Disclaimer-I don't own Harry Potter. I own about negative $10.
Thanks a lot for the reviews on the last chapter! I really appreciated them!
Relentless Pursuit
Chapter 2-
After all the older students were herded into the Great Hall, the first years were ushered in to be sorted. It was like every other year. They were jittery, chattering, and excited. There were a few that were quite green too. All at once, the first years jumped. The hat's song rang out through the Great Hall, with the first years listening intently. You could clearly pick out the Muggleborns. They had a look of alarm on their faces.
As soon as the sorting began, my eyes scanned the hall for Sirius Black. I imagined that he would never look my way so I would be safe to glimpse at him every once in a while. I found him seated with James, a Prefect I knew as Remus Lupin, and another boy I didn't know. Every few minutes, a small wave of chuckles would go between the four of them.
"Emma," I whispered, lightly elbowing her, "Who's that pudgy boy sitting with James and Sirius?"
"Peter Pettigrew," she answered quietly, looking in their direction.
"Has he always been there?" I asked.
"Where? In the Marauders?" Emma said.
"Yes, in the Marauders…Wait, James and his friends are the Marauders?" I whispered in bewilderment.
"Are you sure you go to Hogwarts?" Emma asked gravely.
"Yes, I'm sure," I answered haughtily, "I just thought it was some kind of team or club."
"How is it possible that you don't know that? Do you live under some kind of rock, Robin? James Potter is your cousin! Don't you know anything about him?" she hissed in exasperation.
"Well, er, yes, I know things about him. How was I supposed to know that the lot of them had named themselves 'the Marauders?' I wasn't aware that this was common knowledge. Besides, it's not like he just candidly states that he and his mates made up the Marauders…He's so bizarre. Why would he create a dim name for himself like that? Do you think Sirius is strange as well?" I questioned softly.
"Of course he's strange! They're all strange," Emma said in conclusiveness.
"And misbehaved," I added as an afterthought.
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"Robin, wake up," Emma sang, pulling the covers off my bed.
"You don't have to be so loud," I said, sitting up.
"It's our first day back. You should really get a good start on the day and have breakfast like normal people," she returned, giving me a bright smile.
"You know I don't eat breakfast," I complained, pulling my clothes on.
"You should start though. What better time than the present?" Emma said happily.
"I always seem to forget that you're a morning person," I yawned, walking into the bathroom.
"You could be a morning person too if you wanted!" she called, "I'll be down in the common room when you're ready."
I got ready as quick as possible, knowing that if I wasn't down there soon, Emma would return and chirp about getting breakfast. Walking out of the bathroom, I almost ran into one of my room mates, Cathy.
"Sorry," I apologized.
"It's alright, Robin," she replied genially, "Have a good first day back."
I gave her a small smile and went down to the common room to meet Emma. On our way down to the Great Hall, I glanced over my shoulder quickly to make sure nobody else was around before speaking to Emma.
"When did Cathy start liking me?" I asked seriously.
"What do you mean?" Emma laughed, thinking I was joking.
"She didn't snap at me when I ran into her," I said, "But the weirdest thing was when she told me to have a good first day back."
"Maybe she found someone better to despise," she shrugged.
"You know, I never figured it out why that girl disliked me so much," I commented thoughtfully.
"Perhaps it's because during our first year, Dog made a habit of urinating on her bed and you thought it was funny," Emma offered.
"Maybe…"
Emma shrugged her shoulders again. When we arrived in the Great Hall, Emma filled a plate of food and sat it in front of me hopefully. I tried eating bits of it, but I just couldn't stomach it. Food in the morning always made me ill.
"I don't understand it," Emma growled, "You eat twice as much as the average person at every other meal, but you won't eat a bloody thing in the morning."
"I have to go check with John and make sure he sent mum a letter today. You know how she is," I said, ignoring her frustration.
"Fine," she sighed, "But you're eating when you come back."
I laughed at her before walking over to the Gryffindor table. John, Clara, and I were all sorted into different houses. John was put into Gryffindor, Clara in Hufflepuff, and I in Ravenclaw. When I got to the table, I was surprised to see Sirius (along with the other Marauders) sitting next to John.
When I heard their conversation, I wasn't so surprised any more. John plays for the Gryffindor house team along with Sirius Black and James. If you're a bloke and you play quidditch, you get along…Unless you play for or support a different team. Unstable relationship, that is.
"What will Gryffindor's quidditch team do without us next year?" John joked, earning a chuckle from Sirius.
"Did you send mum the letter, John?" I asked abruptly, breaking into the conversation.
"Could you do it, Robin?" he begged, "You know that if I send it, she'll send me a letter back with loads of embarrassing stuff in it."
"I thoroughly enjoyed those letters last year, by the way," Sirius chortled, earning a scowl from John.
"Do you think I want the sappy letter? Make Clara do it!" I argued.
As if on cue, my second year sister appeared at the table, tapping my shoulder.
"Robin, mum packed some of your knickers in my trunk," Clara announced.
"Clara!" I bit out.
"You need to come get them. I don't want to get them mixed up with mine," she continued.
