Four To The End (prev Shifting Lines) Book Three (Marauders Era)

Chapter Sixty-Two - The Gossiping Ghoul

Author's note: I most likely will be unable to get the chapter out Friday, sorry, so the next chapter will be next Tuesday

-x-

The trip back to Hogwarts was exceedingly crowded, and Remus wanted to jump out of the carriage and find an empty one. Besides the Marauders, the three girls had gotten in as well. Sirius and Cassie were seeing each other again, and she practically sat in his lap. Lily said that she and David had decided that they shouldn't see each other, and she had shoved herself between Remus and Peter. Alice didn't want to be left out so she was where James usually sat. James was on the floor cracking jokes about looking up the girls' skirts, even though the only one in a skirt was Cassie and her legs were clamped tight together as they curled around Sirius's legs.

Remus kept his nose in a book to avoid listening to Sirius and Cassie coo at one another, except at one point when he had to break up a fight between James and Lily when James, bored of trying to wind Lily up with the skirt thing, kept making mean comments about her feet smelling until she stomped on his chest. James pushed himself as far from Lily as he could get but in the cramped carriage there wasn't much room.

By the time they got back to the school, Remus was sweaty, sick, and his skin felt itchy and tight. He gladly burst out of the carriage, taking in deep gulps of air, the chilliness feeling good against him.

"What happened with David?" Remus asked after the others barreled past him, Lily staying behind.

She linked arms with him and he did his best to ignore the screaming agony of the feeling. "He asked me to be his girlfriend."

"Oh."

"I..." She bit her lip. "I like him well enough but when he asked me I realized I didn't like him, not enough for that."

"Is it... the other person you like?" he asked.

She blushed a little. "I don't know. Maybe. I don't know," she said again. "Perhaps I should have said yes. I mean, he's nice. He's very nice. And cute."

"If you don't like him enough, I think you did the right thing," he suggested, trying to be helpful.

"Yes, I think you're right about that. I just feel bad. Are you all right?"

He glanced over at her. "Hmm? About what?" Had she guessed how awful he felt with their arms touching?

"Sirius and Cassie getting back together."

He tried not to wince at those words. "I don't care. If Sirius is happy that's all that matters. I—I don't... it's not like that. I swear it. I won't lie, he does... look nice..." He said that in the whisperingest of whispers he could manage with her still being able to hear. "That doesn't mean anything though. You've admitted the same. But you don't fancy him."

Lily let out a long sigh. "All right, I'll stop bothering you about it."

Am I jealous? he thought to himself as they went into the Great Hall for supper. Sirius and Cassie were seated next to each other already, heads bent in close as they talked. A little, he admitted to himself. Does it matter? No.

"How did you enjoy your first time ever in Hogsmeade?" James asked Remus loudly as he and Lily took seats.

Remus glared at him. "It was fine, except one of my friends would not be quiet enough to let me enjoy it."

"Sirius, you should have been quiet and let poor Remus enjoy Hogsmeade," James said and Sirius threw a napkin at him. "You enjoyed the butterbeer, right?"

Remus clenched his teeth. "Do you want me to murder you in your sleep?"

"For what, asking if you enjoyed the butterbeer?" Cassie asked, confused. That sent James, Sirius, and Peter all into loud laughter while the girls frowned.