Chapter 7: Discoveries
After that day, everything went back to normal. Well, as normal as Sirius's and Isadora's relationship could be. He still flirted inappropriately with her at times but it didn't seem to bother her as much anymore. Most of the time, she would just roll her eyes and push him off her. It was only very rarely that she would yell at him or hit him.
Most of the following month, Isadora just spent her time adjusting to Hogwarts. She got used to the classes and the professors and she even made new friends. Not many though, most of them were too scared of her. Those girls that weren't afraid to talk to her were pretty shallow and self-centered and Isadora quickly leaned to avoid these types of people. It didn't really bother her though. Most of her time was spent with Lily, Alice, Erica, and the Marauders.
Isadora quickly become known as one of the "Marauder's Girls." This title had nothing to do with whether or not one was actually dating a Marauder. In the same way that no one went after Lily Evans for fear of what James Potter would have done to them in retaliation, no one went after Isadora Angelline for fear of Sirius Black. (The fear of Sirius being exceptionally stronger since he so effectively put down his little brother that day on the lawn) If either Lily or Isadora knew just how untouchable they were to the rest of the male population of Hogwarts, they probably would have protested. Fortunately for James and Sirius however, word never got back to them.
As for Sirius himself, despite his professed attachment to Isadora, he acted just as much the playboy as ever, albeit, a bit more quietly than usual. He flat out refused to take girls out on dates in public. He only saw those girls who were willing to have a quickie in a broom closet or a quiet snogging session in an empty classroom, things he did quite frequently when Isadora wasn't around to catch him at it.
Things changed slightly however, when the first Hogsmeade weekend came around in October. Although the girls and the Marauders had all gone down to the village together, somehow Sirius and Isadora ended up alone at the Shrieking Shack. She had never been to Hogsmeade before and was dying to see the most haunted place in Britain. Sirius tried to be as mysterious about the whole thing as possible.
"They say that no less than twenty ghouls haunt this building."
"I wish we could come out here at night and hear if there really is all the screaming that people say there is."
"I hear that the screaming gets especially bad around the full moon," said Sirius, producing a licorice wand from inside of his robes and handing it to a grateful Isadora, who started chewing on the end. "At least the ghouls don't stray too far from the shack."
"What do you mean? I thought that ghosts only haunt one place and that they can't leave it?
"Oh, that's ghosts, Izzy. Ghouls are different," said Sirius spookily. He put his arm around her and leaned in close. His voice became very low. "They can go wherever they want. They're very sneaky too. One of them could be behind us right now and we wouldn't even know it."
Isadora burst out laughing. She pushed Sirius away from her but he just grabbed her and started tickling her. "No, Sirius! Please, stop. Stop! I give up!" He stopped tickling her, but he still had his arms around her. He looked into Isadora's eyes and waggled his eyebrows at her. She was about to protest their position when he suddenly picked up her tiny form, threw her over his shoulder, and started walking towards the Shrieking Shack. "What? No! Sirius are you crazy?! We can't go near that thing," she said through giggles.
"Oh c'mon, little Pixie. Are you telling me that you're afraid of a few ghouls?"
"Sirius!"
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Meanwhile, back at the Three Broomsticks, Lily, James, Remus, and Peter were having a Butterbeer. "So, Evans," said James, "Not that I mind you hanging out with us all day, quite the contrary. But, where, may I ask, are the other girls?"
"Well, Alice and Erica spent the day with their boyfriends. And Isadora…" Lily trailed off quizzically.
"I think the next question we should be asking," said Remus dryly, "is where is Sirius?"
"Well," said Lily, "the last time I noticed Isadora still with us was in Honeydukes."
"That's about the last time I spotted Padfoot, as well," said James.
"You don't think those two are…" began Remus.
"No," said Lily firmly. "Isadora would tell me if they so much as kissed."
"Yeah, but it doesn't stop them flirting like a couple of…things that flirt," said James.
"Very eloquent, Potter."
