A/N: Hello, all! I want to apologize in advance…this chapter is going to be ridiculously long. I didn't originally plan it to be this long, but as I was working I just kept going until I had finally created this beast of a chapter. It's also slightly deviated from my original plan for this chapter…which I think is for the better…but it's up to you guys, so we'll see. There's also a lot of James/Leah bonding in this chapter. I am not shipping them, understand-I will always and forever ship Jily-but I see Leah as becoming like a younger sister to James. True, it's that way with the other three as well (although she's not as close to Peter…), but I just see her growing closest to James. Partly because I love James. Remus and Sirius tie for second, and Peter's last, because of…well, we all know by now. This chapter contains a very familiar scene to my most frequent reviewers…it seems in every story I write, I have to include someone getting put to sleep. I guess it's because I would love for that to happen to me someday…even though it might mean that I would be getting injured. Dang it! ;) Also included in this chapter is a bit more of a physical description of the Marauders…I might be going a bit OOC here (I'm not exactly sure), but I'm using the scene from…HBP, I think, where Harry accidently uses Legilimency on Snape…as well as Sirius, Remus, and Peter in their adult years (as played by Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, and Timothy Spall), and the scene with the Resurrection Stone in the forest as references. When you see it in the story, it'll make sense. I promise. (It's their voices.) Also (last one, I promise), this chapter contains 3 new spells. I basically just looked up the phrases in Latin (since I figured that that's what I'd use for the spells, since it shows up frequently when JKR names things), and wrote them out. Basically, I created them because I researched all over the place and couldn't find an actual Sleeping Spell, which I wanted to use for Leah…so I used those three instead. I used Google Translate for them, so hopefully they're accurate-ish!
DISCLAIMER I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER AND NEVER WILL I JUST LOVE THE MARAUDERS AND DON'T WANT THIS STORY TO END!
Also, in case anyone tried to review the new chapter 9 and wasn't able to…I believe I read somewhere that if a chapter was already published, and then someone put a new version of that chapter up, reviewers who had already reviewed wouldn't be able to write reviews for the new version. If this happened to any of you, I apologize-I didn't realize until after I had republished chapter 9, so I hope you all liked it!
WHUMPAGE WARNING!
Please enjoy (the REALLY LONG) "The Leah Chronicles" Chapter 10!
The four Marauders collapsed onto the floor, breathing hard. Tonight had been one of their more intense outings, including-to the others-Remus's random desire to attack the armoire in the corner. The three Animagi returned to human form rather quickly, and waited for a few minutes for their fourth to do the same. Once Remus had-less painfully than before-changed back from his werewolf form, the others began to move to a sitting position, getting ready to help him back to the castle. Suddenly, James held up a hand. "Wait a moment-do you hear that?" The other Marauders slowly silenced, and eventually heard a quiet thumping sound coming from the small wooden cupboard to the right of the door. "What is that? There's no one in here besides us!" Remus murmured. The four looked at each other nervously, before slowly creeping forwards. Sirius tried to open the cupboard, but it was completely locked. He took out his wand and murmured, "Alohomora!" The door broke open, and the boys all gaped in surprise and horror. Leah was sitting there tied up with multiple ropes, a gag covering her mouth, and several bruises on her pale skin. She quickly turned away from the sudden light that appeared (after being stuck in the dark cupboard for hours), and Remus quickly used his wand to dim the lights in the room. Once he was done, Leah slowly turned back towards them. They could see extreme fear and panic in her eyes, and could hear her slightly hyperventilating.
"Leah…what happened to you?" Peter whispered. At the sound of his voice, Leah jumped, and scooted back as far as she could in the confines of the cupboard. "She can't tell us with that gag on her mouth, mate!" Sirius said, pulling out a pocketknife that he could use to cut her gag and bonds. As soon as Leah saw the knife, though, it almost tripled the strength of the panic attack she was having. Sirius continued to step forwards a few more paces before James stopped him. "Sirius-stop. You're freaking her out even worse. I don't know what it is, but that knife is scaring her almost to death. Put it away." Sirius sighed, but finally put the knife in his pocket-before stopping dead. "James…I think I know why it's freaking her out." He pointed to a spot on Leah's chest, and all four Marauders could see three slash marks through her uniform. Two were shallow and not much to worry about, but the third was rather deep, and could be trouble if it wasn't taken care of relatively soon. "If Montair did this to her…I'm going to punch him in the face. And probably bite his face." Peter muttered. The other Marauders nodded.
They were thinking the exact same thing.
If Montair had hurt her, he was a dead man.
"So, how are we going to get her out of there if she keeps freaking out?" Remus queried. "We can't very well help her if she won't let us near her." The others nodded, contemplating it for a bit. Finally, James had an idea. "I think I read somewhere...I think I read that dogs can help someone with panic attacks…maybe, if you're all right, with it, Sirius…" Sirius nodded swiftly, quickly changing back into his Animagus form. He then pulled himself into the cupboard (with help from the other Marauders), and sat down next to Leah's feet. He then slowly but steadily crept forwards until he was sitting by her head. Leah was still freaking out, but her eyes had slowly moved to focus on Sirius. He gave her a second to get used to his presence, before scooting into her side, until he was gently brushing against her arms. James and the others watched nervously, hoping that this idea would work. They could tell, though, that Sirius's presence was helping Leah to calm down slightly. Her hand slowly made its way to softly pet his fur, which caused Sirius to lift his head and gently lick her cheek. It took a while, but Leah finally calmed down. She took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply, before looking up at the Marauders. "…Hi…" she murmured. She choked back a slight sob, and a fresh wave of tears streamed down her face, which she hurriedly tried to wipe away.
"Hey, Leah. Are you all right now?" Peter asked quietly. Leah let out a quiet huff, before shaking her head. "No…I will be eventually, but…not right now."
