They Couldn't Stop the Voices, Chapter 7

They Couldn't Deny the Attraction

A missing Marauder entangled in the Room of Requirement on the night of the full moon can cause problems…but they couldn't deny the attraction.

Sirius sighed, surveying the rubble that was the scattered remains of the Room of Requirement. He finally slacked his grip on his wand, rotating his abused wrist to rid it of an annoying cramp.

"Well, at least now you know you've got Accio down."

The turmoil in his brain eased up a little, but not by much. As he pocketed his wand and yanked the door open, he was swamped with the uncomfortable feeling that he had forgotten something important. The shock of what he saw next, however, totally obliterated it.

Rachel Bailey, Gryffindor bitch extraordinaire, was leaning casually on the wall opposite the Room of Requirement. She smiled shyly as Sirius swung open the door, his mouth gaping unattractively.

"I was wondering when the Room would be free again," she commented quietly. "I've been waiting for ages." She tried a timid half-smile.

Sirius frowned, confused for too many reasons to give voice to. Rachel was not timid. She was not shy. For all Sirius knew, Rachel never went anywhere without her pack of friends. "And how did you know about the Room?" he blurted aloud on accident.

Rachel's grin widened. "What kind of Gryffindor do you take me for, Sirius? I've done a little exploring," she said, and winked. Sirius found that he was smiling as well.

Whoa mate, easy. This is Lily's arch-nemesis, he reminded himself. And Lily's your best mate's new girlfriend. Which makes Rachel your new girlfriend's best mate's arch-nemesis…or something like that, he told himself. You would do well to walk away…now.

Rachel steadied herself against the wall and walked slowly toward Sirius, whose nerves were screaming silently. She didn't stop until they were standing almost nose to nose. Sirius felt his body tense up involuntarily and stared at the girl, trying to curb his enthusiasm.

She stared right back, and cleared her throat pointedly. "Um…excuse me," she said, looking over his shoulder into the Room.

Sirius's cheeks burned with humiliating realization. "Oops—um, sorry…go ahead," he stammered, moving aside to let her pass and slamming a shoulder into the doorframe in the process. Blinking back tears of pain, he turned around and tried to skirt over the awkward patch. "So…what do you use the Room for?"

Rachel raised an eyebrow and watched with amusement as Sirius hungrily observed the previously destroyed Room rearrange itself. A comfortable-looking couch and a television appeared, complete with pillow, blanket, and snack fridge.

"Not much, as you can see," Rachel sighed. "Just to relax, and think, you know? There's too much going on, and sometimes I need a break."

"I…I know what you mean," Sirius murmured honestly, considering Rachel with a little more understanding. He glanced at the television. "Muggle relaxation contraptions?" he asked.

Rachel laughed. "You know it." Absently she twirled a piece of hair around her finger as she contemplated him. "You know…would you like to hang out here for a while? You look like you've got a lot on your mind."

"I do…" Sirius hovered uncertainly between leaping onto the couch (which did look very inviting) and running away as fast as he could, before he wandered into more dangerous territory. He knew himself. And Rachel was not really a bad-looking girl…despite that she was his girlfriend's new best mate's arch-nemesis. Or whatever.

Sensing his hesitation, she suddenly took it upon herself to grab his hand and lead him into the Room again. "Come on, a little TV never hurt anyone."

"Alright, alright," Sirius said, shaking off another wave of uneasiness. Goddamn hormones, he cursed. Who knew paranoia was so horrible?

Rachel concealed a gleeful grin. It was the hormones, and she knew it too. But unlike Sirius, she praised and embraced them. They make things so easy, she decided. And Sirius…well, he's the easiest of them all.

"We can talk, if you want," she suggested sweetly as they settled onto the couch.

Sirius shrugged. She may be the arch-nemesis of his new best mate's girlfriend or whatever, but at least she seemed like she was someone who would actually listen to him. He couldn't deny the attraction there.

But since when has a talk with Sirius Black ever stayed, well, a talk?


