Shakespeare ❆ Sirius Black [1]

Chapter Thirty Four

Nadia had gone to her room after helping the boys prepare the living room for the quickly approaching New Year's party. She wanted to get ready before Marlene, Mary and Lily arrived which none of the boys protested to as it gave them a chance to discuss some new information.

"It's obvious they're hiding something, what do you think it is?" James asked curiously as Sirius informed them of the way Nadia's father had called Nicholas the day before.

By now all of the boys were aware that if they hadn't avoided the topic of Nadia's new relationship like the plague they would probably know what was going on. But by now too much time had passed and they worried that if all of a sudden they showed interest she would suspect something. Sirius in no way wanted that to happen. So far he had hidden his feelings from Nadia quite well, and he planned to keep it that way until he knew the time was right.

"Why don't you just ask her? I think you're overthinking things." Peter commented with a small sigh. All this discussion of whether Nadia and Nicholas were hiding something and what, were becoming quite redundant considering all they had was speculation and no solid proof but a couple of words.

"Pete, if she starts to think we have a reason for asking she could realize what it is. And if she is in a relationship with Nicholas and really does like him, I don't want to stand in the way of that." Sirius explained patiently.

Were he in any other situation, his curiosity would have probably made him ask right away, but Nadia was smart and she would find their sudden change in interest suspicious for certain. Their hushed conversation was stopped by the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, but all four quickly relaxed as they only saw James' parents approach them with smiles on their faces.

"Well boys we'll be off now." Euphemia said with a smile. Despite what Sirius had said to Konstantin, the two adults had made plans to welcome the new with some family friends and were leaving the house to the children. "I don't think I have to remind you that any type of mess you make, it will be up to you lot to clean it up." She added on, it was the rule every year.

"No you do not." Sirius said with a proud smile on his face. Even though they managed to keep the mess to a minimum the last five years, even if they did make a mess he was sure cleaning it would be easy now that he was of age and was allowed to practice magic outside of Hogwarts.

"Without magic." Fleamont added on, practically reading Sirius' mind and making the smiles on the faces of each of the boys instantly drop. That was a bit of a snag.

"We'll keep the place clean Mr and Ms Potter." Remus said reassuringly. None of them felt like actually cleaning up the next morning, but they could also easily clean up any mess the moment it is made with magic so James' parents wouldn't suspect a thing.

"Good. Say goodbye to Nadia for us will you?" Euphemia said as she and her husband began to pull on their coats and shoes, getting ready to leave the house. They trusted their sons to make sure nothing too serious happened to the house while they were away. And if their trust in James and Sirius failed, Remus was a great second option, sometimes even better as a first.

"Will do, bye mum, bye dad!" James exclaimed. His parents called out their goodbyes as well before the group could hear the sound of the door closing as they left and the silence that fell upon them allowed them to hear the running shower upstairs, meaning they were free to resume their conversation.

"Do you think the girls know?" Remus asked after a couple of moments, thinking of Nadia's other friends who unlike them seemed to know every detail of Nadia and Nicholas' relationship.

"I don't know, Lily is so convinced of how adorable they look together, and she isn't quiet about it." James commented. He had seen Lily making that observation around many other people, not only from Gryffindor but also other houses as well.

"And Marlene has always been pretty loud in her awe of them as well." Peter added thoughtfully.

"My awe of who exactly if I may know?" The sound of Marlene's voice made all four boys quickly turn to look at her as she stood at the entrance of the living room, her eyes passing over each of them with a questioning look on her face. Mary and Lily stood by her side, regarding them in a similar manner. "Your parents let us in James." She added on after seeing their surprised and confused looks.

"And I think many things look adorable together, so you'll have to be more specific." Lily added on as the three girls moved further into the room and took seats around the empty spaces. Lily made sure to snag one of the empty armchairs before she was left sitting next to James on the sofa, that seat being left for Marlene as Mary sat on the other side of Peter who had been sitting next to the messy haired boy.

"Did I say you? I meant Nadia, yes, I meant Nadia when she fawns over those magical Russian dolls of hers." James quickly thought of a lie, one that was very much aided by the memory of Marlene examining the dolls one night in the common room, trying to figure out what magic was hidden within them.

"Oh really?" Lily rose her eyebrow in a suspicious manner. The three girls had their own theory of what the boys were talking about as they knew all three of them were very vocal about Nadia and Nicholas' relationship, just as they had noticed Adam and Henry, Nicholas' best friends who also knew the relationship wasn't real, had been.

"Well you know how obsessed he is with you Evans, it is no wonder he accidentally said your name instead of Nadia's." Sirius quickly jumped to his best friend's aid as he spoke in a teasing tone. Nadia may have told James not to overdo his proclamations of love during the night, but there was nothing about the other boys teasing. Of course, they didn't plan on it, at least not in front of the red head, but drastic measures had to be taken to convince the intelligent girl.

"Who speaks my name in vain?" Nadia surprised all seven by her silent entrance into the living room making all heads turn towards her.

"Nobody." They all said in unison. While the boys wanted her to have no clue that they were talking about her, the girls knew that their conversation better be left private. Although all of their quick reply made their motives very obvious to Nadia, but she decided she would pry later, when everyone's capabilities of keeping secrets was lowered due to alcohol.

"So, where's the good stuff?" Marlene asked as she excitedly rubbed her hands together. So far all the gatherings Lily, Mary and she had for New Year's Eve were pretty tame, and while she would never say they weren't fun she was expecting a Marauder party to get much more rowdy. After all, it was how Sirius' birthday had turned out.

"Oh I had an idea of a game we could play, I read about it in this Muggle magazine; you say one thing you've never done and whoever has done it has to drink." Mary spoke excitedly while James led Marlene to the cabinet where he knew his parents held the more potent drinks.

"That sounds like fun, and a great way to get to know each other better." Sirius said with a mischievous smile, already thinking of some things he could say that would be pretty good things to find out about the people surrounding him.

"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Lily asked with a sceptical tone, making a lot of them give out small laughs. Marlene who laughed too struggled to maintain hold on all of the glasses she was helping James carry over to the wide coffee table in the living room. The sight made Nadia quickly jump in her direction and help her with the load before they broke something before the party had even started.

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." Nadia said as she handed out some of the glasses in her hands as she looked towards Lily. "You can't tell me there is nothing you don't want to find out about these four?" She asked quizzically, she herself already had ideas on what to ask. The question made Lily pause for a moment as she thought it through before nodding begrudgingly.

"Mary, something tells me your game will be a great idea." Peter looked to the short haired girl sitting beside him with a smile while Mary blushed slightly, happy that all of them had liked her suggestion. And just as they expected the game was bound to make things come out, as well as get all of them plenty drunk.