When Time Collides

Flower Crowns

TW: mentions of smoking in this chapter for a brief moment. 
ps, i have no idea how smoking works so bear with me lol

Harry quietly exited the Common Room underneath the Invisibility Cloak. He had the Marauder's Map in one hand and his wand in the other. 

He really wanted to be with someone tonight, though he didn't know why. Maybe he wanted the company, or maybe he just didn't want to go to sleep right now, but there wasn't really any explanation to why he was sneaking out. 

He checked the map to find two set of footprints, either Pansy and Draco's, or Hermione and Ron's. He found that the Slytherin duo were closer to him, so he decided to walk over to them with the cloak over his head. 

It wasn't long before he caught up with them. 

"Boo!" he shouted, grabbing Pansy's shoulders from behind. She let out a shriek, causing Draco to jump. 

"Who the fuck is there?" Pansy yelled as her voice echoed through the quiet halls, brandishing her wand. 

Harry pulled off his cloak and started laughing, Draco following in suit after realizing what happened. 

"That was not funny," Pansy scoffed after seeing Harry, trying to catch her breath. "I actually felt my heart skip a beat." 

Harry just continued laughing. "I-I'm sorry." 

"Whatever," Pansy said, rolling her eyes with a smile. 

Draco shook his head fondly, muttering to the girl, "like father, like son." Pansy only nodded in agreement.

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Harry woke up in the middle of the night to quiet murmurs and voices. He was prone to waking up from small noises like this due to being a light sleeper. He was awkward when it came to comforting people, so he shuffled around in his bed towards the noise to see if they were in a state where he could help. 

Across from him, he saw James tiredly trying to calm down a distraught Sirius. Sirius was curled up into James's arms, crying and sobbing against his chest. Remus was on the bed with them, fast asleep. 

I guess he really is a deep sleeper, Harry thought. 

"It's okay, Sirius. It's okay. You're fine, you're with me," James said soothingly, attempting to calm the crying boy in his arms. 

"Fucking Walburga. I hate her so much," Sirius let out, clenching James's shirt. 

"I know. I hate her too." 

"Why couldn't I be fucking good enough for her? Regulus was." 

"You're perfect the way you are, Padfoot. You don't have to live up to her expectations," James replied, kissing his head softly. He wrapped a blanket around Sirius's bare body, keeping him warm.

"She fucking had me under the Cruciatus Curse. I was fucking eight! I wish I could kill her with my bare hands. Now I have to relive those memories every night," Sirius rasped out, his voice low and dry.

"Do... Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Not right now, at least."

"That's fine. Do you want to go to bed?" 

"...No." 

Harry saw James look at the clock on the nightstand. He couldn't read it properly because he didn't have his glasses, but James could.

"Well, it's around 3:45ish. Any ideas?" James asked. 

It was silent for a couple of seconds, but Sirius sat up and wiped his tears, replying with, "I think I'm gonna take a shower. It'll clear my head."