Go, James!

In the second month of the new school year, I realized that something seemed off.

I was sitting in the library with Lily and Snape. Their first-year coursework was no trouble at all for them, and they were already reading books from later years, occasionally exchanging a few words on paper. I, meanwhile, was expressionlessly throwing paper balls back and forth with Sirius at the table behind me. James was looking around, sticking his head out, and every so often telling us, "Madam Pince isn't over here."

This really isn't right, is it?

Normally, Snape should have fought hundreds of rounds with James and the others by now. In reality, though, whenever they had met over the past month, they had mostly just traded trash talk. It was the same old stuff I'd heard eight hundred times, usually starting with "Isn't this Slytherin's Snivellus?" and ending with "Evans, will you go out with me?" I felt like the other students could probably recite their dialogue by now. It was strange that James never seemed to get tired of repeating it.

What seemed even more remarkable, though, was that aside from asking Lily out, James had hardly done anything to bring them closer. Eventually, his invitations had practically become part of a set script.

Is this guy seriously asking Lily out?

I thought carefully about how things had gone between James and Lily before, then sadly realized that their relationship had progressed differently every time. Sometimes they were already close by their third year; sometimes they seemed to have little to do with each other right up until graduation. Other times, they had already come to blows in their fifth year and practically become enemies.

...So much for relying on experience.

Sirius, on the other hand, had suddenly started talking more trash whenever he saw me, coming up with an endless stream of insults. Several times, we had even cast spells on each other—not curses—and every time, we had ended up losing points. In the past two weeks, we had gotten detention three times. I could even say hello to Filch when I passed him in the corridors now, though he had never once acknowledged me.

Another paper ball landed in front of me. I casually unfolded it and saw the words, "Looks like you've already given up on your final exams? I'm glad I'll get to see you kicked out of school before the first term is even over." I glanced sideways and saw Sirius looking at the extracurricular book in front of me.

"If there's nothing wrong with your brain, you should know we've only been back at school for a month. Instead of worrying about final exams, why don't you look forward to facing your family at Christmas?"

Lately, we had both figured out how to attack each other. Sirius called me a "monster," a "freak," and "great Merlin," among other things, while I spared no effort in paying my respects to his family. I really did pay them respect: I deliberately praised his bloodline, and it sent him into a rage every time.

James had tried to stop us at first, but once he realized we weren't actually fighting anymore, he had simply become a spectator. He still picked on Snape wherever he could, but somehow he seemed more interested in the conflict between Sirius and me.

"Good friends."

When I threw my paper ball over, I accidentally hit Remus on the head. Without looking away, he reached up, caught it, and naturally set it down beside Sirius's hand. It wasn't that Remus didn't care about his classmates; Sirius and I had done this so many times that James and Remus, caught in the middle, had gone from trying to calm us down to watching for entertainment and growing numb, respectively. Both had become our messengers.

Although I didn't know them particularly well, I couldn't have been clearer on what Sirius hated. As soon as he opened the paper ball, I received the notification [Sirius's affection -1], and only then did I lower my head to read, satisfied.

"Rumble-"

I had just turned a page when a low rumble of thunder reached my ears. I looked out the window and saw the once-bright sky visibly darkening. The lights in the library came on one after another, and the next second, rain began to patter down.

It was raining.

Because of the rain, Hogwarts was steeped in gloom that afternoon. The sky was overcast, and everyone I saw along the way was in a hurry.

I loved rainy days. The steady patter of rain against the windows was wonderfully relaxing. I had wanted to leisurely drink hot cocoa and read, but James kept wailing in the common room that he couldn't watch Quidditch practice in the rain. When he started talking about Quidditch for the hundred and eightieth time, I could bear it no longer and decided to leave.

But whenever I had tried to leave early before, James had grabbed me and refused to let me go, saying I "wasn't being a good friend." I needed to find a way to distract him.

I looked around. It seemed I hadn't seen Sirius since we left the library. What a pity.

[James keeps talking about Quidditch...]

[1. Ask James, "If Quidditch and I fell into the water, who would you save first?"]

[2. Play Quidditch on James's head]

[3. Forget it and go to sleep]

I didn't know whether my relationship with Sirius had affected the Romance System, but the options it gave me for other people had also become somewhat violent lately.

