Consequences Of The Heart.

Chapter 08: Laze

Today was Picnic Day! Every year -on the first weekend of the year- our entire group would gather and have a picnic. Yes, we started school on a Friday this year for some obscene reason so we had only been to one class, though it was a very eventful one. Our entire group was in Gryffindor, that was how we met so the preparations were being made in the common room. Well actually, Remus was making all the preparations which had it's ups and downs. For example, I didn't have to help which he used to scream at me for but in my defence, every time I did help, he would scream at me for doing it wrong. Damn his borderline OCD. Most of us wore robes itself except Sirius who obviously wanted to show of his tattoos with his black, sleeveless shirt and Frank who was sporting a basketball jersey, though almost no one knew what it was.

It wasn't bright and sunny out as preferred, but rather gloomy in fact but we couldn't bail because tradition was tradition. We all walked out to the nearly empty lawn outside and set up the picnic. The weather brought everyone's mood down but there was still a small buzz because we were all together after all except Alice who still seemed rather cheerful and was cheering on Marlene while she did skateboard tricks on a piece of flat rock closer to the lake. The clouds were slowly passing but I doubted whether we would be out here long enough to witness the sun.

I was sat at the back of the group, observing. Our picnics never got overly progressive but it was relaxed and I needed that. Alice had brought out her wine cooler for the occasion with Muggle wine she somehow got her hands on and was currently clutching a glass of it i her right hand. Remus was sat next to me, doing exactly the same thing I was, munching on a chocolate from his stash. We'd been here for barely ten minutes and he had already gotten through three large bars with the rest of it placed neatly into stacks that no one dared go near to unless they wanted their hands chopped off. The wind was getting stronger, I noticed a powder being blown off Remus' face. He occasionally borrowed my skin-coloured makeup to cover up the scars on his face. No one else knew except me. Now that I think of it, Remus' actually had quite a few things he kept from the Marauders, most of them were either small or you know consisted of half of his life.

Sirius was hogging all the sandwiches Remus had packed with food he managed to get from the kitchens; the House Elves loved him, they hated me but they loved him. Sirius was the biggest foodie of the group, but somehow managed to remain one of the fittest, I had no idea where his carbs went, perhaps he magic-ed them away. Frank was sitting beside him sporting his well-known, bright, orange Converse. It was one of his biggest traits even though it wasn't a trait. He'd had the same ones since Second Year, but they always looked new: probably a Glamour Charm. He was also high on candy, like 24/7. The pair of them were rather good friends, being on the Quidditch team together and whatnot and were laughing at something one of them said, a silly antic was the most likely.

James wasn't sitting, instead he was a few metres back with his infamous Snitch. He simply kept letting go before jumping up and catching it again, he was like a child: always overexcited, jittery and entertained by the smallest of things. Every once in a while, he would look my way so I assumed the Snitch -which I have no idea where he got- was an act to impress me. Peter was sat of the grass next to him, looking up in admiration, his mouth hung wide open. Peter was never the kindest of people to me. Every time he looked my way, he snarled or frowned, almost in disgust so I learned to avoid him. Remus had been saying that he would 'warm up to me' for five years now and I had accepted the fact he just didn't like me and I didn't give half a crap.

Mary who was previously sat alone had proceeded to go up toward Marlene and Alice. We had avoided the topic of our prior spat and we were going to until it was truly necessary. Alice went up to Mary and hugged her when she approached, the girl was clearly getting tipsier by the second and I wouldn't be surprised if she jumped into the lake soon. Marlene seemed to be done with the skateboard tricks so the trio came back and sat down as she began to draw something. Marlene wasn't one for book smarts but by Merlin, did she have a creative side. She could skateboard and draw really well. Alice had reached for another wine bottle; she had finished an entire one but Remus got to it and cut her off before she could. He was the responsible one of the group, in some ways. He made sure that everyone was okay and that Alice wasn't drunk but also found a way to take every one of James' pranks and amplify them 10x. This year's Prank Wars were going to be one to behold.

Alice had found her way to me and cuddled up at my side, she had an extremely high alcohol tolerance so she would sober up pretty quickly and not even have a hangover. She then proceeded to rest her head in my lap, her dazzling, purple hair getting up in her face constantly. It was one of the things I envied of her, the fact that she had the confidence to pull of purple hair, I would never have the guts to do that.

It was getting late, we had spent a good four hours doing absolutely nothing and I loved it. It was what we all needed to get through the year. Sometimes we'd talk but mostly we would just sit in silence and we were comfortable just being around each other. It was bliss.

Word Count:- 1064

Love, Kale.