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

SMILING ON A park bench and thinking to herself, Diya wrote diligently in her diary, writing about her entire summer so far, from the gossiping with the girls to her escapades with Sirius. For the first time in weeks, Diya and Lily would finally reunite after the latter's extended holiday with her family.

Lily knew very little of the extent of Diya and Sirius's friendship, or relationship at this point, and the two planned to keep it that way.

Sirius and Diya had come to an agreement: No one has to know.

Not only would their summer fling thing be met with criticism from their friends, but they would also try their hardest to separate the two of them. Lily would do anything to protect Diya, and since Sirius hadn't had the best history with his partners in the past, she wouldn't be pleased.

It didn't help that Diya's last someone had left her heartbroken and vowing to never date again (To be fair, she was keeping that promise since she and Sirius also agreed to not label things.)

The birds were chirping and flying amongst themselves in the windy park. The way they revolved around Diya almost made her feel as though they knew how over the moon she was. She'd done everything for everyone for a very long time, and to finally feel some good karma come back from it made her feel truly loved.

Alice had owled Diya, telling her that while she would've loved to meet up with her and Lily, Frank's mother Augusta had already said that she wanted them to spend the next few days together as a family, and she had agreed. "Next week!" She'd said.

The same had happened with Marlene, who was not getting back from her vacation with her family until sometime later this week.

Sirius had been pretty silent for the past couple of days, which was expected since he had been saying that his spats with his family were getting worse, and Regulus had entirely shut him out. As odd as Diya found Reg's actions, she knew she had no right to speak on it. It was his family, not hers, after all. Whatever issues the brothers were having, she was pretty sure that the two would work it out. She didn't blame Regulus; His brother could be pretty insufferable sometimes.

"Dear Diary," A voice came from above Diya, light and airy as though the voice lived atop a cloud. "I am so miserable and lonely without Lily around. I wish she could stay around forever so I could gaze into her eyes —"

"Lily!" Diya laughed, placing her pen in the seam and closing her diary hastily. Springing up from her seat, she tackled her friend into a hug.

"Hey, Di." Lily sighed into Diya's braided hair, adorning a cream blouse under a denim jacket and tucked into flare jeans wrapped with a brown belt.

"Merlin, I missed you." Diya squeezed Lily once before she pulled back.

"You sure about that?" Lily tilted her head in accusation, her hands still on Diya's shoulders. "Because if my memory serves me right — "

"—And it always does." Diya clarified, grinning.

"You seemed fine without me. Here. With a certain Mister Black."

"Ew, Lil! I would never want to hang out with Orion." Diya scrunched her face in mock disgust.

Lily's head fell back as she laughed, pulling Diya into her side with one arm.

"Besides, I really didn't spend all that much time with Sirius." She shrugged.

Diya quickly picked up her diary, tucking it into the bag resting on her shoulder, before leading Lily in the direction of the ice cream shack that she and Sirius frequented.

As they approached the small stand, Lily squinted, "Is that Mark?"

"Hey Diya!" Mark smiled. "I see you finally brought Lily around. Sick of Sirius?"

Lily threw a look at her friend, "Barely saw him, huh?"

Diya looked anywhere else.

"What is it today, then, Diya?" Mark leaned forward on the ice cream shack, his blonde hair falling into his eyes. Reaching into the cart, he handed her a cold water bottle, just like he had each time she had come alone with Sirius.

"I'll have a strawberry ice cream," Lily smiled, swaying back and forth on her heels as Diya began to unscrew the cap on the bottle.

"Excellent choice, Lils," Mark put on a solemn face, nodding at his cousin before springing into action, reaching into the cart to scoop the ice cream.

"I'm blanking right now, Mark. What should I get?" Diya took another swig of her water.

Lily hummed, "I think you should go with Black."

Diya nearly dropped the water bottle as she coughed violently, taken aback by Lily's bluntness. How had she known? Were they really that obvious that she figured it out without Sirius even around?

"What?" Diya asked in between coughs, her voice hoarse and shocked.

Lily looked at her like she was insane, "Black Cherry? It's the flavor of the day."

The redhead pointed to the board next to the shack, and sure enough, there it read "Flavor of the Day: Black Cherry."

"Of course. Sorry, Mark. I think I spit water like everywhere." Diya wiped her mouth, laughing at the dark spots on the pavement from where she had coughed up water.

"You're fine, I promise." Mark, who looked wildly amused, waved her off. "Black Cherry, then?"

Diya swallowed, "Uhm, yeah. Black Cherry it is."

Lily quirked an eyebrow, tilting her head in suspicion before smirking and reaching forward to grab the strawberry cone from her cousin's hand.

