𝕿he remainder of the Christmas holidays flew by, meaning we would be back at Hogwarts for the start of the new term. Unfortunately, two days after we got back it would be the full moon, which is why i'm half asleep when boarding the train again, scoffing at all the excitable, chatty people on the platform. After Sirius came to the Potters, Monty and Mia decided that it might be better if we stayed for the rest of the holidays so we would be with him, and Peter came for the last couple of days too.
Christmas at the Potters was as incredible as it always was, hot chocolate in the mornings, Mia's roast dinners, music, gifts. We had an absolute blast- it would definitely be one to remember. From my mum, dad and Remus I received a few books, which I'm incredibly grateful for because I was in need of some more. From Monty and Mia I got a new dark red sweatshirt that Mia said would suit me perfectly, Peter got me a few bars of my favourite chocolate from Honey dukes. The girls gave me little bits of make up each, like mascara, eyeliner and lipglosses- they definitely co ordinated with them. From Sirius I received some new earrings with the crescent moon and stars on- he thought that was hilarious, I loved them anyway. James gift was different than usual, he gave me a dainty little locket that played a soft tune when you opened it, a picture of all the Marauders inside. I guess I could say I got spoiled, I was treated very well by my friends and family.
"Hey, woah, Luna" Sirius called, steadying me up on the platform as we stood with the Potters. I'd already said good bye to my parents and they didn't enjoy seeing Remus and I in this sort of state before the full moon- I think my bad feels guilt and to blame but we don't blame him at all. This was Greyback, not him.
"You'll be alright then?" Monty questioned to the group of us, Sirius picking me up in his comforting arms to stop me from collapsing on to the floor.
"Yeah, we'll be fine" James muttered to his dad, glancing between Remus and I, Peter holding him up slightly.
"Don't forget to write to us, be safe" Mia chirped, referring to our transformation in a few days.
"Love you, Monty, Mia" I mumbled, mustering up a smile to the older woman before we boarded the train, Sirius carrying me all the way to the compartment, "thank you, Siri"
"No problem, love" He mumbled, placing me down on the seat, the other three trudging in behind us.
"Why is it always like this when we're on the train" I grumbled, allowing James to lift up my head and place it back down on his lap, smoothing out my hair. Deja vu, "5 galleons Lily and Marlene open the compartment door in a bit"
"You're on, Lunes" James agreed to the bet, as Sirius placed my feet on his lap, Peter eating some of mine and Mia's cookies, Remus leaning against the window, glancing out on the view.
"A bear walks into a bar and says 'give me whiskey and a......cola" Sirius began, Remus groaning as we were about to hear a joke, "The bartender said, why the big pause, and the bear replied 'I don't know I was born with them' He finished, James burst out laughing, Peter squinting his eyes putting the pieces together in his mind and Remus just fed up with him, closing his eyes.
"Are you serious?" Remus mumbled, "No- don't even-"
"Yes, i'm Sirius" He nodded with a mischievous glint in his eyes, smirking at my brother, who sighed closing his eyes.
"Where did that come from, Pads?" I questioned, staring up at the roof of the compartment. It was a good joke, random but I suppose that was Sirius.
"My brilliant mind" He returned, just as the compartment door opened, "Ah, Prongs looks like you owe Luna 5 galleons"
James sighed, "I'll give you it later, Lunes" He whispered, glancing up at the two girls, "Hello, Lily Flower, how was your holidays?" James had sent Lily a thoughtful gift via owl, a note book with lillies on the front cover, to which she sent back on the same day. As she usually did when he sent her a Christmas gift.
"Just fine, Potter" She shrugged him off, "We've come to check on Mel and Rem, the full moon is in a few days"
"Is it now? Do you know what, I didn't realise that at all. Definitely not when I had to carry M onto the train" Sirius retorted, rolling his eyes at the red head. "Not that it was difficult she weighs as much as a feather"
"Is that a compliment or an insult?" I voiced, the girls filling up the compartment now, to which I was scooped up on to Sirius' lap.
