❝i would rather choke out the truth than sing out a lie... i know the truth hurts but in the end its best for us all.❞

~heavnlys (DEVIL'S SNARE ○ POTTER [s.u.])

when we arrived, we had to split into groups: four to a carriage, pulled by two thestrals. i was getting ready to join another carriage when remus grabbed my wrist, pulling me back.

"where are you going?" he asked.

"i thought you were the smart one. there's already four in your carriage."

"so? i'll get sirius to sit on the floor or something. come on; you're riding with us, ivy—"

"ivory," i corrected.

"yeah, i don't think anyone's actually planning on calling you that," he admitted, helping me into the small black carriage.

"awesome! she is going to be sitting on the floor though, right?" peter asked solemnly.

"nope. i need a volunteer," remus said in a teacher-voice. sirius's fist shot straight up, punching me in the nose and sending me flying back, landing in james's lap.

"thanks, james," i groaned.

"any time," he said cooly.

"so, can someone please explain to me who's good and who's going to be a death eater?" i asked.

"well, i mean it's not sorted by who's good and who's a death eater, it's kinda a choice we can make, because there's both light and dark in us, but it's our decision wether or not we choose—"

"yeah, yeah. marlene mckinnon is good," james said, interrupting sirius's heartfelt speech. "lily evans is fantastic. all malfoys and blacks are bad—"

"hey!!" sirius pouted.

"wassup?"

"what do you mean all blacks are bad?!"

"you aren't a black. you're a nobody, o'course. oh, lestrange, rockwood, carr— bad. andrew mcclaggan is just an annoying jerk. prewetts, weasley, and finnigan— good," james continued, counting on his fingers. "lovegood ... well, he's just crazy; jackson miller and jordan hayes are bad news. don't fall for their tricks, okay?"

"got it," i said with a light chuckle.

"isla laverne and austin kint are good people to t— WHOA!" james shouted in my ear as we took a really sharp turn. "what the bloody hell pull these things??"

"threstrals," I replied through gritted teeth.

"what? how do you know that?" peter questioned.

"'the secrets of hogwarts' says that you can only see them if you've witnessed the death of someone."

"how did you get your bloody hands on 'the secrets of hogwarts'??" sirius exclaimed with wide eyes.

"beauxbatons mustered up enough money to buy it for me before i left."

"gee, you must've been pretty damn popular. how did you get so many people to like... you?" sirius asked, very intrigued.

"respected prankster."

"you should. they're great."

"well, yes i do respect them, but i meant that i was a respected prankster."

"we're respected pranksters! why don't we get expensive gifts?" sirius whimpered.

"uh, sirius? there's a big difference between being a respected prankster and being a feared prankster... you all appear to be the latter," remus cut in.

"oh.. well what made you so special, hue?"

"i stood up for people and covered for them and took the hit for a lot of kids, and they did the same in return. i mostly pranked people who deserved it, and the others would be my friends or as a joke. the girls at beauxbatons would cheer me on when i would have prank battles against the durmstrang boys at the school balls," i laughed, remembering a certain time where dmitri kamkov, a durmstrang boy who is currently in his seventh year, thought he was superior to all of beauxbatons's girls. how wrong he was. i made sure to put him in his place.

"woah, whoa, whoa. thanks for the advice and all, but we have a reputation, not to mention rules," james cut in.

"and what might these so called rules be?" i asked, eyebrows raised.

sirius cleared his throat and spoke. "rule one: everyone must participate in getting pron— james his lilyflower. rule two: never get caught. rule three: cover for one another. rule four: er— no one can find about the... furry little problem... yeah—"

"wait what?" i asked, not hearing that last part.

"i won't repeat myself, love—"

"don't call me 'love'," i growled.

"bummer. What do I call you, then?"

"ivory. just ivory."

"just ivy it is."

"i swear to merlin, if one more person calls me ivy, i won't hesitate to punch them in he nose," i threatened, glaring at sirius.

