Change My Mind

The Alleged Crime

The portrait swung open and Lily made her way into the common room with Dorcas Meadowes following not far behind. Lily clenched her jaw as her eyes glanced over James Potter; he was sprawled out on a couch in front of the fireplace, his back against the armrest and his legs stretched out in front of him. Sirius, who was sitting with his elbows on his knees, held his head in his hands as he stared blankly into the fire.

"Potter?" Lily politely requested his attention.

"Evans! Changed your mind, have you?" James said hopefully, jolting upright from his seat and running a hand through his messy hair.

"No," she sighed. "Where's Remus?"

James slouched back into the couch. "In the dormitory, I reckon."

"Then would you mind relaying a message to him when he comes down?"

James, still slightly disappointed, glanced her way, giving her the okay to continue.

"Tell him I still haven't finished my charms essay, and I'd appreciate it if he'd take my place doing patrol with you tonight."

James nodded, clearly buying the lame excuse Lily had thought up during the walk back to the common room. She was thankful for this, though, as she wasn't sure if she could handle being with James tonight. With Dorcas by her side, she climbed the stairs to their dormitory, chatting quietly all the way. When they disappeared from his sight, Sirius comforted his friend.

"She'll come around," Sirius said.

"You say that every time," James challenged.

"I'd be a bad friend if I didn't," Sirius said, "and besides, it's as true now as it was five years ago."

Silence fell upon them in the most comfortable of ways. Sirius, squashed between James's feet and the armrest of the couch, turned his attention back to the fire, disheartened by his earlier humiliation. He didn't know who had done it to them, or why, but he sure as hell wasn't very happy about it. He was so far lost in his own pride that he didn't hear the portrait swing open once more, nor did he hear the intruder's footsteps.

Emmeline made her way, alone, into the common room. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the boys sitting in front of the fireplace; first James, who looked quite dismantled, which she concluded, was an aftereffect of Lily's rejection, and then Sirius. The light danced across his pale face, casting dark shadows on the side of his nose and under his eyes. His expression held a certain grimness that told her the plan for revenge had definitely worked.

"Hey Potter," Emmeline grinned as she walked into the common room, "Hey Black. You two look pretty deflated."

Sirius lifted his eyes to her and glared. "Clever."

"He's still a bit peeved," James said carelessly as he flipped through the pages of what Emmeline assumed was a Quidditch magazine.

Her grin only grew wider. "That's understandable," she said as she plopped down on an armchair near the boys. They were all silent for a few moments as she opened her book, pulling her legs up onto the chair and settling in. "I would be pretty peeved too, if I had been bouncing around the Great Hall like that." She winked, causing Sirius's glare to harden.

"I thought it was fun," James grinned. "Although the professors seem to think we did it to ourselves, so we've got a month's worth of detention."

Well, at least they were getting what they deserved. "Judging by how embarrassed Sirius is, I'd say you didn't do it yourselves. I'd say that someone much, much smarter thought of it." Emmeline was clearly enjoying herself, although it seemed to escape the attention of the two brilliant wizards next to her.

Sirius snorted. "I'm not embarrassed, Vance." She shot him a doubtful look, so he continued, "I'm just trying to figure out who came up with the pathetic idea. And more importantly, how to torture them for their disrespect." James grinned, and Emmeline rolled her eyes.

"Well let's think," Emmeline suggested, "who could possibly hold a grudge against you?"

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows and James looked deep in thought. "Snivellus!" James offered. Emmeline sighed; could they really be that clueless?

"Of course," she paused, "Snape must have snuck all the way over to the Gryffindor table just to place a simple engorgement charm on his enemies. Because that's so much more effective than any potion he could brew, given his talent."

Sirius narrowed his eyes, and Emmeline could have sworn she could see the wheels in his head turning. "How did you know it was the engorgement charm?" His words were cautious and slow.

Emmeline stared at him in mock offense, "What are you suggesting, Mr. Black?"

Sirius jumped up, "It was you who hexed us!" His lean frame towered over her, blocking all light from the fire. His eyes burned into hers, anticipating her reply.

