Sirius's Affection -1

I slept soundly until Lily burst through the door and dragged me out of my room-perhaps because I was a character who didn't exist in the original story, I'd been the odd one out when rooms were assigned and ended up with one to myself. When I stepped outside with my hair a mess, I happened to see James coming out too, his hair looking as permanently untidy as ever. He was trying to smooth down a tuft of curls sticking up at the back of his head, but no matter how hard he combed it, it sprang stubbornly back up. Maybe people's heads weren't very clear right after waking up: he repeated the motion dozens of times before noticing me watching him.

[Sirius's affection -1]

I felt like I was pretty much used to it by now.

I looked away and saw Sirius sitting on the common room sofa like he owned the place. He probably hadn't expected me to look over so suddenly. After a moment's surprise, he said mercilessly, "It's such a shame you woke up at all."

Although I'd rarely lived to adulthood, I still counted as a mature adult. Naturally, I didn't take a brat's provocation seriously.

"Bang!"

With a tremendous crash, I grabbed Lily and bolted through the door. Sirius's roar came from behind us.

"Merlin!!"

From the sound of it, anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was passionately praying to Merlin.

"What was that just now?" Everything had happened so fast that Lily hadn't had time to react. I watched her footing carefully and answered with a delighted smile, "Nothing, just a Shrinking Charm. It'll only last a few seconds. He'll be chasing after us soon."

After returning to my room last night, I'd tried some other spells and sadly realized that I could barely maintain even basic magic now. It looked like I'd fit right into this rank from now on.

System, resetting my emotional state was enough. Was there really any need to nerf me?

Just as I'd said, Sirius came charging over two minutes later, bringing his [Sirius's affection -5] with him. Seeing him rush toward me in a fury while James and Remus held him fast on either side, I raised both hands almost immediately and looked at him pitifully. "I'm sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have done that to you. Will you forgive me, Mr Black?"

He hadn't expected me to apologize immediately, leaving him unable to either yell at me or hit me. While he was working up his anger, James desperately pushed him down onto a seat across from us. As he prepared to comfort Sirius, he turned and saw Lily, and what came out of his mouth naturally became an attempt to chat her up. "Morning, Evans. Have you got your timetable? If there's anything you don't understand, you can come ask me."

Lily pulled me two seats farther away.

"Rustle-"

While I had my head down and was eating, a great flock of owls flew in from outside. Only then did I belatedly remember that a plot event was coming up. As I picked up my bread, a red Howler was dropped in front of Sirius. I only glanced up, but he caught the schadenfreude on my face.

[Sirius's affection -1]

He gave me a peculiar look and quickly tore open the envelope. Seeing that, I hurriedly covered Lily's ears.

"Sirius Black! How dare you?!"

Mrs. Walburga's voice rang out over the Gryffindor table with the force of thunder. The older students, who had been discussing why their house had lost ten points overnight, looked over in shock. Even Snape glanced over from the other side, and then he saw me covering Lily's ears.

[Snape's affection -5]

I couldn't help feeling that the way he looked at me had become very unfriendly too.

Sirius remained perfectly calm, as if the letter hadn't been addressed to him. When it ended, he prepared to eat as though nothing had happened, surrounded by all kinds of looks. I didn't know what was going through his head, but he looked up at me.

[Sirius romance event triggered. Normal options temporarily hidden]

[Sirius has received a Howler from the Black family...]

[1. Immediately snatch it away and tear it to pieces]

[2. Jump onto the table and shout, "Everyone, look at me! I have something to say!"]

[3. Mock him]

Why are there romance event side quests too?! Where's my [Forget it, go to sleep]? Give me back my sleep!

There was really nothing I could do now. Apart from [Mock him], I genuinely didn't dare choose either of the other two.

"Getting along great with your family, I see." Although I'd been forced to choose it, I was already well practiced at mocking Sirius. I whistled at him, certain that my smile was two Dracos nastier than James's when he faced Snape. "Young Master Black."

[Sirius's affection -1]

Oh, it had only gone down by one this time. What a huge improvement.

I lowered my head and continued eating my porridge while Lily read out the first-year timetable beside me. I'd taken these classes so many times I could almost recite them backward. Seeing Lily studying the timetable without eating much, I tucked two pieces of bread into my clothes. Since we had Transfiguration with Slytherin, we grabbed Snape on our way out—I hadn't expected [Sirius's affection -1] to come even faster than James's mockery.

