𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙦𝙪𝙖 ➪ 𝗆𝖺𝗋𝖺𝗎𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝐹𝑂𝑈𝑅𝑇𝑌 𝑇𝑊𝑂

➪ KALE GREEN ➪

"OI, LOKI. LOKI!"

Loki looked up from the book she'd buried her nose in, her eyes connecting with Max's. She cocked her head and waited for him to continue.

"I need some help," Max told her. He spun his parchment around and slid it toward her, showing her his half-completed homework. "I don't remember what the rune for 'man' is between these two."

"'Horse' is the big M; 'man' is the M with the part that makes an X at the top, okay?" She pointed to the symbols in turn. Having already completed her Runes work, Loki's task then was to help Max. "And you remember 'reed' and 'earth', right?"

"Yeah, I get those now," Max looked up and grinned widely. "I think I'm good for now. Thanks again, Loki!"

"You good if I go get another book?"

Max nodded, giving her a thumbs up. Loki returned the gesture, pushing back her chair and walking away from the table. She knew which book she needed, having borrowed it previously, and quickly made her way to the aisle.

"Charms," she murmured as her fingers brushed lightly over the spines. "Charms, charms, charms."

Her eyes stayed glued to the spines, reading each title. At least until she felt a piece of paper hit her back. Loki span around in confusion, quickly looking down at it. Curious and slightly annoyed, she picked it up. She frowned as she looked around for the culprit, coming up empty with her search.

"Loki," the whisper of her name from the aisle to her left caught her attention. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Loki, come here."

"Sirius?" Loki stepped out from between the bookshelves, walking into the next row. "Sirius, why are you sneaking around? You haven't been banned from the library again, have you?"

"No, that's not it," Sirius's dark eyes flicked behind the girl, darting around. "I just wasn't sure if you had Remus with you."

"No, it's only Max and me," Loki responded. "Sirius, can I ask you something?" She cocked her head, her features donning an expression of concern.

"I guess," Sirius shrugged.

"What's happening with you and Remus? I've never seen you two so... distant."

Sirius's change in demeanour was near immediate. His relieved look fell to one of despair, his happy smile falling to a frown, and he quickly averted his gaze. Loki's lips quirked downward at his expression.

"We disagreed with something; you could say," Sirius muttered. "I did something stupid, and the boys had to fix it. Someone almost got hurt because of it."

"Sirius," Loki placed her hand on his arm in comfort. "Do you want to sit down and talk about it?"

She was genuinely concerned for the boy. Now noticing, Loki spotted the dark circles forming under his eyes, a telltale sign of sleep loss and stress. Her hands moved to the sides of his face, her fingertips getting tangled in his hair, and Loki softly smiled at him.