"𝕸elody" Sirius sang, the four boys sliding on to the couch across from me in the Gryffindor common room.
"Siri" I sang back to him in the same tone, glancing up from the book I was reading before continuing where I left off. Fantastic beasts and where to find them, by Newt Scamander, one of my absolute favourites, i've read it several times.
"Elody" James sang this time, making me look up again to the boys, as they pouted.
"Jamesie" I sang again, before returning to my book. I know they wanted something from me, it was just funny to prolong it as long as I possibly could.
"Lody" Peter sang this time, making me stifle a laughter, the three boys turning to him, "What? I thought we were dropping a letter each time" He mumbled to the group, his eyebrows knitted together.
I sighed, placing my bookmark on the page and closing it, my full attention on the four boys as they started to bicker.
"What is it that I can do for you boys?" I questioned, the four of them stopping and turning to me with a grin. "Oh no"
"Oh yes" Sirius nodded slowly with a smirk, my face scrunching up in disgust.
"Please never say that again"
"Oh-"
James slapped a hand over his mouth, whispering something in his ear that sounded like, "we want her to do this for us". The long haired boy rolled his eyes, licking James' hand so he would retreat it from his face.
"And what is this thing you wanted me to do for you?" I inquired, bringing my legs on to the couch and crossing them over each other.
"They want to know if you'll convince Marlene and Lily to sit with us for a while. One of them can flirt and one of them can get rejected" Remus confessed. I quirked a brow, looking to the two boys, who beamed and then James frowned from his words.
"I want to ask Lily to Hogsmede, the first trip is coming up in a few weeks" James told me proudly, giving me a goofy grin.
My heart sank for my best friend, it was the easiest yet most difficult situation ever. James loved Lily, he had done since first year. He spent his days writing her love letters describing the colours of her eyes, showering her with compliments and little gifts. Lily despised James because he thought he was immature and an idiot- which he was, yes, but I liked that about him. It is who he is. He didn't know the love letters and gifts he gave to her ended straight into the bin or in Marlene and Mary's stomachs if it was chocolate. She wasn't going to say yes to going to Hogsmede because she was pining over Amos Diggory, a pretty Hufflepuff boy in the year above.
I plastered a smile on my face and nodded hesitantly. I wasn't going to tell him about Amos unless Lily actually got asked out on a date, he was my best friend I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I know the previous four years of constant rejection and insults were hard for him to accept, he didn't deserve it, he deserved to be loved the way he loved Lily. To be really honest, I didn't particularly like the way my red headed friend treated James, but every time I talked to her about it she would completely cut me off from speaking about him.
I stood up from my spot, grabbing my book and heading up the stairs to the girl's dormitories. All four of my dorm mates were there fortunately so I invited them to come down for a while in the common room with me.
"Is Potter and his group of idiotic merry men down there?" Lily grumbled, reluctantly standing up from her bed.
"For starters Lils, my twin brother is one of those idiotic merry men you call them and second of all, they are my best friends please just do this for me" I replied, as we walked down the steps into the common room. The four girls took up the couch I was previously sat on, meaning there was no room left for me.
I sighed internally, dropping myself to the floor inbetween the two couches facing each other. I flickered my eyes between my two friend groups as they engaged in their own conversations, not talking to each other. Really? This is what they wanted? I lost my seat for nothing.
"El" I heard someone call, my gaze immediately shifting to my brother. He was the only person who ever called me El, it was like it was reserved for him and him only.
He smiled softly, opening his arms wide for me, gesturing for me to sit on his lap. I smiled back, picking myself up and planting myself on his lap sideways, my legs and feet over Peter, Sirius and James. I leaned the side of my head on his chest, feeling him play with my long blonde hair.
"You didn't think I would let my favourite twin sister sit by herself on the floor, did you?" He whispered, making me laugh half heartedly.
"I'm your only twin sister. Otherwise it wouldn't be twins, we would be triplets" I corrected, the other three boys each placing their hands respectively on me as they engaged in their own conversations. Peter's hands were on the top of my legs, Sirius' on my shins, drawing little patterns subconsciously and James' on my feet, messing with my toes whilst he chatted to Sirius.
"One of you is more than enough to deal with" He muttered, earning a scoff from me in return.
"Say my pretty Lily Flower, who's eyes are like the fresh grass mowed flawlessly on a warm summers day, would you like to go to Hogsmede with me?" James asked the red headed girl, who paused her conversation with Alice to turn to the boy.
"No Potter, I will never go out with you" She huffed, flickering her eyes to me with a pointed expression.
"You will one day, Lily flower, trust me. I'll win you over" The messy haired boy claimed, as Lily got up and headed for the stairs again to the dorm. Mary and Alice smiled sweetly to the group before following her, Marlene deciding to take a little longer.
"Do you have something to say, Mckinnon?" Sirius questioned, tracing the names of the Marauders on my bare legs. I was wearing shorts because of the hot weather at the moment, hence why my legs were exposed and bare.
