Hello people who read this story. I would like to apologize to those who have been awaiting a new chapter. I just got back from India, and now I can start writing again. Enjoy!
By the way. This story IS AU. So for those of you who think this story isn't realistic enough, I apologize. But believe me. I am COMPLETELY well-informed about Harry Potter, and I know there are some parts in this story that are unrealistic.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of its characters.
Two Years Later (7th Year)
"SHOT!" Sirius yelled jubilantly, flying around the pitch with his arms in the air.
"PADFOOT!" James shouted after him, shaking his head. "YOU MISSED DUMBASS!"
"Pshaw! No, I didn't. I..." He turned around to see me holding the quaffle between my outstretched hands, and cocky smirk on my face.
"DAMN!" He shouted, punching the air.
"You got beat by a gggggiiirrrrllll!" James teased as we landed.
"Not just any girl." I said in a wounded voice.
"Yeah. It takes a special sort of girl to be going out with Sirius for two whole years!" James snorted out.
"Two wonderful years." Sirius grined, pecking me on the cheek.
"Nice practice Padfoot, Prongs, Avis." Peter said, jogging down from the stands to walk beside me.
When I had been "initiated" to be a marauder, They guys gave me the nickname,Avis, due to the fact that my animagus was an onyx Raven (A/N. For those of you who don't know, Avis means bird in Latin) I'd been an animagus before I'd even come to know about Remus and his 'furry little problem'. Which was yet aother reason why I'd been kicked out of Beauxbatons. 'Illegal magic is not magic at all, Miss Malfoy!' as the headmistress had said.
"I know right?" I said. "Sirius is almost good enough to play for Hufflepuff now."
James laughed.
Sirius took a playful swipe at my head but I ducked in time. As I straightened up, he pulled me into a strong, one armed embrace.
"Where's Moony?" James asked.
"Library." Sirius and I said at once. Of course he was there. Where else would he be?
"No. He's over there by the lake." Peter said, gesturing to where a lone figure was standing throwing stones into the water. Guess I was wrong this time...
"Is he alright, Wormtail?" I asked.
Peter shrugged.
"I'm gonna go and talk to him." I said.
"I'll come." James said quickly. "Sirius? You coming?"
"Nah. I have to do that essay for Slughorn."
"I'll go with you Padfoot." Peter said.
They waved and went up to the castle.
James and I started walking towards where Remus was standing.
"Moony..." James called when we were close enough to speak, and not be heard by anyone but Remus and ourselves.
"Piss off Prongs." Remus barked.
James and I exchanged a look as if to say 'Full moon soon.'
"Don't be like that Rem." I said.
He swiveled around at the sound of my voice.
"Hey Faith." he sighed.
"What's up with you?" I asked as James sat himself down on the bank.
"What isn't?" he said, throwing himself down next to James and lying backwards.
I lied next to him on me stomach, swinging my legs in the air, picking at the grass.
"What's getting you down at this very moment specifically?" James said.
Remus sighed, but didn't speak.
"Rem?" I asked quietly. "Is it PMS?"
"Isn't that a girl thing?" James said with an awkward look on his face.
"Not if it stands for Pre-Moon Stress." I pointed out. James snorted.
"It's probably enhanced by that." Remus sighed. "I always feel like this before the full moon. Which is making everything a great deal worse."
"Making what worse. You're starting to worry me Rem." I said flicking a strand of grass at him.
He brushed it away and rubbed his eyes, his fingers lingering at his prematurely lined temples. "Boy things. You wouldn't understand."
My jaw tightened while James let out a low whistle. I hated when any of my boys said that.
"Boy things." I repeated through gritted teeth.
"Oh! Oh no!" Moony said quickly, sitting up, trying to fix thigs. "I didn't mean it. I can talk to you about anything just as well as I can talk to James or Sirius. I-I am not making assumptions based on your gender." he said as he reached out to touch my arm. "I just can't talk to you about this one specific thing."
"Cause it's a boy thing?" I said angrily, brushing his arm away.
"No. It is a boy thing but, you know I would still talk to you about that kind of stuff. I just can't this time because...well...it's complicated." He barely stuttered out. The worry lines on his forehead grew deeper.
"You're digging yourself into a hole their Rem." James remarked with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"I shall be going now." I stated coldly. "Sirius and Peter are writing essays in the library. I think I'll go and join them where my opinions are respected despite the fact that I don't have a penis."
As I stormed up to the castle. Why did noys have to be such arseholes sometime. I mean, Remus it the type of guy that know when I'm PMSing, and he's the type of guy that will make me feeling better during that monthly time period. As I was fuming up to the library, I ran into Lily.
"Hey Lils." I sighed.
"Hey Faith. How's life in 'paradise'?"
"Sexist." I growled. "James and Rem are talking about boy things. Boy things which I'm not allowed to know about."
"Oh dear. Where are Black and Pettigrew?"
"Library." I said. "Which is where I'm going."
