Author's Note: Well welcome to chapter two. I think this chapter turned out better than chapter one. At least in my opinion it did. Anyways, please once you're done reading this chapter go ahead and leave a review. Good or bad, I just like feedback.
Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not owned by me because it is owned by none other than J.K. Rowling.
Chapter 2:
I woke up in the infirmary, and I could feel someone sitting on the edge of my bed. I opened my eyes to see who it was, and was pleasantly surprised when it wasn't Dominic. After that whole extremely strange conversation I had with Sirius, I really didn't want to talk to Dominic yet. Plus, I was happy to see my best friend, Brittany Valentine, sitting there. I smiled at her and said, "Hey, I think I know you."
She returned the smile before slapping my arm friendlily, "How many times do I have to tell you to not get injured before you listen? Every single year I have told you to not get hurt, and what do you do every year? You get hurt. All I ask is why?"
I sat myself up and responded to her question, "I never really mean too. It just somehow happens." I paused before asking, "So where is Dominic? I thought for sure he'd be the one here greeting me when I woke up."
"I talked him out of it. Why are you disappointed that I came instead of Dom?"
I gave out a laugh as I swung my feet over the side of my bed, "Absolutely not, but I'm kind of curious how you managed to talk him out of it. I know you couldn't have lied because you don't lie, so how did you do it?"
"Well I told him that I needed to talk to you about something, which was indeed a lie when I told it, but it's not so much of a lie anymore." She held up a small piece of parchment which was obviously torn off of a larger piece of parchment. I had no clue what it was, but there was an almost illegible scribble on it.
Brittany handed it over when I reached for it without protest. It wasn't what I would call a long note considering all it said was "You're not a bad person for not wanting to marry him, but you should probably tell him the truth before you're standing at the alter- Sirius."
I looked over at her and I didn't know what to say. I did not think that Sirius was going to leave me a note. It took me a while, but I finally said something, but it wasn't on the topic of Sirius Black, which I was sure was what Brittany wanted to talk about. "Can we get out of here?"
She rolled her eyes at me, and nodded. Once we were in the hallway though she let her tongue loose, "Well? Did you and Sirius suddenly become friends last night? Did you actually tell him about you and Dominic, as in the whole story? Haven't you heard what people say about Sirius Black? That all he is is a boy with no respect for woman. What were you thinking even talking to him? I understand that he was the only other one in the Hospital Wing, but couldn't you have just sat there in silence? It may have been awkward, but at least you wouldn't have gotten yourself entangled in the mess called Sirius Black. And you know what; you're welcome for talking your boyfriend out of coming. How would he have reacted to seeing that note Sirius left to you? He'd accuse you of cheating on him. Wait, you didn't cheat on him, right? Megan, are you going to answer any of my questions?" Brittany Valentine, a girl who talked so fast half of the time most people had no clue what she was saying. I, on the other hand, had been too good of friends with her for too long to not understand her; still there were those days when I wished I couldn't understand her.
I didn't say anything for a minute or two just to make sure I answered her questions in the right order, "Well, I don't know if me and Sirius are friends or not, we might be. Yes I did. Yes I have. I try not to listen to people who spread gossip. I was thinking that I owed him an apology for knocking him off his broom. I do not do well in silent or awkward settings because they make me feel uncomfortable. And I hardly say that I'm entangled in any mess, considering all I had is one conversation with him. Thank you and Dominic would've had a fit, kind of like you are right now except a little worse. No I did not cheat on Dominic and I'm kind of insulted that you would even ask that. And I believe I just answered all of your questions." Brittany was theatrical while I kept calm throughout our talk. If both of us were screaming at each other we'd of attracted too much attention for me to feel like our conversation was private. And I enjoyed my privacy.
She took a deep breath as if she was trying to calm down, but that was not the case. "Why would you tell him about you and Dominic? You have no idea how that one conversation can change your reputation. People are going to talk. I'm not having a fit; I'm just worried about how you are going to be affected by this. Excuse me for caring about my best friend." She placed her hand on my shoulder to stop me from walking, and her voice became friendlier and less harsh, "And I know that was a stupid thing to ask, but you know me, I can't keep my mouth shut for my life. Once an idea pops into my head it immediately comes out my mouth."
