It had only been a day since James announced his intentions for Carina to the entirety of Gryffindor Tower.
So naturally, the entire school knew.
When the boys made it down to breakfast the next morning, they were surprised to see the girls still missing. They were almost always guaranteed to beat them downstairs- especially Carina, even more so since it was a school day. James could hear the whispers flying through the room as he made his way down the hall. The sound was music to his ears as he took his seat in content.
"Why are you so smug?" Remus asked curiously.
"It's working," James grinned. "The entire school already believes it, and it's only been a day."
"That's not your doing," Peter snorted.
"What do you mean? I think that act in the common room was pretty great," James defended.
"That spread the word, sure," he shrugged. "But that's not why they believe it."
Remus, Sirius, and James all looked at Peter expectantly.
"Every single person in this hall knows Carina isn't the type to do things half-heartedly. They trust her, and because it's her, they believe it's real and could actually last." Peter told them slowly. It was quite a change of pace: him being the one to see the point while his mates were lost.
"Carina's great Pete, but she's not that infamous," Sirius laughed off.
"You're too stuck in your own head to see it," Peter rolled his eyes. "She might not get talked about, but I bet you most people in this hall have had a real conversation with her at least once."
Remus stared around the room contemplatively. "He's right," he agreed eventually, after really thinking through it. How had he not realized before? "She tutors the young ones, she's one of the prefects who actually gets to know the other houses, she partners with someone different for almost every class. She probably knows everyone in the entire school."
Sirius let loose a low whistle. "Look at our little Carina go."
"See? All the more confirmation I chose the perfect person for this." James said confidently.
"I don't like it," Peter said honestly. "Carina cares about us too much to tell you no, James. But it's not fair for you to use her like this."
"I'm not using her!" He insisted strongly.
"Pete..." Sirius warned quietly. He didn't know where this was all coming from; Pete was usually happy to go along with their shenanigans.
"What does she get out of this arrangement?" Peter pointed out.
"She-" James blanked, seeing his point. "She's helping me out because she's my friend. As any of us would do for her."
Remus studied Peter, the realization of what he was getting at really dawning on him.
"Would we?" Remus finally spoke up. "She's been there for us all these years, and we didn't even tell her the truth about our monthly adventures."
"I'm sure she understood," Sirius said. "She's very reasonable."
"But that doesn't mean it wasn't like a slap in the face every time we looked her in the eye and lied." Peter said pointedly.
"All right, all right," Sirius threw his hands up. "Carina's a saint, we get it."
"That's not the point," Peter rolled his eyes, at the end of his patience. "Just stop taking advantage of her."
YOU ARE READING
Tides of Fate | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀs ᴇʀᴀ
Fanfiction❛ It's not like Carina would go and do something stupid like falling in love with Prongs, would she?❜ It was a terrible idea to date someone who'd been in love with someone else for years, even if it was fake. But James Potter was desperate. It was...
