"Only for a few days, we leave the day after New Years." Lily was finishing up, attempting to explain her ski trip to Marlene who was looking at her like she'd gone mad.
"You're strapping sticks to your feet and jumping off cliffs of ice, but a broom in the air is where you draw the line?" She shook her head, finishing her coffee and watching as it refilled again the moment it touched the wood table.
The conversation had only held half of Charlotte's attention, the rest had been spent focusing her gaze on her eggs in front of her. Or, more accurately, keeping her gaze off the doorway. The train would be leaving in just over an hour, and it was rare that the girls had beat any of the Marauders down for breakfast. James or Remus, or likely a combination of the two, paired with an exhausted looking Peter or Sirius nearly always drew everyone's attention each morning toward the Gryffindor table.
Charlotte could feel Lily sneaking nervous glances her way at the end of each sentence, which Charlotte would sometimes return with her best attempt at a confident smile. Yet, as she pushed her breakfast around once again on her plate, she couldn't help but grimace at the nausea that had settled in her stomach the moment the girls had stepped into the common room that morning.
She didn't know who she was more anxious to see. Remus, who had stood her up and embarrassed her for the last time, or Sirius, who had smiled at her all night and invited her to meet his family for Christmas, at an annual family ball.
She heard them before she saw them, though she forced her eyes onto Marlene as if she'd been listening to the conversation the whole time, taking another sip of the black coffee before realizing she had forgotten to add anything to cover the bitter taste.
She watched Mary and Marlene's eyes rise above her head to where the boys had to be standing now, judging by the voices behind her. Before she even had time to decide if she was going to turn, she watched James and Remus appear at the other end of the table, James falling into a spot across from the blonde and grinning up to Lily, who was making a far less convincing show of avoiding his gaze than Charlotte felt she herself was doing with the rest of the boys.
"Morning ladies, Evans." He smiled, pulling food to his plate without another moments hesitation as Remus dropped into place beside him, his eyes wide, and Charlotte pretended not to feel the way they lingered on her face. "Sorry we're late, hope you lot weren't bored."
"No, it was quite peaceful, actually." Lily answered, bringing her mug of tea to her lips to hide the smirk as she looked to the brunette, his hair ruffled terribly from sleep, his eyes lit up as if he'd just won the lottery.
"Oh, I'm sure." His lips pulled into a matching smirk, and Charlotte decided that something had definitely happened between the two the night before, despite Lily's insistence that Charlotte had completely let her down by disappearing for over an hour with Sirius at the crowded party.
"Morning, blondie." Sirius's voice was soft near her ear as he dropped into the space beside her, Peter filling in the final remaining seat, the boys all launching into breakfast, Peter's eyes still seemed half asleep.
"Morning, Sirius." She answered, finally looking to the gray eyes, the corners of his mouth turned into a small smile down at her. She felt a jolt of nerves flood her stomach, pulling her eyes back to the rest of their friends, though still pointedly avoiding the brown eyes she would have been searching for only a few days ago.
"How was the party, you guys?" Peter asked, cluelessly, James blinking through a plastered smile as Remus dropped his head lower, hurrying to shovel another bite of toast into his mouth.
"It was really fun." Sirius answered, his voice loud and sure, and Charlotte pressed her fist against her cheek, keeping her gaze off from Mary and Marlene who wore matching grins and were stifling giggles. "Terrible crowd, though, but fun."
Charlotte smiled to herself, reaching across the table for some cream and stirring it slowly into her coffee. She still felt no desire for any of the food before her, but picked small bites from a muffin for something to do, not to mention the day long train ride they had ahead of them. She would surely be starving by the time she reached home, at this rate.
"What are you guys up to then, for the break?" Remus's voice sounded odd, though Charlotte realized it might have been the fact that she hadn't heard it in days. She picked a larger bite of the muffin off, popping it into her mouth and chewing slowly as Marlene answered him.
"Well, Lily's going skiing, which, for those of you who don't know, unlike me, as I'm very learned, is where you tie sticks-"
"No," Lily cut in, biting back laughter.
