➪ MOODY BLUE ➪

"WOW. THAT'S RUDE."

Loki looked up from the book she had. Her eyebrows furrowed at the sight of James right behind Nicolas. Her gaze turned to her best friend. She adopted a look of annoyance as the grin he was failing to hide.

"I'm sorry about him," Loki looked back up at the Head Boy. "What did he do now?"

"Thought that it was hilarious to steal my robes," James answered. His glare was pointed only at Nicolas.

"I didn't think it, Potter," Nicolas began, turning himself to face the brunette. "I knew it." He smirked.

"Nicolas, stop," Loki sighed. James glanced at the girl, frowning at how tired she appeared. "He does this to every captain. Please don't take it personally."

"I thought Hufflepuffs were kind," James shot another glare at Nicolas.

"Correction," Nicolas began, and Loki shook her head and turned back to her book, "we're loyal. We're trustworthy. And we aren't boastful."

"We're also supposed to have the best sense of right and wrong," Loki told the boys, not looking up once from her book. "And we're also the friendliest, most helpful house. Nicolas, please give James his robes back."

"Loki, I was just having a little fun," Nicolas moaned. When she didn't reply, he sighed in defeat. "Fine. I'll give you your bloody robes back."

James seemed pleased with the result. He gave Nicolas a pat on the head, which caused the boy to sneer, and turned to Loki. "See, this is why I'm glad why Remus and Sirius met you."

The comment completely threw Loki off. She looked up and stared at the boy confused. James just smiled at her, which made her even more suspicious. To her, it felt as if he was trying to say something else, but perhaps she was just being paranoid. James said goodbye to the pair and quickly sauntered off.

"You're a traitor, Loki," Nicolas huffed.

"You stole his robes, Nicolas. I was just doing the right thing," Loki replied. "Oh, come on, when you win against Gryffindor you can shove that victory in their faces." At her comment, Nicolas smirked. "That's how you really piss James off." Nicolas nodded. "We have to get to class now, anyway. I've got potions, you have Divination."

➪

"THE LOVE POTION?"

From beside Loki, Sirius scrunched up his face. The girl giggled at the sight. When Sirius looked over at her she quickly turned her gaze back to the board where the notes were.

"Precisely, Mr Black!" Professor Slughorn grinned. "The most powerful in the world. Now, does anyone know anything else about Amortentia?" Loki glanced around at her fellow students, seeing no one wanted to raise their hand. "No one?"

She felt a nudge in her side and looked over. Sirius winked at her, urging her silently to speak up. Loki nodded at the boy, blushing slightly. She swallowed the small lump in her throat and raised her hand.

"Miss Hawthorne! Yes, tell us what you know," Slughorn urged.

"Um, well, amortentia can't actually make someone feel real love. It just makes someone feel infatuated with the person who gave it to them," she spoke, feeling incredibly awkward that everyone was listening. "It can be extremely dangerous. Uh...People also smell many different things, the things that attract them the most."

"Would you care to come up and tell us what you smell, Miss Hawthorne?" Slughorn suggested. The girl's eyes widened, and she couldn't respond.

"She'd love to, professor," Sirius called out, nudging Loki again. She could only nod. "Go on, Princess." He winked again.

Loki hummed to herself. She rose out of her seat and shuffled her way up to the front of the room. The spirals of steam and mother-of-pearl sheen made the potion seem entrancing. Loki stepped closer to it, feeling herself being pulled in. The closer she got the stronger the smells became.

"What do you smell?" Slughorn inquired.

"I--I--I smell..." the dark-haired girl breathed in deeply, "oil paint. Chocolate and... smoke." Her face flushed with red as she stepped away from the concoction.

Cigarette smoke.

"Well," Slughorn smiled. "Thank you for that Miss Hawthorne, you may go back to your seat now."

Loki did not hesitate in scurrying back to her place beside Sirius. The boy lifted his eyebrows when she sat, silently firing questions at her. She, however, had no idea what to say to the boy and just shrunk back in her seat out of embarrassment. He could only cock his head as she lowered her head, using her hair to hide the colour on her face.

The rest of the lesson seemed to go by quickly after that. Loki would only speak if called upon of Sirius spoke to her directly. She was beyond frightened that Remus and Sirius would figure out she fancied them after that lesson, but they acted normally. In fact, they never even mentioned it.

"We haven't talked about what we're doing this afternoon," Sirius spoke up, stretching his arms above his head as The Marauders and Loki headed out of the dungeon classroom. "James, any plans? Or are you going to try and woo Evans once more?"

"Actually, Sirius," James hit the boy in his gut, "I have to finish up organising the training schedule for this Thursday. It's our last practice before the game, you realise." Sirius let out a groan, turning his dark eyes to Peter.

"What about you, Wormtail?" He inquired. The blonde boy shrugged. "Seriously, you guys are no fun. Remus, give me something."

Remus shook his head, adjusting the strap on his bag. "Sorry, Pads, I was just going to finish the Transfig assignment." Sirius let out a whine, pouting at them all, then looked to Loki with a hopeful look.

"I don't really have anything set in stone," Loki spoke. "Nicolas is hanging out with his girlfriend, and I usually just do whatever when he's not around."

"Sirius," Remus spoke up once more. "Shouldn't you be doing your homework as well? You've been procrastinating your DADA essay, and I don't want to see you fail."

"Really?" Sirius projected his pout at Remus instead. "But it's so boring."

"C'mon, Peter and I will help you study," Remus suggested, hoping his friend would find it a bit more encouraging. Sirius shot him a pointed look, and the tall boy sighed. "I can help you write it, and I'll let you copy mine if you need to." Sirius's face lit up.

"Um," Peter cleared his throat, "seeing as Loki won't have anything on, can she join us?" Peter turned to the girl, silently asking for her permission.

"Oh, yeah! Loki, you're smart, and you're good at helping, right? Could you help me?" Sirius pleaded, showing the girl his best puppy-dog eyes. Loki's chest hummed as warmth spread through it. She nodded, finding the boy's attitude rather cute.

"I guess I could try and help," she muttered, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"Now that Sirius is entertained, we should be okay," James laughed. Loki frowned, confused by what he meant. The boys continued walking, but James trailed back with Loki. "And I'm sure Remus is gonna be more than happy, too," he whispered before scurrying back up to his friends. 

When James threw his arm around Remus, the taller boy glanced back to Loki. He smiled softly at her. The expression made the girl blush, and she threw only the slightest of smiles back at him. James's words had confused her, and she couldn't seem to let them go.

Was it possible they like her back?

Loki pushed the thought away as she jogged for a moment so the boys didn't leave her behind. She stopped when she reached Peter's side, just behind Remus and James. She glanced up, and Remus glanced back again, before quickly looking away.

No. That was preposterous.

Unless...

➪ AUTHOR'S NOTE ➪

this chapter is a mess. ew. probably because i'm posting this and it's just before 12am, but who gives a diddly damn. i can always come back later.

next chapter's plan is to be the hufflepuff vs gryffindor match. we all know someone's gonna be sad over the outcome, i can tell you that. i had a plan for this chapter, but the idea seemed a bit too rushed, so it's on pause for now.

but, as usual, i hope you enjoyed. leave any comments/questions and i'll try my best to respond. if i don't it's because i've died, have been kidnapped or can't think of what to say due to my social anxiety and general awkwardness. farewell!

(but before i go, maybe consider checking out the charlie weasley fic i posted bc i've had this idea in my drafts since at least two years ago. but you don't have to [:)