One of Those Times
'Baby Lupin, widdle baby Lupin. Can't stand up to anyone, can you? Go on, you miserable ninny!' the boy jeered. Remus ignored him and continued to walk. Beside him, his friend Sirius shot the boy an angry look but, knowing Remus did not approve of violence, did not act. Sirius knew that this particular Slytherin had had it in for Remus ever since Remus had been dating his girlfriend, Sarah.
'Come on and fight like a man, Lupin,' the boy sneered. Remus continued to walk, though Sirius saw his hands balled into fists inside his robe pockets.
'I don't know what Sarah sees in you, Lupin. Why, your own mother would not call you her own!' the boy continued, spitting in Remus' face. Remus froze, spit dripping down his cheek.
Sirius grabbed him just in time.
'Remus, no!' he said. Remus' eyes were on fire with anger as he launched himself at the boy, who was obviously taken by surprise – he had not expected Remus to act.
'No, Remus, he's not worth it!' Sirius said, repeating words Remus had often told him.
'Back off, Sirius,' Remus growled. He looked slightly mad…saliva dripped off his lips, and his teeth were bared in a wolf-like snarl. 'I'm done with being the quiet boy! I'll take on anyone! C'mon, who wants some?' he shouted.
'H-help, he's killing me, he's killing me!' the boy squealed, as Remus punched him mercilessly.
'What is going on here?'
Sirius jumped as McGonagall appeared out of nowhere. With a flick of her wand, Remus flew off the boy and landed about a metre away. Sirius whistled shrilly, impressed…the boy's nose was broken and his robes were torn. Beside him, Remus was already on his feet. He roughly wiped the blood from his lips and an expression of defiance was on his face.
'Mr Lupin, I will see you in my office,' McGonagall said firmly,
'Yes, Professor,' Remus replied.
Later, Sirius asked him why he had reacted like that.
'Sometimes, you can't let people take you for granted, Padfoot,' Remus said, dabbing a cut above his eye with his sleeve. 'Sometimes, you have to stand up for yourself. That was one of those times.' Sirius stared at him, unsure whether to laugh or nod. Finally, Remus smiled.
'Well, he was rather pissing me off, too…'
The Decision
Remus sat back against his bedpost, sighing. Before him, he held a picture of Nymphadora Tonks. Tonks, the one woman he would willingly give his life for.
You don't deserve her!
That little voice in his head screamed at him reprovingly. But, Remus argued with himself, I love her!
But think of what you are!
Remus sighed, getting up and beginning to pace around the room. He still had the photo clutched in his hand. His other hand was buried in his hair, attempting to wrench strands from his head.
'I know what I am. I know what I should do,'
Yes. Forget he.r
'Impossible!'
But, you must.
'I can't. Never, never…'
She is not for you.
Out of nowhere, Tonks' words came to him:
I've told you a million times…I don't care!
Remus came to a decision.
'Well, then, nor do I,' Remus said firmly. Shoving the picture in his pocket he sped out of his apartment, raced down the stairs and out onto the street. He already knew where Tonks lived – she had spoken of a small flat just a few blocks away. Running at top speed, Remus finally reached the front door of her apartment block. Punching the number of her room on the intercom, he waited, breathing heavily, his face flushed.
'Tonks here, who is it?'
'It's me…Remus,' Remus replied breathlessly. There was silence from the opposite end. 'Tonks, please let me up!'
'Come,' she said, her voice emotionless.
Sighing with relief, he plummeted up stairways and down corridors, knocking over people in his haste.
'Sorry… pardon me… sorry!' he said. Finally, he reached Tonks' room. He knocked furiously. After what seemed an excruciatingly long time, the door opened.
'Hi,' Tonks said. Here eyes were red rimmed and her face was tear-streaked. Her drab brown hair hung limply across her forehead.
'Hi,' Remus replied. 'Tonks, I-I came to give you something.'
'What?' Tonks said, puzzled.
'This,' he bent forward and kissed her. It seemed ages before they broke apart. Tonks looked a little startled, but in a good way.
'Does this mean-?'
'Yes.'
'So, you do-?'
'Yes.'
'Are you sure you love-?'
'God, yes. I'm just sorry it took this long.'
Tonks stared at him for a while. Slowly, a smile crept onto her face…the first smile she had worn in months.
'Well, then, I guess you'd better come in...'
I'll Be Your Friend
Regulus Black wiped a tear from his eye. He was 11 years old, skinny…and completely alone. No friends…even the girls turned their noses up at him. He was bullied by his older brother Sirius – who was more popular than him by far – and not even the Slytherins liked him much. Oh, what he wouldn't give for a friend.
He shuffled along the corridor to his common room, his shoulders drooping, his bag feeling even heavier than usual. As he walked past the girls bathroom, a strange sound met his ears. It sounded like…sniffling. Someone crying. Intrigued, he stopped outside the bathroom. The door was ajar, so he peeped through the crack.
Inside, a little girl, probably 9 or 10 sat with her face in her chubby little hands. She had strawberry blonde pigtails and the little he could see of her face was covered in freckles. She looked miserable and lonely…
'Hey-hey are you OK?' Regulus said, without thinking. The girl looked up. Her nose was off-centre and her eyes were too large, but otherwise Regulus thought her quite pretty.
