CHAPTER TEN! ༉‧₊˚✧ 
━━━━ ⋆𖤐₊˚.༄ ♡ ━━━━

"WHERE ARE WE headed, ladies?" Sirius Black boomed as he weaseled his way in between Lily and Diya, throwing an arm over each girl's shoulders.

Lily groaned, throwing his arm off of her shoulders, "We are not going anywhere."

James promptly caught up to the other side of Lily and attempted to place his arm around her. When he saw her glare, however, he decided against it, instead clenching his fist nervously and lowering his hand.

"Well, Lilybug, I'm not sure if you noticed, but practically the entire school is cleared out for the holidays," James regained his smirk.

"Lilybug?" Diya angled her head to look at James from around Sirius's arm. "That's a new one."

Remus caught up to Diya's free side. "Been working on it all week, he has."

Diya laughed as James's face went sour, and Lily went red slightly, although she was hiding a smile.

Peter caught up now, too, and walked next to Remus. Their group of six took up nearly all of the corridor, which made Diya feel slightly anxious. The last thing she wanted to do was inconvenience anyone.

Suddenly, Sirius's arm felt a hundred kilos heavier, and the next thing Diya knew, she was walking behind everyone else, accidentally dragging Remus with her. The action made Sirius frown, not that Diya noticed, too busy looking wildly up and down the corridors for anyone that she could've halted.

"Sorry about that, R.J.," Diya announced, in regards to dragging him back abruptly. "Got nervous that we would end up blocking someone."

"No worries, Di." Remus smiled, the hand that rested on her upper arm squeezing in reassurance. Remus lengthened his strides slightly, wanting to stay present in any conversation that his friends may engage in.

"That eager to stay away from me, huh, Talwar?" Sirius smirked slightly, trying to hide his bruised ego.

"Yeah, I didn't want your greasy hair spreading to me like a disease." Diya wiggled her fingers in the direction of Sirius's hair.

"My hair? Greasy?" Sirius placed his now unoccupied hand over his heart in mock pain. "Never! Who do you think I am? Snivellus?"

"Oi!" Lily whacked Sirius behind the head. "That's my friend you're talking about!"

"It's not my fault that your friend is a greasy git!" Sirius exclaimed, bracing himself for another hit.

"Ignore him, Lilybug," James interrupted, throwing a glance back to Diya to scope her reaction to the nickname. Seeing a grin on her face, James continued, "What were you two planning on doing today, anyway?"

Lily sighed, looking around and quickly realizing that she would be stuck with the boys for the entire break. "We're headed to the owlery to meet up with Marlene, Alice, and Frank."

Diya nodded, "From there, we were gonna take Marlene with us, so she doesn't have to third wheel Alice and Frank anymore. We didn't have anything else planned, really. Probably just a casual hangout."

"Casual hangout?" Remus snorted. "You lot 'casually hang out' every single day! Don't you wanna live a little?"

Diya narrowed her eyes at Remus's rebuttal, taking her hand and pushing his head to the side playfully. "We live plenty, thank you very much!"

Sirius was the one to snort this time, "Oh really? Give me an example."

Lily wore a smug expression, "Diya and I just spent the last hour and a half tutoring this especially troublesome Slytherin First Year, and we only had to duck a hex once!"

Peter laughed, "You call that living? The four of us run wild at night — " Diya noticed that the rest of Peter's friends threw terrified glances his way. " — trying to evade Filch!"

The three boys were visually relaxed, and their exhales were almost audible.

"Peter's right! The four of us know everything about this school, and we know exactly how to have fun inside and outside of the castle walls." Sirius nodded his head toward Remus and Diya. "Just ask Diya!"

"Ask Diya?" Lily furrowed her brow. "What, you think that Diya pays you enough attention to notice your habits in this castle?"

Sirius rolled his eyes at the girl. "No, I think that Diya knows about my extensive knowledge of the castle since she's skipped class with me several times to smoke in secret spots."

"What?" Lily nearly screeched, evoking a wince from Diya, who's ears now hurt.

"Yeah, what?" Peter asked, tipping his head.

Diya felt her cheeks warm as everyone's gaze fell on her. "So what? You lot hang out with him too!"