"Do you think you can get out of the cupboard?" James asked. Leah contemplated it for a moment, before nodding slightly. "I think I might need some help…but yeah. I think so." Thankfully, Sirius had thought to bite through the ropes that had tied her up, and with help from the three older boys (and Sirius, of course), she managed to lower herself from the cupboard and onto the floor. She then gently rested her head on the wood behind her, and let out another breath, her eyes closed. She sensed, rather than saw, the Marauders sitting down around her. "Leah…how long were you in there?" Remus queried gently. Leah sighed before responding. "Um…I'm not exactly sure, but…at least since after dinner."
"After dinner yesterday?" Peter questioned, in shock. Leah nodded, not wanting to open her eyes and see her friends' faces. "Yeah…"
"Did you see anything happening in here?" James asked, looking at the others. Leah nodded again, finally opening her eyes, but looking down and away from them. "…Yes…I saw everything that happened in here."
"So do you know who that is?" James asked again, gesturing towards the dog that was sitting near her. "Yeah, I do…thanks, Sirius. For all of that." Sirius shifted back into his human form, before letting out a gentle smile. "Don't worry about it, Leah…it's what friends do. I'm just glad I could help."
"So you saw what…what I became last night?" Remus questioned, turning serious eyes towards Leah. She nodded, finally meeting his gaze. "Yes…and don't worry. I won't tell anybody."
"You won't?"
"No. I know what it's like to be treated as an outcast and looked on with disgust by others…and it's something I wouldn't wish on anyone else. I also know that you kept it a secret for a good reason, and I would never dream of being the person to ruin it. I like Moony too much for that." All four boys let out a relieved sigh. They hadn't thought that Leah would tell anyone if she found out, but they hadn't been exactly sure. After a while, James looked back towards Leah. "Leah…can you tell us what happened? We want to make sure that this never happens to you again." Leah shook her head slightly, her breathing starting to pick up pace again at the question. "I…I can't…if I do, the person…the person will come back and do worse…" The others looked towards James. He and Remus were the best at this sort of thing (convincing people to tell them their problems), as Sirius could sometimes be too sharp and harsh, and Peter could be a bit too nervous to even ask. Remus was still a bit out of it, having gone through his transformation that night, so he wasn't sure how well he would do. Therefore, the honor fell to James.
"Leah…you know you can trust us, right?" A nod. "And you know that we want to look out for you, right?" Another nod. "Then, you know that you can trust us with what happened. We promise that we won't go after this person ourselves…we'll tell Dumbledore and McGonagall what happened, and they'll take care of those idiots. We just want to make sure that you're okay." Leah let a few more tears leak out, not looking at them again. "Did Montair have something to do with it?"
Leah shrugged. "Yes…and no."
"What do you mean?"
"Yes, he had something to do with it…and no…he wasn't the only one." Each Marauder let out a small gasp. "Wait-what? Who else was there?" Sirius asked, worry making his voice a bit sharper than it normally was when talking to Leah. She sighed softly, and then replied, "Montair and his two cronies…and…um…I don't know his name…but that Gryffindor who doesn't like me very much…the one who called me a retarded idiot."
Sirius let out a dark growl. "The next time I see Fox Falconwolf, I'm going to…" He cut himself off when James, Remus, and Peter turned and glared at him. "Quit while you're ahead, Padfoot." Peter murmured quietly.
"Wormtail, why don't you go and let Madame Pomfrey know that we'll be bringing Leah along with us? That way she won't be so surprised when we arrive." Remus muttered. Peter nodded, and swiftly scurried up the passageway, morphing into a rat as he went. Remus then turned back to the others. "Right…now we just need to get Leah and I back up to the castle. Prongs, I think you might need to help Leah…I know normally both you and Padfoot both help me, but-"
"Don't worry, Moony-we've got it covered." James smirked. He carefully helped Leah to her feet as Sirius pulled Remus to his. Both slightly hunched over in pain, but their helpers simply waited until they straightened out before slowly leading them up the tunnel toward the hospital wing. It took a little longer, since Leah was with them, but they finally made it to the top, almost running into Madame Pomfrey and Peter, who were standing nearby.
"Oh, sakes above…come on, help them down over here." the nurse said, moving quickly over to two open beds, which James and Sirius helped Remus and Leah onto. As they did so, the door to the hospital wing (the door from inside the castle) opened, and in swept Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall. They quickly walked over to where the five students were. "Are you all right, Remus?" Dumbledore queried softly. Remus nodded, grimacing slightly as he shifted a bit. "Yes, sir-as all right as I usually am." Dumbledore nodded thankfully, before turning to Leah. "And what, may I ask, happened to you, Ms. Thompson? You are usually only seen in the hospital wing with the Ravenclaw Quidditch team chastising Mr. Marxer for injuring himself…yet again." Leah let out a bit of gentle laughter, before looking down at the bed and nervously fidgeting with the sheets. As Sirius put a soft hand on her shoulder-keeping an eye on Remus all the while, to make sure he didn't try to get out of bed to do anything (or fight the nurse-he was still getting rid of the wolf's aggressive anger, and so had a shorter temper than normal), James caught both of her hands in one of his, and then used his other hand to lift her head to face him, looking directly into her eyes as he did so. "Leah-it's okay. You can tell them, remember? We promised that we wouldn't go after the…idiots…who did this to you. We'd let Dumbledore and McGonagall do it, since that's their job. But you have to tell them about it first, all right?"
Leah gulped nervously. "I know, it's just…I can't…" From off to her right, Sirius let out a sigh. "Leah-just imagine you're talking to one of us. It's not a big deal to talk in front of teachers…we do it all the time."
"Yes, but you're not…like me."
