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

THE VERY MOMENT that Lily suggested getting the gang back together, the girls sprung into action. Using the stationary that Lily kept scattered around her bedroom, they began drafting their letter to James.

The redhead frantically scrawled everyone's schedules on a separate piece of paper while Diya attempted to write her letter.

The Potter Manor was extravagant, with a beautiful courtyard and outdoor setting perfect for Quidditch, a necessity for James and Fleamont, making it the ideal spot for nine teenaged witches and wizards to reunite.

"How long do you think we should be at Potter Manor?" Lily asked, a pen cap dangling from her between her lips. "Because I'm thinking two hours tops."

"Two hours?" Diya laughed incredulously, doodling small animals on the corners of Lily's stationery. "I was thinking a few days reunion at least."

"Are you mad?" Lily dropped the pen dramatically. "Who knows how many illnesses we could pick up from that much time in the same house as them?"

"Really, Lily?" Diya quirked an eyebrow at her friend, who straightened her posture, standing by her opinion.

After a few minutes of bickering, the two finally decided on a concise letter, knowing that James wouldn't care about the details once he saw Lily's name on the bottom of the vanilla-scented parchment, anyway.

After handing off the letter to Luca, Lily's owl, the girls were prepared to relax for the rest of their day together, deciding to watch a movie instead of continuing their gossiping session.

However, even that plan went down the drain in a matter of minutes when a frantic letter came back from James, who was more than willing to let Lily spend the day at his place. It took a few more notes back and forth for him to finally realize that everyone would be there, and not just Lily and James (which he was less excited about, but excited nonetheless).

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"So," James began, his hands awkwardly sitting on his thighs. "Nice weather we're having, eh?"

The teenagers had been seated in a cluster of lounge chairs, all set up in a circle formation around James's fire pit on the back patio of the Manor.

"We don't see each other for a month, and suddenly you're Mister Etiquette." Marlene scoffed playfully, leaning back on her lounge chair. "Why don't we talk about Black's gnarly haircut instead?"

"Oh, stuff it, McKinnon." Sirius motioned toward Diya's luggage, threatening to throw it at Marlene. She responded with a small yet effective gesture.

"That's enough, you two," Alice interjected, throwing a glare at Sirius, Marlene, and Lily since the latter was failing to contain her laughter.

"Sirius, I actually rather like your hair." Frank motioned toward the boy with his bottle before knocking it back.

Sirius brought a hand up to his head, his face going slightly red. "Thank you, Frank. Whenever you're available, feel free to teach McKinnon some manners."

Sirius's hair had grown a bit in the weeks that he and Diya had gotten closer, and it began to curl a bit at the ends from the awkward mullet-like length. In an attempt to cover the imperfections of the cut, he had started to sport a pair of bright red sunnies atop his head.

Remus leaned forward from his seat on the right side of Sirius, setting a hands on his friend's knee, "Feel free to teach Sirius as well."

Sirius threw a glare his way, which Remus skillfully ignored, leaning back and winking at Diya instead.

"James isn't wrong." Diya pointed out from the left side of Sirius. "The weather is quite pleasant."

"I would honestly rather talk about anything else." Peter groaned, throwing his head back. "What about politics?"

"No. Nope." Remus immediately interjected. "I refuse to think about anything political right now. Mum and Dad have somehow managed to intertwine muggle and wizarding politics, and they're driving me to lunacy."

"We'll find something easier to talk about." Sirius pondered for a moment before gasping. "Let's talk about family and relationship issues instead!"

Remus had a blank look on his face, "Are you clinically insane, or just incredibly annoying?"

Sirius shrugged, taking a sip from his bottle, "I don't know, probably both."

"I know what we can talk about," James interrupts, lighting a smoke. "Sleeping arrangements."

"Finally, a good idea," Remus says, glaring at Sirius (who is completely oblivious, too busy with showing off his new thick-rimmed goggles to Diya).

Marlene began, "Sleeping arrangements? Who needs sleep when we have Lily's muggle alcohol?"

"That's exactly why we need sleep, Marls." Diya looked up through Sirius's red sunglasses, which now lay crooked on the bridge of her nose.

"Careful!" Sirius quietly hissed. "You better not let any of that eyeliner shit touch my sunnies!"