"Huh, I should've figured that you two would become mates," James laughed to himself. "You're a lot more similar than I originally thought."

"Nevermind that," Remus changed the subject, sensing Diya's uneasiness. "The point of this whole thing was to say that we can sneak the lot of you into Hogsmeade."

Lily and Diya shared a look.

"Explain." Lily halted in her steps, stopping Sirius, James, and Peter as well.

"Well, you see, Lilypad — "

"I meant Remus." Lily clarified, causing James's shoulders to slump slightly.

Remus smiled sadly toward James, "There's a passageway from inside the school that leads directly to Honeydukes and — "

"Will you take us?" Lily interrupted.

"Well, yeah, but — "

"Then, what are we waiting for? 1976?" Lily exclaimed, continuing her stride.

Diya smiled at her enthusiasm, "Lil, where are you going?"

"Hogsmeade!" The girl shouted back from all the way down the corridor

"Lily, you don't know where the passage is!" Remus cupped a hand around his mouth.

After the group of six walked to the West Tower — briefly stopping after Peter got attacked by an owl before Diya stepped in — they finally came across the trio they'd been looking for.

"Morning!" Lily announced, breathing heavily from climbing the snow-covered stairs.

Diya shivered slightly, and James motioned to his own jacket, offering it for her warmth. Diya motioned "no" with her hand but sent him a kind smile.

"Hey, you guys!" Marlene smiled. "I was just about to come to find you guys on my own."

Diya glanced to the window as something moving caught her eye. "Hey, Lily, isn't that Luka?"

Lily turned to the window to see her snowy owl struggling to carry a large parcel within his clutches.

"What on earth have they sent this time?" Lily groaned, throwing her head back, to Sirius's amusement. He really did enjoy seeing people get annoyed.

"Your parents have already sent me about 20 Christmas presents, not even including the ones that they want me to gift to you!" Diya laughed, watching Luka nearly drop the bright red parcel, covered in wrapping paper.

"20? I only got 15!" Marlene whined, ducking just in time to avoid the flying parcel that Luka let go of just above her head.

"They've sent me a few with your name on them, Mar, don't worry." Diya laughed as she straightened her posture once more.

"Where are my presents?" James exclaimed. "I'm their son-in-law, for Merlin's sake!"

Lily only glared in his direction before grabbing the wrapped package from Marlene. There was a heavy noise that came from the box as Lily shook it, scaring her slightly.

Lily threw the parcel toward her friend, "Diya, you open it."

Diya caught the box with one hand as it nearly went flying back out of the window.

"Are you scared?" Sirius asked, a smirk on his face.

"No — "

"Oh, don't you fret, Lilybug!" James boomed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Your dashing, fierce protector is here."

Lily nearly elbowed him in the stomach but stopped herself when Diya cleared her throat.

She ripped the wrapping paper off the package, staring down now at a taped-up box with a note on it. Diya ripped the paper off, mindlessly waving it in the air before Peter finally grabbed it to hand to Lily. She began to roll her pant leg up, looking for something well-hidden.

"You can borrow my wand if you can't — " Sirius cut himself off as Diya pulled an ornate dagger out from an ankle holster. "That... is a knife."

"Good eye, Black," Diya droned, taking the dagger and running it against the tape.

"Do you always carry a dagger on you?" Frank asked.

"You never know when you will be faced with close combat confrontations." Diya looked up into Frank's eyes, smiling warmly.

"You know how to use that... combatively?" Peter asked, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Yeah, 'course I do." Diya furrowed her brow. "Been sword-fighting since I was little."

"That doesn't scare me at all," Sirius said sarcastically.

The topic was laid to rest, however, when Diya gasped softly.

"Lily, this is that American football that your mum was telling us about!" Diya pulled a brown ovular ball from the box.

"What happened to that quaffle?" James asked confusedly.

"It's not a quaffle, James. It's a football."

Peter chimed in. "That is not a football."

"It's an American one," Remus replied.

Lily read the note. "She said that it's for us to keep until the summer holiday,"

Diya tucked the football back into the box carefully before handing it to Frank.

Lily kept her eyes trained on the package. "Can you two bring this back to the Common Room whenever you go back? The rest of us are going to Hogsmeade."

Diya interrupted, "You two are welcome to come!"