A few hours later, James turned and kicked a tree with both front hooves. Peter the rat squeaked in understanding of their code sign, and began to inflict sharp, painful bites onto the feet of the werewolf crouching between them. As the wolf looked down to see what the source of his pain was, James did his best to fade into the shadows. He was a stag, for god's sake.

The werewolf, who was not all too bright despite the intelligence of his human counterpart, finally noticed Peter. It bent down double in an effort to snap its jaws around the small rat, but Peter only darted easily away.

He ran a few feet toward the edge of the clearing where the Shrieking Shack was situated, followed closely by the wolf. The rat squeaked tauntingly, jumping up and down. It took no more provocation, Peter knew, and suddenly the rat plunged into the bushes, into the forest, away from James. The wolf followed, less gracefully, crashing and ripping its way through the undergrowth. The chase was on.

At long last, the sounds of the pursuit had faded far away, and James began to change back. Staggering with exhaustion, he collapsed at the door of the Shrieking Shack, next to his burlap sack.

"What would you do without the cookies?" his voice commented.

James was too tired to be annoyed with it. Instead, he dug in, famished and thirsty.

James hoped fervently that it would be some time before Moony returned to this part of the woods. All night he had been following the wolf, and had only been detected about an hour ago. But during that hour he had fought desperately against him, alone. Prongs the stag had only sustained minor injuries, amazingly. But James didn't think he could do this for much longer…

Rosie had waited for every girl in the dorm to go to bed and fall deeply asleep before she dared to tiptoe to the window and open it.

It was almost 3 a.m. Lily was sleeping as contently as a baby, but Emma had still been getting over the excitement of the day and had only settled down at half past midnight. Rachel's empty bed had made Rosie uneasy, but the missing girl had finally snuck in around 2 o'clock, and without noticing that Rosie was still awake, promptly collapsed with a sigh on her bed. She had not moved since.

Don't look out of your window tonight. The words seemed to travel over a great deal of time to reach her, although it had only been that morning. Well, now she was looking.

At first nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The wind gusted through the trees and whipped Rosie's hair into her eyes. From her vantage point on the fifth floor of Gryffindor tower, she could see everything in the stretch between the castle and the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and it was all calm. But then, from deep in the forest, the sound reaching her only because it carried on the wind…came a piercing howl.

Rosie shivered, and bit back the sobs fighting their way out of her.

"You can't break down so easily!" Her voice offered her no consolation.

"What if he needs my help?" Rosie whispered to herself. "What's happening to him?"

Though not much but an occasional faint howl disturbed the peaceful night, Rosie continued to gaze out of the open window, sitting on the floor with her arms propped on the sill. She did not even stop to wonder why Rachel had come in so late.

Remus was closer than she thought.

After allowing sufficient time for Pete and Moony to make a messy round through the forest, James groaned and stood up again. Looking up at the sky and hoping to see dawn, he only saw navy velvet sky and stars that winked contemptuously in the face of his predicament.

His predicament. Where in the world was Sirius? James reached inside of himself for the worst word he could think of to use on him, something that would be appropriate for the situation. He drew a blank.

The crashing sounds, which had started out faint, were getting louder. James sighed. Peter must be getting tired as well by now. After all, he had just led the werewolf on a wild-goose chase that must've lasted for miles. It had to be about 3 a.m.

He shoved his anger into the back of his mind and began to transform again. After all, he could be angry at Sirius later (and believe him, he would be). But now he needed to take care of the problem at hand. As James felt his fingers meld into hooves and strange branches sprout from his head, right on cue a rat burst from a bunch of scraggly bushes to his left and practically collided with the stag. Pete collapsed, panting as hard as a scraggly rat could, at James's hooves.

Moony was not far behind. James knew he couldn't hope to goad the wolf back into the Shrieking Shack again, and even if he could, one stag and one rat could not guard the door and windows.

Instead, he let the wolf get his scent before scampering off onto a well-worn trail that led toward Hogsmeade. It was a great risk, he knew. If Moony caught scent of humans, there was no telling what disaster could result. But he had no other choice if he himself wanted to stay alive through the night.

