So um…I don't own any of the good characters…they all belong to JK Rowling and warner bros and all that jazz…It kinda sucks really, I mean when you think about it. I don't get anything good.
Author's Note So, I know that some of the things in here don't work with some of the suff JK writes, but just let a girl dream okay?
PART 1
Autumn Sommers was a young girl of eleven years when she was first told of Hogwarts by her mother. She had gotten a letter one day in the summer before the start of school informing her of her acceptance to the well-known school for witchcraft and wizardry. Her mother had been a witch as well. One from a wizarding family and attended Hogwarts in her time, as well as Autumn's older sister. Her father though had no idea that his wife and two daughters were out of the ordinary in any way.
Autumn was seventeen now and starting her last year at Hogwarts and had been to her surprise nominated as Head Girl. She was of course a prefect for the previous two years which she thought was going to take a lot of fun out of her social life with the kids she hung out with. Though she still managed to go adventuring and sneaking around. She had the most awesome friends in her eyes. There was Lily Evans, a beautiful ginger haired girl the same age of course, she was tall and slender with amazingly green eyes. James Potter, a tall very handsome young man with very untidy black hair that was never going to be tamed no matter what he did to it, and thick glasses. Lily and James had been together for the past few years. They of course were the couple that was going to get married and have a son. That was what they wanted. Of course they wanted more kids, but they decided a son would be first. There was Sirius Black; another tall well built young man. He too had dark hair but no glasses to cover his amazingly bright blue eyes. Peter Pittigrew, a short stubby kid. He wasn't very handsome but he had a seemingly nice personality. He was very wary though of going against the crowd. He always followed what everyone else did, and didn't fit in too well with the group but they accepted him and that was all that mattered to him. And Remus Lupin, Just like James and Sirius, he was tall strong and handsome. He had light gray eyes that drew Autumn every time she looked into them. He (though no one knew it but her) was the object of Autumn's affection. She had liked him for the past year, but had never summoned the courage to tell him. She was determined this year though. Why shouldn't she? He had been complaining that no girls ever liked him nor would they if they knew what he was.
Remus was a werewolf. Their whole group had known since second year, they didn't care though he was still Remus. There was no changing him from the boy they knew from school. He was funny, adventurous, smart, (as they all were), sweet caring and a very good friend. Out of the guys Autumn was closer to Remus. They would spend hours doing nothing but talking over the summer about what life was like away from school. They had gone out as friends plenty of times just the two of them but nothing ever happened. While watching television or movies at Autumn's house, they could sit for hours holding one another closely, but only as friends.
So as the taxi made it's way slowly to Kings Cross Autumn smiled to herself and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and memories of the first day she met him came flooding back.
Autumn lugged her heavy trunk by herself onto the train. She looked everywhere for a friendly face to sit with, as she knew no one. She looked in the windows of all the compartments and saw finally a girl her age alone. She had bright ginger hair and her nose buried in a book. Autumn worked her way into the compartment.
"May I sit in here with you?" she asked politely.
"Yes! Of course." The girl said sweetly looking up from her book.
Autumn set her trunk down gently as her owl, Maximus, was in a cage on top of it. "I'm Autumn Sommers." She said extending her hand to the girl who was now standing up to greet her.
"Lily Evans." The girl said accepting the handshake. "Are you from a wizarding family?" she asked sweetly.
"My mum's a witch, so's my sister. She graduated from Hogwarts two years ago. My dad isn't though. He's a muggle."
"That's cool." But before she could say anymore. Three boys came bursting into their compartment making as much noise as they possibly could.
"Man I really don't like that Snape kid." Said one with particularly messy hair and glasses.
"He's a jackass. The world's full of them James." Said another who was slightly taller, and with the same color hair but not as messy.
"He's got it in for us already and we just met the guy. He's definitely going in Slytherin." Said the third.
They all turned and saw the girls standing confused in the center of the compartment.
"Sorry," the one with the glasses said. "Everywhere else is full. D'ya mind?"
The girls shook their heads. There was an odd silence.
"I'm Autumn." She said breaking the silence and offering her hand to the kid with the glasses. She had never been a shy one. "Autumn Sommers."
"James, James Potter." He said with a smile accepting her handshake just as Lily had done seconds earlier.
They all introduced themselves and the train jerked forward suddenly as they all stood in the center of the room. Autumn was shaking hands with Remus at the time and they stumbled and fell to the ground. He had amazingly quick instincts and turned so she would land on him not him on her, since she was obviously the lighter of the two. It also saved her from hitting her head on the ground. She did manage to hurt her wrist though. So when they stood he examined it closely.
"Looks broken." He said with a sympathetic look. Everyone else rubbed or patted her back in sympathy. She gave a weak smile and held back the tears. She knew it was broken, and she didn't want to cry. She had to be strong. "I don't know how to mend them, but here..." he took out his wand and a bandage began to wrap itself around her arm and a stick to make an impromptu splint. "That'll have to do until we get to the castle, some one can mend it there I suppose. Does it hurt at all?"
"Yea. It hurts a lot." She said honestly.
"Well, I don't know what to do about that."
"You should sit down though before anything else happens." James said.
"Yea, come over here and rest." Lily agreed.
Though she could walk, Remus and Sirius helped her to a chair because she was weak. She was putting all her energy into not crying.
"You need to keep that elevated." Sirius said as he and Remus sat on either side of her. Remus agreed with a nod and put her arm back above his shoulders.
"There that ought to do. It's above heart level. It oughtta be fine."
Autumn jumped when she realized the taxi had stopped. The driver was already at
the trunk pulling her luggage out. She grabbed Maximus' cage and hopped out of the taxi as quick as possible. She paid the driver and thanked him. Then hurried into the station. She got a cart and walked with it casually right through the solid brick wall between platforms nine and ten.
"OI! AUTUMN!" She heard a familiar voice call. "Over here!" She looked over and saw Sirius waving her onto the train.
She caught up with him and he took her trunk and helped her onto the train. The were soon settled into the compartment with everyone else.
"I saved you a seat right between me and Remus. For old times." He said smiling.
"As long as I don't have a broken arm again." Autumn said laughing. Ever since the first time on the train they have sat in the same order for the beginning of the train ride. They greeted one another with hugs. Even Sirius hugged Autumn since he hadn't had the chance. What struck her is she got a kiss on the cheek from him and Remus.
Once the train was moving, Arthur Weasly and his girlfriend Molly came in to talk for a while. Autumn and Remus gave them their seats to be kind. They sat on the floor. Autumn's legs were crossed over Remus' and Remus had his arm around her back. The two sat engulfed in their own conversation since they were in the corner away from the other conversation.
The compartment door slid open revealing Severus Snape and Lucius Malfoy. Also in their seventh year they were the group's worst enemies. "I see you finally found a girl brave enough to like you Remus. Or is that because she is like you on the inside as well?" Snape said evilly.
"Can it Severus." Autumn said sourly. "No one wants to listen to you nonsense."
"I do think Remus can speak for himself girl."
