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"Lils, hey, did you do the potions essay?" Caroline asked as she sat beside Lily at dinner.
"Mhm," Lily nodded, before swallowing her mouthful, "did you?"
"Yeah, can you read it? I want feedback in case I need to edit," she said.
"As long as you read mine."
Caroline smiled, "sure."
She was passed a roll of parchment from the redhead and she began to read it.
Amortentia is, in the simplest terms, a love potion. Amor is a Latin word meaning ''Love'', it is also the name of the Roman goddess of love.''Tentia'' is the Latin for ''held''. It makes the drinker become infatuated and obsessed.
"Evening, ladies."
She looked up from the essay to see Sirius sliding into the seat beside her.
"Hey," she said quietly, smiling at him for a split-second before focusing back onto the essay.
"What are you guys doing?" He asked, resting an arm round her shoulders and leaning in to read the parchment.
She felt her shoulders stiffen up from his touch. She didn't like it when...she didn't like people touching her...she didn't...but...this wasn't actually that bad. She swallowed her anxiety and didn't push him off.
"Reading each other's essays, bugger off," Lily said.
"Seriously? It's a Saturday, come on, Caroline, hey-" he snatched the parchment away from her grip.
"Hey!" She said, trying to grab it back.
He pulled the parchment away so she couldn't reach it, "I'll give it back on one condition."
Caroline wrinkled her nose in frustration before reaching across his body to try to reach the parchement again. He snatched it away from her grip once more.
"Siriuus," she whined, before saying in French, "what is your condition?"
"Um...you have to...remember what we said before? Live life on the edge," he whispered the last thing in French.
"You want me to go to the Astronomy tower at night? Break the rules?" She whispered back in French.
She didn't even realise what position she was in, one hand on the table in front of him, her body so close to him that she was almost on his lap.
"I think you'd love it," he murmured. "Do it tonight and I'll give you back the essay."
"It's not even my essay-"
She was interrupted by Lily pulling her by the scruff of her collar away from Sirius.
"Lils, what?!" Caroline turned round, giving her a bewildered look.
"Your boyfriend just walked in and Sirius looked like he was about to...just, you're welcome," Lily sighed, looking down at her paper.
"Oh..."
Caroline looked to the end of the table where Julian was greeting his friends. She caught his eye and smiled, he nodded back, sending her a wink.
"Yeah, thanks Lils," she whispered to the redhead, who nodded. "He's a bit protective."
"What's going on?" Sirius asked.
"Nothing," Caroline said quickly, before clearing her throat, "now can I please have the essay back?"
"Say yes to the deal first," he shrugged.
"What deal?"
They looked up to see James Potter jumping into the seat opposite them.
"It's nothing," Sirius waved him off, before switching to French to talk to Caroline, "so, will you do it?"
"Hey! That's not fair, I don't know French," James pointed.
"I think that's the point, James," Lily said.
James went quiet then, his cheeks immediately flushing pink at the fact that Lily had talked to him let alone use his first name.
Sirius handed Caroline the parchment, "after your prefects duty on Tuesday, yes?"
"Not this week, I wanted to finish my book, can we do next week?" She asked in hushed French.
"Fine, we'll do it then," Sirius sighed, switching to French, "but no bailing out on me though. Okay?"
"Yeah yeah," she waved him off. "Now shush, I have to finish reading this."
She focused back onto the essay, the parchment filled with Lily's cursive writing. She didn't notice Tyler, Archie and Jane looking over at her when Eloise came in, a new hickey on her neck, smoothing down her messy hair. Again, her and Julian had arrived under a minute apart. The coincidences had become a pattern, it was obvious now, and they had to tell Caroline.
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"What was that?"
"I said we have to talk to you about something," Tyler repeated.
"Sounds serious," she said, raising an eyebrow, "okay...all three of you?"
"Uh, yeah," Archie said.
"If that's okay," Jane said.
"Sure..."
"Let's just go here," Tyler pulled her into a corridor.
She stood with her back to the wall, facing them all. She raised a patient brow, waiting for them to speak. They all looked at each other. No one knew how to start.
"We...um, well we thought because we're your friends that, you know, it's only right that we tell you things that you, um...things that you need to know..." Archie said, struggling not to stumble on his words.
Caroline nodded, "right..."
Jane cleared her throat, "and we wouldn't be talking to you if we weren't almost, maybe 80% sure that something might be...uh, if we weren't very suspicious, you know?"
"I..." Caroline seemed stunned, "I have no idea what's going on. What's happened?"
Jane and Archie both looked at Tyler. He looked back for a moment, before facing Caroline. He breathed out nervously.
"We think...um...we have suspicions that Julian is...Julian and Eloise are..."
"Are what?" Caroline asked, her heart suddenly feeling as it had stopped in her chest.
It was one of those moments where it felt as if time had slowed and you've completely lifted out of your body, and you're looking in at the scene from the outside. It's that feeling of having no control as a wave of bad news is crashing down on you and there's no where to run. That's how Caroline felt.
"We think Julian's been cheating with Eloise."
No.
The fact of the matter was, Eloise was Caroline's best friend. Her best friend. And friends didn't hurt each other. Caroline knew this to be true, and she still wanted to believe it.
"I don't believe you," she said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I don't...it can't be true, it isn't true..."
"We're pretty sure it is, love," Jane said.
"Pretty sure? Do you have proof?"
"Um..."
The three friends exchanged a look.
"Not really," Tyler said.
"Then I can't believe you," she said, shaking her head. "Now I-I have to get to my common room. Lots of...studying...see you tomorrow."
She walked away from them before they could get in another word. She wasn't mad, or upset...she didn't really know what she was feeling. It was as if her mind was a vacant haze as she tried to process what her friends believed. They believed that the two people she loved the most were hurting her in the worst way possible.
It wasn't true. It couldn't be true.
But a voice in the back of her mind was telling her that yes, of course, of course it was true.
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