Padfoot and The Mermaid

Chapter Eighteen ~ What Lies Ahead

Sirius had been treating (y/n) strangely for the past few weeks, first he'd been awfully distant, he'd hardly spoken to her. Now he wouldn't leave her side, as if he were her guardian angel. Thanks to his new foundings, he felt the need to protect the girl in case of accident.

For starters, the boy now carried a spare towel with him at all times, though he never had to use it for its intended purpose, he just couldn't help but be careful. Sirius felt the stress that (y/n) was feeling, and then some, plus he hadn't managed to tell the girl that he knew.

And of course he hadn't brought up the topic of dating, he hadn't even uttered the word to her since the day the ball had been announced. But then again, (y/n) hadn't mentioned the topic either, and she wasn't inclined to telling Sirius the truth any time soon.

The two still liked each other, sometimes Sirius believed it was more than that. He had to get around to asking her out again, and he had to tell her about the lake. 

"It's snowing, what a shame, I guess we can't go outside." Sirius sighed, (y/n) shrugged the boys words off and rushed out to the quad, which was completely covered in a thick blanket of snow.

For some reason the snow had no affect on (y/n), but when it melted, then that was when it became troublesome. Just to be careful (y/n) always placed protective charms when out on the snow, they weren't very strong, that's why she couldn't protect herself from the rain.

"It's just a little snow, it won't hurt you." (y/n) teased, she slipped on her gloves and grabbed a handful of the white shimmery substance.

"Take this." She shouted, immediately a snowball was sent right to Sirius- face.

"But-." Sirius muttered, he stood in utter confusion, snow was water, wasn't it?

"You look confused." (y/n) said, she'd caught on to some of the boys actions, though she still had no idea the magnitude of their current situation. She was unsure how much he knew about her, though she could never had guessed that he knew the whole truth. That was their dilemma, she was still living a lie, and Sirius didn't bother to change that. 

The two had been digging holes for themselves, and they would only grow deeper and deeper with each passing day. 

"I am." Sirius sighed, he picked up a handfull of snow and slammed it straight onto (y/n)'s head, sending a shiver down the girls spine. He was prepared for her to transform, and he was also prepared to carry her straight out of there if need be. 

But luckily, the boy would never have to do that, at least, not today. (y/n) was perfectly fine, and it seemed that the snow hadn't effected her at all. A snowball fight of epic proportions quickly broke out between the two wizards, though it ended with (y/n) claiming victory and Sirius being buried in an icy grave.

The Marauders, Lily, and (y/n) all sat at a grand table in the common room, the same one that had held several meetings prior to the current day. They were once again discussing their fate, this time the topic was the ball, which they were all so eager to attend.

Peter spoke first, and he wore such a large grin when doing so. 

"Well before you all speak, I'd just like to say that I've got a date, so don't you worry about me." Peter beamed, he sat back down and chuckled to himself, he seemed to be the best off out of the whole group, who were still in disarray on who was doing what. 

"I'm going stag." Remus replied, he crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, he was worried about (y/n) and Sirius, who's relationship status was still up in the air. 

The others remained silent, then Lily did something unimagineable. 

"James and I will go together, that way-." Lily began, though James was so taken aback by the statement that he didn't know what to say, he had no snarky comments to share with everyone.

"That way you two can go together." James recovered, he'd finally managed to catch his breath, he pointed to (y/n) and Sirius, who weren't sitting beside one another, let alone glancing in each others directions. 

"I'm going stag too." (y/n) said, she didn't want to deal with all that dating stuff, any of it. She thought she was ready to be with Sirius, she'd fought so hard to get there, but now she was terrified. Dating Sirius was different, it brought up challenges that she had never faced before in a relationship, it was different with Clye and Remus, she feared that something would go wrong. 

"But-." Sirius began, the others pitied the poor boy, but they shook their heads at him when he tried to speak up. 

"Next order of business, winter break." James muttered, he felt like a lawyer when speaking at these meetings, though they weren't really meetings at all, they were simply discussions that resulted in plans. Plans that would be forgotten and ignored and trampled on come the time of the event that they were intended for. 

"We're all going home, easy as that." (y/n) said, Sirius' face fell when James mentioned break, and it hadn't returned to normal.

"I'm staying." Sirius muttered, he crossed his arms like Remus and sat low in his chair, he took after his best friend, and he was adopting his gloominess.

"You can't stay Sirius, you'll be all alone." Lily stated, her voice was so kind and endearing, it was soothing to the ear, and nearly brought a smile back on Sirius' face.

"You can stay with me." Remus offered, James sighed and spoke his mind, something that he often did without anyone's permission.

"No, stay with me, Peter's nearby, it'll be loads of fun." James said quickly. 

Soon another argument broke out, everyone began shouting at one another, everyone except the ladies of course, who were watching from afar.

"Everyone shut up!" (y/n) shouted, she was standing, just as Lily had been during her outburst. "Sirius is staying with me, and that's that." (y/n) said harshly, she'd gotten every single one of the Marauders shaking in their shoes, which brought a smile to her and Lily's faces.

Sirius couldn't stop grinning after that, and Remus was relatively happy about the ordeal as well, him and (y/n) were neighbors after all, he'd practically gotten what he'd bargained for.

"I guess that's settled then, I suggest we have a party tomorrow, it's the last Hogsmeade trip of the semsester, we ought to end things right." James said, he of course had to get the last word in, he wouldn't be acting himself if he hadn't done so.

"Sounds good." Peter added, the others agreed to it, meaning that it was set in stone. Though they all knew that James would've thrown the party with or without the approval of his friends. This was James Potter, he could never pass the chance to throw a party.