"No, but that doesn't mean that we don't get scared of doing it from time to time. But, you know what? Every time you face your fear and fight it-even once-it loses power over you. And James, Remus, Peter, and I are right beside you, and we aren't leaving for anything." Sirius's words seemed to give Leah a lot of comfort…and a slight bit of courage. She slowly looked up at the two professors and took a deep breath before speaking. "Well…I kind of, um…ended up…stuck in a cupboard for…if it's seven now, then…almost thirteen hours…in the Shrieking Shack."
"You spent thirteen hours locked in a cupboard in the Shrieking Shack?" Professor McGonagall queried. When Leah nodded, she asked, "How did this happen?" Leah took a breath again, drawing strength from the touches of both James and Sirius (and the empathetic looks in her direction from Remus and Peter) as she continued. "Well, um…there's a Slytherin, named Montair, who…well, he doesn't like me very much, and um…he decided to 'teach me a lesson', since my friends have been helping me learn how to stand up for myself to…people like him. So, after dinner last night, uh…he and his two cronies, and…a Gryffindor…grabbed me and knocked me out while I was heading back to Ravenclaw Tower. I fought them for a while, which was how I got all this…and then they just left…and I was there until after Remus was…back to normal." Having finished, she looked down at her sheets again, her fingers trying to break free from James's grip in order to continue fidgeting.
"You know about Mr. Lupin's...condition?" Dumbledore asked, his voice becoming a bit more serious. Leah nodded cautiously. "Yes, sir, I do…but I will never tell anyone. On my life, I swear that I won't tell anyone about it." Dumbledore and McGonagall looked at each other, seeming to silently communicate before turning back to the nervous girl.
"Leah-the main person behind all of this is the Slytherin Montair, correct?" At McGonagall's questioning, Leah nodded. "Can you tell me who his associates were that helped him?" Leah took a bit of a nervous breath, but nodded again. "Yes…his main two henchmen are two other Slytherins named Adolph and Bennett…and then there was a Gryffindor, named…"
"Fox Falconwolf, Professor."
"Yeah, him…he doesn't really like me much, either." McGonagall nodded. Then, she noticed the stab wounds on Leah's chest. "Leah…who caused those?" Leah's breathing started to speed up a little, but she quickly calmed down by way of both James and Sirius gently squeezing her hands and shoulder. "It was Fox, Professor…he said, uh…he said that…that they should check and see if the "retarded idiot" actually had any guts, because 'she doesn't seem to have any'." When Leah finished speaking, no one said anything. It was as if the air had been sucked out of the room. The only sound that anyone could hear was Leah, who was trying-with limited success-to rein in her sobs that were now reappearing. After a moment, Dumbledore nodded. "Thank you for telling us this, Leah…I know it wasn't easy. I am very proud of you. Now, if you all will excuse me, I am going to summon Professor Slughorn to my office, so that we may work out a suitable punishment for these boys. Minerva, will you join us?"
"Of course, Albus-Fox Falconwolf is in my House, after all." McGonagall replied. Dumbledore nodded, and strode out of the room. McGonagall lingered for a few extra moments. "Leah-I am sorry that Fox did this to you. Rest assured, no one hurts one of my favorite students and gets away with it. Fifty points will be awarded to Ravenclaw, for your courage throughout these last years to do what's right-and for all that you've endured." Leah grinned shyly, looking up at the professor a little. Professor McGonagall then turned to the Marauders. "I am proud of all that you four have done for Leah. I know that your friendship has meant a lot to her this year, and how much you all mean to her." She sighed, smiling. "Twenty points-each-will be added to Gryffindor for your selfless compassion and dedication." She then squared her shoulders, and followed Dumbledore out of the room. Once she was gone, Leah leaned back against the cushions, thoroughly exhausted. Madame Pomfrey seemed to notice as she bustled by with a potion for Remus. "Just hold tight for one second, dearie…once I get Remus sorted, I'll get something for you." Leah rolled over a bit, looking over at Remus.
"Are you all right, Remus? I didn't even think about that-"
"It's all right, Leah." Remus replied, chuckling warmly. "I'm all right-just a bit battered and bruised. You saw what these three do, right?" At Leah's nod, he continued. "Well, they do that so that when we leave the Shrieking Shack, they can keep both me and other people safe."
"I don't really do that much-"
"Yes, you do, Pete. Nothing would work out the way it does without you, right, Prongs?"
"Definitely not, Moony."
Leah smiled shyly at him, and Remus smiled warmly back at her. "I'm fine, Leah." he murmured. "I promise."
It was at that moment that Madame Pomfrey came back around. She gave Remus a potion to drink, and from the sounds that she could hear-since both Sirius and Peter had moved slightly to block her line of sight-Leah could guess that it did not taste very good. Madame Pomfrey then arrived at Leah's bed. "Just the two for you today, Leah…a Calming Draught, just to make sure you're fully over your panic attack…especially since your hands are shaking, and talking to the Professors can't have helped…and a little extra one, just to help your body start to recover, all right?" As Leah nodded, she turned to James, who was sitting to Leah's left. "The second one is a Potion for Dreamless Sleep. Don't let her know that's what it is…and make sure she takes all of it." James nodded seriously.
"Why shouldn't I tell her, Madame Pomfrey?" he whispered back. Madame Pomfrey sighed, looking down at Leah. "She gets stubborn when she knows that's what I'm giving her…she doesn't want to seem weak in front of everyone else, so she says that she can fall asleep without it. Foolish girl then doesn't even begin to begin to fall asleep for another four hours. It's easiest if she's not expecting it." James nodded again. Of course Leah would have a problem with it.
Of course.
"Oh, and don't worry about your classes today, dearie…Professor Flitwick and the others already know that you'll be here the whole day." Madame Pomfrey murmured to Leah as she left. Leah nodded, trying to calm herself down a bit. The nurse was right-talking to the Professors right after she had just had a huge panic attack had not helped. She felt James squeeze her hands comfortingly, and tried to focus on that-so much so, that she missed Sirius walking over to James and coming up beside him. "Moony's already out, and Peter's watching over him…will you need any help over here?"