"Thanks, Mark." Lily began to reach into her bag.

"What, are you kidding?" Mark raised an eyebrow, laughing at Lily. "You really think I'm gonna make you pay for this ice cream?"

Diya shrugged, taking a lick at her ice cream, smiling. Her expression dropped into a rather serious one as she pulled the ice cream away from her mouth, examining it closely.

"Mark, I feel uncomfortable not paying you back for this," Lily said, her voice thick with hesitance as she insistently handed him money.

Mark smiled, handing the currency back to his younger cousin. "Think of it this way: At least this way I don't have to buy you a present for Christmas!"

Sighing while mockingly glaring at her cousin, she grabbed the money back and shoved it haphazardly into her bag.

"This ice cream is insanely good!" Diya's excited voice came from behind her ice cream cone, where she was still examining the ice cream to figure out why she had loved it so much.

"When have I ever let you down, Diya?" Mark shrugged, crossing his arms in triumph. He let out a noise of protest when Lily reached over the cart and ruffled his hair.

"Alright, now!" He patted his hair down, trying to get it to stay in place. "See you two soon, hopefully."

Lily tilted her head, "Are you trying to get rid of us?"

"Precisely. Kindly take the hint and leave." Mark came out from behind the cart and began to push Diya and Lily back toward the main roads, the girls laughing all the way.

༉‧₊˚✧

Finally, back at The Evans Residence, Diya lay on the bed, sipping away at her water as Lily paced back and forth around her room, describing her vacation in excruciating detail.

"—And that's when this other dentist family moved into the suite next door for the weekend. The son of the family and Jean really got along. But still! Two dentist families? On the same weekend? It's unheard of."

"Lily, I'm sorry," Diya interjected. "Is their being dentists relevant to the story? I'm just failing to see how this answers my question."

"Oh yes, of course." Lily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, turning once more before pausing in her tracks. "Sorry, what was your question again?"

Diya raised her eyebrows amusedly, staring back at her best friend. "How was your vacation?"

Lily's face began to burn crimson as she chuckled, "Oh."

"Since you've been rambling on about it for the past twenty minutes, I take it you had fun?"

Lily nodded frantically, smiling, "Tons."

"I'm glad that you're happy, then, Lil." Diya took another swig from her water bottle.

"What about you?" Lily asked, finally taking a break from her constant pacing, and sat on the edge of the bed, facing her best friend.

"What about me?"

"Are you happy?"

Diya only looked down, a smile pulling at her lips, drawing a loud gasp from Lily.

"You met someone!" Lily scrambled onto her knees atop the bed, hurrying toward Diya. "Who are they? How'd you meet them? Explain. Now."

Diya hesitated. How long could she possibly keep this a secret from her best friend? Still, she had made a promise, and she hated breaking those.

"Well, me and Sirius—"

"You're with Sirius?" Lily nearly shrieked, her hands covering her mouth.

"Merlin, woman!" Diya shielded her ears. "Will you let me finish?"

"Sure, sorry." Lily huffed, crossing her arms.

"As I was saying, Sirius and I stopped by an ice cream parlor, and I met him there."

"Who, Sirius?"

"No, obviously not Sirius. We went in there together." Diya struggled with her lie quite a bit. "His name is S- uh,"

"S- uh?" Lily tilted her head, a smile pulling at her lips at Diya's hesitance.

"S- uh is just a little pet name of his. His name is Sebastian." Diya came up with a name on the spot that would match her fuck-up. "He's Greek."

"Your nickname for a boy named Sebastian is S-uh?" Lily laughed incredulously. "Not Seb? Or Bastian?"

"We're fun like that," Diya's statement sounded more like a question, but if Lily noticed, she said nothing.

"Well, when can I meet this Sebastian?" Lily jokingly pushed Diya.

"Maybe next summer?"

"Next summer?" Lily's jaw dropped as she stood up. "Are you dating him now or later?"

"I don't like that word, Lily. I'm not dating anyone. We just kiss from time to time." Diya's rubbed her temple, trying to come up with a believable lie.

Lily gasped, sitting down on the bed and scooting closer. "Tell me more!"

"Well, he's Greek, you know." Diya began to nervously braid a lock of her hair. "So he and his family are in Greece for the rest of our holidays. But since he's a muggle, I promised him I'd send him a letter twice a week. Classic couple things."

"Mm-hm," Lily narrowed her eyes as she stared at her best friend. "And how is Sirius?"

