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Usually Saturdays were Sirius’ favorite days, it was quidditch practice, and then he could just hang out in Hogsmeade, but today, because of the weather, nothing was possible.
The weather wasn’t just bad, it was like a tempest outside. To the point that James had to cancel practice. James. Cancelling practice. It was as if someone told Sirius that his mother was a loving woman, he had better chances at meeting Merlin than this happening.
But the quiddich practice cancelling was happening, and this meant that Sirius was bored out of their mind. Sure it was nice having Remus’ hand going through his hair, while he was reading a book, but it wasn’t occupying him. Plus James and Peter were playing chess so no planning prank for a while.
“I’m bored…” she finally said. Remus’ hair stops briefly in their hair before starting again.
“We know Pads, it’s the third time you said it.” The taller one said. “I offered to read aloud for you if you want to.”
“I know Moony, and I appreciate the offer, but I really don’t fancy reading nor being read to at the moment…” Sirius pouts. “I want to be able to move, but I can’t go outside and Minnie would have my head if I run in the corridors again today.”
“I don’t know what you could do, sorry Love”
“It’s okay, it’s not like it’s your faul- Wait ! I have an idea !” He stands up abruptly, his exclamation causes James and Peter to turn around curious.
“I- I don’t think we can do pranks again this week Sirius” Says Peter hesitantly. “Yeah, we would totally be expelled if we get caught.” James adds.
“No, I know that, this wasn’t my idea… I just saw some first year students going up to the girl dormitory and it made me think… You know how if we try to go up the stairs they turn into slides ?”
“Yes, what about it ?” Remus asks, his curiosity definitely aroused.
“Don’t you think it would be fun to just run the fastest possible up the stairs, so we have a slide and can just slide down over and over !”
“I love the idea !! It’s brilliant !” James nods excited.
“It is a good idea, we just have to check that none of the girls are going down when we are going up.” Remus agrees.
“Can I go first or do you want to start since it’s your idea ?” Peter asks, the game of chess definitely forgotten.
“You can go Pete, You are the fastest runner out of all of us, so we’ll see if my idea works.”
“Thanks Pad !” The small one says before running up the stairs fast enough so he’s already half up before they change into a slide. “That’s awesome !! You guys should really try, it’s really fun !” He says once back down.
“My turn !” Sirius shouts as they run up the stairs. But once on top of the stairs, he realizes something : the stairs didn’t turn.
Sirius feels her face whitening, not knowing how he’s going to explain this to their friends. His brains can’t stop searching for excuses as he goes down the stairs.
“Woaw ! I think we broke the stairs, why didn’t they turn into a slide ?” James' voice gets them out of their head. Sirius takes a breath, happy that James just involuntarily gave him an excuse.
“Maybe the spell fades out ? I mean Hogward’s older than Merlin himself…” Sirius tries to explain, hoping the others won’t push further.
“You must be right…” Remus nods
“Maybe we should go see someone ?” Peter says quietly. “I mean this was made to keep boys out of the girls dormitory, if it can’t do this it should be fixed no ?” He rambles.
“You’re right Pete, let’s go get Minnie !” Says James, giving the rat animagus a slap on the back. Sirius wants to tell them that it’s not necessary, that the spell isn’t broken, but she can’t really do this without explaining to them why it let her go through, and he doesn't really do this. So he goes with them, bringing a skeptical Macgonnagal to check on the spell.
“The spell is still as it was when it was first casted, if Sirius was able to get through it means that the magic had a reason, now, you boys go back to your occupations and stop trying to slide down the stairs.” Sirius really likes the fact that Minnie stopped calling them ‘Mister Black’ since 2nd year, after he came to her. But as glad as he was about that, he really dreaded the question that would follow now that his friends knew that the magic protecting the girls dormitory is still intact.
And without missing a beat, Peter asks the first question. “So… do any of you knows why it didn’t work on Sirius if it’s not broken ?”
Remus shakes his head, and the three teens turn toward their friend, waiting for them to make an hypothesis.
Sirius takes a deep breath before saying, his voice barely louder than a whisper, “I’m not always a boy…”
After a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, James asks, “What do you mean ?” his voice had no judgment in it so Sirius mustered all the courage he had to answer. “I am genderfluid, which means I am not always the same gender, sometimes I feel more masculine, sometimes more feminine, and sometimes neither. Today for example my gender is more a feminine one”
The three boys seem to think about it for a while before Peter asks, “So… should we refer to you as a girl ?”
“I mean you can, it doesn’t really matter to me what you refer to me as… It just really surprised me that Hogwarts’ Magic took up on it…”
“Well, no matter what you identify as, you will always be our friend, or lover in my case, and I find it really brave of you to tell us this. Thank you.” Remus adds.
“Yes, especially since you were kinda forced to do so… Sorry if we pushed by the way” James continues.
Sirius can feel tears gathering in their eyes, he is so happy that their friends accepted her. He doesn’t really knows why he was worried in the first place, but they are really happy they told them anyway, even if it wasn’t really his choice.