Everything to Me

44.

Juli opened the door to the classroom, followed by Peter and saw Lily standing in front of a chair.

"Hey Lils. What's going on?" She asked.

Lily moved to the side and their eyes fell upon Sirius with his hands and legs tied and his wand on the table. He looked as if this was the worst place he could be at and would burst at any moment.

"What are you doing, Lils? Why is Si- Black tied up?" Could she not even say his name?

He was trying to untie his hands by force when he saw Juli looking at him in surprise. "Help me out, Juliette." He pleaded.

Giving into his demands, she moved towards her when Lily stepped in front of her.

"Don't even think about it. You cannot untie him. He just needs to be here for the next 30 minutes." Lily said.

Juli turned to look at Peter and he nodded, so as to confirm what Lily said.

"Just trust us on this one, Juli." He implored.

She hesitantly took steps back. Why were they physically restraining him? And why did he look that miserable? It was only Lily and he never minded her company.

"You have to tell me what you are doing." Juli demanded.

Before they could reply, Sirius said, practically shouted with desperation, his voice echoing in the classroom, "They won't let me see Emily."

A small 'oh' escaped her lips as she felt her heart shatter all over again. Even though she didn't like them together, she could clearly see how much Emily meant to him. She couldn't help but think how he would have reacted if it were her. She would consider herself to be the luckiest girl alive if it was even half of that.

She snapped out of thoughts and blinked back her tears when she heard Lily and Sirius arguing.

"...waiting for me. We were supposed to meet."

"I can assure you, Sirius," Lily replied angrily, "She is not waiting for you. She seems busy right now."

"She is right." Juli said, before she could stop herself. "She was with James and Remus." She felt bad for him. He didn't deserve to hurt over someone who so conveniently forgot him.

His expressions changed from anger to that of sadness and he slumped back into the chair, giving up on trying to free himself. "Really?" He asked.

Peter nodded and put the map under his nose, so that he could see the 3 dots by the Black Lake.

Seeing that he had calmed down, Lily sat down on her knees in front of Sirius, her kind eyes requesting him to say something.

"How could she just forget, Lils? I...I love her and she just... forgot?" He said.

"That's where you're wrong." She said, gently cupping his face with one hand. "You don't love her, Siri. She has been giving you the love potion since the past 4 weeks." She kept her tone soft, not wanting to startle him.

Behind her, she heard Juli gasp and gave her a sad smile.

"Remember how she would sit with us at every meal, we think it was in the juice you had everyday." Peter added.

Sirius eyes widened in shock. "I don't believe it. I love her and I know it." He argued in a loud voice.

"Are you sure, Lils?" Juli asked, not being able to believe that someone would go to such extent to simply have a boyfriend.

"She would have probably taken it from Professor Slughorn's office and did some changes." Lily nodded.

"Let me go, Lily!" Sirius said threateningly.

To everyone's surprise, Peter had his wand out. Give us 15 more minutes and sit down quietly, Sirius." He lowered his wand. "Please."

James and Remus chose that moment to enter the classroom, panting.

"Why are stairs - potions dungeon - sixth floor..." James wheezed, supporting himself on Juli.

"You were supposed to be with Emily." Lily said, narrowing her eyes.

"Supposed? What does it mean? Was this all planned?" Sirius exclaimed.

Remus walked up to him and opened a small flask with something silver inside. Before Sirius could ask anything, the silvery content was emptied into his mouth. Letting the bottle fall, Remus sat down on on the floor in exhaustion to catch his breath.

"We ditched Emily and went to Professor Slughorn to ask for the cure." James explained, walking towards Lily and Peter. "Who knows who long it would have taken to reduce the effect of the potion."

"Had to run all the way so that she wouldn't see us. Boy, she talks a lot." Remus said as he got up to untie Sirius' hands.

James saw Juli watching Sirius from a distance as the dreamy look disappeared into his eyes and he seemed to be coming back to his sense. He walked up to her and put an arm around her shoulder, pulling her close into him. "You okay, Jules?"

"Yeah, I suppose." She sighed, but soon, her voice cracked.

Sirius untied his legs placed his wand back in his robes. "Thank you. I owe you one, Evans." He winked.

"You owe me more than one." She said, causing everyone to laugh.

Sirius felt normal and himself after an entire month. "I can't believe I believed that I loved her." He tried to joke.

"You should probably talk to Emily." Peter said.

Sirius nodded and looked at James for confirmation only to find Juli buried in his chest. Wait, was she crying?

Everyone followed his gaze and saw James looking worriedly at his sister.

"Juliette, I..." Sirius started, not knowing what to say.

The pent up emotions and new revelation was very overwhelming for her and it didn't even take a second for James to understand that. She couldn't look at Sirius in the eyes and instead, walked out the classroom.

"She just needs some time, mate." Remus reassured.

Sirius looked guiltily at the floor and nodded. "Now let's go get some answers."