When Doves Cry

~~Everybody talks Everybody talks Everybody talks Too much~~
When we got to the Great Hall, Sirius was already trying to snog me again. I laughed and lightly pushed him away. He was quickly replaced by James, who wrapped his arm around my waist and whisked me off, leaving Sirius to yell at him for taking me away. He shoved James away from me, telling him to find his own girl, and pulled me close to his side. I glanced up and noticed Professor Dumbledore was looking at us with a small smile. I grinned at him and he raised his goblet in slight toast before taking a drink from it.
By the time we got to our table, it was clear everyone knew about my dating Sirius. Some girls (and guys) shot me dirty looks, and vice versa for Sirius, but for the most part everyone looked generally happy for us. Regulus caught my eye from across the Great Hall and smiled at me, Snape looked as disgusted as ever by everything Sirius did, and Adrian gave me only a brief frown before he shrugged and smiled lightly. The weirdest part was that no one seemed surprised at all.
"James, is it just me, or does everyone look like they've been waiting for me and Sirius to hook up?"
"No, it's not just you. There's been a poll going around. Which reminds me-- Hey, Evans! I believe you owe me five galleons." He winked at her. She rolled her eyes and handed over the money, giving me an apologetic smile.
"Hang on! What? You all made bets on how long it would take for me and Sirius to date? When did all of this happen?" Sure enough, looking around, I could see some people triumphantly gripping coins in their hands while others grumbled slightly and handed over their wages. People had actually made bets on this!
"Peter, pay up!" Sirius said cheerfully, causing me to look at him in shock.
Peter grumbled before handing a few galleons to Sirius.
"What, you too? Was everyone convinced that I was going to date Sirius?"
"Not everyone," James said. "Some people said it would never happen. Those of us who knew it was inevitable made bets on how long. By Christmas, by sixth year, by graduation. The time limits were quiet extensive."
"Remus, you appear to be the only one who didn't make bets on my private life."
"Er," he said sheepishly. "Actually, I owe Regulus Black three galleons. I thought it would take you longer to give in to Sirius because he's such a git."
"Oi!" Sirius said indignantly.
"Sorry," Remus said with a shrug. "But it's true."
"Eh," Sirius said, shrugging and nodding. "I guess you're right."
"Wait a minute," I said. "Since when are you and Reg friends?"
"We're not," Remus answered. "We just made the bet because we both knew you'd date him eventually. After I pay him, I doubt I'll ever speak to him again. I happened to overhear him telling Snape that he was sure you'd give in to Sirius within a matter of days. Since he knows you and I are friends, he asked my opinion. When I disagreed, he challenged me to a bet."
Sirius suddenly stared at Remus in surprise, something he'd said finally clicking in his brain. "So let me get this straight. Regulus, the cruel little brother who hates me, bet in favor of me getting the girl??"
"Well, he does love me," I said. "Probably hoping he'll get a new sister-in-law out of me so he'll actually have a sibling worth his time." I smirked at Sirius, who glared at me and grumbled under his breath about cruel girlfriends and biased brothers.
I looked around the Great Hall again, gazing in open shock when I saw some teachers exchanging coins. Professor McGonagall gave disapproving looks at the teachers who had made bets, while Professor Slughorn smugly took galleons from the Care of Magical Creatures professor. Rolling my eyes, I returned my gaze to the students around the Great Hall. My eyes fell on Mason, who was gazing at me. I gave him an apologetic look, but he simply smiled and shook his head lightly, holding up a small bag full of galleons. I laughed silently, glad to know he held no ill feelings towards me and my relationship with Sirius. He was a really good guy, and I would have hated for him to be upset.
"What are you smiling at?" James asked, noticing my grin.
"Just all of this. The bets and the fact that about seventy percent of the school has been contemplating my possible love life, or lack thereof, with Sirius. It's mental."
Remus shrugged. "Most of the school pays attention to you two anyways. Seeing as you're the female Marauder and he's...well, Sirius. Womanizer, prankster, deviant supreme."
"Excuse me, but if we're fighting for title of deviant supreme, I'd say I win that competition," James said indignantly.
"Oh, as if!" Sirius argued. "I'm clearly the deviant supreme!"
"Boys, please," I said, interrupting before they really started arguing. "I'm pretty that title goes to me. Take a moment and think about it."
They both frowned, contemplating. Finally, their heads nodded in synchronization. "You've got a point there," Sirius admitted.
"You are rather evil," James agreed.
"My bad," Remus said. "Sirius is a womanizer, prankster, and deviant not-quite-supreme. Better?"
I smiled. "Yes. Much better. Can't have people thinking Sirius is the most devious out of all of us. I clearly am."
"Yeah, but you're a woman," James said, as if that influenced my deviousness.
"And what is that supposed to mean, Potter?" Lily asked, having clearly overheard our conversation.
James's eyes got very large. "Oh, er... You know, just that women tend to be good at deviance and deception. And stuff."
Lily raised one red eyebrow before she turned away again. "I suppose you have a point. We are expert manipulators."
James breathed a silent sigh of relief, looking slightly surprised he hadn't been hexed for calling women deviant. He grinned at Sirius. "She agreed with me. Think that means I'm finally getting through to her?"