"All I know," said Remus, "is that we should really nip this thing in the bud."
"I'm not sure that there is anything that we need to be nipping. I really think that they're just good friends," argued Lily.
"Not likely," said Remus. "Did you see the birthday present she gave him last week?"
"She told me she got him a box of Fillibuster's."
James snorted. "Not just any Fillibuster's, Lily. They were a box of these really limited edition fireworks that she had shipped in from France. They really were quite spectacular. We set them off right outside the Slytherin common room."
Lily glared at him. "Well, she's lived in France, right? It probably wasn't that big of a deal for her to get a hold of them."
"I don't care," said Remus. "I know he likes her and he just has no self control when it comes to a pretty girl. And girls can't usually control themselves around him."
"I can, why not Isadora?"
"It's different, Lily. She's thirteen."
"So? She's friends with us. We hang out with her everyday. Has she ever acted like a typical thirteen year old, Remus?"
"I don't care how old she seems. Sirius is seventeen. It would just be wrong if they got together."
"Would it, though?"
"I never thought I'd see the day, Lily. You? The champion of Sirius Black?"
"It's not like that, Remus…I just see the way he acts around her. I don't think he's interested in just a quick shag. If they genuinely like each other, who are we to say that it's wrong or bad?"
"How can you say that? It's not like he hasn't stopped shagging every girl he could since he met her."
"Moony, I agree with Lily." Remus stared at James like he had three heads. "C'mon. Have you ever seen Padfoot act this way around a girl? I mean, he's actually being discreet with who he hooks up with. I've certainly never seen him change his habits for a girl before this. I think he could really like Isadora. I don't think we should interfere. Besides, even if we did, would it make a difference? He all but told us that he wasn't going to back off Isadora." Remus was silent. Lily smiled gratefully at James for his support. Suddenly, the last person they ever expected to approach them sat down at their table.
"Hi, James," said the bubbly voice of Amber Lee. James just stared at her quizzically. "Have you seen Sirius?"
"Uhhh…no. Any particular reason why?"
"He's said he'd meet me here for a drink."
"When?"
"Oh, just a few weeks ago."
Lily knew that trouble was coming. This was confirmed when Sirius and Isadora walked in the door, giggling. His arm was around her shoulders and he was whispering in her ear. Amber's back was to them and Lily tried gesturing frantically, but discreetly at James to let him know what was about to happen. He, however, was trying to convincingly answer Amber's question's about Sirius's whereabouts. Remus saw all that was going on, just shook his head, and groaned.
Sirius approached the table with Isadora behind him. He set down the two butterbeers he had purchased and began to greet his friends, when he noticed Amber.
"Amber, what are you…?" He was cut off as Amber jumped up and squealed his name. She threw her arms around his neck.
"Oh Siri, you already got me a drink."
"Amber, what the hell are you talking about?" said Sirius removing her arms from his neck.
"We had a date, Siri. You don't remember?"
Sirius glanced down and saw the quizzical look on Isadora's face and figured that this was better handled in private. "Amber, come here." He grabbed her arm and pulled her outside to set her straight.
Isadora sat down at the table. "Hey, guys," she said forcefully.
"Merlin, I'm so sorry, Isadora," said Lily.
"Sorry about what?" she snapped back.
"Well…that thing with Sirius."
"Oh that? Don't be. Are you surprised? He can screw whoever he wants to. It's not like he's my boyfriend or anything." Isadora sounded tough but everyone could tell that she was pissed off.
"Hey," said Lily. "You wanna go back to the common room?"
"Yeah, let's get out of here." They said goodbye to the boys and left.
James looked at Remus and said, "Do not say I told you so, Moony."
After a minute, Sirius returned, minus one blonde bimbo. He took one look at the two full butterbeers and said, "She left, didn't she? Was she angry?"
"She said no, but I'm pretty sure she was mate," said James.
"Really? Like, really, really angry?
"Umm…kind of. Are you happy about that?"