"Engorgio is a charm, Black," Emmeline said sweetly, "not a hex."

"Prongs, are you listening to this?" Sirius glanced over at his lazy friend. "It was her!"

"Allegedly," Emmeline said slyly, eyes widened innocently.

"Sirius," James said, "Why on earth would she inflate us?"

Sirius turned back towards Emmeline, looking as if he was thinking hard. "Why did you do it?"

"Black!" Emmeline exclaimed, her hand slapped to her heart in wounded disbelief, "I would never inflate the two of you!" There was a short pause before she added, "But if I were you, I'd think twice before prematurely slipping porcupine quills into someone else's cauldron."

James's eyes widen comically. "I forgot that was you!" He really had. To James, the prank had been just that—a prank. He remembered slipping the quills into the wrong cauldron, but in the end the prank had hit the person it was intended for, and that was all that had mattered to him. Then he burst out laughing. So hard, in fact, that both Sirius and Emmeline stared at him in amazement until he finally calmed down. "You did that to get back at us for the boils? That's bloody brilliant!"

"No it's not!" Sirius said quickly, although he had to admit, it was a pretty genius idea: simple but very effective.

"I think you two are forgetting, I never claimed to have done it," Emmeline sighed.

"Cut the crap, Vance," Sirius spat, "You inflated us to the size of those giant pumpkins."

"Allegedly," Emmeline claimed.

"Allegedly," Sirius mocked. His attention briefly turned to Remus and Peter, who were descending the stairs that led to the boy's dormitory. "Hey Remus!"

Remus's eyes snapped over to his friends.

"Lily was looking for you," James said right before Sirius interrupted:

"You'll never guess who was behind my and James's little adventure earlier!"

Remus cocked an eyebrow to humor Sirius. "Who?"

"She wanted to know if you could—" James was soon cut off again.

"Emmeline Vance!" Sirius said, pointing a finger in her direction and dragging out her first name.

"Allegedly," she said. "And did you know that when you point fingers at someone, there are more fingers pointing back to you?"

Remus was actually surprised. "Really Emmeline? I actually never would've guessed it was you. Why'd you do it?"

"Lily wants you to do patrol with me tonight because she hasn't finished her homework or something." James said loudly and quickly, knowing Sirius wouldn't allow him anymore time. And he was right.

"Sure," the tone in Remus's voice suggested he still had more to say, but Sirius cut him off almost immediately.

"She did it just because James and I spilled a little bit of potion and caused her pretty little hands to erupt in boils!" Sirius paused before adding, "A week ago!"

Remus, dropping the issue of patrol for the time being, immediately recalled the day he had officially met Ariadne, and she had briefed him on the prank. Then he laughed, amusement shining through his grey eyes. Peter looked like he wanted to laugh as well, but, catching sight of Sirius's sour expression, he thought better of it. Instead, he stood there, failing miserably at concealing his large, goofy grin.

"Remus, stop laughing!" Sirius snapped, "It's not funny!"

"Yes it is, Sirius," Remus smiled, "You finally got a taste of your own medicine."

Sirius glared at him. "Shut up, Remus."

Remus's smile didn't falter. "Did you even apologize to Emmeline for what you two did to her?"

"She didn't apologize to us! And she did it on purpose!" Sirius exclaimed.

"You hurt her first," Remus shrugged, "perhaps Emmeline wouldn't have felt the need to get payback if you had apologized."

Sirius crossed his arms. "I won't apologize to her until she apologizes to me."

Emmeline crossed her arms as well and snorted. "Fat chance."

Remus sighed in defeat. "I still say this could have been avoided if you had taken responsibility for your actions and just apologized."

"Oh sod off, Remus. You're just as bad as I am and you know it," Sirius snarled.

Remus shot his friend a look before making his way out of the common room. Screw patrol with James, Remus thought, he would do it on his own. Remus realized that the prank had wounded Sirius's pride, but his sympathy was somewhat diminished by Sirius's irritability.

