OUTCAST | SIRIUS BLACK

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

THE GREATEST FOURSOME OF ALL TIME
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Seraphina Weasley had a plan.

Since it seemed like the boys were too stubborn to solve their problems on their own she had decided to take matters into her own hands. No matter how annoying the Marauders were when they were together, it was way worse when they did not speak to each other.

Her biggest problem would be getting all of them to the same place at ones since James avoided Sirius like the plague. At first she had considered using Lily as a bait but while she loved the red haired girl, Lily was a terrible actress and an even worse liar.

Alice was too nice to ever lie to anyone - unless it was a white lie that protected that person's emotions. Marlene, if possible, was an even worse actress than Lily since her head had a tendency to draw a blank in stressful moments.

That left Dorcas who immediately agreed to help her after hearing that it meant tricking the Marauders - although, she had been slightly disappointed when she found out that the plan didn't involve a prank.

So when the weekend arrived Seraphina found herself seated on one of the benches in Professor Binns's empty classroom. Right on time the door opened to reveal Sirius Black who appeared to be somewhere between confused and suspicious.

"You came," Sera grinned, jumping off the bench. "I almost thought you would be late."

"And risk your wrath," Sirius shuddered dramatically. "Never."

"Wise choice," Seraphina played a long, giving him a fake glare.

Sirius placed his hands in his pockets, revealing to her that he was slightly nervous, and said, "Not that I am opposed to spending time with you, Sephy, but why did you call me here?"

"Well, I have come to the conclusion that men, or rather boys in this case, are idiots," Seraphina placed her hands on his shoulders and guided him backwards until he was seated on one of the chairs, "so now I'm taking matters into my own hands."

The next second the door burst open and Dorcas ran in closely followed by James and Remus who were breathing heavily, a panicked look in their eyes. Both of them ran over to Sera and bombarded her with questions about her well being - probably because Dorcas had decided to run into the Common Room and scream at them that Seraphina was injured.

Half a minute after James and Remus, Peter came through the door and Dorcas took that as her sign to leave. Poor Peter looked ready to faint and he was breathing heavily, so heavily that he lowered himself into a chair.

"Colloportus," Seraphina pointed her wand at the door that locked and for the first time Remus and James seemed to realise that Sirius was in the room.

"What is this?" James asked, sending a glare towards Sirius who stared down at his shoes. "Why is he here?"

"He is here because I am tired of this," Seraphina told them, crossing her arms, resting her wand against her forearm. "No one is leaving this room until you have sorted this out-"

"There is nothing to talk about," Remus said tiredly, looking more sad than angry. "I could have killed you Sera. And if you hadn't been arrived I might have killed Snape. Sirius knew that-"

"I didn't actually think he would come," Sirius defended himself, but his entire posture showed them that he blamed himself just as much as they blamed him.

"But you were willing to risk that Snape found out about my - my-"

"Furry little problem," Seraphina offered when he seemed at loss of words.

"If the other students or their parents found out I could be forced to leave Hogwarts," Remus continued to look at Sirius with disappointment - and maybe a hint of betrayal. "And because of you Seraphina ended up in the Hospital Wing-"

"And that is partially why I have brought all of you here today," Seraphina looked between the boys, patting Peter on the shoulder since he still was trying to regain control of his breathing. Then she turned to the other three, "I can't control if Remus is angry at Sirius for revealing his secret but I don't want the three to fight just because I decided to jump in front of a werewolf."

"You were hurt-"

"James, for the love of Merlin," Sera exclaimed. "It was my own choice to go to the Shrieking Schack. I knew all the risks and I came anyway - so anything that happened was on me - not Sirius."

"Sephy, they are right," Sirius sighed and it was like everything they had spoken about on the roof had left his brain. "You were hurt because of me-"

"Okay, let us all pretend that it was completely your fault that I was knocked into a wall head first," Sera tried to hide her frustration. "That gives me the right to be mad at you, Black. And now I forgive you for it." She then turned to the other two, "Now I have forgiven him so there is no reason for you to continue to hold a grudge against him."

"You are too forgiving, Sephy-"

"No, James, I'm not," Sera interrupted him again. "We both know that I can hold grudges. But only when holding a grudge brings me less pain than completely shutting someone out of my life." Her eyes swept over the four boys, "You four are 'the greatest foursome of all time' - James's words, not mine - and you are only hurting yourselves and each other by not being friends."

She grabbed Sirius hand and pulled him up before pushing him towards James and Remus, "Are you planning on allowing them to punch me?" he whispered over his shoulder.

"No, that is my last resort," Seraphina whispered back. "Now, Sirius, do you regret what happened?"

"Yes, I am," Sirius answered truthfully, looking at his best friends. "I'm truly sorry, mates. I let my hate for Snape and arrogance take control and I really didn't think of the consequences like I should have."

James narrowed his eyes at him for a few seconds of tense silence that felt like minutes. "You almost got my sister killed."

"Are you serious?" Sera exclaimed in frustration, wondering if he had even listened.

"No, that's me."

"No, I'm James."

Seraphina could have facepalmed at the home - at least until she noticed the small smile on both of their faces - and even Remus was trying to hide one.

"I've missed all of you," Sirius told his friends.

"You sleep in the same dormitory," Sera deadpanned.

"We've missed you too, Padfoot," James told him and then he surprised everyone by pulling Sirius into a tight hug. "Being cross with you was killing me." He then pulled back and looked Sirius dead in the eye, "Do anything like that again and I won't be as forgiving."

Sera watched in victory as Remus and Sirius also hugged each other and how James and Peter decided to join in.

"I can't believe that old joke is what brought all of you back together," Sera ran a hand through her hair in disbelief. "But I'm glad it did because now I can move back to solving my own problems instead of yours." She made her way towards the door, "You are welcome, idiots."

"Wait," James called out to stop her. "There is one thing I've been meaning to ask you. How did you even know Snape was coming down there?" James asked her and the other three looked at her, awaiting her response.

"Oh," Sera smiled innocently, "I have eyes and ears everywhere - Alohomora."