A/N: Thank you to HPuni101 who kindly reviews this every update. I'm glad to know I have at least one person who reads every chapter ;)
This is a filler chapter, to set up the next few chapters. But I hope you enjoy it anyway :)
It had been four days since Brooke found out that her parents were in fact alive. Yet relief was the last emotion she felt. Fear, anger and confusion, yes. But not relief. The fact that she had heard it from none other than a death eater made it extremely hard for her to even attempt to be happy about the information.
Of course, she had to put a front on everyday. A face to show James that she was, in fact, happy about it. That she was extremely grateful with what Sirius had done. For, as soon as James found out, he completely overlooked the meaning behind them being alive. The fact that them being alive, but not letting anybody know where they were, must mean that they were being held somewhere against their will.
Brooke had gotten quite good at shutting these thoughts out of her head during the day. She had N.E.W.T's, quiddich, homework and even the Slug Club to focus on. But that didn't stop the dreams from haunting her every night without fail.
These dreams would chip away at any ounce of hope Brooke had left. There was something so realistic about them that made it hard not to believe what she was seeing. Even though it was the worst case scenarios she was dreaming about. The worst and the least likely. She knew deep down that there was no way her parents would willingly stay away from her. And in letting herself believe that they could she was going against everything she knew. By believing her dreams she was going against the people her parents were. She was letting them down.
This meant that it was the fourth morning in a row that Brooke had shot up suddenly. Sweat covered every inch of her body, her pyjamas drenched and her hair slicked to her neck and face. Her chest was rising and falling erratically as she stared at the curtains that surrounded her bed. It was a mount before her heartbeat was no longer audible in her own ears.
It was a moment before Brooke was able to calm herself down and control her breathing. It was only then that she drew the drapes open from around her bed, letting the morning sun blind her temporarily as she rubbed her eyes.
Taking a deep breath she shoved all her doubts and insecurities into a box in the back of her mind before locking it, adamant that they wouldn't creep out to plague her thoughts.
Today is going to be a good day. She mentally told herself over and over as a mantra. The start of what seemed to be her new routine. The way she started her day, everyday.
Marlene and Alice dubiously glanced over towards Brooke, obviously unsure what sort of mood she had woken up in. This was something they seemed to do every morning, trying to get a gauge of how they can act with her.
Alice moved her dark blue eyes away almost the instant she looked at Brooke. She was one of those 'nice' girls. A lot like Lily. Her dark eyes rarely without a twinkle. Her short black hair drew out the features of her beautiful face. Brooke always thought she looked a bit like a pixie, in a good way.
Marlene let her hazel eyes linger on Brooke's appearance, dragging from her head to her toes. The sight before her was the completely opposite of how she looked. Marlene was tall and curvy, the right amount of curves that everyone was jealous of. Her light blonde hair hung straight by her shoulders, not a strand was out of place.
Brooke glanced at her, smiling widely when she realised she had her attention. The smile was far from genuine, both the girls were aware of that. It wasn't that they disliked each other. Marlene was just jealous of Brooke's close relationships with the marauders, and Brooke didn't agree with Marlene's lifestyle of sleeping round. Rather than say anything though, Marlene returned a forced smile before turning to finish her make up.
Glancing down at herself Brooke let out a soft sigh as she took in the state of herself. Pushing herself of her bed she made her way to the bathroom, wondering when she would stop waking up that way.
Lily appeared at the doorway of the bathroom with a big smile on her face, her eyes radiating with happiness.
Typical Lily. Brooke couldn't help but think as a small smile formed on her face. There was something about the happiness that oozed out of Lily that lifted something off her heart. It was easier to breath around her. It was as though Lily's presence cleared the air around her of any negativities, no matter who was there with her.
"Brooke!" Lily exclaimed, her smile widening at the sight of a slight smile on Brooke's lips. The smile dropped a bit at the site of her friend. "Are you okay?"
