Carina was already questioning her sanity by the time dinner rolled around. They were so close to leaving Hogwarts, and this entire scheme could blow up in her face. Yet she couldn't bring herself to change her mind when she thought of James' giddy excitement when he'd left her that afternoon.
"Everything alright?" Lily asked her curiously as they made their way down to the Great Hall.
"Fine!" Carina replied quickly.
"If you say so," shrugged Lily. "You seemed like you were a million miles away."
"Just a few hundred," Carina smiled, easily easing Lily's suspicion.
To be fair though, Carina did have a lot on her mind. She and James didn't discuss the details of the plan. She assumed he went to go and tell the boys about their plan because there was no way they would be able to fool them. She was internally praying he wouldn't simply plop down next to her and declare her his girlfriend because absolutely no one would believe that, especially not Lily.
"Carina!" Remus greeted, waving them over to where he and Peter were sitting at the Gryffindor table.
With the absence of James and Sirius, Lily felt perfectly comfortable joining Carina next to the boys. It wasn't as if she had many other options since Frank had whisked Alice away for a moonlit picnic tonight.
"Have you seen James today?" Remus asked her curiously.
"Not since this afternoon," Carina said slowly. "Did he not go and find you guys after?"
"They haven't seen him since breakfast," Peter spoke up, digging into his meat pie.
Oh great. So they had no idea. She almost hoped she wouldn't run into James tonight because there was no telling what he'd do to push this absolutely mental plan into action.
"Where's Sirius?" Lily asked them. "Those two are bound to be together."
"No, Sirius was with Marlene for most of the afternoon," Remus told her.
"Oh! Here they come now!" Peter exclaimed, looking over the girls' shoulders toward the doors.
True to his word, James and Sirius were both striding towards them, their hair windswept as if they'd been outside recently. James' gaze lingered on her with a knowing look and Carina could only feel an impending anxious dread pool in her stomach. She couldn't quite tell if Sirius knew or not; he threw the normal grin her way but nothing in his demeanor seemed to hint at teasing. But as they got close, Carina remotely felt Lily stiffen next to her. She probably expected another spar of wills with James.
"Where have you two been?" Remus asked curiously.
"I just met him out in the hall," Sirius shrugged, slipping into the seat next to Remus. "I've been with Marlene."
"A marauder never tells," James winked, slipping into the remaining empty seat next to Carina.
"Except to your fellow marauders!" Sirius exclaimed. When James shrugged innocuously, Sirius raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. "You seriously won't tell us?"
"Later," James insisted, at which they let the matter drop.
"Hey Carina," Peter asked hesitantly. "Do you think you could help me with that charm we talked about later tonight?"
"Sure, Pete," Carina nodded warmly.
"Wait, what is this about?" Remus asked in confusion.
"It's private," Peter mumbled, a blush stealing his cheeks.
"What's with all the secrets today?" Sirius scoffed, thoroughly amused.
YOU ARE READING
Tides of Fate | ᴍᴀʀᴀᴜᴅᴇʀs ᴇʀᴀ
Fanfiction❛ It's not like Carina would go and do something stupid like falling in love with Prongs, would she?❜ It was a terrible idea to date someone who'd been in love with someone else for years, even if it was fake. But James Potter was desperate. It was...