I laughed at how true that was. She was a hyperactive blabbermouth, but I supposed that's how we became friends in the first place. "I don't know why I told him about everything, he asked, and suddenly I became an open book. Who exactly is going to talk? It's not like any one besides Madame Pomfrey was there. And Madame Pomfrey wasn't even there the whole time. You are having a fit, and you have no reason to be worried. I haven't done anything wrong, yet. Oh, and you're excused." I began walking again towards the Hufflepuff common room. All I wanted to do was get changed, and then get something in my stomach.
Brittany quickly caught up with me and said, "Meg, if you're going to the common room, I should warn you. You are going to be bombarded by hugs. Everyone really missed you last night."
"Britt, you're exaggerating as usual. I was gone for less than a day. People aren't going to miss me after less than a day. It's not logical."
"No I swear people really did miss you. You know Daniel Wattkins? The little first year you helped feel better after he humiliated himself during his flying lesson? Daniel Wattkins who's made you his role model?" I nodded. "Well he kept on asking Dominic last night if you were okay, and when you'd be back, I swear he was more worried about than anyone else."
"That makes one person that was worried about me. That's not a whole lot."
"Well, I guess you'll just have to see for yourself," she said as we approached the entrance to the common room. We stood in front of several stacked barrels and after tapping the rhythm of 'Helga Hufflepuff' on the correct barrel, we were allowed into the common room.
Straightaway, I realized that there were a lot more people than there usually was in the common room at that time of day. Ordinarily, most people were already in the Great Hall enjoying their breakfast. Still, Brittany did exaggerate about it, there were only about ten to fifteen people there, and not all of them were waiting for me.
I felt a pair of arms around me; I looked up to see Dominic smiling at me. "I was going to get you from the Hospital Wing, but Britt insisted that she did it." He nodded towards Brittany without letting go of me and continued, "Did you talk to her about whatever you needed to talk to her about?" After Brittany nodded he looked back at me, "What exactly was it that she needed to talk about?"
"It's complicated," the truth was I didn't know what to tell him.
He smiled and released me from his hug, "We'll talk about it later. There are other people who missed you."
I received hugs from several different Hufflepuffs, some of whom said things like "I'm so glad you're okay," or "Good job in the game yesterday." But my favorite was without a doubt when Daniel said to me, "It's okay Megan. It's not your fault you fell; I reckon someone probably bewitched that Bludger just so it would hit you. Because otherwise there is no way you would've fallen of your broom."
After most people had filed out of the common room I left Dominic and Brittany, so I could get changed into some casual clothes. After I had done that I went back into the common room to see that Brittany had already left.
Dominic could clearly tell I was curious as to where Brittany went because he answered before I asked, "I told her we'd meet her at the Great Hall."
"Alright," I said with a semi-fake smile on my face. I truly was worried that he was going to ask questions, but part of me knew he wouldn't because that just wasn't who he was. I grabbed his hand and looked up at him, "Shall we go then?"
"We shall."
Our walk to the Great Hall was filled with friendly conversation, and luckily very few questions. I thought that maybe Brittany had told him something, she was quite a chatterbox. She said herself that she says whatever comes to her mind. Still I had enough trust in her to know that she wouldn't tell him anything.
As we walked into the Great Hall my eyes quickly skimmed the room. For some reason Sirius Black stood out to me. It was most likely the disapproving look he shot at me and Dominic the moment we walked into the room holding hands. Had he really been expecting me to admit my lack of feelings to Dominic the exact moment that I got out of infirmary? Or maybe he had expected Dominic to see that note he left me, and that I would tell him everything. After all Sirius most likely heard Dominic say to me that he would be there to see me first thing in the morning.
We found Brittany at the Hufflepuff table where we joined her and many other Hufflepuffs. Immediately I began stacking food onto a plate. Dominic laughed at me as he slowly placed some food on his plate. "I'm hungry, okay?" I said before I began to stuff my face unattractively.
"So you'll think Professor Sprout will let me play in the next game?" I asked
"Meg, the next game isn't until February; I think you'll be fully healed by then. Plus you know Professor Sprout wants us to win just as much as you do. She's just better at acting like she doesn't mind if we win or lose." Dominic explained.
"Yeah, except winning and losing is like life and death with Meg," Brittany added.
