The one with the sisters - Year Six [COMPLETED]

Chapter 10 - The one with the mistake

Iris glanced over at the Gryffindor table. She saw James, Sirius and Peter sitting together, but Remus wasn't there. The girl bit her lip. She watched in silence, as the three boys ate in silence not even looking at each other. They were tired, it was easy to see. They were yawning and could barely keep their eyes open. Last night was rough.

"Where's Remus?" Dorcas asked, as she noticed her best friend's concern toward her missing boyfriend.

"I don't know." She answered, and in that exact moment, she saw the three Marauders getting up. She reached for her bag and rose too. "But I'm going to find out."

"Iris..." Dorcas said, gently grabbing the red haired girl's wrist. "We have Transfiguration now."

"Tell McGonagall I'm sick, or something." Iris shrugged, pulling her wrist from Dorcas' grip. "I'll catch you up for Charms."

And with that, Iris ran out of the Great Hall, following the boys toward the Gryffindor Tower. They were a few steps ahead, since Dorcas had held her back, but Iris didn't care. When they stopped by the Fat Lady's Portrait, she decided to make herself known.

"Peter!" She called, since the boy was the one climbing in on that moment. "James! Sirius!"

"Iris." Peter said, quite surprised.

James and Sirius, already in the Common Room, exchanged a glance before appearing by the Portrait. Iris stopped in front of them. They had promised Remus they wouldn't let her see him after a full moon. Ever. So they needed to act fast if they wanted to dismiss the girl.

"Well, hello, Stranger." James said, a smirk easily finding its way to his lips as his confident facade reappeared. "Good to see you remember our names."

Iris looked down, embarrassed. It was true. It had been two weeks since her parents' death and she had been quite absent. She avoided everyone that wasn't Lily. She had stopped walking around the Castle chatting and laughing with Dorcas and Camilla, she had stopped studying with Jessie, she had stopped sneaking around after curfew with Remus and the Marauders' Map so they could get some alone time. Instead, she trained harder and harder. Every hour she possibly could, she was found at the Quidditch Pitch, training with – now – her team or alone. She didn't really care. She just couldn't stand the soft voices and pitiful looks she received from everyone wherever she went.

"I'm..."

"It's alright, Iris." James said. The girl almost groaned. There it was... The soft voice. "We can only imagine what you're going through."

She nodded, still refusing to meet his eyes. James frowned as he watched the girl with arms crossed and face turned to the right, with flaming red hair covering her once full of light green eyes. He sighed. He was getting used to it. Lily was acting the same. He was almost getting close to her. Sometimes, she would even laugh at his jokes. But after the Evans' death, she had closed up again. And not only to him. To everyone, including Mary and Marlene.

"You'll have to talk about it eventually, you know that?" James said and Iris shrugged.

"Yeah, eventually." She whispered. "Not now. Now I want to talk about something else."

"What do you want to talk about?" Sirius asked.

"How's Remus?"

The three boys weren't surprised. Iris Evans was smart, of course she knew something was up with the boy she now called boyfriend. Especially when he would get so moody every other week and skip classes every once and again. They had tried to convince Remus to tell her, but he just wouldn't listen. He said it was better for her not to know. He thought he was keeping her safe.