Autumn stood up in defense of her friends. "Excuse me but you know my name. Do not ever call me girl. Or perhaps your brain capacity has exceeded its very small limit and you were not able to recall that my name is Autumn. Whatever the case, I am sick of you both and your incessant arrogance. You are slimy, you are foul and you are gross. Now get out of our sight." She said as Remus stood up behind her and held her arms at her sides.
"Well, girl I do recall your name but I wish not to speak it. The putrid sound of the name of a half-breed makes me want to vomit." Malfoy said reaching into his robes for his wand. "And as for your friend that you so carefully defend, he can step forward and defend himself or is he too frightened?"
"I am not scared of either of you. Now what do you want other than to annoy and insult us with your very presence. As Autumn said, nobody wants to hear anything you have to say because you are both slimy self absorbed assholes."
"Say that again I dare you Lupin!" Snape said stepping up with his wand in hand.
"You are both slimy self absorbed assholes." He repeated.
They both pointed their wands at Lupin, but Autumn reacted quickly. She punched Malfoy across the face, which knocked him backwards, and his elbow hit Snape in the jaw. Snape's wand flew out of his hand striking Remus in the forehead as blue sparks spat out of it, leaving a gash about four inches long where it hit.
Malfoy put his hand to his nose to find that it was now bleeding, and Snape picked his wand up from where it lay on the ground. "You will get yours girl." Malfoy said pinching his nose. They left and the whole compartment stood smiling. Autumn turned to Remus and conjured a cloth out of her wand. She wiped the blood away then led him to the lavatory at the end of the car. She sat him down and began to clean out his wound.
"Hopefully we won't be seeing much of them for a while." She said as she poured peroxide from her wand onto his gash. He flinched. "Sorry, sorry. Here-" she said she began to blow gently onto the bubbling fluid. As she held the cloth above his eyebrow to stop it from dripping into his eye.
"I never knew you could punch like that." He said softly trying to not think of the pain.
"Eh, it's all in the quidditch practice. Being a chaser has its advantages. Works out the arms a lot." She smiled and kneeled to get down to his level. "Besides, no one messes with my friends. Especially ones as special as you." Though she was still looking him in the eye she held her wand to his forehead and muttered an incantation to heal his wound.
"Thanks." he said blushing.
"Ah it was the least I could do. I basically caused it." She said not looking away from his wandering eyes.
"No I mean about what you said."
"Oh!" she laughed a bit. TELL HIM!!! Her mind said. "It was only the truth." She said softly. They looked one another in the eye for a long while and she leaned in slowly.
There was a loud knock on the door that startled them both. They jumped and knocked heads.
"Can you guys hurry up?" they heard Peter's voice from outside. "I really gotta go." They both laughed and stood up. They squirmed and squished to turn around in the lavatory as it was very small and made for only one person. Autumn opened the door and stepped out.
"I told you that you shouldn't have had all that iced pumpkin juice before you got on the train." She said patting him on his round head. Remus followed her out smiling. They entered the compartment to applause from Lily, Sirius, James, Arthur and Molly. They smiled and bowed.
"What I wouldn't give to have punched him instead of you Autumn." Arthur said. Molly gave him a stern look but she felt the same way.
"You just better watch out." James said.
"The funny thing is though." Said Sirius. "In all the years we've known you, you have never been violent towards them. You have always tried to kill them with kindness. What has gotten into you?"
Autumn smiled. "I guess I got sick of it. Plus I didn't know what they were going to do with their wands. They just thought I was a pushover and I was sick of it. So I decided to show them what I really am."
"I hope you don't lose your title as head girl though." Said Molly sweetly.
"I doubt it. They'd be too afraid to tell anyone that a girl hit them." Laughed Arthur.
"What's wrong with that?" Lily asked.
"Absolutely nothing."
The rest of the group went on talking, and Remus slipped his arms around Autumn's stomach, hugging her from behind. This though was nothing new. They constantly stood holding one another like this. There just seemed to be a bit more pleasure in the way his arms slid so slowly and gently around her.
As the train continued on rain poured down heavily. The sudden storm though couldn't dampen the spirits of the new seventh years at Hogwarts. Autumn and Remus had taken their seat in the corner Autumn resting her head on Remus' shoulder and his head on top of hers. Molly and Arthur were still chatting away about their summer and it didn't bore the rest of the group one bit.
Night had fallen and they had all changed into their proper robes. The train would be arriving at the station any moment now. The train began to slow and Autumn lifted her head disturbing Remus from his nap.
"Sorry." She said with a whispered laugh. He smiled and rubbed his eyes. "We're slowing. You were going to have to get up anyway. Besides I thought that you and I should share a carriage this year since the rest of the gang is so enthralled by the fact that Arthur took Molly to Egypt this summer. Plus we won't all fit. The six of them could fit snuggly in one if they wanted to."
"What are you playing at?" he asked as a smile spread slowly across his face.
"I want to get you alone and all for myself." She said only half joking. "I want to have wild sex with you and no one is going to stop me."
"Oh really?" he asked laughing as he was used to this sort of teasing. "Well why don't we start now?" He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. He and Autumn were always teasing each other in this way. Though neither of them knew the seriousness the other had put in the subtext. "You can have me. Seeing as I don't see a line for anyone else waiting to jump my bones."
"That's because I've scared them all away Moony. You know I hate it when you insult yourself like that." She lowered her voice so only he could hear. "Just because you are what you are doesn't mean some wonderful girl isn't going to come along and sweep you off of your feet."
"Yea but how would I tell her?"
"Maybe she'd take a lucky guess."
"What if she got frightened and ran away after that. Autumn get serious no one would ever want to marry me."
"Fine. Be difficult and sulk in your own little puddle of cry. But just do one thing for me first." She said removing the ring that she wore on her left ring finger.
"Anything." He said pulling her tighter against him.
"Marry me." she said holding up the ring. It wasn't a question it was a demand. She smiled.
"Only you!" he said laughing. "Yes fine, I'll marry you. Again." He took the ring and slid it as far as it would go on his finger, as his was much larger than hers was. "I do." He said smiling.
"I do." She looked up at him and they kissed gently on the lips. As this was tradition for every time they got married. He handed the ring back to her.
"We really need to get that ring sized."
"Did the two of you get married again?!?!" asked Sirius when he saw their friendly kiss.
"Yea." Remus said laughing.
"Hey, when are the two of you actually going to hook up?" Arthur Weasly asked. "Everyone sees the attraction but you two."
"That's cause they play it off like they like one another. That's just the way they are." James said casting it off as a normal thing. He was partly right they had acted like that since they'd met.
They all made their way to the carriages and Autumn and Remus stayed behind purposely because they knew that they would all want the same carriage. They stood outside the full one in the pouring rain as everyone else tried to find room.
"No! It's fine!" Remus assured them. "Autumn and I will take the next one. Where's Wormtail?" he asked looking into the carriage through squinted eyes.
"I'm right here. I'll jump in the carriage with you two." Peter said running up behind them. The first carriage took of and the three of them had to run to the end of the line to find an empty one. They all climbed in and Autumn sat across from Remus and Peter. "Man it's really coming down out there." Peter said trying to wipe some of the water off his robes.
