A/N:So I know this one took a lil bit, but I did encounter a few issues. First, I wrote like, 10 pages when I wasn't feeling well or when I was very tired, then I reread it all and was like 'blaaaah, thats poo poo caca.' I didn't delete it, because... well it was so so so long. Anyway, I took that away and saved it incase I couldn't figure anything else out and wanted to just re-re-re-rewrite that 18 times until it felt better. But, alas, something better came. THEN, then, ooomg, I tried to log on and was all, you spammed, no account info for you. SO, now that that is all fix-ed and working correctly... here ya all go.
Quick question to everyone else: Did anyone else have account issues?
Anyhoo, enjoy the chap and to those who read my story: sorry for the much delay-age.
Lily sat up in bed, hearing the alarm, and yelped in seeing Sabine sitting cross legged on the edge. Sabine sighed heavily and tore the blankets from Lily's hands.
"I think today may be the day I let you make me over." She smiled, looking slightly unsure and quite tired.
"Did you sleep at all or-" Lily paused, furrowing her brows. "You let me what?" she asked slowly, looking Sabine over appraisingly. Sabine sighed and fidgeted with the blanket as if it were of great interest to her.
"Well, being that you've been waiting since the third day we spent at Hogwarts to give me a proper make over, I thought today you should get your wish." She said quietly, looking desperately like she wanted Lily to say no. She cringed when Lily gave a squeal and kicked her legs over the bed, slipping off with a thump as she flailed her arms. She stood quickly, straightening her pajama top.
"Don't tease me, Sabine; I don't think my heart can take it." Lily joked, grabbing her make up bag and scrambling through Sabine's trunk for clothes. She gave each article of clothing that Sabine loved a look of disgust before discarding it onto Sabine's bed with an 'ew' or an 'oh, hell no'. Finally she pulled a pair of jeans out that Sabine hadn't worn since second year.
"Lily, those don't fit me anymore." Sabine squeaked as they hit her in the head. "I haven't worn them since second year, they're too tight."
"Your only problem is that they're just tight enough." Lily said smugly as she began tossing shirts. She shook her head, making a face that showed how confused she was at the last comment. She gasped as Lily pulled out a shirt that actually fit and looked at Sabine menacingly over her shoulder.
"No, not that one." She whined, holding her hands up in defense. Lily cocked an eyebrow as she turned, placing a hand on her hip threateningly. "Come on, it's going to be cold, can't I wear my big comfortable sweater?" Lily scoffed and shook her head, throwing the shirt at Sabine's head and pointing at the bathroom.
"Go, or I'll put it on you myself." She ordered with a satisfied smirk. "Let me know when you've finished. I took a bath last night; I'm going to dress out here." She added, stretching her arms above her head and peeling her shirt over her head.
Sabine closed the door and sighed, almost glaring at the clothes Lily had given her to put on. She showered quickly and slipped them on, moving about uncomfortably because they fit well. The jeans were a dark wash, fitting well enough to make Sabine cringe at her reflection. The shirt was a deep maroon with long sleeves that almost covered her hands, fitting like a glove. On the left, just above the pocket, there was a griffin, which happened to be the only reason her brother had bought the shirt for her. It fit just as well as the pants, inspiring a sigh of defeat from Sabine as she threw the bathroom door open.
"I absolutely loathe the very ground you walk on, Lily Evans." Sabine mumbled flatly, stalking back into the bathroom as Lily closed the door behind them.
"Oh, hush, you sound like Sev when you mumble." She laughed, flipping through her make up bag. "You're the one that suggested this." She sang.
"Only because I didn't think my misery would be such a source of joy to you." Sabine grumbled, hanging her head and slouching her shoulders. Lily did her best to jerk them back and stuck her tongue out.
"You got me, I'm such a sadist." Lily said flatly, holding up eyeliner and eyeshadow. She scrunched her nose and shook her head. "Nuh-uh, nope, not that one." Sabine laughed at the look of amused determination on Lily's face as she tossed the eyeshadow back into the bag.
"Why don't you just use a make up charm?" Sabine asked. Lily shot her a look like she'd grown a hand from her forehead.
"And look like all of the other girls here?" Lily scoffed. "Ha, no thank you. There we go." She nodded, finally satisfied with a shade or lilac and a clear gloss for her lips. "Sit, open your mouth, close your eyes, and try not to cringe." Sabine couldn't help but laugh.
"What are you going to do, put on my make up or molest me?" She said between fits of laughter. Lily rolled her eyes and shot her a reproving look.
"I swear, you're like the first female Marauder." Lily mumbled, pouting.
