Chapter Six
Mariana sighed deeply, having had a peaceful sleep. She didn't want to get up but a certain Prefect wouldn't let her. Lily woke up that early morning, wanting to spend the whole day with Mariana, wanting to find out more about her.
"Mariana, get up!" Lily sang, looking over to the closed curtains in front of her bed.
Lily got out and begun to gather some clothes. She looked over her shoulder to see the curtains still drawn.
"Mariana Light, get you lazy butt up now!" Lily nearly shouted.
Mariana buried her head into the side of Sirius' neck, mumbling against his skin.
"Go away Lily." She said loud enough for the other girl to hear.
Feeling something warm and tickling him, Sirius breathed in deeply, slowly waking up.
"Oh, come on Marian! Get up!" Lily's voice drifted into Sirius' ear.
He snapped his eyes open, panicking. 'Shit!'
Sirius quickly turned into a dog just as Lily pulled back the curtains. Lily screamed as Sirius jumped to all four legs and jumped behind Mariana, who quickly sat up. April and Caroline were startled awake and looked over to the screaming Lily. They, too, started to scream when they saw the dog.
"Accio wand!" Lily yelled, holding out her hand.
As soon as Lily turned, ready to throw a spell at Sirius, Mariana cried out, hiding Sirius behind her.
"No! Don't do anything Lily!"
"But-" Lily couldn't find the words.
The other two girls quieted down, wondering what was going on and who let the dog into the room.
"He's a good dog. I just… don't know who he belongs to or how he got in here. But all I do know is that he would never attack any of us."
Sirius whimpered, poking his head from under Mariana's arm. When he looked at Lily's wand, he buried his face just below Marian's chest. ('Hehe.' Sirius smirked inside.)
"But he was ready to runaway!" Lily protested.
"Because you scared him!" Mariana begun to scratch Sirius' head. "How would you like it if someone began to scream bloody murder?"
Lily nodded, lowering her wand. The other two girls got out of their beds and walked over to Mariana's.
"Aww, he's so cute!" The said in unison.
Sirius looked over to them and cautiously walked closer to them, eyeing Lily, who smiled.
"Aww, he is cute!" Lily said, breaking down.
Sirius waged his tail fiercely, getting as close to the other girls as he can. Mariana smiled, though she could feel this small pang of jealously inside her. The dog was supposed to be her secret but now the other sixth year girls knew about him too. Getting out of bed, Mariana gathered some clothes and walked out of the room to go and take a shower. She was sticky and smelled like sweat from the dream yesterday.
The shy girl has just closed the stall of her shower head when Lily, April, and Caroline walked in with Sirius behind him. Sirius barked happily, looking from April and Caroline, knowing if he took a peek at Lily, James will kill him. This time, Mariana took her time in showering, feeling tired and emotionally drained.
At some point, Mariana laughed when Sirius walked under the stall of Caroline's, who begun to wash him with her scented shampoo. Sirius didn't like the smell (at least not on him), but he never complained once.
Finally, Mariana decided to get out and shut off the water. She grabbed the towel that was thrown over the stall and wrapped it around her body. Mariana got out and walked over to the long bench set in the middle of the bathroom. She walks over the bench set in the middle of the bathroom. She walked over the bench so that her back was facing the entrance and dried her hair with a simple spell.
Sirius was finally able to escape from the clutches of Caroline. Lily laughed at the sight of his dripping black hair, and quickly dried him before he could shake his body and wet everything in the bathroom. Sirius crawled under the bench and sat down next to Mariana, who simply smiled down at him.
"Who do you think that dog belongs to?" April asked, looking over to Mariana.
Mariana shrugs, clasping the hooks on her bra over the towel. "Beats me. All I care about is how the hell he got pass through the door to Gryffindor common room!"
Mariana takes out the towel from underneath her bra and tied it around her waist. Sirius frowned at the many thin and thick white lines that were scars on Mariana's whole back.
'Who the hell would do this to a sweet girl?' Sirius thought as Mariana put a muscle shirt on.
Mariana made a grab for her pants when Sirius saw the scares on her right wrist. Sirius shook himself out of his shock and surprise and walked under Mariana's left arm and turned his head to lick her left wrist, which was also scared. Sirius whined, feeling sympathy toward the shy girl.
Mariana laughed, scratching Sirius' head. "What's wrong with you boy?"
Mariana smiled, shaking her head. She picked up her pants once again and put them on with the towel on still. Once she had them buttoned and zipper up, Mariana took off the towel. Mariana than grabbed a white sleeved shirt and put it on.
"I'll see you guys later." Mariana said quietly, walking over to the entrance.
She threw the towel into a basket and walked out, Sirius walking after her, hoping no one was in the common room so he can get across to talk with James and Remus of what he saw.
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
--6th years Boys dorm—
"What?" Remus, James, and Peter all shouted, wide-eyed.
Sirius told them where he was all night and what he saw that morning.
"You really think someone has tried to torture Mariana?" James asked in disbelief.
"The sweetest girl I've ever met?" Peter asked with a stutter.
This questioned earned him a few strange and surprise looks from his friends.
"And you think she tried to kill herself?" Remus asked with a shake of his head.
"I know it's hard to believe, but I know someone's hurting Mariana." Sirius sighed, trying to calm his anger. "Mariana has nightmares about what, I don't know. But I do know it has to do with who's hurting her."
"Well, we can't act different around her." Remus said after a while of silence. "Or she'll only suspect something and drift further away from us." Everyone nodded, sympathy going towards the girl.
