serendipity - r. lupin

FIFTY FOUR

"Enlighten me," drawled Remus.

"Evans wants to go out with me!"

Unfortunately for James, Genevieve and Remus had little to no reaction. Maybe this was because he had woke up from many dreams believing they were real and instantly told them this, or maybe it was because he had pranked them with this one-liner so many times before, but the one time he wanted their true reactions, he didn't receive it.

"Which one of you told him his dreams were real again?" Genevieve implored, her gaze flicking between Peter and Sirius.

"Neither of us," Sirius grumbled. "It was real this time."

Remus's tired eyes went as wide as saucers. "You're telling lies, we're not daft," he denied.

"Well, maybe I am," Genevieve chided, "but Remus isn't, and Remus speaks for both of us."

"I'm not lying!" James quickly defended, his voice going high-pitched, "She was like: 'I wouldn't mind if you asked me out again, I might even say yes this time' and I totally played it cool and—"

Peter scoffed. "Played it cool? Prongs, you ran away! That doesn't come close to playing it cool!" he objected.

"I strutted away sassily," James corrected, sticking his nose up in the air.

"You stood there when she said that, made a weird noise, and then sprinted out of class like a headless chicken!" Sirius corrected. "We had to look like idiots following you out like that!"

"Wait, so this is all real?" Genevieve gawked, her eyes staring incredulously at James.

"Yes!"

"Is the world ending?" Remus whispered to himself.

"Merlins baggiest trousers, this is amazing!" Genevieve beamed, a wide smile blooming across her face. "You need to go and ask her to Hogsmeade, you've been waiting for this moment since our first year!"

"No, this is most certainly not amazing!" Sirius ranted. "Your ours, not hers!" He abruptly grappled for James's hand and placed it on his chest, "Do you feel that, Prongs? It's the feeling of my heart breaking."

"Give over!" James complained, ripping his hand from Sirius's grasp. "I'm not going anyway, so you don't have to be such a baby about it."

Genevieve felt her smile slip slowly from her face, her lips tugging downwards instead and his eyebrows furrowing. "Tell me I'm not hearing things," she ordered.

"You're not hearing things," James confirmed, eyes focused on his freshly polished shoes. "We all decided to stay with Moony instead of go to Hogsmeade, so that's what we're going to do."

Guilt surged at the bottom of Remus's stomach. His tired eyes drooped, and his chapped lips slightly parted as he wished to say something. "Prongs," he spoke solemnly, "You don't have to miss out on this for me. You've been waiting for this moment since forever."

"I can wait a bit longer," James shrugged, smile on his face, "Besides, it's late notice. The trips tomorrow, Godric's sake! I already had a date planned with a werewolf, anyway."

✧･ ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

The shrieking shack creaked eerily through the darkness of the night. Must and damp hung in the air, a nose-shrivelling smell that proved the house was as old as it looked. While waiting for the moon to reach its highest peak in the sky, Genevieve had tucked herself into James's side as they sat together in a rocking chair, huddling for warmth in the freezing cold.