[Remus' POV]
Lily tilted her head forward and crossed her arms.
"I have a plan," she smiled mischievously.
The Marauders and I sighed collectively. I loved Lily, but she always tried to solve problems that were unsolvable.
"Lil, if this is about (Y/N)," James said hastily, "I doubt it's going to work. That girl is about as stubborn as a tree stump," he huffed.
"Hate to break it to you, Lilyflower, but whatever your plan is, I'm afraid it'll fail. Miserably." Sirius said, smugly.
Lily leaned in dangerously close to them. "Questioning me, Potter, Black?" she said, through gritted teeth.
"N-no," James stumbled, taken aback. "I was just- we were, you know," he paused and looked to Sirius for help.
Sirius crossed his legs and looked silently at the floor.
"Good," Lily smiled sweetly. "Pettigrew, Lupin, any comments?"
"No ma'am," Peter said, basically shaking.
I chuckled to myself. A scary one, that Lily was.
"No, but if this is about (Y/N), Lily, I expect you to have a groundbreaking, extraordinary, never-before-seen plan, because as Prongs said, I've never met a girl more stubborn than (Y/N)," I sighed sadly.
"Oh, it's groundbreaking alright," she explained. "So we all know that (Y/N) knew that Remus was sleeping by her side last night," she started.
"We do?" The Marauders and I questioned.
Lily threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "Of course we knew! Are you guys that dense, you couldn't even read her face? Her body language?"
"Anyways," she sighed, annoyed, "she liked that feeling. I know she did, like, come on, who doesn't like cuddles? Anyways, in order for us to make (Y/N) aware of the fact that she still has feelings for Remus, we have to make her remember what it feels like to be loved by Remus again," she said, breathlessly.
I straightened my back and my eyes lit up a bit. What Lily said made sense, but how?
"That's where you guys come into play," she said, looking brightly at us. "Except you, Remus, I feel like the less you interact with her, the better it'll be, because then she'll start to miss you more -"
"Girls talk too much," Sirius yawned. The long talk about love was getting to him.
"Yes, girls talk too - hmm?" Lily spoke, too invested in explaining her plan, clearly not aware of what Sirius just said.
"Well, get on with it, girl!" Sirius coaxed.
[A/N - if you guys know where the last couple of lines are from, I love you.]
"Anyways," Lily shook her head, "that's where I'm stuck. How do we make (Y/N) remember Remus, without her seeing him? That's the last thing she wants to do," Lily sighs, "or so she says, anyways."
"You know," James says, shaking a finger, "what if we all just act like Remus? You know, it'll be easy to be a shy, book-loving prat for a while," he chuckled.
"Very insightful, Prongs," I snarled, "but that's just weird. Creepy, too." I shudder, thinking about having three mini-mes following my every move.
"Remus is right, that's weird," Peter says, "but maybe we could be subtle and do or say things that will remind her of Remus?"
"There you go," Lily grins, "that's not a bad idea, Peter."
"Do or say what, though? Hey (Y/N), remember when all of us walked into you and Remus snogging? Wasn't that a time to be alive?" Sirius says, chuckling.
"You little arse," I said, tackling Sirius and hitting him over the head with a nearby pillow.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry mate, stop," Sirius laughs, gasping for air in between smacks from my pillow.
"BOYS!" Lily just about screams. "STOP, now!"
"Yes ma'am," I said, reluctantly putting down my pillow. Godric, I thought to myself, if Lily wasn't here I probably would have smothered that little sh!t.
"Okay, so, Phase I of the plan - bringing up old memories. That has to get at least some reaction out of her, right?" Lily said, hopefully.
"Yeah, alright," James said, shrugging his shoulders. "Worth a shot. Hey and, we need to be discreet about it, ahem, Sirius."
"Ah," Sirius groaned, putting his hand over his chest as if he had just been stabbed in the heart. "I'm very offended you think I'm not discreet, Potter," he said, getting up dramatically.
"I'll show you discreet, hmph!", he said as he turned around, arms crossed, strutting up the stairs.
"Good ol' Sirius," I smiled, "the drama queen."
[Your POV]
I woke up at 7 a.m. on the dot and breathed in the fresh summer air. This is your last weekend at Hogwarts as a fifth year, I thought sadly to myself.
Well, there was no point in wasting any time. I tried to wake up a reluctant Lily, who muttered something about "being up late last night with those imbeciles" and just wanted her beauty sleep.
"Fine then," I whispered to Lily who was still half asleep, "I'm going to be at Hogsmeade with James, Sirius and Peter today. Feel free to join when you want."
[t/s to Hogsmeade - still (Y/N) POV]
"The weather today is just brilliant, isn't it?" I smiled from ear to ear. "All the pretty flowers, and the hot summer sun, I just love everything about it!"
"Someone's cheery today," Sirius said, as he placed down 4 Butterbeers on our table at The Three Broomsticks.
"I dunno, mate, I've just been feeling happier all of a sudden. I think it's cause exams are over," I smiled, but deep down I knew that wasn't the reason.
James mumbled something under his breath that suspiciously sounded like the words "Remus," "Common Room" and "sleeping together." However, I ignored it.
