Don't underestimate me, Sirius

In the blink of an eye, the first full moon of the new term had arrived.

Remus had asked for the day off in advance, saying something had come up at home. Lately, I had either been in the library with Lily and Snape or wandering around with Remus. Although worry was written all over the faces of James and Sirius, who were still giving me the silent treatment, they saw Remus as being on my side, so in the end, they forced themselves not to ask.

Whenever I had run into the two of them on my nighttime wanderings these past few days, James had kept staring at me. Apparently, even if he hated me, he was still very interested in Hogwarts' secret passages.

"See you tomorrow!"

After Lily and I said good night to each other, I returned to the dormitory. Through the window, I could see the bright, silvery moon hanging in the sky, which brought many poems about the moon to mind.

Many poets liked to use the moon to express their longing for home. Even in the twenty-first century, I had been alone, but at a moment like this, I couldn't help feeling a little lonely.

I wondered when I would be able to return home.

I shook my head. I had tried many times to deal with Remus turning into a Werewolf. Although I still hadn't found a way to turn him completely human, during my sixth life I had come close, brewing a potion that could delay his transformation. Even if it was only half an hour, it was still a breakthrough.

Even if I couldn't change anything, even if my magic had been reset-

I clenched my fists.

Knowledge wouldn't disappear. It would always remain in my mind, reincarnating forever with my soul.

At that thought, I lost all desire to sleep. I put on my coat and left the dormitory again.

When I left the common room, Sirius and James were still sitting at a table doing their homework. Both of them looked up at me as I headed out.

[It had already been several days since I last spoke to them...]

[1. Throw myself at James and hug him]

[2. Throw myself at Sirius and hug him]

[3. Forget it, go to sleep]

The system options were as reliable as ever. Expressionless, I chose [Forget it, go to sleep] and strode outside.

I might as well carry on brewing potions.

I couldn't change the outcome, but plenty of things along the way could vary, such as the patrols at Hogwarts and Filch's movements. I had spent a few days looking into his patrol habits before finding a secret room to use as my base for brewing potions.

I slipped past all the portraits and ghosts with practiced ease, making my way to the entrance of the secret room as if I were in my own backyard. After I gave the password, the previously smooth wall recessed, revealing a staircase leading underground. Once I had made sure no one was around, I went down and pushed open the stone door at the bottom.

"Cauldron, potion bottles, knife..." I looked over the potion-making tools I had gradually gathered over the past few days. Once I had confirmed everything was there, I rolled up my sleeves.

Since my magic had been reset, brewing a difficult potion now would probably drain me dry. I decided to start with something simple for practice. Besides, I couldn't afford the ingredients for anything complicated right now anyway. Ah, I really wanted to rob Voldemort.

I decided to start by making a batch of Wit-Sharpening Potion from the third-year curriculum.

I put the prepared snake fangs and ingredients into the mortar. As I waved my wand, I felt a definite blockage inside my body.

It probably wouldn't be a big problem. This was only third-year coursework, and the potion barely required any magic. Surely nothing could go wrong with this too.

Hoping for the best, I continued. When I finished stirring counterclockwise and gave my wand the final wave, I distinctly felt something empty out inside me. My vision blurred in an instant, and a powerful weakness dragged me forward. Just before I fell into the cauldron, James swiftly reached out and grabbed me.

The dizziness, like a bout of low blood sugar, lasted only a few seconds. By the time James steadied me, my head had already cleared. Seeing that the Wit-Sharpening Potion was finished, I hurried to bottle it all.

"You even managed to mess up making a Wit-Sharpening Potion."

As I held the potion bottles, Sirius appeared in the room too. Good grief, how come James had brought the Invisibility Cloak to school so early this time?

"I could make that stuff after watching it done once." Sirius pointed at me as he spoke.

I ignored him outright.

"James." I put the finished potion in a suitcase that had an Undetectable Extension Charm on it. Don't get me wrong: with my current magic, I couldn't possibly cast that spell. I had gone to Gringotts before school started and "borrowed" it, relying on what I remembered from before. Then I hugged James, who stood silently with his lips pressed together.

If there had been an option at that moment, I could finally have done what the system wanted for once.

"M-Merlin?"

James was visibly stunned by what I had done. His formerly tense expression quickly crumbled, and his voice rose in surprise.

"Thank you." I patted his back. "If you hadn't caught me just now, that whole cauldron of potion would probably have been ruined."

"The potion is what you're most worried about?" James immediately reverted to his usual arrogant, flamboyant self. "My family has as much Wit-Sharpening Potion as we could ever want. Is there something wrong with your brain, getting hurt over a low-level potion like that?"

If James could keep his mouth shut, I would definitely like him more than I did now.

"I was just thinking you were actually pretty decent." Speechless, I let go of him. "No wonder Lily doesn't like you."

"What does she have to do with this?" James leaned closer to me, displeased. "Why did you come to a place like this to brew potions in the middle of the night?"

"Now that you mention it, you've reminded me." I looked at Sirius, then back at him. "How did you two end up here?"

At that, both of their expressions turned a little strange. For once, Sirius looked away when I glanced at him, while James looked up at a nearby cabinet and started whistling.

"James, I'm asking you!" I patted his shoulder.

"...I've kept seeing you come this way these past few days, so I wanted to follow you and see."

James's eyes darted around, as if every crack in the floor had suddenly become fascinating. "I didn't mean any harm, I just..." He suddenly faltered, and the atmosphere grew heavy.

"We just came to see what you were actually doing." At the crucial moment, Sirius took over. "You're with those Slytherin creeps every day. Who knows whether you've been involved with Dark Magic or dark wizards?"

"So you followed me?" I gradually tightened my hand on James's shoulder. His brows twisted into a knot, but he didn't protest. He just kept stealing glances at me from the corner of his eye, as if trying to judge whether I was angry.

I really wasn't angry. I didn't care about many things. To me, the most painful thing was that the ending couldn't be changed no matter what. Perhaps I had died too many times, so aside from life and death, everything else was a trivial matter to me.

But that was no reason for them to show such a lack of respect for my privacy.

"If you really were involved with that sort of thing, following you would be the least of it." Sirius leaned against the wall with his arms folded, his voice lazy, as if he were making casual conversation. "We were just ruling out a potential danger. You should be glad we didn't catch you doing anything."

I was certain that this time, I absolutely wouldn't be able to get along with him.

After patiently waiting for Sirius to finish his last word, I raised my fist under James's horrified gaze and punched Sirius in the face without hesitation.

[Author's note]

★Notice★

Some intimate contact requires a certain level of affection. Taking it upon yourself to act too intimately when affection is insufficient can easily make the other person dislike it. Conversely, it will bring your relationship a step further.

As for the options provided by the system? Games always have some choices where picking the wrong one means instant death, don't they?

★Side quest reminder★

*Obtained James's impression: [So the last time Merlin turned me down, it really was only because Sirius was there too. But Sirius is my best friend.]

*Congratulations on achieving James's romance achievement: [Hug]