CHASING PARTIES ミ★ WEASLEY TWINS (DISCONTINUED)

«special chapter_surprises are always unexpected, dumbass.»

SIRENE BLACK cracked her knuckles, nervousness wracking her body from the inside out, it had taken about thirty pleas to The Order to get here, in front of the house where the Potters currently lived, the secret had been extended to Sirene. She raised her hands to knock on the hard wood, for some reason, she stopped mid-air, it had been about three years since she saw them last, and almost fifteen years since they'd sat down and talked, there had been a few moments where they'd exchanged greetings, talked for a few minutes but James and Lily had always been ushered out - to keep them safe. Nothing compared to those days at Hogwarts, they would never have them back. She knocked twice in a row, then with a break she knocked once and then three times together again.

Sirene could hear muffled footsteps from the other side of the door, it was silent for a few seconds, but then the door threw wide open, Sirene was immediately pulled into a hug, James's hands wrapped around her shoulders as Sirene fell into a fit of laughter, she hugged him tight - who knows when she'll get to do that next, "Hey, step aside! That's my best friend!" said a demanding voice from behind them, and Sirene didn't even have to look, she blindly grabbed for the girl - her eyes blurred with tears as she grabbed a hold of her best friend, years had passed but a hug with Lily Evans still felt the same as it did before.

"Hey, hey! Enough now, she's my best friend too, you know!" James said as Sirene and Lily pulled apart after what felt like eternity. Sirene laughed, a throaty chuckle as she sniffed.

"Your hair still looks like shit," that was the first thing she said, of course it was. Lily and James both chuckled, "Lily, your boobs look fantastic, what'd you do?"

"They've always been fantastic," Lily said as she fluffed her hair.

"I can attest to that." James smiled dopily.

"Ew! I don't need to know that?" Sirene stepped back, holding both of them at an arm's distance, "You two are so weird!" she said, and that was when she looked around in the room - it was a far call from the homey Potter Manor, but James had tried to make it feel more like home - Sirene could tell, he had his mother's blankets draped over the couch, the cup that his father used - Sirene could cry thinking of Euphemia and Fleamont Potter, she had parents, yes, but they were just that, or barely that - nothing else, Euphemia and Fleamont, however, were everything a child could ever need.

Sirene looked over at the fireplace, there she was - in her own ugly Christmas jumper, her hair tied back with a reindeer ears headband, along with Sirius - he too was wearing an ugly jumper, all of them were, in the picture Sirene could be seen with a smirk on her face right as a glitter bomb exploded in Sirius's face, James had a knowing smile on his face and his parents were completely unaware, smiling as they looked at the camera.

She saw another picture, them at the Marauders Manor, their first Christmas there - it was after James's parents had passed, and the group had realized that they didn't seem to have people to go back to home to this year for Christmas, it seemed sadder - there wasn't a careless expression on their face like there was in the picture before, still, Sirene and Remus were huddled together on the couch, her arm around his shoulders as he smiled - soft and tired, Andrew on his other side ruffling his hair - Marlene kissing Lyra's cheek, James and Lily together cuddling on the couch, and Sirius with Neveah...

Sirene could stare at those pictures forever, no matter how beaten they were - literally and figuratively, they were together and for some reason that made the pain bearable, but now...all of them were spread apart, each with their own responsibilities - their own grief. It seemed impossible to get back to where they used to be.

"Tea, Si?" Lily set the kettle down and Sirene snapped out of it, staring at her friend for a few seconds too long as she nods - Lily Evans was still positively, and absolutely fit, but Sirene could see the stress had taken a toll on her - she could always see things like that, especially when it came to her friends - she knew James tried to hide it, fake it, but everyone know James had always been sensitive like that, no matter what his reputation was at Hogwarts - you don't just befriend a werewolf, an absolute loser (We all know that is!), and two up-to-no-good kids that come from a blood status supremacist family.