Sirius and I glanced at each other and then back at James. "I wouldn't bet on it, mate," Sirius said. "You just happened to be right for once."
"Hmm..." James frowned, staring at Lily. "Guess I'll have to try harder to get her attention," he said.
Sirius, Remus, Peter, and I all rolled our eyes and shook our heads at his stupidity, but he took no notice. He was too busy gazing at Lily with a small smile on his face. I chuckled at him, knowing he'd get nowhere with her while he was still being arrogant. But he had to learn that on his own. Mostly because he would never listen to anyone who tried to tell him so. Sometimes he could be really thick.
"Oh, hey, does this mean I'm not allowed to sleep in Remus's bed anymore?" I asked Sirius, the thought suddenly hitting me.
Remus glanced up from his breakfast in interest, looking at Sirius to see what he would say.
"Yes, it does," Sirius answered. "If you're going to be sleeping in any of our beds," he motioned at himself, James, Remus, and peter, "it's going to be mine."
"Sirius, we're fifteen. I'm not shagging you."
"That's not what I meant!" he said indignantly. "I just meant, if you feel like you don't want to sleep alone, I'd prefer if you came to me instead of Remus. Why did you choose Remus, by the way? Out of all four of us, why him?"
I glanced at Remus, my mouth opened to answer, but no sound coming out. He frowned and shook his head, also at a loss for words. "Uh..." was all I managed.
"What?" James asked, turning away from Lily because of the odd way Remus and I were behaving.
I sighed. "Because we each know each others deepest secrets."
"Oh, yeah," Sirius said, looking glum. "That big secret of yours that you won't tell the rest of us."
"Well, what's Moony's biggest secret?" Peter asked. "Do we all know it?"
"The basis for my Marauder appellation," Remus answered. Three blank stares met his words. "The reason I'm called Moony," he said slightly exasperatedly.
"Oh!" they all said at the same time. Remus and I glanced at each other and rolled our eyes. We seemed to do that a lot when we were around them.
"So, what, you two crawl into bed together and talk about your dirty little secrets and then fall asleep?" James asked.
We nodded. "Pretty much," I said. "I don't particularly like telling a bunch of people about my...problem...but it is nice to have someone to talk to. Someone who can sort of understand what I'm going through."
Remus shook his head at me.
"What?" Sirius asked. "She leaving something out about what you two do?"
"Don't be dense," Remus answered. "I simply disagree with her on something."
"How can you disagree with her on what the two of you do together?" James asked in confusion.
Remus chewed on the corner of his bottom lip, trying to think of the right words. "She says it's nice to have someone to talk to who understand what you're going through, and she's right. But I could never possibly understand her...situation. I simply can't imagine what it's like to go through some of the things she has to."
"Will someone just bloody tell me what the damn secret is?" Sirius growled in frustration.
"No," I said. "I know how you'll respond, all of you, and I refuse to have you three look at me in that way."
"What way?" Sirius asked. "Look, it's not like we'll judge you for whatever it is. You know all our dirty secrets and don't care. We'd never let this big secret of yours change how we think about you!"
"It's not that you'll judge me. It's that you'll pity me. And I refuse to let that happen. Now drop it." I gave them all stern looks, and they had no choice but to obey. After all, we had just established that I was the deviant supreme, and I wasn't above hexing them into silence.
"I just have one more question," Sirius said. "Then, I promise I'll leave it alone forever."
I sighed softly and nodded. "All right, what is it?"
"Is it really that bad? Whatever it is, surely it can't be too horrible, right? You don't seem affected by it on a regular basis. It doesn't seem to affect your health or your over-all well-being. But we would pity you for going through whatever it is?"
"It's..." I frowned, trying to think of the right word. "It's complicated. It's bad, yes. But it does have its more positive sides."
"Come on," Remus said before Sirius could change his mind about not bringing it up anymore. "Breakfast is ending so we need to go."
"Right," I said, gathering my things and standing up. "We can't be late for our classes."
Sirius scoffed at me. "Since when do you care about classes?"
"First of all, I've always cared. I like to excel in my work. Second of all, you have no room to speak. For someone who cares so little about classes, you certainly make excellent marks in all of them. And James does too."
"Well..." Sirius said, trying to think of a good comeback. "I wouldn't look as suave and sexy if I failed a class, no would I?"
I laughed softly and lightly bumped him with my hip. "No, you wouldn't. Seriously, if you start failing, I might just dump you. Can't be seen dating a half-wit."
"Such cruelty," he said, placing his hand on his chest in shock.
I shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a Dove. We don't tolerate failure."
"Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm a bloody genius," Sirius said with a grin.
"You keep telling yourself that," I said, prancing away from him.
"Did you just insult my intelligence?" he called after me in mock anger, jogging to catch up to me.
"If you were more intelligent, you wouldn't have to ask me that," I answered cheekily, dodging his hand when he reached out to grab me.
We began a game of cat and mouse, dodging around people and hiding behind them as we made our way to class. By the time we reached the classroom, we were both laughing and out of breath, flopping down in our seats like we had just run a marathon. He reached out and playfully shoved me, causing me to smile at him and playfully smack his arm. Soon, though, the teacher called the class to order and we had to be less obvious about messing with each other. By the time the lesson ended, we hadn't learned a damn thing.