~ROAC~ (incomplete)

~TWELVE~

"I feel a little rush,
I think I've got a little crush on you-
I hope it's not too much."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"-and that is why one never breaks a promise to a Veela." The laughter of his friends warmed Sirius' heart, a welcome feeling considering the crisp wind whipping at all their faces this afternoon. House Quidditch tryouts had come and gone, and today was the first practice of the year for the Gryffindor team. Same as last year, James was Seeker while Marlene and Bell were Chasers- but this year, Marlene McKinnon was made captain, the first girl since McGonagall herself had captained the team in her time as a student at Hogwarts. Sirius knew that Bell had wanted the position for months, but still, she supported her friend the most out of their group. He admired her for that (as well for a thousand other things), and as he walked beside her toward the Quidditch pitch, the 'Hot Stuff' beanie she'd gotten him keeping his ears warm from the cold, he wondered if she knew how much he truly appreciated her.

"Duck."

Peter and Remus immediately stooped their heads, knowing better than to question a quick order as such from Marlene, but the other three weren't as lucky. Sirius found himself swatting away loose papers as James and Bell did the same, all of the misfortunate trio spouting words of confusion.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!"

Sirius peeled a loose piece of parchment off his face, chuckling at the caricature drawing of Professor Slughorn on it, and looked to see a noticeably-tall human trying to catch the loose parchment as the wind swept it around and away. The first thing he noticed, after the girl's height, was her hair. He was surprised he'd never really noticed her around school before, because that hair was really something. Not in a bad way, it was just very unique, he'd never seen anything like it before. Then again, he came from a predominantly white community, and Hogwarts wasn't exactly the most diverse school. Sirius noticed Remus staring at the girl- Patricia? Polly? Her name started with a 'P', that's all Sirius remembered from seeing her around in class -and assumed it was because of her cool hair.

Sirius, who was helping James and Bell catch what papers they could out of the air, paused in his help when he saw Remus pull out his wand. Oh. Duh. They were students of magic- why hadn't he thought of that? In barely ten seconds, every paper in the mini-storm that had swept up around them was neatly arranged in the messenger bag around Princess' shoulder (no, it wasn't 'Princess', Sirius would have to keep thinking) and the girl herself stood before them, her gaze holding on Remus more than any of the other five.

"Sorry about that," she said with a slight smile, holding the strap of her bag with both hands, "I was drawing, and I thought I closed my bag, but I guess I didn't..." Sirius could tell she was a little anxious about encountering the group, and he was about to make a joke at his own expense to ease her mind when Remus spoke up. 

"No problem, not at all." 

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his friend, but dropped it when Priscilla (no, that was certainly not it either) glanced at him. A slight silence fell, and it was Bell who spoke up this time, smoothly slipping her arm into the crux of one of the girl's and one of Sirius' as she said brightly, "Why don't you join us? We're heading for the Quidditch pitch now, there's bound to be less of a disturbance up in the stands with all the walls blocking the wind." Sirius noticed she was hardly giving the girl a choice and smirked at Remus beside him, not letting the newcomer see- and he was genuinely surprised to see how his friend was smiling at the girl. Did they know each other before this meeting? Probably from class or something.

Peony (no, no, no) nodded after a moment and so Bell dutifully continued the group on their way to the Quidditch pitch. "I'm Bellamy, by the way," she added with a grin at the girl, still leading the way in the Wizard-of-Oz style (minus the skipping and singing), "we had Potions together last year, right?" 

The girl smiled faintly. "Yes, I remember." She glanced back as Bell let their arms drop, and Sirius noticed how her gaze went first to Remus, then the others she didn't know, but didn't think anything of it. "I'm Persephone. Persephone Vidal."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Sirius Black."

"Peter Pettigrew."

"James Potter."

"Marlene McKinnon."

"Remus John Lupin."

Out of all of them, only Remus offered up his full name, and Bell, who was one of the most perceptive in the group, smirked as what she'd known for two years was affirmed once more a moment later. James asked Persephone something, referring to her last name, and she and Remus spoke up at the same time:

"'Vih-dall', not 'Vee-dull'-"

"Ah, erm, it's 'Vih-dall'-"

Both blushed. Good heavens. Could it be any more obvious? Bell grinned at the notion, but then noticed only she and Marlene seemed to pick up on the connection there. Sirius and Peter were just nodding and James corrected himself and asked the question again- something about a professional Quidditch-announcer relative -with none of the three boys showing any clue to the shift in dynamic between Persephone and Remus.

"You take Advanced Ancient Runes, right? I've seen you around that side of the library- er, just in passing, I mean."

"Yes, yes, I do. Erm, I do take Advanced Ancient Runes, that is."

Good grief! Bell shook her head wryly to herself and shared a glance with Marlene.

"Hopeless," she jokingly mouthed to her fellow Gryffindor chaser as the group approached the Quidditch pitch and Marlene laughed. "Completely," she muttered back as they and James waved goodbye-for-now to the rest of their friends, who'd be spending the practice up in the stands. For some reason. Sirius had insisted on coming to watch and support, as he had for the last three years, something that Bell truly appreciated but hadn't ever thanked him for- she made a mental note to do so later -Remus said he wanted a quiet place to read and the stands of the pitch would be relatively peaceful during the practice, and Peter had just tagged along like usual. 

Now that Persephone had joined them, Bell kept her fingers crossed that Remus would finally get a real conversation going with her. He'd wanted to since the start of fifth year, he'd confessed to Bell last year, but he'd never gotten the chance. She knew he'd brushed the crush off as silly and surface-level as he and Persephone hadn't really spoken before, but considering this interaction, maybe today was the day they formed a real connection. Bell hoped they'd at least be engaging to each other in passing after spending time together up in the stands today. Just in case- she grabbed Sirius' sleeve and tugged him over to her for a moment, leaning close to whisper in his ear, "Keep an eye on Remus and Persephone, but be subtle. Report back to me after practice." 

Sirius chuckled and winked at her as he stepped back and she grinned when he replied, "Anything for you, Angel- but why?"

"If all goes well- you'll see."