"Oh, calm down, you big baby," Diya retaliated by tossing his glasses back to him, ignoring his yelps of protest with a blinding smile.

Lily, who had stayed relatively quiet, held back a frown as she watched Sirius and Diya's behavior. Something wasn't adding up. She knew that Diya and Sebastian were at the height of their summer fling, so why were she and Sirius acting this way? From her recollection, they hadn't behaved this way at Hogwarts, either, so this had to be a new development.

"Back to the sleeping arrangements," Peter brought the attention back to James.

"Right. Thank you, Pete." James waved his cigarette in Peter's direction, taking a puff. "There are only so many rooms that you lot can take up, so two people are gonna have to take the hammock and the couch."

Diya reached forward in a grabby motion, asking James to hand her a fresh cigarette and a light. He shook his head quickly, getting back to his original point and pretending not to notice Diya's pout.

"Lily, you can take Sirius's bed," James said, his eyes brightening as he made eye contact with the redhead, who bit back her frown and smiled as kindly as she could without grimacing.

Diya squinted at the mention of Sirius's bed, puzzled as to why he would have a bed at the Potter's. If Sirius noticed Diya's confusion, he didn't say anything since he promptly complained.

"What, so am I forced to take the hammock, then?"

James shrugged, "You and Di are downstairs in the living room. One of you can take the hammock, and the other can take the couch."

Diya leaned into Sirius's arm, putting on her best innocent face. "But think about how selfish you'll look if you take the comfy-cozy couch and force the lady to take the rough, uncomfortable hammock."

"What happened to equal rights for women and men!" Sirius threw his hands in the air incredulously. "What about my right to sleep on the couch!"

"Alright, pipe down." Marlene laughed, "Keep your old married couple argument to yourselves. I'm perfectly content with my sleeping arrangements!"

"Yeah, because you get a real bed!"

Lily sighed dreamily, "I'm fine with anything as long as I'm as far away from you boys as possible. I wouldn't want to catch anything."

Diya groaned playfully, smiling at her best friend. "Are we still on this?"

"I thought you were the smart one? We don't have any diseases." Peter raised an eyebrow, his drink sloshing in his hand.

Diya hummed, shaking her head. "Hm, except for Sirius. He has a rather nasty case of fleas. I would keep my distance."

Vexed, Sirius knocked her chair over, ignoring her yelp of surprise as she swiftly ended up on the grass next to the patio.

As if out of nowhere, James was suddenly drenched in beer. Lily, who had been sat next to him, had laughed so abruptly that she tipped her drink right into James's lap.

"Oh my god!" Lily stood up quickly, as did James, who was still trying to process the drink spilling. "I'm so sorry!"

She reached out toward his to try and clean some of it, but once she noted the intimacy of the gesture, she recoiled hastily.

"You're alright, Evans." James laughed it off. "Really."

"Oh, Merlin." Lily cringed. "You should probably go get some napkins or something."

Diya, who had finally pulled herself up from the ground, wiping grass off of her pink top, raised her hand. Sighing tiredly, she said, "I'll come with."

Sirius and Peter were still keeled over laughing while James and Diya headed inside to the Potter's kitchen.

Diya tried her best to contain her amusement at the sight of James awkwardly shuffling into the house, trying to avoid the beer as much as he could.

"At least Lily seems to be warming up to you, right?" Diya nudged him with her elbow, trying to stay positive.

James nodded, a smile coming over his features. "I'm honestly surprised that she apologized in the first place. The Lily I knew a few months ago would've laughed and maybe gotten another bottle to pour on me."

"The Lily you knew a few months ago had a few more friends than the current Lily," Diya said as they continued walking. "I think that with the distance she got on holiday, she might've realized you're not a complete moron."

James grimaced as he finally reached a roll of paper towels. He roughly tore off three napkins from the serrated edge, frantically patting at the soaking clothes.

"Keyword: might've."

James ignored Diya, continuing to scrub at the stain on his jeans. Sheepishly, he admitted, "I feel like I'm making the stain worse."

"Isn't this your house?" Diya laughed. "Why don't you just go get another pair of trousers?"

James stood up straight, laughing in disbelief. "That might be a better solution."

Sighing, he grabbed Diya's arm, pulling her out of the kitchen and back through the living room, foyer, and eventually the grand stairwell. The two continued walking the path to James's room.

