CHAPTER SEVENTY ONE
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-: sixth year :-
── IN WHICH THE NIGHT RETURNS
. . .
Dinner was only slightly awkward, the glances between James, Remus and Tiger short and fleeting. Euphemia and Fleamont tried to make the atmosphere better, with the joint help of Sirius and the Howell girl, but soon enough, it was over.
Tiger wasn't surprised when Euphemia pulled her aside afterwards, the girl taking the chance to help the woman with some housework, seeing as she always insisted on doing it herself.
"What exactly happened between James and Remus?" Euphemia asked, watching as Tiger dried a dish, placing it in one of the cupboards.
"Remus found out that me and James were taken into the police station." Tiger said, and this seemed to make a lot of sense for Euphemia. "Remus is alright with a lot of things, and has never once said anything against me and James being together. But I guess-"
"-That's where he draws the line?" Euphemia finished for her, and Tiger nodded. "I suppose they're going to be alright by the morning?" She looked hopeful, and Tiger guessed (correctly) that this was her way of asking Tiger to try and help fix the situation.
"I hope so. I'll talk to them all later - when everyone's a little more relaxed and ready to go to bed." Tiger said, and Euphemia smiled gratefully.
"Thank you, Tiger. I'm pretty sure the bathroom next to James's room is empty, if you want to take a bath or a shower." The woman gently pulled a bowl out of Tiger's hands. "I'm pretty sure Fleamont and the boys are preparing the living room." She assured Tiger she wouldn't be missing anything.
Tiger nodded, disappearing upstairs to take a bath, something she rarely did. It gave her a chance to relax and finally read some more of that muggle book she had borrowed from Lily.
But soon enough, she was interrupted by Sirius - who claimed that James was missing her too much. In reality, he probably just needed Tiger to get out of the bathroom.
Which she did, pulling on one of James's Quidditch sweaters and her pajama bottoms. Leaving her hair to dry naturally, she made her back downstairs, to find that the living room really had been transformed to the perfect sleep over layout.
It seemed that every inch of the floor was covered in rather comfortable looking mattresses, and a variety of pillows, blankets and duvets dotted around on top of them. "Beats your dorm room." Tiger commented, appearing next to one of the sofa's, James being laid on it and instantly pulling her onto his lap.
"Your hair's all wet." He grumbled, and Tiger rolled her eyes, sitting up slightly and turning around to look at him. "What?" He whined. "It's annoying."
"James I just washed my hair you prat." Tiger replied, taking the chance to look around, seeing it was only them in the room. James seemed to notice this too, and soon enough he was sitting up, dotting kisses over Tiger's face.
"Have you gotten the chance to talk to Remus yet?" Tiger ended up asking, and James fell quiet, giving her the answer she needed. "Alright, I can sort it out."
"Are you sure?" James asked. "I know you do a lot sometimes, and this isn't really your thing to fix."
"It's alright. I want your birthday to go as smoothly as possible, and that includes me trying to diffuse the situation. Besides, it's partially my fault." Tiger shrugged, and the pair soon fell silent, Tiger slipping off of his lap as Sirius and Remus walked in, followed by Peter not long after.
Fleamont, as well as putting all the mattresses on the floor, had fixed up one of the muggle contraption which played films - and the group sat in silence for a few minutes, watching it.
Until Tiger couldn't really deal with the awkwardness and tension, and leant forward, pausing the TV. "Right." She said, turning towards the boys and crossing her legs under her. "It is James's birthday tomorrow, and it is important that it is a good one, considering it's the big seventeen."
The four marauders nodded slowly, wondering where Tiger was going with this. "Remus, is there anything you would like to say?" She asked. "During this time, I ask that nobody else talks, or even makes a sound - and I won't hesitate to dye all or your hair bright pink whilst you're asleep tonight."
"Well... I guess just don't get arrested? Or do stupid things which could end up with you getting arrested. Especially when Tiger is there." Remus said, his voice surprisingly toneless.
"Anything else?" Tiger looked expectantly at her cousin, who held her gaze for a moment, before sighing and turning to James.
"I'm sorry." Remus said, his voice rather low and gruff this time, but did show some form of sorrow in it. Tiger looked happy at this, turning to James, who met her eyes, watching as she nodded - the slightest tilt of her head.
"It's alright, Moony. As long as you don't try and tell me whether I can or can't date Tiger." James replied, and upon Remus nodding at this, he leant over and clapped his friend on the back, ruffling the taller boy's hair affectionatley, something he did before Remus grew taller than him.
"There we go." Tiger smiled. "That wasn't so hard." She said, pressing play on the TV and moving to sit next to James, who pulled her down into a laying position, covering her with the duvet and blanket he had.
In almost no time, Tiger was fast asleep, her soft snuffles proof of this. And whilst the girl slept, the four best friends would talk well into the night, as they waited for James to turn seventeen.
The first practically stress-free evening together that they had in a while, thankfully.
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