"Maybe…she's supposed to take this potion, but not find out that it's a sleeping potion, because apparently she tries to refuse to take them. If she starts trying to fight it, I could use your help in keeping her down."
"You got it, mate." Sirius murmured, clapping James on the back. They kept their conversation quiet so as not to be overheard, but Leah wouldn't have heard them anyways. She was still too focused on calming down to pay attention to them. Sirius poked her in the shoulder. "Hey, Newt-you have to take this Calming Draught, all right?" Leah nodded, and wearily took it-Madame Pomfrey gave it to her almost every time she was in the hospital wing, so she was used to it by now. As she took it, she could feel herself calming down, and James, Sirius, and Peter could see the shakiness in her hands decrease. After five minutes or so, when that potion had fully taken effect, James held out the other potion to her. "And this one."
"What is it?"
"I don't know…Madame Pomfrey didn't give me the name. She did say that it was good for you, though, so…" He held the potion bottle out again, and Leah slowly took it. She cast dubious looks at James and Sirius, but they simply smiled at her. She finally sighed, and drank the entire potion. The boys could tell that it had taken immediate effect, because she immediately sank back into the sheets, and her eyes began to flicker. She groaned. "Seriously? Why didn't you tell me that that was a sleeping potion?" She began to struggle against the sleeping potion, trying to stay awake and get out of the bed. Both Sirius and James laid a gentle hand on her shoulders, preventing her from rising. "Oh come on, guys…seriously?" she quietly murmured. As they held her down, she could feel the potion taking effect even more swiftly, bringing her even closer to sleep. "Don't you remember, Newtie? I'm always sirius!" Leah groaned again, and weakly tried to slap him. He easily caught her hand, and put it back on the bed. She kept trying to fight the potion, but it was becoming harder and harder to do so as her friends kept her motionless in the bed. As she was nearing sleep, she muttered almost inaudibly, "I don't want to remember…" Both James and Sirius immediately understood. Leah was partially fighting the sleeping potion because she was incredibly stubborn. However, she was also fighting it because of what she thought she would see in her dreams. She thought that she would be haunted the entire time she slept with what Montair, Adolph, Bennett, and Fox did to her. Sirius ruffled her hair gently as James knelt down by her head, looking directly into her eyes. "Leah-it's a potion for dreamless sleep. You won't see them at all while you sleep, don't worry. And if-if-something were to happen in here while you're asleep, Padfoot, Wormtail, and I are here to protect both you and Moony. Just relax, and let go." His words seemed to bring immediate comfort and reassurance to Leah, as she nodded slightly, and slowly leaned back, her eyes nearly closing as she did so. Right before she fell asleep, she saw Sirius lean over slightly, and felt him softly brush his lips across her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Leah." he whispered. He then got up and looked over at Peter, starting to ask him something. James quietly huffed in laughter, smiling as he watched his friend. He then noticed Leah looking over at him and softly grinned down at her. "Thanks…" she muttered quietly. James quietly chuckled, before doing the same as Sirius and gently kissing her forehead. "You're welcome. Now go to sleep, Leah. Just rest." He watched as she hummed softly, and closed her eyes. Within about thirty seconds, her breathing had evened out, and everyone could tell that Leah had fallen asleep. Once they knew that, Peter let out a chuckle. "Well, would you look at that-Sirius has gone maternal!" James let out a chuckle as Sirius glared over at him. "Come on, Wormy. It's impossible not to feel maternal around Leah. I mean, look at James! He's still madly in love with Evans, but he did the same thing I did."
James scoffed, but was grinning-and his smile reached all the way up to his eyes. "Leave me out of this, you hear? I can't let word of this get out to Evans!"
"Yeah, cause it's not like she's friends with Leah or anything like that…" Sirius commented dryly. Before James could sarcastically reply, Madame Pomfrey walked back towards them. "Good job, boys." Madame Pomfrey murmured. "Usually she's too stubborn to let people help her…or to see her in this sort of state."
"Is she in the hospital wing a lot, Madame Pomfrey? From what Dumbledore said, people usually only see her in here when Elliot's here…" Peter commented. Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "No, Peter-she's in a lot more than that. She'll usually be in anywhere between one to three times a week."
"You're kidding."
"No, Mr. Potter, I can assure you that I am not kidding. Ask her when she wakes up if you don't believe me."
While this discussion was going on, Montair, Adolph, Bennett, and Fox had all been summoned to Dumbledore's office. None of them had any idea what was going on, but they figured it was either something really good, or really bad. "Oh, come on-how would they have found out what happened? It's not like any of us would have told what happened…right?" All three of the others-Fox, Adolph, and Bennett-shook their heads. "Nope-none of us have told anyone. Maybe that stupid werewolf and his idiot friends found out about it somehow?" The rest of their conversation was suddenly cut off by the noise of a throat clearing in front of them. They all looked up to see Professor McGonagall standing there. "Follow me." she said ominously. She then walked off, the four following behind her. They walked into Dumbledore's office, surprised to see Professor Slughorn there as well. "Professor Slughorn…is there a problem?" Montair questioned nervously. Slughorn stared darkly at him. "Why don't you tell us, Montair…starting with why you locked a fourteen-year-old girl in a cupboard, tied up and gagged, with no food or water, for thirteen hours, in the Shrieking Shack, where you somehow found out that a werewolf resides. Would you say that that in any way constitutes a problem?" The four glared daggers at each other.
Who had told on the others?
"I'm assuming at this point you are wondering which of you informed us as to what had happened. Luckily for your friendship, it was none of you…but unfortunately for you, the werewolf and his friends rescued her and got her back safely to Hogwarts…where she confirmed that her captors were the four of you." Montair let out a dark growl, but other than that, no one responded. Dumbledore sighed. "I'd rather not force you four to speak, but if you do not, I will be forced to resort to more drastic measures." He stared each of them down with an extremely cold stare for a while, and everyone could see that Adolph and Bennett-Montair's two ugly henchmen-were starting to crack. Finally, Adolph broke. "It was us, Professor. We wanted to teach her a lesson once and for all."
