lux, remus lupin¹ ✔

XLVII. CATCHING EYES

CATCHING EYES!

MARCH 1977

6th Year

• • • •

"We did this in our fourth year," Holland stated, as she and Sirius sat in the library, surrounded by parchment, quills, ink and textbooks, "How are you finding this so hard?"

Sirius shrugged, "It's a difficult subject."

Holland raised an eyebrow, "It's a colour changing spell," She said, "You were pranking Severus during this lesson, weren't you?"

"...Yeah." The boy admitted, making the Slytherin laugh.

"Yeah, thought so." Holland smiled, adding to her own homework.

"You know," Sirius spoke up, making the Irish girl look at him, "I have never thanked or apologised to you."

Holland scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Sirius looked at her, "I acted absolutely horribly to you."

Holland shrugged, playing with her fingers, "You had reasons to."

"No, I really didn't," Sirius shook his head, "And I'm really sorry. I mean, KI threatened you for talking to Remus, and now look at you two. I accused you of being a prejudice Death Eaters. And when I found out that you were staying with us for Christmas, I completely overreacted," He told her, "And for that, I could not be more sorry."

Holland smiled, "I forgive you. You're not as bad as I thought you were," She said, "Even though you are a massive drama queen."

"It runs in the family." The Gryffindor shrugged with a laugh.

"Trust me. I know."

"And that's why I need to thank you," Sirius told her, "You looked after Reggie when I wasn't able to. So thank you."

Holland shrugged, "Well, he is - was, I guess - my best friend."

"Also, thank you for making Remus, and everyone, including myself, so happy. It's hard to come across good friends like you.

The girl blushed, "You're welcome."

The pair continued with their work, when a thought suddenly popped into Holland's head.

"Uh, by the way, what do you think of Maggie?" She asked.

Sirius looked at her, "Maggie?"

"Yeah," Holland nodded, "What do you think of her?"

"Uh, yeah, she's great," The shaggy-haired boy nodded, "Great personality, very pretty, lovely eyes," He listed off, making Holland smirk to herself, "I feel like I know her from somewhere else, though."

Holland shrugged, smirking, "Maybe you do."

"What does that mean?"

The Irish girl laughed, "For someone who claims to be such a 'ladies man', you're incredibly dense when it actually comes to girls." She chuckled, shaking her head as she continued her essay, leaving a confused Sirius' question unanswered.

***

"Ah, good, Holland, you're here." James greeted the girl, as she sat down in between him and Lily at dinner.

Holland looked at him warily, "Why are you talking like Slughorn?" She asked him, "What have you done? Who have you pranked? Is there a body?"

James chuckled, "No, I just needed yours and Remus' help."

Across the table, Remus looked up from his dinner, "What?"

"Well, you two lovebirds have Prefect duty tomorrow night." James said.

"Thank you for proving your creepiness of knowing our schedule off by heart." Remus nodded, making his friends laugh.

"Well, I was wondering, if you two aren't too busy snogging, could you please help with a prank?" James asked, giving them his best puppy dog eyes.

Remus raised an eyebrow at the boy, "What exactly do you think it is that we do during Prefect duty?"

James went to answer, making Holland hold her hand up to stop him.

"None of us want to hear the answer to that question." She told the boy.

James nodded with a shrug, "You're probably right."

Holland rolled her eyes with a chuckle, "What do you want us to do?"

James grinned, "Well, I need you two to go into the kitchens. And one of you needs to sweet talk the elves, which shouldn't be too hard. They love us."

Holland laughed, "Humble."

"Thank you, I try," James nodded, "But once you get into the kitchens, I need you to get to the food for the Slytherin table and cast this spell on it." He instructed, handing the Irish girl next to him a small piece of paper.

Holland creased her eyebrows in confusion, reading the spell, "What does it do?" She asked, putting the spell in her robe pocket.

James winked at her, "It's a surprise."

Holland laughed, digging into her meal, engaging in a pleasant conversation with Lily and Mary Macdonald, when the girl felt eyes on her, making her look up at the table she once used to sit, locking eyes with a familiar brunette. Holland sent a small smile towards the girl, surprisingly gaining a tight-lipped smile back from the Ortolano girl.