you are loved. - r.lupin (ft. THE s.black)

air surfing

Peter had less than a year to be the top priority of the Pettigrew household before Caroline came along. Since then, he's been second place to his younger sister. Caroline was both their parents' favorite child and Peter knew he could never compete.

Caroline was graceful and thin, always standing tall. Her eyes were a deeper blue than Peter's, giving her more soul, and her hair was a shade darker, making it look more natural than Peter's straw-like hair.

Peter, on the other hand, couldn't control his weight and tripped over his own two feet. Although he was a couple inches taller, Peter always looked small standing next to Caroline.

Peter wondered what it was like to grow up the way Caroline grew up. He wondered how life would be like if he were good looking or had an ounce of the brains she had.

He's always been second place and he thought the one thing he could have that Caroline couldn't was his friends, the Marauders. Peter was always one for wishful thinking because he was proven wrong when Remus came to him, droning on about what Caroline smelled in her Amortentia.

Of course, Remus left out the part of what he smelled and didn't tell Peter that he fancied Caroline but he told Peter his suspicions, which was far more than enough for Peter.

Once Peter got to the Great Hall the next morning, he stormed over to Caroline. "No, no, no, no! A thousand times no!" Peter started shouting at Caroline.

Caroline calmly turned to her older brother and smiled kindly. "Good morning to you too, Petey," she greeted, ignoring his unwavering angry expression.

"I have been a really good brother! I might not be doing it intentionally but I make you look really good," Peter sneered. "You have gotten everything you've ever wanted. All I wanted was for you not to take my friends from me!"

Caroline calmly took a sip of her iced coffee. "Petey, we can have mutual friends."

"Stop calling me Petey!" Peter screamed. "You can't be in love with Sirius Black! He's one of my best friends!"

Sirius, who didn't know about this at all, smirked smugly. "Gee, Care, I didn't know you fancied me. Maybe we can go out sometime," Sirius said smoothly, causing Remus to glare at him.

The entirety of the Great Hall was staring at Peter and Caroline, wondering what the fighting was all about. "Who told you I was in love with Sirius Black?" Caroline spluttered. "That's a kind offer, really Sirius, but no thank you."

"Remus told me!" Peter accused loudly, pointing to Remus. Remus' cheeks reddened and he leaned over to Peter.

"Wormtail, you're making a scene," Remus spoke in a low tone.

"Remus told me what you smelled in your Amortentia! Chocolate chip cookies, smoke, and coffee! Sirius steals chocolate chip cookies, Sirius smokes literally all the time," Peter screeched, pointing towards Sirius, who was in the middle of lighting a cigarette, "and Sirius drinks coffee every morning and every night even though it's not healthy! You smelled Sirius in your Amortentia!"

Caroline gritted her teeth and stood from her seat, causing Peter to cower slightly. "Has it ever occured to you that everyone likes chocolate chip cookies? Lils, do you like chocolate chip cookies?" Caroline asked, not taking her attention off of Peter for one second.

"Yeah, I like chocolate chip cookies. Some might even say love," Lily added on.

"And has it ever occured to you that since Sirius smokes all night, your entire dorm reeks of smoke and all four of you smell faintly of smoke so technically, I could fancy any of you except for Peter?" Caroline questioned, eyeing the other three Marauders. Remus and James nodded.

Caroline picked up her cup of iced coffee. "Oh, and I wonder what this is. Right, it's coffee. Now Petey," Caroline feigned sweetness, leaning closer to Peter and whispering so no one could hear, "maybe if you tried a little harder, it wouldn't be so easy to take everything from you."

Peter backed away and accidentally rammed into James. Caroline put her coffee back on the table and grabbed her back. "Come on, Lils," Caroline said and Lily grabbed her bag too.

"Thanks for ratting me out to my brother, Remus. I actually thought we could be friends," Caroline scoffed and walked out of the Great Hall with Lily.

"She's scary," Sirius said, then proceeded to continue smoking.

"Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall's stern voice rang out. "No smoking in the building! Put that out!"

"Anything for you, Minnie!" Sirius called, dropping the cigarette in Caroline's unfinished coffee.

---------------

Caroline's bare feet were planted firmly on the broom and her hands were spread out, one in front of her and one behind her. She put more pressure on her left foot and the broom sped up more.

Caroline leaned forward and her Nimbus 1500 obeyed, moving faster and faster. The girl's blonde hair was blown backwards as she picked up her pace. Caroline whopped in triumph and she moved in circles around the Quidditch field and went up and down, feeling the wind move against her. Caroline Pettigrew finally figured out how to successfully air surf.

To Caroline, this was better than the surfing she did when her and Peter went to the beach. The wind blowing against her and the sunset occuring at the same time made Caroline feel free, like she was finally content with her life.

The beautiful girl was suddenly pulled out of her dream and snapped back into reality when someone chose to join her in the air. "You know, you could really get hurt if you try to surf on the air," Jeremy warned.

"Don't worry, Jer. I'm not scared of getting hurt," Caroline assured calmly, trying to block the Gryffindor Keeper out of her mind so she could go back to dreaming of a better life.

"If you got hurt, you wouldn't be able to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend," Jeremy retorted, causing Caroline to pause and look over at the 6th year. She lowered herself on the broom so she was sitting properly and her bare feet dangled in the air.

"Are you asking me to Hogsmeade?" Caroline asked airily, making her seem more calm than she actually was.

"Yes," Jeremy confirmed, his brown eyes studying the small indents and details of her face, looking for a distinct tell-sign but she gave no avail. Caroline just noticed his Quidditch uniform on, which meant that the Gryffindors would be practicing soon.

"Are any of your other friends going to be there?"

"Nope," Jeremy said, popping the 'p'. "Just us. What do you think?"

Caroline bit her lip in thought, although she already knew what she was going to respond with. "Okay," she answered hesitantly.

"Okay?" Jeremy repeated.

"Okay. I'll see you later then," Caroline concluded, lowering herself to the ground. Once she felt her feet touch the spiky grass that she'd grown so familiar with, the blonde girl immediately slipped her boots back on. Jeremy watched her from afar and she didn't spare him another glance as she skipped off the field.

"That is one strange girl," Jeremy spoke to no one in particular.