[1] Exie Attia is one of the Boys ✓ | LILY EVANS

Chapter Thirty Six

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[ CHAPTER THIRTY SIX ]
Sirius and Exie Part II: Masters of Stealth

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Nobody had expected James-watch to be easy but this was really taking the piss. He was talking to them again at last but was far from his old self, still sad and a bit lost. Plus he was acting really weird. For instance, a few days later she came across him talking to a couple of older Slytherins in the corridor. When she asked him about after the little gathering, he'd shrugged it off.

"They're... friends."

"Since when are you friends with Slytherins?"

"I'm not."

"But you just said - "

"I need to get to class, I'm really sorry."

Over the next few weeks, everything James related was reported back to the group but each new piece of information left them more confused, either raising more questions than answers or contradicting something they already knew.

"You know that red notebook he's been carrying around all week?" Peter cried to the others despairingly in the dorms after what had been a particularly long day, "Well, he left it open on his bed and I had a look and it just contained lists of his favourite foods!"

"A red herring..." Sirius shook his head sadly.

"Oh, red herrings, red notebooks and I have a red nose from this cold..." Peter fell face-first onto his bed, "I used to love the colour but this has completely ruined it for me. I'm going to have to get rid of all my red jumpers now!"

"Well, you don't have to..." Exie softly pointed out.

"No, I do."

"He's been going into the Xylomancy classroom a lot but when I looked in there didn't seem to be anything and believe me..." Remus's eyes glinted, "I was thorough."

"He's trying to throw us off the scent, giving us mixed signals," Sirius reckoned.

This earnt a thoughtful nod from Peter, "That would explain why he hardly ate anything at dinner yet had such a healthy glow to his cheeks... he was trying to throw me off the scent."

 "... sure. James knows we know he's planning something but he's got into his head that he has to do it alone. Maybe it's because he's looking to feel alive or right his wrongs but either way he wants to stop us from finding out. But we can't give up, we will figure out what he's planning and help even if he doesn't want it. We've just got to watch him when he doesn't think he's being watched - he'll let his guard down then."