"It's Freezing too. Who would have thought this type of storm could come in the summer!" Autumn exclaimed shivering.
"Oh goodness!" Remus exclaimed. He moved over and sat next to her as he un-clasped his cloak and laid it ontop of Autumn. "There that ought to warm you up a bit."
"Thanks Moony." Autumn said smiling. "But now you're going to be cold."
"Nope I can always share." He snuggled up next to her and pulled some of the cloak over him. Peter laughed.
"What?" both Autumn and Remus chimed at the same time.
"Nothing. I just wish I could have as good a friendship as you guys have. I mean it's great to see you two so close. I just realized I need to find someone that can give me that kind of protection that you two give each other."
"Jeez you make it sound so serious. We're just trying to warm one another up." Remus said laughing.
"Yea, I guess." Peter said sort of sounding disappointed.
They sat for a while in silence till Remus poked Autumn in the side. She was very ticklish and he loved to catch her off guard and tickle her. If not she wasn't ticklish but once he had her going there was no stopping it. He stopped there though because there wasn't enough time or room to initiate a full-fledged tickle war. But he couldn't wait to get her in the common room and start a tickle/pillow fight. They hadn't had one in forever. He just needed James, Sirius, and Lily to join.
Autumn looked over at Remus she knew what he was getting at. He was going to start some sort of war tonight. This was going to be good.
After the feast, Autumn lead the new Gryffindors to the common room, and showed them where to go to get to bed. Most of the younger students were quite happy to hear the word "bed" and so were some of the older students. But at around midnight there was no one left but their group. Peter was in Hufflepuff so he wasn't present, but James, Sirius, Remus and Lily were there.
The common room door swung open and Professor McGonagall strode into the common room. "Miss Sommers Follow me." She said in a very professional tone. "The rest of you up to your dormitories."
They all said a quick goodnight and split up. "Now, since you are Head Girl you have a private room this year." McGonagall said softly. Then she walked up to a large painting of a very handsome young man. "Wolfsbane" she said aloud, and the portrait much like the fat lady swung open to reveal a staircase. You alone may change the password, but you must report it to me whenever you do change it. Goodnight. You will find all your things have already been brought up. You may customize the room as you wish in a temporary fashion. Congratulations, Miss Sommers. But do be careful and don't step out of line and go adventuring too much this year. That almost lost you your running last year. And Good luck on the Quidditch field this year." The professor said happily.
"Thank you, Professor. Thank you very much." Autumn smiled and said goodnight and let the portrait swing closed. She made her way slowly up the stairs. She entered a small hallway with three doors when she got to the top. One was labeled "Dormitory" one was labeled "Washroom" and the other "Toilet"
"Wow, they must really like you! You even get your own toilet!" she heard James say from behind her.
"How'd you guys get in?" she asked when she saw the whole group standing behind her.
"Eavesdropping does come in handy." Said Sirius. "Now lets find out what your current dwelling looks like." He opened the door labeled "Dormitory" and the group swelled inside.
Autumn's eyes opened in amazement at the beauty of the room. There was one large Four-poster bed at the far wall on a platform that had three steps leading up to it. There was plenty of room to walk around on the platform, as there was a nightstand on the right side of the bed. The scarlet carpet on the platform looked as if it was brand new. It was trimmed in gold. The large fluffy comforter on the bed matched except in the center there was a large Gryffindor crest. The bed frame was made of mahogany to match the red of the room. Autumn's trunk was at the foot of the bed and stood open. She saw very few things inside anymore. To their right there was a grand mahogany wardrobe next to two large mahogany doors, which had to lead to the closet. As there was another door next to it that was most likely the washroom. Outside of the wardrobe hung her scarf and tie. Folded on the chair next to it was her sweater, shirt and skirt. Though she had many others the house elves chose to set out what she was to wear tomorrow.
To the left there was a great desk made of course out of mahogany to match the rest of the room. All her books and quills and parchment lay neatly atop it. Next to the desk was a rack that held her brooms. Yes she had two brooms. Two of the fastest brands. Her quidditch robes hung next to that.
Next to the desk was a dressing table with a large mirror. All of her makeup and hairbrushes and jewelry and things of that sort had been placed there.
The ceiling was high above them, the windows were large and there was a seat in one of them. The one that was on the bed platform. There were gold sheer curtains hanging from that window and the rest were uncovered.
"This is awesome!" Remus said. "I want to be head girl!" Everyone looked at him and laughed. "No really this bed is huge. If it is any better in comfort than mine I'm sleeping in here." He ran up the steps and plunged himself on the large bed. Pillows flew everywhere. There were at least ten.
"PILLOW FIGHT!!!!!!" Sirius yelled as he lunged at one of the pillows. The pillow fight began with everyone scrambling for a pillow and ended after a long while with them all piled on the bed out of breath, feathers flying everywhere.
"We'd better get going. We have an early start tomorrow." Lily said rolling off the bed. Her and James said goodnight and left the room.
"Man, We need to do that more often." Said Sirius following close behind.
Remus though didn't move from where he lay with his head on Autumns stomach. After he heard her breathing slow to normal, he reached up ever so slowly and poked her in the side. She squealed. He had done it, now the fun began. The two of them rolled and grabbed and tickled and hit with pillows until they tired once again.
Autumn walked Remus to the door once they had both calmed their breathing again. They held hands in a flirty way swinging their arms high as they laughed about the occurrences of the night and made their way across the scarlet carpet that also bore the Gryffindor crest. "I love you Mystic." Remus said halfway across room. (Mystic was her nickname as Moony was his.)
"And I you Moony." She said as they release the grip on one another's hands. They made it to the door and Autumn smiled. She was used to saying and hearing the words, as it had become custom between the two. Moony pulled her in to a large embrace before she could even react. She was used to the hugs as well, but not like this. Not so long, not so big.
"Goodnight." He said once they had separated. He reached for the door handle and pulled it open. "Congratulations Head Girl." He leaned in and kissed her gently on the cheek, then left the room closing the door softly behind him.
Autumn smiled bashfully and turned to look at her room. Covered in pillow feathers and the bed was a mess. She pulled her wand from her robes.
"Cuartus Reparo" she said pointing her wand into the room. The room repaired itself in seconds.
She walked over to the dressing table and smiled into the mirror as she checked to make sure she hadn't looked horrible.
"Face it honey," the mirror said, "you fancy him."
Autumn laughed and then went into the lavish washroom and took a long bath that was filled in many different colors and shapes and scents of bubbles.
Maybe. Remus thought to himself. Just maybe. He leaned against the door to Autumns bedroom right after he'd closed it and was still there pondering about the new sensation that he got when he was around her. For some reason he was attracted to her romantically. But they were just friends. There was no way that romance would work between the two of them. Besides with him being what he was and all. There was no way she would go for him that way. He just kept thinking about what it would be like to feel her lips pressed against his. His hands running through her hair as their tongues danced in- NO! She was just his friend. Nothing more. He shook the vision of them out of his head and made his way back to his dormitory.