Prongs snorted angrily. He could hear Moony crashing through the undergrowth behind him in pursuit, and could only assume Pete had now changed back into a boy and was enjoying his cookies. Rest time was over for James, and now, as he came to a fork in the road, he had to make a decision. Left or right?

Left led to the quiet, sleeping, innocent village of Hogsmeade. There, the witches and wizards could not hope to be protected against a werewolf if they were sleeping, unwary and unarmed.

Right led back to the grounds between the castle of Hogwarts and the Groundskeepers' Shack. The scent of humans tainted everything there, but was spread mostly evenly about by the flocks of students that crossed the grounds every day. James could only hope that Moony would not be able to pick up a trail in that mess of scent, and that he would not guess that its source was at the castle.

The stag veered right and picked up speed to a canter. The trail was getting wider now, clearer, as it was used often by Care of Magical Creatures classes to greet some of the magical creatures in the forest.

The wolf skidded past the fork in the path, heading down the right one without hesitation. James could imagine his vile, slobbering breath on his hindquarters as they burst out of the forest. Now out in the open, the wolf howled a piercing challenge at the stag.

Oh, Merlin, if anyone at Hogwarts was awake, they would have heard that, James thought fleetingly. But instead of heading away from Hogwarts and towards the lake, James led the wolf at a trot nearer to the castle, towards Gryffindor tower, in the vain hope that Moony would make enough noise to rouse Sirius. It was a stupid idea, but it was the best that he had at the moment. After all, the most important thing was still staying alive for two more hours.

Rosie did indeed hear Moony's challenge. Her head shot up from where it had been resting on her knees, and she peered out of the window with bleary eyes. That howl had sounded way too close to the castle.

Five stories below her, she could make out two gray shapes racing across the grounds, one slightly large and lumpy with two sticks protruding from its front, and the other unmistakably her Remus. The wolf loped forward with casual agility and grace, which made Rosie's breath catch in her throat. They were so close. But who was the other?

Rosie pushed the window up further and stuck her head out into the night. The air was brisk, if not too cold to be uncomfortable. She drew her fluffy robe tighter around herself.

Her eyes strained as she tried to make out details of the two figures approaching the tower in the night. She was beginning to get nervous; did Remus know she was watching, when he had specifically told her not to? Would he get mad? Was he coming to prove his point? Rosie's knuckles grew white as she clutched onto the window sill for dear life.

James skidded to a halt almost directly underneath Gryffindor tower, and turned to face the wolf. Both animals were breathing hard, but the wolf had had no time to rest between the rat chase through the woods and now.

Rosie gasped as she finally realized what the other figure was. A majestic stag, larger than she had known possible for such an animal, was facing Remus down underneath her window. He had antlers as long as broomsticks with lethal-looking prongs extending from each…

Prongs. But Rosie did not make the connection. There was just too much going on.

James backed up, gasping. He could not get himself cornered against the wall of the castle, or he would be done for. He glanced up at the various levels of windows on the tower, looking and hoping to see Sirius. But even the slightest deviation of attention from the wolf was dangerous, and that glance was all it took for Moony to catch his breath and prepare to pounce.

Rosie saw the stag raise its great head and look up. It could have even been looking at her. She shivered at the thought.

The stag backed up farther and farther away from the wolf. But Remus closed the gap easily again and again, until finally the stag was nearly cornered against the wall. And even then he did not yield. Rosie watched in horror as Remus leaned back onto his hind legs and prepared to pounce.

The wolf's low, menacing growl drifted up through the air, and Rosie realized her mistake. She had overlooked the stag as merely another animal, but Remus was not his friend. Remus was on the offensive; he was the attacker, the instigator. In the next few seconds, he would rip the stag to shreds.

Yanking her head from the window, she flung herself blindly across the room toward her bed. It took all of her willpower not to scream.

Her Remus was not a murderer, she knew. She had to keep him from becoming one.

Breathing heavily, she scrabbled for her wand, found it in the pocket of her discarded robes, and ran back to the window. Outside, Remus was having fun with the desperately dodging stag.