The Marauder's stayed with Mariana throughout the whole day (so much for not acting different around her), trying to make her open up a bit of who she was. Lily wandered about the boy's behavior but didn't question them as they tried to be friends with Mariana. When the two were able to be alone, Remus told Lily the date to Mariana's birthday, and Lily immediately began to plan a small surprise party for the girl, with the help of the Marauder's as will.
The weekend passed quickly and classes have started once more. It was Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Lincs brought in a boggart, as they have been teaching the mysterious creature for some time now.
"Now, I would like everyone to form a line."
All of the students ran to make a line, Lily grabbing Mariana so she wouldn't go to the back, but to the front with her.
"Today you all will be learning how to repel from a boggart." Professor Lincs looked around the students. "Does anyone remember what a boggart is?"
Lily and Severus raised their hands, both waiting patiently. Professor Lincs smiled at the two but averted her eyes behind Lily.
"Miss Light?"
Mariana looked over to the woman a bit surprise, both Lily and Severus lowering their arms.
"Do you know what a boggart is?"
Mariana nodded. "It's a creature that can transform into your greatest fear. Not many have seen what a boggart really looks like because it's always constantly changing into someone's fear." Mariana begin to lower her voice towards the end of her explanation.
Professor Lincs smiled softly. "Correct. Does anyone know what the best defense charm to repel a boggart is?" Once again, both Lily and Severus' hands went up. "Mr. Snape?"
Lily grumbled, lowering her arm back to her side, James patting her shoulders with an amused smile.
"You have to think about something ridiculous and say Riddikulus. A boggart's greatest weakness is laughter."
"Correct. Now, Miss Smith, you first."
Ashley walked forward, eyeing the trunk.
"One,"
The locks al clicked to one side.
"Two,"
Two small bars slid away.
"Three!"
The lid was flung back, a giant spider crawling out of the trunk. Mariana jumped back, bumping into a built chest and two hands holding her upper arms in reassurance. She looked back to see Remus smiling softly. Mariana smiled and looked back at the spider, Remus rubbing her arms to calm her. Sirius, who was behind Remus, eyed the two, wondering what was going on between the two.
"Riddikulus!"
The spider was than wearing platform shoes and a flower crown on top of it's eyes. Everyone started to laugh, as Ashley smiled. Ashley walked to the back of the line, James going next. The boggart changed into a pale man with sleeked back black hair and lifeless gray eyes. He hissed, showing two sharp teeth in the front.
"Riddikulus!"
The vampire clothes turned into a pink dress, a hat on his head, and pink high heels. James smirked, moving towards the back. Lily was next and the boggart changed into Professor McGonagall, holding up a parchment with a big N.A, Not Acceptable with many answers crossed off on the bottom.
"Riddikulus!"
The paper burst into a million pieces, a startled McGonagall. Everyone laughed, not because of what happened, but because Lily would be scared of failing a test. Mariana slowly walked forward, her heart racing. She knows what her greatest fear is but Mariana didn't know if she would be able to handle it. The boggart changed, and this time, everyone was left confusing over the image.
A young woman stood before them, smiling a bit too sweetly. She had short brownish hair, a somewhat pale complexion, and honey colored eyes. She wore a red skirt with matching high heels, and a black shirt. Mariana's breath came in gasp, not able to look away from the eyes that haunt her every night.
Suddenly, hot pain shot through Mariana's back, making her gasp and fall on to her knees. Mariana's nails scrapped against the hard floor, as tears of pain blurred her vision. Yet the woman only stood where she was, the too sweet smile never leaving her face, or her eyes moving away from Mariana.
Remus ran over to Mariana as Sirius yelled Riddikulus. The boggart turned into a blown and flew around the room until it hit the bottom of the chest. Professor Lincs closed and locked the trunk before making her way over to the fallen girl. Everyone circled around Mariana, who was being held by Remus. Sirius, James, Peter, and Lily kneeled next to them.
"My back burns so much." Mariana whispered in pain.
"Okay, I'll take you to Madam Pomfrey."
Remus stood, with Mariana in his arms. The students all parted for Remus, Severus looking worriedly at the girl. Sirius looked worriedly at James, now knowing who has been hurting her. Now all they need to do is find out who the girl's name and who she really is.
222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222222
crazycatluver: Yes, Sirius is still in Mariana's room, and who's not leaving her alone, will, you'll just have to continue to read and review if you want to find out. And do you really know who sent her that bracelet? eyes you cautiously LOL, thanks for the review, I hoped you liked this chapter as will.
Kara Adar: LOL, you have no idea! But it's my first time, really, with all the suspense. And as for how the mysterious person knows her birthday… they just know and you'll have to continue to read and review if you want to find out who it is and how they know!
Star Princess: Thank you for the review, and I hope you liked this chapter! I just love it when I teased Remus and Mariana on that last chapter. They do look cute together though, huh? You can thank my brother for that scene because when I went with him to the movies with his ex-girlfriend; they were all shy around each other! So that's where I got the idea. Again, thanks for the review!
CrazyPirateGirl: That's true. One of my friends loves to talk and she always have a story to tell, so silence is never peaceful when she's around. Now, if you want to know who is bothering Mariana in her nightmares, you'll have to review. And were you surprise in the beginning when Mariana woke up? Thanks for the review!
A/N: Okay, I hope you all liked this chapter. I was planning on having Mariana wake up next to Sirius than having her make this whole scene. But what happens in the beginning made me think that it would be funnier (at least a bit), so I left it. Will, review people! Maybe I'll get inspired!