Halcyon // R.J.L

Chapter Nine: The Locket

Needless to say, the girls refused to stop teasing Violet the whole way down to the lake were they shared yet another picnic lunch, and all the way back up to Gryffindor tower until they ran into the boys.

"Sunny"! James all but screamed, wrapping his arms around the smaller girl and twirling her in a circle.

"Where have you been? Beds empty, no note, we spent half an hour trying to get into your room this morning and you weren't even there"! Sirius exclaimed, but despite his grumpy tone he threw himself around the still hugging childhood best friends.

"Sorry lads, I decided on a girls day this year" Violet chuckled, peeling herself apart from the pair seemingly fighting over who could hug her tightest before getting her hair ruffled up by Peter.

"Happy day of coming out of ya mum Vi" Peter chuckled at his friends antics throwing an arm around her shoulder and leading her away from the girls to where Remus sat in the corner, a look of intense concentration on his face as he fumbled with spellotape and wrapping paper before placing it all down, a look of pride and a perfect(ish) wrapped present before him. Everyone winced at the mention of Violets mother and Peter immediately opened his mouth to apologise, but the girl simply waved him off and wandered closer to Remus.

"Happy Birthday Love". Remus' voice came out a lot deeper than intended, and Violet had to admit that it made her swoon a little, but she pushed that thought to the back of her mind as he enveloped her in a hug. Remus always gave the best hugs in Violets opinion. He was a lot taller, so her head perfectly nuzzled into his shoulder as long as she stood up on her tippy toes. They made her feel a lot of things, but mainly, Remus' hugs just made her feel loved. Like they were the only two people in the world and he only had eyes for her. This thought made Violet blush and although she couldn't quite work out why, she pulled away and peeled the white ribbon out of her hair, allowing her curls to form a curtain around her face concealing her rosy cheeks.

"We'll see you guys in a bit yeah"? Violet questioned rhetorically, before turning on her heel and bounding up the stairs to the girls shared dorm without a second glance. The boys looked at the girls with questioning glances to which Mary opened her mouth.

"She's probably still feeling embarrassed from our run in with Char-" the sentence was cut short with a yelp as Marlene stomped on her foot, a disturbing crack sounding as platform Mary Janes came into contact with the thin canvas fabric of Mary's Chuck Taylors.

"Women" Sirius huffed as he watched the remaining Gryffindor girls clamber up the stairs behind the birthday girl. Remus paid no mind to this however, frowning to himself and questioning what Mary was suggesting made Violet so jumpy and awkward. Well, more than usual.

When the sun had set and the last stragglers had raced past the fat lady narrowly missing curfew, Sirius and James were nothing short of confused.

"Obviously we know to be fashionably late, but those Hufflepuff girls don't! It's already past 10 people should be here by now James where are they I have a reputation to uphold!" Sirius frantically shook his best mates shoulders, his voice raising an octave every few words in panic. Remus was doing his best to cover a chuckle with a cough, but quickly got back to work setting up banners (he also deemed this quite unfair, just because he's the tallest doesn't mean he should always be stuck on banner duty, James was only a couple of inches shorter anyway) when the one-man-party-planning committee shot him a filthy glare.

"Oh so no one showed? What a tragedy" came a voice oozing with sarcasm from the top of the girls stars, face hidden behind a pile of sheets and pillows. Remus didn't need a face to instantly know the voice, and subconsciously attempted to flatten his hair and smooth his coffee brown knitted jumper to no avail.