𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙖 ➪ 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑇𝑊𝐸𝑁𝑇𝑌 𝑇𝐻𝑅𝐸𝐸

➪ ROSE PINK ➪

"PETER, YOU HEARD?"

"Heard what?" The shorter boy inquired. Loki looked up from the lastest Daily Prophet edition to the two boys walking her way.

"Well, for starters, I scored a date with Lily," James replied, a victorious grin donning his face.

"Oh, yeah, I heard from Marlene," Peter smiled.

"That's not all," he ceased walking almost directly in front of Loki. His hazel eyes turned to her, giving her a big grin. "Sirius got a date with his Princess."

Wide-eyed, Peter turned to the girl. Loki flushed red at the statement and hastily averted her gaze.

"Loki!" Peter exclaimed, and the girl spared him a glance. "Really?"

"Really, Wormtail," Sirius came up behind his friends, swinging his arm over both their shoulders. His gaze flicked to Loki, smiling when he saw her hide behind the newspaper.

"Stop harassing my friend," Nicolas pushed past the trio, taking the vacant spot in front of the girl.

"Yeah, stop harassing his friend, " Max side-stepped the boys, taking the spot beside Nicolas.

"You're her friend, too, " Nicolas sighed.

"Oh." Max bent his head down and toyed with his Ravenclaw tie.

Sirius, James and Peter wore identically confused expressions as they stared at the other three. It was Peter who moved first, not wanting someone else to tell him off again. James quickly followed suit, giving Sirius a soft whack on the chest to get his attention. Sirius let out a quiet noise, tearing his eyes away, before trailing after his friends.

Once she heard their footsteps fade, Loki bent a corner of the newspaper and peered over it. Her green eyes darted from Nicolas and Max to the Gryffindors that had just walked away. She let out a sigh of relief as Sirius sat down with his back toward her. The girl couldn't help but scan the area, frowning slightly at the lack of Remus's presence. The taller boy was usually there first, and him ever being late was a rare occurrence, so she hoped it was one of those.

"What's this news about you and Sirius going on a date?" Loki turned to Nicolas, who was still staring at the parchment between him and Max. Loki frowned, unsure of what to say. "I mean, no judgement, but you guys are complete opposites."

"It was a spur of the moment thing," Loki shrugged. "He kind of crashed my outing with Remus, and then just asked me."

"Oh, that's why Remus is so pouty, then." Loki and the boys jumped at the other voice that joined in. Loki turned her head to see Lucy standing beside her. "Oh, sorry. I wasn't imposing on a private conversation, was I?"

"No," Loki shook her head, shifting so there was room for Lucy to sit. "Want to join us?"

"Thanks," Lucy smiled. She stepped over the seat and sat down, turning her attention to Max and Nicolas. "I'm Lucy Wright."

"Max Wells and this is Nicolas Jones," Max grinned, holding out his hand over the food.

"What were you saying about Remus?" Loki inquired, a frown tugging her lips down.

"Oh, I saw him heading to the library this morning, and he seemed off, I guess," Lucy answered. "He must have been annoyed with Sirius for asking you out. Apparently, Sirius does it a lot. Asking girls out and stuff while he's with Remus and the others."

"Oh." Loki didn't feel any better.

"I mean, he hasn't done it since you've been around," Lucy hummed, grabbing herself a slice of resin toast. "Think he likes you too much."

Loki choked on her cheerios.

"What!" Nicolas cried out.

Several heads turned to look a the group of four. The two males were saying several things at once, their words mushing together. And the two girls were focused on the cereal lodged in Loki's throat. The chaos lasted all of ten seconds before it went silent again. Loki was the first to speak up.

"Bull."

➪

"Remus, Remus! Thank Merlin!" Loki panted, her running coming to a halt as she reached the boy.

"Woah, you good?" He asked, cocking his head at the girl. Loki nodded, springing back up to smile at the boy. "You're energetic," he laughed.

"I think Nicolas slipped some Bubbly potion into my pumpkin juice at lunch," she replied. "No idea where he got it." She shrugged. "I haven't seen you all day, you know. I kind of missed you." She giggled.

"Really?" Remus raised his brow at her, ruffling his hair with the hand that wasn't carrying his Transfiguration book. "I missed you too, Loki," he grinned. He could see that she had indeed been affected by a potion.

"We have Care for Magical Creatures after potions, right?" Loki queried. He nodded. "Cool, wanna walk me there?" Remus was surprised by how upfront she was being today.

"I mean, don't I do that normally?" He chuckled.

"Well, yeah," Loki frowned, unsure of what to add. The effects of whatever potion she had taken blurred the thoughts in her head, only enticing happiness and positive thoughts. "But still, I want to walk with you." She tugged on the sleeve of his robe.

"Okay, okay," he laughed a little louder this time at her. "Let's just get top potions first, all right?"

"Yep," she smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him forward. His eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. "Hey, Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you mad at Sirius for asking me out?" Loki looked up at him with an expression he couldn't decipher.

He paused, thinking for something to say, coming up empty and sighing. "I'm not mad, just... Well, I guess you could say I was jealous," he admitted.

"Jealous because Sirius has enough confidence to do it, or...?" Loki trailed off. She didn't need to say anymore, anyway.

Remus stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. "Yeah. I'm jealous of Sirius's confidence."

"Oh," Loki frowned. "Well, I'm staying here over Christmas break because my dad has business in Egypt, so I could help get some more courage."

Remus couldn't stop the laughter from leaving his lips. "You're the shiest, most nervous girl I know, Loki. No offence, but I'm not really sure it's a good idea."

"I think you forgot that my best friend is Nicolas Jones, Remus," Loki retorted. "I can just use my observational skills and figure out the secret. Then I'll help you get enough courage to ask out whoever it is you like, yeah?" An idea seemed to spark, and the girl grinned even wider. "As payback, you can help me with my painting. Deal?"

Remus looked at their interlocked hands. He smiled, his hazel eyes flicking back up. "Deal," nodded.

➪ AUTHOR'S NOTE ➪

i love them so much :)