Alice and Frank looked at each other, sharing a silent conversation. Frank began, "We might join later, but you lot should go ahead."

"We'll see you later, yeah?" Alice asked, looking back and forth between her boyfriend and friends.

"Sounds good!" Peter exclaimed before rushing back down the stairs, excited to get out of the cold and drafty room.

"See you later!" Lily chimed, linking her arm with Diya's before carefully leading the both of them down the stairs.

༉‧₊˚✧

"Really, Sirius? You had to take us through the dingiest tunnel you could find?" Marlene groaned.

The bunch had made it's way to the Grand staircase before diverting into the Third-floor corridor, stopping in front of the sculpture of Gunhilda de Gorsemoor.

The girls held their breath as Remus muttered something under his breath, pointing his wand at the statue. From there, it had been nearly an hour of walking through the twisty passageway, with lots of complaining from Marlene.

After an hour, everyone in the tunnel suffered from a hot face and cold feet. The tunnel had a rough, uneven, and cold floor and was most definitely not a primary mode of transportation. Remus and James both had their wands out, lighting the path so that no one got hurt.

"This is not my fault!" Sirius defended himself. "Remus is the one who got us into the damned tunnel anyway!"

"Well, I actually like Remus, so I'm gonna blame this on you." Marlene huffed.

There were carvings along the wall, which caught Diya's attention.

"Hey!" Diya called for everyone's attention. "What are those marks?"

James smirked, pushing through the group to get to the carvings, "Those, Diya, are our initials."

Diya narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the marks, and sure enough, there they were. J.F.P, S.O.B, R.J.L, and P.W.P carved messily into the wall.

Diya mindlessly got on one knee, beginning to roll her pant leg up once more.

"Oh my god, Diya." James covered his mouth with his hands. "Yes! I will marry you!"

Diya laughed, reaching out to swat James's leg. "You idiot. I'm getting my dagger out, and you're going to let us carve our initials into this damn wall."

James smiled, mock saluting to the girl, "Yes, ma'am."

Diya stood up, her hair falling in her face, as she unsheathed the dagger.

"Lil," She called out to the girl as she tried to get the hair out of her face.

"Oh right, sorry," Lily rushed forward and pulled Diya's hair out of her face as she began to carve into the wall.

Diya carved D.K.T in an empty space, coincidentally next to Sirius's initials. Hiding a smirk, she began to form an L next to James's name.

"I started yours for you," Diya pointed to the L next to J.F.P. "It's right there."

Diya looked back to see James grinning. Finally, a win after an entire day of rejection!

As Lily let go of Diya's hair, she rolled her eyes but continued to carve her initials into the wall nonetheless.

L.J.E

"You're up, Marls,"

M.M

A.F.L

"Didn't want to leave Alice out," Marlene smiled, handing the dagger back to Diya, who quickly sheathed it and placed it back in its protective holster.

Diya nodded her head toward Alice's name, "What's the L for?"

Marlene only winked in response.

Peter interjected, "Can we go now? I've been dying to get something from Honeydukes for the past hour!"

The path began to slope. "We're almost there! Ten more minutes, Pete, and all of the sweets you want will be yours for the taking."

Marlene pumped her first, grabbing Diya and Lily's hands in her own as they began to increase their pace, eager to get to the sweet shop.

"That's ten minutes, not counting the stone steps!" Peter whined once again, causing everyone to emit a groan.

Ten minutes and approximately two hundred steps later, Remus hit his head on something hard. A trapdoor.

Remus lowered his voice to a whisper. "Alright, guys, we're nearly there. We have to be as quiet as possible. Otherwise, one of the owners will find us."

Sirius ignored him, and Remus whacked the boy behind the head. "Heard that, Sirius?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sirius rolled his eyes, waving his arms as though to say, 'get on with it!'.

After a few more seconds of silence, Remus slowly opened the trapdoor and surveyed the room they had landed in.

Deliberately and discreetly, he opened the door the rest of the way, looking left and right. He glanced back down and waved his hand rapidly, ushering the boys out first, then the girls, and finally himself.

"Hello, Remus."

A beat.

Remus closed his eyes, almost in embarrassment, before clearing his throat and dusting himself off.