"Adolph-shut up, you brainless miscreant!" Montair whispered harshly. His friend refused to listen to him, however, simply looking at Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Slughorn. "The four of us grabbed Leah after dinner and locked her in the cupboard, since we knew that there would be a werewolf in the room last night."
"Why would you willingly risk a young girl being bitten by a werewolf?'
"I don't know…Bennett and I didn't really think about it. Montair and Fox did the thinking-Bennett and I just went along with it." Dumbledore sighed, looking to McGonagall and Slughorn. "Minerva, Horace…have you decided on punishments for your students?" Both nodded. McGonagall went first. "Fox…I cannot believe that you would join in such a deplorable and despicable act. You have not only brought shame upon yourself and your House, but you have nearly led to the turning or death of a young girl. That is something that I will not stand for. You will not be expelled, but you are very close. You will be serving detentions for the rest of the year, and I will be informing your parents of what you've done. You will also apologize to Leah, and you will be required to-"
"Oh, come on, Professor! Why am I being punished for treating a mentally incompetent person the way they deserve to be treated? She doesn't belong here at Hogwarts-she can't function like a normal person like the rest of us, and could never be as competent as we are-"
"Fox!" As the boy shut his mouth, McGonagall looked at him harshly. "You know nothing of what Leah is capable of. She is just as capable as anyone else here, even if she does not like to be the center of attention. You will not treat her any differently because her brain does not function in the same way as yours." She sighed again. "She may be in Ravenclaw, but she currently acts more like a Gryffindor than you. And before you get any ideas, you are forbidden from telling anyone of the certain student's lycanthropy. If you do not think you are capable of keeping this secret, we can wipe it from your memory. But if you tell anyone, you will be expelled from Hogwarts. Now, go back to your dormitory. I shall speak to you more later. One hundred points will be taken from Gryffindor for your atrocious act." Fox glared angrily at her, swiftly turning around and stomping out of the room as he did so.
Professor Slughorn then cleared his throat. "Montair, I have been aware of your treatment of Leah, but I did not act upon my uneasiness in the hopes that you would eventually grow out of it. However, you have shown that you are not able to treat Leah as an actual human being, and understand that she is not a second-class person just because of her mental state, similar to how pure-blood wizards do not have the right to treat half-bloods and Muggle-borns as inferior simply because of their family. You are one of those who give Slytherin House a bad name, due to your detestable treatment of others. Adolph and Bennett, you two are right up with him, even though you claimed to just be 'following the leader', as it were. You should have recognized that what you were doing was wrong, and tried to do something to stop Montair." He sighed. "I am taking fifty points each from the two of you for your work in this problem…and one hundred points from you, Montair. As with Fox, you will all have detention for the rest of the year, and you will be apologizing to Leah. In addition, if I hear any more about you treating Leah as you have so far, you will lose more than points. I will be writing to your parents, so that they understand exactly what you have done here. You are also forbidden to tell anyone about the certain student's lycanthropy. If you do, as with Fox, you will be expelled. Much work has gone into ensuring the student's safety here at Hogwarts, and we want you in no way to jeopardize those efforts. If you don't think you can keep it, we can erase that memory. But if not, you are not allowed to tell anyone. Now-get back to your dormitory and stay there. There will be no adventuring for you tonight."
"Ssh! You'll wake her up!"
Leah heard the voice as if it was coming from a great distance away, as if there was a great void between her and them. The voice was deep and familiar, and Leah used it as an anchor as she slowly pulled herself back to consciousness. She opened her eyes, a wave of tiredness already crashing over her. Looking around, the hospital wing was completely dark. Leah couldn't see anyone besides her and Remus (yet), so she figured that Madam Pomfrey had lowered the lights for their sake. Then, she flinched. A large group of figures was clustered around their beds. Leah opened her eyes a bit wider, and realized that most of them were her Quidditch teammates. Lily, Marlene, and Mary were also there, as well as a couple of Gryffindor team members.
"Are you kidding me? Montair and his cronies left Leah in a cupboard for thirteen hours, and we're not going to go after them?"
"We promised Leah that we wouldn't." Peter squeaked out. She could tell that it was Peter because his voice was higher than the others. Sirius was a bit lower than him, with a warmer-but sometimes harsh-tenor. James had a deeper and soothing baritone voice, and Remus's was deeper than them all. It was Remus who was speaking now, she recognized, from the bed to her right. "That's one of the only reasons that she would tell us who it was. She doesn't want us to go after those four idiots and get into big trouble."
"What about us-we promised no such thing!"
"Joel, do you really think that she'd want you all to get into trouble over her? She's too stubborn for that. She'd rather deal with it herself, or have Dumbledore and McGonagall deal with it, since that's their job."
"I still think-"
"Shut up, Joel…you're thinking too loud." Leah slurred sleepily. Everyone froze, and turned towards her. None of them had realized that she had awoken. "Hey, Le," Lily murmured, coming to sit on her bed, "how are you feeling?" Leah tried to shift a bit in her bed, stopping quickly, due to both a sharp pain appearing as soon as she tried to move, and a hand gently holding her shoulder to stop her. "Um…I'll feel better eventually. I'm not doing so hot right now, but…"
Lily sighed, gently squeezing her ankle. "I'm sorry you had to go through that, Leah. You shouldn't have had to be there in the first place." Leah smiled softly up at the older girl. "It's not your fault, Lily…Montair would have gone after me anyways, regardless if you were there or not. Don't worry-I'll be all right in time. I think I need to take a nap, but other than that I'll be all right." The others chuckled gently. Leah's statement was certainly an understatement. After she had fallen asleep, Madame Pomfrey had finished looking over her injuries. To the boys' horror, she informed them that based on the injuries Leah had accrued, it was almost certain that Montair and his friends had subjected Leah to the Cruciatus curse, or something similar. She would need at least another day of sleep to recover from everything the four idiots had done to her.
