When Aliyah and Lily left their dormitory for breakfast, they found Sirius waiting at the bottom of the spiral steps. He was leaning against the wall looking as bored as he always did. When they stepped out of the stairwell, he cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak, but Aliyah beat him to it.
"I'm sorry I slapped you," she said simply. "Usually I'm a bit better at holding my temper, but I guess I let it get the better of me last night."
Sirius nodded slowly. "Well, I'm told I gave you good enough reason to."
"You did," Lily chimed in. When they stared at her, she seemed to realize she was intruding. "I'll just be over here, then," she added awkwardly before moving across the Common Room.
Sirius turned back to Aliyah. "I'd like to call it square. Start over, if we could."
Aliyah nodded. "I guess we did get off on the wrong foot." She held out her hand. "Hi. Aliyah White. I'm a Muggle with anger issues."
Sirius smirked and pushed off the wall, taking her hand in his. "Sirius Black. I'm a wizard that comes from a family that hates Muggles."
"That sounds like a solid foundation for a friendship," she quipped with a straight face.
"Doesn't it?" he agreed with equal sincerity.
They shook hands for a moment, and it occurred to her just how warm his were. Realizing the moment was shortly going to become awkward, she smiled and released his hand, turning with him to leave the Common Room with Lily. The three of them made their way down to the Great Hall, chatting amiably. When they reached the Gryffindor table, they found their usual spots guarded by James, Remus, and Peter. James looked somewhat annoyed, the source of his ire in the shape of Veronica hovering impatiently behind him. She looked up as they approached, her gaze sweeping over Aliyah before she immediately sprung to Sirius' side.
"Good morning, handsome," she cooed, latching onto his arm.
Aliyah and Lily sat at the table, following their friends' lead to carefully avoid staring as Sirius tried to disentangle himself from her grasp.
"Morning," he replied tersely, sitting diagonally from Aliyah.
As he set about filling his plate with food, Veronica's arms snaked around his neck and she leaned close to his ear. "I hear you've got a free period after breakfast," she said conspiratorially. "I do, too. Maybe you and I could—"
"Actually, I'm filling my free period," he said shortly, drizzling syrup over the contents of his plate.
Veronica pouted. "With what?"
"A class."
"Which class?"
"The one I need."
"And that is?"
"I think he's being vague on purpose," James interjected wearily. "It could just be my keen observational skills, but it seems like there may be a reason he doesn't want to tell you."
"Why don't you mind your own business?" she said snidely, casting him a dark look.
"And why don't you let me eat my breakfast in peace?" Sirius asked irately as he tried to lean forward over his plate. "Unless you want syrup all over your sleeve…"
She released him with a huff and flounced back to the Hufflepuff table. James elbowed Sirius with a grin.
"Would've loved to see her face if you had gotten syrup on her," he chuckled. "And good one, telling her you were taking on another class."
"I am, actually," Sirius said around a mouthful of waffles. When James stared at him as though he'd lost his mind, he pulled his folded schedule out of his back pocket and put it on the table. "I'm taking Advanced Charms."
"But why?" Remus asked curiously. "I thought you didn't need that class to become a professional Quidditch player."
"Changed my mind," Sirius said with a shrug as he speared a sausage. "I'm going to be an Auror."
"An Auror?" James asked skeptically.
"It was the only profession I could think of that would piss my family off the most," he explained with a smirk.
"I'll drink to that," James said, downing half a goblet of orange juice.
"What's an Auror?" Aliyah asked curiously.
"It's a dark wizard catcher," Remus explained. "They catch witches and wizards that practice the Dark Arts and protect the rest of the community from said people."
"Speaking of career choices," James said suddenly, "what is this about you not becoming a politician?" he asked Remus.
"Now's not really the time to talk about this, James," he answered with a quick glance at Aliyah and Lily.
"Now's the perfect time, way I see it," James said stubbornly. "Lily knows your aspirations, it's only a matter of time before Aliyah learns them, too."
"Okay, what am I missing?" Aliyah asked blankly.
"Remus has always wanted to be a bigger voice for some of the less fortunate races of the Wizarding World," Lily explained with a tone of confusion. "He's always sympathized with them—Remus, have you changed your mind?"
"No, I haven't changed my mind," he answered defensively. "I just know I won't get paid for speaking out at public debates. I thought I should have a safety net."
"What's your safety net?" Lily asked dubiously.
"I thought I could go into teaching," Remus mumbled self-consciously. "I figured if I couldn't change the minds of today's leaders, maybe I could change the minds of tomorrow's."
