Between Coffee And Cigarettes

-8-

The common room was warm and quiet. Lenny and Sirius sat on the big, red, velvety couch talking for hours and having bonding time. Sure they spend time together, but never really alone, due to both of them having different friends and constantly spending time with them. And if one or both of them were in need to talk to the other one alone, not a single soul dared to interrupt this precious time for them both.

"Remus knows", it was something that just slipped out of Lenny's mouth and then she turned sideways to Sirius looking in his grey eyes. They looked sad, she could see it. "I know", he sighed, "Well, I didn't know for sure, but Moony is the most clever person I know so I guess it was just a matter of time until he figured it out". He ran his hands through his hair to ruffle them up; a gesture both of the twins did quite often. 

Sirius felt sorry for her. He knew how long she was dealing with those issues, it was almost three years now. She tried to keep it a secret, but sometimes when they were with their friends, he would notice how her energy would just run out slowly, before she was just an empty shell with a forced smile on her face, trying to keep up the facade. He could see how unhappy she was, so he was thankful for all the moments he witnessed, when she could forget about her problems and seemed truly happy; just for a moment. 

"If you worry about him telling anybody, I can assure you he is one of the most discreet  people I know. I mean he could hide the fact that he was a werewolf for three years and even then he told us... we would have never figured it out", Sirius finally spoke, a tight smile on his lips. But that was not the reason why Lenny was worried. She knew Remus wouldn't tell anyone, but she couldn't figure out what was bothering her so she decided to switch the subject. "When is the next time he... you know", she formed her hands into claws and growled demonstratively. He just laughed wholehearted at her poor try of demonstrating a werewolf, but eventually he calmed himself down, wiping a tear from his eye. "It's coming up soon. You know it's really hard to see him like that every month. He is always completely devastated, extremely moody and the saddest part is that he will not let anybody else in. Sure he trusts Wormtail, Prongs and me, but I can sense that he needs somebody else.... If you know what I mean". Lenny understood and nodded, wanting Sirius to go on. And he did:

 "I think he knows it too, deep down, it is his biggest desire to have someone that he can take care of and that takes care of him when he is in need of it. But Remus is stubborn and scared that he would hurt them, so instead of giving someone a chance, he just builds up this wall  around him and shuts everybody out". Lenny wanted to say something, but as she was opening her mouth, James came running down the stairs and throwing himself over the couch, landing between Sirius and her. Right after him, there was Peter, Marlene and Lily. Peter took a seat in front of the fireplace and Marlene and Lily on the couch, facing the the twins and the bespectacled boy .

Lenny noticed how red Lily became and how quickly she looked down when James and her eyes met. The blue haired witch had to hold back a laugh. "Soooo....", James begun, "Halloween is coming up....", everybody knew that he expected a reaction from them, so they silently decided to not give him the satisfaction. He grunted in frustration before exclaiming: "Come on, guys! We have to throw the biggest party ever! I mean, this is our last year!!!" When nobody said something, just because they knew that that would be the last Halloween they would celebrate at Hogwarts all together and it saddened everyone, James continued: "Ok so I thought of a party with only six and seven years, you know, so there can be lots of alcohol and nobody would be a bad role model", the last part he said facing Lily, who looked very pleased with his idea.

"Me and you, Padfoot, will get the Firewhiskey, loads of it", he began to order, pointing fingers at the involved person, "You, Lenny, and Alice are in charge of the decoration, while Lily, my dear, and Marlene will be handing out invitations or simply telling everyone that Halloween is going to have the biggest party of the year. I don't care how you do it, as long as as many people come as possible. And you, Wormtail, and Moony will be figuring out a location. It has to be inside, big, and easy to get to. Everybody understood?", he finished with an expression on his face, which showed how much this party meant to him.

Everyone sitting around him just nodded quickly, not wanting to disappoint him. James leaned back with a pleased smile on his face, wrapping his arms around Lenny and Sirius. 

"Ok...", Marlene began, "but now to the most important question...", everybody looked at her full of expectations for what was coming, "Costumes!", the blonde exclaimed. "What should we wear? Should we match as a group? Is there a theme? Should we just dress up as individuals or should we pick outfits for each other? Kinda like secret Santa, I mean."

Lenny loved the idea of being dressed and dressing up someone else so she told the group: "I love the secret Santa thingy! But we should wait until everyone is here so we can pick the names all at the same time". "Wait, I have a parchment here", Lily interrupted as she dug through her bag to find it, "Peter? Would you get Remus and Marlene, you Alice?", the redhead asked causing Peter to stand up immediately and Marlene doing the same. 

Minutes later the group was complete. Marlene and Peter sitting in her former places and Alice and Remus in front of the coffee table. The situation was explained quickly to them and they agreed happily. Lily cast a spell, which made the snippets of parchment gather into a ball, flying in the air. In a row, all of them gripped into the ball, taking a snippet with a name on it out of it. When Lily took the last one, Lenny opened hers hastily, curious for knowing, who she would dress up. 

Marlene. 

She mischievously looked over to her friend, in her head already putting an outfit together. Lenny knew that Marlene had a crush on Sirius even though she never admitted to it. The way she looked at the raven-haired boy, with such admiration and sentimentality, gave it away. And although he always played his role as the womanizer, Lenny knew, deep down, that he felt the same. 

The goal this Halloween was to bring the two of them together and she already had the perfect outfit for her stunning friend in her mind.