Real Not Real

<>Common Room<>

"So what's the big idea?" Marlene asked idly, filling in a chart for Astronomy. "And do you know what phase the moon is right now, or..."
Sirius cast a cursory glance at his arm. "Night after the full moon," he said, leaning over her homework.
"Thanks." Without looking at him, she placed a finger on his nose and pushed him away. "The plan? What's with this prank," she put air quotes around the word, "business."
"Yeah." Sirius settled back in his seat, enjoying the warmth of the fire as it drove away the chill of fall. "We need to make it a dare, or a prank, or something."
"A dare," Marlene said skeptically. "Lily can be pretty hot-headed, but she's not going to take a dare to hook up with Potter."
"No," Sirius mused, toying with his wand. "Maybe a dare to have them both fool the entire castle into believing that it's real. And then when they spend enough time together... They fall in love."
"You're a romantic, aren't you?" Marlene remarked idly. "Hmm, I can't see Lily agreeing to that."
"No," Sirius repeated. "Mmm, give me a second."
"I'm almost done with the star chart. Take all the time you need."
"We could play on their positions," Sirius said slowly. When she looked at him in confusion, he elaborated, "Head Boy and Girl."
"How the bloody hell did he even get that position anyway?" she asked, laying down the parchment. "I know it's only, like, the second week of school, but already Lily's been complaining about doing the lion's share of work."
"She's probably right," Sirius admitted, "but that's not the point. If we want them to get together, we should propose a fake relationship so that they don't lose their positions from quarreling so often."
A crafty gleam entered Marlene's eyes. "Lily won't take that drastic of a measure," she began, "unless we create a situation that jeopardizes their positions. Then they'll HAVE to get along--"
"And the logical step is a faked relationship," Sirius finished for her. "The two Heads usually end up together anyway. I think Dumbledore ships them, you know." Marlene snorted. The door to the boy's dormitory flew open and James emerged. Marlene set her quill to the paper, purposely not looking at him.
"Hey, mate, want to play a--"
"Sorry, Marlene and I were about to go up to the Astronomy tower so she can have help finishing her homework," Sirius interrupted, grabbing Marlene's arm. She nodded and shoved his hand away.
"That's right. We should get going, in any case," Marlene said hastily, gathering her papers and quill.
James grinned devilishly. "And that's all you're going to do?"
Marlene let out an audible groan. "Why are you all forgetting I have a boyfriend?"
"Because he's a prat." James raised his eyebrows at her.
"He's in Hufflepuff, he can't be a prat," Marlene retorted. "Let's go work on homework, Sirius." She pushed him in the direction of the portrait hall.
"Wait, Marlene." Sirius swiveled back toward James. "Do you still have the Head's Handbook?"
James nodded and flicked his wrist toward the dormitory. "If I haven't used it for anything illicit yet, it should be in my trunk." Sirius jogged toward the stairs. As his footsteps faded, James snapped his fingers and pointed at Marlene.
"What are you two talking about?" he demanded.
"N-nothing." The words tripped over her tongue; she was a notoriously bad liar.
"Stop verbally abusing my girl!" Sirius called as he reappeared, handbook in hand. Marlene folded her arms and glared at him.
"I'm not--! We're going now," she huffed, pushing through the door.
"Good luck," James called, still smirking. Sirius saluted him as he disappeared out the portrait hole.

A/N: Hey guys, I'mma be away for the next two weeks so this is the last update for awhile. Please VOTE, COMMENT, AND ALL THAT FUN STUFF ;D
~Ava ^o^