All the Young Dudes ( Sirius' Perspective )

Fifth Year : Secrets

Saturday 17th January 1976

“This is rubbish,” James said, crumpling up a piece of parchment and chucking it into the fireplace.

“Come on, don’t whinge—you just need to think of things that rhyme with ‘Lily.’”

“Like what??”

“It’s easy—here.” Sirius grabbed for another piece of parchment, scribbling a few lines. He set down his quill and cleared his throat dramatically, humming a jaunty tune.

“Oh dear Lily….don’t be silly….I want you to suck on my—”

“Oi!”

James threw a book at him, and Sirius laughed as he dodged. “What? You asked for my help!”

“Singing songs about other women, Black?” Mary said, arching an eyebrow as she flopped down next to him on the sofa. “Should I be worried?”

“’Course not,” he grinned, craning his neck to look back at the portrait hole, “Where’re Moony and Marlene?” The three of them had gone to the library to study—Sirius had expected them to return together.

“Still in the library,” Mary waved a hand, “What are you lot fussing over?”

“Trying to help James with his top-secret plot for our next Hogsmeade weekend.”

“Oh, you don’t say? Would that top-secret plot involve asking out a certain redhead that we all know and love?”

“My dear lady,” Sirius gasped, clutching his heart, “However did you guess?”

James groaned, crumpling up another piece of parchment. “Bugger it…it’s hopeless…” he muttered to himself, “Not a single bloody idea…” Mary and Sirius exchanged a look.

“Cheer up, mate,” Sirius said, encouragingly, “Mary and I’ll be there to support you—and Peter and Desdemona. And Remus and Marlene, once I talk to him.”

“Oh, you haven’t asked him yet?” Mary murmured absentmindedly. She’d procured a file from somewhere, and was working on her nails, “D’you want me to talk to Marlene about it? I’m sure she’d say yes.”

“Nah, s’alright,” Sirius said, “I can talk to Moony.” At least—he was pretty sure that he could.

The problem was that Remus seemed to be avoiding him, ever since the tapestry incident. Sirius wasn’t entirely sure what he’d done to offend him, but for the entirety of the past two days anytime Sirius entered a room Remus found some excuse to leave it.

He’d talked to James about it, who suggested that maybe Moony was miffed that he hadn’t been more considerate. After all, they knew Remus was on patrol that night; maybe their friend felt like they were taking advantage of his prefect status a bit too much. He could be touchy about things like that, sometimes.

So Sirius had apologised, cornering Remus on Friday before he could dart off and saying,

“Sorry, Moony, I should have checked with you, or used the map or something. I know you hate all that girl stuff, and I know you’ve done loads to keep us out of trouble this year…”