I carried on up the stairs to find Sirius feverishly copying Peter's essay. I looked down at the words Sirius was writing, and held in a laugh.
"What exactly are you copying Sirius?" I asked in an innocent voice, sitting opposite him.
"Peter's essay." He muttered, still scriblling furiously.
"For what subject?" I smiled.
He looked at the title. "MUGGLE STUDIES!?"
"Peter doesn't take NEWT potions, does he Padfoot?" I laughed out to him.
"...no." He hung his head, as if ashamed.
"So you thought you'd still try and copy off him for a subject he doesn't even take? Did you not notice that rubber ducks don't have anything to do with moonstone?"
"Speaking of moons. Where's Rem and James?"
"Boy talk." I growled.
Sirius grimaced. "Oh dear. And who brought that up?"
"Moony. He says he's worried about boy things so I'm not allowed to know. But James is." I said in a mocking voice.
"Poor Avis. Don't worry about them." said Sirius, taking my hand. "They probably only wanted you to clear off so they could enjoy their gay relationship together. They think we don't know!" Sirius snorted and I laughed, just as Peter walked in.
"What's funny?" he asked. Sirius turned his head in Peter's direction.
"PETER!" Sirius yelled, dropping my hand and standing up. "WHY DID YOU GIVE ME A MUGGLE STUDIES ESSAY TO COPY WHEN I HAD TO DO A POTIONS ONE!"
I gave a small, sad smile. I loved those brief moments which Sirius and I got to spend together, just holding hands, or holding each other in the common room. But they were always brief and over as quickly as I cared to register the. I let out a sigh. I loved Sirius, but sometimes I doubted whether he loved me.
I got up and placed my hands over his eyes. "Guess who?"
"Faith Malfoy. Most amazing girl I know." he said, while I felt his face crack into a smile.
He turned around and places his hands on my waist, kissing you deeply.
And then there were moments like those when I was sure that Sirius and I were meant to be together forever. That he loved me with all his heart and soul.
"Do you love me?" I murmered.
"More than I could ever say." He said, his eyes sparkling. "And yet you still won't shag me."
And then there were moments like those when he opened his mouth and said something so incredibly...Sirius-like. I wanted to scream.
"No. I won't." I said, drawing away from him. "Will you please stop pushing me?"
"You sound like such a virgin." he rolled his eyes.
"I am a virgin." I said.
"Well, don't tell people that. I gotta rep to protect." He snorted.
"Sometimes you're a pig Sirius." I said angrily.
"Oink Oink." He said wryly.
We glared at each other for a few moments, knowing that I would stare him down eventually. All of a sudden, James rushed into the library.
"Padfoot, Avis, Wormtail - there you are! C'mon, come quick! Rem...He..." James shook his head. "It was Lucius. Lucius and Snivellus and Regulus! C'mon!"
"What?" I said sharply. "What's up with Rem?"
No matter how angry I was at him - I didn't want anything to happen to him.
"They hexed him. He's in a bad way. I got him up to the boys dorm. Lily's watching him now. I came to find you...help..." He finished meekly.
I didn't stop to pick up my bag as I tore out of the library with James at my heels. Peter and Sirius looked at each other dumbly for a moment before running after me as quickly as they could.
"REMUS! REMUS! REM! Rem..." I shouted as I ran up the boys staircase, then lowered my voice as I wrenched open the door and to see him lying motionless on his bed.
Lily was standing, leaning against the wall, biting her nails anxiously.
"I thought you were going to get help, Potter!" She yelled at James.
"I did." He frowned anxiously.
"I meant medical help!" She snapped.
"But I got Faith...She'll help...she can..." James words faded.
"Do what exactly? I'm going to the hospital wing." Lily huffed at she attempted to walk away.
"No!" James cried desperately. "You can't! They'll expel us all! Me and Remus and Sirius and Faith and Peter."
"But... but they didn't have anything to do with it." She said, still trying to get out of James's tight grip.
"Yes, but that's what they'll assume. We'll all get punished! 'One more foot out of line and you're out of here!' McGonagall's words ver batem!"
"So you'd rather he died..."
"He's not going to die! It will have worn off in a couple of hours!"
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then I'll go and get help!"
I tuned out the bickering Lily and James, glided forwards and dropped to my knees by Remus's bed.
"Rem?" I muttered, taking his hand. "Stop fooling Rem. It's not funny. Stop fooling."
He stirred gently, but other than that nothing.
"What exactly happened James?" Lily asked gently. The bickering had stopped, and my brain was working once again.
"We were talking then...that lot...Snivelly and Lucius and Regulus...them...they attacked us...completely unprovoked...It was Snivelly...he said...I've never heard it before...Sectumsempra..."
My eyes widened. "Sectumsempra?" I asked, hoping what he had just said was not true.
"Yeah..." James said slowly.
"How did you stop the bleeding?" I began hyperventilating.
"What bleeding?" James asked.
