Chapter 7: Sweet Caroline

-Brianna POV-

I open my eyes. This is a very familiar sight. There is a group gathered around my bed. The whole team is here plus my friends.

"Wasn't it not long ago that I was knocked unconscious while playing quidditch and woke up to you all around me?" I joke weakly. James laughs. Lily doesn't look like she approves of joking about an incident like this.

"Except last time Remus was the one who kept you from hitting the ground," Sirius points out. "This time I was the one who saved you. If I hadn't caught you, there could have been some serious damage."

"Really? That was very thoughtful of you," I grin.

"You do realize that you that you just got hit in the head with a bludger, don't you?" Lily asks, somewhat shrilly. I do realize this, but I'm fine now.

"Lily, I'm fine," I say.

"Really?" Gideon speaks up. "You still remember your name?"

Fabian sniggers. "Do you remember what year it is? Who's Headmaster? What is the –"

"That is not funny," Lily says tartly. I can see that James is struggling to hide his amusement. Remus, on the other hand, seems to disapprove as well. What happened to these people's sense of humor?

"It is kind of funny," I tell Lily. Then I turn to the twins. "You two should go. I'm sure there's a party starting soon. I'm fine. You too, Macy. You don't need to stand around my bed."

"Well, if you insist," says Fabian. He grabs a piece of chocolate from the pile that has already formed beside my bed. Then he and Gideon leave. Macy gives me an enthusiastic hug before following them. There is still a large group around my bed. In fact, the only sixth year Gryffindor not here is Dory. Even Peter came. Abbey and Mary have also come to make sure I'm okay.

"I can't believe that bludger hit you," Alice says. "You didn't even have a chance to try to avoid it."

"Rotten Lestrange," Marlene mutters. "Lucky for him the game was over. Though I did overhear McGonagall talking to Slughorn and insisting that he get a detention. She was furious."

"I never knew she cared so much for me," I smile.

"I was shouting at you," Sirius frowns, "I thought for sure you heard me. I thought I saw you look right at the bludger."

"Well…" I hesitate, avoiding Lily's gaze in particular. "I did see the bludger that whole time – "

"What?" Lily exclaims.

"I knew the bludger was coming, but I had to get the snitch. I couldn't let it get away again," I tell them. Lily and Remus both gasp. Stella looks horrified and Abbey looks impressed.

"It was a bloody brilliant catch," Abbey says. Then she frowns. "I blame James."

"Excuse me?" James is indignant.

"She's right, mate," Sirius adds. "You put so much pressure on us to win. You know how much Bria takes that pressure on herself. You were going on and on about how we had to win."

Lily does not look happy. I feel bad for James, who is looking horrified.

"It's not his fault," I say. "I went for the snitch because I wanted to win. Do you really think I'd risk getting hurt just because of what James said?"

"She's got a point," Marlene says.

I yawn. "You should all go to the common room. You don't need to hang around here. I'm fine and I'm sure there's a victory party going on."

"I'll stay with you," James and Lily say simultaneously. They look at each other in surprise. Marlene chuckles.

" No. I'm really fine. Plus, I'll probably fall asleep, I'm really tired," I tell them. "Beside, James, I know you really want to go to the party."

They both look reluctant to leave. So do Stella and Remus. I know that Sirius, Abbey, and Marlene are all eager to join the party. After saying goodbye they begin to file out. I can see Madame Pomfrey across the room looking relieved. Remus is the last one to leave.

"Remus," I say as he begins to walk away. He turns around quickly. I smile ruefully at him. "Do you think you could hand me a piece of chocolate before you go?" I gesture toward the candy that is just out of my reach.

Remus smiles and walks over to get me some chocolate. He is the one who truly understands my love of chocolate. Similar to the way that Sirius understands my love of food.

He hands me the chocolate. "Thanks," I say. He hesitates, then he sits in the chair beside my bed.

I frown. "Aren't you going to go to the party?"

"I'm sure I won't miss much," he grins. "I don't want to leave you here all alone."

Aw. Isn't Remus just the sweetest? It is nice not to be completely alone. Especially when the rest of my house is currently having a party and I can't be there.

