Loverboy

"I want to know about this guy."

A few hours after Ollie and her boys had talked to Pierre out on the grounds, they were in the Gryffindor common room. Ollie checked James's watch, seeing it was nearly seven. She announced this to the boys, and they followed her out the portrait door and to the Great Hall, making usual conversation.

"So why exactly are you making us talk to your new boy toy?" Remus asked while they walked, his voice sounding bored. "I mean, we don't have any interest in him."

"If you guys don't want to sit with me and Pierre, then don't," Ollie replied, her voice shifting from neutral to defensive. "I just thought maybe you'd want to get to know him."

"I want to know about this guy," James piped up. "Make sure he's good enough for you, you know?"

"Yeah," Sirius added, his voice seeming somewhat flat, especially compared to his usual rich, expressive tones. "Make sure he's up to standard."

Peter nodded along with this, though he cast a strange look at Sirius. Everyone else didn't seem to notice, though.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find he's quite alright, then," Ollie retorted as the group reached the Hall. She pushed open the door to find Pierre lingering a few feet away.

"Hey," he said, standing up straighter and smiling earnestly.

Ollie mirrored his smile. "Hi," she replied brightly, a drastic change from the defensive tone she'd had mere moments before.

Ollie and Pierre sat down at Gryffindor's table, the other four boys falling into place with them.

Ollie and Pierre immediately launched into passionate conversation about whatever crossed their minds as they piled food onto their plates. James and Remus pitched in, James in particular seeming to rather take a liking to Pierre. Remus didn't seem to mind him either. Peter occasionally inserted himself in their discussion, and seemed to adore Pierre as well. Remus seemed to find Pierre interesting as well.

Sirius joined the conversation here and there, mostly just when he heard them mention certain things that caught his attention. Other than that though, he just watched his friends talk to this new guy.

More than that, though, he watched Ollie leaning towards this boy. He watched her face, alight with a joy he hadn't seen since last May, and watched as she paid little attention to her three other friends in the conversation.

It felt to Sirius as though he was watching from a distance as he eyed this girl and tuned out their words. He looked at Ollie, the girl he'd met on the train all those years ago. The girl who, at just eleven years old, was filled to the brim with love for anyone who would take it.

The girl who, as the years went on, slowly became harder and more closed off. The girl who, at sixteen, looked hardly anything like her younger self. Her hair was shorter, she had bangs, her teeth weren't crooked- she wasn't a kid anymore. She was turning into a young woman, a refined and sobered lady.

But at that moment, as Sirius watched her laugh at something that other boy said, he saw the girl from the train. He didn't just see Olivia Sato, like that boy did. He saw Ollie.

His Ollie. The girl who, since that fateful train ride when they were merely eleven, he knew was someone special.

As he thought this, as he thought how this new boy would never see Ollie the way he had, as he thought of how his Ollie deserved so much more, Sirius felt in his insides churning.

It felt like someone was stabbing his heart over and over again with a blunt kitchen knife. His head began to pound with the sheer anger and sadness he felt as he watched Ollie place her delicate hand on that other boy's shoulder, as she laughed at his jokes, as he watched his best friend start to fall for someone else.

Of course, he'd seen it before; he'd seen Ollie fall for Victoria. He'd watched it happen, knowing since that evening Ollie came to Gryffindor Tower, her hair down and her eyes shining. He'd known what was happening long before Ollie did, and he knew that it was happening again.

And of course, Sirius wanted Ollie to be happy more than anything. She was one of the most amazing people in his life. But he didn't want to to be with this random seventh year she'd only met that summer- he wanted it to be someone who really would care about her.

Someone like him. But no, Ollie had already latched onto this Pierre, without either of them realizing it. And as Sirius watched the two of them chatting with his other friends, he saw that the other boy was falling too.

And he couldn't help but feel it eating away at his insides, and he couldn't stop the jealousy creeping over him.

He watched Ollie laugh at something Pierre said as she gently shoved him.

"Right, Sirius?" she said, grinning, snapping Sirius back to reality and out of his own thoughts.

"What?" he said.

"Olivia was talking about how you guys have been best friends since your first year," Pierre supplied, giving Sirius a slightly concerned look, which made Sirius even more upset, though he didn't let it show.

"Oh, yeah," he replied, trying to sound like he'd been paying attention. "Since the train ride here. Sorry, I got distracted."

"That's okay," Pierre said. "It happens to the best of us."

Pierre's genuine kindness only made it worse for Sirius. He was so nice, and such a genuinely sweet person, so Sirius's sudden, irrational hatred only made him feel like a worse person because of it.

And worst of all, Sirius could see why Ollie was drawn to Pierre. Aside from the mysterious pretty boy thing he had going on, he seemed like a genuinely caring person. And Sirius, who's known Ollie for years, knew that of course she would be drawn to a gentle, kind personality.

Because it was a perfect complement to her own showy but loving personality. And Sirius could see where this was going and he knew that with this boy in the picture, he didn't stand a chance with her.

And he just couldn't shake the rage and despair from this revelation.

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i'm literally in love with this chapter y'all i'm so proud of this one. the new boy is causing problems!! pierre's personality is a combination of some of the people i know in real life, especially a particular acquaintance of mine who is a star athlete, super popular, and he is such a kind person as well. His likability and caringness was a major inspiration for Pierre's character. anyway pierre also shares some physical characteristics with this guy, but also some with Sirius and some inspiration was drawn from fleur delacour in the original series. so yeah fun character bit or whatever. How are you guys? I hope it's good, make sure you drink some water and eat a lil snack. All my love, Atlas

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