"Leah…I think I have the right to say it now…you're an idiot." Elliot said, a clearly joking tone in his voice. Leah rolled her eyes, sighing exasperatedly. The other members of her team laughed, recognizing their own words directed at her. "Yeah, yeah…shut up, Elliot…" she smiled. "Don't go after Montair and his idiots, though. They're getting punished enough by Professor Dumbledore…I don't want you guys to get expelled or worse over me."
"But Leah-"
"No, Carter." Leah glared at them with all the authority she could muster while lying on a bed badly injured, and her teammates finally nodded. "Very well. But you get better quickly, you hear?" Joseph replied, grinning down at Leah. "We do need you to beat Hufflepuff for the Cup, after all."
"Haha…yeah, yeah-I'll do my best." she smiled. The others smiled at her, before slowly leaving the hospital wing (since Madame Pomfrey was coming on the warpath straight for them). Lily was the last person to leave, looking at the Marauders as she did so. "Look after her, all right?" she entreated, looking each of them in the eye. The four boys nodded almost immediately. "Don't worry, Lily…Leah's already made James and Sirius go all maternal. She'll be fine with us." Peter muttered. James and Sirius mock-protested, but it was very clear that they didn't really mean it. Lily nodded, chuckling slightly. "Good." She patted Leah's ankle once more. "I'll stop by and see you later, all right?" Leah nodded, and Lily reluctantly exited the room. As soon as she knew everyone was gone, Leah slumped back against the pillows, clearly having pushed herself beyond her limits to reassure her friends that she was all right. She could tell that her friends were smirking above her head. "You should probably go back to sleep, Leah…you're not fully recovered yet." Sirius murmured, looking down at his friend.
"Oh, come on-I just woke up! Moony doesn't have to go back to sleep!"
"That's because he heals faster than you do…especially since he wasn't hit with the Cruciatus curse." Leah sucked in a breath, looking away from her friends.
"I was hoping you wouldn't find out about that…" Long and slender fingers-Remus's, she recognized-gently patted her hand. "We find out everything eventually, Leah. That's the thing with older brothers-we can get a bit overbearing at times." Leah gently huffed, her eyes twinkling. The unspoken "I'll say" was not missed by any of the boys. James barely held in a grin. "Still, Madame Pomfrey has agreed to let us watch over you for right now. And that means that we can tell you to go back to sleep. You know you need it." Hazel eyes met hazel in a brief challenge, but finally, Leah sighed in defeat. "Fine." she murmured quietly, slumping back into the bed. Sirius ruffled her hair again, which this time led to Leah actually managing to slap him. "What was that for?" he good-naturedly griped. Leah rolled her eyes, smirking up at him. "You know exactly what that was for." she replied. Sirius chuckled, lightly swatting her in return. "Prongs, Wormy and I are going to go and grab a couple of things from the dormitory. We'll be back soon." James nodded. He knew precisely where Sirius and Peter were going-to get chocolate that Lily would have saved for Remus. Apparently she had also left some candy for Leah, but Leah had no idea. The two quickly headed out of the hospital wing, leaving James, Remus, and Leah behind. James looked over towards Remus. He had been more focused on Leah the entire time, trusting Sirius and Peter to take care of Remus. That didn't mean that he wasn't concerned about his friend, however. As the unofficial leader of their group, James took the welfare of his friends very seriously. As if he could feel James's gaze, Remus turned and smiled up at him. "I'm fine, Prongs. I'm a bit sore, yes, but that happens even after the good transformations. The bad ones left me much worse off, as you well know. I'm all right."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure, you overprotective lump. Padfoot and Wormtail are surprisingly capable at times like this, you know?" James rolled his eyes, smiling in relief.
"Hang on, Moony…are you doing homework?"
"Of course, James…I do have about two days of missing work to do, after all. No better time to do it than now, right?"
"You're incorrigible, you know that?"
"Of course I am. It's why you four love me, after all."
During their bantering, both boys had been subtly watching Leah. They had learned, surprisingly, that listening to the two of them go back and forth actually-eventually-caused Leah to fall asleep. It worked somewhat with Sirius in the mix, but not with Peter. Leah had hypothesized that it was because their voices sounded similar to her father's and brother's, both who had low voices, since that had happened to her before at home. The boys were never exactly sure, but Leah's explanation seemed to make as much sense as any. She was acting stubborn again, and so they wanted to try and get her to fall asleep this way. They also just really enjoyed bantering. They didn't know if she realized it or not, but within a few minutes, she had fallen asleep. However, within another few minutes, she was moving around slightly, quietly whimpering in fear. "Great…she's having nightmares." Remus muttered. James nodded, already gently shaking the younger girl's shoulder. "Wake up, Leah. It's all right-it's just a nightmare. You're not with those idiots…you're here with Moony and I. Moony's still an idiot, but not that kind. Just wake up." She soon did as James asked, opening her eyes a bit before groaning and closing them again. "I just want to get some sleep without seeing them again…" she whined. "I'm already terrified of them during the day…" A couple tears leaked out from her eyes, and she turned her head away from Remus, ashamed that he would see her crying-even though he already had. However, she had forgotten completely that James was sitting to her left. It came as a shock, then, when she felt a warm hand cupping her left cheek, and the thumb gently wiping away the tears trickling down her face. "We know, Leah. Don't worry, you will. And they're not going to get near you again-we promise."
"How do you know?"