"Has Zoya come up with any plans for the next season yet?" James asked as they passed a broom closet.

Diya winced, "Er, she's been... preoccupied lately."

Ever since Abhi and Chandrika had made it known that Zoya's wedding was happening whether she liked it or not, the elder Talwar had begun to isolate herself to her room. She only interacted with the house-elves that brought her food, and occasionally Diya. She was taking her situation harshly, and she didn't have time to think about Quidditch and her final year at Hogwarts when she was about to get engaged to a man she had never even met.

James nudged Diya as they finally got to his room, "Haven't we all?"

༉‧₊˚✧

After James had changed his trousers, he and Diya returned to their friends. The sun had begun to set, and the group of nine made their way inside to set up their sleeping quarters for the next few days.

Fleamont and Euphemia had decided on a week-long holiday while James stayed at home with his friends, knowing that they wouldn't do anything except crowd the kids. They were more than willing to give up the house (to Diya's surprise), excited to be able to spend alone time together for the first time since summer started.

With his parents gone for the week, James moved into the master bedroom, happy to have his own space.

Lily and Marlene took to Sirius's bedroom, Alice and Frank were in James's bedroom (after promising to keep their hands to themselves), and Remus and Peter were in their own guest bedrooms. That only left Diya and Sirius, who were downstairs and fighting over who got to sleep where.

"Why can't we both just sleep on the couch, then, if it bothers you so much?" Diya argued in a hushed tone, trying not to annoy anyone who may overhear them.

"The couch is just as cramped as the hammock, Di!" Sirius protested. "The only thing is that the hammock is above the ground, and the couch isn't."

"Fine!" Diya groaned. "I'm too tired for this. I'll take the less comfy option since you wanna be a whiny bitch."

"A whiny bitch?" Sirius scoffed. "That's just mean."

Diya smiled sarcastically, "I'll stop being mean when you let me sleep on the couch."

"Fine, we can both take the couch!" Sirius gives in, running after Diya and grabbing her elbow.

"No!" Diya wiggles her way out of his grasp, sticking her tongue out at him. "You lost your chance. I'm happy with my hammock choice."

Diya turns around, facing the hammock in front of her. Using her hands, she tries to tug the hammock down to meet her halfway but fails. The hammock swings back upward, startling her and sending her flying back into Sirius's chest.

Diya turns around, facing Sirius. "Little help, please?"

Shaking his head amusedly, Sirius turns Diya toward the hammock once more, placing his hands on her waist. Bending his knees, he lifts Diya up, smiling as she lets out an involuntary noise of glee. He props her up into a sitting position on the hammock, checking that she was secure before leaning her down into the hammock.

"All good, now?" Sirius asks, his hand moving up to Diya's shoulder.

Diya turned away from Sirius in a sleepy daze. "You're still a big baby."

Within seconds, Diya was asleep.

"You weren't kidding, huh?" Sirius smiles down at the sleeping form before him.

Sirius turned away from the hammock, walking back over to the sad, lonely couch.

She might've had a point with sharing the couch. Sirius thought, not daring to admit that Diya was correct aloud. I've never seen a sofa look so cold and uninviting.

Sighing, Sirius checked his surroundings, making sure that no one was looking before heading back over to the swinging hammock.

As stealthy as he could, he began to climb into the hammock. As he lifted his knee, the swing moved toward him, rustling Diya in the process. He winced when she hummed in her sleep, adjusting herself to take up more space.

"Great." He muttered sarcastically, trying to calculate how he could possibly fit into the hammock now, with Diya spreading out.

Using the momentum from his knee, Sirius swung the rest of his body into the hammock, holding onto Diya to stay steady. To his luck, Diya nestled into his chest, a smile coming over her face.

He could've melted right there.

Sirius was quite cramped in this position, with one foot still out of the hammock and the rest of his body rocking back and forth in the swing. But when Diya looked so comfortable laying there, how could he destroy her peace?

So with the foot still outside of the hammock, he continued to rock it back and forth, ensuring that Diya stayed asleep.

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a/n

happy pride month!

i can't find the comment now but someone suggested a really beautiful ship name for diya and sirius:

starlight!

(sirius is a star, and diya means light)

i love the name so much and thank you so much to whoever commented!