"SIRIUS, CAN YOU PASS ME THE MOONSTONE please?" Remus asked, holding out his hand for the ingredient without taking his eyes off of the potion. Slughorn had the sixth years brewing a Draught of Peace and Remus had gotten paired off with Sirius for the day's assignment.
However, while Sirius was usually a more than adequate partner, he was falling a bit short today.
"What?" Sirius said, shaking himself out of a daze when Remus nudged him.
"The powdered moonstone," Remus repeated, "Preferably before the potion explodes and Slughorn thinks we did it on purpose."
Sirius handed Remus the ingredient and apologized, "Sorry, it's just... I'm a bit out of it today."
"Not just today," the werewolf replied as he added the last set of moonstone to turn the potion grey, "Ever since you got back from your first detention, you've been acting weird. That was practically three weeks ago."
Sirius did not respond as the boy lost his train of thought, staring into the cauldron. He hadn't told his friends about his and Farrah's late night interaction on the first night of his detention. He hadn't told them about what she had told him that night.
And he definitely hadn't mentioned how it was eating him up inside.
Since that night, his thoughts had been haunted by the dark-haired girl and her words to him. For the past two weeks and something, he had laid in his bed, unable to sleep as her voice was stuck in his head.
"You've never been the hero in his story. You've always been the villain."
"You've never been the hero."
"Always been the villain."
He wouldn't admit it but it was slowly driving him insane. She was slowly driving him insane. He had only known Farrah MacMillan for two months and she had already turned his world upside down.
"Sirius!" Remus called out, snapping his fingers in front of the grey-eyed boy's face.
Sirius jumped and looked up at his friend, causing Remus to shake his head. While adding the last few drops of hellebore, the Prefect said, "Okay, you need a drink. Thank Merlin the party is tonight."
"Party?" Sirius asked, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he watched Remus finish the potion.
"Yes, Sirius. The Halloween party that Dorcas and Marlene are throwing tonight. The one that we all promised we would attend."
"Oh," the Black boy replied as he called Slughorn over to see their completed potion, "I must have forgotten about that."
"Yeah, you must have," Remus said, packing his belongings into his bag, "Anyway, you have been focusing a lot of your energy into the Halloween prank that you insisted on planning yourself."
"Yeah mate," James interjected as he and Peter joined them from their table, "This had better be a good one."
The mention of the prank brought a smile to Sirius' face. During one of his many sleepless nights, the idea had come to him and ever since then, he had spent his every spare hour planning each detail of the ordeal. This would be a prank to remember.
Especially for the person it was intended for.
"Trust me," Sirius said, a smirk on his face, "It'll be one for the books."
Slughorn dismissed the class with wishes of a happy Halloween and the sixth years dispersed, the Marauders making the trek to Gryffindor Tower to prepare for the party.
Meanwhile, the trio of Slytherin fifth years were down in their common room, debating on whether or not they should leave the dungeons tonight.
"I stand by my no," Josh said, leaning back in the armchair with his arms folded across his chest, "I don't care about whatever bullshit promise Farrah made to Dorcas, going to that party will just make us easy pickings for Reggie's moron brother and his band of baboons."
Farrah rolled her eyes, "You're the moron if you think they'll be doing anything tonight. They're doing their big Halloween prank before the feast on Sunday so everyone will see it."
"Remus tell you that?" Regulus asked, his grey eyes focused on the girl.
The hazel-eyed girl nodded, "And he also mentioned that Sirius is planning the whole thing himself so he has no clue what it is. I, however, can narrow it down to three possibilities based on things from the journal."
"You're still reading that?" Josh asked.
Farrah replied with another nod. What she hadn't told her best friends was that she had finished the journal on the first night she had gotten it and had been rereading it ever since. She was mesmerized by the way that Sirius' mind worked and she spent most of the past three weeks looking at the pranks he had created, potions and spells he had mastered and the hidden passages in the castle he had found.
"I've been busy with school work so I haven't gotten around to finishing it," she said nonchalantly, readjusting the high ponytail her hair was in before she continued, "But the point is, we're safe tonight so I think we should head out for a craic."
She focused her gaze on Regulus, "Well, Reggie. The choice is yours."
Josh leaned forward, "Yeah Reg, decision is yours. Do we enjoy a nice and comfortable night in or do we suffer and make ourselves go out into the unknown of that party?"