"Hey-it's us! Plus the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team…and some of the Gryffindor Quidditch team…and Evans, Marlene, and Mary…between the twenty or so of us, we'll make sure that Montair and his idiots never get near you again." Leah nodded almost imperceptibly, leaning a slight bit into James's touch. "That won't stop me from seeing them in my dreams, though." James nodded, even though he knew she wouldn't see him. All three of them knew that that would happen as soon as she closed her eyes. She sighed darkly, trying to settle more comfortably in the bed. Suddenly, James gasped. "Leah, I have an idea. But for it to work, you have to trust me, all right?"
Leah nodded quietly. "I always have." she murmured. James rubbed his thumb over her cheek comfortingly. "All right then…just relax." Leah nodded again, taking deep breaths, and trying to relax. The noises in the room seemed to slowly fade and become muted, which made it easier. Remus's fingers softly rubbing against hers definitely helped. She was also surprised to hear James humming a little. "He has a good voice…even if it's just humming." she thought to herself, and opened her eyes in order to tell him so. When he noticed her looking at him, he smiled softly at her, before placing his left hand on her forehead and sliding it down until it covered her eyes, forcing them to close, and preventing her from seeing anything. "Close your eyes, Leah." he murmured softly, his voice low and soothing. Leah did as he said, still confused. She wasn't sure what James was going to do, but she hoped he would do it soon, before she actually fell asleep again and began to have nightmares. When James knew that Leah would do what he asked, he removed his left hand and resumed quietly humming, while subtly drawing his wand and making eye contact with Remus. The older boy nodded, understanding at once what James needed him to do-which was to keep Leah distracted from noticing what James was doing. He continued to rub Leah's hand gently while James carefully aimed his wand towards Leah's head (while still humming). Once he was sure that Leah was distracted to the point that she wouldn't notice what he was doing (he had cast a-very light-Confundus Charm on Leah beforehand, right when she closed her eyes, just to help the distraction out a bit), James quietly murmured, "Animum lenire." A soft gold stream rippled from his wand and surrounded Leah. Both boys watched as the gold stream seemed to flow into her, and Leah relaxed rather quickly, seemingly forgetting that there was anyone else in the room. "Is this what it's supposed to do?" Remus whispered. James nodded, his eyes not leaving Leah's face. She, in turn, gently hummed, turning her head a little more into James's right hand, which was still resting on her cheek. She seemed absolutely at peace, and James grinned as he murmured again, his wand still pointing towards her head, "No somnia." Leah let out another gentle hum, almost completely asleep, before James murmured one last spell. "Sopor." With that, Leah slid into a deep sleep. James sighed in relief, sitting back in his chair once he was sure that she was sleeping. "That was incredible, James…I know Sopor-the sleeping spell-but what do the other ones mean?"
"Animum lenire means something along the lines of 'soothe the mind', and No somnia means 'no dreams'." James explained, careful to put his wand away before he said the spells, in case he accidently went and casted them again. "My dad used them a couple times on my mum when she would get really overwhelmed by things with her family. I completely forgot about them until just now. The person has to be completely distracted before you cast them, though, so…thanks for your help."
"No problem. How long will she be out, do you think?"
"I don't know…she definitely needs the rest, and I may have made them a bit stronger than I normally would…hopefully for a while. Madame Pomfrey said that she'll be staying here until tomorrow, at any rate."
"I totally understand that…I just don't know if Leah will, though."
"Well, if she stays asleep through the night, it won't matter."
"Who's asleep?"
"PADFOOT!"
"What? I'm just asking a question!"
"James just got her to sleep, you complete and utter doltface! If you keep carrying on like that, you'll wake her up, and it'll all be for nothing!" Remus said this with more than a little bit of venom and bite in his voice, which didn't surprise the other boys at all. The morning after the transformation, if it was one where they accompanied him, he didn't have a way to let the anger of the wolf loose, since his friends kept him from it. Therefore, he worked through it during the day, getting extremely snappish with anyone who made him frustrated or mad. "All right, Moony-I'll be careful. Here-this is from Lily." He handed Remus three large bars of some Muggle chocolate Lily had. She knew about his "furry little problem", and also knew that chocolate made him feel better during the day. Therefore, she stockpiled chocolate, so that one of the boys could always come and grab some for Remus. Remus immediately opened one and started eating. The sugar and caffeine in the chocolate always seemed to help him to calm down, and to be a bit more civil towards others. "Manks, Mirius." he muttered through a mouthful. Sirius grinned. "No problem, Remus. We don't want you to go all crazy on some first years, do we?" Remus rolled his eyes, chuckling gently.
"Is Leah really asleep?" Peter queried, looking over at the younger girl, who was snoring slightly in the bed. She rolled over a little bit, and James rubbed her shoulder. "Yeah, she's out…and James did an interesting bit of magic to get her there." Remus murmured, smiling at his friends. Then, he sighed. "You guys should go to sleep…I know these nights take a lot out of you too. You are excused from classes today, after all, and Lily's taking notes…go get some sleep. I'll take care of myself and Leah. She should hopefully be out for today anyways, so I'll get some homework done." The other boys nodded, blinking slowly.
"All right…if you need anything, just let us know." Sirius replied, clapping Remus on the back as he did so. Remus nodded, and the three other Marauders headed out, heading towards Gryffindor Tower to get some rest. Remus resettled in the bed, looking over at Leah with a fond smile as he did so. He then pulled out a Charms essay and started working on it, his quill scratching across the parchment the only noise in the room. He did have homework to do, after all, and it wasn't going to do itself. He didn't envy Leah the amount of homework that she would have when she woke up either. The younger girl didn't seem to understand the meaning of the word "overcommitted".
"Then again", he mused, "neither do I".