Brooke flashed her teeth as she manoeuvred around Lily, managing to get them to swap places. "I'm fine Lils." She shut the door, the smile dropping off her face as the click sounded. "I'll meet you at breakfast. Don't wait for me." Making herself heard through the door as she started running the shower, hoping that it would prevent anyone from asking any prying questions.
"Brooke!" James shouted as soon as she walked into the great hall, beckoning her over to where he sat with the rest of the marauders.
Slowly making her way towards them she noticed that the whispers she got when she walked through the hall on the first day of the year had subsided a bit. It was still obvious people were talking about it, but at least they weren't being openly obvious now. Thankfully no one seemed to think that it was worth interrupting their breakfast any more.
As Brooke got to the table she squeezed between James and Remus, both of whom were shovelling forkfuls of scrambled egg into their mouths as though they hadn't eaten all week.
Glancing across the table she realised she was now facing Sirius, much to her chagrin. They hadn't spoke two words to each other since she broke down on him at the beginning of the week, and there was still a part of her that couldn't accept that he had no ulterior motives for helping her out.
Quickly pushing the thoughts to the back of her head she took in the disgusting sight of him eating his breakfast, in the most uncivilized manner she'd ever seen.
"What barnyard animal raised you, Black?" Brooke snapped in disgust. His head shot up to look at her with raised eyebrows. "Only an animal would eat like that. Close your mouth for Merlin's sake."
Sirius' eyes glistened mischievously, the corner of his lips curling up. It was a look Brooke hadn't seen in a long time. It was the look that told people that it was on. The look he'd always give her when he had something humiliating planned.
Making a point of making sure his mouth stayed open whilst he chewed the rest of his mouthful he kept his eyes trained on Brooke's. A big grin appeared on his face once he'd swallowed.
"Well, well, well." Sirius dragged out the words. "Looks like we have our princess back again. It's about time don't you think?"
There was a gleam in Sirius' eye though. Something that anyone who knew him well enough would recognise. Brooke was back, which meant the games were back on.
Brooke just shrugged, forcing a smile on her face. Yes, she's back. Or Brooke would do whatever it took to make people think the old her was back. Maybe if she pretended hard enough it would start happening on it's own. She knew she couldn't keep going on as this weak, fragile little girl. The world was continuing on without her, and she couldn't let that happen any more.
James had the biggest grin on his face as he watched the way Brooke had seemed to be coming back out of her shell. Bouncing up and down on his seat made it clear, not only to Brooke, but to everyone that he had something he needed to get off his mind.
"What is it James?" Brooke rolled her eyes in his direction.
"Quiddich try-outs this evening, after dinner." James was still bouncing up and down, filled with excitement. "I need you both there."
It was then that Brooke remembered he'd been made captain of the team this year. After all the bad things over the summer it was good to finally see good things happening to someone she cared about.
Everything drifted away in that moment. Seeing James genuinely happy for the first time seemed to take a weight off Brooke's shoulders. Being around these people, her family, was going to get her through this dark time. She would get through her last year at Hogwarts, and by then her parents would be home.
"I have a date." Sirius mumbled with his mouth full of bacon to no ones surprise.
"And you can rearrange that date." James ordered. "The two of you are basically my second in commands." By this point James had his fork pointed at Sirius' face. "And if you want to survive your last year here you will be there. Got it Pads?"
Sirius glared at James but nodded anyway, causing Brooke to stifle a laugh as her and Remus shared a knowing look.
Brooke finally took in everything around her, only then realising the missing member of the group. "Where's Wormtail?" The shy boy that usually followed Sirius everywhere didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. And when she thought about it she was sure it had been a few days since she had seen him.
"His mum is ill or something." Remus was looking over his book at the three sat around him. "He's gone to help out at home."
Brooke felt a tugging at her stomach. At least Peter was able to help out with his mum. Spend some time with her. She would have given anything to do the same. To go home and spend a few days with her parents.