'W-who are you?' she said, obviously startled.
'Can I come in?'
The girl seemed to consider.
'O-ok,' she said finally.
Regulus shuffled in nervously, biting his lip and wondering whether he was being foolish.
'What's your name?' he asked.
'S-Suzie,'
'I'm Regulus.'
Regulus extended his hand and the girl shook it reluctantly, blushing slightly. Regulus grinned lopsidedly. There was something about this girl he liked. He had a feeling that she was in the same position as him. The thought made him brave. Brave enough to…
'Suzie…Suzie would you be my friend?' he said hesitantly. Inside him, he was shaking like a leaf. He felt like his heart would break should she say no. After a while, Suzie smiled.
'I'd like that very much, Regulus. But-' she sighed sadly, 'no one likes to be friends with me. I don't think you would.'
'No one likes to be friends with me, either,' Regulus replied. A small tear ran down his cheek. Suzie seemed surprised. Suddenly, her face lit and she beamed at him.
'I'll be your friend,' she said, taking his hand in hers.
My Immortal
Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master of Hogwarts, sat in his office. Around him, the world seemed dead. All was quiet, and the vaccum that was his heart throbbed with pain that he could not dispel. Tears dripped from his black eyes. In each salty droplet, he saw a flash of red, green…a face. The face of Lily Evans. The face of the woman that he had lost. The face that would haunt him forever.
His mouth opened in a silent scream of grief as he sunk to the cold concrete floor of his office, clutching his heart. There, amongst his various much-loved potions, in the one room in Hogwarts he loved most of all…he felt completely alone. The warm summer breeze drifting through his window could not warm his face, or his heart. Every tear he dashed from his eyes merely brought twenty more.
Gripping the edge of the table, he managed to heave himself to his feet. He staggered to the little bowl of silver liquid that lay perched on a bottom shelf. Snape's hands shook so hard that he broke several jars of pickled toad's eyes in his attempts to grasp the pensieve. Finally, he managed it. Reaching for his wand, he thrust it against his right temple, pulling forth a long strand of silver, which he dropped into the bowl.
There she was.
Lily's face shone up at him, shimmering in the light of the pensieve. She was a young teenager – 14 or 15 years old at most – and her face showed all the happiness and youthfulness of a child with love in her heart. A child who could love anyone, see the good in anyone…even the ugliest, dirtiest, most hated greasy-haired boy.
The ghost of a smile appeared on Snape's face. Yes, she had loved him. Once, once she had loved him.
'I love you, my Lily,' he whispered.
Who Says Guys Can't Be Romantic?
Sirius Black sat on a Hogwarts bench, sighing heavily. The memory of the recent row he had had with his girlfriend, Lisa Mackey, made his heart ached. He couldn't even remember how it had started. What had they been arguing about? What small, trivial thing had happened to have caused this sudden break up. This break-up with the most beautiful, wonderful girl in the world?
'Hey, Paddy, what's the problem?'
Sirius looked up at his friend, James, mournfully.
'Oh, girl problems, Prongs,' he said sadly. James laughed,
'Yes, but girl problems don't usually get the great Sirius Black down,' he said, nudging him in the ribs. Sirius shrugged,
'This one has.'
'What is it?' James asked, now more serious. Anything that got his friend down this badly was a point of concern for him.
'It's Lisa. We were fighting and…she wants to break up,' Sirius explained. James felt like saying "is that all?" but, seeing the look on his friend's face, decided against it.
'We-ell…I might have a solution to that problem…' James said.
1 hour later
'Yes, and I told him I couldn't handle his selfishness all the time. All he thinks about is himself…it would be nice if he did something for me once in a while,' Lisa said to her best friend, Kelly. Kelly was about to reply, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.
'Er, Lisa, look…' she said, pointing past Lisa. Lisa turned around, where she saw Remus holding a piece of cardboard. The words "Follow Me" were printed on it. Intrigued, the two girls followed him.
Remus led them up a few floors until they reached what appeared to be a blank wall.
'Huh?' the girls said together.
Remus smiled, and, suddenly, a door appeared out of nowhere. It was a pretty normal, wooden door. Remus opened it, and ushered Lisa in. He stopped Kelly from entering.
'Sorry, Lisa only,' he explained. When Kelly protested, he closed the door and stood in front of it.
Inside, Lisa stood with her mouth hanging open. Before her was the most beautiful, romantic, unlikely scene she could have imagined. A round table just big enough for two people, with a gold silk tablecloth and two pillar candles upon it, two wine glasses and two plates stood in the middle of the room. The candles cast a soft glow over the room, which had no other lighting. There was the sound of violin music in the background. Lisa noticed, with surprise, that a soft breeze lifted her hair as though she was outside…looking up, she saw stars glitter on a velvet blue background. In the background…was that the Eiffel tower? It was as though she had suddenly been transported to another world.
'Lisa?'
Sirius emerged from the shadows. He looked incredibly handsome…he had shaved his face, and was dressed in his finest robes. Walking up to Lisa, he presented her with a blood red rose.
'Sirius…I…I don't know what to say…' Lisa said, completely entranced. This was the last thing she would have expected from him. Sirius smiled,
'It's for you, babe. I'd only do it for you.' Lisa smiled happily, and they both sat down to supper.