The portrait of the fat lady swung open and the warmth of the Gryffindor common room poured out into the October chill. Two young ladies entered together, the first girl laughing, the other silent. Faye Matuszewski paraded herself around the shadowy common room. She stared at herself in a framed mirror, focusing more on the fire in the reflection; however, she didn’t hesitate to focus on her long, brown hair, splitting at the ends. She looked at her blue eyes and black eyelashes, pulling her hair out of her face to see better.
Following her, Rose walked in, staring at the ground, as usual. She dropped her bag on the floor next to a rather elegantly upholstered armchair. She turned to Faye and scoffed.
“Stop it, Faye. You’re so pretentious, and it’s a waste because no one cares.”
Faye glared at Rose’s figure, surrounded by a mass of waist-length black hair. Rose’s dark brown eyes glared back. “You’re just jealous because…” and she was cut off.
“Shut up,” Rose snapped. She grabbed a red quill and started to scribble on the arm of the chair.
“Oh, you and your anonymous poetry,” Faye rolled her eyes and went back to admiring herself.
Before Rose could finish her scrawling, the fat lady opened again with a slight groan. An exasperated James Potter and Sirius Black entered, followed by a sickly looking Remus Lupin.
Faye walked past the boys, running her fingers along Sirius’s lower back. Her long nails gave him the chills, even though the common room was warm as a summer afternoon. He smiled at her, and held back his hands. He didn’t want to touch her, yet. He wanted to see how long she would work at this. She turned on her heel to go back to Rose, but not before she seductively winked at him.
On the other side of the room, Rose was scribbling faster now. She was writing down everything she felt as she stared at the sickly boy before her. He was whispering to James, and repeatedly throwing her hurried glances over his shoulder. He turned as if he were to approach her, and she felt her hand write harder and deeper into the chair. He took a step toward her. She wrote harder into the chair. She looked up at him quickly and noticed that his ashy grey eyes were focused on her trembling arm. She pierced the quill through the fabric. The tip snapped. She dropped the rest of the broken quill and before it could reach the ground, she was out of the chair and walking towards the stairs.
Without a second glance, she started up the stairs. She didn’t turn to see Remus with his hand in the air, attempting to stop her. His mouth hung open, with words unsaid. He walked to the chair, but he couldn’t decipher the scribbles and cuts. All he could make out was the phrase “I’ll love you for the rest of your life when you’re ready.” He smiled to himself reluctantly, because he realized that he wasn’t entirely sure it was about him. He looked up the stairs and saw her shadow against the wall. She was running her fingers through her hair and finally she opened the door and let herself in.
Remus turned around to talk to James once more and noticed Sirius staring out the window with a curious Faye peering at him.
“Cut it, Matuszewski. You’re not going to get anywhere tonight,” Remus said to Faye.
“Just because you didn’t doesn’t mean I won’t,” Faye snapped back. Sirius turned to her and smiled. He was aroused by her persistence. He looked up at the clock and its glittering gold hands. It was nearing midnight. She must have noticed too, because she grabbed Sirius’s hand and pulled his tall figure down to her height. She whispered, “Goodnight, sailor” into his ear before kissing his cheek and walking to her dormitory.
These girls were known for memorable exits.

* * *

Faye walked in and noticed that every girl’s drapes were drawn shut. She immediately walked over to Rose’s bed and pulled the drapes apart.
“Good morning, sunshine!” she giggled.
Rose kept her face pressed against her pillow, trying to ignore Faye. She pretended to be asleep, but Faye knew better.
“C’mon!” Faye pestered. She was getting frustrated. She was going to explode if she didn’t share the details of her latest Black encounter. Faye decided that her best friend was useless and turned to her next option. Orenda and Maria, the other two residents of this room, were out for the night. So Lily was the only remaining inhabitant. She walked over to Lily’s bed, but hesitated to open the drapes. She had never been all too close with Lily and she didn’t want to barge in. However, Faye’s need to talk about Sirius overcame her and she decided to take the polite way out. “Lily?” she questioned to the darkness. “Can I talk to you?”
Lily opened her drapes and smiled, or at least it seemed through the semi-darkness. Lily sat up, cross-legged and invited Faye to do the same. Faye threw her body onto Lily’s mattress. It sank under her weight and she instantly felt comfortable with everything she had to say.
“So I walked into the common room…” Faye was already ecstatic telling her story, and she could tell that Lily was listening intently. “And I’ll cut to the good part. So… Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and James Potter walked in.” At the name James Potter, Lily clenched her jaw.
However, all too soon, Faye was done with this story and onto the next. She talked until the sun was rising. Sometime during the night Orenda and Maria came in, but Faye and Lily didn’t notice. Eventually, Lily and Faye decided they needed to sleep. Faye apologized and made her way to her bed, and soon enough all the girls were asleep.

* * *

Quicker than Faye’s scent had left Sirius’s senses, James rounded about and demanded that Sirius explained what was going on. Remus looked up from the arm of the chair, half-eager to hear this explanation, but more intent on figuring out Rose’s message.
“Well, there was this one afternoon when I was in the Three Broomsticks that I caught her searching through her bag and pockets, but finding herself desperately helpless without the funds to pay for her drinks,” Sirius started. James looked at Sirius half-smiling.
“I’m sure that’s how it went,” James said in disbelief.
“It did. Just let me finish. So the nice guy that I am…” James laughed.  Sirius scoffed and continued. “I paid for her drinks. She was a real sweetheart about it too, blushing all the time, the way girls do. She kept laughing, and I offered to buy her another one. She agreed and we kind of talked, but we didn’t have much time to get to know each other. Since then, we’ve just been smiling at each other all the time, and an occasional touch here and there livens up my days.”
“You’re pathetic,” James said. “And what about your other girls? What about them, does she know? Sirius, this isn’t fair.”
“Okay. One, I’m not pathetic. You’ve been stalking Lily Evans forever.” Sirius didn’t get to finish his thought. James cut him off.
“That’s different! I’m in love with her!”
Remus laughed to himself. “You’ve talked to her, what?, four times? If that?”
“At least I can approach her, Wolfie.”
“I’ve talked to her before, more than you’d know,” Remus retorted.
“Oh, really? How did you meet this lovely lady that you’re far too nervous to talk to?” Sirius questioned. He was suspicious and didn’t believe that Remus had ever approached Rose, or any girl for that matter.
“Well, it wasn’t exactly as suave as your meeting of Faye. In fact, it was far from it. It was rather graceless, if you want to know the truth. It was around finals fourth year and she was leaving the library. She was staring at the ground, the way she always does,” Remus smiled slightly. “And I was being my usual self, carrying books in one arm, and the one I was reading in the other. Of course, I walked right into her. I dropped all my books and immediately asked if she was all right. She knelt down and picked up all my books. She handed them to me and said ‘Remus, everything is all right.’ I smiled and looked away from her. I thought she was adorable right there. She seemed so… interrupted, almost. As if this clashing had torn her day apart. We parted ways, but we had History of Magic together last year, and I’ve seen her all over the place this year. Since the first day, I’ve been… I don’t know.” Remus hesitated on the last three words. He stopped looking at them and stood up, his vision focused on the stairs to his dormitory. “I’m going to bed.” Before the other two could argue it, Remus was headed for the stairs.
Sirius and James looked at each other in a curious way. If Remus hadn’t told them this, what else was he leaving out?
Sirius and James followed the spiral staircases to their sinking mattresses and velvet drapes.