Padfoot and The Mermaid

Chapter Nine ~ Rumor Has It

"Did you hear about the mermaid?"

"Do you think they're a student?"

I thought mermaids were just ugly little things down at the bottom of the lake?"

"This one's beautiful i've heard."

"So is it a boy or a girl?"

(y/n) nearly fainted as she entered the grand hall, there was an awful lot of chatter going on, and plenty of rumors spreading around.

"I heard she hypnotized the witness so her identity would be kept a secret."

"Well I heard she kissed the witness, maybe that's how she did it."

"I heard she's a Gryffindor."

"No, Ravenclaw."

Lily and (y/n) sat in their usual seats, which were near the center of the large Gryffindor table. The Marauders were already seated there, Remus seemed the most concerned out of the group of four, the others were simply chatting away, telling their own versions of the supposed rumor.

"(y/n), did you hear about-." Peter began.

"The mermaid, yes, unfortunately." (y/n) scoffed, she was beginning to lose her cool, she felt like screaming at the top of her lungs, hopefully the rumors would die down and things would return to normal.

"If I ever see that mermaid, then I'll capture her and sell her for loads of money." Sirius teased, "Or maybe keep her as a pet, a very beautiful pet." He continued, (y/n) rolled her eyes at the boy and aggressively stabbed her hash browns.

"How could you even think such a thing Sirius." (y/n) scoffed.

"I was only kidding, I'd never do a thing like that." Sirius responded, Remus had picked up on (y/n)'s distress and began to whisper something in her ear:

"They'd be understanding if you just told them the truth." Remus whispered, (y/n) sighed and shook her head.

"The less people know the better it'll be." (y/n) sighed, though ultimately she knew she was wrong, she just couldn't quite accept that. She shivered at the thought of telling them, she didn't understand her fear, it had gradually grown worse over the years, with close calls happening left and right. She was sure that James would be open and very understanding about it, and Peter would probably think of it like a super power. Then there was Sirius, she had no idea what he would think, or what he would say, or even do. Everyone else in the world could know but him, Sirius was the one she feared the most in terms of finding out about her.

"(y/n) what would you do if you saw the mermaid." Peter asked in curiousity, his investment in the rumor was rather alarming, he'd surely find out on his own at this rate. The boy had such a pure look on his face, yet (y/n) couldn't help but act hostile, this was a matter of life or death in her eyes. She wished that Dumbledore would do something to put an end to the stupid rumors, but she knew that he'd never act on something as stupid as this.

"I've already seen it." (y/n) said, she stood up and headed for the Gryffindor common rooms, there was a great deal of terror in her eyes as she stormed away from the table. Her hands began to shake, and she knew that her voice would tremor if anyone tried to speak with her. She'd tried her best to keep things under wraps, why did they have to go to shit now?

(y/n) sunk down in one of the grand chairs placed near the fireplace, she buried her face in her hands. She was sure that at least one of the Marauders had come after her, she could hear their footsteps trailing behind her, they were too loud to be Lily.

The painting swung wide open, revealing Sirius Black in the doorway. He was alone, luckily, though that hardly made things better. (y/n) looked up at the boy, his expression seemed so pure in the moment, his eyes were wide like a doe's, and his lips were calm and collective.