Too Honest ~ James Potter

Chapter 28

James slid into the seat across from her and Mariya offered him a spoon which he gratefully accepted, beginning to eat from the other side of the tub of ice-cream. They sat in relative silence for a few moments, listening to the house elves bustling around them. Eventually, Mariya sat back in her seat and looked at James, who had his eyebrows furrowed as if in deep thought.

"What do you want to know?" She asked and James's head shot up, having clearly not expected her to start the conversation.

"You're an Animagus?" Mariya nodded in confirmation and he pondered the information for a moment before continuing, "Why?"

Mariya gave a short laugh, "You don't mess around, do you?" Seeing his serious look, she answered the question, "I wanted to help Remus."

Mariya shot the flash of fear that filled James's eyes for a singular moment before he masked it with faux confusion, "Help Remus with what?"

Mariya gave James an unimpressed look, "I know his secret, Potter. I know why you lot call him Moony." She heard a slight gasp coming from behind James before it was hastily silenced. "And whilst we're on the subject of secrets," She continued, her volume increasing slightly to ensure all the Marauders heard her. "There isn't much point hiding under that Invisibility Cloak, especially considering I have enough spoons for everyone."

James looked into her eyes for a moment to confirm that she did actually know and that it wasn't a lucky guess. Deciding that she did, he beckoned to the group of people who had previously been hidden from view and all four of them joined them at the table, three looking mildly shamefaced before retrieving spoons and starting on the sweet foodstuff whilst the other looked at the table in resignation, biting his lip nervously.

"When did you find out?" Remus mumbled, his voice barely audible and his tone flat.

"In First Year." Mariya replied, looking at him worriedly. "I worked out the thing about Animagi that November and my parents enrolled me in the Animagus program as my Christmas present. So I'm registered but my name doesn't show up on the lists because I'm a minor and Professor McGonagall was asked to keep it a secret."

"That would explain why we never found out in fifth year during the lesson on Animagi." James nodded in understanding.

"But why didn't you tell anyone? I'm dangerous after all." Remus was still looking at the table.

Mariya gave a snort of laughter that surprised everyone, "Remus, you're no more dangerous than me when I'm in a bad mood. There is no evidence to say that you are likely of hurting someone and," Mariya put her hand under his chin, forcing him to look her in the eye, "I am your friend. I would do anything to protect you."

Remus's hazel eyes sparkled with tears as he looked at the girl in front of him. "You shouldn't be so nice to me, Маша."

"Well there is one thing you can do to repay me," Remus nodded for her to continue, "You could either help me or lend me that wonderful map of yours for my next plan."

All four Marauders looked at her in shock and Jasper looked confused as to what she meant.

James was the first to recover, "How do you know about the map?"

Mariya shrugged, "You lot are a lot less subtle than you think, especially considering all the pranks you suddenly managed to pull without being caught once in sixth year."

The Marauders all exchanged glances, before Sirius looked at Mariya, "Well, seeing as we know your secret, I guess we should tell you that we are Animagi too."

"I know."

James threw his hands up in exasperation, "How in the wide world could you know about that? We didn't even ask any teachers about it."

Mariya placed a hand on his arm and said in a conciliatory manner, "No but I would argue that you needed all the help you could get just to work it out, never mind achieve the process." James cast her a confused look. "I spent a long time going out of my way to place books in your path in an attempt to help you get there."

"I feel lied to." James sulked, sticking his bottom lip out as far as he could, "I was so proud of my idea."

"I know, darling, I know." Mariya patted him on the arm a few more times before turning back to the ice-cream and spooning another mouthful before the boys finished it.

"I don't think there is anything else you need to know, so I'm going to call it a night. Goodnight boys!" She stood from the table. "Надобраніч, Remus. (Good night)"

With that she climbed out of the painting and walked back to the Slytherin common room, sleeping well with the loss of weight from her shoulders that came with revealing secrets. The Marauders and Jasper stayed in the kitchens for another while - finishing off another tub of ice-cream - before leaving for their respective common rooms.

James couldn't help but feel a level of respect for Mariya; she might be a Slytherin but she was a good enough person to let Remus stay at Hogwarts, she cared about him and James found himself almost wishing that he had given her a chance earlier on. After all, the best friends were the ones that had your back, and Mariya definitely had Remus's, whether he asked for her help or not.