Remus plopped onto his bed after he changed for sleep and lie above the cover staring at the ceiling thinking once again about Autumn. What is it? There is something there that I've never known before. She isn't acting any differently. Remus re positioned himself on the bed, finally pulling the covers up around him. But what about earlier on the train, we almost kissed. Was that my doing or hers? Remus fell asleep after a long session of pondering.
He awoke the next morning to James punching him playfully in the back. "Come on Moony, we're going to miss breakfast!"
"Shove it Prongs." Remus said rolling over so James couldn't get to his back anymore.
"It's only your fault. You were in Mystic's room forever last night." Sirius chimed in.
"We'd only started pillow fighting again. I left right after that." He smiled to himself as he stood up and began to get dressed. "Hey Padfoot, throw me my tie will you?" he asked. Sirius tossed the tie across the room and it landed on his head.
"Man!" Sirius exclaimed. "Herbology this early!" They had just gotten their schedules and they all had Herbology right after breakfast. "With the Slytherins! What a wonderful way to start our day. We all have transfiguration after that right? Thank god it's with Hufflepuff." It doesn't get too bad until I have divination after lunch though. You're still taking that class right Autumn?"
"Unfortunately. I have Arithmancy right after that. Then Astronomy after dinner. Remus you still taking that?"
"Yea, I have to keep up on my study. After all the moon controls my life right?"
"Sure kid. If you let it. Work around it." Said James.
"I swear we really need to find some sort of potion that will help that. Not cure it or anything but keep you civil so to speak." Lily said taking a mouthful of toast.
"Hey Padfoot, look who it is." James said nudging Sirius' elbow with his own.
Sirius glanced up from his food in time to see Willow Birch walking past on the other side of the table. His eyes swelled open. If possible she had grown more attractive over the summer. He almost choked on his toast. Willow took a seat almost directly across from him at the Gryffindor table. Her long dark hair fell graceful over her shoulders as she reached for some pumpkin juice.
"Morning Willow" Autumn said from her seat next to Sirius, which snapped him out of his trance.
"Morning is right." She said with a laugh. "How was your break Autumn?"
"Uneventful and peaceful. Yours?"
"The same. Although I did manage to go to America to visit my cousin Allison which was awesome. Hello Sirius." She said when she noticed him there.
"Hey." He said shocked that he'd been recognized.
"How was your holiday?"
"Eh, well, it erm..."
"He spent the whole thing with me playing quidditch in my yard." Remus said
rescuing him from embarrassment.
"How exciting. Why didn't you guys invite me?"
"You were in America remember?" James said jokingly.
"What are your classes this year?" Sirius asked once he got his thoughts together.
"I have Herbology first, then transfiguration. Then I have Muggle studies and care of magical creatures."
The days at Hogwarts passed slowly and carelessly. Most uneventful, except for every full moon when Remus would disappear without many people knowing. The group though knew exactly where he went. The Shrieking shack, and would most times follow. As they had all become animagi. Which their names originated from. Mystic the Unicorn, Padfood, a large black hairy dog, Prongs the stag, Tails the ginger cat was Lily, Wormtail a rat, and moony of course was the werewolf. The werewolf was only a danger to humans of course so when he was in wolf form the others transfigured to be with him. They'd done it as a surprise for him once and it seemed to keep him more sane, more, human.
Autumn entered the common room with her bookbag, and arms full of books shed checked out on different magical creatures for an essay in Care of Magical Creatures. She had to write about the different positions in society. She was also loaded down with some on different potions books because she and Lily were working on a potion for Remus.
The rest of her group was around the room somewhere. All waiting for Autumn to come back so they could all go up to her room. She walked past them straight to the portrait. "Merlin's Beard" she said and the portrait swung open.
The rest of the group followed her up as she expected. Along with Willow who had become a newly adopted member.
The room had been changed. The ceiling was bewitched to look like the night sky. Like the Great Hall but the weather was always clear and it even showed the stars during the day and the moon was never full. Autumn dumped her books on the desk and collapsed on the bed.
"Man I am so exhausted."
"You can't be exhausted. It's Halloween!" Willow said enthusiastically.
"Is there a law against being tired on Halloween?" Autumn asked sarcastically. "I
can't wait till the feast though. There's supposed to be some sort of announcement. I'm not sure what but they say its big."
Remus plopped down next to her. "I hate to ask this but how's that potion coming?" Autumn looked at him and growled in a playful way. "I was just kidding I didn't really want to know."
Autumn reached for a pillow and hit him over the head with it. "I'm never too tires for a pillow war."
"Oh Wait! Willow's never been a part of a pillow war with us." Sirius yelled.
"Who cares?! There are no rules, just grab a pillow and hit people!" James said
hitting Lilly over the head.
Right as he was about to hit Willow for about the eighth time Sirius caught a glance at his watch. "Man! We're late!" with that he tossed the pillow over at Remus and dashed out of the room. Everyone else followed. The Halloween feast was not one easily missed by that group. Willow stayed behind to help Autumn tidy up.
"That Sirius is a strange one!" She said laughing.
"Yea, and you barley know him. He has an unusual talent for conning people, handsome good looks, and his father's 'baby blues'. Toss that in the bowl with his constantly planning mischief personality, surprising intelligence with his crazy imagination, and misleading grin and you've got the ticking time bomb that is Sirius Black. That boy is going to cause some trouble when he is older. I know it." Autumn said laughing. "What am I saying? He causes trouble now! Just last week Professor Sprout took twenty points from Gryffindor when he tried to re-pot his mandrake by forming a pot around the other pot. Needless to say the whole thing exploded when he realized his pot wasn't mandrake safe and the thing started crying. Broke four windows in greenhouse three!" Willow laughed. "But we love him. We all know how sincere he can be. He's a good guy really he is. Just a little too much like me in my younger years. That is how I got caught up with these guys." She said as she fixed up the pillows with a wave of her wand. "But what suddenly sparked your interest in our group. Didn't you used to hang out with Theresa Therwood?"
"Yea until I got bored. None of them had any sense of adventure and I'd always liked you guys. So I decided to try it. And Here I am. I hope you guys don't mind me barging in like this."
"Yea we all hate you." Autumn said as they walked out the door. "I'm kidding. You're the only one that has ever been involved in one of our pillow fights. Not Even Peter has been. I mean I'm sure he would be if he were in Gryffindor with us but he's not." She said as the exited the portrait hole. "I'm guessing you have been accepted as a Marauder. There's only one small problem though..."
"What's that?" Willow asked as Sirius sped down from the boy's dormitories crashing directly into Autumn.
"SIRIUS BLACK! Now what have I told you about running in the hallways?" Autumn yelled in a disapproving tone.
"Only run into people you don't like and be sure to knock their books out of their hands. If you don't succeed in knocking the books out of their hands, fall to the floor taking them with you. Then get up and run away quickly before they realize who it was." He said in a very bored tone as if he's said it millions of times.
"Right you are. Shall we?" Autumn said gesturing towards the common room door.
They made it to the feast just as Professor Dumbledore started the announcements.
"If Mr. Black, Miss. Sommers, and Miss. Birch would kindly take their seats quietly I will get on with the announcement." Dumbledore said as they entered in a fit of laughter as Sirius had just sent a piece of chewed bubblegum fly up Peeves' nose.
