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

27» Beware the Exiled

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Beware the Exiled

<Every cloud has a silver lining>

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Thea spent the next week and a half avoiding the Marauders. Remus wouldn't look or talk to her, and whenever she entered a room, he left. James was giving her the cold shoulder, which made Lily upset. James seemed to have a good grasp on how to behave without offended her, but she was bothered by how he ignored Thea. Peter decided to follow by example, and also pretended she didn't exist, though he wasn't as good at it, as he often would ask her for help on homework.

The only two who would talk to Thea were Lily and Sirius. Lily had taken a day or two to figure out how she felt, but now she was back to being friends with Remus, acting like nothing was ever wrong. In fact, she had attempted to tell a joke about Remus' furry secret, but it seemed everyone else thought it was too soon. She tried to be understanding of Thea's conflicted emotions, but she couldn't help but constantly remind her of Remus' loyalty to her. Thea didn't want to be around her when she did that; it just made her feel guilty.

Sirius and Thea were trying to be normal. He couldn't deny that it bothered him that she was still unsure about if she wanted to still be Remus' friend, but he tried to be the middle man. That didn't work well, as Remus was really only speaking to Lily and very minimally to anyone else, and Thea felt very isolated and conflicted. Neither Sirius nor Thea brought up the kiss, but they both felt more relaxed around each other, yet also more nervous.

All of the swirling emotions made for a very stressed-out Thea, who also had to try and not drown in schoolwork.

"Long time no see," a voice said. Thea looked up from page of the history book she had been staring at for a good ten minutes, not actually reading words. Bridger walked up to her table and placed his books down. "Strange that we see each other every day yet I never get the chance to talk to you. It seems you're always off running around with that bunch of troublemakers."

"Yes," Thea said. "I haven't had much to do with them lately."

"Mind if I sit down?"

She shook her head and gestured to the seat across the table. He sat down, folding his hands over his stack of books and leaning forward slightly.

"Doing more essays, I see," he said. "Like always."

She let out a big yawn.

"Yes, I have two more to get done and that'll be it for tonight," she said.

"Wow. I don't know how you keep up with it all. You must be a really good student."

"I try to be-"

She was interrupted by the loud sound of books smacking against the table beside her. She jumped and looked up to see Sirius roughly pulling out a chair and sitting next to her.

"Hello, Thea," he said with a forced smile. He looked blankly at Bridger. "Whitehorn."

"Black," Bridger replied.

"How are you doing on the Transfiguration essay?" Sirius asked Thea, putting one arm on the back of her chair and the other on her hand.