"No, Remus," she whispered quietly, defeated. "You're not like that."

"You have to do something!" her voice cried urgently.

But Remus was already in the air, leaping towards the cornered stag, his claws unsheathed and gleaming by the light of the full moon. "No!" Rosie cried in a sudden burst of defiance and rage, "you can't! Protego!"

James felt the power of the spell before he saw the silvery shield drop down through the air. Moony was knocked to the ground mid-pounce, and his claws scrabbled and scraped at the shield. James had been inches from death. Had it really been Sirius who had saved him? The voice that had squealed "Protego!" had been a little too effeminate.

With Moony safely out of the way, James raised his head to look up at the tower once more. A pale, frightened-looking girl hung out of the fifth-floor window, clutching a bathrobe around her and brandishing her wand uncertainly. Not Sirius. But not Lily, either.

Who was his savior then? He didn't recognize her at first, although she was in his year, in the fifth-year dormitory. But when the wind picked up again, blowing her long blonde strands across her face, James knew.

She was Moony's girl. Rosie. She had been woken by the howling.

And if she hadn't known before, then she certainly knew now.

James swallowed nervously. Moony, the moon, the wolf, Remus. Prongs, the antlers, the stag, James. No girl of Remus's could ever be dense enough to overlook it.

Rosie shivered as the intelligent eyes of the stag connected with hers. This was no ordinary animal, to know he had been saved and identify his savior with such gratefulness…or perhaps she was only imagining it.

But without her there to keep the spell going, the shield would disappear in a few minutes. As it was, Remus was leaping about, exploring the boundaries of the shield and trying to find a way past. Soon, he would probably discover that if he went into the woods a little ways and circled back, he could get behind the shield. She would have to stay up all night, renewing the spells and casting new ones.

Rosie smiled wryly. Even as a werewolf, her Remus could not be stupid.


Midnight had already struck and passed, but there was no clock in the Room of Requirement.

"I just…I just feel like nobody understands me," Rachel sighed as Sirius nodded sympathetically. The TV was still on and droned monotonously in the background, but all of Rachel's attention was fixed on Sirius. "If only everyone didn't believe everything they hear about me," she said mournfully, casting her eyes down.

"Me, too," Sirius agreed in all honesty. He had begun to regard Rachel with a new kind of understanding. "The things people say about me are so far from the truth sometimes. You know, you're not at all like I heard."

"You are," Rachel laughed softly. She reached a hand out to squeeze his knee. "Exactly like I heard. Kind and understanding, respectful, willing to listen…a gentleman."

She sighed sadly, but inside she could've squealed with joy. This was working out quite well for a plan she had only made up on the spot as she caught none other than Sirius Black, Lily Evans's boyfriend's best mate, coming out of the Room of Requirement with a heartbreakingly mournful expression on his face.

She could fix that expression. She could make him smile tonight. And after they were through, she could make sure that bitch Lily Evans, who thought she ruled and commanded the world, would cry.

And Sirius had no sense of commitment himself, she knew. It was perfect. It couldn't fail.

Sirius fought the urge to laugh. This was like a scene out of a bad romance novel (not that he had ever read one, per se). Who would've thought that he and his best mate's new girlfriend's arch-nemesis would be so uncannily alike and misunderstood? And her eyes sparkled wickedly, like she had a secret to tell him.

She did have a secret. "A gentleman…you haven't tried anything this whole time," Rachel continued softly. "Somehow I expected…more of you."

Sirius was surprised. Apparently he couldn't run away from his reputation. "You mean you want me to try something?"

"I don't know," Rachel mumbled as shyly as she could muster. "Do you want to?"

"Yeah, maybe," Sirius muttered, his brain less a thing of intellect and more a pile of mush at the moment. He knew about Lily's issues with Rachel. Hell, he had had to deal with a weeping female in his dorm all night because of it. But did it really matter? Was it really wrong? After all, Rachel had just proven that he really couldn't believe everything he heard…

Rachel was done waiting. They had said he wasn't a hesitator; that he couldn't wait; that he had no patience. They had all said he pushed them, and hurried through like it was a race, or maybe like he had another appointment to get to. So what was wrong with him tonight? What more did he want? She was done waiting. It was time to get down to business.