"-to your feet and jump down a big pile of snow-"
"Marlene." Lily sighed, allowing the laughter to come now as she dropped her face into her hands against the table.
"My parents said we're headed to my grandparents for Christmas, but hopefully I'll be back after that. Maybe we can all hang out?" Mary suggested, the rest of the girls nodding in agreement, though Charlotte noted Remus's silence, remembering James' words from the night before. He had to stay here at school for break. And though she had felt terribly for him last night, she was now only thankful for a long day on the warm train without him.
"Charlotte?" The tall boy asked, his eyes locking on her, though she wouldn't meet his. His voice sounded so small, as if he was scared. As if she had ever been the one to hurt him. "Doing anything for the holidays?"
She shook her head once, picking up her spoon and stirring the milky coffee before her, a silent chant in her head, begging her not to look to him.
"Actually," Sirius's voice rang out again, and she silently thanked him in her mind for taking the focus from her. "Charlotte's coming to mine, Christmas Eve. The stupid ball." He said with a shrug.
"What?" James' eyes were wide, his mouth had fallen open slightly, though Charlotte couldn't make out if it was half of a smile or a glower. "Since when?"
"Last night." Sirius answered before she could, and though her heart was still pounding beneath her chest loudly, she couldn't bite back the smile at Sirius's words. Or, more importantly, the way he sounded so excited for the announcement.
She finally looked up, watching as James's mouth shifted into a small grin, locking eyes with his best friend from across the table. She widened her eyes once towards Mary, who's jaw had dropped at the news, and then turned from the girls, desperate for a change of subject, when her eyes finally landed on the honey brown ones she had been avoiding all morning.
Remus's gaze flickered from her eyes to her chest and then at Sirius, who was paying him no attention, finishing up his plate and turning to the blonde beside him.
"Do you want to go get your stuff? I can help you." He offered, his voice had dropped low, as if he thought he would be able to keep the conversation from the rest of the table.
"I'm quite capable of a simple levitating spell." She bit back with a small smirk as she stood beside Sirius, following his lead as he nodded towards the entrance hall.
"Not once we're off school grounds, though, hmm?" He teased, pushing through the heavy doors. "Are you okay?" Sirius spoke finally once they were in the hallways, students rushing in all directions, most of them holding trunks or pets and hardly dodging the two Gryffindors as they started up the stairs.
"What?" She pulled her attention off the children to their left, "Yeah, of course."
"Okay. Good." He nodded, mostly to himself, as they neared Gryffindor tower. "You know he's staying here for the holiday. You've got two weeks without having to even think of him."
She looked to his face, though his gaze was hooked to the steps beneath them for once, his jaw looking tight.
"I don't know who you're talking about." She shrugged, her eyes sliding along the tall boy beside her, finding herself wishing he would look to her again.
"You know exactly who I'm talking about." A small smile rose to his lips as he finally granted her wish, his gray eyes meeting her blue ones. "I'm here. If you need to talk."
She flashed him a reassuring smile as they reached the portrait hole which opened before they even spoke, two first years rushing out together in a great hurry. "There's nothing to talk about." She promised, "Really, I'm fine." She nodded, realizing it was the truth. She had been nervous to see Remus, for the awkwardness that surely would follow whatever had happened last night, but now that she had gotten it over with and escaped, she realized Sirius was right. Two weeks away from school, two weeks away from work, and classes and stress. Two weeks away from Remus.
"Are you packed?" He started, his lips pulling into a grin at her face. "I don't even know why I asked that. Go get your things, I'll meet you back down here."
She hurried up the steps, excitement dancing through her lungs at the thought of being home, of Christmas. Seeing her parents again. The door had hardly shut by the time she was pushing back through it, trunk in hand, tossing her coat over her shoulder and heading down to meet Sirius.
She stepped into the common room once again, scanning around the bustling students all clad in red and gold before realizing he wasn't down here yet. She leaned against the wall for a few minutes, watching the chaos and feeling sorry for the stressed out younger years who were frantically searching for lost items under couches and pillows, before sighing and starting up the steps to the boys dorms.
