borealis • R. LUPIN

chapter 6

chapter 6 - bad liars

—

Part of Poli thought everything would go back to normal when she got back from the holidays. Alas, she was certainly mistaken.

Poli enjoyed herself immensely with her family over the break. She squealed and cheered for her sister when Dani told her that she had gotten an acceptance letter from University of Leeds for their school of medicine. She got a few new books to add to her collection as well as a knit, cream-colored sweater from her aunt, and a new mug from her dad that said, "#1 grandma" on the side in small letters and said, "you've just been poisoned" on the bottom of the inside of the mug. Poli laughed hysterically when she found out that her dad had to hand paint the "#1 grandma" on himself. Needless to say, she had one of the best christmases she's had in a long time.

When she got back to Hogwarts, she was greeted with the rumor of her and Sirius Black dating. At first she simply rolled her eyes and tried her best to dispel the rumors, feeling only mildly annoyed. Then she stumbled into Sirius himself boasting about it to a group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. That's when she got beyond angry. She marched up to the boy and grabbed him by his ear, dragging him off. She proceeded to slap him numerous amounts of times and yell at him, finally ending her rein of terror by saying simply, "fix this."

Poli found herself sitting next to James and Peter during lunch. She found herself mostly talking to James about Quidditch and occasionally asking Peter about any subject they found themselves on, hopeful not to leave him out. She looked around at one point, wrinkling her nose in confusion and furrowing her eyebrows.

"Where's Remus?" Though it was quick, Poli caught the flash of nervousness from James as he glances at Peter until Peter looked away, suddenly very interested in his soup. She was left to look at James with a raised eyebrow.

"He's not feeling too good. In the hospital wing. Must have caught the flu when he went back home." James said smoothly, before continuing with eating his food. But he was lying.

"Right. Maybe I should go visit him. Bring him some treats or a book or something." She saw out of her peripheral vision as their eyes widened. "You know, to make him feel better." She began to stand, gathering a bread roll and a cup of tea in her grasp, but was pulled back down into her seat by James. The clattering of her tea cup pulled the attention of a few housemates.

"Maybe not the best idea. He's highly contagious." James' voice held a subtle panicky tone that wasn't there before and Peter nodded vigorously.

"I have a good immune system." Poli challenged.

"Not good enough."

"I'll try my luck." Poli said after a pause with narrowed eyes. She stood one more time to leave but was once again pulled back down, this time with her being pulled closer to James.

"Okay, okay." James said lowly and with a seemingly out of breath voice. "We'll explain later. Just not here, not now." He glances around before holding eye contact until she agreed. It was silent for a little bit until Sirius jumped into his place at the table, noticing the tension.

"What did I miss?"

—

It was nearly 1 A.M. when she caught the boys trying to sneak out. Truth be told, she wasn't actually waiting for them, but not being able to sleep was apparently a blessing and a curse. She sat by the fire, hoping the warmth it radiated might lull her to sleep, but she could feel bags under eyes forming as she couldn't get her eyes to so much as droop closed.

She heard the quiet pattern of shoes against the stairs and out of the darkness she saw three boys huddled together, tiptoeing down the stairs, and whispering to each other. The first person to notice her was Peter.