By the end of the week, Leah was finally released from the hospital wing. She had been rather lonely by herself, but usually one of her friends came by when they could each day to hang out with her. She even woke up once to loud noises in the hall, sounding suspiciously like Montair and his cronies. Before she could react, however, she felt a gentle pressure on her chest, and she looked down to see a black dog lying contentedly on her chest, looking straight up at her. "Hey, Sirius." she muttered quietly. The black dog leaned up and licked her cheek a little, before spreading out, effectively preventing her from getting up and out of bed. Leah sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to try to get out of bed, Sirius. I'm too tired to do anything." She heard a gentle chuckle from behind her, but before she could fully turn and see who it was, she felt a gentle kiss on her forehead, heard someone whisper, "Sopor", and quickly fell back asleep, the noises dying down in the background.
As she headed across the courtyard, she pulled her cloak around herself a little more. She got cold easily, and even though it was a rather mild day, she was still freezing. "Darn Scottish weather…why can't I live in one of those warm American states?" she muttered to herself.
"Le!"
A sudden noise made her turn around-and then almost fall over, as Lily Evans slammed into her in a large hug. Once she let go, Leah started to tip backwards (still off-balance from the hug), but was caught by someone before she could fall too far.
"Wow, Newtie-if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were falling for me!" a voice boomed from over her head. Leah looked up and groaned. "Of course I'm not, you twerp. Now will you help me up?" Sirius chuckled, but levered her to her feet, before catching the younger girl in a hug. "Good to see you out of the hospital." he smiled. Leah grinned back at him as Peter, James, and Remus began to approach. "It's good to see you out of the hospital, Leah-I missed hanging out with you last weekend." Lily griped. "Are you going with anyone to Hogsmede this weekend?"
"Well, um…you know…me and people…and…you know…" Leah slowly murmured, looking at the ground. Lily gently gripped her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, Leah-you won't have to interact with people. Marlene and Mary are both sick in bed, and…you know about Severus and I. We can hang out together the whole time." She smiled. "And who knows-we might even meet up with these four if James behaves." Leah chuckled as James began to mock-protest, his hands gesturing wildly as he did so. Leah quickly caught Sirius and Remus's eyes, and all three tried very hard not to laugh. Eventually, she nodded. "Yeah, I'll go with you, Lily." she smiled. Lily grinned back. "Excellent. I've got some stuff to take care of, but you take care of these idiots, all right?" Leah smiled, nodding as she did so. Lily patted her shoulder, before walking off. Leah then turned to the Marauders, hugging each of them in turn. "It's good to see you all again-I was going a bit stir crazy in there."
"You seem to like hospitals as much as we do."
"So, not at all, then?"
"Exactly." Remus chuckled, gently ruffling Leah's hair. She grinned, leaning into the touch. James and Sirius stared at him in shock. "Wait a second-how come he can do that and not get slapped?"
Leah grinned at him. "Because he does it sincerely, while you and James just do it to tease me." Remus smiled down at her, while James and Sirius just rolled their eyes. Then, each of them grabbed one of Leah's hands. "Come on, Newt-we're going somewhere, and you're coming with us!"
"Wait-where are we going?" she queried, trying to dig in her heels. The Marauders wouldn't let her stop, however. Remus muttered something (what it was, she never knew), and almost immediately something covered her eyes, preventing her from seeing anything. Peter then nudged her into motion from behind, while James and Sirius each pulled an arm. They didn't want her to panic, however, and so made sure to be extremely gentle, talking to themselves and Leah to make sure she knew that it wasn't like with Montair and his cronies. After a few minutes, she felt something soft under her feet, and realized that they were walking down a gentle incline. "Where are we going?" she queried, but the others shushed her. Finally, they arrived at a location near the water (if her hearing was truly what she thought it was). A second later, one of the boys removed her blindfold, and she gasped. "What the-how did-when did-what?" The Marauders had led her to a spot by the lake, where they had set up a small picnic. The boys sat down and guided her to do so as well. "We wanted to celebrate you getting out of the hospital, and we know you've been studying for a long time without a break, as have we all, so-tada!" Sirius finished, waving his hands for dramatic flair as he spoke. Leah grinned, shyly smiling at all four of the boys. "Thank you all-for everything. I couldn't have made it through this year without you."
"You're welcome, Leah-it was our pleasure." Remus replied, smiling over at her. The rest of the day was spent amongst themselves, simply enjoying each other's company. At a certain point, Sirius tipped something into her drink. Leah didn't notice, however, and fell asleep not five minutes later, her head and upper body curled up in James's lap. The older boy was slowly running his hand through her hair, simply content to relax in the sun. After all, he reasoned, Montair, Adolph, Bennett, and Fox were serving detention for at least the rest of the year, Leah was healthy (ish), and everything was right with the world.
It was finally over.
They had finally won.
A/N 2: Wowza…so…this chapter got way out of hand…it originally was just supposed to have the boys find Leah, Leah tell everyone what happened, and then a bit of aftermath. Not this….ness. Although, the fluffy ending is great… I don't get to write many picnics, so this one is fantastic. Plus…I don't know…this is definitely one of my favorite chapters that I've written. ;) But this chapter also means that this story is over…wow…it's so weird to have these sorts of stories end, since I've been working on them for forever! I'm super thankful to all of you who have read, favorited, followed, and/or reviewed, whether you're a newcomer to my stories or a veteran of them (a.k.a. biankies and a few others)-I really appreciate it! If you're interested in reading more with Leah, please check out my other Harry Potter stories! This story is the first in the "series", followed by "We Look After Our Own" (Leah: 6th year, Marauders/Lily: 7th years), "A Giant Mission" (Leah: 18, Marauders/Lily: 19), and "The End of All Things"(Begins after "Goblet of Fire", continues until after "Deathly Hallows:). I also write stories in the Newsies/Narnia/LOTR/etc. fandom, so please feel free to check them out! (WARNING: ANYTHING OLDER THAN "TROUBLE ON THE PONDEROSA IS CONSIDERED A "DUD STORY"-READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!)
Again, thanks so much to everyone who has interacted with this story in any way…you guys are what motivate me to keep writing!
I hope you enjoyed this story, and I'll see you all soon!
God bless,
1monster2