"ivy, i hope you know that i will fight back, just as a fair warni—" he said, but before he could finish his statement, my knuckles made contact with his once (long ago) perfect nose. you could tell that he once had a perfect one, but he had gotten into many fights over the years, crookening it. he shot up out of his seat and towered over me. i looked around for a place to move to so that i could breathe.

"ah, scared to fight now, are you?" he taunted.

"not necessarily," i said as he leaned in closer.

"why do I get the feeling that you could very easily knock me out at any given moment, but there's something holding you back?" he whispered in my ear, his hot breath on my neck sending a chill down my spine. i closed my eyes back, and continued to hold my breath as i realized that he wasn't going to put up a fight, but something much, much worse.

"mate, buzz off. she's quite obviously not feeling it," remus spoke up finally, just as sirius's lips were less than an inch from mine. he pulled away and sighed, wiping away the blood that was making its way down the edge of his swollen top lip.

"that's pathetic. you're fifteen and haven't had your first kiss."

"what? yes I have!" i lied, and sirius shook his head.

"no you haven't. you were panicking."

"because I can't breathe in tight spaces!" i argued.

"hate to break it to you, but we can all tell that you've never been kissed," remus said, and the others erupted with comments.

"awe! remus wants to be ivy's first kiss!"

"remmy's blushing. Is he allowed to do that?"

"HE'S DOING WHAT?!"

"it's cute!" i smirked.

"it's wrong! shove off, new girl!"

"am i missing something here?"

"back in third year, sirius was dared to walk up to remus and hug him, and when he did it, rumor got around that sirius had a crush on remus—"

"which I don't—"

"—and its kind of been a joke amongst gryffindor students ever since."

"um, okay."

"you okay ivy?"

"james! call me ivy one more time and i will personally ruin any chance you will ever have with this lily  chick," i shouted. he huffed, crossed his arms, and mentioned something along the lines of 'at least i've kissed someone'.

"sit beside me at the feast," sirius whispered to me.

"don't your fan girls already hate me enough?"

"exactly. so what difference would it make?" he smirked.

"why do i feel like you've slept with almost every girl in gryffindor?"

"because you're not an idiot—"

"oh, like you? i can't believe you!"

"what did i do?"

"why do i get the feeling that the only reason that you're even talking to me in the first place is so that i'll sleep with you?"

"because you're an overthinking bitch," he said, rolling his eyes.

"you know what? i have enough on my mind, and i don't need you adding to it."

"you need to chill out. i get the feeling that you've never been good at making people... like you."

"oh, people like me, but that doesn't mean that i have to like them. take you for example," i spat.

"why are you so against everyone?"

"i'm not."

"i beg to differ. what's gotten your knickers in a knot?"

"my business. how much longer until we get there?"

"stop trying to change the subject, hue. answer the question," sirius ordered.

"i'm sorry, but i don't speak dog and you happen to be barking orders," i responded confidently. remus coughed to suppress a laugh and james chuckled. i snorted at Sirius's dumbfounded expression. "oh, i'm sorry, black. do i need to clarify what that means?"

"i hope you know that you will be taking back every bad thing you've ever said about me when you're under me, moaning my name—"

"SIRIUS!" james and remus shouted at the same time. "leave her alone, mate," james growled.

"you've known her for less than a day and you're already taking her side over your best mate! what the hell, man!"

"and  you've known her for even less time and she's already popped out a knee cap for you. oh, and you've tried to hook up and kiss her, not to mention the fact that you tried to convince her that she'll have sex with you. must I continue?" remus snapped. sirius's jaw locked and the five of us sat in silence for the rest of the ride.

when it came to the point where we had to get off, i apologized to sirius and he ruffled my hair before running a hand through his own.

"me too," he said. i began walking ahead, but he kept talking. "and ivory?"

"yes?"

"you're mine this year."

"as long as you're mine."

"no promises, love."

"ditto."

i gave him an awkward side hug and he returned the gesture by planting a kiss on my head.