There was a brief moment of silence before James wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.
"That was beautiful, mate," he said in a choked-up voice. "We should put that on a card…"
"Shut it, Potter, or I'll give you detention," Remus muttered.
James grinned. "You wouldn't."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "I would." James turned a wary eye on her. "Make fun of Remus again, and I'll have you cleaning the toilets." She turned back to Remus, ignoring James' baleful stare. "I think that's a great idea. Just don't forget your real goal. I think you could make a real difference in time to come."
"Thanks, Lily," he said gratefully. "I hope you're right."
"Well, if all this sappy nonsense is done with, I'll go have a word with McGonagall about my schedule," Sirius said with a sigh as he stood and grabbed his schedule before sauntering up towards the head table.
"Not a sensitive bone in his body," Lily said with a pitying glance after him.
"Now, that's not fair," James objected. "He's cursed plenty of Slytherins on my behalf. If that doesn't say 'sensitive', then I don't know what does!"
"You're right, James," Lily said with a sweet smile. "You don't know what 'sensitive' means."
Aliyah listened to them bicker as she finished her breakfast. She looked up at the head table to see McGonagall give a sigh before taking Sirius' schedule and pointing her wand at it. She handed it back to him and he gave her a nod before turning and making his way back to them. She watched as the girls he passed turned their heads to glance his way. She wondered if he even noticed anymore, or if he was too used to the attention by now.
"Aliyah?"
She turned to find Lily staring at her.
"I'm sorry, what?" she asked dumbly.
"I was asking if you knew what you wanted to do when you finish school."
Aliyah shrugged as Sirius rejoined them. "I don't know, I haven't really thought about it, I guess. Now that I know there's a whole other world out there, maybe I'll try to get some sort of Muggle/Wizard relations job."
"That would be great!" Lily said enthusiastically. "We'd definitely be able to keep in touch, then."
"What makes you think we wouldn't, anyway?" Aliyah asked. "You think I'm gonna go back to my boring Muggle life after this?"
"What is your life like?" Peter asked curiously.
"Not nearly as interesting as this place," she answered with a disarming smile. "We should probably get going. Class will be starting soon—"
She was interrupted by the loud whooshing sound of hundreds of wings overhead. She looked up to see an army of owls flying in through open windows by the rafters, each one circling down to land in front of students and professors, alike. A large barn owl swept down in front of James, landing squarely on his plate, its talons sinking into his toast. A brown package hung from its beak by its strings. James sighed and glared at the owl.
"Really, Aurora," he huffed angrily. "You don't have to ruin my breakfast every time you bring me something!"
The owl flicked its head, tossing the package at his face, before cawing loudly and taking off again, making sure to buffet James with its wings on its way up to the windows.
"Stupid bird…" he muttered, untying the strings on the package.
"Um, is it normal for owls to act like that…?" Aliyah asked as she watched other owls flying up from the tables, their letters and packages having been delivered.
"No, most of them are more considerate and don't land on the plates," James grumbled, pulling the paper off the box.
"She means the post, James," Lily said patiently before turning to Aliyah. "That's one of the ways we communicate. Owls are smarter than you think. They know who you want your letter sent to, and they almost always know how to find you. They come every morning to deliver our post."
"I didn't see them yesterday," Aliyah said thoughtfully as she watched the last of the owls disappear.
"We left breakfast early yesterday," Lily reminded her with a half-glance at Sirius.
"Oh, right—"
"Oh, thank Merlin," James said with a sigh, reaching into the box and pulling out a small cloth sack. "I didn't think Mum would find my Gobstones."
"You could've used mine," Lily offered.
"Uh… no, I couldn't have," James said with a sly smile. "I've tweaked mine a bit."
"Better not be cheating," Sirius said suspiciously. "You know our penalty for cheating."
"No, nothing like that," James said innocently. "I've just made it so the other player REALLY doesn't want to lose any points. Oh, and Mum sent your watch."
Sirius caught the black-banded watch deftly as James tossed it to him. "Tell her I said 'thanks'."
Aliyah frowned, catching a glimpse of the watch's face as Sirius fastened it onto his wrist. "That's a watch?"
Sirius nodded and stretched his arm toward her. She took his wrist and pushed the sleeve back to better look at the clock face. It had four hands, arranged in strange patterns and pointing in different directions. What looked like planets moved around the outer edge, and a small, waxing moon sat in the very middle.
"How are you supposed to tell the time on this thing?" she asked in confusion, releasing his wrist.
"It's pretty simple once you know how," Sirius said with a shrug, pulling his sleeve back down. "I'll show you later."
