Liquid Luck [Sirius Black]/editing

chapter 56

Christmas passes in a blur of twinkling lights and bundled up evenings. The domino effect of me going home for the holidays results in the other boys following suit. Sirius is the only one without a choice on the matter after his mother wrote to him demanding he be there for some party she's hosting.

Back at Hogwarts for the rest of third year, I find myself being dragged off to the library today by Lily and Duke. After we sit down in silence for a while Duke blurts out a quiet, "I came out to my parents over break."

Lily and I whip our heads up to face him in complete synchronization. Lily looks to me unsurely before returning her gaze to him. "How did it go?" She asks him, unsure about whether to be delighted or to comfort him.

"They weren't surprised." He smiles down at his hands. "Dad had a hunch I was bisexual just because of how much I talk about the two of you but Mum knew better than that. I suppose I've been more transparent about my sexuality than I'd thought."

I loop my arms around his neck and pull him closer. Lily can't stop smiling widely from across the table, "Oh I'm so glad everything went so good, Dukey."

"So am I." I add genuinely. "And I know I say this to you all the time and you're probably sick of hearing it by now, but I am so proud of you."

"I'll never get sick of hearing that. It makes me so happy every time." He smiles at the both of us. "Thank you for being my friend."

Lily can't help it anymore as she squeals and rushes up from her seat darting all the to the opposite side of the table to bring Duke into one of her famous bone-crushing hugs.

My eyes involuntarily wander around the sea of students taking up the tables that the library has to offer when they linger on someone secluded way in the far-side of the room. "I'll be right back, guys." I mutter distractedly and get up without waiting for a response. The closer I get to the boy, I realize that the book in his lap is just a prop and he isn't even reading it. I tap him on the shoulder, "Remus?"

The boy jumps about a mile into the air and slaps a hand across his chest. "Merlin Chiara! Don't do that! Bloody near gave me a heart attack!" He whisper-shouts.

I chuckle lightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to rattle you. What are you..." I trail off, following his gaze from earlier. His table is positioned at the perfect angle to get a clear glimpse of Violet who is laughing ethereally into her hands at something Dorcas says beside her. "Remus, you perv!" I muse, nudging him playfully.

"I am not!"

"This is your idea of making a move?"

He squirms uncomfortably in his seat and scratches at the back of his head. "Yeah?"

"Oh Remus, darling, no!" I bite my lip to keep from laughing. "What did you expect to come from this?"

"I-I don't know...I figured...oh I don't know what I figured. I'm horrid at this."

I think for a moment. "I'll teach you."

"Teach me?" His expression is contorted into one of confusion and it takes everything in me to keep from squishing his cheeks.

"To flirt, of course." I grin, holding out my hand for him to take. He eyes my open palm, confusion still stitching his eyebrows together, but he takes it in his. We stop by the table seating Lily and Duke and I quickly say, "I'm on a mission, do my Potions homework."

"Er, okay?" I hear Lily say before I lead Remus out of the library and all the way up to his dorm.

"Right," I clap my hands together. "Let's see what you've got. Pretend I'm Violet. How would you walk up to talk to me? Don't look so nervous, Rem, this is only a practice scenario. No judgement on my end."

"Okay." He straightens his collar and dusts off his knitted vest. "Hello, er, Violet. How – how are you?"

"I'm well, and yourself?"

"Good." He avoids my gaze now and sits down to start flipping through his book.

I frown. "That's it?"

"I thought we said no judging!"

"There's nothing to judge at all...that's the problem! Where's the spark? Compliment her eyes, tell her she looks beautiful – do something to show your interest!"

"I'm hopeless." He dramatically flops back onto his bed.

"You aren't hopeless." I get up off Peter's bed take his arm to pull him back into a seated position. "It's just...nothing you've said leads her to believe you like her. The way I see it is compliments show a person you pay attention, so what about her attracts you?"

"Her eyes, I suppose, like you said. Have you ever seen eyes so blue? And her smile, she's got the prettiest smile."

"That's perfect! Next time you see her tell her she looks beautiful when she smiles."

He nods to himself. "Yeah, that seems right." He proceeds to pull out a roll of parchment along with his quill and intently scribbles down some things.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm taking notes so I can study them later." He stop writing to say. "I'll title it...How to Flirt."

"Naturally your notes on how to court the girl you fancy deserves a title." I laugh though thinking all the while about how wholesome he is.