Remus walked quickly through the corridors, staring blankly ahead of him as he made routine check-ups in certain hallways and rooms. His mind was too preoccupied, however, to really notice anything out of place. No matter how much Remus wished it wasn't true, he knew Sirius had been right. He was just as bad as Sirius, maybe even worse. Sure, he hadn't been nearly as mean to Snape as James and Sirius had, but he hadn't tried to stop it either, and he never even tried to apologize. He wouldn't be surprised if one day Snape retaliated with worse than a mere engorgement charm. He would deserve it, after all. Snape was really only just one example, too. What about all the other times their pranks had somehow harmed someone? Remus was pretty sure none of them had apologized back then either. He really was awful.

Remus sighed, closed his eyes, and inhaled deeply, trying his best to clear his mind. The sound of footsteps roused him from his thoughts, and Remus straightened, blinking. He spotted a familiar, pale girl on the staircase across from him. "Ariadne?" He asked.

Her head turned towards him slowly, as if she was unaffected by his presence. "Oh, hello Remus."

"Hello," he said, making his way towards the staircase. He stopped, standing a polite distance away, and waited for her response.

"You look glum," she said, her voice delicately laced with concern.

He shrugged. "What are you doing out this late?"

"It's Thursday," she said simply, "I always go to the astronomy tower on Thursday."

"Oh," he furrowed his brows in confusion. Had she never got into trouble for it? Surely, she had to have been caught before.

She cocked a brow in amusement. "I suppose I should prepare myself for detention, given I'm out of bed after hours." She was teasing him. If it were anyone else, he would have been slightly frustrated; yet for whatever reason, he felt a smile play on his lips.

He laughed and shook his head. "I won't tell."

"In that case, you can join me," she said, "if you'd like."

Remus knew, since he still had prefect duties, that he shouldn't go; but the line between what he should do and what he wanted to do was still as blurry as it was when he walked out of the common room, so he followed her. She led him with a free leash as they walked quietly through the dark corridors, Remus always one step behind her. Not a single word was exchanged, but it was comfortable; Remus always did enjoy having someone to share the silence with. Not all silence needed to be filled, and Ariadne seemed to understand that.

As his foot set on the first step of the Astronomy Tower, Remus snapped his attention back to his surroundings, realizing that he had been lost in his own thoughts the entire way. With Ariadne still leading him, they made their way up the winding stairs. Finally reaching the top, a rush of cool, crisp air filled Remus's lungs. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, welcoming the air and holding it captive for a few seconds before releasing, and opening his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Ariadne herself. She was standing on the far end of the tower in front of a telescope, playing with the focusing lenses. As she turned the lenses, he noticed how thin her wrists were, how it looked like they could snap under the slightest amount of pressure. The sudden realization of how frail and delicate she seemed startled him. Her shoulders were slender, but for the most part, hidden, by the unruly waves of her hair. The rest of her petite frame was hidden beneath heavy robes. It was weird to him, to think that he had seen the very girl in front of him almost every day for seven years, yet he had never really looked at her.

She glanced back at him for a moment, casting him a quick smile before she turned her attention back to the telescope, pressing her eye to the lens. He walked over and joined her, looking up at the sky.

"Why Thursdays?" He asked.

"I like Thursdays."

Remus felt his lips twitch into a small smile. He didn't know how or why, but she managed to somehow amuse and frustrate him all at the same time. Remus liked structure, order, and reason; he couldn't wrap his head around the idea of doing something simply because. Yet her simple, blunt answers and remarks intrigued him.

"You look considerably happier," she said, her eyes focused on his for the first time since she had greeted him.

He broke eye contact and looked back up to the sky. "I just needed some time away. My friends are great," he started, "but sometimes they can be a lot to handle."

"I'd say everyone needs some alone time every now and then," she said, "but I reckon it's hard for you to come by when your friends are always the center of attention, say for example, floating around the Great Hall."

Remus laughed. "I suppose it would be stupid to say 'oh you saw that, did you?'"