"You certainly seem to like me more than James." Sabine said, tilting her head back as Lily opened the eyeshadow. "Or do you…?" she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
"You really think it's so wise to be insulting the woman that can make you look like a clown?" Lily said warningly. Sabine smiled apologetically before she assumed the position that Lily requested. After what felt like ages, Lily clapped her hands together in what appeared to be sheer joy. Sabine blinked a few times, staring expectantly at Lily. "Well stand up, go check yourself out."
Sabine stood slowly and gulped audibly, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She surveyed it carefully, not wanting to make any faces that might send Lily into a rage fueled rant about her ungratefulness. Finally she smiled and nodded, satisfied with it.
"Alright, now I'll do my hair." Sabine said, grabbing a brush. Lily slapped her hand, taking the brush from her with a look like the hand Sabine's forehead must have sprouted had begun to wave at her.
"Ah, no, now I'll do your hair." She beamed, gently brushing the back. Sabine watched her wide eyed, a little frightened now. "Hand me that maroon and gold headband over there, please?" she said flatly. "Now the hair tie."
"Yes, ma'am." Sabine chuckled, receiving a glare. She closed her mouth, not wanting to disturb Lily in her obviously determined work. With a snap, Lily let the hair tie go, tightening it a little and beginning to brush Sabine's bangs, biting her lip in concentration. Finally she stepped back and gave a satisfied nod.
"Looks like what I see when I look at you, Sab." Lily smiled quietly, hugging Sabine tight. Sabine surveyed her reflection once more and couldn't help but smile at the fact that she really did look like a polished version of herself. "Now, let's go get a bagel, we have an hour or so before we're supposed to leave for Hogsmeade."
"Thank you, Lily." Sabine smiled softly, following Lily from the bathroom. They grabbed their coats and headed down the stairs. Lily stopped cautiously at the bottom step and her eyes darted around the common room, searching for the Marauders. "Oh, will you just go already, they aren't here." Sabine laughed, giving Lily a light shove.
"One can never be too cautious." Lily said barely above a whisper as she continued cautiously through the common room. Sabine rolled her eyes and sighed, smacking Lily playfully in the back with her coat and running ahead of her.
"Race you to the great hall." She laughed, practically leaping through the painting. Lily kept close behind, finally catching up as they ran towards the entrance to the great hall. Lily lurched ahead, gasping for air between fits of laughter as she handed Sabine a bagel from the table. Sabine feigned a scowl as she snatched it, laughing.
"That was fun." Lily said, finally regaining some breath. Sabine nodded vigorously, chewing her bagel happily as she took a seat next to Lily. Sabine glanced over at Lily to see her stiffen and become silent. James slid suavely onto the bench across from them, not noticing Sabine, not recognizing her, or completely ignoring her. She realized suddenly that he didn't recognize her at first.
"Oi, Sabine, you look nice today." He said in amazement, then cringing. "Er, not that you don't usually. You just… today you look… you look nice today." He finally sighed in defeat. Sabine laughed.
"Why thank you, James." She grinned, mashing Lily's toes with her foot to try to get her to participate in the conversation. Lily squeaked and kicked her, maintaining a relatively serene face of indifference.
"You look nice today, too, Lily." He beamed, obviously ending his interaction with Sabine. Lily narrowed her eyes and glared at Sabine before turning to James.
"Thank you, Potter." She said curtly, shooting yet another glare at Sabine. "I'm going to find Sev." Lily said flatly, standing before Sabine could say anything. "I'll explain the dance and you being friends with them now." She added comfortingly. Sabine nodded gratefully, turning back to James, who was watching Lily's retreating back.
"You know, in the muggle world, they'd call you a stalker." Sabine smirked. James nodded slowly, still staring at Lily as she found Severus.
"Yeah, sure, you're right." He said flatly.
"James, I'm pregnant, and Hagrid is the father, will you support my decision to keep the child?" She smirked, barely able to contain her laughter.
"Of course, good then, that is fantastic." He sighed, finally turning back to her as Lily left. His face scrunched in confused disgust. "What?!" he yelped. Sabine couldn't help but practically cackle at him.
"I was joking." She laughed. "Because it was painfully obvious that you didn't hear a word I said."
"I heard that you're having Hagrid's love child." He sneered. Sabine rolled her eyes, relieved to see Remus, Sirius and Peter walking into the great hall.
"Yes, well, I think I'm going to sell him on the black market." She said flatly, shrugging with indifference. James failed at containing a smirk and shook his head.