"Sirius, if I come in here and you're not even packed-" She called, stepping into the dorm which was in a state of disarray like she had never seen. "What the hell have you done?" She bit back a laugh at the dark haired boy before her, feeling around the floor beneath his bed before he sat back and shot her an exasperated look.
"Hey, I didn't do all of this, some of this was Pr- James. And Peter." He lunged back beneath his bed once more before groaning and flopping back to onto his heels. "My wand rolled under the bed." He explained, "Other than that I'm ready!" He pointed to a dark colored trunk near the door frame which looked far too small to fit even half the things she was bringing home for the holidays.
"And you're telling me you haven't learned wandless magic by now? I thought you were meant to be top of the class." She teased, her smile faltering as his eyebrows raised, rising to his feet and crossing to her in a few steps.
"I am top of the class." He said, his voice low, his face hovering inches above hers with a smirk. "You just happen to have distracted me."
She let out a breathy laugh, swallowing once, yet not pulling her eyes from him, the way she always found herself whenever Sirius was this close before.
"Now, would you kindly get me my wand so I can walk you to the train?" He had yet to take a step back, leaving less than an inch of space between the two as Charlotte fumbled for her wand, aiming towards the bed and willing the wand to her outstretched hand. She felt her eyes go wide for only a second as the smooth dark wand shot towards her and into her fingers before she pulled it at once behind her back, looking up into the smokey gray eyes.
"Charlotte," He muttered under his breath, taking a step forward as she took one back. "Give me my wand."
"Ask nicely." She shrugged, her teeth sinking into her lip to stop the smile, "I've just done you a favor."
"And I'd be very interested in thanking you, once you've handed it over." He watched as her fingers felt along the space behind her, hoping she was anywhere near the door, noting the way that Sirius lunged only a second before her, her free hand grasping for the door handle before his fingers looped around her waist, pulling her up and against his chest, ignoring her scream of protest.
"Stop!" She laughed, feeling his fingertips dig into her hips, spinning her away from the doorway and reaching for his wand with one hand. "Put me down, play fair!"
"You're stealing! How is that playing fair!" He chuckled back at her words, letting her slide to the ground, one arm still wrapped around her waist as he snatched his wand back easily.
"Are we interrupting?" James' voice rang through the small dormitory, Sirius and Charlotte spinning to the doorway, Charlotte, for one, feeling the warmth spread over her cheeks at James's knowing grin.
"Yes, thank Godric you're here." Sirius answered, looking between James and Charlotte, a gleam in his eye, his smile never disappearing from his face. "She tried to rob me and assaulted me when I intercepted her plan."
"Will you shut up?" She asked, grabbing for her trunk which she had discarded at the foot of his bed, finally looking back to the boys. "I'm headed down, I'll see you guys later maybe?"
"Maybe?" James asked, a knowing look taking over his face once again. "You're stuck with us the whole train ride, Char."
"Wait up, I'm coming." Sirius announced, grabbing his leather jacket from on top of his unmade bed and rushing to the doorway where the boys had stepped aside to let Charlotte through.
"Charlotte," She paused, one foot already into the chilly hallway before she forced herself back into the room, eyes rising to Remus's reluctantly. "Have a good holiday."
She bit back a scoff, nodding twice, and forcing her mouth shut before she let a response slip through her lips. It would have been too easy, too polite, to just have responded with a simple 'you too.' But she wouldn't give him that.
Sirius wore an especially smug grin as they started down the steps and through the hallway towards the grounds. He paused a ways away from the door, pulling her to a stop beside him and dropping his trunk to the ground, pushing his arms through each of his sleeves and grabbing for Charlotte's jacket. He drew it out behind her, nodding for her to slip her arms through as well, before levitating both of their trunks without a word and pushing through the doors to the wintery grounds.
"Do you think me a child?" She asked, teasingly, watching him consider her words for a moment with a grin.
