𝘗𝘌𝘙𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘚 ━━ 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙀𝙧𝙖

━ CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THERE WAS A RINGING SILENCE throughout the class room.

"That's not- you just- That's not what this is about!" Tula spluttered with wide eyes.

Peter looked completely confused, along with Remus and James who all stared back and forth between Siruis and Tula.

"Siruis is the one that ran away!" She finally got out, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"What's going on?" Remus questioned. "Who ran away?"

"I did." Siruis admitted quietly. "I ran away this Christmas. Mum lost her temper with me again when she saw the pictures. Obviously, she tried to take them down but couldn't, so she just... came at me."

"Padfoot..." Tula murmured in a comforting tone, feeling guilty for pushing him into it.

The other boys' eyes were tansfixed on their friend, "Where did you go?" James questioned, frowning because his best friend hadn't told him first.

"I didn't want you to panic." Siruis said. "And you lived miles away. I swear I thought I was gonna die, I had to transform into Padfoot to get away. There was snow everywhere, it was by pure chance that I met Tula's grandfather. She recognised me instantly and got me inside and cleaned up."

James stood up and dragged Siruis into a hug, crushing the smaller boy. He laughed weakly, and Remus, Peter and Tula took that as a sign to join the group hug.

"It's fine, Pads, I'm just glad you're okay now." He muttered.

"Yeah." Siruis responded weakly.

***

"V? You good?"

James continued to wave his hand in her face as the girl continued to gaze dreamily off into the distance.

They sat outside, their feet grazing the Black Lakes surface as the rest of the Hogwarts population littered about. They had all just finished a sudden 'Have you studied' exam, and it certainly put them all on their feet.

"He is rather hot, isn't he?" Tula finally mumbled arily, still gazing off.

All four boys slowly turned to face her with disgusted and incredulous expressions. "What?"

"Kingsley..." She replied obliviously, "He's hot. Cool name too, Kingsley..."

They all shared looks, Siruis making the coo coo notion against the side of his face.

Though, only he and Remus knew their hands were entwined behind their friends backs.

"Yoo hoo! Vixen, why are you thinking about him right now? We're in the midst of a Quidditch crisis! And as a reserve keeper you should-"

"Like, Greek god fit, I wonder how much he works out..." Tula murmured softly, ignoring James and making his face contort into offence.

Peter snorted.

"Remus, how much do you reckon he works out?" She asked abruptly, turning to face the boy. "Like, do you think he laps the Quidditch pitch and lifts in the mornings?"

"Why would you asked Remus?" James said obliviously. "Are you just trying to make him uncomfortable, V?"

He chuckled softly, as did Peter while Remus and Siruis shared uncomfortable looks, their eyes drifting from their entwined hands and back. Tula's lips pursed in such a Gossip Gang way that if she could've seen herself she would've screamed.

She knew James had a reputation for being oblivious but he hadn't even realised this?

She met Siruis' eyes, and he gave her a nod to her silent question.

"Alright then boys..." She began, letting the two Marauders die down from laughter. "I have a bit of gossip for you."

"Tula and her gossip." James chortled. "Go on then, what is it?"

"Well, there's this boy in the year below us, Hufflepuff," She added quickly. "And I heard him confess to a professor that he was gay and didn't know how to come out of the closet, because he was afraid of his friends reactions and being judged."

Siruis gave Remus' hand another reassuring squeeze as they watched James and Peter soak this in, not even realising  they were holding their breathes.

"Well," Said James. "So what if he's gay? He's still the same person isn't he? I don't care about being judged-"

"Well we bloody know that, Prongs." Siruis said with a snicker, just as Remus let out a sigh of relief. "And it's because you're the biggest idiot in this castle."

"What about you, Wormtail?" The girl asked, her died copper hair reflecting the sun light as though it was on fire. "What do you think?"

The boy took a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face. He eventually shrugged, "I don't know. I can't think of any reason it'd bother me of one of my friends were gay, bisexual or something. So I think they should just let it out, get the shock over and done with, you know?"

A smile broke out on to Tula's face and she nodded. "Right-o, Wormy."

"What about you, V?" Remus asked quietly, staring at her carefully.

"Please, any romance is epic for me. Why would I care what gender it is? Anyway, back to Kingsley-"

James and Siruis groaned, "For Godrics sake, drop it Vixen! What are you, crushing on him or something?" When she only looked at him with a flat expression, the bespectacled boys eyes widend.

"Oh- but what about Shane Brown!? What happend to him and his marvellous blonde locks?" James asked frantically.

Peter snickered, "Are you sure she was the one crushing on him, Prongs?"

"Yeah, when has she ever said he has 'marvellous blonde locks'?" Remus joined in, a smile easing it's way onto his scarred face.

"It's about time James moved on from Evans!" Siruis exclaimed loudly, unaware that his voice had carried along the black lake, all the way to Lily Evans and her friends.

The red head frowned, feeling a sinking in her chest that she didn't understand. She shook this off however and continued to complain about the bunch.

Dorcas didn't join in, remembering all too well that the Marauders were the ones who got her out of that toxic relationship with Amos Diggory.

It seemed all the students of Hogwarts had a secret. And they weren't very good at keeping it.