letter, a week after he had written to her. He opened the letter during breakfast eagerly.

Dear Sirius,

It was wonderful to hear from you. I'm glad you're back at Hogwarts, and away from our awful family. I heard through the gossip chains that you were well-behaved at the Carrows' party, so well done. I know it isn't easy, to be around all those awful people and not just want to explode, but it's much better in the long run to keep your head down. I'm proud of you.

Nymphadora (that's her name, by the way, not 'Dora') says hello. She's just starting to talk in full sentences, and I've been showing her photos of you, so that whenever she sees you next, she'll know who you are.

Ted sends his regards as well. We both know OWLs are coming up, so work hard. Fifth Year is tough, but it'll be over before you know it. And then you'll have to deal with NEWTs, and you'll be wishing for things as simple as the OWL exams.

Have fun as well. I hope you're having lots of fun with your friends, and not letting the time spent with the Blacks get to you. Try and put it out of your mind while at Hogwarts, and make the most of your time there.

I'm missing you, always.

Love,

Andy

The January full moon fell on the seventeenth that year, which was a Saturday. Luckily or unluckily, depending on how he looked at it, Sirius did not have to spend the whole day alone in the dorm with Remus. All four Marauders were holed up in their room, trying to figure out the spells for their map.

They had an almost complete drawing, now, that covered every inch of the castle and the grounds. It had taken months, but they had done it, sneaking out nightly to measure corridors and classrooms and staircases.

Now, they had to make it move. Remus had had the idea that they should link the map to the magic of the castle, somehow, so recently, the four of them had gone down a rabbit hole of research on enchanted buildings, trying to find out if there was a way to tap into that magic.

"Hey, Moony," James said, deceptively casual, about an hour before they would all have to leave and go to the Shack.

"What is it, James?" Remus asked, not looking up from his book.

"I was just thinking about tonight..."

"Mhm?"

"And, well, we were all thinking, really, that maybe we try and leave the Shack this time?"