"Whatever you want it to be, love"
"Charming. I'll take compliment" I muttered, wrapping my arms around his neck, cuddling into his chest, his going around my waist "You smell like cigarettes and lemons. Fresh and smoke at the same time"
"My signature scent, the girls go crazy for it"
"Hm. Do they now?" I repeated, "I don't know why"
"Yes you do, M. You love my scent, don't lie to yourself" He chuckled, making me hear the vibrations in his chest. James peered over at the two, frowning faintly, Melody usually cuddled into him when it was the full moon, not Sirius. He had Lily there though and she was on the floor from the lack of room.
"Lily Flower, you can sit on my lap if you want" James told the girl seated on the floor of the compartment with Mary, Marlene and Alice taking up the seats in between Peter and Remus, Sirius, James and I.
"Oh, joy. I think i'm good here, thanks" She retorted, leaning back against the edge of the compartment, Mary laid back in between her legs.
"If someone was to see us now, they'd think we are insane" Alice acknowledged, referring to us all squished inside the compartment together.
"We are insane" Peter replied, handing a cookie to Mary on the floor.
"Some more than others" My brother uttered, still leaning against the window with his eyes resting closed.
"I hope you don't mean me, Moony. I'm the most down to earth, spiritual person in this compartment" The long haired boy declared, everyone snorting at him. Spiritual? Down to earth? Oh yes, that was the definition of Sirius.
He was using sarcasm and jokes as his defence mechanism for what happened at the holidays but I could tell he was actually nervous and still disheartened by what happened. What the others didn't notice was the glances he made every time someone walked past the compartment, his heart racing in his chest, probably hoping he wouldn't see Regulus yet. I know leaving him really upset him, he felt responsible for his little boy and he had to leave him in the hands of them awful people. I completely understand though, Regulus was a Slytherin if he was to leave with Sirius, a Gryffindor 'blood traitor', it would cause many issues for him at Hogwarts, he'd become a target. It was a difficult situation for the brothers to be in and I wanted to be there for both of them, even if I wasn't 'friends' with Regulus.
•••
"What do you call a fake noodle?" He questions, his fortieth joke from the journey to Hogwarts, as we finally arrived, strolling through the corridors to the Great Hall.
"A fake noodle" Peter answered confidently, nodding his head.
"An impasta" He concluded. I exchanged a glance with James, half heartedly laughing at the joke. At first they were funny, because they were so bad but now I think James has cottoned on to his nerves, worried for him. And Rem's just in another world, his head in a book, even though I'm surprised he has the energy to follow through the story- I certainly don't.
We entered the Great Hall late, after taking the last carriage to get here, all eyes of people turning to us, as usual. I flickered my tired eyes over to the Slytherin table, noticing the curly haired boy with his eyes fixates on the wall in front of him, his head on his hands.
"Thank you for joining us, Mr Black, Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew and Melody" Professor Dumbledore announced from the head of the table.
"Thank you for waiting, Dumbles" James replied cheekily, Minnie sighing again, the five of us strolling down to our seats, aware of the eyes following our every move. Dumbledore continued whatever he was saying, something about a well rested break and time for term to resume.
"Why does she get to be called, Melody?" Peter whispered, as the five of us sat down on the benches.
"Because that's my name" I responded in an obvious tone, "Plus me and Al are like this" I added, linking my fingers together.
"That's disturbing" Remus mumbled, as Dumbledore rounded up his speech, the food appearing on the table.
"Do you think he's ever been with anyone?" James quizzed, taking my plate and putting some food on before plating up his own.
"Romantically?"
"Yeah"
"I don't know, you think he could have been with Minnie? They are very close" Peter recalled, the five of us sneaking a glance to the two as they conversed about something up on the professor's table.
"What like, Luna and Dumbles close?" Sirius chuckled, the fives of us waving when the two professor's met our gaze. The both of them quirking a brow, Dumbledore winking at us, "Ah he winked, he's on to us"
"We haven't done anything yet"
"We should have, i'm ready for another prank soon"
"Not even back for twenty minutes and you're already discussing pranks, don't you lot have anything else to do? We have owls this year" Lily chirped, taking a bite out of her chicken, her hand politely going over her mouth as she talked.
"Owls are four months away, we have plenty of time to study" James waved her off, eating his dinner.