"Hey, Ambrose!" Sirius waved enthusiastically, chuffed to see Remus as embarrassed as he was.

"Ambrosius." The man — now identified as Ambrosius Flume — corrected.

"Same thing."

"What is it this time, boys?" Ambrosius surveyed the crowd of students that had broken into his cellar, clearly not for the first time.

"Well, you see..." James started, trying to find an excuse.

Ambrosius's eyes suddenly bugged out of his head. "Marlene?"

Marlene smiled sheepishly, "Wotcher, Ambrosius."

"What, the 'Best Customer' discount wasn't enough for you?" Ambrosius inquired, propping his hand on his hip.

"To be fair, I didn't know that this was where Sirius was taking us."

"Once again, McKinnon, this wasn't entirely my fault!" Sirius interjected.

Ambrosius quirked an eyebrow, "Did you really have to drag the girls into your shenanigans?"

Remus opened his mouth, about to reply before getting cut off by the store owner once again.

"You know what? None of my business. Just hurry up and buy something before someone else finds you back here." Ambrosius made a shooing motion with his hand, effectively ushering the group toward another set of stairs and out of the cellar.

The group collectively held their breath as they traveled up the next flight of stairs.

James, who was leading the bunch, turned around, "We're gonna pop up right behind the counter, so make sure to duck so that Mrs. Flume doesn't see us."

There were collective nods from the entire group as Lily let out a slight giggle, delighted to be in Hogsmeade.

"Are you actually excited to be breaking the rules right now?" Diya whispered to her friend, "You're a fucking prefect!"

Lily swatted her friend lightly on the back, a smile still present on her face. She held a finger to her lips, now, motioning for her to be quiet.

She was the one being noisy, not ten seconds ago!

Nonetheless, Diya held her tongue until they all went their separate ways through Honeydukes.

While Peter immediately made a break for the Fizzing Whizbees, Sirius rushed for the door, opening and holding it open to give off the illusion that the bunch had just arrived and that they hadn't broken and entered into the store.

Once Sirius was convinced that his illusion had worked, he made his way back to Diya, appearing over her shoulder. "Anything, in particular, you'd like to buy, dear?"

Diya's eyes shone with amusement as she swiveled her head to meet Sirius's gaze. "Mr. Spindle's Lick 'O' Rish Spiders, Mrs. Flume."

"Was my impression really that good?" Sirius asked, looking exceptionally proud of himself.

"Who else would you be impersonating?" Diya laughed as she examined a pack of Jelly Slugs.

Sirius picked the pack out of her hand, ignoring her noise of discontent, his eyes skimming the front and back of the wrapping. "What about this is more exciting than me?"

"Who said it was more exciting than you?" Diya crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow in amusement as Sirius pocketed the Jelly Slugs.

Sirius didn't get a chance to retort, sadly, since Lily let out a gasp, pointing to the doors of the shop. Diya swiftly walked away from Sirius, turning her full attention to the flurries that were coming down.

Hogsmeade Village looked elegant as the snow came down, almost like something out of a painting.

"God, I wish I had my camera!" Lily sighed, dreamily gazing at the snow.

"You two act as though you've never seen snow before." Remus walked up behind them, Marlene in tow, with his hands shoved into his pockets. "I'm more entertained by your reactions than by the snowfall itself."

"What's Christmas like at home, for you, R.J.?" Diya turned away from the snow briefly to look at the boy.

She noticed Sirius also heading their way and smiled gently in his direction, realizing that she had abandoned him. The girl waved him over, motioning for him to stand next to her. He cheerfully obliged.

"We don't do much," Remus admitted, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Mum and I eat, and then we exchange gifts, and if we're lucky, Dad's there sometimes."

Diya turned back to the snow now, listening closely as Lily chimes in.

"Christmas at my place is so magical. We have almost the entire family over, but it's not cramped at all. If anything, the house feels more open. Less cramped." Lily told in a dazed tone, envisioning the past holidays. "Petunia's never cranky either. She puts away whatever squabbles we have for the break, and we enjoy together. Diya, Marlene, and Alice have come over twice over the holidays, and Petunia isn't mean like she usually is to them."

Diya hummed, "She's kind of just... disinterested."

James and Peter had made their way over now, too, having paid for the latter's sweets.