"Yes." He answered, eyes lighting up as she laughed, neither of them seeming to care about the wind whistling through their hair or the light snow that was falling around them. "So, listen. I do have something else I wanted to talk to you about."
She looked to the boy beside her, who's voice had suddenly fallen soft, a sharp contrast to the way they had been up in the dorm. Although, that had been before they had seen Remus, before Remus had spoken to her. Her stomach tightened and she shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat, nodding for him to continue.
"Do you..." He started, trailing off, "Have you..." He sighed, rubbing two fingers along his temple before looking back to her. "I just feel like... I have to warn you a bit, before you really agree to come to this ball with me."
Her chest relaxed, and she took a deep breath in, forgetting the chill of the air and snapping her mouth shut again.
"Why are you acting like this is going to be the worst night of my life?" She laughed, eyeing his face, which, despite the smile, still looked nervous.
"It's not about that." He answered, "I was exaggerating. If you're there, I mean... We'll have fun. I just... I just get the feeling that you don't know... you don't hear what everyone says, about my family."
He watched as her eyebrows came together slightly, hating the fact that he had to tell her this, that he was ruining the blank slate she apparently had in terms of an opinion on his family. That he was going to be the one to make her see him as the rest of the world did.
"It's like... you know I don't get on with my brother well anymore?" He went on as she nodded, the two of them crossing with the small crowd into Hogsmeade, the glistening red train stationed a short ways ahead. "That's because of my parents. My whole family, really. They don't want him to be close to me, though, I think now it's more of his choice. I'm the family disappointment, being sorted into Gryffindor."
Charlotte cocked her head, watching his eyes locked to the dirty snow beneath their feet, dozens of footsteps already packing it down for their path.
"Why would they care about that?" She asked, confusion laced in her words. "I mean, wouldn't you think, Gryffindor's one of the most impressive... I mean, I guess it depends..."
"They wanted me in Slytherin. Like the rest of my family. No one's been sorted anywhere else in decades."
"So, they don't want Regulus hanging out with his own brother, all because you're in the wrong house?"
"That, and, they don't like the friends I keep." He finally looked to her again, willing her to understand. To not make him say it. "My family... they're... old fashioned. Like... Like how Salazar Slytherin thought. About students, about wizards."
Charlotte thought back to the first few years of History of Magic, or, as much as she had retained from the long droning lessons she had managed to stay awake for.
"Like... Like, blood purity? Like Snape, and Rosier and all them?"
Sirius nodded after a moment, trying to ignore the drop in her voice as she had realized what he was saying. "Yeah. But, I'm not like them, Charlotte. And that's why they don't want Reg around me, they say I'm a bad influence."
"Sirius," She started, softly, her voice barely rising over the wind that whipped past their faces, "I know you're not like that." She watched as the muscles of his face relaxed at her words, "Were you scared to tell me that?"
He let out a small scoffing sound, shaking his head. "No. I just... it was nice, having someone who didn't know all that about me. Having you not know all that."
"I know who you are Sirius." Charlotte reached for his arm to slow them on their path to the train. "What your family's like doesn't matter to me at all."
His lips pulled up into a smile as he met her eyes, pulling her arm lightly back into motion towards the crowd of students waiting to board the train. "Come on, before someone takes our compartment."
"Our compartment?" She questioned, letting him pull her through small breaks in the messy line.
"No, our compartment. Me and the boys." He winked, his voice finding it's teasing tone again as he finally pulled them up onto the steps and hurried down the skinny corridor to the same compartment they had stepped out of in September.
In less than twenty minutes, the whistle of the train was blowing last call just as James and Peter launched themselves into the compartment, Peter huffing while James offered him a small eye roll.
"If you didn't want to run, you should have packed up last night." James shrugged, falling into the remaining open spots next to Marlene. Lily was pressed against the window seat, though from the way her eyes hadn't left the crowds of last minute students, Charlotte was sure it was only to make sure James and Peter had arrived on time.