"James."

I put an arm around James and looked at him gravely. "We should make sure all our fellow Gryffindors feel the warmth of friendship, especially those who don't have friends. Don't you agree?"

James was a little confused when I suddenly pulled him over, but he nodded. "Right."

"Well, there's a student just like that right in front of you."

I patted his shoulder and pointed at Remus, who was sitting at a table nearby, doing his homework. "Remus Lupin."

"What about Remus?" He looked even more confused. "We get along pretty well, don't we?"

"On the surface, yes," I said seriously. "I don't know if you've noticed, but although Lupin sits with us in class and in the library, he hardly ever speaks and rarely joins our conversations."

Now that I had pointed it out, James realized it too. He immediately fell into thought.

"He walks around with us, which means he wants to be our friend. But he's reluctant to join our conversations, which means he's hesitating, or maybe he's worried."

Then I let go of him and spread both arms wide toward James.

"Now it's time for you to step up! Go, James! Tell him he's welcome, tell him we're happy to talk to him, and go chat with him about Quidditch!"

James was immediately filled with lofty ambition. Without a second thought, he stood up and strode over to Remus.

"Wait for my good news!"

The moment he turned around, I got up and slipped out of the common room.

"Patter, patter-"

The sound of the rain grew clearer once I left the common room, and a damp, herbal scent filled the air. I plunged into the curtain of rain. The feeling of raindrops falling on me was wonderful.

There was hardly anyone out and about at Hogwarts in the rain. I wanted to walk a little farther, so I crossed the Clock Tower Courtyard and followed the covered bridge all the way to the Owlery.

The Owlery was a place I visited often. It wasn't that I liked writing letters so much; I mainly liked the owls. Having been reborn so many times, I always had many secrets weighing on my heart. I couldn't tell anyone about them, but keeping them bottled up for too long would cause problems too, so sometimes I confided in the owls.

Of course, even when talking to the owls, I didn't say anyone's name or describe what had happened. I simply complained, and the owls perched there, watching me with their round eyes.

"...You're a disgrace to the entire Black family now. I can't believe you're still associating with those Mudbloods!"

Unfortunately, I was destined not to renew my acquaintance with the lovely owls today. Before I even reached the entrance, an angry voice pierced the curtain of rain and reached my ears.

Isn't that Narcissa's voice?

The moment I heard it, I turned to leave, but Narcissa came out before I could go.

The rain kept falling, and the atmosphere was less than friendly.

The moment our eyes met, I clearly saw Narcissa's eyes widen in shock. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she glared at me and left without a word.

Strange. I don't remember Narcissa being the type to get embarrassed when caught insulting someone behind their back.

While I was puzzling over it, Sirius came out too. The moment his gaze landed on me, I saw the same look of shock in his eyes as Narcissa's.

He looked at me in silence for a long while before finally speaking.

"...Did you just crawl out of the Black Lake?"

Only then did I realize that I had walked all the way here in the rain and had forgotten what state I was in.

"Got caught in a little rain."

With that, I turned to leave, but Sirius called me back.

"Weren't you coming to the Owlery? You're leaving when you've only just reached the door?"

I was utterly confused. I had no idea how Sirius could even ask that.

"Of course I'm leaving if you're here." I hadn't felt much while I was out in the rain, but now that I had reached a dry place, my hair sticking to my face suddenly felt terribly uncomfortable. I tucked it all behind my ears. "Besides, I just saw a family drama, so I'm giving you some space to be alone and calm down. You should thank me."

Sirius's gaze abruptly darkened. The carefree expression he had worn even when facing Narcissa cracked because of me. I had to admit, it did give me a bit of a sense of accomplishment.

"Come to think of it..."

I continued toward the entrance, and just as I was about to step into the curtain of rain, Sirius's voice came from behind me, lacking its usual lazy tone.

"I've been wondering about this from the beginning. You seem to know a lot about me and the Black family?"

─────

[Author's note]

★Tip★

Once Sirius's [Love at first sight] achievement has been unlocked, even if your relationship appears to be very bad, he will still get jealous if you spend too much time with other people;

However, this will not be very obvious in the early stages.

★Side quest reminder★

*Congratulations on unlocking Sirius's main romance quest-[Black family · 1]