"I always knew there was a reason I liked you the best of all James' friends," I say.

Madame Pomfrey bustles over. She's holding a goblet. She doesn't look too happy that Remus is there, but I know that she's glad that there's not a huge crowd anymore.

"Drink this," she says, handing me the goblet. "It will make you sleepy. Once you wake up in the morning you should be feeling much better and you'll be able to leave."

I hold the goblet up to my face as she leaves. I sniff. It smells horrible. I must be making a disgusted face because Remus laughs at me. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and gulp it down.

This stuff tastes horrible!


-James POV-

Lily is dragging us into the library. She decided that, after all the time we've been spending on quidditch lately, we need to get some work done. Bria shoots me a glum look behind Lily's back. Bria was barely out of the Hospital Wing for an hour when Lily decided that it was time to study. I guess I should be happy that Lily now cares enough to force me to do work. Even if it's just as a friend. But it's hard to be happy about doing work when I'd really rather be doing something else.

We reach a table that Remus is sitting at, doing work. Lily forces us into seats next to each other and then takes her own seat.

"What about Sirius?" I complain as Lily places books in front of us. "Why doesn't he have to come to the library?"

"He's helping Stella with Transfiguration," Lily replies promptly. Bria and I exchange skeptical glances. I know that she agrees with me that this is not very likely. There is something else going on. I just have no idea what it is.

"I doubt that. Stella doesn't need help in Transfiguration. She's better than I am at it," I say.

"Maybe that's because Sirius has been helping her," Remus points out.

"What about Marlene?" Bria asks.

"She hasn't gotten behind lately because of quidditch," Lily says, getting impatient.

"You do realize that I was just in the Hospital Wing for a head injury, don't you?" Bria is even more unhappy about coming to the library than I am.

"Even more reason why you should be here," Lily says. "You've done absolutely no work all weekend. I know for a fact that you have a lot due tomorrow."

"Don't you two think you're being a bit overdramatic?" Remus asks.

"You try being dragged to the library and see how you like it!" Bria says emphatically.

"Bri, I am at the library." Even though Remus is acting like we're being all unreasonable, I can tell that he's getting a lot of amusement out of our misery. Which is a little morbid, if you ask me.

"Remus, don't make me have to – " Bria begins, but is interrupted.

"Um, Remus?" we all look up to see a fifth year Gryffindor who has approached our table. I don't remember her name.

"Hi, Caroline," Remus greets the girl. Oh, right. Remus is always so good at remembering peoples' names. That's probably one of the reasons that he's a prefect and I'm not. Besides the fact that I am one of the biggest troublemakers in the school, of course.

"I, er, I was just wondering if…" she hesitates. I glance at Bria to see that she's not looking at the girl too fondly. Caroline doesn't notice, however. "…if you would go to Hogsmeade with me this Saturday."

Okay, I did not see that coming. Not that it's so surprising that Remus would get asked to Hogsmeade. I just wasn't expecting that. Apparently, neither was Remus. He is looking very shocked. I know what is coming. He is going to say yes just to be nice. Typical Remus.

"Er, yeah, sure," he says, sounding flustered. What did I say? I know Remus. Because of this I can tell that he instantly regrets what he said as soon as Caroline hurries off to her giggling group of friends. Bria stares after the girl quite moodily. I wonder why Bria seems to dislike her so much? Remus puts his head in his hands with a sigh.

Lily must be able to read Remus as well as I can, because she says, "It's just one Hogsmeade trip. It won't be so bad. Plus, she's really sweet."

"I know. She's a nice girl. I was just hoping to go with my friends," Remus says.

"Yeah, the one year Sirius doesn't have a date, you do," I complain with a grin.

"I forgot I'm supposed to meet Marlene in five minutes," Bria speaks up suddenly. We all look at her in surprise. She quickly puts her books in her bag.

"You have to meet Marlene? About what?" Lily asks skeptically.

"I can't tell you," Bria says shortly. She grabs her bag and is out of the library instantly.

We all look at each other. "That was weird," Lily says.

"Really weird," Remus echoes.

"This is Bria we're talking about," I say. "Weird is normal for her."