I was mortified to hear the Marauders laughing. I thought I was going to strangle Clara. She never really learned that personal things such as that shouldn't be announced to the entire world. Mum used to think it was so cute when she was a toddler. It's not so cute any more.
"Yeah, Robin, I think mum packed some of your knickers in my trunk too," John added, causing the Marauders to guffaw more.
"Very funny, John," I said sarcastically, "Don't think that just because I'm writing the letter to mum, that you won't get a horrendously embarrassing letter back from her."
John's eyes widened while the Marauders continued laughing at my expense. I walked as calmly as possible back to the Ravenclaw table to get my schedule. Once I sat down, my eyes narrowed and I began scribbling a letter to mum. The quill scratched furiously, nearly ripping the parchment.
"What's wrong with you?" Emma asked cautiously.
"My knickers were packed into Clara's trunk," I muttered darkly.
"Oh…What's the big deal?" she questioned.
"She decided to announce that to me while I was in front of Sirius Black," I said bitterly, letting a snide smile slip onto my lips as I wrote the part about John insisting on getting a letter soon.
"Clara does have a rather big gob, doesn't she?" Emma commented, biting back a grin.
"It's not funny, Emma," I said, trying to stop a grin myself.
"Yes, it is," she said decisively, a full-blown smile on her face.
"OK, it's a little funny…even if it was awfully humiliating," I said in resign.
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"Where are you going now?" Emma asked on our way out of Potions.
"Well, I need to get that letter sent or my mum will be sending an owl to the Headmaster himself to make sure we got here safely," I replied in a bored tone.
"Good luck," she laughed, turning in the opposite direction towards the Great Hall.
I took a deep breath and headed towards the owlery. As surprising as it is, I am terrified of owls. I hate them. One would think that, being a witch, I would have gotten used to them. I haven't. The way they flap their great wings about makes me nervous. Their general look is nasty as well. Owls just have a look that says 'I want to severely harm you.'
Their beaks and claws are dangerously sharp and could rip your face clean off. Is it really that hard to believe that they intimidate me? The owlery makes me anxious as hell seeing as there's over a hundred owls in there.
I walked into the owlery apprehensively, cringing when an owl flew over my head. I tried to keep my eyes on my feet so I didn't have to look up, but sickening crunches made my eyes dart up. The carcasses of small animals were not comforting in any way. I tried in vain to lure a school owl down to me. It was almost like they were mocking me. They flew over my head and flapped their wings, but refused to come down to me.
One tawny owl, in particular, was taunting me. Every once in a while, she'd come a little closer to me and then fly away. She would land near me again, flap her wings like was she was going to come to me and then go in the other direction. At this point, my fear was being overpowered by frustration.
"Come here, you winged fiend! This bloody letter has to get to my mum," I snapped, causing the aforementioned owl to hoot in what I believe, was amusement, "Don't patronize me, bird!"
"Having trouble getting an owl?" someone said from behind me.
You've got to be kidding me…
My head fought with my face's urge to become blaringly red. Sirius Black stood behind me, an owl on his arm and a wicked smile on his face. I bit my lip to keep my mouth from hanging open. His stormy grey eyes danced with laughter and I couldn't help but feel like an absolute idiot for the second time today.
"Yes, er, I'm not very good with owls," I replied hesitantly.
"I can tell," he said, "Would you like to use my owl?"
"Really? That would be great," I sighed, relief washing over me.
"He should get your letter to its destination fairly quick," Sirius assured me, holding his arm out.
"Thanks a load," I said sincerely, letting the dark owl perch on my arm.
"It's no problem. Anything for James's relations," he called back from his way out of the owlery.
I frowned at his last remark: 'Anything for James's relations.' So he just let me use his owl because James is my cousin? Does it still classify as a favor? Well, yes, it's a favor, but a real favor? Had I not been James's cousin, would he still have let me use the owl? Ah, best not dwell on it.
…
Maybe he doesn't like me. Merlin, I think this boy might really be a challenge.
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"So…Robin, how's your chase of the infamous Sirius Black going?" Emma asked innocently, sporting a grin that contradicted her tone.
"It's going quite well," I said smugly, "He let me use his owl today."
"Has he shown any interest in you?" she questioned knowingly.
I paused and stared at her. She had a triumphant look in her eyes. She knew bloody well that he hadn't shown an inkling of interest in me. I wasn't about to let her be right about him though.
"Yes, he did, as a matter of fact," I lied, "He actually asked me if I'd like to join him during the next Hogsmeade weekend."
She quirked an eyebrow at me, making me squirm uncomfortably.
"No, he didn't," she said simply.
"He didn't show the slightest interest," I moaned, "How am I ever going to get his attention?"
"Did you show any interest?" Emma asked subjectively.
"Well, not exactly," I answered carefully, causing Emma to roll her eyes, "I don't want to come on too strong and get rejected!"
"So you showed absolutely no inclination that you fancy him?" Emma reiterated.
"Er…" I started.
"You are ridiculous," she cried, "How on earth do you plan to persuade a boy, who doesn't date or show any interest in girls, to fancy you? Robin, if you insist on capturing the attention of Sirius Black, you must take some kind of action."
