𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞 - 𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

15 - 𝙞 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙞 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩

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"Hi!" Sirius said in a high-pitched voice, which crumpled any defences he might have built for eavesdropping on their conversation.

James scratched the back of his head slowly. "So, poisoning's fun, am I right?" he grinned nervously.

Aquila put her hand on her hips, while Regulus came to stand on her right side, with Adrian on her left and Rowan a comforting presence behind her.

"What exactly do you think you're both doing?" Aquila asked in an eerily calm tone.

James put on a smile. "Well, you don't exactly own the kitchens, do you? We may come and go as we please."

Aquila scowled and muttered, "Ah, yes, the unbeatable Gryffindor logic," she turned to her brother. "And you, Sirius? Why were you breathing so close to my face if you were here for just a quick bite?"

"Checking if I had bad breath, sister," he said, putting a smile on and going around the group of four. "Now, why are we killing Mulciber's father? Did he take away your candy last Christmas?" he flicked Rowan on the nose.

Rowan batted his hand away and said with a deadpan expression. "He beat me up and locked me in the basement where there are rats and I am terribly allergic to them, leading to rashes and my injuries getting infected. For the past ten years, now. And, he never gave me candy on Christmas," he gave a smile.

James looked horrified at this. He had grown up in a house where he was the only child to an elderly couple, making him have a very loved childhood. Sirius, while never been on the opposite end of a fist from his parents, had received several beatings from his dearest cousin, Bellatrix. He knew how it felt to have broken bones and no one but your younger siblings and a house elf you hated around to help.

"Well," Sirius said, taking a bite out of the pastry Regulus was eating, "we have cause, and a good one, at that. How are we doing it?"

"We," Regulus said, taking the pastry out of Sirius' hands, "are not doing anything. You are going back to your common room, and forgetting about this."

Sirius grinned, revealing a mouthful of the chewed up remains of the pastry. "Don't forget the age here, Reggiekins. I'm still older!" he said in a sing-song voice.

Aquila smiled. "Yes, you are, Sirius. So, tell me, what were you doing in the kitchens this late?" she asked innocently.

"We were here to get some midnight snacks," Sirius said with a triumphant grin towards Regulus.

Aquila pouted and put a hand on her chest. "Aw, is Remus not feeling well? Again?"

Sirius and James froze. While them coming to the kitchens around the full moon time was no secret for the house elves, but people of the Hufflepuff house, whose common room was near the kitchens, always gave them suspicious glances. They had quickly concocted a story about Remus' mother's frequent sickness, which made Remus need his comfort food, chocolate. Now, how Aquila knew, was a mystery.

Regulus gave her a warning look. Don't push it further, his voice came in her head.

She gave him an amused glance. Not so against using it now, are we, Reg?

Regulus said nothing as the group of Slytherins watched the two older boys having difficulty to come up with an answer. Aquila was particularly ashamed of Sirius for his inability to lie, considering it was all he did at home.

"Please, it's hurting me to see you fumble so pathetically. No one knows what you heard here, and we'll forget this ever happened," Aquila said, scratching behind her ear with a delicate finger.

James raised his chin. "We don't need your pity, thank you very much. Yes, Remus is sick, and yes, it happens often, and yes, we are concerned."

Sirius nodded. "And you're talking? You were literally planning to kill your friend's father a few seconds ago!"

Aquila gave a one-shoulder shrug. "You support your friends by bringing them comfort food, we support them by helping kill their fathers. Easy."

- - -

The next day, Aquila was going down the corridor when her arm was grasped by a hand and she was quickly pulled into a corner, only to find James Potter peering down at her.

"What do you know about Remus?" he demanded.

"Hello to you, too. I'm fine, thank you for asking, and I got to my common room just peachy yesterday," she glared at him, and pulled her arm away from his unnecessarily tight grasp.

"What do you know about Remus?" he demanded again, through gritted teeth.

"Consider it a little warning, Jamie," she hummed. "Tell anyone what happened at the library that day and suddenly, everyone will find out why exactly is our little Lupin sick every full moon."

James shook his head. "You're just as bad as the rest of them. You're exploiting Remus' condition and you know it's something he has no control over."

Aquila's eyes flared once again. "I have known about Lupin's condition since last year, and I have never babbled about it. Cunning may be a trait of the Slytherins, but so is loyalty. And out of all you Gryffindors, Remus is the only one I respect to keep his secret. So go judge someone who cares, Potter, but i will not let you demean me."

James shook his head. "I'm pretty sure Avery and Mulciber know as well, don't they?"

Aquila rubbed her forehead at this. Regulus and her had figured out Remus' secret when they had been nicking some ingredients from Madam Pomfrey and had seen the poor boy, completely covered in scratches and near-fainting, being helped by Madam Pomfrey into a curtained section of the Hospital Wing. They had completely swore to not tell anyone what they had discovered, with the exception of reading about werewolves in their spare time. Now, Aquila considered herself an expert when it came to werewolves.

"Trust me, Potter," she sighed, "Rowan and Adrian do not know about this. I have enough respect for Remus to not do that." she said the last part as if it pained her to admit it.

"Good," James said, turning and going down the corridor once again. He turned back around and looked her in the eye. "But tell anyone, and I will make the rest of your years at Hogwarts hell, little Blackie."

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lmao little jamie making threats

it's hard to imagine them as 13-14 year olds

anyway, thank you for all the votes, comments, reads and shiz

i love you all sm :')

ooh, what's your favourite sweet/candy?

mine is the sour candy thing or ooo tunnock's snowballs those were heaven

so, hope you liked it, press the star button, comment!

love, 

༻hy༺