"I'm not sure, actually." Diya quickly unraveled the braid before beginning again on the other side of her hair. "My owls to Regulus and Sirius keep coming back undelivered, but I'm not sure if they've gone away somewhere or if something bad has happened."

"Well, have you tried asking James?" Lily asked, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Potter?"

A small smile pulled at Diya's lips as her friend corrected herself. "We haven't really spoken lately, so no."

Lily hummed, taking a few strands of Diya's hair, also beginning to braid. Diya maneuvered her back to face Lily as she plaited down the side of her head. "Well, I suggest owling one of the boys before you jump to any conclusions."

Diya tilted her head back to stare at her friend, "What would I do without you, Flower?"

"Die, probably?" Lily laughed, unraveling the half-braid and beginning once more.

Diya nodded absentmindedly. "I hope they're okay."

"All we can do in times like these is hope, Di." Lily swatted her friend's hands away, gathering all of her hair and beginning to form a neat plait down her back.

"Times like these?"

"What, you haven't seen the papers?" Lily asked.

Diya shook her head but winced as her hair tugged. "No, I haven't checked the papers at all recently. I've basically been a muggle all summer."

"There's talks of a war, Diya." Lily's hands began to get tense, and Diya could tell that she was trying to keep the conversation light-hearted. "And sure, it'll pass, eventually. But there's never really a true winner in war. The casualties overshadow the victory."

Diya frowned at the underlying sadness in her best friend's voice. She shuffled around, grabbing Lily's hands in hers.

"Talk is just that, Lil," Diya said. "Talk."

Lily nodded, drawing circles in the back of Diya's hand. As if she had read Diya's mind, she said, "I'm sure that Sirius is fine. Now, turn around so I can finish your plait."

"Yes, ma'am."

As Lily continued to braid Diya's hair down her back, humming a soft tune, Diya's eyes wandered the room. Her eyes rested upon a silver charm bracelet on her dresser.

"What's that?" Diya asked, pointing to the dresser as Lily began to fasten the braid.

"Oh, that?" The charm bracelet seemed to glimmer. "It's a charm bracelet that I got on holiday. Why?"

"Can I borrow it?" Diya asked, an idea sprouting in her mind.

Lily narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, sure. As long as you get it back to me."

Diya scoffed, "I do believe that is the definition of the term borrow, Lil."

Lily walked over to the dresser, picking up the bracelet gently. "Just making certain."

She gently places the cold metal bracelet in her friend's hand, who lays it gingerly in her bag.

"I'll get it back to you the next time I see you."

"Alright. I'm fine with whatever you do with it as long as it doesn't come back to me in pieces," Lily shrugs. "So what did you get up to while I was gone? Except for whatever the hell you did with Black."

"Just spending time with Sirius and Sebastian, of course." Diya made an excuse, throwing her bag onto the bed beside her before faceplanting onto it.

"So I guess you wouldn't mind if I read this, then. Would you?"

Diya looked up to find Lily with her diary in hand. Immediately she sprung up, grabbing at the book in an attempt to save her privacy.

"I take it you're hiding something from me, then?" Lily laughed, flipping over the pages and ignoring her best friend's protests.

"Stolen kisses? Cigarettes? Ice cream?" Lily skimmed through the pages, her mouth parted. "You better tell me everything about this Sebastian guy later!"

"Lily, give it back!" Diya laughed, trying to jump on her back in an attempt to grab the book.

"Lonely?" Lily read aloud right as the book was stolen from her.

"It's nothing." Diya lightly pushed Lily's shoulder.

"No, now you have to tell me!" Lily grabbed Diya by the wrist and led her to the bed.

"Really, I'm fine." Diya sighed, throwing the diary across the bed. "I only felt lonely when Sirius was unavailable since everyone else was on holiday."

"But, they're all back soon, right?" Lily leaned back onto the bed. "I know that Alice and Marlene are back next week, but what about the boys?"

"Remus and Peter are back from their vacation." Diya shrugged. "James is home with Monty and Mia, and Sirius is M.I.A, but otherwise, everyone's back in the U.K."

Lily smiled, running a hand through her hair. "Interesting."

"Lily, what the hell are you plotting?" Diya propped herself up.

"As much as this pains me to say, I think you need to owl Potter and tell him we're all coming over."

"Oh, that'll kill him!"

༉‧₊˚✧
a/n

took a rly long break for mental health reasons but im back now!

thank you guys so so much for all of the love on this book. this is officially my most read fic ever!
now in second place is a dramione fic that i wrote in grade 6 that got around 37.5k reads which is terrifying and slightly embarassing.

also, got into a rly heavy marvel phase again and i can't stop picturing mark as chris evans HELP