"I thought you were totally against the idea of me going after him," I argued pointedly.
"If you want to do this, you need to do it right," she stated firmly.
"Tell me honestly though…Do you think I can do it?" I questioned sheepishly.
"If anyone can do it, it's you," Emma confirmed, "You're the only girl persistent enough to keep after him."
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I finally retrieved my misplaced knickers from Clara to ensure that I would not be publicly notified again that mum packed them in her trunk and I needed to get them before our knickers became mixed up. I did this during my Prefect rounds to make sure that someone, namely Sirius Black, wouldn't catch me walking around the corridors trying to smuggle vibrantly colored knickers in my robes. That would be quite unfortunate.
I managed to stuff them into my pockets. They were peeking out a bit, but it was dark and there wasn't anyone else around so I didn't really mind. Normally everyone is far too tired to be sneaking about the corridors the first day back.
Apparently the Marauders weren't.
I saw four figures sneaking around the corner in front of me, one with particularly messy locks of hair. I was going to let them be until a fellow Prefect walked up behind me. It was Renee Cormer, the seventh year Hufflepuff Prefect. She was, regrettably, a stickler for rules.
"Can you believe them, Robin? They can't even behave for the first night," she clucked, striding towards them.
"Wait, Renee, I'll give them their punishment and send them back to their dorms," I said hastily.
"I'll come along. It'll take more than one Prefect to get their attention. Those boys are so insolent," Renee said tetchily.
"Oh, no, it's fine. I'm sure I can manage them myself," I assured her, trying to walk ahead.
"It's no problem, Robin. You don't have to thank me," she said cheerily.
"No, I--," I stuttered, trying to stop her.
It was too late. They had heard us and stopped in their tracks. I couldn't just run away. I had to continue on. I hung my head as Renee pompously approached them, ready to deal out detentions.
"What do the four of you think you're doing?" she demanded dramatically while flashing her lit wand in their faces, earning snickers from James and Sirius.
"What does it look like were doing? Having a picnic?" Sirius replied sarcastically, blinking from the bright light emitted by her wand.
"Don't get cheeky with me, Black," Renee warned, causing the aforementioned trouble-maker to snort.
"If you think the threat of a detention really intimidates me, you had better think again. I have more detentions under my belt than you could ever imagine in your wildest Prefect dreams," he said snidely, pushing her wand down out of his face which caused Renee to scowl.
I stood pathetically behind the Hufflepuff Prefect, hoping that they hadn't seen me or at least that they didn't recognize me. It was when Renee asked me to back her up and enforce the punishment, that my throat and tongue went bone dry. All at once, I thought my stomach was going to drop to the floor and I was going to melt into a puddle of humiliation.
"Robin," she whispered anxiously.
"I, er…You shouldn't be sneaking out at this time," I said weakly, stepping out from behind Renee and lighting my wand.
"Robin?" James asked in disbelief.
"Um…yes, hello, James. Fancy seeing you here," I said in mock-surprise.
"Don't act so startled, Potter. She's doing her job," Renee said proudly, patting my back.
"If you're going to give us detentions, get on with it," Remus Lupin remarked impatiently.
"I think I speak for both Robin and I when I say that I'm ashamed of the behavior of our Head Boy and fellow Prefect, not to mention Mr. Black and Mr. Pettigrew," she said boldly.
I couldn't help but grimace at this. It was almost like I had tasted something horrible in my mouth. I think the taste could be identified as shame. I've noticed a certain pattern here with this taste. It's never of my own doing actually. I never get the chance to embarrass myself because it seems like everyone else does it for me. They must think I'm incapable of achieving it on my own.
I could tell that James and Sirius were finding her strict abiding of the rules amusing. Peter Pettigrew was actually listening to her, looking somewhat fearful of the punishment while Remus Lupin look annoyed by her babble. I could understand why. She took it to an extreme.
"Renee, I think I can handle it from here," I said swiftly, "I'll give them the appropriate punishment and send them back to the Gryffindor Tower."
"Are you sure, Robin?" she asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine. You had better get back to patrolling. There could be other lurkers sneaking around," I pointed out.
"You're right. How silly of me!" Renee laughed, finally leaving the corridor.
"Are we getting detention?" Peter spoke up.
"Of course not, Wormtail. Robin will let us off Scot-free," James said offhandedly, "Right?"
"Don't worry, I won't give you lot detention. I'm sorry, James. I tried to stop her, honest! She was just so determined to catch you though," I apologized.
"It's fine. We'll make sure to report a dreadful detention full of slimy animal parts to her," James smirked.
"I'll see you later on then," I said, walking away, "Just do me a favor, guys."
"What?" they called back.
"Don't get caught again," I answered, making them grin.
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A/N- I imagine that within a chapter or two, there will be real interaction going on between Robin and Sirius. The first few chapters are just to kind of set everything up. Haha, I think a lot of people found the 'different' personality of Sirius to be odd. That's alright. It makes this story different and refreshing. Once again, oodles and oodles of thanks to the people that reviewed the first chapter! Please review!