Looking around she seemed no one was really bothered. If they weren't bothered it must mean that it was nothing serious. If it was, Peter would have surely told everyone details. But then, it was Peter. He wasn't really one for telling people about his personal problems.
Pushing the thoughts of him out of her head, she shoved them in the box too. Nothing was going to ruin her day if she could help it.
The rest of the day pretty much went without a hitch. Brooke had managed to avoid being alone with Lily. Which meant she hadn't endured any questions she didn't want to answer. James ongoing obsession did come in handy every once in a while. Lily avoided James, which meant as long as Brooke stuck with him Lily avoided her too.
The guilt at the pit of Brooke's stomach got worse the closer she got to her last lesson of the day. She was avoiding her best female friend all because she didn't want to answer a few questions. Questions that were only there because she was worried about her.
But she knew it was only a matter of time before Lily caught up to her. She was on her way to Potions and would have to face Lily there. No running away or hiding behind James. She now had to answer the questions she should have answered days before.
Potions had always been Brooke's favourite subject, and even now it still was. It was the one subject that she excelled in, to the point of giving Severus a run for his money at being top of the class.
No matter what was going through her mind, Brooke always found everything disappeared as soon as she had a cauldron in front of her. Suddenly every bit of attention had to be on the brewing potion. One mistake could be drastic, she could blow herself up. One forgotten ingredient could mean the difference between a simple potion and a life threatening poison.
And normally Brooke would be happy that she was paired up with Lily. But it meant that she wouldn't be able to focus on her favourite work of art. She knew before the lesson even started that she would be distracted.
Slughorn explained, in a round about way, that they would be brewing Draught of Living Death. The chance of it coming up in their N.E.W.T's was too high not to perfect it.
Brooke spent the first five minutes of the lesson avoiding eye contact with Lily, putting off the inevitable. They both knew what she was doing.
Scurrying to the cupboard as soon as Slughorn excused the class, Brooke went and grabbed the ingredients she would need.
She knew that her attempted positiveness was slacking in this class, so she just stopped trying. The frown that had been on her face everyday over the holidays was back. Her eyes, dead to any emotion.
"You could be a bit more grateful." A familiar voice urged her, their breath tingling her neck.
Brooke pinched the bridge of her nose. "How wasn't I grateful?" Brooke sighed. Her eyes automatically rolled at the sound of the sentence. "I said thank you didn't I?"
"Still, don't you think you should be a bit happier? They are alive after all." James said in hushed tones so no one could hear their conversation.
Brooke turned around to face him to find him stood there with furrowed brows. She took a breath, her shoulders dropping at the sight of her best friend.
"Firstly, I am grateful James. But what do you expect me to do? Hug Black? Owe him my life?" She explained, her lips snarled as they formed his name. "And yes, I am happy they're alive. But that doesn't change anything. They're still gone. And I don't know where. And rather than thinking there is a large chance that they're dead now I just keep thinking of all the different things that are being inflicted on them."
"But they're alive!" James' was obviously getting irritated at the negativity that was coming from Brooke.
Brooke knew he was right. They were alive. That should make her happy, but she just couldn't bring herself to start smiling about it. She couldn't start thinking that she was definitely going to get them back. It was a nasty world out there, and it was only getting worse. Even if they weren't taken it didn't mean she would ever see them again. It was a war, and bad things happened. Having hope would just make her hurt more.
"I know James! But unless you're going to sit back and let me go and find them then there is nothing I can do!" Brooke was unable to keep her voice quiet now. She knew that James meant well but she knew she was right. All she could do was pass the information onto the right people and wait.
Something seemed to click within James as he just looked at her, sadness filling his eyes, as realisation that Brooke was right sunk in.
"There's nothing we can do but wait James. And we still don't know anything that can lead us to them. So excuse me for not being over the moon." Brooke finished as she grabbed the final ingredients.
"Who says we have to wait?" James tried quietly. But it was loud enough to get Brooke's attention and she looked at James, waiting for him to continue. "Why can't we go and find them?"