Lily continued, "Anyway, we always end up having a snowball fight with the kids in the family, and sometimes the adults chime in. One year, Aunt Magnolia actually broke her nose because Tuney threw a snowball at her too hard. Uncle Andy rushed her to the hospital, of course, but — "

Lily paused, noticing everyone's eyes on her. "Er, sorry — "

"What else happens?" James chimed, enamored with the girl's passion for her family.

"We sit around the fireplace and play cards sometimes." Lily shrugged. "It's perfect."

Diya felt a smile climb across her features, "Anything can be perfect with the right people, Lil."

༉‧₊˚✧

Sirius wasn't entirely sure how much time had passed that the six of them sat in the Three Broomsticks. He had never understood the truth to the phrase "time flies when you're having fun" until this moment. With his arm draped behind Diya's seat, he took multiple sips of butterbeer, trying his best to take a mental image of this moment.

"Can we get another round, Rosie?" Diya called out to the young bartender, who had taken a liking to the girl in their Third Year. She offered a thumbs-up of confirmation in return, starting them right away, seeing as they were one of her only customers.

Lily took a sip of her butterbeer mindlessly, "Guys, remember that after we finish this next round, we're breaking off into groups of two — Marlene and Remus, Diya and Sirius, and finally Peter and I."

"Am I included in that last group too?" James raised a hand cautiously, smiling awkwardly. In all fairness, it was Lily's fault for leaving him last.

"Prongs and Lily with me!" Peter did an odd little dance, somehow buzzed off of his three bottles of butterbeer.

"Sure, Potter," Lily smiled softly. "Christmas spirit and all that."

"James is fantastic company, Lily. You'll have fun!" Diya reassured the redhead, who smiled, though it didn't quite meet her eyes.

"Alright, should we make this next round more interesting?" Marlene asked, wiggling her eyebrows (which got quite the reaction from Peter).

"What'd you have in mind?" Sirius asked, finishing off his bottle.

"Never have I ever."

Diya groaned, "Another drinking game?"

Sirius spluttered slightly, a mischievous grin making its way to his face. "Another? Does 'Tutor Talwar' have a side to her that we never knew about?"

"Oh, hush, Black." Diya nudged him with her elbow. "Just explain the rules to the purebloods before I back out of it, Marls."

"Someone in the circle will say something like 'Never have I ever cut class' or something, and you take a sip if you have," Marlene explained simply. "The first person to finish off their bottle loses."

"Got that, Sirius, James?" Diya looked to the two purebloods, smiling as they nodded in response.

"Alright, I'll start then!" James announced, placing his empty bottle on the perimeter of the table, along with the rest of the empties. "Never have I ever... cheated on someone."

The speed at which the entire table turned to Sirius was almost comical. He rolled his eyes, waving his hands wildly in an attempt to defend himself.

"I haven't!" Sirius denied, shaking his head in disappointment. "Wait — does it count if you helped someone cheat?"

The entire table chorused, "YES!"

Sirius took Diya's bottle out of her hands, taking a swig. "I was all out. Hope you don't mind."

Diya waved the action off with a smile.

"Wicked, now do I go next?" Sirius turned to Marlene.

"Sure."

Sirius stayed silent for a second as Rosmerta came by with new drinks for everyone. Now I have find something that will get everyone to take a sip.

"Never have I ever fallen asleep in Binns' class!"

Sirius smiled as everyone in the circle groaned, taking a sip of their drinks, himself included.

"If any of you hadn't taken a sip, I'd be concerned," Diya admitted, laughing as she absentmindedly put the bottle up to her mouth again.

Sirius rushed forward, snatching the bottle out of her hand. "You don't want to lose, do you?" He whispered.

Diya smiled, nudging him with her shoulder once again as she grabbed the bottle from his hands, "You're a lifesaver, Black."

Sirius waved her off playfully, "Oh, stop it."

"Alright, let's continue in a circle," Marlene declared, pointing to her friend. "You next, Diya!"

"Uhhh, never have I ever been in a minor car accident while on a snowboarding trip." Diya looked to Lily, who was deadpanning back at her. "Lily, didn't that happen to you? You have to drink!"

"I really hate you sometimes, Diya."