"Sorry Professor, Peeves held us up." Autumn said with a snort of laughter.
"Right. Take your seats." They all sat down holding back the laughter as best they could.
"What was that about?" James asked in a hushed voice.
"Tell you later." Sirius answered with a small bit of quiet laughter.
"As I was saying, this year at Hogwarts we have a special treat. If you noticed on you list of school supplies, dress robes were required. Long explanation short. Our school is hosting the traditional Magical Mixer. Where Students from our sister schools, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will arrive on the first week of winter holidays, where we will have a feast in honor of their arrival. One week is allowed for students to get to know one another and the next week the night before they leave for their home schools a ball will be held in honor of their departure. No one is forced to stay over the holiday, although if you wish to attend you must. Oh! And you do not need a date. This Ball happens once every fourteen years, just to have a bit of fun. Now, tuck in!" With a wave of his hands their plates were filled with mouthwatering foods.
"If I would have known those dress robes were for a ball I would have gotten something better. I thought we were going to have a burning of some sort." Sirius joked as he dove into his candied yams. "You'd think they'd have a better name for it. 'Magical Mixer' now if that isn't the corniest thing I've ever heard. Oh! Garlic potatoes!"
"Lily is so my date." James said laughing.
"As if Id go with anyone else." She said smiling. The leaned in a kissed each
other lightly on the lips.
"Yea, James I am going to tie you up and Lily is going to the ball with me!" Autumn said nudging Lily with her right shoulder.
"Okay. I lied." Lily said putting her arm around Autumn's shoulders. "Sirius you can go with Remus and Willow, well you can have Peter. There the dates are settled."
"Hey I barely even know- eww!" She just looked over to see Remus and Sirius holding hands across the table making goofy faces at one another.
"Wait a tick! You're married!" Sirius yelled at Remus.
"Oh, damn, missed out on the chance of a lifetime didn't I?" Remus said sarcastically.
"Yea you did. He's not too shabby in the sack." Autumn said. Everyone looked at her with an odd look. "Oops." She said quietly and went back to her meal.
They all skipped up to the common room more cheerful than usual and earlier than most.
"Whadda ya say we all sneak outta here?" Sirius asked right before they reached the fat lady. They all exchanged glances. "Come on guys we could all change-" He broke of when he realized willow was there. There was a bit of an awkward pause.
"Lets go to my room first then we'll talk about where we want to go." Autumn said. They made their way to the common room and Autumn gave the handsome wizard the password. "You guys go on up. I'll meet you in there. Willow, can I talk to you for a moment."
"Yea sure, is it me?" she asked.
When the portrait hole closed Autumn began. "Do you remember how earlier I said we've basically adopted you?"
"Yea."
"Do you also remember how I said there was one small problem?" She nodded. "Well that is what we need to talk about right now. I'm sure it's no big deal. But as a group. You must understand. It's not like we are going to forbid you from hanging out whit us or anything. It's almost like a club thing. You know?"
"Yea." She said sadly.
"This hopefully won't take long. I'll come down and get you when we've decided." With that Autumn turned to the portrait. "Merlin's beard." She said and disappeared through the hole.
"Where's willow?" James asked when Autumn appeared in the doorway.
"She's down there waiting for us to decide."
"Decide what?" Lily asked. Autumn threw them all a look.
"Oh!" they all said at once.
"We decide now or never, do we tell her what we are?"
"I say no, not unless she becomes on herself. It's too risky." Sirius said after a long pause.
"So are you saying we make her one?" James asked.
"Well no. We can't really do it without her permission." Remus said.
"First thing is first. Do we trust her?" Autumn asked. There was a pregnant pause. "Come on guys, we obviously trust her enough to let her pillow fight and that is a big thing. Those are Marauders only. Sirius, you've fancied her for almost a year now and your telling me that you don't want her to be in our group. To where she can be even closer to you. To where you have the first hand at asking her to the BALL! She told me only today that she left her other group because they didn't have enough adventure. She came to us because she has to know some of the things we have done. Now I can't imagine how that got out, Sirius." She paused to gather her thoughts. "Lily, you've known her longer than any of us. You two were pretty close back in year one. Is she trustworthy?"
"Yes."
"Well guys?"
An evil smile spread across Remus' face. He looked around the room. "I have an idea. Autumn do you have the supplies for the potion?"
Autumn thought for a moment. Then went to one of her books and started flipping through it. She stopped on a page and ran her finger down it checking all the ingredients. "Yea. She said. All but one."
"What's that?" Sirius asked.
"The hair of a werewolf. But, I think if we took some of your hair now," she looked at Remus, "and...Yea it will work! It doesn't have to be a full moon if it's just a couple of your hairs. I remember that from Defense against the Dark Arts." A smile spread across her face. She began to make the potion quickly but with excellent precision and technique. The only one that she had met that beat her in potions was Snape. The group all waited for her to finish. She looked up everyone and then to check the clock. Then with one final glance up she looked directly at Remus. "Okay Moony your time has again come." She walked over to Remus and pulled out three of his hairs and held them out the window so they shone in the moon. The hairs then became stiff and brittle. She smiled and walked back to the cauldron. She then dropped the hairs in one at a time. She let it stir on its own over the flame she had conjured beneath it with her wand and walked over to a large cage in placed at he back of the room. "Come on Munchkin" she said opening the door. A spider monkey crawled from the cage onto her shoulder. "By the way guys, this is Munchkin. Mum sent him to me two days ago." She set him on the desk and removed her wand from her robes. "One, two, three, feriverto." Munchkin quickly turned into a large silver goblet.
"My, my, my that poor monkey. I do hope that's fixable." The mirror chimed in.
"Here. Spoon some into there and I'll go get her." She said handing Munchkin, the goblet to Sirius.
"Willow?" she said peaking her head from the portrait hole. "Willow you still out here?"
"Yea." She said sleepily as her head appeared from the other side of the couch.
"Excellent. Now, We've decided."
"And?"
"And, I have to blindfold you." Autumn said with a laugh. "Do you trust me?"
"Does this mean I'm in?"
"No questions but mine. Do you trust me?" She said in a slightly alarming and powerful voice.
"Yes." Willow said almost weakly.
"Good." Autumn then conjured a blindfold out of her wand and tied it around Willows eyes. "There now tell me can you see anything?" Autumn said in a very controlled voice.
"No."
"Right then. Shall we?" Autumn lead Willow once more up the stairs and into the
room.
"Now, Willow," she heard Remus say. "We've decided to let you in on a little secret, but before we tell you what we are you have to become one of us."
Willow gulped in fright. What had she gotten herself into? I do hope this isn't some sort of dark magic, She thought.
"Now to become one of us you must drink this potion. Don't worry it wont hurt. Oh and I should say, this isn't some sort of dark cult or anything, just the Marauders." Sirius said taking Willow's hand and placing the goblet in it. A sigh of relief escaped her lips.
"But! Before you drink it. You must recite an incantation. Now, Repeat after me." James said. He then gave her the incantation. "Now do you remember that?"
