Chapter One
Ok, I'm sorry this has taken so long – I'd like to say I have an excuse…but I don't!
Well, here it goes….
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Remus Lupin couldn't sleep, he never could at times like these; when the moon was nearing its completion, ready to expose its true brightness to the world. However at the precise moment, it was not the phases of the moon that was preventing the sixteen year old from just a few hours' slumber. Instead it was the repetitive noise that was all but driving the sandy – haired boy to distraction.
Swish, thunk. Swish, thunk.
Sighing, Remus threw back his bed covers and stalked down the short flight of steps leading to the Common Room, turned golden by the merry flames of the crackling fireplace. Upon discovering the source of the noise, Remus' mouth dropped agape.
"Sirius! You're playing archery in the Common Room?!" The dark – haired boy barely blinked an eyelid, nor lowered the handsome bow in his hand. "You're insane!" Remus raised his voice, attempting to get his seemingly simple point across.
"I think you're mistaking insane for badass." Sirius responded, flicking back his overgrown fringe, which fell back with a grace that Remus had never been able to fathom.
Rolling his eyes, Remus' gaze was caught by an even greater cause for surprise; although to most the sight of a sixteen year old (especially one such as Sirius Black) armed with a long bow in a reasonably crowded room would be enough to cause a considerable amount of alarm and yet the sight of the red-haired girl curled up on one of the scarlet armchairs was enough to make Remus do a double take.
"Lily –" Remus began, but a single look from those forest green eyes told him that now was simply not the time.
"I have already tried to reason with him. But there is only so much reasoning you can do with a bloke who takes up weaponry indoors." Although sarcasm was etched into every word, Remus was certain he saw the hint of a smile twitch at the corners of her mouth. This was quickly extinguished as an arrow hurtled through the air and imbedded itself in the wall, dangerously close to Lily's head.
"Ok, now that was too close! You shouldn't even have that thing. Who would give Sirius Black a bow, of all people!" The subject of her wrath looked carelessly unperturbed, and even went as far as to ruffled the auburn curls of the girl before him, who was all but bristling with indignation.
"Relax Red, you worry too much. You're starting to get lines." He poked a finger at Lily's overly freckled forehead; she batted away his hand like an irksome fly. She opened her mouth, however Sirius was saved from her next blow by a long, low whistle.
"Blimey Sirius, when you said you had found an outlet for your frustration, I expected it to be sketching or poetry." The owner of the voice, stepped out of the shadow of the Portrait Hole; the firelight illuminating the circled rims of his glasses and his jet black hair spiking out uncontrollably. It was only after a moment that he sensed the thick tension that had encircled the room and the two individuals who were clearly the culprits.
"You know what? Fine-do what you want, maybe you'll learn when you poke your eye out." Lily swung her satchel onto her shoulder "or someone else's." She mumbled as she made her way out of the Common Room, the portrait swinging softly closed behind her.
"Maybe I should…" James jabbed his thumb in the direction of the recently departed redhead. The sound of a loud, sarcastic laugh made all three boys turn in unison, all three pairs of eyes swivelling in unison to the tall, slender brunette girl sat on the edge of the threadbare carpet.
"Like that'll help." She mutters, a retort that leaves James with very little to go on.
"What do you mean?" Even though, in truth he knew exactly what she meant. Trust Emmeline Vance to point out the exact information he was trying so hard to avoid. She folded the latest issue of the Daily Prophet carefully on her lap, muttering under her breath as she did so. Finally she raised her head, brown eyes meeting hazel.
"Think James. Think real hard, I know it hurts." She said sarcastically, as Emmeline Vance was hardly one known for her tact. But James didn't have to think, he knew where this was going. The last time he and Lily had spoken it had not been the longest nor the most pleasant conversation and whilst it had taken him a while to see, he realised that dangling her best friend from the ankle for the rest of the school to see had perhaps not been one of his crowning moments. Even though he had apologised to her, he doubted it had been really acknowledged for the girl who had stood before him that day had had red-rimmed eyes and the voice that had accepted his apology had been cracked and watery.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Bye." Before any of them could utter another word, James had turned on his heel and hurried out of the Common Room, knowing exactly where the redhead would be; where she always was when her mind was muddled. It was not as if James had made a conscious effort to learn all of Lily Evans' favourite places, nor had he followed her everywhere; it had just happened, all the little things that others would overlook had simply become common knowledge. He couldn't rid himself of it, nor did he wish to.
And there she was, as he predicted, seated on a large boulder on the north bank of the Black Lake, the evening sunlight dancing all around her, glinting off her red curls. From a distance he could see she had grown at least an inch over the holidays; and as he had heard several boys commenting, the summer had indeed been 'kind' to her.
James shook his head a little. What was he thinking?
"Thought you could use some company." He announced as he got closer, his steps tentative, trying to assess just where the boundaries were.
"Who said I needed company, especially from you?" She snapped, not looking up, If she had, she would have caught the look of hurt that flashed across James' face, for a split second before it disappeared. Like a mirage.
There were a few moments of silence.
"I'm sorry that was harsh." James shook his head, slowly sitting down, making sure he kept his distance.
"No, no it wasn't. I probably deserved every insult, every glare, every hex you ever threw at me." He had been working on this speech for a while now, up in his room when he should've been owling Sirius, or during potions when Slughorn's bumbling antics had become too much for him. "Just know that I am sorry for Snape, for everything." Any hope he had entertained of a poetic speech had more or less been catapulted out of the window. He was clutching at very thin strings now and he knew it and mostly likely – so did she.