They both give me a look. Lily raises an eyebrow. "What?" I demand.

"You're one to talk," Remus says. Why does it always feel as if everyone is ganging up on me? That's why I like having Sirius around. He takes all of the negative focus of off me. Plus, he seems to enjoy it anyway.


-Sirius POV-

"So, lucky for you, I've decided that we'll put that prank on hold," I tell Stella. She sighs in relief. "Instead, we are going to focus on my new plan."

She eyes me warily. "What's your new plan?"

"I already told you!" I say, " 'Date Remus Lupin'"

She grins at me. "You're trying to date Remus? I didn't know you felt that way."

"Oh, haha. Look, I like that you're developing a sense of humor. I just think you should work on making jokes about other people," I say.

"I hate to break it to you, but I always had a sense of humor," Stella rolls her eyes. The fact that she is now rolling her eyes is also a great accomplishment. "It's not as if I had no personality and you are creating it for me, or something. I'm still the same person."

"Well, that's debatable," I say. She narrows her eyes and looks scarily the way Bria did before she broke my nose. I shiver. I really hate that look.

Lucky for me, Bria walks into the common room at that very moment. She comes over to us. "Have either of you seen Marlene?"

"No," I answer. Stella shakes her head. Bria lets out a deep breath of frustration and takes a seat on the chair across from us.

"You don't have a date for Hogsmeade, Stella, do you?" Bria asks suddenly.

"No," she answers.

Bria smiles. "Well, we'll have fun. It'll be us, James, Lily – "

"Me and Remus," I add with a smile. Stella looks at me in surprise. Bria looks glum.

"Not Remus," she says, not happy. "He has a date."

"With who?" I ask. I'm surprised. I didn't think that Remus was going to get a date. I happen to know that he usually doesn't like to go with a date at all.

A group of giggling girls enter the common room. Bria shoots them a venomous look. "Her," she answers, pointing out one girl.

My eyes narrow. "Not Caroline?" Bria just nods. "I can't stand that girl!"

"I know," Bria answers. "Me either."

"Why would Remus want to go with her?" I say. Remus is a great friend, but he has made a horrible mistake. Caroline is probably my least favorite person. Not including all Slytherins, of course.

"Who giggles that much?" Bria asks, glaring across the room at the group of girls. "I honestly don't think it's natural."

"I thought you were going to Hogsmeade with Laura Wilkinson," Stella says. I look at her and frown.

"What?" Then I remember. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that. No, I decided not to ask her. She's kind of boring."

"One person around here has some common sense," Bria mutters.

Marlene enters the room. "Bria," she says, sitting down on the couch next to me. "I heard we have a secret meeting that I'm apparently late for."

Bria's eyes widen. "You saw Lily?" she asks. Marlene nods. "What did you say?"

"Well, I sat down at their table in the library and Lily said she thought I was supposed to be meeting you," Marlene explains with a grin. "I asked her what she was talking about and she said 'I don't know, she said it was a secret'. But I could tell that she thought you had made the whole thing up. Which you obviously did. So I said, 'Oh, shit. Our secret meeting! I forgot about that one.' Then I hurried away. They all looked at me like I was mental."

"Well," I say, "You are mental."

Oh, Merlin. I don't think that was the best thing to say. There is now a shoe flying through the air right for my head.


-Brianna POV-

Dear Old Hogsmeade. How I've missed you! I have a strange feeling that I was recently saying these same words about Hogwarts. Which is a little weird. I mean, why would I say that I missed Hogwarts? I personally wish I was still on summer vacation. Though if I were on vacation then I wouldn't be going on this lovely trip to Hogsmeade.

I'm walking towards Hogsmeade with James, Lily, Sirius, and Stella. The rest of our friends have dates. Even Peter has one. He's going with some Hufflepuff girl. Alice is of course going with Frank. I don't remember who Marlene is going with. Then there's Remus. Who's going with Caroline. Who's is the most horrible girl I know. I'm not joking. I know everyone says that I can be overdramatic, but I swear I'm not. Sirius agreed with me about her. Anyway, I'm not going to let thoughts of that girl ruin my wonderful trip to Hogsmeade.

