Trouble (The Marauders Era» Sirius Black Fanfiction) *Editing*

25» No Time For Tonight

Chapter Twenty-Five

No Time For Tonight

<A leopard cannot change its spots>

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The day moved slowly as the girls became more and more anxious about what they would discover that night. They agreed that the best way to stay distracted would be to bury themselves with even more school work. By the time they sat down to eat dinner, Thea hoped she'd never have to read about the Giant Wars ever again. The Marauders were nowhere in sight.

Thea and Lily ate in silence, both continually looking over their shoulders for any sight of the boys. Still nothing.

When all was done and they gotten past the portrait of the Fat Lady, the girls found themselves searching the familiar faces.

"They're not here," Lily said as they sat down next to the fireplace. "How are we supposed to follow them if we can't find them?"

"I don't kno-" Thea suddenly sat straight up. "Peter!"

The chubby boy panicked and quickly shoved something into his pocket.

"Th-Thea!" he stuttered nervously. "Lily! How are you?"

"Where's Sirius?" Thea asked. "How's Remus feeling?"

"Remus? Sirius?" He began wringing his hands and patting his pocket, as if someone was going to take whatever it was he was hiding.

"And where's James, Peter?" Lily asked. He was so nervous, Thea almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

"It's alright, Peter," she said, then walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You don't have to tell us. We were just worried, is all."

"Oh," he said, calming down a bit. "Oh, yes. I see."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Peter," she said. "But could you give Sirius a message for me?"

"Y-yes, I could do that." He seemed to relax a bit more. He couldn't help but feel happy that she was trusting him with an important message to his friend.

"Can you ask Sirius if this Saturday would work for him?" she said, her voice sweet and delicate. He might be their one chance at finding the boys; she didn't want to mess this up. "And he can give me the answer tomorrow morning. I think I'm  going to go to bed soon."

"Yes, yes," he said. "This Saturday. I will tell him. Of course."

"Thank you, Peter," she said. She leaned in and wrapped her arms around him in a short hug. She stepped to the side so he wouldn't see her stuffing what felt like a piece of parchment into her back pocket. "You've been a great help."

He gave her a smile, then his eyes flickered to the window.

"Oh I have to go!" he squealed, then ran out of the common room without a second thought.

"What was that about?" Lily asked.

"Doesn't matter," Thea said. She held up the parchment, which she now recognized as something very useful to them. "We have what we need. Let's go."