The Kind Hufflepuff

Chapter 42: Broken Foursome

---

The Kind Hufflepuff - Year Two

Chapter Forty- Two: Broken Foursome

---

Secrets and Hogwarts did not typically coexist within each other, it was hard for anyone to have a secret within the four walls of the castle that nobody else knew of. The painting chattered a little too often, and the ghosts were often a little too invested in the happenings of the adolescents lives that walked through the halls of the school. Secrets were typically not something that could last very long, in fact, a secret existing within the walls seemed to be almost unheard of.

But the Gryffindor Table had been awfully quiet, the typically rowdy second year Gryffindor's were being uncharacteristically quiet in the following days. Cali hadn't initially thought anything of it, hadn't considered that her trip to the Forbidden Forest had coincided with the four boys to be actively avoiding each other. Remus Lupin seemed to be avoiding them at all costs, going as far as to avoid the Great Hall to avoid talking to the other boys that hounded him and pleaded to talk to him whenever they saw the scarred boy. The first day after the trip, the other three boys banned together to talk to the scarred Gryffindor but after that day, it seemed as though it was James and Sirius with Peter on the outside, him following the two begging for forgiveness.

It was not a well-kept secret that the four boys were feuding, it wasn't even a well-kept secret that the three boys had done something to piss off Remus but then Peter accidentally pissed off James and Sirius. The secret, the thing that really plagued the entirety of Hogwarts' mind is the question as to why. Why were the normally loud foursome now stoically quiet? Even the two boys who were talking to each other- James and Sirius- who were arguably the loudest of the four boys anyways were barely heard.

Cali would be lying if she hadn't noticed all of this if she didn't keep an ear out in the same way that the rest of Hogwarts did. The chatters and gossip that filled the walls about the boys seemed almost impossible to ignore, though Cali supposed that she probably could have tried a bit harder. Greta, her best friend who seemed increasingly more obsessed with the ways of the boys as time passed, was all over the gossip so Cali did not really have to try so hard to find out what was going on.

"You should talk to them," Greta pointed out to the girl, her eyes still trained on the Gryffindor table.

Remus Lupin had been adopted by the Gryffindor girls- Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, and Mary MacDonald. He seemed to enjoy their presence, frequently reading, or discussing passionately the books with the other girls. Cali didn't even try to suspect what the books were about, but he didn't seem completely depressed about the recent situation. But she noticed that his smiles weren't as bright, and he didn't laugh nearly as much around the girls than he did around the boys.

James Potter and Sirius Black were constantly huddled in a corner, typically not far from Remus Lupin himself. Sometimes they would try to gain his attention, but Remus wasn't having any of it. They seemed exasperated and upset about the situation at hand, though there would be waves of happiness. But Cali knew that the happiness would die when they realized they couldn't share whatever it was with Remus and Peter, even if they weren't willing to admit.

Frankly, even though Peter Pettigrew was the boy that she knew the least out of the foursome, it was him that she felt bad about. He was the least social of the group, the only one that seemed to not have created any friends that weren't the four boys themselves. As a result of the recent few weeks, Peter Pettigrew was more often than not, completely alone. He didn't seem to sit with anyone during meals, he didn't seem to talk to anyone in the halls. He was just alone, and it seemed to be affecting him more and more with each passing day.