The next three nights of our detention were spent cleaning various trophies in various rooms of the castle, the others talking whilst I racked my brains for a way to increase the spell to cover every person in the castle. It was so good having Sev and Lily in on the mischief-making; partly because pranking came so naturally to Severus and theoretical knowledge was so easy for Lily, but also because it felt so good to be spending time as one group again.
On the night of our final detention, Severus voiced something that I had been wondering about for a while.
“Do you think it’s a bit strange that none of us started speaking using a magical language?”
I turned to look at him. “I’ve been thinking the same, actually.”
“I wondered Remus...are you weaker in the magical languages? Or do you think it’s a purely random assignment?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah...I don’t know why but I’ve always found the non-magical languages a lot easier,” I admitted. “Maybe it’s just that I started learning them earlier.”
He stared at me thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded and turned back to his work. A few minutes later he turned back.
“Do you think it would work differently if...say...I cast it?”
I smiled; I could see where this was going. “You mean...if the languages would be different?”
He grinned. “Exactly!”
“Only one way to find out,” I hinted.
“Really?” he asked excitedly. “I can try it?”
I nodded. “Of course. Come here, I’ll show you the motion. It’s simple.”
I took his hand in mine and guided his arm through the movements.
“Now just try it with the incantation.”
Severus waved his wand towards us and murmured, “Lingua vicissitudo!”
“Pa iaith ydw i’n siarad?” Peter asked. [What language am I speaking?]
Severus grinned. “Welsh.”
Sirius was quiet for the remainder of the evening. It wasn’t until we got into bed that I realised what was wrong.
“Does Severus know about us?” he asked me quietly.
At first I was perplexed. “Um...I have no idea actually...why?”
He looked away and began to twist a corner of the duvet in his fingers. Suddenly it dawned on me.
“Sirius...are you...are you jealous?”
His cheeks flushed a bright red. He didn’t look up. “It’s just...when you showed him how to do the incantation and everything...” He trailed off, his voice sad and melancholy. “You were holding his hand and I...does he like guys?” he asked suddenly.
“Sirius I’m sorry if that upset you. But I promise you...it was completely innocent. And...well, I don’t know,” I wondered aloud. “I always thought he’d had a thing for Lily - do not tell James that - but maybe...”
We looked at one another for a moment. Then Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry Rem. I’m not accusing you of anything. It’s just...I can’t seem to help but feel jealous over you sometimes. I know it’s crazy...I know I don’t need to. But sometimes...I don’t know. I’m just being stupid.”
I took his hand. “It’s fine. As long as you know that it’s only you that I want. Severus is turning out to be a really good friend. That’s all.”
Author’s note: I used Google Translate for Welsh so if anyone has a better translation for it (or any of the other languages), feel free to give me a head’s up!
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