𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 | Marauders

³⁰, Whispers at midnight

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

chapter thirty; whispers at midnight
"I need more than just a potion telling me who I should love."

Lucy Reese Collins

I AM WAITING IN THE BOYS DORMITORY FOR THEO TO FINISH GETTING READY. The boys are just talking and no one is paying attention to me. I look in the mirror trying not to think about all the things I did. "I just need you right now, mom," I whisper while looking at myself. I want to cry right now, but I keep it in. Everyone already thinks I am unstable and I can't show them they are right. Suddenly I feel arms around me and his head leans on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" He whispers quietly while making sure no one else can hear us. "No, I am not." My voice vibrates as the words leave my mouth. I am really close to breaking down. "Your mom?" "And my dad," I say and my eyes start to pool. "Fuck I am so weak right now," I mumble frustrated what makes the others look up, but Charles ignores it. "And you said I had daddy issues," he says what makes me chuckle while the tears roll down. "You kind of do, though," I say with a small smile. He wipes away my tears and looks at me through the mirror. "Luce, you experienced so much pain... It's okay to let go sometimes." "It makes me feel weak and I hate feeling weak," I whisper, the boys stopped talking and look at us now. "You are absolutely not weak. You are so strong! But right now you need a break... I am pretty sure Jo mentioned that she would read the afternoon away-" "I don't-" "Go to her, talk to her, let everything go. You don't need me right now. You need your best friend." He turns me to the door and pushes me in that direction. "If you want to get rid of me just say so, Garfield," I say while smiling a bit. "I always try to get rid of you, but you know as well as I do that I could never." He grins while looking at me. I know that he sees how fake my laugh is but I don't care. "How charming...-" I say but again, the smile doesn't reach my eyes.

"So Lucy is leaving?" I walk out the door. "Lucy is going to spend quality time with her best friend," Charles answers calmly. "So what is the deal with you two now? Are you two a couple?" Nate asks. "No we are not...-" I wish. That would make a lot of things easier.

I arrive at our dormitory and open the door. "Luce, I thought you would be with the boys this afternoon?" I close the door, right after I fall on my knees and completely break down. Tears roll down my cheek and I can not stop it. "Oh Luce," Jo mumbles while putting away her book and running towards me. "I miss them, Jo. I miss my mom, I miss Isaac, I miss Keith... God, I even miss my dad." I sob what makes her cry as well. "I know, Luce... It's so hard. I am trying to stop caring, but I can't, I care too much. I am so weak." "You're not, Jo. You are my best friend. Please stay my best friend... and please don't die-" We both smile a bit through the tears. The door opens and Lianna walks in. "What's going on in here?" "Merlin, just get in the hug," I whisper and she kneels down to hug us both.

Later that day we are all sitting in the sofa's laughing about each other's adventures these last few years. "-I still can't believe you two left me after we ruined the DADA classroom." Lianna chuckles while taking a sip of her drink. We got some drinks and a lot of food earlier so we are good for the whole night. "Like how you left us when you let our potion explode?" Jo laughs as she looks at the brown-haired girl. "I was just saving myself." Lianna defends herself while smiling. "That's what we were doing with the DADA classroom incident." We all laugh and after there is a small silence.

"So Luce, how is it going with the boys? I mean your last fight with Charles was weeks ago, are you guys together or something?" Lianna and Jo now both look at me. "No... We are not together." I say but I know they can hear the doubt in my voice. "You're not?" Jo grins and I throw a pillow to her head. "We are not." "But you want it," Lianna says while exchanging a look with my best friend. "...no, I like it how it is now." "Too slow, Luce!" Laughs Jo while throwing the pillow back. I roll my eyes and finish my drink. "I don't want to be together with Charles. He is an ass 90% of the time that I am hanging out with them." "And in the other 10%?" "We have sex." I simply say what makes us all laugh. I really missed nights like this.

Josephine Lyla Merriweather

"OR THAT ONE TIME JAMES AND SIRIUS HAD BLOWN PAINT IN PROFESSOR SLUGHORNS FACE." The words leave Lianna's mouth while chuckling. "That was fun until they put the blame on us," I reply laughing a bit. "Lianna, do you remember when Nate asked you to the yule ball in the third year?" I look over to her awaiting her answer. "Yeah, I remember that at the time I was presently surprised, to be honest." "It was a dick move to do," Lucy states, which makes us both grant her a confused look. "What is that supposed to mean?" Lianna asks. "Well, not soon after he asked you I found out it was all a dare." "Who did you hear that from?" There is a tension hanging around the room until Lucy comments, "Garfield, of course." "I thought you started speaking to them willingly before the fifth year." "I didn't know you were involved with them in the third year?" I state. "We just talked sometimes, nothing special." She answers. Just before there can be said another word of the sentence I throw it out in the open. "I made out with Theo." Next thing I know there is a glass shattering on the ground and red wine all over the wooden floor. "You made out with Theodore?" Lianna asks. "Yes, that's what I said." "Oh, finally." I look to my side where the whisper came from. Lucy is trying to clean the floor. I take my wand and let the shards vanish into thin air. "Excuse me?" I stare into her eyes as she looks up. "I'm not sorry for saying that I'm rooting for you and Theo." "But why?" Lianna. "Because I know what all the guys smelled in the Amortentia, including Hudson." I stay quiet for a moment, not even wanting to hear the end of this conversation. "That's not the point, Lucy." Lianna interrupts me, "very well, what did you smell then." "I smelled; cherries, charcoal, chocolate and cologne." I laugh a bit, before looking back at Lucy. "So it's Charles then. You smell Charles." A bit of shock enters her eyes, but it goes as fast as it came. One of the first times I see my best friend speechless. "I-I don't." "Luce, every time you sleep at Charles' you come back smelling even more like cherries, chocolate and cologne. Where the charcoal comes from I don't know-" "Burning wood." She answers simply. "Are you aware of the fact that he loves the smell of burning wood? Charcoal. Theo told me what Charles smelled."

"We should go back to the core of this conversation now." She is clearly changing the subject. "I can tell you that both of you boys smelled the raspberries you love so much, however only one of them smelled citrus and the sea salt of the ocean, being key elements to your perfume. And last, roses, being one of your favourite flowers." She states. It takes me a moment to take in everything she just said. "It doesn't matter what they smell. It matters what they feel about me, how I feel about them. Memories matter, moments with them. I don't care about a stupid scent they smell when I walk passed. I don't call that love. You're right about the fact that for a lot it really works, but I need more than just a potion telling me who I should love." I burst. "Woah, calm down, Jo. I'm not going to tell you if you don't want to know, but if you ever do want to know. You always know where to find me." "I won't."

Soon after the flaming conversation, we talked some more, unimportant subjects really just to try and forget. We went to bed at around 2 am. It's early in the morning and I think I slept about four hours max. I'm working on some papers we have due on Monday, which is tomorrow. "Goodmorning." I look up stressed trying to neglect everything about last night, but when I meet his calming brown eyes I immediately feel a bit better for this moment. "Goodmorning, Remus." A smile resting on my face. Always making people feel good without even trying.