"Hogwarts has a hundred and forty-two staircases, and they keep changing direction." Relying on memories honed through practice, I led Lily and Snape to the Transfiguration classroom ahead of everyone else. "Someone's definitely going to be late today."

Going by the pattern, there was a fifty-fifty chance James and his group would be late. They hadn't been late the last two times, so surely they were due for it this time?

Unfortunately, they still made it into the classroom before Professor McGonagall. Seeing James and Sirius trying to squeeze through the not particularly wide door side by side, I couldn't help sighing. "You actually made it on time."

"Disappointed, Merlin." Sirius managed to turn what should have been a question into a statement. We might not exactly have been on loving terms, but at the very least, we couldn't stand the sight of each other. Still, I hadn't expected to earn Sirius's displeasure even faster than I had in Slytherin House. Believing that classmates ought to get along, I tried to keep my tone as friendly as possible. "Not at all. I have complete faith in Young Master Black's brain. I'm sure you can remember the way to the classroom."

I had to say, I'd genuinely meant it, but I still received [Sirius's affection -1].

"Mr Black, do you need me to find you a seat?"

Sirius looked like he wanted to pick another fight with me, but Professor McGonagall had appeared behind him. In the end, he merely glared at me and sat down behind us.

I didn't know if I was imagining it, but Remus seemed to give me an apologetic smile as he passed me.

I didn't think there was anything to apologize for. After all, I was the only one who could see Sirius's affection dropping. If we really looked at what had happened, he'd only insulted me once, and I'd shrunk him for it. However you looked at it, my behavior was worse.

"What are you smiling at her for?"

The whispering behind me made me realize the smile I'd seen hadn't been my imagination. Sirius had started questioning him almost as soon as he sat down, and Remus's familiar, gentle voice replied quietly, "Whatever else, we're classmates."

[After hearing the discussion behind me...]

[1. Slam the table and demand to know why Remus can't smile at me]

[2. Take Sirius's hand, moved, and say, "So you do care about me"]

[3. Forget it, go to sleep]

I didn't even look at the first two options anymore, going straight for [Forget it, go to sleep].

I tapped the paper on my desk with my wand, turning it into a little bird that flew onto Remus's desk. I could hear the three of them immediately huddling together behind me to unfold the note, and then James quietly read it aloud.

"Don't worry, Black can't get the better of me."

[Sirius's affection -1]

Pulling something like that while we were sitting in the first and second rows was practically lawless. I looked up and met Professor McGonagall's eyes. Even when facing Voldemort, I could give a serious assessment of his nose, but getting caught by a teacher while messing around in class still made me feel guilty. I hurriedly began fiddling with the match on my desk.

She stared at my wand for a while—or perhaps she was looking at the paper—and then her expression suddenly softened.

"Just this once," she said.

Sure enough, even Professor McGonagall favored good students.

After introducing Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall had us turn matches into needles. I pushed my match across the desk, intending to slack off until the end of class and transfigure it then. Lily, meanwhile, had already begun earnestly reciting the spell. Almost on her first wave of the wand, the match visibly changed. Although I'd seen it many times, I was still amazed by her talent and couldn't help staring at what she was doing.

By the time I came to my senses, I'd been watching Lily for quite a while. She grew a little embarrassed under my gaze. I didn't think it was a problem, but for some reason, Snape was looking at me very unfriendly.

[Snape's affection -5]

He'd never liked Gryffindor. Understandable.

The match twisted back and forth under Lily's wand, and after another casting, it successfully turned into a needle.

"Miss Evans's match has already changed. She's done very well." Professor McGonagall had noticed the change. "Five points to Gryffindor."

"Lily, you're amazing." Seeing Professor McGonagall move on to inspect the others, I secretly pulled the bread from my pocket. "You've finished the lesson, so have something to eat."

She clearly hadn't expected me to pull out bread just like that. After a moment's surprise, she smiled at me.

"We can't eat in class. Let's wait until it's over." She shook her head, looking at me with bright delight. "Thank you, Lin."

I hadn't expected Lily to address me so affectionately already. I wanted nothing more than to add 100 affection points for Lily in my heart, and immediately pressed the bread into her hand.