"You remind me more and more of a Marauder every day." He sighed, looking almost proud. Sabine snorted, shaking her head as Remus sat down next to her, squinting at her before his eyes went wide.
"You look wonderful, today." Remus smiled softly.
"Yeah, you clean up nicely." Sirius said crudely, flopping down next to James and shoving a sausage roughly into his mouth.
"That's very attractive, Sirius." Sabine smiled sarcastically. "As for cleaning up nicely, I only wish I could say the same about you." James chuckled as Sirius sneered in response. Remus smiled deeply, placing an arm around Sabine's shoulder. Sirius glanced back down at his modest plate of food and resumed eating in relative silence.
"I definitely believe you should become a Marauder." James nodded, looking to the other Marauders. Remus nodded in agreement, looking rather pleased with the idea, as did Peter. Sirius, however, had contorted his face into a look of disgusted confusion, and looked to be fighting to keep silent. Sabine shook her head with a sigh.
"I take that as a compliment and all, but I think the last thing I need to do is form an allegiance with a group that spends a portion of their time torturing my friend." She chastised, shooting pointed glances at all of them separately. "Now, boys, shall we go? McGonagall looks like she'll be finished with her breakfast soon." Sabine said with a smile, standing and putting her coat on. They followed suit silently, Remus keeping up with her, Sirius and James following, and Peter tagging along behind with his head hung modestly.
"I think our first stop should be Gladrags." Remus suggested once they'd stopped at the back of the large collection of students. Sabine nodded, searching for the bright red hair of her friend, finding her at the front of the group, standing next to a rather angry looking Severus. She sighed, anticipating the conversation that would ensue the next time they hung out together. Remus patted her shoulder comfortingly. "If he's a good friend, he'll understand."
"I hope he does." She smiled weakly at him. Finally, McGonagall and Filch did a head count and the students took the long cold trek to Hogsmeade in relative silence. Once they'd passed the tracks for the Hogwarts Express, people began to break off, running to The Three Broomsticks, or Honeyduke's.
"We're going to Zonko's Joke Shop." James called as he ran with Sirius and Peter. Remus watched them leave, stuffing his hands in his pockets and slowing his pace as he walked with Sabine.
"Oh, did Lily tell you already that I already got my suit?" He asked, obviously fishing for some kind of conversation starter.
"Mhm." Sabine smirked. Remus nodded, humming in thought as he glanced around at the buildings. "You really hate silence, don't you?" she chuckled.
"Only if it seems the slightest bit awkward." He smiled sheepishly, pulling the door open for her and bowing softly. Remus followed her in quickly, brushing the stray bits of snow from his coat and scanning the room for dress racks. Sabine started flipping frantically through the dresses, flashing looks of indifference or out right disgust as she did so. Remus watched in amusement, never really having been a part of his date's buying a dress.
"Ooo, this one's pretty." Sabine said in awe. She pulled a simple, but gorgeous deep blue dress from the rack, eyeing it with scrutiny before nodding to herself. "Do you like it?" she asked, looking like it actually made a difference whether he did or not. He was slightly taken aback as he smiled deeply.
"It looks gorgeous, you should try it on." He said softly. Sabine nodded, turning her attention back to the dress as she skittered towards the changing room. After a few minutes, she walked self consciously from the dressing room, already cringing in anticipation. Remus was staring at her and she wasn't entirely sure what that meant his reaction was. She rushed to the mirror and started fidgeting with it.
"Definitely not." She sighed, regret evident in her eyes.
"No, it's perfect!" Remus protested, eyeing her up and down. "Really, it looks great on you." He said honestly, still eyeing her. Sabine's face flushed as she softened, still scrutinizing her reflection. The dress was an almost midnight blue, empire waist dress, reaching just below her knee. "It matches my vest and tie, too." He smiled warmly. Sabine looked at his reflection gratefully before nodding in agreement.
"This is the dress, then." She beamed, heading back towards the changing rooms. Once changed, she strode out quickly, beaming as she followed Remus to the counter to pay.
"That'll be 13 galleons, 8 sickles, and 5 knuts." The cashier smiled. Sabine struggled to get her money from her pocket, finally dolling it out. She sighed heavily and mentally cursed Lily as she shoved her hand back into her pocket, releasing the coins and quickly grabbing the dress box. Remus ran ahead, opening the door for her and receiving a chuckle from Sabine.
"You're such a gentleman, Remus." She mused, patting his shoulder. "So, to The Three Broomsticks, then?" she asked.