"What class do you have now?" Lily asked her.
Aliyah checked her schedule. "Herbology."
"Me, too," chorused Sirius, Lily, James, Remus, and Peter. They all grinned at each other.
"Well, I don't know how I'll get through this class," Aliyah said with a sigh. "I won't know anyone in there."
oOoOo
Greenhouse Seven seemed alive. Aliyah stood outside with the other Seventh-Year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, listening to the chorus of sound coming from inside the fogged and dirt-caked glass walls. A young woman with flyaway hair joined them, introducing herself as the Herbology professor, Pomona Sprout.
"Your last year of Herbology at Hogwarts will be dangerous work," she said, gazing at them seriously. "You'll be dealing with some plants you dealt with last year, but the more advanced versions of them, along with some new specimens I managed to find. Every one of these herbs and plants must be handled exactly to my specifications. Is that understood?"
Everyone murmured their assent and began filing into the greenhouse at the professor's instruction. As Aliyah neared the door, Sprout pulled her aside.
"I'll be blunt and tell you that I think it an extremely bad idea to let you into this greenhouse," she said frankly. "You haven't had the training my other students have had, and that leaves you at a terrible disadvantage. So I'll trust that, for now, you can refrain from touching or even going near any of the plants without my permission. You'll need to look on for now as the others handle them. Can you do that?"
"Absolutely," Aliyah assured her.
Sprout waved her in and she stepped through the doorway… into a jungle. The plants in here had grown large enough that some of them were creeping across the ceiling. A misty haze floated through the air, making it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of her. Leaves the size of table tops and pods the size of large dogs were everywhere. Violent, vivid colors shone through the mist in the form of large flowers, some of which looked like they had barbs in the middle. It was the deep purple ones, she saw, that were spouting out the continuous mist.
Lily had been waiting for her just inside the door, and she guided her to the table they would be working at with the rest of the group. As the professor shut the door behind her, she didn't even spare their table a glance as she passed and addressed them automatically.
"Evans, Black, Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew, it's four to a table, as always," she said as she rummaged on a nearby table through what looked like a pile of rusted garden tools. "The five of you and White need to spread yourselves out."
"You're out, Wormtail," James and Sirius said automatically.
"Oh, that's nice," Lily said in disgust as Peter sighed and began looking around the fogged room.
"Come on, Peter," Aliyah said, rolling her eyes. "We'll make another table the 'cool kids' table'."
Ignoring Lily's protests, she walked away with Peter, searching until they found a table with two Hufflepuff girls standing alone. They welcomed them with smiles and shook hands with Aliyah, introducing themselves as Alice and Leslie. Sprout came by their station, setting what looked like a small tree no taller than a foot and a half on the table. It looked to Aliyah like a bonsai tree.
"Mind the Venemous Tentacula behind you, Pettigrew and White," she said as she passed by. "It'll try to eat you if you get too close. Pettigrew, I'm charging you to keep an eye on Miss White in case it gets a hold of her."
Peter nodded nervously as Aliyah turned to look behind them. On a shelf there was a large, thick, leafy shrub with long vines trailing up the walls and along the floor, writhing lazily. The leaves, she noticed, almost camouflaged the inch-long spikes at the heart of the shrub. She turned back to the table with wide eyes.
"Will that thing really try to eat us?" she asked Peter.
"Oh, yeah," he said solemnly. "But usually we can stop it before it actually eats anyone."
"Oh, that's good."
"Yeah. Usually, it's the poisoned barbs that kill its victims. Dead in minutes."
"Oh… great…."
She listened to the professor's lecture as her voice floated through the mist. She could only see the table next to them—everyone else was beyond sight. The small tree on their table was called an Acid Bush. Its sap was used for an ingredient in an apparently popular candy called Acid Pops. ("People eat them?" Aliyah whispered incredulously.) They were to trim parts of the small plants to collect bits of the sap in small, enchanted tubes. The sap was incredibly acidic, and would burn through almost everything. Everyone was given reinforced dragonhide gloves to work with, including Aliyah, though she was instructed not to touch the plant, yet.
"Be careful when you trim the bush," Sprout's voice called from further down the greenhouse. "You don't want the sap squirting out at you."
Aliyah watched as the others took turns trying to trim the tree. The second a small twig or leaf was cleared away, a light green liquid would start to bead at the spot. Someone would be ready with a magically protected instrument, a small, metal scraper, and they would scrape off the small drops of liquid and carefully dispense it into the enchanted tube. They would have to do this quickly, as the sap leaked profusely and rapidly for several minutes until it clotted. If they moved too slowly, it would drip onto the table and eat right through to the floor and beyond. Somewhere in the greenhouse, they heard a loud curse as someone got the sap on their robes, followed by the scuffling sounds of trying to remove the offending garment.
