WHEN WE WERE YOUNG : marauders era

50. sleep-over in the common room

'Skin of Scars, Heart of Gold.'

Remus knew immediately what it was about. No wonder Mareena had been so cautious while giving it to him. He felt his heart warm up as he glanced briefly at his friend looking anxiously for his reaction.

He couldn't express how much the gift meant to him. He tried to speak but words refused to escape his mouth. The book was beautiful; the title written in elegant golden letters on the thick leather-bound book.

Simple words, yet they meant so much to him. He couldn't believe Mareena had gone through all the trouble to get him this wonderful gift.

He couldn't hold himself back. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her making her jump slightly in surprise. "Thank you," he mumbled into her shoulder, unable to put his happiness in words. He willingly ignored his heart which beat a million times per second as he felt her breath on his neck.

Mareena chuckled in relief as she patted him on the back. "Glad you like it. For a moment there, I thought you didn't."

"I love it!" came Remus' reply, as he pulled back and examined the book again with a lingering smile. "I'll have to read it when no one's looking though. Can't have the others finding out."

"Yeah," Mareena agreed. "In the library, perhaps. The boys would never come there and Julie would be with Lil, Marls and Al."

Remus agreed and quickly put the book away as James, Sirius and Peter walked over.

"How about a game of Wizards' Chess guys? The loser would have to give up all their candy," Sirius declared, putting down the chess board on the couch and looking confidently at the others. "So! Let's see...hmm...," he muttered as he looked at each of his friends in turn. "Ree!" he suddenly exclaimed, pointing at her. "You're the chosen one this time."

"Oh, how honored I am," Mareena remarked sarcastically but accepted the challenge nonetheless.

"I hope you know the rules," Sirius said with a smirk.

"Of course I do."

"Great! Let me also remind you that I've been unbeatable in this game for as long as it took Dumbledore to grow that beard of his," said Sirius. He added after having a thought, "Well, okay, not that long but you know what I mean."

"Okay, okay. Let's start already," Mareena said impatiently, her mouth curving into a sly smile. 'Let's see how long you'll remain unbeatable after this game.'

"Ooh, this is going to be fun," James said excitedly as he, Remus and Peter sat down around them, eager to watch.

"Prepare to lose all your beloved candy, Ree," Sirius said with a smirk.

Mareena scoffed as she arranged the chess board. "Don't count your dragons before they have hatched, my friend."

And so the game began. At some point, Juliana eagerly joined to watch as well and with all the commotion James and Sirius created, by the middle of the game a big crowd had gathered around them, curious about who would win.

From somewhere behind, 'Roxanne' blared through, enveloping the common room in upbeat muggle music. At last, much to the mortification of Sirius, he had to give up his sweets to Mareena as defeat slapped him in the face.

"Too bad eh, Black?" Marlene teased him with a smirk as the other students drifted away, chattering about the game, the food, the music and almost anything and everything. Sirius glared at her.

"And that, Sirius, is why you should never underestimate your opponent," Mareena commented smugly as she distributed a few of the sweets among her friends and gave the rest back to him.