Brightest ✯ Sirius Black

✯ four ✯

"You might not know this... but I would go out of my way just to make sure you're okay."

It was their fifth year, which meant that the girls and the Marauders had sat and watched five sorting ceremonies, and each one they hardly ever paid any attention to. Sirius and Cleo were making puns out of all of the first year's surnames, while Remus and Peter quietly talked about their classes this year, and James was too busy pestering a red-headed girl to pay any attention to everything else.

    "Evans, psst," James hissed at Lily, sitting beside Marlene and Alice down the table a little ways. She looked over irritated, and waved at Cleo who waved back with a grin. "Evans," James whispered again.

    "What?" she hissed. James grinned widely at finally getting her to acknowledge him.

    "Hi," he whispered loudly, smiling. Lily rolled her eyes, but you would have to be completely blind to not see the forming smile that flashed against her lips before she turned around.

    "You drive her insane James, and not in the way you would want," Cleo said as she spooned a scoop of potatoes onto her plate.

    "That may be so, but before we're done here, she'll fall in love with me, just you wait and see Markis."

    Later that night, in the common room, they all sat around enjoying their last day before classes began the next morning. Lily and Ambrosia were up in the girls' dorms, probably getting ready for classes to begin. Or at least, Lily was. Ambrosia was probably sprawled out across someone's bed other than her own, making fun of Lily for being a "perfect prefect", because that's the way their relationship worked.

Remus and Cleo were playing a game of wizards chess at their favorite table, an old circular mahogany one right next to the window. The raindrops fell softly against the glass pane as Remus made his move.

"How are you doing Remus?" Cleo asked him. "Like really, how are you?" Remus sighed.

"I've been better, but I can't complain," he said, keeping his sunken eyes on the board. "Besides," he added, sounding a bit cheerier, "I have plenty of chocolate to keep me through. Also, I know it's you all these years who has kept my chocolate stash full." Cleo blushed, but of course, she said nothing. For four years now, she had added chocolate to his secret hoard so that he never ran out. He seemed to love chocolate, and when he would ask who had kept putting chocolate there, everyone would tell him that the house elves must really love him or something. He knew better, though.

"Well, I couldn't have you going without chocolate," she mumbled, making her move. "Check," she declared.

"Nonetheless, thank you," he smiled kindly. "You've always been the one I can trust to take care of me on my bad days," he said as he moved his pawn.

 Cleo was one of the first people to find out about Remus' "wolfy" condition. It was towards the end of second year, and everyone was consistently growing more curious and worried as to why Remus had to disappear every month. Remus had ended up in the hospital wing after a particularly bad full moon, and Cleo went to visit him, not understanding why he always seemed to show up there after disappearing. It was here that she managed to get the truth out of him, and instead of flinching away in fear like he had expected her to, she all at once burst into tears and wrapped her arms around his neck, saddened that he thought he had to keep his lycanthropy from his best friends who were all eager and willing to support him.

It was Cleo's reaction to his news that gave him enough confidence to tell the others, and they all reacted the same way. Maybe without the tears that Cleo had shed, but nonetheless, they all thought very highly of him, even if he himself didn't think so.