"Hey, Sweets, why don't you try to keep up?" Sirius calls. I realize that I've fallen behind. I cringe a little when he calls me sweets, but unfortunately I've actually started to get used to it. Plus, I know that I can't just go around breaking people's noses, even if I do threaten him with it. He seems to think I will just break his nose whenever he makes me angry. Which is how I prefer it.

I hurry to catch up to my friends. "So, where should we take Stella first on her very first visit to Hogsmeade?"

"Scrivenshaft's," Lily replies promptly.

"Zonko's," James says excitedly.

"Three Broomsticks," Sirius says simultaneously with the other two.

"Honeydukes," I say. We all look at each other. We've each said our favorite place. I sigh, deciding to take the high road and compromise. "Okay, why don't we go to Three Broomsticks." Which I just happen to like almost as much as Honeydukes.

"No," Lily says. "It's so much better to go to Three Broomsticks later in the day. It's a great place to warm up after being in the cold."

"She has a point," Sirius agrees. "Why don't we go to Scrivenshaft's first, to get it over with." Lily frowns, but doesn't say anything. I have a feeling Stella will enjoy the quill shop as much as Lily does. I also have a feeling that she won't much enjoy Zonko's.

After what seems like hours – but probably isn't – we reach Honeydukes. Lily is satisfied from her trip to Scrivenshaft's. James and Sirius clutch bags stuff full of products from Zonko's. I eagerly push the door to Honeydukes and take a deep breath. I am home. Honeydukes is probably the greatest place on the whole entire earth. I'm not even exaggerating. They have every type of candy you could ever want or imagine. I hurry over to one wall that is covered from the floor to the ceiling with different types of candy. I instantly grab a handful of chocoballs and another of sugar quills.

"Sweets," Sirius appears beside me. I'm not sure if he's talking to me or about the candy. "I dare you to get an Acid Pop and eat it later."

"No way!"

"What, you're scared?" Sirius challenges. Damn him. He knows I can't back down from a challenge.

"I'll do that if you get a blood-flavored lollipop and a Cockroach Cluster," I say with a grin. I personally think that's a fair trade. I mean, I've heard that an Acid Pop can burn a whole through your tongue.

"They say that there are real cockroaches in those," a voice says from beside us. We look up to see Remus smiling at us. I want to be mad at him for going to Hogsmeade with the horrible Caroline Mayfair, but how can I be mad when he smiles at us like that?

"Yeah," Sirius nods. "That's a completely unfair trade. A blood-flavored lollipop and a Cockroach Cluster?"

"I think it's completely fair and it is the only way I will get an Acid Pop," I fold my arms.

"Why don't you get an Acid Pop?" Stella asks from behind us. Sirius frowns. "If you get an Acid Pop then I'll get a Cockroach Cluster. You seem to think it's such a fair trade."

While they work out the details, I turn to Remus. He appears to have already purchased his candy and is holding a bag that looks very full.

"What do you have in there?" I ask, trying to peer into the bag. He pulls it away.

"Don't even think about it," he says, mock-sternly. Remus and I have a tradition that began in our first visit third year. See, we both happened to buy each other chocolate. Because we both share a love of chocolate. When we got back to the common room we each had a bar of chocolate for the other. Which was a complete coincidence. So, ever since, we always buy each other chocolate. This is why he won't let me look in his bag.

"Where are you headed, Moony?" Sirius asks. Remus frowns.

"Caroline wants to go to Gladrags," he says. Sirius shudders. Everyone says I over-exaggerate, but what about Sirius? "Then we're going to Three Broomsticks."

"Really? Great! That's where we're headed next," Sirius says enthusiastically. "You two should join us."

Remus looks relieved at this. Then he looks around. "I should probably go."

We say goodbye and Remus disappears into the crowd.

I'm looking after him when Sirius nudges me quite hard in the side. "Come on, Sweets, finish your shopping. I'm absolutely starving!"

Merlin do I hate that nickname.


A/N: A big thanks to my three reviewers!!!

I've edited all of these chapters, but if anyone notices some mistakes that I've missed, please feel free to let me know.

Please review!!