the secret of Erised {s.b.}

chapter 29: The Order

"I still can't believe Dumbledore chose you as Head Boy over Remus," Sirius said to James while he sat down in their usual compartment in the Hogwarts Express.

"I'm surprised he chose him over everyone else," Remus said, "What does he have that I don't ?"

"A personality and good looks, maybe ?" James said.

Lily and Esmeralda hit James on both arms.

"What was that for ?" he exclaimed.

"Stop spreading lies, Prongs," Esmeralda said, "Moony is a handsome young man with a personality you, Sirius and Peter wished they had."

"What did I do to get involved ?" Peter asked.

Esmeralda turned to face him and smiled.

"Nothing really, Wormtail," she replied, "I just needed to make clear that Remus is the best out of you four."

Sirius slid an arm around Esmeralda's waist and squeezed her side, making her jump and look at him.

"Better than me ?" he asked with a cocky smirk on his face.

"You know what I mean," she muttered as she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

"Gross," James said, "Get your own compartment."

Before Sirius or Esmeralda could comment on that, Lily stood up from beside James and grabbed his hand.

"Actually, we are the ones that need to go to another compartment," she said.

James widened his eyes while the rest of the group pushed back a laugh. He tried to say something, but words wouldn't come out of his mouth. Lily rolled her eyes.

"We need to talk to the new Prefects, James," she said.

He cleared his throat and stood up, nodding his head.

"Of course," he said, "Why would we need to go to another compartment if it's not for that, right ?"

He looked around the compartment to his friends nervously. He kept straightening his robes and adjusting his tie.

"Right," Sirius said, "Go be the Head Boy you were destined to be, Prongs."

"Off you go, children," Remus said, "You don't want to be late for your first day."

Esmeralda and Peter hugged and began to fake cry.

"They grow up so fast," he said, wiping a fake tear from his eye.

"Don't forget to write to us," Esmeralda said, "We'll miss you terribly."

Lily rolled her eyes and pulled James out of the compartment. Sirius stood up and yelled at them as they walked away.

"Make sure to use protection, kids !" he said.

Both of them turned around and flipped the dark-haired boy off.

"Piss off, Padfoot !" James yelled back.

Sirius closed the compartment door and sat back down. Peter and Esmeralda were still embracing and laughing at James. Jealousy bubbled up inside Sirius and he glared at his friend.

"Let go of my woman, Wormtail," he said, opening his arms so Esmeralda could hug him.

Esmeralda rolled her eyes and let go of Peter. Instead of hugging Sirius, she switched to the other compartment seat and hugged Remus.

"I am not anyone's property," she said, "I can and will hug anybody I want."

Sirius opened his mouth, offended, and scoffed. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms in front of him.