𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀.

twenty two.

   "Finally back," Lily sighed as she put the last of her clothes away, collapsing onto her bed.

   Marlene grinned at her as she fiddled with their matching bracelets, "as much as I hate school I couldn't wait to be back, mum was driving me insane."

   Lily nodded in agreement, "Petunia drove me crazy."

   Jovie smiled at her two friends as she shut her book, standing from her bed, "I'm going to go look for Sirius, see you all later."

   She waved before exiting the room and making her way towards the common room. They had been back at school for two hours and she hadn't seen the black haired boy once since she'd arrived.

   All she knew is he had gone to talk to Regulus and had yet to come back.

   Jovie whistled to herself as she strolled the halls of Hogwarts in search of her friend. She passed the courtyard and great hall, Sirius nowhere to be found.

   After their little stunt in the bathroom the two had gone back to the party that night and it was like nothing had ever happened. They were still best friends and the kiss meant nothing. They had gotten carried away, that's all.

   Jovie didn't really know how to feel about it. She had decided in her mind they had both had too much to drink and gotten confused.

   That was that.

   The blonde sighed as she made her way up to the astronomy tower, officially giving up her search of Sirius. She was just about to reach the top when she heard voices.

   "Tell me what happened!"

   "It's nothing, let go!"

   There was a pause.

   "Reggie please, I don't want you to turn out like them. You don't have to do whatever they're making you do."

   By now Jovie had figured out Regulus and Sirius were arguing, but about what? She pulled herself up to the railing, peeking over to see Regulus' arm in Sirius' hand, his sleeve rolled up.

   Regulus yanked his arm away, pulling his sleeve down, "leave me alone, I can handle it just fine. I won't let them get to me."

   Another break of silence.

   "And what about Barty? Dora and Evan and Dorcas? What about Jovie? What if they try to use her to get to you," Sirius' face was dead set in a frown.

   Regulus seemed to go speechless, his jaw going slack.

   Jovie frowned, making her way up the rest of the steps, "hey guys, everything okay?"

   Sirius ran a hand down his face before grinning, "friendly brothers spat, Reggie needs to respect his elders."

   Regulus frowned, "I'll see you guys later."

   He pushed past them, slightly knocking into Jovie as he left. The blonde set a hand on her shoulder, watching as her friend hurried down the steps.

   Her lips curled into a frown, "is everything okay? Really?"

   Sirius felt his gaze soften, his smile dropping slightly as Jovie stared up at him. He slung his arm over her shoulder, "nothing you need to worry about, let's go."

* * *

   "Watch it four eyes!" Alice growled at James, shoving his shoulder.

   The brunette ignored her, continuing on his mission to toss popcorn into Mary's mouth, Marlene trying her best to do the same with Peter but both seemed to be uncoordinated.

   Sirius laughed at his friends, leaning lazily on Jovie, the girl somehow able to support his weight. She turned to Remus, smiling as she watched him flip through the book she had gotten him for Christmas.

   Feeling warmth beside her, she turned to find Lily now in the seat next to her, a frown on her cherry lips.

   "What's wrong?"

   Lily puffed out her cheeks, "just had a minor spat with Sev, it's okay though. We'll be fine."

   Jovie furrowed her brows, "a spat? What about?"

   From what she understood Lily and Sevrus had been best friends since childhood and although he had some questionable views he seemed to truly care about Lily. What could they have fought over?

   Lily began to pile food onto her plate, shrugging nonchalantly, "Both James and Sev invited me to Hogsmeade and I said yes to James."

   This seemed to gain Remus' attention, "James? You said yes to James? Our James? James Fleamont Potter?"

   This caused the redhead to flush, "shush, I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

   Jovie grinned, beaming, "oh my gosh, this is amazing. What made you change your mind about him?"

   Lily shrugged again, "well he actually is pretty fun when he's not constantly pestering me about returning his love. Also his Christmas gift was sweet."

   Remus still seemed shocked, "Euphemia and Fleamont's son?"

   Lily continued to ignore him, "are you guys going in a group again or are you going with Sirius?"

   Jovie's brows furrowed as she looked up to Sirius. Unbeknownst to her, the tips of her ears colored red, "why'd you automatically assume I was going with Siri?"

   The redhead grinned, "because you're always together, literally, besides when you sleep. So who are you going with if not him?"

   Jovie shrugged, "Dora and Cas want me for something, a prank I'm assuming-"

   Just then the great hall door slammed, everyone turning to watch Severus as he grumpily marched to the Slytherin table, taking a seat beside Lucius Malfoy.

   Sirius grinned, "Snivellus broke his chemistry set?"

   Peter snickered while James just stared at Lily, his face flushing a deep red. He knew exactly why Snape was so peeved.

   Talk about two birds with one stone.