"Yes."
"You can back out at anytime Willow." Lily said calmly. "You just have to trust us."
"You do trust us right?" Remus asked.
A pregnant pause filled the room as Willow thought. "Yes." She said in a very shaky voice.
"Good. Now, don't be scared. It's okay, just know that there is not reversing this spell and I should tell you, this is illegal. If the ministry knew what we were doing we would all be expelled for sure. But when we did it, it was in broad daylight in Moaning Myrtle's lavatory and we weren't caught and this room is far more private." Autumn said. "So do you still want to do this. We're not forcing you at anytime and we don't care if you back out."
"Yes, I want to do this." Willow's hands were shaking now just as much if not more than her voice. She wasn't sure why she'd said that. Illegal? I'm going to die for doing this! What the hell made me think I could do this. Now you have to. Great.
"Now Willow, the incantation." James said. "Then drink."
Willow took a deep shaky breath and began the incantation. She wasn't quite sure what it meant; though it had to do with animals. "Let me become" she said for the last time. As that was the only line in English that was all she understood. She drank the potion, which surprisingly tasted sweet, almost too sweet. Then the empty goblet dropped from her hand. She felt her body changing, she was being pushed and pulled and stretched in all directions. When it was over she tried to speak but only a sound that sounded much like a cat only deeper came out. The blindfold fell off her face and she was looking up at the group. They had surrounded her. Perhaps she'd fainted. No she seemed smaller than them in some way. Lilly bent to pick her up and carried her in both arms to the mirror. Then sat her down on the dressing table. And turned her head toward the mirror.
"Dear me!" the mirror exclaimed. "I do hope that isn't serious! Perhaps it's contagious. Quick dearies, run for the hospital wing."
Then willow saw it. She wasn't human anymore. She was some sort of feline. She had become a cat of some sort. A very large one. Almost the size of the whole desktop. She saw Autumn appear behind her.
"You, Willow, are now and Animagi. Welcome to the Marauders. Meet Mystic." She said and then transformed herself into a brilliant and beautiful Unicorn.
"Padfoot." Sirius said appearing next to the unicorn. Then he as well transfigured into a large black shaggy dog.
"Prongs" James said moving into view in the mirror. He then became a handsome stag.
"Moony" Remus said smiling as he transformed into a wolf. (He had become and Animagi too, for other purposes, so he didn't have to restrict himself to just once a month)
"And Tails." Lily said transforming into a large Ginger cat who's tail was long and bushy enough to be made of at least three. There they stood a band of amazing creatures. Some small some large, but all beautiful. Mystic stood with her coat shimmering in the moonlight that reflected like dancing diamonds onto padfoot. Which made his long black hair and fierce look were more frightening than his inner puppy personality. Prongs stood with his read coat glistening in the light of the waltzing diamonds. Ginger with her hair the color of ripened oranges sat emerald green eyes staring straight at their new friend wile Moony the most threatening in appearance wagged his long wolf's tail and panted like a small dog waiting to play with his favorite chew toy. His amber eyes though playful, were also vicious as they glowed with the joy of being with his friends. Willow stared at herself in the mirror that was still blabbering on about how awful the situation was. Her forest green eyes looked black in the miniscule amount of light provided by the moon. She had grayish black fur and large paws. This was unbelievable. They all then transfigured into their normal selves.
"Now before we teach you how to transfigure back we have to decide on an name for you." James said with a gentle smile. They all circled themselves into a huddle and spoke very softly. Willow took this time to admire her new spotted fur, and large cat feet. She wasn't so big, just the long fur and large legs created an illusion. She had very green eyes that were unusually bright.
"So, your new name is..." Autumn looked around at the group.
"Tufts." They all chanted.
"Not to become Willow again just think the words, 'Let me become Willow' that's all. It's simple." James said. And seconds later Willow was sitting upright on Autumns dressing table. She smiled weakly. "Wow." Willow said softly after she examined each of her arms closely.
"I can understand if you hate us. The thing is, we trust you, but we..." Autumn said trailing off.
"Don't trust you." Remus said filling in. Willow looked insulted by this. "We weren't sure that if we told you and showed you what we were. That is why we had to do that first. If we told you and you ran and told everyone else, we'd be screwed. But If we made you one of us, then told you, you could go blabbing all over school and you'd be in just as much trouble as any of us. Facing expulsion, possibly more." Remus explained.
"Yea, it was cruel of us to do this to you for a manor of saving or butts-" Sirius added.
"But you have to understand, if we didn't want you to be one of us, we wouldn't have done it." Autumn chimed in.
"So, you guys just out of pure boredom and possible excitement made yourselves animagi?" Willow asked.
"Well, no, not out of boredom. You see that is where the other part comes in." Remus said skeptically. "I- well, please I hope you don't think any differently of me, but, I'm a werewolf. You see they did it for me!" he added the last part quickly so she couldn't interrupt. Willow had a look of shock on her face. "At the end of first year they finally confronted me about it. They'd checked their calendars, astronomy charts and read up on werewolves. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I'm gone every full moon. So James and Sirius came up with this plan, took them years to figure out how to do it. Then finally on my fifteenth birthday they brought me into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and showed me what they could do. After that they came with me, it was just the guys at first. James, Sirius, and Peter. He turns into a rat. He's Wormtail by the way. Then we decided to let the girls in on it. We did it to them the same way we did it to you. Then I decided that for fun purposes, I'd become one. You know so I wasn't restricted to once a month. Somehow though, whenever I became the werewolf and they were around they kept me more human. So, Willow please, try to understand-"
There was a long pause. Everyone was staring at Willow. "So, you're a werewolf, and I'm some sort of bobcat?"
"A Lynx." Autumn corrected. "In all actuality it is a species of bobcat, but you are a Felis Lynx." Everyone was looking at her as if she were crazy. "Well, in case you care yes, I know more. They breed in the months of March to April and deliver a litter on average of four kittens in May. They have very large feet that are used as snowshoes in the wintertime and they-" she cut off when she saw the look on Willow's face. "Okay, I'm shutting up. I'm done now." She backed away and sat down on one of the stairs that led up to the bed platform. As the rest of the group talked and explained to Willow she picked up her goblet, Munchkin, and returned him to his normal state. Willow of course saw.
"I just drank out of a monkey?" she asked trying to sound annoyed. A smile spread slowly across her face.
Autumn smiled and laughed to herself. "Yep, you drank out of Munchkin."
"So whadda ya say we go get Peter and go out for the night." Sirius asked as he felt the mood lighten.
"By the way, we each seemed to have kept a bit of our animal with us." Autumn said smiling. "You seem to have taken Tuft's eyes." Willow whipped around to look in the mirror, and sure enough those dark green glowing eyes were staring back at her.
"What did you guys take?" Willow asked curiously.