"What happened with Sev- Snape, well it most likely would have happened with or without your little performance." Lily murmured, the pauses in between her words were weighty ones. Then sensing some form of relief enter James' heart, she added: "doesn't mean you're off the hook though." Didn't he just know it; if there was one thing knowing Lily Evans for six years had taught him, it was that she was one to trust deeply (and in some cases, blindly) but once you fell from grace, it was a very steep journey back.
James could only nod. Why did he have to lose power over words now of all times? Most of the time he could sweet talk just about anybody; even on occasion Professor McGonagall, and that was no small feat! Yet here he was, tongue – tied and sweating at the palms, his mind racing but coming back to centre around one single notion: that Lily looked so beautiful against the sunset.
It was not as if he was in love with her; he'd had his crushes, sure. But no she was…she was just Lily.
But that was entirely the problem.
It was common knowledge that Dorcas Meadows was a first – class party girl. If there was a party at Hogwarts, then inevitably either Dorcas was hostess or guest. Furthermore her ability to capture the interest of a group was second to none, especially when that group included members of the male persuasion. It was for these reasons that Remus was forcing himself to sit in the Great Hall, staring across at the Ravenclaw table as the exuberant blonde chatted to the rapped audience of her usual admirers, his expression resembling that of a child who had just received the news that Christmas had been eternally cancelled.
"Has it occurred to you to tell her how you feel?" Peter Pettigrew sighed, having become aggravated by his companion's constant sulking.
"Er…No."
"It's all a matter of seduction." Sirius interjected, earning a very strange look from the sandy – haired prefect.
"I don't think seduction is my strong point."
"It's simple once you know the basic principles…" Sirius trailed off, Remus huffed in frustration, he had to hand it to the bloke, he knew how to capture interest. He set down his fork, although he had given up on his pork pie long ago.
"Fine, I'll play along what are the 'basic principles'?"
"Gonna cost you a Galleon." Sirius held out his palm, allowing Remus to slap the heavy coin down. "Love and affection." He answered simply, pocketing the money.
"What?"
"Give me my Galleon back."
"Love and affection." Sirius repeated, slower as if he was trying to explain it someone much younger. "What are you promising someone when you seduce them? Love and affection – who doesn't want that?" Sirius said smugly, his eyes lighting up. "I'll prove it to you – Emmeline." The advancing brunette barely hid the act of rolling her eyes, as she and Lily joined the boys at the already crowded Gryffindor table.
"Yes?"
"Love and affection." Sirius said, not including any form of context.
"What of it?" Emmeline asked, not distracting herself from dishing up a small mountain's worth of mash potatoes onto her plate.
"Isn't that what all you women want?" Sirius demanded, clearly put out at not receiving a direct answer.
"Yeah and a large sack of gold and a big mansion." The brunette concluded. "I'm more of a materialistic kind of girl." She said with a sarcastic smile, positively relishing in Sirius' look of disgust.
"You don't say." Peter breathed.
"Shallow and proud of it!"
"As fascinating as this is, is there any particular reason for your sudden interest in the female psych?" Lily's question was directed at Sirius, whose pride seemed to be undergoing the various stages of restoration.
"Remus' refusal to tell Dorcas how he feels about her because and I quote 'she's too good for me'" Peter explained, exasperation etched into his every word.
"Really? Remus just go up and ask the girl out. I mean what's the worst that could happen?" Lily asked, her auburn eyebrows knitting together tightly.
"She could hear me." Remus said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Look, Remus…" Sirius began, but it was clear that the prefect was having none of it, he stood up, a small smile on his face.
"Guys as grateful as I am for your efforts, it's just not going to happen. The party girl and the bookworm, hardly a match made in heaven." Without another word, he left the hall, the rest of the group staring after him.
"Guy's a complete nutter." Emmeline broke the silence, shaking her head sadly.
"Well if Remus is too scared to do the deed, maybe we could…" Sirius cleared his throat, "help."
"No, Sirius – whatever you're thinking – just don't do it!" Lily pleaded, she could admit that she did not know Sirius overly well and she did not know exactly what he was planning, but she did know that it would not end swimmingly for all involved. "Just promise you won't interfere."
"Sure I could tell you that – if that's what you want to hear." He raised his glass of juice slightly in a universal sign of 'cheers' before taking several large gulps.
Mary MacDonald's bare feet slapped quietly against the cool stone of the long hallway, the sound echoing through the emptiness, making it sound as if she were being followed by a small army.
Whilst the notion was utterly ridiculous, Mary could not shake off the immensely disturbing sensation of her hair standing on end that is always accompanied when one knows they are not alone.
"Whose there?" Deafening silence was the response. Of course there was no one there, just her childhood fear of the dark rearing its ugly head again. If only it were that simple.
First came the shadow, followed by the dull thud and then the searing pain.
Then the scream.
The scream that resounded throughout the castle, the scream that woke Frank Longbottom from his slumber, the scream that clearly stated that the wizarding world was about to change forever.
Sorry to leave it on a cliff – hanger and sorry for taking so long to upload this! I promise it will not be this long again – PROMISE!
Please tell me what you think and please review – I want to hear your thoughts, your ideas.
Thanks guys.
Mischief Managed!
Giselle