maple syrup | remus lupin [1]

57. how to successfully blackmail someone

"HOW DO YOU successfully blackmail someone?" Claudia asked the four boys as she entered their dormitory, only to find Remus falling off his bed.

He had to hide that he was reading one of her annotated books somehow, and for some bloody reason he decided that rolling over his bed so that he fell off it would be the only way to do it.

"Oh, Merlin! Are you okay?!" Claudia asked concernedly as Remus chucked the book under his bed mere seconds before she arrived by his side and helped him up.

"Just peachy," he replied in a tone that definitely confirmed that he wasn't 'just peachy', considering he had jammed his head against his nightstand in the process.

"You don't seem 'just peachy'," she said as she over-concernedly checked his face to make sure he wasn't bleeding or something. "Did you hit your head?"

"No, m'fine," Remus replied, but Claudia took no notice of that as she forced him to lay back down in his bed.

"So, where was I?" She asked herself before a mischievous grin came over her face. "Right. How do you successfully blackmail someone? More specifically, how do I blackmail Nolan?"

Four boys stared at her dumbfoundly for a few seconds, and then they bursted into laughter.

"What's so funny?!" She asked with a frown. "I'm being serious!"

That just caused them to laugh even harder.

"No darling, I'm Sirius," said the boy who was clearly stepping over a line as Claudia threw a shoe at him.

"I've hated you for weeks, don't go change my mind on liking you again," she sassed.

"Oh, please, I didn't even do anything. It was all a big fat misunderstanding," he said happily, considering Claudia had told them everything the night before. "Now, what the hell are you on about?!"

"I was asking you four for help!" She exclaimed impatiently. "I need help."

"You need help with...blackmailing someone?" Asked Peter with an amused smile, that turned into a laugh the second she nodded.

"Oh, will you four listen to me for one second?!" Claudia scoffed as they continued to laugh, Peter laughing so hard that he too fell of his bed. "I'm not joking here!"

"I just know you had to say 'joking' instead of 'serious' that so we wouldn't 'Sirius' you again," James grinned. "But, darling Claudia, we absolutely adore you-"

"Some more than others," Sirius butted in with a sly wink.

"True, but we all really do adore you. Love you, even. You're our girl. But there's no way in hell that you're being serious right now. Because why would our sweet little Ravenclaw actually blackmail someone?"

"Because she's bloody furious, that's why!" Claudia yelled. "And do you really think I'm that sweet?"

"I mean, you are," said Remus earnestly. "You made Inez that sweater, you always bring us food and you braid people's hair the moment they ask you to. You're as sweet as one can get."