"Well, most of us got the eyes, but I got the eyes and a curious marking where my horn comes from." Autumn pointed to a small spot on her forehead it was tiny, only a little larger than a small mole, the skin was lighter there, and it was in the shape of a flower. "I hide my eyes with a spell though. Too obvious of a change." Autumn's eyelids shut over her brown eyes and fluttered open to reveal bright blue one in their place. Remus glanced away. He never could look into her eyes when they were like that. He had once and had almost gotten lost in the endless galaxy that he found. Her eyes shuttered closed and opened once more to show the brown ones back in place. "Shall we?"
They found peter in the great hall still eating and he stayed there. He wasn't in the mood. He told them he had a stomachache.
"Your loss Kiddo." Sirius said as they turned to leave. "That kid is starting to bug me. One more act like this and he's outta the group."
"Just because he doesn't want to go with you guys?" Willow asked fearing for her own safety.
"Nah, he's been hanging around the wrong sort of people lately. Ya know. Just hasn't been what he used to be. Something fishy is going on with that kid." Right so once we get to the doors we're doing it then?"
Embracing the night, and all it was worth, the six friends ran endlessly across the grounds laughing and chanting in their minds as they played what seemed to be a game of tag. They ran across the banks of the great lake and danced daringly close to the edge of the forest. Then without knowing where they were headed, they all ran in one direction. They moved as a herd up a hill and down the other side. Padfoot lead the way into a patch of trees that lay at the bottom of the hill. When they emerged on the other side they suddenly stopped.
They looked out upon the endless green hills that rolled gently over the land. Rising high enough to touch the stars then falling once they knew they couldn't. The land was beautiful, though barely lit by the night sky. The silhouettes of the landscape fell naturally across the curtain of stars.
Mystic then lead the way along a small path that ventured into a small valley that sloped lazily from the hills surrounding it. There, in the middle of the night, in a small downslide from the hills above, the group lay to rest. Tails curled silently in the curve of Prongs' neck, Padfoot and Tufts lay next to one another looking up at the sky. Mystic stood looking for her star, when she felt something rub against her. She looked down and Moony was standing beside her rubbing his head against her neck as if to embrace her. She felt herself wanting to smile. She looked at the other group members and saw that they seemed to be sleeping. She looked back at Moony, whose amber eyes were looking back at her almost expectantly. Let me be, Autumn. She was then transformed back into Autumn. Moony did the same. And so they went without saying a word hand in hand to the top of the hill and sat in one another's friendly embrace.
Soon enough though they would become Mystic and Moony once again and wake their friends to return exhausted to the castle.
"That was AWSOME!!" Willow said once they were back in the common room and sitting on the empty couch. (As it was after one thirty in the morning.) "Thank you guys. All of you. I never have had so much fun in my life."
With that Willow went up to her room and fell asleep reminicing about her first night out as a Marauder. The rest of the group soon departed and fell asleep as if nothing new had happened. For it really hadn't, just one new person. That was all.
"Oi! Willow!" a familiar voice called from behind her as she headed to Defense against the Dark Arts. It was the last day of class before the holiday. She turned to see Sirius running to catch up to her. She smiled and waited for him. "Just got out of McGonagall's office." He said laughing. "She thought I set off a dung bomb outside her classroom. For once it wasn't me."
Willow laughed. "So if it wasn't you, who was it?"
"Weasly." Sirius said laughing.
Snape came up walking fast beside them. Sirius glared at him. "Um Willow, would you um..."
"Can It Severus, no one wants to hear it."
"This is no concern of yours Black. Why don't you go get bitten by your little werewolf friend of yours." Snape said almost under his breath.
"Saut off Snape. You know not to mention that."
"Oh, what's wrong? Did I hit a tender spot? Perhaps I'll go tell Lucius."
With that Sirius had his wand out and grabbed Snape by his collar and backed him against the wall of the corridor. "Give me a reason you slimy git. Just give me a reason and I will hex you so bad you're ancestors'll be dizzy."
"Mr. Black!" Professor Conan, the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher came up as Sirius released Snape's collar. "I do not care to know why this is happening. Detention both of you. And Ten points from each of your houses. And if I catch you fighting again both of you will be banned from the ball and that is final. Now, move along Class is about to begin."
Throughout the class Sirius and Snape were throwing glances across the room. It got so bad that Black almost jumped right out of his chair but Willow had to hold him back. She then explained what had happened to autumn, who explained to the rest of the group as she shot Remus a sympathetic look. After class they all headed out of the room but the two boys had to stay behind to sort out their detention. The rest of the group apart from Willow headed up to the common room for a rest before dinner. Willow stayed outside of the class to wait for Sirius. Snape exited first.
"Um, Willow, I just thought I'd apologize for earlier." Snape said when he noticed her standing in the hallway.
"I'm over it." She said faking a smile. She always wanted to be nice. Making enemies wasn't her type of thing.
"Okay, well you might want to tell Black that he'd better watch his back." He hadn't heard what Snape had said though.
"Oh! Um, well you see he's right behind you, so you can do it yourself. And as for me, I'll just sit here and watch as you two get in another fight and get in even more trouble."
"What was it you wanted to tell me Snape?" Sirius asked from behind him.
Before Snape could answer Willow stalked off. She was hoping that Sirius would get the picture that she didn't want him to get into any more trouble, but apparently he didn't.
"Look, Snape, I'm not in the mood to turn you into a pink bunny rabbit right now so save yourself the humiliation and shut your trap." Sirius said looking in the direction Willow had run off in.
"Watch yourself Black. It's as simple as that. Now go run after your little pet. Before she starts crying her eyes out."
"Can it Snape." Sirius said and with that he turned his back and left in the same direction as Willow.
Remus ran into the common room looking as if he was being chased by a monster. Autumn looked up from her book, Plenty of Purposeful Potions for the Person with Any Possible Problem, when he jumped on the couch next to her.
"Help!" he said out of breath.
"What? What's wrong?" she asked.
"There is some little annoying fourth year girl that is after me. Ever since I showed her where a book was in the library was she's been following me. Everywhere I go there she is. She has been sitting by me every chance she gets. Quidditch games meal times I just can't escape it!" They heard the portrait hole swing open. "That's bound to be her. She's planning on asking me to the ball. I'm not mean. You know I can't turn her down. Autumn help me!"
"Okay, um, move down." She said pushing him down to the edge of the sofa. Then she laid down resting her head on his lap. She felt him tense up a little bit.
"What the hell is this going to do?" he asked sounding panicked and sort of
shocked at the same time.
"Oh! Remus there you are!" Autumn heard a girl's voice from behind them. She felt Remus turn as her nose was once again buried in her book she couldn't see anything.
"I wanted to ask you-" the girl stopped when she saw Autumn's head in his lap as she came around the other side of the couch. Autumn knew this was working. To any girl, a using the lap as a pillow is definitely a sign that there's more than friendship. Autumn shifted the book into her left hand and took Remus' right hand in hers as it was resting on her stomach.
"Yea?" he asked sounding sort of shaky. Whether it was from the sudden touching of certain places that he wasn't used to even with Autumn, or if it was from nervousness of having to turn this girl down.
"Um, well, you know that book you helped me find last month?" the girl said obviously searching for something new. The plan had worked.
"Yea?"