She smiled. "Yes, it would," Remus raised an eyebrow, "but I'll humor you. I found their little prank quite entertaining, as I'm fairly sure the rest of the school did."

"They didn't do it," Remus said, "someone else did, to get back at them for one of their pranks that she fell victim to. The same prank that hit you, actually."

"I didn't find the boils too painful," she said, looking down at her hands.

Of course she didn't, Remus thought. She didn't seem the type to pay attention to things like that anyway. She didn't seem the type to pay any mind to anything, really. In the past week, if Remus had learned nothing else about Ariadne, he learned that she was oddly distant most of the time.

She turned her attention away from the telescope and walked over to the railing, resting her arms on the top of the bar and resting her weight on it. The moonlight illuminated her pale face as she searched the heavens, for what Remus did not know. He walked over to her and placed his hands on the rail, keeping his arms lengthened and stiff and his body an arm's length away.

"The first constellation I was taught was the Big Dipper," she said softly. "My grandfather said it was the easiest to spot."

"It is. Most of the constellations are really hard to see," he replied, remembering his first attempt at finding some of the more complicated constellations.

Ariadne nodded. "It gets easier. I can find most of them rather easily."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Remus held back a smile. "Orion," he said, naming the first constellation that came to mind.

"There," she pointed to the sky and traced the outline of the constellation.

"I gave you an easy one on purpose," he smiled, which she returned immediately.

"Then by all means, give me a harder one."

"Scorpius," he named.

She walked around the tower, settling a few feet away, where she again pointed her finger to the sky. "There."

Remus walked over to her, and although he couldn't tell where she was pointing, he names another one. "Lupus."

"Right next to it," she said, and again outlined it for him.

So he named off another. And another. And another. Each time, Ariadne took a moment to walk around the tower, then traced the pattern he had named. Some of them he could see, some of them he couldn't, but she always did.

"Pisces," he said, and instead of walking around the tower, she looked at him.

"I never could find Pisces," she admitted. She rested her arms on the rail in front of her, searching the sky for one last constellation as Remus settled beside her.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," he said.

She nodded once, slowly, but kept her eyes on the sky as once more, the image of the Big Dipper unfolded before her. She connected the dots with her eyes; three stars for the handle, four for the base. All these years and it was still the first and last constellation she looked for each night.

"I think it's time to go back," she said, turning her attention to Remus.

He looked at her, her pale face distant. "I think you're right."

They descended the stairs and made their way back through the corridors. Instead of letting Ariadne lead though, Remus kept his place beside her. They walked quietly, careful as to not get caught—although Remus doubted whether she would truly care if they did—until they reach their point of separation. Ariadne bid him goodnight softly before she turned down a corridor and disappeared from sight. Remus continued on his own, the sudden loneliness biting at him, until he finally reached the Fat Lady.

Hours had passed since Remus had been in the Gryffindor common room, and his encounter with Sirius had been long forgotten. That was, until he walked back through the portrait hole and was greeted by a very sleepy looking Sirius, sprawled out on a couch in front of the fire.

"Remus," Sirius said, his tired eyes meeting Remus's, "I'm sorry."

"I know," Remus said. Sirius stood, and together, they climbed the stairs to the dormitory they shared. Remus knew he had forgiven Sirius hours ago; he never was very good at holding a grudge. In the end, Remus would always forgive.

Oh my gosh I'm awful, and I am so sorry. I had this written a few weeks ago and just didn't have the time to get around to editing it. I hope that those of you who actually read this haven't given up on me, and I promise to try to get the chapters out sooner from now on. Please forgive me though, between school and work I just don't have very much time.
I hope ya'll enjoyed this one, there's still A LOT to come. I know this chapter was REALLY long, and I hope you think it's a good thing because they're all probably going to be about this long from now on :) I have so much planned for this story. By the way, what do you guys think of Ari?
I'd also like to thank my two first reviewers for being completely wonderful. It honestly made my day to see that I even had reviews!
As usual, any feedback is welcomed and appreciated, and again, I sincerely apologize for the late update. Please stay with me! :)