Aliyah's group was doing well until it was Peter's turn to take the small clippers. He leaned close to the tree and put the clippers on a small, jutting twig.
"I think that's too close to the branch, Pettigrew," Alice said warningly. "If you cut that close, the sap might squirt out."
Peter barely moved the clippers a millimeter away from his first position.
"That's still too close—"
Snip.
Everyone jumped back, Leslie squealing loudly, as small, thin drops of the sap splattered out across the table, narrowly missing all of their faces. Peter's feet got caught in the hem of his too-long robes and he tripped, stumbling backwards. The calm vines of the Venomous Tentacula sprang to life, snapping up to grab at him. Aliyah didn't remember grabbing him, didn't remember shoving him out of the way, but suddenly the vines were wrapped around her waist and neck. Frantically, she tried to grab anything she could reach, consequently knocking about the branch of a small, nearby tree whose top almost reached the ceiling. It's leaves smacked her face, some of them going into her mouth, and she sputtered as she inhaled its sweet scent while she struggled against the pulling vines.
She could hear the excited clicking and rustling of the plant behind her, and she could see the panicked faces of the students as they tried to get to her without getting in range of the Venomous Tentacula's free vines. Their expressions were quite priceless. And this would be her luck, getting eaten by a hungry plant. Laughter bubbled up in her chest and escaped her lips, growing louder as did the yells of the nearby students. Her fight against the vines grew weaker as she was seized by fits of laughter. She couldn't imagine a funnier way to die.
Then Sirius was in front of her, his dark eyes intense as he fearlessly stepped in range of the other vines and put an arm around her, his free hand raising his wand.
Sirius… Sirius was so serious…
Aliyah's eyes streamed tears from her raucous laughter as he waved his wand, spell after spell hitting each of the vines in turn. Sprout appeared at his side and began helping, the stunned vines slowly receding until he was able to pull her free, the three of them moving quickly away from the angry bush. His arm stayed around her as she continued to laugh, barely able to stand.
"She must've touched the Alihotsy," Sprout said as she squinted closely at her face.
"The Hyena Tree," Lily said with a sigh. "She needs Glumbumble treacle."
"Very good, Miss Evans, five points to Gryffindor," the professor said approvingly. "Here, Black, take her to Professor Slughorn. He should have some in his stores."
"Glum… Glumbumble…!" Aliyah gasped as Sirius guided her carefully through the greenhouse until they were outside. "Who… who comes up… with these names?"
Sirius smirked, looking down at her as he steadied her with his arm. "You got me."
"No…" she laughed breathlessly. "Veronica does!"
He made a face. "No, she doesn't."
"You might want… to tell her that…." she said between gasps. "It's hilarious… watching you… fend her off!"
"I bet it is," he said dryly as he steered her up the steps to the great oak doors.
He managed to shoulder open the doors without losing his grip on her, and they made their way through the Entrance Hall to a set of stairs that went down, her laughter echoing in the large, empty space.
"Keep it down, would you?" Sirius said, though he looked at her with amusement. "You're going to bring Peeves down on us."
"Peeves… is he PEEVED?!"
"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer…"
She guffawed, her knees giving way beneath her. Sirius cursed and hauled her up before she dropped.
"Come on, up you get, now," he said encouragingly. "We're almost there."
They half-stumbled around a corner to the hallway where the Potions classroom was, but Sirius drew them to a half when he heard a loud singing coming from the far end of the corridor and nearing.
"Filch is gonna miss his cat
WHEN I PUT HER IN MY HAT
AND BEAT HER WITH MY BEATER'S BAT…"
Sirius darted sideways into an empty classroom and closed the door behind them. He clamped his hand over Aliyah's mouth to smother the fresh bout of laughter. The song continued as something whooshed by the outside of their door, its words fading as they went upstairs.
"THEN I'LL GO TO HAGRID'S HUT
AND TORTURE HIM WITH YOU-KNOW-WHAT
I'll put my bat right in his…"
Sirius breathed a sigh that ruffled Aliyah's hair and looked down at her as she chortled helplessly beneath his hand. "You're trouble, you know that?"
She nodded, laughing fitfully, and he uncovered her mouth to open the door and pull her back into the hallway. He half-carried her the last stretch of hallway until they reached the classroom. He leaned her against the wall carefully and released her, leaning over to knock on the door. She doubled over, her arms wrapping around her middle.