"You love me."

Lily took a quick swig of her drink.

"Two can play at that game. Never have I ever broken Severus Snape's nose!" Lily grinned back at Diya, who was groaning, now, as everyone turned to look at her. She mimicked, "Diya, didn't that happen to you? You have to drink!"

"You broke Snivellus's nose?" James laughed, not seeing (or choosing to ignore) Lily's targeted glare.

"Ok, in all fairness, the book was aimed for someone else! His nose just... got in the way," Diya defended herself frantically before taking a swig of her butterbeer.

"Nice one!" Sirius held his hand out for a high-five, and Diya reluctantly obliged.

"I'm not sure I feel too comfortable cheering over someone getting hurt — "

Peter interjected, "Never have I ever shoplifted!"

Marlene took a sip, looking around as the rest of the table stared at her, waiting for an explanation. "What, no one else has ever committed petty theft?"

Diya turned her head to Sirius, "Aren't you gonna drink?"

"I haven't shoplifted before." Sirius defended himself, almost looking offended.

"Check your pockets," Diya said before tipping his bottle of butterbeer into his mouth.

Sure enough, as Sirius checked his pocket, he pulled out a packet of Jelly Slugs, looking at them with wide eyes. "How did that even get there?"

"Oh, don't tell me you need me to explain how pockets work, too!" Remus exclaimed, throwing his hands up and spilling a little bit of his drink.

༉‧₊˚✧

The Never Have I Ever game ended with Peter losing.

Throughout the game, he kept drinking even when the question didn't apply to him at all, leading to finishing the bottle first and, eventually, his inevitable loss.

After his loss, the group split up to do some rushed Christmas shopping, just in time for the holiday, coming up in a matter of days. Lily was with Peter and James (a group that Diya found especially amusing), Marlene was with Remus, and Diya was with Sirius.

"So Diya, where are we headed first?" Sirius asked the shorter girl, watching as the snowflakes began to stick to the crown of her head and her eyelashes. "Any place in mind?"

Diya looked up at the boy who walked next to her, "Yes, actually. I think it's time that we finally introduce you to Muggle music."

Sirius halted in his steps suddenly, before doing a full 180 and swiftly walking in the other direction, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets.

"No, get back here, Black!" Diya ran after the stubborn boy, grabbing the inner elbow of one of his arms and starting to drag him the correct way once more. "I planned to do this with Lily, but I guess just you and I will have to suffice for now."

"Diya, I seriously don't want to waste my time listening to muggle music!"

"Why are you so against it?" Diya asked, her voice strained due to pulling him with as much strength as she could.

"I just don't want to listen to some muggle sing about how... average they are!" Sirius groaned as Diya pulled him into a small store, not far from The Hog's Head.

"Then I won't make you listen to an average song!" Diya replied. "I'll show you the weirdest song I've ever heard."

Sirius whined, forcing Diya to stifle a laugh, not wanting to make the boy any more uncomfortable than he already was. "Is it by The Queen?"

She squinted her eyes as she tried to figure out who the hell Sirius was talking about.

"The Queen?"

"You know..." Sirius tried to think of the song that he had blasted through Grimmauld Place in an attempt to drown out the sound of him jumping out of his window to go to the Potters. "They have that song... Killer Queen or something."

Diya's eyes widened as she let out a strangled laugh. "Queen!"

He paused and thought for a moment. "Isn't that what I said?"

Diya nodded, smiling reassuringly, "It's just Queen."

"Just Queen," Sirius repeated, trying to remember it as best as he could.

"Anyway, the song isn't by Queen. It's by The Beatles."

"The name sounds vaguely familiar." Sirius pondered on that name as well.

"Lily gave me one of their records on my birthday."

Sirius snapped, smiling, "That's where I've heard it!"

Diya grinned, continuing to drag Sirius through the alphabetized store. "Do you remember liking the sound?"

"I don't really remember much of that day except for our trip to the kitchens," Sirius looked into the distance, dramatically trying to recall the events of the day.

Diya hummed, finally pausing in front of a specific section, loosening her grip on Sirius's arm but keeping him grounded next to her. She began to finger through the records in their packaging, not noticing Sirius's gaze on the side of her face.