The Black boy's gaze shifted between his two best friends, Josh who was staring at him hardly while Farrah's mouth was shaped into a small pout. Regulus looked up to the ceiling of the common room and groaned, "We're going to the party."
"Whoo!" Farrah exclaimed while Josh sighed in exasperation.
The girl stood up with a bright smile, "I'll go get my party dress. Meet you boys here at 10."
* * *
At exactly 10:37 p.m. (Josh refused to get ready but Farrah reminded him who was helping him with his Transfiguration assignment and he got ready in record time), the Slytherin trio were entering the Hufflepuff common room after Farrah knocked the password to let them in.
(Just one of the many perks of being on good terms with everyone.)
The yellow and black room was decorated for the occasion with orange streamers hanging from the ceiling and Jack O' Lanterns with faces that moved lining the walls. There was music coming from a corner of the room and people were scattered all over, some dancing to the upbeat tune while others bopped their heads as they talked to their friends.
"Farrah!" Marlene called out, her platinum blonde curls bouncing as she approached the girl and threw her arms around her in a hug, "I was wondering when you would get here."
"I would've been here earlier," Farrah explained as the two girls pulled away from each other, "But Mr. Turtle over here could not decide on whether he should wear his black t-shirt or his black t-shirt."
Marlene laughed (an indication that the girl was already a few drinks past tipsy as what Farrah said was not that funny) before she pointed in the direction she had come from, "Well, drinks are over there. Have fun."
Farrah thanked the girl and watched as she stumbled away before turning to the boys, "Okay boys, we didn't come out here to look like a band of muppets. Let's get y'all fluthered!"
The three friends walked across the common room together to the drinks table that Marlene had pointed them to. Farrah picked up a cup and sniffed it, pegging it as vodka due to its lack of scent. The girl took a small sip and realized she was right, mentally clapping herself on the back.
Taking another sip from the cup, Farrah turned to the boys, "Pick your poison, lads! Let's do this!"
Two hours later, Farrah was barely feeling the buzz of the alcohol while Regulus and Josh were completely intoxicated. The girl was sitting on a couch near the fireplace, watching her best friends in amusement as they sang the wrong lyrics to songs while jumping up and down as if they were in a disco.
"Who invited the snakes?" a voice said loudly, cutting off Regulus and Josh's version of Bohemian Rhapsody.
Sirius Black, decked out in a full black ensemble, stepped into the little space people had cleared for the two Slytherins' performance. He focused his eyes on Regulus, "You just don't know where you're not wanted, eh?"
Regulus opened his mouth to respond but Josh cut him off, "That's funny, I was about to say the exact same thing about you."
Sirius turned his stare from Regulus to Josh, "Was anyone speaking to you?"
"No one ever is," Josh answered, his words slurred, "But somehow, I always end up talking."
"Want me to show you how to shut up?"
"Actually, hold that thought."
Farrah hadn't heard the exchange that was happening but the next thing the girl knew, Josh was bent over, emptying the contents of his stomach onto Sirius' shoes. The Irish girl froze, her seventh cup for the night almost slipping from her grip, as she watched the scene unfold. Farrah only unfroze when she saw Sirius grab Josh by his shirt.
"Okay, okay," the girl said as she approached them, careful not to step in Josh's vomit. She put her hand over Sirius' and unfolded the fist holding Josh's t-shirt, "Let's not get physssssical. I'm sure we can sssssort this out."
She met eyes with Remus who was a little behind Sirius and with one look, he was next to the older Black boy with an arm around his shoulders.
"What seems to be the problem her- oh, that's the problem..." Remus trailed off as he saw Sirius' shoes. The werewolf shrugged and pulled out his wand, "Nothing a little spell can't fix. Scourgify!"
In the blink of an eye, the vomit was all gone and Remus put his wand away, a smug look on his face.
Farrah smiled, "See, problem solved. Your shoes are clean and we can go back to our common room."
Looping arms with Regulus and Josh, Farrah handed her cup to Remus, "Have a good time for me. I've got to get these two to bed."
Remus nodded and watched as the three Slytherins left the party, the crowd making a way for them as they passed. Sirius stared at them too, up until the common room door closed behind them, before he asked Remus, "What just happened?"
Taking a sip from the cup, Remus answered, "You just got Farrah'd out of a fight. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."