"No, nothing at all, Black" She replied, winking at the boy before shuffling up the stairs, her gorgeous blonde hair flowing with ever step, shining brightly.
"She's so hot" Sirius breathed out, his head twirling to follow as she disappeared out of sight.
"Why haven't you asked her out then?" Peter quizzed, Sirius rolling his eyes in return.
"Because I don't date"
"No, Padfoot would rather mix saliva with different girls in a broom closet every day to satisfy his needs" Remus jumped in, before the three of them got into a heated conversation about the subject. I moved to view the messy haired boy at the opposite end of the couch as he had one hand on my feet, one on the end of the couch, running his hands over the leather.
I frowned faintly, rolling off the other three and shifting next to the hazel eyed boy, who just looked at me in confusion, a hint of sadness behind his eyes. I grabbed his hand, pulling him out of his seat and out of the common room, the other three too engrossed in their conversation to notice.
•••
"Where are we going, Elody?" He questioned, his eyebrows knitted together as we strolled through the empty corridors of the castle. It had just gone past curfew, so there wasn't any students around and because we were Marauders, we knew how to sneak around the castle. It was a lot easier when we had James' invisibility cloak but we didn't grab that before we left.
"The kitchens" I replied, keeping my gaze forward, listening as our feet tapped on the stone floors for ever two steps I took, he took one. His long legs allowing him to take longer strides.
"Are you going to bake them really good cookies?"
"We are going to bake them really good cookies" I corrected, catching his smile as it lit up his face. That's the exact reaction I wanted. I knew he loved the cookies I sometimes baked, they were just simple cookies with melted white and milk chocolate chips in. Of course I made just some milk chocolate ones for Rem because of his obscene hatred for white chocolate.
"James! Stop it" I laughed as he flicked flour all over my face, "I just washed my hair!" I scolded him, trying to pin my hair back with the tie on my wrist, and failing miserably from laughing from the white powder covering me.
He jumped off the stool beside where I was working, walking around the back of me and scraping my hair back into a low ponytail, taking the hair tie off my wrist, and wrapping it around my hair. The corners of my lips tugged up subconsciously, as he raked his fingers lightly through the ponytail he had just created, until I spun around to see his face.
I smirked, lifting my hand up and blowing the flour all over his face, covering his glasses. I burst into laughter at his frozen expression, before it turned into a goofy grin. He took his glasses off his face, leaving a mark from where they rested on his face, the only part of his face not covered in the white powder. He started it, not me. Wiping them down, he placed them back on his face, jumping back on to his stool whilst I carried on baking the cookies.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I queried, referring to the newest rejection he just had. He sighed, resting his chin on his hand, watching me make the dough.
"There isn't much to talk about, Luna. I love her with everything I have, she doesn't feel the same. I just want her to say yes and then I can prove how good we would be together" He voiced, "Maybe it's me, I love people too much it scares them away"
I frowned, pausing what I was doing to face him, "It's not you. Loving people the way you do is a gift, I think to feel loved by you would be very special and Lily is a lucky girl even if she doesn't realise it, i'm sure she will come around. After all, who can stay away from the amazing James Potter" I told him, sliding the cookies into the oven to cook for 12 minutes.
"Hm. What if I act more mature around her, do you think she'll like me then?" He asked, fiddling with his fingers.
"I don't know, James" I sighed softly, "For Lily it might help but do you really think changing yourself, who you are, is really worth it for a girl?" I pointed out, he averted his hazel eyes away from me, scanning around the kitchens to ponder on my words for a moment.
"She isn't just any girl though, Elody. It's Lily Evans, she's smart, kind, and she's bloody gorgeous. If she wants me to change, I can change"
"Alright Jamesie, as you wish, just don't change too much, I think you're perfect the way you are" I confessed, taking the hot cookies out of the oven and leaving them on the tray to cool. He reached for one, pouting when I slapped his hand away, "They will be too hot yet, you need to wait for them to cool down"
"Oh. I forgot about that, how long will that take?"
"About five to eight minutes I guess" I responded before turning to face him again, a laugh falling out of my mouth. He frowned, looking at me questionably, "You look ridiculous"
"I look ridiculous?! You look ridiculous" He scoffed, sliding off his stood to stand directly in front of me, "Thank you, Elody" He whispered, wrapping his arms around me into a hug.
"No problem Jamesie, it's what i'm here for" I mumbled into his chest, purposely spreading the flour all over his sweatshirt. "Cookies are probably ready to eat, should we head back in a bit?"
"Yeah, shit- it's nearly midnight" He cursed, checking his watch, "have we really been gone that long?"
"Clearly" I hummed, cleaning up the mess so the house elves from the kitchens wouldn't have to. In the meantime, James helped with some of the washing up until he got distracted by the 'delicious chocolatey smell', the cookies begging him to eat one.
•2161 words•