That got me thinking, though, was that the reason I was so happy all of a sudden? No, I physically shook my head, it couldn't be.
"Ahem, anyways," Sirius said, for some reason shooting a nasty glance to James,"what have you all been up to?"
"The usual," James and Peter said at once. I stifled a laugh, they sounded like they had rehearsed saying that.
An awkward silence came across the table.
"No ones going to say jinx?" I said, narrowing my eyes.
"Oh, ha ha, jinx Peter, you owe me a Butterbeer," James said, awkwardly.
"Okay then," I shook my head, "I haven't really been up to anything, Sirius, but I'm glad we all got to hang out again, I miss you guys," I said, sincerely. Ever since the breakup, well, it's been harder to hang out with the Marauders because Remus is always with them.
I furrowed my eyebrows. Which made today suspicious. Why wasn't he with them today?
"Hey guys," I said, trying to be as nonchalant as possible, "uh, where's Remus? It's not like I want him here or anything, it's just that you guys are always here with him, but you're here with me today, so like -,"
"I knew it!" Sirius interrupted me, slamming his fists on the table. "You miss him, don't you (Y/N)? I know that look, you're just too afraid to admit it," he said, leaning closer to me.
James looked alarmed. Quickly tugging Sirius back, he apologized to me.
"No, (Y/N), he didn't mean that, Sirius is just, well, Sirius, you know? He hasn't been, um, taking his medication lately, so he's just been odd for a while."
I could've sworn I felt James give Sirius a swift kick in the shin under the table.
"Right," I slowly nod, "no, I don't miss him, honestly, I miss you guys, and it's weird that you're choosing to spend your last weekend with me than with him, so I was just wondering."
"Remus is just being Remus right now, you know how it is, (Y/N)," Peter explained, "probably in the library reading a book."
"Beauty and the Beast, most likely," Sirius chimed in. "It's his favourite book. I can picture it now - Remus reading Beauty and the Beast while eating bars and bars of chocolate in the library," he spread his hands apart, as if he was envisioning his name in shining lights.
I felt a small pang in my heart. Reading Beauty and the Beast in the library while eating chocolate was our thing. I guess the hurt showed on my face because within seconds, all of the Marauders leaned in close to me, almost examining my face.
"You alright there, (Y/N)?", James said. "You look a bit sad. Did we do anything?"
"No, no, I'm fine," I said, smiling and waving my hand, "just thought about how much I'm going to miss Hogwarts."
"Do you want to go to Zonko's? Maybe you'll get a laugh in there," Sirius suggested.
"You know what, let's do it," I said, happy to be switching the subject from Remus.
As we walked into Zonko's, I noticed their newest selection of gags.
"Puking Frog," I read, "this little bugger will hop on up and puke on the head of anyone you want, and each frog comes with a different flavour of puke that will stick with the victim for 24 hours. New flavours include deadly farts, dog poop and rotten beans," I widened my eyes.
"Hey, look at this little guy," I picked up a brownish green frog, which I'm guessing came with the rotten beans puke flavour, and held it up to James' face.
"Oh, sick!", he exclaimed, examining the frog a bit closer. Then he turned to Peter and Sirius.
"Tell me this wouldn't be a great prank to play on Remus," he said. excitedly.
My heart dropped again.
"Think about it, he would be sleeping, and BAM, when he wakes up, rotten beans-scented frog puke on his head. And he'll smell like that sh!t for 24 hours," he exclaimed.
"Godric, I just love playing pranks on Remus," Sirius laughed loudly. "Don't you, Peter?"
"Huh," said Peter, who was clearly distracted by the display of magic stink bombs, "oh, Remus, yup! Just love pranking him."
I smiled sadly. Remus and I would always try to prank eachother. He was surprisingly good at it. Well, he was the mastermind behind all the Marauders pranks. Like that one time he-
I exhaled and shook my head. No, (Y/N), you're not letting Remus in your head today.
"Hey guys," I called out, "do you think it's time to start heading back to school? The Hogwarts Express will be here any minute."
[Remus' POV]
Lily and I anxiously waited in the Common Room for the rest of the Marauders to come back from Hogsmeade and tell me about their day with (Y/N).
Suddenly, the door bursted open, with just the three boys I was looking for.
"So, how was it? Did she say anything about me?", I questioned, and Lily eagerly nodded.
"Actually, yeah," James said, taking off his shoes. "She asked where you were. Tried to be slick about it, but we noticed it."
"At The Three Broomsticks, when we mentioned you at the library reading and eating chocolate, she got all sad," Peter said, encouragingly.
"Finally, at Zonko's, we mentioned pranking you, and she sort of stopped speaking for a while," Sirius pointed out. "Mate, I think she likes you again," he winked.
I massaged the back of my neck and chuckled. Maybe I could get (Y/N) back.
"Great, it's working!", Lily said with a sparkle in her eyes. "Phase I - bring up old memories, is complete. Now for Phase II - actions," she smirked.
~
04.27.20
w/c; 1,929
5:32 a.m.
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hey y'all, hope u enjoy the new chapter!! how are y'all liking it? :) Thanks for all your support + patience, love you all the most!
emma x