"Don't be stupid James!" Brooke said, her voice cracking. "There are professionals out there looking for them."
"How is it stupid? If you're really struggling to sit back and wait, let's go." James was whispering again to make sure no one heard what they were talking about.
Brooke glanced around to make sure they were completely alone. A small part of her wanted to jump at the idea to do exactly what James was saying. But her brain kept kicking in telling her she'd just get herself killed.
"You know just as well as I do that my parents will kill us both if we leave school to go and find them." Brooke whispered, making sure she had the final word.
Brooke gave James a weak smile and started heading back to Lily.
Struggling to get what James said out of her head, Brooke found herself ignoring Lily. Was it really so stupid if they did go and find them themselves? Who better to go with than James? They could both look after themselves and maybe they'd find them quicker than these detectives she was relying on.
But then there was the fact that they wouldn't have any clue where to start looking. They wouldn't be able to just walk into a death eaters house and search the place. Not that they even knew where any death eaters lived.
Even though she knew there was only one thing she should do, internally she struggled to find the answer. The choice to just sit and do nothing was getting harder and harder with every new thought that ran through her mind.
Grabbing a piece of parchment out of her bag Brooke scribbled a note.
What about Christmas?
Looking around for Professor Slughorn, she made sure his back as to her as she flew the note to James. As he read the note a mischievous grin formed on his face before he nudged Sirius and started whispering something to him.
Suddenly Brooke realised she might have made a mistake. This wasn't something she wanted Sirius involved in. Especially not as much as he already was anyway. There was still something about his 'chat' with Rebastian that didn't sit right with Brooke.
"Brooke?" A voice interrupted her thoughts bringing her back to reality. "Are you even listening?"
Looking at Lily, Brooke realised she really had been ignoring her since she sat back down. "Sorry Lils. I was in a world of my own."
"Are you going to tell me what's going on, Brooke?" Lily kept her eyes on her potion, waiting for it to start bubbling.
"What do you mean?" Brooke replied innocently, not wanting to come right out with it. She still hadn't worked out what she was even going to say to Lily yet. But she didn't want her worrying.
"You've been avoiding me all day Brooke. You avoid going to sleep." She stated matter-of-factly. Her green eyes shone kindly. And it was those kind eyes that made Brooke realise that she was being stupid. She could tell Lily anything and she knew that. Suddenly she felt silly for even attempting to hide anything from her. "And I've noticed the way you wake up when you do finally sleep."
Brooke glanced around the room, turning to Lily only when she was satisfied she could talk without anyone listening.
"Sirius found out my parents are still alive." She whispered, both of them throwing ingredients into their cauldrons so they didn't draw anyone's attention.
"He what?" Lily gasped, her eyes widening at the revelation. "How? Why? Don't you two hate each other?"
Brooke couldn't help but roll her eyes, a slight smile forming on her lips. A smile that finally reached her eyes for the first time in days. Months in fact.
"He got in contact with an 'old friend'" Emphasizing the words old and friend so Lily would understand what she meant. Brooke found herself grimacing at the memory of being so close to Rebastian. "And he didn't do it for me. He did it for James."
It was obvious that Lily understood instantly. It even seemed as though she was a little disappointed that she even had to ask. Of course, Sirius would do anything for James.
"Wait." Lily stopped what she was doing and looked at Brooke with furrowed eyebrows. "If they're alive, what's wrong?"
Brooke sighed but continued focussing on her potion. It was clear to Brooke that Lily hadn't quite understood where she was coming from before.
"His old friend is a death eater Lils." Her voice barely a whisper. Not wanting to see the pity on Lily's face, her eyes looked everywhere but there. "So now every time I go to sleep I have this nightmare. But every night it ends in the same way. It always ends with Voldemort killing them."
Lily opened her mouth to say something but thought twice about it. Instead she searched Brooke's cold features.
"Yes, it's amazing that they're alive, but it means he has something to do with it." Brooke looked up to Lily, her eyes filled with sadness as tears threatened to fall from them. "And that's never been a good thing in the past."