"A-ha!" Diya finally pulled out a brightly colored record, showcasing it to Sirius, who nearly squinted from the blinding yellow.

"Magical Mystery Tour?" Sirius tilted his head quizzically. "Kind of fitting."

Diya beamed, looking at Sirius through her snow-covered eyelashes.

"Diya!" The woman behind the counter greeted. "No Lily today?"

"No, but I am actually here with someone who's never really listened to muggle music before!" Diya motioned to Sirius, who gave an awkward half-wave.

"Well, what does he want to listen to?" The girl bent over the counter.

"He — " Sirius motioned to himself, " — doesn't want to listen to anything. I'm here against my will."

The girl, Cadence as her nametag read, pushed through a swinging door, walking towards the two. Sirius's attention turned to her bright clothing choices. She wore a rainbow-striped turtleneck with dark flared jeans with painted designs on them. It only reminded Sirius that he had to buy paint.

"What's your name?" She asked Sirius momentarily before turning back to the album that Diya had plucked out.

"Sirius."

Cadence nodded, turning to Diya. "Which song?"

"Track 6."

Sirius watched the exchange curiously. He hadn't even known that this store existed, and he'd been in Hogsmeade dozens of times, including the times that he snuck in with his friends.

"Nice choice," Cadence tapped Diya on the cheek, smiling as she took the record with her.

Diya beamed as she rocked on her heels, "Are you excited?"

Sirius couldn't help but be amused by Diya's demeanor. "Sure, Talwar."

After a beat, Cadence came back with two earbuds. Handing one to Sirius, she said, "Here, put these in."

Sirius handed one to Diya, who smiled, moving her damp hair behind her ear to put the bud in. Sirius repeated the motion, waiting for anything to happen.

"Enjoy!" Cadence smiled at Sirius as she waved her wand, and the music began.

༉‧₊˚✧

Sirius had walked out of the store with roughly 13 vinyl records.

"I fucking told you that you would enjoy muggle music!" Diya laughed, looking through the bag of records. "You have records that I don't even have!"

"You got things too!" Sirius countered, pointing to Diya's own bag.

"These are for Lily. They don't count." Diya huffed, looking around Hogsmeade as it continued to snow.

It was surreal to see a usually bustling village so bare. Occasionally, Diya and Sirius would come across another wizard or witch, but nothing even close to the usual numbers on Hogsmeade weekends.

"My stop next," Sirius smiled, this time taking Diya's wrist as he hurriedly rushed them back in the direction of the Shrieking Shack.

Soon enough, the two of them were back in Honeyduke's, as Sirius looked around the store, clearly in search of something.

"We have a few things we have to accomplish. First — "

"Hello!" A female voice came from somewhere further into the store. Suddenly, Mrs. Flume came bounding around the corner, putting down a box of Chocolate Frogs. "What can I help you two dears with?"

Sirius threw a look at Diya, clearly thinking of the accuracy of his impression earlier in the day.

"I accidentally took this earlier, and I wanted to bring it back." Sirius handed the bag of records to Diya, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the packet of Jelly Slugs.

"Oh!" Mrs. Flume let out a sweet laugh. "You didn't have to do that! Keep it."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, smiling back at the cheerful woman, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Mrs. Flume agreed, beaming at the gesture. "If you two want to stick around, we have some new things in the back of the store!"

With that, Mrs. Flume walked away from them, laughing to herself as she grabbed the box of chocolate frogs.

"Shall we go check?" Diya asked, her wrist still in Sirius's grasp.

"If you stop the formality, we can," Sirius said, pulling her toward the back of the store.

They walked past the rows and rows of sweets, the colors flying past them. Although Honeyduke's was filled with various candies, the smell of the store wasn't overwhelmingly sweet. Instead, it was almost comforting, reminding Diya of something that she couldn't remember.

As they finally came across the end of the store, Sirius's eyes fell upon a booth covered with a red velvet curtain.

"Is that a photo booth?" Sirius inquired, letting go of Diya's wrist and walking toward the booth. "Do you have any more Knuts?"

Diya pulled a bag of coins out of her pocket, "Yeah, here."

"Come here, let's take photos," Sirius walked back over to Diya, pulling her into the photo booth.

After they both sat down, Sirius slid the Knuts into the slot in the booth before coming back and sitting down.