"My stomach… hurts…." she gasped, finding it hilarious.
The door to the classroom opened and Slughorn looked down at them in confusion.
"I don't suppose you have any Grumbumble treacle?" Sirius asked him as Aliyah slid to the floor, snorting with laughter.
"Of course, just a moment," the professor said quickly, slipping back into the room.
Sirius knelt next to her, shaking his head as he wiped the tears that coated her face. He reached down and tugged her skirt down where it had slid up from her kicking legs.
"Let's keep you decent, shall we?"
"Like that's… a real… concern of yours…." she said with mirth.
"It is," he said with a frown.
"Not from what I hear," she said in a sing-song voice, tapping his nose before bursting into another round of laughter.
"Lily been telling you stories, then?" he asked wryly.
"Ohhhhh, yeah," she chortled. "Us girls gotta… watch out for you…."
He snorted. "Well, don't worry," he assured her as he wiped a fresh wave of tears from her face. "You're not the kind I like to go after."
She tilted her head, her brows furrowing though she continued to laugh. "Why not?"
He stared at her for a moment, but was spared answering when the door to the classroom opened again. Professor Slughorn walked around Aliyah's legs and knelt on her other side, dipping a long, thin spoon into a vial of black liquid and carefully bringing the spoon to her lips.
"Open up, now," he told her. "Make sure and swallow it all."
She took the procured antidote in her mouth and instantly made a face, leaning forward to spit it out.
"No, swallow it," Slughorn said firmly, pushing her shoulders gently back. "I know it tastes like dragon dung, but better than laughing until you stop breathing."
She forced the disgusting liquid down and instantly felt calm. Her muscles relaxed and she realized just how taxing laughing could be.
"Could I really… have stopped breathing?" she asked the professor as she caught her breath.
"If not treated soon after being affected, yes," he said, giving her eyes a careful look. "I assume this was the work of Alihotsy. Did no one tell her she's not supposed to eat the stuff?"
"It wasn't her fault," Sirius told the professor, watching her with some amusement. "She almost got bitten by the Venomous Tentacula. The Hyena Tree is right next to it."
"Did no one tell her not to go near the Venomous Tentacula?" Slughorn asked, looking at her incredulously.
"Again, not her fault," Sirius said shortly, casting the professor a sideways glance. "She kept another student from being grabbed by it."
"Ah, well…" Slughorn said with a sigh, standing up. "Noble of you, Miss White, but a wizard would be better able to handle themselves in that situation."
He bent to help her up, Sirius taking her other arm as they pulled her to her feet.
"A wizard like Pettigrew?" Sirius asked drily.
Slughorn looked at him in surprise, then chortled. "Maybe it's better it was someone else, after all. She'll need a bit of a pick-me-up. Treacle from a Grumbumble can have gloomy side effects, even when it's countering uncontrollable laughter."
"Shouldn't they cancel each other out?" she asked as she pulled her arms free of them.
"Alihotsy just makes it so that you find everything humorous," Slughorn explained. "It doesn't affect your mood, per se. Treacle of the Glumbumble, however, does affect your mood directly. But don't worry, if you find yourself feeling a bit down, the effects should wear off in an hour or two, or you can see Madam Pomfrey. Maybe she'll slip you a bit of firewhiskey."
With a wink, he slipped back into his classroom and closed the door behind him. Aliyah turned and started walking back up the hallway, Sirius walking beside her. She took advantage of the silence to assess how she felt. Professor Slughorn was right. Apparently, Glumbumble treacle could make you feel down.
"You feeling okay?" Sirius asked, glancing down at her assessingly.
"I'm fine," she replied shortly. "How much time do we have?"
Sirius looked at his watch. "Five minutes until class ends."
"It'll be over by the time we get down there," she said matter-of-factly. "Might as well head to our next classes."
Sirius continued to watch her as they walked. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine."
Professor Slughorn was right.
"I hope you didn't take offense to what I said earlier," Sirius said abruptly.
"I didn't."
"…I didn't mean anything by it."
"You don't have to explain yourself."
"Somehow, I feel like I do."
"Well, you don't," she said as they stepped into the Entrance Hall. "I'll see you at dinner, okay?"
She walked away, making her way up the marble staircase without looking back.
Professor Slughorn was right.
oOoOo
A/N: Sorry it's been a while! Lot of stuff going on and whatnot. If you see anything that needs fixing, whether it's grammar, spelling, or just confusion, let me know, no matter how tedious. Can't get better if no one helps me, amirite?! Ahem. Carry on.