"James you won't tell Sirius you know! Or else!" Marlene threatened, holding her wand up to his throat. He nervously pushed up his glasses and smiled at her with fear.

I jumped in and guided Marlene's arm down from the pointed position at James' neck. Weary myself at how unpredictable she could become at any second.

She reminded me of a more sane version of Bellatrix at times...which wasn't a compliment, to either Bella or Marlene.

"Are you sure Sirius is gay? I've seen him pull more girls than I ever could, even in my wildest dreams! And though my hair isn't, I'm the straightest." He seemed proud of the ridiculousness forming from his mouth.

Marlene closed her eyes and took a sharp intake of breath, starting to rub her temples because of James' presence.

"Just leave, James." She sighed, looking like she was trying her hardest to centre herself and not rip him to shreds.

*

Alice, Marlene, Lily and I, all groggily wandered down to the hall for breakfast. None of us particularly talking.

The boys had all gone down before us; as it took us all so long to muster up the energy to get ready for the usual time we'd all meet in the common room and go down together. They obviously didn't feel like waiting for us.

I still felt half asleep as I sat down at the breakfast table. Not yet saying a word of good morning to anyone, nor glancing at or acknowledging any single one of them all.

Clinking of spoons against breakfast bowls and crunching of toast, being the only thing I was aware of as I continued to rub my tired eyes and focus on waking up.

Marlene and I stayed up a little later after we forced James to go back to bed. Not saying much but just sitting in an odd silence; that strangely felt like we were sharing a moment and bonding through reflecting on an experience that we were both involved in, in different ways.

Though we didn't end up bonding with words, it felt like there was a mutual recognition and understanding within the silence we shared.

I was suddenly snapped back to my surroundings when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see a smiling Sonny behind me.

"Good morning," I said through a rough voice. Finally picking up something to eat, instead of just sitting there with heavy eyes glued shut.

"Just letting you know that practice for the Hufflepuff game is at lunch if you're still interested in watching?" He asked, confidently standing with his hands against his hips and feet apart. He looked refreshed and full of energy.

It didn't sound like something I really wanted to do today, feeling too tired to even think about sitting outside in the cold to watch a bunch of students discuss and practice Quidditch strategy.

"I'll try and make an appearance." I smiled sleepily.

He looked satisfied with himself and gave a firm nod as a response. He then bent down to where I was sat and gave me a quick hug, resting his chin on the top of my head; before jogging over to his friends on the Slytherin table. One guy wearing Hufflepuff yellow looking out of place next to him. Obviously Sonny's Hufflepuff best friend he had mentioned the week before.

I turned back around, feeling a little more awake now that I had participated in some form of a normal conversation with someone who was so refreshed and ready for the day.

I noticed Remus watching Sonny as he left, no expression on his face. Almost looking as if it was possible he wasn't looking at Sonny at all; just staring in his general direction in a daydream.

He looked how I had felt.

His wavy, chestnut brown hair wasn't flattened by the act of running his hands through his hair like he usually did. Instead gentle curls flicked out in different directions and a mop of waves hung on his forehead, hiding his eyebrows. Very messy and boyish looking.

His face looked slightly puffier than usual, due to his circulation not realising he had woken up yet as it worked at a slower pace. I also noticed a small sleeping mark still present on his cheek. The imprint of his pillow marking his face very faintly.

I smiled at him warmly, observing how he drowsily picked up a glass of orange juice and sipped it. He was pulled out of his daydreaming state as he felt my eyes on him.

His hazel eyes brightened seeing the smile I directed towards him. His eyelashes flickering against a piece of hair that threatened to curl inwards against them, as he forced his eyes to look bigger and more awake.

He smiled back, dribbling out orange juice from the gap in his lopsided smile. In the process staining his top with a small yellow dribble patch.

"Ah fuck," he mumbled to himself, breaking eye contact and looking down at his shirt. His voice was gravelly and deeper than usual. As if he hadn't used it at all since waking up.

I laughed lightly, as I passed him a napkin.

"I don't think I'm awake yet. I have no idea what's going on." He sleepily laughed.

Suddenly Sirius slammed the table with both palms, sitting down after momentarily going to speak to someone from another table about Potions homework. His ready attitude gaining all of our attention, and seeming to wake Remus up slightly, for real, in the process as he disrupted the quiet of the table.

"Ears opens and ready to listen kids," He began.

Marlene continued to slather marmalade on her toast. Lily, James and Peter stopped what they were doing. Frank and Alice continued eating but stared at Sirius to continue. Remus dabbed his shirt with the napkin I handed him.

"After James overheard some bigmouth bitch discussing a little something last night-" he stared at Marlene and flared his nostrils.

"- I'd rather you all heard it from me. Because I know for a fact it'll accidentally slip out of Potters mouth in a terrible joke soon, so...I'm gay. I know what you're thinking, I can't be? I'm too much of a lady killer!" He came out, jokingly shrugging his shoulders and flicking his hair like there wasn't much he could do about it.

"-it's not my fault the ladies love me. It's also not my fault if I steal their boyfriends." He said a little too seriously for it to sound entirely like a joke.

"I'm bisexual, at least I think. I'm pretty fussy with who I like. But boys and girls are neat I guess!" Remus blurted out. Gaining a wide eyed look from the girls, Frank and Peter. James and Sirius for obvious reasons didn't react.

"When have you ever said 'neat'?" Peter took the piss, seeming to pay more attention to Remus' use of words rather than what he was saying.

"I'm tired Pete, I don't know."

"I'm also pretty sure I'm asexual. I can appreciate, I can enjoy lovey dovey rubbish...sometimes, but really I'm not attracted to anyone." Marlene also blurted out.

The rest of us sat in stunned silence for a minute. Sirius pointed at Remus and Marlene, with fake fury across his face.

"You two are always stealing my thunder. This was supposed to be my time to come out and get attention, not you guys." He said sharply.

We all fell into a fit of sleep deprived laughter. Hugs of pride and acceptance were offered to the three in amidst the sharing of breakfast and sleepy yawns.

James made a joke about how it really wasn't a surprise that Marlene didn't feel any type of sexual attraction towards anyone considering how she could probably manage herself better than anyone else could; she appreciated the joke hugely.

I also offered a proud smile to Sirius, impressed that he has handled the situation I knew he was being so secretive about, so well; which he awkwardly returned.

Lily was too busy bear hugging Remus for me to react to the news I already knew. Though I felt a sense of warmth watching him smile big and laugh at the redhead be so overwhelmingly proud of him. Seeing how much that affected his body language and shy facial expressions. It made him sit taller and a happiness radiated from his face.

He looked a little different when he truly felt happy. I couldn't describe it.

"I should have guessed, you've literally never spoken about fancying anyone...well other than Sirius? Wait, you've spoken about finding people attractive though Marl?" Lily asked Marlene, still hanging from Remus' neck in a big hug.

"I can appreciate the design of a painting but still never want it hung up in my house. It's the same thing. Sirius was just a nice painting." Marlene shrugged, shoving her marmalade toast into her mouth.

Peter belly laughed at her analogy, finding it the funniest thing someone had said all morning.

I sat there in a sleepy haze, feeling like I was sitting on the outside of the group. Knowing this was a big step for all of them as friends considering how long they had all been bonding and sharing themselves with each other.

This was a pivotal moment in their friendship as a group, shared simply and over toast. Though I felt a sense of disconnect from the group, it was lovely appreciating how not one of them shed an ounce of negativity. All sleepily smiling and radiating an acceptance for each others presence in its simplest form.

(A filler chapter but we all needed this nice, light chapter and the friends needed to get this off of their chest in order to grow. Happy pride month guys! )