"What you mean by that is, that you'll wait until two weeks before and have me teach it to each of you" My brother recalled, raising an eyebrow at the boys.
"You know us so well, Moony"
"You should take these exams seriously-"
"I am Sirius about these exams" Sirius cut her off, grinning at the red headed girl who did not look impressed.
"You would be better to discard that word from your vocabulary. It takes a while to choose other words and you'll mess up sometime but it gets easier" Peter advised Lily, siriusly. It was true- we had been trying our best for four years to choose another word and we still slip up sometimes. You would think he would get tired of the joke, but no, he doesn't.
"Right" She nodded slowly, before engaging in a conversation with Mary, Marlene and Alice, turning away from the group of us.
"So the prank, who are we feeling? Snivellus?"
"Don't you dare, Potter. Leave Sev alone" Lily warned, pausing from her conversation with the girls after hearing Snape's nickname.
"No promises"
"Mel" She turned to me for back up. I wasn't really paying attention, I was watching Sirius glance every now and then to Regulus out of the corner of my eye. He looked miserable. They just needed to talk to each other. "Mel?"
"Hm?" I hummed, shifting my tired gaze to my friend, "Oh yeah, definitely Snape"
"What?! Mel!" She exclaimed, her eyes widening at me, James and Sirius sniggering at me. Too loud.
"Um not Snape? Come on Lils, I didn't even call him Snivellus" I tried, moving the potatoes around on my plate.
"That's because you don't like the word, it makes you feel uncomfortable to say out loud" My twin claimed, making me kick him under the table, earning him to grunt, "Ow. El, you're such a bitch"
"I personally love dogs, so I'll happily be a bitch, thank you dear brother" I retorted, sticking my tongue at him. Did he really think that would be an insult to me?
"Shot yourself in the leg there, Moony?" Sirius chortled, using the new phrase Rem and I had taught his over the holidays. I grinned lazily as he sighed, rubbing his hands over his forehead,
"Foot" He corrected him, "how many times, Pads? It's foot"
"I was going to say, I thought it was foot" Peter piped up, nodding his head. He was a half blood, he knew some muggle phrases like Remus and I did.
"Right, but it could be leg if I wanted it to be. I do not see the issue here" He returned.
"Eat your food, Elody" James whispered in my ear, referring to the food I was pushing around my plate, "i'll give you some chocolate if you atleast have three more mouthfuls"
"Okay" I mumbled, scooping the food up on my plate, watching him smile appreciatively. He was definitely the mum if the group- he would mess around and play pranks on people but he definitely cared for us all, making sure we were okay.
"What about an arm then?" Sirius asked, the other three still on the subject about the catch phrase.
"You know what, Pads? Say whatever you want, I really couldn't care less" My brother proclaimed, holding his hands up to him, Sirius cheering in triumph.
"Then why did you just argue with him for five minutes about it?" I challenged, James mumbling incoherent words under his breath like, 'here we go'
"Fuck off, El"
"No, thanks, i'm good"
"Melody" He warned.
"Remus" I mimicked him.
"Melody"
"Peter"
"James"
"Sirius"
The other three voiced, glancing between the two of us as we stared into each other's eyes in challenge. Chocolate on honey. He blinked. Ah ha.
"Luna wins" Peter declared, making Remus scoff.
"I've had enough of this shit" He grumbled, sliding his legs over the bench to stand up, "Do not call me a swearwolf" He threatened Sirius who opened and closed his mouth, huffing.
"Let's go" I murmured, swinging me legs over the bench, beginning to walk out of the great hall, meeting my brother at the end of the table, joining him on our way to the common room.
"What the fuck just happened?" Sirius marvelled, watching the twins who were just arguing, walk out of the hall together as if nothing happened.
"Only the Lupin twins" James chuckled, shaking his head at the two of them as they began to stand up to follow them.
"We- er don't know the password" Peter remembered, the three turning to Lily once more.
"Godrics Hollow" She told them, realising why they were all staring at her.
"Thank you, Lily Flower" James grinned at the girl, Sirius and Peter nodding their heads before the three headed out of the great hall towards the Gryffindor common room.
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