𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄
chapter twelve; The Handwriting test
" He's in love with a girl he's never met! " 

  SIRIUS BLACK RAN towards his dorm with such perseverance, one might think he was off to end the Wizarding War. The boy took the stairs two at a time, he didn't stop to politely squeeze past other students, nor did he seem to care that barging into his dorm was uncalled for as Remus Lupin was currently in just his pants.

  "Padfoot—!"

  "Ah, don't get your wand in a knot, Moony, nothing I haven't seen before," Sirius excused with a bright smile that stayed put as Remus angrily tugged a jumper over his head, "Guess what I've just stolen?"

  "We've talked about this, you can't just swipe things from Slughorn's office—"

  "No, no, it's come in handy this time," Sirius grinned, holding up a stack of parchment, "Dottie and Salem's project, you're welcome."

  "Merlin's beard," Remus mumbled, rubbing his face as Sirius crossed the room to spread the pieces across a desk, "The handwriting test, eh?"

  "That's right," Sirius nodded, faltering to enjoy the doodles that decorated the project, "Do you think Gerard would fancy a date with me?"

  "No," Remus answered bluntly, scratching his stomach as he wandered towards Sirius, "Your first one didn't go very smoothly."

  Sirius pulled his lips to the side at this but said nothing as he reached into the desk drawer.

  "Idiot," He snickered, flipping through a small stack of hand-written notes. The boy pulled one at random, stationing it beside the essay, "Alright, Moony, what's your call?"

  "My call is that handwriting," Remus pointed to the note, "Is that handwriting."

  There wasn't a name on the line he gestured to, so naturally, they were still in the dark. But, this wouldn't remain for long, as Sirius flipped to the cover page to see the girls' names— before halting in his actions.

  "There's no way," Remus excused instantly, "That she'd do this, or that this test has worked."

  "My brilliance has a cost," Sirius mumbled, "And it is whether we tell Prongsie that the girl who's hated us for years is the one he's in love with—"

  "He's not in love with anyone."

  Sirius gave Remus a blank look.

  "He's not that stupid."

  The dorm door creaked open, making Sirius rush to shove the essay into the desk drawer. James gave the duo a strange look as he set down his bag before loosening his tie, tugging off his shoes before saying a word.

  "You two seem a bit odd today."

  "You're not in love with Mystery Girl, right?" Remus blurted.

  James' eyes widened as he shed his button-up, trading his uniform trousers for Gryffindor pajama pants. His face flushed slightly as he ruffled up his hair, before taking a seat on the side of his bed.

  "James—"

  "Maybe not love," James mumbled, "But, um, feelings may arise—"

  "James!"

  "What?!" James yelled back at Remus, more panicked than angry, "I don't know either, mate!"

  "You've fallen in love with a girl you've never met?"

  "Yes, but we play chess!"

  "Yeah, how's that going?" Sirius interrupted, "Who's winning?"

  James grinned boyishly, "I am— though, I swear she's making bad moves on purpose. Not bad enough to end the game, but bad enough to keep it going, you know?"

  "He's in love with a girl he's never met!" Remus shouted, this time at Sirius, "They've written notes for the past month or so— that's it!"

  "I've already told you I'm not in love with her," James said, "I just. . . I could see myself one day being in love with her."

  "You don't even know what she looks like!"

  "Alright, Moony, but at least she's not shouted at me for being happy," James snapped.

  "Because you've never spoken!" Remus continued, in a state of shock and panic, "You can't just go on falling for any girl that's decent to you, James!"

  "If you want to have that attitude, you're welcome to leave."

  "This is just as much my dorm as it is—!"

  "But you're the one getting angry about a situation that doesn't concern you," James said evenly, "So you're the one who can leave."

  Remus shook his head out of anger, tugged on a pair of trousers, grabbed his shoes, and exited the dorm swiftly. Sirius stood in silence for a moment, before climbing into his own bed silently.