I nodded in agreement, "I dream of being a professional Quidditch player. And to do that I have to be good. And if I win that means I must be good. Therefore I want to win. I want to win fairly because that means I must be great. If I'm great I have an even better chance of becoming a professional Quidditch player."
Dominic smirked at me, "Your logic always manages to amaze me."
"I'm a pretty amazing person," I said proudly.
"That you are," Brittany said while lightly bumping into me.
My hazel-eyed boyfriend gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before saying, "I'd love to stay and chat with you two, but I have to go help Elliot with his studying."
I said good-bye, and went back to talking with Brittany. We didn't talk for long before we were interrupted by James Potter.
"Hello James, what brings you to the Hufflepuff table today?" I asked after he had gotten my attention by tapping on my shoulder.
He took a deep breath, "On behalf of the Gryffindor Quidditch team we'd like to apologize," that made me raise an eyebrow at him. It wasn't something that was heard of to formally apologize for something that happened during a Quidditch match. Hufflepuffs were often considered the nicest out of the four houses, and we didn't even apologize when things went wrong. "Honestly, Megan, Sirius told me to come say sorry for what happened. I don't know why though, he wouldn't tell me. Did something happen between the two of you last night?"
By this point James had made himself comfortable at the Hufflepuff table, and was getting some odd looks from both Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. "Last night Sirius and I had a conversation, and that is all that happened," I answered honestly.
"A conversation? That's all? Are you sure you didn't kiss or anything?"
Before I even had a chance to respond Brittany responded for me, "James, if you haven't noticed Meg has a boyfriend who she is perfectly happy with. She wouldn't dare kiss someone else while she is in a relationship with Dominic."
"Right," James said as if he was having an epiphany, "you're dating Layton. I forgot, sorry for bothering you." I thought that was rather strange.
It seemed as if the second James left Sirius took his seat. "Roma, what did he say to you?"
"Absolutely nothing of interest Sirius."
"That depends on what I'm interested in," he argued.
"Okay, so what are you interested in?"
"What James said to you."
Brittany piped up, "Why do you care so much?" The whole 'Hufflepuffs are the nicest people in the world' thing was definitely a misconception. Especially when it came to Brittany, she was nice once you got to know her, but before you got to know her she was so defensive, she was close with her friends and anyone who wasn't a friend was automatically an enemy in her eyes. And it was obvious that she considered Sirius and enemy.
"I wanted to make sure James didn't make me sound like a prat."
"James did not make you sound like a prat," I interrupted whatever snippy comeback Brittany was about to say. "Although that note you left me did make you seem like a prat."
"What note?" He asked sounding almost like he really didn't know what I was talking about. After I gave him a very skeptical look though he suddenly knew exactly what note I was talking about. "I'm sorry," Brittany scoffed at this, but he ignored her, "But I'm not sure if this is the place to explain my reasons. Join me on a walk?"
I looked towards Brittany, knowing that she wouldn't want me to go, especially not with Sirius. I saw that I was correct when Brittany's expression was just pure disapproval. I gave her a look that asked her to play nice. She sighed and motioned with her hand for me to go with him. Just one of our many unspoken conversations.
I turned back to Sirius and answered, "Let's go."
"When I wrote the note I wasn't trying to make myself look like a prat," Sirius said once we were out of the Great Hall where we'd have at least some privacy.
"What exactly where you trying to do then?"
He shrugged, "I'm not sure. I thought that you deserved to date who you want to date. Not date someone because your parents pressured you into it."
"Sirius that' nice, but I think I ought to know someone for at least a week before they start meddling in my relationship. Plus, it's not your place. And just so you know, I have no intention in ending this year still dating Dominic. I'm pretty sure he likes someone else, and I'm okay with that. I believe that he feels the same pressure to stay with me from his parents that I feel from my parents. I plan on ending it with him sometime before Christmas." And again, I couldn't believe the things I was telling him. I didn't know what it was that made me so comfortable around him.
He shot me a toothy smile as he said, "Well that's good news. It wouldn't be fair to you…or Layton if you two kept on dating when you didn't like each other in that way."
"So when exactly should I be expecting that prank? I've got to make sure it doesn't interfere with anything."
