A Broken Inheritance

Chapter 12: A Change of Heart

Sirius gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. "She calls you Remus, doesn't she? I bet she calls you by your first name, unlike the rest of us mere mortals."

Remus's smirk deepened. "She does."

James frowned, leaning forward. "How? She barely looks at me without rolling her eyes. And she doesn't call you anything insulting?"

"No," Remus said simply, a little too casually.

Sirius's jaw dropped. "Unbelievable! Do you know how long I've been trying to get her to stop calling me Black like it's a swear word?"

James, meanwhile, looked torn between disbelief and something else entirely. "She just... talks to you?" he asked, his brows furrowing. "Like it's easy?"

Remus shrugged again. "We have a mutual understanding. Shared experiences and all that. It's not easy, but... it's not impossible."

Sirius, recovering his humour, grinned wickedly and clapped James on the shoulder. "Don't take it personally, Prongs. No one can resist our dear Moony. He's practically a saint. Even my darling cousin isn't immune."

James scowled, shaking Sirius off. "I'm not jealous," he snapped, though the pink in his cheeks suggested otherwise.

"Of course not," Remus said, his voice calm but teasing. "That would be ridiculous."

Sirius cackled, throwing an arm around James. "Cheer up, mate. Who knows? Maybe one day she'll glare at you with slightly less hatred. That's progress, isn't it?"

James scowled, leaning back in his seat as Sirius and Remus's teasing persisted. "Oh, piss off, both of you," he snapped, his tone sharper than usual. "I don't have a bloody crush. What I have is ten years' worth of guilt that I need to clear out."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, his grin faltering into something more skeptical. "Guilt?" he echoed, his tone laced with doubt. "For what, exactly? I mean, not to burst your moral bubble or anything, but you don't owe her anything, Prongs. What's done is done."

James slammed his fork onto his plate, the clatter drawing a few curious looks from the nearby Gryffindors. He lowered his voice, glancing around to make sure no one else was listening. "You wouldn't get it, Padfoot. I've spent years thinking she was like the rest of them. Thinking she didn't care about what happened to you—about what they did to you. And all this time, she was... she was helping you. At her own expense."

Sirius crossed his arms, his smirk now entirely gone, replaced with an expression that was hard to read. "Mate, it's not like she's been a saint all these years. Don't forget, she's given back every bit of what you've thrown at her. She's not exactly been nice, Prongs. I'd even say she enjoyed making your life miserable."

Remus shifted slightly in his seat, his expression neutral but watchful. James glanced at him, looking for support, but Remus stayed silent, his gaze flickering between the two of them.

Sirius leaned forward, his voice quieter now but no less firm. "I'm not saying be harsh to her or anything. Just... don't make this your crusade. It's not your business."

James bristled at that, his fists clenching on the table. "How is it not my business, Sirius? If I've been wrong about her all this time—if I've treated her like shit because I thought she was part of the problem—how is it not my job to fix that?"

Sirius let out a frustrated sigh, shaking his head. "Because this isn't about you," he said bluntly. "This sounds suspiciously like you're trying to make something your business when it's not. What are you trying to do here, Prongs? Fix her? Redeem yourself? What?"

James flinched at the accusation, his jaw tightening as he tried to find the right words. Sirius didn't give him the chance.

"Let me give you a reality check," Sirius continued, his voice calm but cutting. "You're probably not even on her radar, mate. She's not sitting around thinking about you or what you've done to her. I promise you, she's got bigger things to deal with. And if you think showing up and saying, 'Oh, sorry for being an arse,' is going to change anything, then you're more self-absorbed than I thought."

James felt a flush of heat rise to his face, not from embarrassment but from frustration. "That's not what this is," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm not trying to fix her, Sirius. I'm just trying to... I don't know. Make it right."

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. "Walk up to her and say, 'Hey, sorry for the years of mutual loathing, let's start over?' Sounds brilliant."

Remus, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke. His tone was measured, but there was a firmness in his words that cut through the tension. "Sirius, maybe that's not fair."

Sirius shot him a sharp look. "What's not fair?"

"Writing this off as James being self-absorbed," Remus said simply. "We all know he's stubborn, and yeah, maybe this guilt thing is overblown, but I don't think he's trying to make it about himself. He's trying to make sense of something that doesn't fit the way he's seen the world for a long time."

Sirius's shoulders slumped slightly, the edge softening from his expression. "Fine. But he still needs to be realistic. This isn't some Gryffindor rescue mission."

"I know that," James muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not trying to rescue her. I just... I can't keep pretending like she doesn't matter. Like she hasn't mattered all this time."

The words hung in the air, heavier than any of them expected. Sirius sighed, rubbing a hand across his face. "Alright," he said, his tone softer now. "But don't expect some big dramatic moment, okay? She's not going to suddenly forgive you or open up or whatever it is you're hoping for."

James gave him a tight nod, though he wasn't entirely sure what he was hoping for. Forgiveness? Understanding? Or maybe just a chance to not feel like such an idiot for getting it all so wrong.

Sirius leaned back, his usual smirk returning faintly. "And for the record," he added, "you're still not her type. So don't get your hopes up, lover boy."

James groaned, shoving Sirius's shoulder. "I hate you."

"No, you don't," Sirius said, grinning. "Now eat your eggs before they go cold. You're going to need your strength if you're planning on brooding all day."