"Well, do you know of any others that are good for writing essays about dark creatures. Professor Conan assigned this new essay on the different creatures, like boggarts and werewolves, and..." Autumn felt Remus twitch when the girl said werewolves.
"Um, well you might try..hmm..." he said his voice squeaking on the first 'um'
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Autumn chimed in as she set her book down on her stomach. She looked up at the girl and smiled. "Ah, Landra. If you'd like I could find you some other books? But I'm sure that one ought to be plenty. It's got loads of information." Autumn said sitting up and taking Remus' hand in her's once again.
"No that should be great!" Landra said smiling back. "Are you two, well together now?"
Autumn looked at Remus and smiled, he smiled back feeling somewhat more comfortable. And not just because she wasn't using his lap as a pillow. It was her eyes. That's when he noticed. They were blue again. Then without knowing what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"Cool." Landra said smiling. "I'll see you guys at the ball then?" she asked sounding disappointed. They both nodded and she walked away.
Lily was in the girl's dormitory when Willow ran in tears.
"Willow what happened?" Lily said turning around from where she sat at the desk.
"I don't know why I'm so upset about it really it's nothing." Willow said sitting down on her bed.
"Look Willow I'm here to talk." Lily said as she made her way across the room.
"Well, it's Sirius."
"What about Sirius?" Lily asked sitting next to her.
"Well, you know how he and Snape got in trouble? Well they started fighting again. And I don't want Sirius to get into any more trouble because he wont get to go to the ball and I really want to go with him. I really like him Lily. A lot. And I don't know what to do.
Sirius burst into the common room looking angry and worried at the same time. Remus set down Autumn's book on potions when he saw him. Autumn had run to the library for another book.
Sirius came and sat down next to Remus. "You seen Willow come in here?"
"Yea she was bawling what happened?"
"Bawling? I have no idea why she'd be crying. I just hope she doesn't hate me."
"Why?"
"Well Snape wanted to start another fight and Willow was there and she told us that we'd get caught and get into more trouble. Then I asked Snape what he wanted and she ran off. I just don't understand her."
"Something else probably happened to make her cry. Why don't you ask her to the ball."
"Because I don't know if she feels the same way. Especially after what just happened."
"Just try it."
Two days passed and everything seemed to be almost back to normal. Except when Willow and Sirius we're talking it always seemed a bit awkward now. Finally He asked to meet her in private.
Willow paced around the astronomy tower as tufts waiting for Sirius to come. She knew this had to do with the awkwardness between them in the past few days. When he arrived they both became their human selves.
"Willow, look I wanted to ask you something serious."
"Okay."
"Well, there is this girl, and I really like her."
"Yea?" she asked getting a hopeful look in her eyes.
"Well, I don't know if I should tell her..." he said nervously.
"Tell her." She said smiling. Somehow the uneasiness of their company had disappeared.
"Well, I don't know if she feels the same way."
"How could any girl resist your charms?" she asked. "Who is she."
"Well that's the thing...," he said shakily. "You know her and..."
"Tell me, I can keep your secret."
"It's Autumn." He said the first name that popped into his head.
"Yea?" she asked softly fighting back the tears. "She's a good match for you." She said and ran off crying.
"Shit!!!" he said out loud. Now he knew she felt the same way. Why had he chickened out? Why didn't he just tell her? This was going to cause a real bad mix up and he knew it.
Willow ran through the halls of the school not paying attention to where she was going or who she could possible run into. She didn't care what would happen to her if she were caught out of bed, she just wanted to find a place alone where she could cry by herself. She turned the corner in the transfiguration corridor and ran right into someone who immediately wrapped their arms around her to comfort her.
"What's wrong Willow." She heard a familiar icy voice ask her.
She looked up and saw Severus Snape's face looking concerned. She pulled out of his arms. "Nothing that you'd care about."
"Willow, I've been wanting to ask you something." He said softly.
"What?" she asked.
"I know that Sirius has been blind and doesn't see the way you feel for him. He has been stupid to let something so precious slip past him." He said moving towards her. "I was wondering." He paused as he moved to wrap his arms around her to comfort her, "would you be so kind as to accompany me to the ball?"
Willow looked up slowly and met his eyes. Her tears were still falling. She closed her eyes and felt his thumb wipe away her tears.
"Please?"
"Okay."
Remus sat at the Gryffindor table the next morning earlier than the rest of his group as usual reading when Silver Robbinson a sixth year from Ravenclaw tapped him on the shoulder.
"Yea?" he asked turning around knowing that it wasn't one of his friend as they would have made their presence known to the rest of the hall. When he saw Silver his eyes widened. He had never seen her up close before, and she was beautiful.
"Um, Remus, I was wondering, would you like to accompany me to the ball? I wanted to ask you early so you wouldn't be taken.
"Yea." Was all he could manage to choke out.
"Great! We'll work out the details later. I have to get to the library early this morning. I have a potions essay due today and I still need another three inches." Silver walked away with a bounce in her step and Remus looked back at his book. Seconds later he realized what he'd done.
While throughout the day Remus avoided Autumn Sirius tried to catch up to her so he could talk to her in private. But everytime he did there was always someone else there.
Finally after all the lessons were over for the day when he went down to dinner she wasn't there. He turned and sprinted back to Gryffindor tower and found Autumn in her room crying.
"Autumn I need to talk to- why are you crying?" He said as he burst into the room. She just turned over and held a pillow over her head. She didn't want to talk, especially to any guys. Sirius made his way over to the platform that the bed stood on and opened his mouth to speak when he remembered a rumor he'd heard as he ran through the hallways. Silver was going to the ball with Remus. "Oh, Autumn I'm so sorry." He ran to the bed and sat beside her and began to rub her back. "I know that you fancy him…" He realized he didn't know what else to say and sort of just let the silence do the talking for him for a while. She pulled the pillow from over her head and rolled over onto her back and looked up at him with red eyes.
"I just thought that he liked me too you know? He kissed me the other day! We planned on going together and he leaves me for that whore! I have no one. Everyone knows she's part Veela!"
"That is exactly why- Look, Willow is going with Snape. That is what I wanted to
talk to you about! I know that Snape has something up his sleeve! I know it. He grabbed her in a time of weakness. Look I made a mistake and if I hadn't none of this would have happened. Remus wouldn't be angry with me and he wouldn't have said yes to Silver." He saw Autumn's confused look. "Alright, look, I told Willow last night that I fancied you. I chickened out. I wanted to tell her so bad that it was her. I couldn't help it. I- I broke down Autumn. Then she ran into Snape, and he asked her and she said yes to get back at me. She told him how I liked you and then he told Remus. Now Remus is angry with me for having these non-existent feelings for you and he told Silver he'd go with her. I screwed everyone over and I'm really sorry. But I know how to fix it. Go to the ball with me. Please?"
Autumn looked at him awkwardly for a while then just stood and left the room. She didn't want to deal with this. Not now. The next two days passed ever so slowly as no one in the group was paying any attention to the other. Even the teachers had realized something was going wrong. None of the boys had pulled any of their usual stunts. Professor Sprout had actually sent Sirius to the nurse's office to make sure he was not coming down with something as he had actually done his classwork.
To be continued…