Sirius laughed and rolled his gray eyes at me. He seemed as if he was going to say something when James Potter followed by Peter Pettigrew came running down the corridors yelling "Run!" at Sirius. As they came running past us, or should I say though us, one of them knocked me over. I looked towards the way they came from to see what they had been running from. What I saw was a furious looking transfiguration teacher coming towards us.
A look of worry crossed Sirius's face as he looked from Professor McGonagall to me. Quickly he grabbed my hand, pulled me off the floor and began running, still holding my hand. I wasn't entirely sure of what was happening, but it felt somewhat like a kidnapping to me.
"Hurry," Sirius said, looking back to me. I didn't understand what he was so worried about. It wasn't like McGonagall was rushing to catch up with us. But he more experience with getting into trouble than I did, so I trusted he knew what he was talking about, and quickened my pace.
He pulled around one corner, and then another, up some stairs, down some stairs, around more corners until we were standing on what was unfamiliar territory to me. Though it seemed very familiar to Sirius, James and Peter, since they didn't seem to take as much interest to the room as I did.
As I looked around the room we stood in I noticed that Sirius and I were still holding hands. I felt my face flush a bit as I dropped his hand and began to examine the room more closely. Luckily, nobody else seemed to notice my slight embarrassment. It was cluttered with various objects, and looked like the kind of place it was easy to get lost to. That's when I realized I was standing in the Room of Requirement.
I walked back over to the three boys when Peter said, "Why'd you bring her?"
James smiled like he knew something that nobody else in the room knew as he threw his arm around Sirius and said, "Padfoot was just being chivalrous. Wanted to save Megan from a detention with McGonagall."
Sirius didn't disagree with words he did push James's arm away from him, and give James a look that told him to shut up.
"So when did you guys discover this place?" I asked, desperately wanting to get a conversation going.
Sirius shrugged and looked at James for an answer, "It kind of just showed up one day after we pulled a prank, and we wanted to hide."
"I'd have to say that was one of our most brilliant pranks," Peter added.
I raised an eyebrow to seem curious as I found a clear piece of floor to sit down on, "Really? What was it?"
The three boys followed my example, finding their own spots of floor to sit on. James was about to answer when Sirius covered his mouth and whispered something in his ear. He then whispered probably the same thing into Peter's ear.
I sighed dramatically and pouted, "Suddenly I feel out of the loop."
"Nothing personal," Sirius said with a smirk on his face, "we just can't let you know anything about our past pranks until your prank."
"Yeah, you never answered me. When exactly are you planning that?"
"Whenever is good for you," Peter said sarcastically.
We spent anywhere between twenty minutes and an hour in there just making random chit chat when I finally asked, "Can we leave yet?"
"Could've left a while ago," Sirius answered. "Why bored of us already?"
"Yeah," I said while fake yawning, "you guys aren't exciting enough for me. I'm used to living life on the edge."
That made all three boys laugh. Probably since I had never actually gotten into trouble before. "Sorry, next time we'll have to do something more exciting," James laughed as he offered to help me up.
"That sounds better."
Once out of the Room of Requirement I watched as the door slowly disappeared. The boys had already said their good-byes and left by the time the door was all the way gone.
I decided that I should go try and find Dominic or Brittany or someone. I went to the library to look for Dominic since that was where he went to meet up with Elliot Sellers. In the library I found not only Dominic, but also my brunette best friend. They were studying, and having a quiet conversation. It wouldn't have been kind of me to interrupt them, so I didn't.
Brittany was the girl I had thought Dominic wanted to be his girlfriend. And I was pretty sure Brittany liked him back. But I was fine with that, as long as they stayed my friends. Which I had no worries about because neither of them were the type to just stop being friends with someone for a stupid reason. What I did worry about was how Dominic and I would get our parents on board with the thought of him and I not being together forever. At least not in the way they wanted. I worried that his parents wouldn't give Brittany a chance because they already had their hearts set on me being their daughter-in-law. But ultimately I knew that they'd have to live with it.
End of Chapter 2
So what'd you think? Better than the first chapter? Worse than the first chapter? I really hope you like the story so far. I'm certainly having a good time writing it. I'd really like to know what you think of this story so far. Unfortunately Remus didn't make it into this chapter, and I'm not sure if he'll appear in the next chapter or not, but I promise he will be in this story. Next chapter will be up as soon as possible.