She slipped a hand behind his head and without warning, touched her lips to his. Beginning with soft, tentative pecks, Rachel stroked his hair down to his neck, and slowly Sirius began to respond. She was met with no resistance as they began to move through the motions of the kiss and fell into a rhythm: two pairs of lips apart, two tongues twisting and twining, two bodies moving together as one.

There was no resistance, but there was no spark, either. However, if he was as she had heard, he wouldn't be able to keep it cold for long.

"Hmm…Rachel, I don't think we should," Sirius mumbled, but it was so non-committal it meant nothing. He made no effort to stop her as she bore down on him, deepening the kiss until he had sunk into the couch and she was kneeling around him.

She could feel his warm hands on her waist, shifting southward with every smooth movement of her own body against his, back and forth until they slid down to her bum and stayed there. Her own hand trailed down his chest, and back up slowly. Her stomach fluttered with a tickling feeling.

She hummed in happiness. This might have been strictly a business matter, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy it.

"You are exactly as I have heard," she said again, smiling against his lips. Of course, the poor boy probably thought she meant he was a good kisser. Although that, he was, too.

Sirius felt warm and comfortable, lying there, but decided Rachel needed to hear the truth. "Yeah, well, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't heard some pretty nasty things about you," he muttered quietly, sucking on her bottom lip.

He tucked his head underneath hers to reach her neck, but Rachel pulled away to smile down at him. It was time; he had even brought it up himself. "Oh, you're such a sweetie," she said, her lips hovering over his, "but don't worry about it. Haven't you learned by now that you can't trust Lily Evans when it comes to these things? She's such a jealous girl that barely a drop of truth ever passes her lips."

She dropped a short kiss on his nose and leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Just because your mate fancies her, Sirius, it doesn't mean she's what he says she is…she's smart, so she manipulates people." She laughed a little and returned to his lips.

This set all the alarms in Sirius's mind ringing. His voice, long absent from his mind, began to scold his stupidity. Lily Evans may have been a terrifying girl with a short fuse and anger problems, but one thing he knew for sure she was not, was a jealous girl who lied and manipulated people.

That was Rachel's true opinion of Lily. And Sirius thought without a doubt that, given a choice between Rachel's or Lily's friendship, Lily would still prevail in his eyes.

After all, what in the world would Prongs say if his best mate had ditched his girl for her arch-nemesis?

It ran even deeper than that, actually. If the rumors of this morning were true, Prongs now had his own new arch-nemesis: Rachel's sixth-year Ravenclaw brother, Harvard Bailey. Would supporting Rachel seem like supporting Harvard to Prongs?

No, Sirius decided straight away. Rachel was her own person, unconnected to anyone, as was Sirius. If they wanted to be friendly in the Room of Requirement, nothing was wrong with that to either of them.

And anyway, another spin could be put on the situation in favor of Lily and Prongs: as seen by a Gryffindor, Sirius getting Rachel so easy could only prove them right about her. Prongs could rub it in Harvard's face. So it worked either way, and Sirius could use it any time he was in trouble. Sirius was definitely getting the better end of the deal.

Rachel could feel him grinning as they got back into the kiss. She couldn't deny the attraction: he really was a handsome bloke, if a little slow. Even later, when all they did was lie next to each other and watch the telly, his face was a picture of satisfaction.

She had done her job. She had gotten what she wanted. The telly droned on and she watched as Sirius's eyes drooped with drowsiness. When he was finally asleep, she snuck quietly out of the Room and shut the door behind her. It was nearly 2 o'clock.

He would sleep through the night on that couch, while not too far away, on the moon-lit grounds of Hogwarts, a mad wolf howled.

A/N: What drama! I remember I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Please leave a little review to tell me whether or not you liked this! All feedback is welcome, and I love any predictions for what might happen next!