"James - you moron!" I shouted, hastily unbuttoning Remus's shirt and tearing off the bandages he was already wearing to cover the many scars of his most recent transformations.
Blood was pumping from three diagonal slashes in his already patched chest.
"Blimey..." James muttered.
"POTTER!" Lily shrieked. "How could you not have noticed that?" Lily smacked him round the head.
"Well he's always got those bandages and I didn't know...he just kind of paled and fell over and..." James began hyperventilating as well.
"DO SOMETHING!" I pleaded, pressing my hands to the wounds, trying to stop the flow of blood. But it had no affect besides making my hands slippery.
Lily pushed James out of the way and waved her wand doing some fancy wand work. The blood flow weakened. Lily broke out in a sweat as she repeated the spell over and over again.
Suddenly Remus jerked awake, his eyes rolling madly in his head, writhing in pain.
The cuts Lily's had been patiently healing for half an hour had began splitting open and bleeding again.
"Lie still if you want to live you dimwit!" Lily commanded, but Remus either took no notice of her or he couldn't hear her.
Then he caught sight of the blood, and roared in surprise.
"Rem..." I whispered, taking his hand in my bloody ones. "Rem...be still Rem...C'mon...please...Rem..."
His eyes focus on mine for a split second. He then reached out for me with his free hand, letting it rest on my face.
"Angel..." He muttered.
Then, with a swift wave of her wand, Lily put him into a deep sleep, and he lay silent and still.
She resumed healing him, all of us praying he would live.
Hours later, when he had been healed more times than necessary, Lily took a step back.
James handed her a wet cloth, and she exhaustedly wiped her hands on it, hissing. "You owe me for this." She chucked the cloth back at him, smearing blood on his shirt.
"We owe you big time Lils." I said quietly.
Sirius and Peter, who had been sitting blankly on the nearest bed for the last half an hour, stood up and gave her a rough hug.
"Get off me!" She said in an exasperated tone.
Obediently they let go. Peter went back to sitting on the bed, and Sirius crept forward and sat next to Remus.
"You all may be gits, but you do care about each other." Lily remarked.
"We sure do." James said numbly, sitting next to Sirius.
"Faith - a word?" Lily asked, giving me nervous look.
I nodded and followed her into the bathroom where I hastily started to wash my hands.
"I wanted to talk to you about James." She said nervously.
A smile crept across my face. "Well, well, well..."
"Has he lost interest in me?" she said, pacing. "He hasn't asked me out in 2 full days."
"No. He's not lost interest. But have you gained it?" I asked smiling.
"I might have. Seeing him in there, he's not such a bad guy is he?" she answered with a thoughtful look on her face.
"How long have I been telling you that?" I said with a sigh.
"Too long."
"So... if he asked you out what would you say?"
Lily began blushing madly.
"Right." I nodded. "Would you like me to have a word with the man?"
"A subtle one. Don't say I talked to you or anything."
"I can do subtle."
"Thanks. How are things with you and Black?" she asked just trying to change the subject.
"I dunno." I shrugged.
She blinked in surprise. "You dunno? I thought you loved him to bits."
"Well, I do. But sometimes I'm not sure if he feels the same way. And he keeps pressuring me to sleep with him and... and I'm just not sure anymore."
"Well...What about Remus?"
It was my turn to be surprised. "What about him?"
"Have you ever considered how Remus might feel about you?"
"Me and Moony. We're best mates."
"Is that all?"
"Yes." What was she implying?
"You seemed pretty worried about him."
"So did James and Sirius and Peter, but that doesn't mean they want to shag him."
"And earlier. Boy talk. Remus isn't one to do that normally, is he? Maybe he wanted to talk about you."
"Or maybe he wanted to know about James opinions on something else to do with boy stuff." This was getting annoying.
"Maybe." She shrugged. I could tell she wasn't convinced. "I won't tell anyone about what happened here, or what we talked about or anything. I'm gonna leave you with your boys before they drive me insane. See you 'round Faith."
"Bye Lils. And thanks." I nodded.
I stood where I was for a minute, perching on the bathroom counter, listening to the conversation going on outside.
I heard Lily bid the boys goodnight, and the door shut.
I sighed and left to join my boys.
Crouching by Rem's over side, I held his hand.
Sirius got up to cross over the bed to my side, where he crouched down next to you, holding me gently, as if I might have broken in two.
-x-
Night fell outside, and Peter got up and went to bed.
"Will he ever wake up?" I asked, with a hint of sleep in my voice.
"You should get to bed. We'll fetch you if he wakes up." James suggested.
"No." I shook my head furiously. "No. Absolutely not."
James shrugged. "Well, I am going to bed. Wake me up if anything does happen."
James drew the hangings around his bed next to Remus's, and soon his breathing slowed.
Night wore on, and Sirius fell asleep in my lap.
I sighed, and levitated him into the bed between James's and Peter's.
He settled immediately, and I returned to Remus's side where I clasped his hand and leaned on his mattress.
So there it is! Review please!
-Snicker