"Sure, if there isn't anywhere else you'd like to stop." Remus nodded, placing his arm around her shoulder and smiling. Sabine smiled deeply to herself as they started towards The Three Broomsticks. She knew she always liked Remus; he always seemed like such a nice guy. She couldn't help but feel like he had best friend potential with the way he acted like an older brother. He opened the door for her once again, bowing and motioning for her to go ahead. She laughed and found a table. "Two butterbeers?" he asked as Madam Rosmerta made her way over to their table. Sabine nodded, hopping from her chair to gain access to the money in her pocket and again vehemently cursing Lily in her mind. "No worries, it's on me." He smiled nonchalantly, ordering. Sabine slid slowly into her chair.
"Are you sure? I brought enough money." She asked wearily. Remus nodded, waving away her offer of money. "Thank you, Remus, I owe you."
"I'll hold you to it." He joked, wagging his finger at her in a mock threat. Sabine laughed, glancing around.
"I wonder where your other partners in crime are hiding." She smirked. "I had heard that Sirius had an unnatural affinity for Madam Rosmerta."
"You have heard correctly, but if you tell him, I'll never forgive you." Remus laughed, glancing around cautiously as Madam Rosmerta delivered their drinks. Sabine nodded gravely, a smirk obviously playing on her lips. "So, Christmas is coming up, are you going home?"
"I'm going to my brother's cottage in Ireland." She shrugged. "He lives in Ardmore, Waterford and I usually spend my holidays there. What about you?"
"Most likely, if I'm not at Hogwarts, I'll be with James and Sirius at the Potter's." Remus smiled weakly. Sabine nodded in understanding. A smile spread across her face suddenly.
"You should spend Christmas with my brother and me." She said excitedly. Remus looked unsure. "Oh, come on, he's really nice and it'll just be the two of us there anyway. Rich's cottage is really close to the sea and the weather isn't too bad there." She coaxed, obviously excited about the idea. "Sirius and James are more than welcome to visit. Lily and Sev do sometimes."
"I think I may just do that." Remus finally smiled, looking grateful and relieved. He paused for a second, looking into Sabine's eyes. "I'm really glad I'm going to the dance with you, Sabine, and I'm really glad we're friends."
"I am, too, Remus, I feel like you're like another big brother." She smiled warmly. Remus nodded happily. He finished his butterbeer and stood, helping Sabine with her coat and dropping a galleon on the table. Sabine rushed to the door and opened it before Remus could, mocking his bow and laughing as he curtsied. She turned to see Sirius and James in an argument with Lily and Severus, just outside Honeyduke's. Remus shot her a worried look before they ran over.
"You traitor, how could you be friends with them?" Severus demanded with anger and hurt resonating in his voice. Sabine cringed, looking pleadingly at Lily, who gave her an apologetic look before she returned to glaring at James.
"Just because she realizes that you're a greasy git and that we're actually right about you doesn't mean you have any right to get angry." Sirius shot haughtily. Sabine growled, throwing her arms up in defeat. All eyes shot to her, watching in surprise and nervous anticipating.
"You're all such immature little children!" she yelled. "I'm tired of your fighting! I can't take this anymore, if you all want to fight so badly then go right ahead. I'm tired of listening to Severus and Lily droning on about you Marauders and I'm tired of you Marauders droning on about them. I give up!" she concluded, breathing heavily and feeling her face burning in anger. Lily stammered, looking hurt. Sirius looked incensed as he glared at the both of them and raised his wand. Sabine shot forward, just as Severus raised his.
"Stupify!" they both shouted. Sabine's eyes bugged out as both of the hexes hit her, landing a few feet away on the ground with an audible 'thud'.
"You insufferable dolt!" Severus yelped as he ran to Sabine.
"Me?! You're the one that hit her!" Sirius yelled defensively, following close behind. Sabine stared up at the sky between them wide eyed before she let out another, shakier, growl.
"Get away from me, both of you!" she yelped, faltering and landing hard again on the ground. "Not surprisingly, my legs and arms don't want to work properly." She snarled, glaring back and forth at both of them then whimpering in defeat.
"What is going on over here?" McGonagall's voice demanded. Sabine whimpered from her spot on the ground as she made another futile attempt at standing. McGonagall looked down at her pityingly and shook her head.
"You see, Professor, Sabine kind of… well, she got hit by two Stunning Spells." James stammered nervously.
"That git tried to hit Severus, and Severus was defending himself and Sabine ran between then trying to get them to stop." Lily yelped wildly, pointing down at Sabine. Sabine's eyes tried to narrow, but she ended up looking as though she was squinting painfully.
"That's not true; we raised our wands at the same time." Sirius growled defensively.