With every new addition to the compartment, Sirius pressed closer to Charlotte, letting her have the window seat the moment they had entered, taking the spot next to her after stowing their trunks above their heads. The girls had arrived first, Lily taking the other window, Sirius standing to help them with their luggage as well, the space between his and Charlotte's legs noticeably smaller after he had once again taken his seat.
There was no longer any room for her to shift away from his touch, though Charlotte wasn't sure she wanted to. She let her knee fall against his and looked back down to her lap as the corners of his mouth twitched into a smirk.
She finally pulled her eyes up to the window again, watching the snowy town fade off into the distance before glancing around the group of friends, James's eyes locked onto where her and Sirius's legs were touching before meeting her eyes. His mouth was open, as if he was going to speak, and Charlotte waited, her eyes stuck to his hazel ones as the moments ticked by in silence.
"Charlotte, do you want to go find the trolley with me?" He finally blurted, already standing from his spot, everyone spinning to face him.
"James, we only just left!" Mary laughed.
"You're the most impatient git I've ever met." Sirius chuckled, leaning back deeper into the soft seat behind him.
"I don't want everyone to nick all the good stuff before they get here. And Charlotte barely ate breakfast, I'm just doing my Gryffindor-ly duty." His eyes latched to hers again as he started towards the doorway, Charlotte standing at last, shaking her head in confusion as she followed the messy haired boy into the hall.
"I didn't eat much because I'm not that hungry, and I'm perfectly fine waiting for the trolley to come-"
"Yeah, never mind that." James answered with a short wave of his hand as they started down the hall at a snails pace. "You're going to that party with Sirius?"
"Oh," Charlotte felt her eyebrows furrow as they continued their walk, "Yeah, why?"
"When did he ask you?" He went on, ignoring her question.
"Last night..." She answered, nerves settling into her stomach. She was beginning to see where he was headed; she was going to a party with one of his friends that she was invited to at a party where another friend had stood her up.
"Are you excited?" He asked, staring down at her as she nodded, biting back a smile. "I just... they're not normal, Charlotte. Like, uh..."
"He told me. That they're old-fashioned." She didn't feel like repeating Sirius's exact words, though she was sure if he had trusted her with the knowledge that James would already know.
"They're more than that. They're honestly... They're dark. They don't just think muggle-borns are beneath them, they hate them." His eyes were dark, even with the bright morning light shining through every passing window. "Just be really careful. What you say around them."
Charlotte nodded, a sinking feeling creeping into her chest before the familiar grin pulled back to James's lips as he spotted the trolley, the short witch only just pushing through the sliding doorway, her eyes landing on the tall brunette.
"Mr. Potter, we've only just begun our journey. You were ready before I was." She offered him a warm smile which he returned as the two Gryffindor's approached the cart, scanning over the selection. James had already filled his arms with a small assortment of most everything on the cart, dropping a few gold coins that Charlotte was quite sure was much more than he owed into the witch's outstretched hand.
Charlotte picked out a chocolate frog and a pack of jelly slugs, scanning over the rest of the sweets before James nudged her arm, nodding to the pack of jelly slugs which were twitching slightly in her grip.
"Those are his favorite." He shrugged, "Sirius."
She pressed her lips together, shifting her gaze from him and grabbing another bag of the candy, handing over her coins to the smiling woman before the two of them turned back to their compartment.
"So, anything to report?" James sounded giddy now, "Slughorn's party, The Black Family Christmas Ball-"
"Inside jokes at breakfast? Hiding smirks behind coffee mugs?" She countered, James's grin spreading deeper into his cheeks as he nodded, twice.
"Alright, Harris. Well played." She slid the door open, holding it so he could rush inside, tossing his pile of sweets to the floor between the group.
"Potter, honestly, did you save anything for anyone else?" Lily groaned, looking up into the hazel eyes.
"They should have sought her out like I did." He shrugged.
"We left plenty." Charlotte assured Lily, stepping over the pile and taking her spot next to Sirius, her leg brushing his as she sat down, noting that there seemed to be even less room than when she had left. She set the packet of jelly slugs onto his lap, watching as his eyes lit up, flashing to hers.