It All Fell Down | A Marauder's Story

Sixteen

     "And when your heart knows, it knows. There's no explaining it. You can only trust it." - The Better Man Project 

     A warm, Saturday afternoon saw the group of seven by the lake, where one year earlier, what had been termed the incident had occurred, but James' bullying of Severus Snape and the yelling of 'mudblood' were a distant echo of the past. In fact, it didn't even strike anyone in the group that they were in the exact same spot, under the exact same tree, exactly one year later.

     The year was coming to a close on their sixth year. They were days away from accepting their roles as the oldest students at Hogwarts, and it was scary. They were looking their looming future dead in the eyes. If they were being honest with themselves, it put a knot in each of their guts. 

     But, today wasn't the day to think about that.

     Charlie had climbed the tree and was crawling over the branches like some type of monkey; Sirius sat with his back against the thick trunk, keeping himself in the shade with a cigarette clamped between his lips; Marlene and Lily were laid on their backs amongst the grass, eyes closed as they took in the beaming sunlight; Remus and James were sprawled out in the grass playing an intense game of wizards chess; Peter watched zealously as Charlie made her way easily over the branches as if fear were nonexistent.

     "Charlie," Lily said, peering through her eyelids, squinting in the sunlight. "You're going to break your neck."

     Charlie laughed as she hooked her knees onto a branch and allowed her torso to hang upside down. "No worries, Mum. I'm being careful."

     Sirius slid his black, square sunglasses down his nose. Charlie's netted, white shirt hung at her neck revealing her upper body, and Sirius arched an eyebrow at her lacy, black under garment. "Nice bra, Riggs."

     Charlie flipped herself over, landing on her feet with a thud. "Thanks," she winked, unfazed by his comment. "It clasps in the front. Confuses the boys."

     "True," James commented with a raise of his hand, never looking up from the chess board. 

     Charlie watched as Lily made a face. "Let's do something," Charlie said, changing the subject. "I'm bored." 

     "Like what?" Peter asked, squinting into the sunlight. 

     Charlie shrugged her shoulders as she dug through her bag. "I dunno, just something."

     "Hide-n-seek?" James suggested, still never removing his eyes from the game board. 

     "Oh," Sirius exclaimed in a childlike voice, putting his cigarette out against the bark of the tree. "Never have I ever. Gimme all your secrets, bitches."

     "What secrets don't we share?" Marlene asked from her position on the ground. 

     "You tell me, McKinnon."

     Marlene felt her cheeks tinge with heat, and she found herself suddenly grateful for the sunlight's ability to cloak her red cheeks. She cleared her throat but said nothing. Lily smirked in return while Charlie bit off a piece of a licorice wand, suppressing a cheshire grin. 

     "We could always share the couple names," Peter shrugged. 

     Charlie yanked the candy from her lips. "Dude!"

     "What?" Peter asked innocently, looking up at his friend in a confused manner. 

     "I'm sorry," Sirius inquired getting to his feet, wiping his grass covered hands on his black jeans. "Couple names?"