"What am I supposed to do?" Diya asked, moving her hands weirdly. "Should I pose or...?"

Sirius picked up the Magical Mystery Tour record out of the bag and held it up to the camera as he saw the countdown.

"Here, let's hold this." He picked Diya's hand up and placed it on the other side of the album.

The two held it up to the camera, laughing as Diya fumbled with it, nearly dropping the record.

After the picture was taken, he pulled out the pack of Jelly Slugs, opening the package as the camera clicked the next image.

"Here," he handed the package to the girl. "I'll try and catch a slug in my mouth."

"It's never gonna happen!" Diya giggled, fishing a slug out of the package nonetheless.

"Alright, ready?"

Diya tossed the Jelly Slug in her hand, noting the green color.

She threw it directly at his face.

Sirius's eyes widened, and he ducked to avoid the flying slug.

"What the fuck?" He whispered as the slug embedded itself in his hair.

Diya snorted, beginning to laugh uncontrollably, reaching out to touch Sirius's hair, and accidentally wrapping his locks around the slug even more.

As Diya continued to laugh, Sirius snatched the packet out of her hands, pouring slugs into his hand and shoving them into Diya's mouth.

Diya continued to laugh as she spluttered, reaching out to try and untangle the Jelly Slug from his hair.

"Why is it that every time we hang out alone, you always end up untangling my hair?" Sirius wondered aloud, holding his chin as he propped his elbow on his knee.

"Why is it that you keep getting your hair knotted?" Diya countered, laughing at the expression on his face.

Just as Diya untangled the green slug out of his hair, ignoring the close proximity between the two of them, they jumped as they heard a chime noise.

"The photos are ready!" Diya gasped, jumping up from her seat and walking around Sirius, pulling past the velvet curtain.

Diya kneeled on the floor, pulling out the picture slip. She laughed as she watched the four moving pictures.

"Sirius!" She called the boy in the photobooth. "Come out here and look at these!"

Sirius pulled the curtain to the side, walking out of the booth and kneeling next to Diya.

The first photo shows the two of them laughing as Diya fumbled with the record. The second one shows Diya chucking the Jelly Slug at Sirius, watching it rebound off of the booth wall and plant itself in his hair. The third one shows Sirius rip open the package and shove the slugs into Diya's laughing mouth. The final one shows Diya gently untangling the slug from his hair as he watches her, a smile on his face.

"Who's keeping it?" Sirius asked, looking to the girl who continued to examine the pictures.

"Do you want it?" Diya asked, standing up from the ground, Sirius following.

"Here," Sirius grabbed the slip, pulling his wand out. "Geminio."

A second slip of the same photos fell on the ground, the images moving at the same time.

Sirius bent down, picking up the photos, handing them to Diya. "Now, we both have one."

Diya grabbed the photos out of his hand, hearing the door chime as it opened once more.

"Anyone else back here?" James's voice echoed through the large store.

"We're here, Prongs!" Sirius yelled back, smiling at Diya once more before walking towards the three others walking into the store.

Diya followed him to the front of the store, looking at Lily, who looked surprisingly happy.

Diya ran to her friend, still holding the pictures in his hand. "Was it torture as you thought?"

Lily looked around, "Surprisingly, no!"

Diya nudged her friend, "I told you!"

Lily glared playfully, smiling at her friend, who tucked her hair behind her ear.

"What's this?" Lily pulled the slip out of her hand. She gasped as she stared down at the images, watching the interactions between two of her friends. "You two look so cute!"

"Yeah," Diya smiled down at the pictures, "I guess we do."

༉‧₊˚✧
a/n

hey yall LMFAO this update was MUCH quicker than my usual updates (for clarification, last chapter came out on december 7th and today is december 10), but idk how quick i'll be able to publish the next chapter. for that reason, this chapter is the longest yet (6.4K words) and i'm really excited to see your comments! they make my day and they're what made me get this chapter out so quick. 

act 1 is actually coming to a close soon, and i promise that you're going to like act 2. hope you all stick around !!

p.s.: i really wanna thank @finn-wxlfhard for always being amazing and proofreading these for me. without her help, i doubt this story would be even half as legible (or even have a solid plot). ilysm