"A little, yeah," said Sirius, grinning. "She told me she doesn't like me like that, but if she's angry, that means that she's jealous. And that means I still have a shot."
"Wow, Padfoot. Your logic astounds me."
"And where does Amber fit into this little equation?" said Remus inquisitively.
"What's it to you, Moony?" said Sirius defensively. "Look, Amber doesn't mean anything to me and she knows it. I'm sure she was jabbering my ear off one day and I must've agreed to a date with her without realizing it."
"Sirius," said Remus resignedly. "If you really like Isadora, then fine. You have my blessing. But if you just fancy her because she's unattainable, then back off now. You'll just get bored after you've screwed her and then you'll have completely messed up an innocent thirteen year old girl."
"You know what, Moony? You just don't give Isadora enough credit. She's tougher than you think."
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In fact, Isadora was quite pissed at Sirius, though she didn't want to admit to herself why. She told Lily repeatedly that she wasn't angry at him, that he could screw whoever he wanted to. The older girl wasn't convinced, but wisely chose not to pursue the subject.
A couple of days later in potions, Isadora and Sirius were working on their Amortentia potion. "Sirius, can you please try and focus? This is our last time to practice making the potion before the test."
"How can I? You're just so beautiful, Izzy," he said, leaning in close.
"Bugger off," she said, pushing him away. "Shouldn't you be focusing your attentions on your little blonde bimbo girlfriend?"
"Awww…Pixie. Are you still jealous about that? I told you, that Amber and I are finished."
"I don't care. And I'm not jealous. Does this look like the right color to you? It seems too white, not really a sheen." She smelled it. She could identify the smell of grass and a familiar cologne…oh crap, she thought.
"What do you smell?" asked Sirius with a grin.
"Nothing of consequence."
Sirius then bent down and whispered in her ear, "You know what I smell? The lake, burnt feathers, and your lovely perfume. Though I must say, I still can't place why I associate burnt feathers with you."
Isadora's face turned red and she pushed him away. "C'mon, Sirius, just lay off."
Sirius seemed satisfied with the rise he got out of her and worked quietly on the potion for the rest of class.
At the end of class, Isadora muttered a goodbye to Sirius and quickly gathered her books together to take back to the library. On the way out of the classroom, she saw Peter Pettigrew struggling with a stack of books. She stopped to help him.
"Hey, Peter."
"Hi, Isadora."
"Are you returning any of those to the library? I'm on my way up there, I can take some if you like?"
"Sure, that'd be great. Thanks, Isadora," he said as he tipped a few books on top of her stack.
When Isadora got up to the library, she set the books on the desk in front of Madam Pince. As she turned around to leave though, Madam Pince stopped her. "Excuse me, dear. This must be yours." Madam Pince held up a piece of yellowed parchment which she handed to Isadora. "It was stuck in between these two books."
"Thanks." Isadora took the piece of parchment and left the library. She had seen this piece of parchment before. It was the same one that James and Sirius were looking at that first week of potions class. If Peter was the one who had it with his books, then Isadora was sure that it had something to do with the Marauders. Sirius had said they had a lot of secrets. Maybe this was one of them?
Isadora went straight up to her dormitory to try and figure it out. She tried every spell that she could think of to get whatever it was to reveal itself. She worked straight through dinner. Eventually, after tons of useless spells, she started trying stupid things like, "I am a Marauder," or, "I cause mischief." Nothing sounded right though. She figured it must be something personal, a saying, or a quote that they used.
She thought back to everything that she had ever heard the boys say. She shifted through her memories, recalling obscure conversations, offhand remarks…suddenly it hit her. Something that Sirius had said when she had given him his birthday present of Fillibuster's Fireworks. She had asked him what he planned on doing with them. He had flashed her one of his devastating grins, winked and mysteriously said…
"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." As dark lines began to fill the page and the parchment began unfolding, Isadora realized just what it was she had and smiled. "Bloody fantastic."
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