"There's still an hour until class ends. It's uncomfortable to sit here hungry." I signaled to Snape, hoping he understood what I was doing. "Don't worry about Professor McGonagall. I'll keep an eye on her for you. Snape will too."

With that, I openly turned around. Professor McGonagall had reached the last row and seemed to be watching two students whose matches were jumping all over their desks. She wasn't paying any attention to us.

"I didn't expect you to be so good at looking after people." James approved of what I was doing, then looked at Lily with some regret. "Why didn't I think to bring Evans breakfast?"

"Oh, please. Even if you had, Lily wouldn't have accepted it." I glanced back a couple of times, but Sirius deliberately shifted to the side, blocking my view. "Do you really have to sit on just half your chair like that?"

Sirius was really getting on my nerves. He was only sitting on half the seat now, and sitting like that, he looked like he could fall off at any moment. He'd rather inconvenience himself just to torment someone else. For a moment, I didn't know whether to be annoyed or marvel at his childishness-though, actually, he was indeed at a childish age right now.

"Don't use Evans as an excuse." Sirius glanced at me. "I think you just can't do a Transfiguration Spell, so you're deliberately distracting yourself."

Hey, Sirius was actually looking down on me!

[Sirius says I can't do a Transfiguration Spell...]

[1. Slump to the floor and say, "I can't. So what?"]

[2. Run crying to the others and tell them Sirius is bullying me]

[3. Forget it, go to sleep]

I thought they might as well do away with the options from now on. I was only ever going to choose [Forget it, go to sleep] anyway.

I swiftly turned the match in my hand into a needle, then held it up and waved it in front of Sirius.

"Who's the one who can't do it now?"

[Sirius's affection -1]

Seeing Sirius's face instantly darken, James laughed out loud without a trace of brotherly loyalty. So Sirius marked me down for another [Sirius's affection -1]. He was so petty. I really wished he'd learn from James.

"It's just the most basic Transfiguration Spell." He turned the match on his desk into a needle, though the look in his eyes suggested he'd very much like to stick it in mine. "How did someone like you even get into Gryffindor?" His undisguised, disgusted gaze swept over me. "I think you belong with that lot in Slytherin."

At that, both James's and Remus's expressions changed a little. I guessed telling a Gryffindor they were like a Slytherin was probably as insulting as telling a Chinese person they were Japanese. But I'd been through all four houses, so I simply shrugged at Sirius. "I'm here, and you can't send me to Slytherin."

[Sirius's affection -1]

Sirius pressed harder and harder against the desk. Finally, he slapped it and made to stand. James and Remus both reached out to grab his arms, but the two of them had clearly forgotten they were on the same side. As a result, the moment Sirius got up, they pulled him off balance. I didn't have time to wipe the look off my face (?) before he struck me head-on.

"Bang!"

With a considerable crash, the desks and chairs were completely overturned. By the time Professor McGonagall came over, Sirius and I had fallen into a heap on the floor.

"What happened?" Professor McGonagall stared in surprise at the two of us sprawled on the floor. One look at her expression told me something was wrong, and sure enough, the next moment she spoke mercilessly.

"Mr Black, not only will you lose five points for disrupting class, you will lose another ten for bullying a classmate."

Luckily, the points being deducted had nothing to do with me. I was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when I suddenly realized something was wrong—I was a Gryffindor too! Weren't they still our points he was losing?! Couldn't he go independent on his own?

"Lin, are you all right?"

Lily tried to pull me up. I was grimacing in pain, and Sirius wasn't doing much better. When he fell onto me, his legs had knocked over a desk, leaving us in an extremely awkward position on the floor, our legs tangled with the desk. Sirius tried several times to get up without success. Finally, he steeled himself and gave a hard yank. The result was that he pulled me down to the floor with him again.

"Was that necessary?" My head struck his chest, and for a moment I thought I heard a bone crack. "You'd break your own leg just to make me fall?"

We were a little too close together. Sirius drew back, his expression changing repeatedly before he finally forced out a few words, his face twisted.

"...I think my leg's stuck."

[Author's note]

★Notice★

When a romance event is in progress, normal options will not be provided, in order to ensure the most immersive experience possible.

When following Lily's route, be sure to balance your relationships with James and Snape, or they will have an extremely poor impression of you.

★Side quest reminder★

*Congratulations on earning the Lily romance achievement-[Thank you, Lin]