"Not another word from any of you. Mr. Black, you will take Sabine to see Madam Pomfrey as she obviously cannot even stand on her own." McGonagall ordered scathingly. "Mr. Snape, Ms. Evans, and Mr. Potter, you three will follow me as I gather the other students. Mr. Lupin, as it seems you were an innocent bystander, I would ask that you follow me as well and we shall discuss this further in my office." Remus nodded, glancing with disappointment at the others before he grabbed Sabine's dress box.
"Come on, then." Sirius grunted, lacing an arm around Sabine and placing hers over his shoulder. "Let's get you checked out." Sabine glared steadily at him, choosing not to speak for the time being as she stumbled next to him. "You could help me out a little bit." He grunted by the time they were crossing the tracks.
"You insufferable moron, you're half the reason I'm like this, you know." Sabine hissed, trying to pull away from him. She landed flat on her ass, her whimper shifting quickly into a growl of frustration. Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed, lacing his arm around her again and hoisting her up carefully, letting her get as sure on her legs as she possibly could. Her legs wobbled and shook with each step and he couldn't help but chuckle.
"It's quite endearing to see you this way, you know." He said patronizingly. Sabine gritted her teeth and decided to keep quiet as much as she could. "Careful here, there's a bit of a hole in the road." He warned casually. Sabine watched it carefully, cringing as they got closer and saying a silent prayer that she could avoid it. Just as they crossed over, she stepped forward and whimpered as she felt her foot still falling rather than stop on the ground. "Shit!" Sirius yelped as they teetered in Sabine's directing. Sirius landed on top of Sabine, blowing the hair from his face and surveying her expression. "Are you okay?" he asked quickly.
"Get. Off. Me." Sabine hissed, sighing heavily. "Just my bloody luck, as usual I'm the magnet for this kind of crap." She added, more to herself than Sirius. Their eyes met for a second before he rose quickly and helped her up yet again.
"Promise me you won't hurt yourself anymore before I get you to the hospital wing?" he asked, chuckling nervously. Sabine sighed, hoping against common sense that her face hadn't turned a pinkish color. "I'm really sorry about all this." He said quietly after a long pause.
"I suppose, had I just let you idiots fire off at each other, this could have been prevented." She mumbled bitterly. "However, then I would have missed this gloriously awkward trudge back to the castle." She mused sarcastically. Sirius bit his lip as he shoved the doors open with his shoulder, still managing to balance her on his other arm. "Thank you, by the way, for all this."
"No sweat, McGonagall did make me, after all." He replied without much conviction. Sabine smiled softly. "Your welcome." He added curtly, glancing around quickly to see if anyone was in ear shot to hear it. Once they'd reached the hospital wing, Sirius explained the problems to Madam Pomfrey and laid Sabine carefully onto a bed. He stood beside her, fidgeting with his coat hem, and looking contemplative. "Uh…" he started.
"Sabine! Are you doing alright?" Remus called from the doorway, rushing over. He looked relieved as she nodded. "Sirius, they're waiting for you in Dumbledore's office." He added, cringing a little. Sirius nodded curtly, glancing again at Sabine before he marched out without another word. Remus watched him, brows furrowed, before he turned to Sabine. She was staring at her blanket with great interest.
"Did something happen between you and Sirius?" he asked carefully. He watched Sabine's eyes get wide for a second as she glanced away.
"Ah, well, he did drop me on the way back." She smiled weakly, looking desperate for a response. "Uh, and, well, I did threaten to hex him pretty badly. I think I might have scared him." She laughed nervously, glancing up then back down quickly. Remus nodded, deciding not to push it, and placed Sabine's dress box in her lap. She beamed and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Remus." She giggled.
"Mr. Lupin, if you could please refrain from such physical contact in the hospital ward, especially with Ms. Alptraum." Madam Pomfrey's voice snapped from down the row of beds. Remus stood quickly, smiling sheepishly.
"Apparently, I fractured my leg in one of my falls today. It's minor, the Skele-Gro should have it all fixed by the day after tomorrow. Madam Pomfrey has expressed interest in keeping me until the day before the dance." Sabine shook her head. "You'd think the woman had nothing to do at all." Remus laughed and shook his head.
"Well, Sabine, I'd better get back and try to keep the others from killing each other." He sighed. Sabine nodded with a smirk, hugging him once more and watching him leave. She sighed heavily and stared at the ceiling.
"What the hell is going on in my head? Did I bang it when I fell?" she whispered to herself. "Sirius Black? I must be crazy." She sighed before shaking her head and yawning. A nap might help this situation immensely; she thought to herself, it almost always helps.