Brooke studied Lily's face as she struggled to come up with something to say that would comfort her. Something more than just meaningless words.
"Brooke," Lily turned to look at her.
"Don't worry. I told you so you could stop worrying about me. I don't need you to make me feel better. Words aren't going to do that."
Someone sniggering behind the girls diverted their attention. Turning to look at the source of the laughter they were met with a deathly glare.
"Did I say you could look at me, mudblood!" The Slytherin snapped, making sure to lower her voice when she spat the last word. Her face was harsh and cold and hatred filled her mud brown eyes.
Cassie Turner, the biggest Slytherin in the whole school. And quite possibly the nastiest. She had no second thoughts about testing the unforgivable curses on other students. Sadly though no teachers were yet to have proof. She was built like a brick house, towering over almost every student considering she was well over six foot. Her black hair was constantly slicked back into a tight ponytail.
"Shut up, Turner!"Brooke retorted loudly, not caring who overheard.
Professor Slughorn, who was doing something in the ingredient cupboard, was entirely unaware of the quarrel taking place. The rest of the class had all diverted their attention to it though, leaving their potions to their own accord. At the sound of Brooke's voice James sat on the edge of his seat, waiting in case he needed to get involved.
"Well, what do we have here? The dirty blood traitor fighting battles for the filthy little mudblood." Cassie's voice was filled with so much hatred and disgust that some of the other students actually gasped.
Lily stood her ground, not showing any signs that the nasty words had any effect on her. Brooke, however, had clenched her jaw whilst she curled her hands into fists. Her eyes not leaving Cassie's for even a second.
"Drop it." Lily gently pulled on Brooke's arm, causing her to relax at her touch. "She's not worth it."
"Yes she is!" James jumped in having seen Brooke about to turn away. He homes in on Cassie, his wand pointed at her face. "You let one of them get away with it then they'll all be doing it."
"Lower your wand, Potter." Cassie's hand reached up and pushed his wand away from her face. "I've always known you were stupid. But come on, we both know you're not that stupid." Her eyes darted to Lily as she spoke.
"I'd stop whilst you're ahead, Turner." It was Sirius' turn to get involved now. "Before you say something else. You don't stand a chance." His eyes darted from James to Brooke and Lily.
Brooke couldn't help but roll her eyes. She should have known. Of course James and Sirius would get involved. Especially if Lily was involved.
Slughorn was still rattling on to himself in the ingredients cupboard, completely oblivious to what was going on in his classroom.
"For now. But there will come a time when we'll come on top." A sinister smile appeared on her face. A smile that would make even the bravest of people shudder. "It's only a matter of time."
I'd stop with the threats if I were you. Unless you want me to stop them for you." Brooke had now ripped her wand out and pointed it at Cassie's face. Sirius quickly followed suit.
"Just stop it guys!" Lily begged but no one was listening to her. Anger on all three of their faces.
"I'd listen to the foul girl." Cassie tried pushing for a bigger reaction.
"What in Godric is going on in here?" Slughorn's voice bellowed through the room as he appeared behind James and Sirius.
Brooke grumbled under her breath as she realised what Cassie had been doing, the two boys following suit. All of them lowered their wands and turned to face their teacher.
Cassie had managed to plaster the best innocent look on her face she could muster, not that she needed to. It already looked better for her than the others.
"It was a misunderstanding, Sir." Cassie's voice was soft and scared. "They misheard something I said and next thing I knew they were all pointing their wands in my face. Threatening me."
James and Sirius protested, both trying to get out what really happened, shouting over one another.
"Enough!" Slughorn's face was bright red in anger. "Anderson, Black, Potter. You will all stay behind after class."
"But, Sir." All three of them cried as they grew more and more impatient.
"I will not hear another peep out of any of you. Ten points from Gryffindor. Each."
All three of them groaned as he turned his back to them, making his way to front of the class. This time paying close attention on them to make sure they didn't step another foot out of line.
