We Spin Our Own Stars ¹

4 | The Mess You Made

  "It's not Jo, honestly," Sirius lied through his teeth, "it's just me."

  And something clicked in James, at that moment. Just not what Sirius had wanted it to be.

  James sat down on his bed, elbows resting on his thighs as he pulled at his hair in frustration. "Fuck, I knew it. Even mum used to say it."

  "Say what?" Now Sirius was intrigued. "Did she know?"

  The boy groaned, "Of course she did. She did give birth to Jo, you know. Mothers have this inexplicable way of knowing just about everything."

  Sirius, despite himself, breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh lord, I thought I'd have to keep it to myself forever."

  Grimacing, James slung an arm around the boy, "When did you even start to notice?"

  "I mean, Jo was just Jo, until we were up on the Astronomy tower a few nights back. Then, well, she grabbed my hand and it happened all so fast," Sirius trailed off lamely.

  "That fast?" James looked bewildered. "I thought love was a slow process."

  Sirius snorted. "You proposed marriage to Lily by the second week of first year, I wouldn't say you know much about that. Besides, what's love to do with this?"

  James eyed him warily. "You are in love with my sister, right? You literally just confirmed it."

  Apparently, Sirius's gaping was enough of a 'yes' for James, because the brunette continued almost instantaneously, "Of course, I have no idea why you fancy Jo, of all people, so suddenly, but I won't judge. Mum did always say you two were a match in heaven."

  "What?"

  "Oh, she did," James laughed, completely misunderstanding his shock, "Dad as well. When you first moved in, he kept telling me to keep an eye on you two in case you were doing anything shifty. Was positively convinced he'd accidentally walk in on you two shagging."

  "Prongs, no! You've got it all wrong, listen to me," Sirius stammered.

  James turned to look at him. "Then what happened with Jo?"

  Sirius, right there, remembered a muggle story about two doors that Remus had once told them. Two brothers standing in front of two doors, and you could only ask one question. James was asking that question, and Sirius was standing in front of two very shitty doors right there.

  Tell James a secret that wasn't his, or make James think he was hiding something else.

  Part of him was considering coming clean to James, but the entire thing seemed so unbelievable, and even worse, he didn't want to know what it meant. He had an inkling of an idea of what exactly Jo had foresaw, but it wasn't exactly something that he thought either him or James would like to know about. And to tell Josephine would only make matters worse, he decided.

  With a hearty clap on Sirius's back, he got up, "I have a meeting in a bit, see you at dinner, Pads!"

  In any other case, Sirius would have asked, "With who?" but his mind seemed to have stopped working completely. Even if he'd hated himself not for speaking up before James left, the choice soon became one he was glad he'd made. In the future. For now, Sirius was going to suffer.

⭒

  AND SUFFER HE DID, for the moment he sat down at the table, Remus raised an eyebrow at him that only proved one thing: James definitely told them. Peter shifted around, darting glances at both him and Josephine. Conspiracially, James gave him a nudge and a wink.