BETTY

six. june 29th

[ chapter six. june 29th ]

          Padfoot,

I know it's only been a few days since we all split for the summer, but I need your help. It's a bit hard to explain over a letter, so I need you to come over as soon as possible so I can explain everything to you because I am having a crisis.

          Your best mate,

          Prongs

James was pacing his living room when Sirius appeared out of the fireplace in a flash of green light. James, who had been anxious for his arrival, immediately lunged at his best friend and grabbed him so suddenly that Sirius let out a high-pitched yelp.

"Merlin, Prongs!" Sirius cried as James tugged him over to the couch. "I thought you were one of my former hookups with the way you pounced on me!"

"Stop being a prat, Sirius," James said, not in the mood to hear about what Sirius had been getting up to over the summer (although, he doubted that girls were involved). James would rather talk about his own girls.

"Alright, alright," Sirius said with a chuckle, immediately pulling out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it with a flick of his wrist. He put the cigarette in his mouth, taking a drag before exhaling the smoke in James's direction - something he knew pissed James off. "What'd you call me here to talk about?"

"There's a girl," James said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Sirius's eyes went a little bit wider and he sat up a little bit straighter.

"Bullshit!" he exclaimed, holding the cigarette in his fingers. "What do you mean 'there's a girl?'"

"I mean exactly what I said," James replied huffily. "There's a girl."

"Evans?"

"No, not Evans. Why would I call you over here to talk about Evans."

Sirius shrugged and stood up, stretching his arms above his head before saying, "Dunno, seems like something you'd do though."

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatev- where are you going?"

"Kitchen," Sirius replied, taking another drag of his cigarette, as he left the living room.

"Mum's gonna know if you smoked in the kitchen. You know she doesn't like it."

Sirius laughed and picked up an apple out of the fruit bowl. "What Mia doesn't know won't hurt her," he said, tossing it in the air and catching it again in the hand that wasn't holding his cigarette. He took a bite of it. "Keep talking about this girl."

James felt his face heat up a bit. "She lives next door," he explained. "She, uh, just moved in at the beginning of the month. I met her a few days ago - she works at a coffee shop a few blocks away, you see."

"A coffee shop?" Sirius repeated. James rolled his eyes.

"It's not that hard to guess what a coffee shop is, Pads," James said and Sirius snorted.

"I know, I'm just messing with you. Keep talking."

"Well, we've been spending quite a bit of time together lately. I met her in the library yesterday and walked her home. . . and then she came over that night with brownies that she had made."

"Seems like a sweet girl," Sirius said, taking another bite of his apple, swallowing it, and then putting his cigarette between his lips. James leaned forward and grabbed it, snuffing it out and tossing it in the trash. "Hey!"