𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍.
chapter forty-three; Sirius' Stupid Cologne
" Yes, yes, you're a potions master, what do you smell? "

  LILY EVANS MADE a choice, following her conversation with James outside of Honeydukes. She'd fallen victim to the Potter feud, blocking out Madeline for James despite campaigning for the Ravenclaw regularly.

  And Lily missed Madeline. Their endless conversations and instantaneous connection, Lily decided to claim their friendship back.

  "Hey."

  Sirius didn't mean to spit out his bite of pancake, honestly, but what else was he supposed to do when Lily approached the table so determinedly?

  The regular gang had expanded to include Bluebelle and Kai, Ravenclaws outnumbering Gryffindors until Lily had shown up.

  "Hi," Madeline responded after giving Sirius a deadpan look. "Is something wrong?"

  "Oh, no," Lily cleared her throat, "I was, uh, wondering if I could eat breakfast with you?"

  "Sure," The brunette smiled, watching Lily claim the seat beside Kai. 

  The air was tense for longer than anyone wanted, the joking had stopped short because of the redhead's arrival and now there was no clear guidance on what to do next.

  "History of Magic's killing me," Remus announced matter-of-factly.

  "Don't bring it up," Madeline whined, rubbing her temples as if the simple words caused a headache.

  "I'm so glad I chose not to take it this year, then."

  "That just means you're smart," Bluebelle informed Lily, "Dumb and dumber decided to take a bunch of classes just for the hell of it."

  "I want to keep my options open," Madeline defended, "If I take important classes, my career opportunities are endless."

  "I just like to torture myself, I suppose."

  Sirius shoved Remus' arm from the other side of Madeline, making Lily laugh lightly. 

  The six were the last ones out of the Great Hall that morning.

ϟ

  Potions. Madeline loved Potions, still, and today she loved it a bit more because Slughorn was allowing them to practice Amortentia, a potion meant to be learned the year prior that he'd accidentally overlooked.

  "No, Remus, you're not meant to put that in yet—"

  Remus let Madeline catch his hand and pry the ingredient from it, sighing as she took over. He didn't have a problem with it, she was the expert here, anyway.

  "I'm rubbish at this," Remus mumbled as he propped his chin on his hand, watching Madeline work diligently.

  "No, you're not, I'm just insane."

  Remus laughed, and fell silent as she finished, stirring it to perfection.

  "Alright, what do you smell?" Madeline asked, stepping away.

  "My dorm," Remus noted, sniffing the steam rising from the cauldron, "Firewood and old books."

  "Sounds right," Madeline grinned, "I did it."

  "Yes, yes, you're a potions master, what do you smell?"

  Madeline hovered over the cauldron, expecting something much different than what she smelled. 

  "Grass," She said with furrowed brows, "The library and Sirius' stupid cologne."

  Remus raised his brows.

  "I don't even like the smell of grass."

  "Well you spend a lot of time in it," Remus offered, "With Sirius, on the pitch, same with the library, right?"

  "Amortentia is so strange."

ϟ

  "Oh, wait, Maddie!"

  Madeline cocked an eyebrow as Lily shoved through a group of third years (who glared at the older teen afterward) to catch her in the corridor. The Potter girl gave Remus a smile, urging him to continue to his next class without her. He did so, but not before returning the smile.

  "Hey, Lily," Madeline greeted as the redhead finally arrived at a reasonable distance for conversing, "You alright?"

  "Yeah," Lily nodded, "But, I've been a shit friend. Especially since I know everything, after this summer and all, I shouldn't have disappeared like that— whether the bloke I'm dating is your brother or not."

  "Yeah, there's been a lot of this weird, friend and relationship balance going on with everyone lately," Madeline laughed, "Don't worry about it."

  "I did tell James he was being an idiot, though," Lily informed as the girls slowly began walking, "Shouted at him a bit. He's too stubborn for his own good."

  "Aren't all us Potters?" Madeline questioned sincerely, smiling at Lily's laugh, "It's alright, really. I appreciate everyone feeling so strongly about our. . . feud? But it's just a waiting game now. For both of us to drop it and move on— there won't be a big apology or reconciliation. I know my brother that much, unless he's changed drastically this past year."

  "You'd be surprised," Lily said, shrugging lightly, "I'm dating him now, doesn't that say enough?"

  It did and didn't. Madeline trusted Lily's judgment greatly, as the redhead held the same traits in importance as Madeline did, sharing morals and ideas of the world. But James was a difficult situation, he could be putting on a facade to get the girl of his dreams, or simply not care to be the new and improved version of himself around his sister.

  "This is me," Lily said, making Madeline abruptly halt at the doorway to Arithmatcy, "I'll see you later, maybe? NEWT classes are killing me, so I'd love to study, or we could avoid classes entirely and get butterbeer?"

  "Definitely, and we'll spend Christmas together, I'm sure," Madeline grinned, "To both, I missed hanging out with you."

  "Yeah, me too," Lily smiled right back.

ϟ

  James Potter was a bit of a lost puppy looking for Lily Evans, eyes scanning any girl he passed, until they landed on the familiar green eyes. But, for once, they weren't focused on him.

  Lily was curled in a window seat across from Madeline, both girls laughing unbridled, with mugs in their hands and books in their laps. 

  He watched for another moment, his hand grasping onto his own books resting limply on his leg. The girls were caught in a familiar chatter, broken only as Sirius and Remus approached.

  Sirius sat on Madeline's lap, making Lily laugh harder and Remus roll his eyes. Madeline groaned about it for a while, before accepting fate and wrapping her arms around Sirius' waist. Remus had taken a seat beside Lily, who'd made room for him, after taking Madeline's cup in fear of a spill happening.

  Four kids crammed into a window seat for two, they were happy. Lily was laughing so hard her face was nearly the color of her hair, and Remus' dry humor matched by Sirius' energetic grins didn't help at all. 

  James wanted nothing more than to join them, to claim a seat beside his girlfriend and laugh with her, laugh at his best friends and his sister who'd somehow caused Sirius to topple off of her laugh. But he couldn't he was stuck, cemented to the castle floor, it was terrible being on the outside looking in. He hated it.

  Maybe, just maybe, this time was the time to let it go.

( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
THE GANG IS COMING
BACK TOGETHER, BAYBEE!1!
also, even though it
has little-to-no significance 
(other than mads and rem content)
you know i had to add the
Amortentia scene just for shits
and giggles