  "Do you think it's stupid, Padfoot?" James asked in a near whisper, "That I fancy Mystery Girl?"

  It only hit Sirius then that James didn't fancy Mystery Girl, he fancied Salem. The same Salem that Sirius had found himself wanting to take out on a date, and James had no clue.

  "Nah, Moony's in a bad mood, we argued before you showed up," Sirius shrugged off, "If you fancy her, then you fancy her. Just. . . be careful."

  "I will," James yawned, "I'm taking a nap, wake me up for dinner?"

  "Sure," Sirius agreed quietly, staring into the slowly darkening room as James' snored filled it— his mind far too busy for sleep.

⥊

  Salem felt like a scolded child. She sat in the discomfort of a wooden chair in, what she only assumed to be, Roman Mayes' flat-like housing. The man had been pacing in his living room for ten minutes, without saying a word to the girl after McGonagall suggested they speak privately.

  "You're going to a wear a hole through the floor," Salem said quietly.

  Roman snapped out of his daze at this, standing rigid in the room before crossing it quickly and sitting across from Salem. He linked his fingers before leaning his chin on them, inspecting Salem so closely she began to feel uncomfortable.

  "How did I not see it?" He mumbled more to himself, "You've got my hair— my complexion, as well. But your mother's nose— it's Elizabeth, isn't it? Your mum?"

  "What do you mean 'it's Elizabeth'?" Salem laughed dryly, "You had two kids in that short of a window?"

  "I hope not," Roman breathed out, "Until today, I didn't know I had one kid."

  Salem's face fell slightly, her posture slouching as she began wringing her hands in her lap. Roman pursed his lips, knocked on the table, and pushed himself up— resuming the pacing this time in the kitchen.

  "I'm not mad at you, I want to make that very clear," Roman said, pointing towards Salem, "I'm angry that your mother hid you from me, that you had to grow up without a father, and that you felt like you couldn't just come out and tell me about it— but I'm not angry with you. Nor do I blame you, Merlin, you're still a little girl—"

  "I'm, um, 18—"

  "That's still young, to me, Sally— Salem— Sal— shit."

  Salem stood lightly as Roman buried his face in his hands, facing the cabinets instead of her. She wasn't quite sure what to do, or say, but the words came out before she could stop them.

  "I'm not angry at you, either, for the record," She attempted to smile, though this came out wobbly, "I, um, I was. For a long time. Not that I really knew who you were, I was just angry at my father. My mum told me he, or you, I guess, left when I was a baby. That I shouldn't look for him because he wasn't worth it— I didn't even know your name. I searched my whole time at Hogwarts, only to find you right here. 

  And you turned out to be a really nice guy, which somehow made it worse. I dunno, in some weird selfish part of my brain, I felt like if you'd left me then you'd leave me now, and I wanted to at least know you before that happened. But the more I got to know you, the less I wanted you to leave, and the longer I put off telling you—"

  Roman sniffled and pulled Salem into a tight hug. The girl was rigid for a moment, unsure of how to handle the affection.

  "I'm so sorry," He said, "For what it's worth, I'll be the best damn— darn— dad you've ever seen."

  Salem let out a sad laugh, her emotions bubbling up as she hugged Roman back— and for a second both seemed to forget every external factor. Elizabeth Gerard, who'd hidden them from eachother, Salem's lies that piled up, and Roman's search for meaning in his life that seemed to be over now.

  Because it didn't matter then. All that mattered was that they'd found eachother.

( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
I ALWAYS PLANNED FOR
THEM TO FIND OUT THROUGH
THE HANDWRITING TEST BECAUSE
YOU KNOW THE MARAUDERS 
HAD DUMBASS IDEAS, BUT THEY
ALWAYS ENDED UP WORKINGGG
okay anyways, thank you for reading?
we have 23k reads which is bONKERS
oh also I don't think this'll
be super long, like most of my
fics? Like, there will probably
be somewhere between 20
and thirty chapters? idk!