Okay so we skip a lot of time in this chapter, actually it's the start of their sixth year in Hogwarts. Also, by this time, Reed is officially Reed Potter. So James is now her brother and not her cousin :D
Anyways, have fun reading!
Chapter eleven
"We're sixth years now James!" Reed yelled excitedly as she slung one of her bags over her shoulder, and passed her trunk to her new father.
"I'm as surprised as you are." James muttered as he tired to put his sandy colored dessert owl in his cage, he was getting more scratches then anything.
"And I never have to go home again!" Sirius yelled excitedly.
Sirius had moved in with the Potters two months ago after a fight he had had with his mother. There were a lot of words thrown around, and his mother, thinking he had nowhere else to go, threw him out of the house completely and stopped paying for his Hogwarts education.
Of course the first place he had come to was the Potters. And when Reed saw him standing on the doorstep, soaked and desperate, she begged her new parents to let him stay. Of course they didn't need convincing, Sirius was like their son anyways, and they gladly agreed.
"You aren't even a little bit sad that you aren't going to see your brother or mother again?" Reed asked.
"You sound like you want me to go home!" Sirius laughed, feigning a look of genuine hurt, "Of course not. My brother is a Death Eater loving Slytherin and my mother is just plain bat shit crazy. I think here is a lot better." He smiled grabbing his trunks and putting them on the trolley.
"You kids aren't going to get in trouble this year are you?" Mrs. Potter asked. She was, of course, referring to the time at the very end of the year where they all snuck out after curfew and were caught sneaking around the school, trying to get to one of the secret passage ways shown on the Marauder's map.
"It was an accident!" Reed yelled before James or Sirius had a chance to defend themselves.
"Well then kiddies," June smiled, "Have fun okay. Tell that old bat I said hi, yeah?" June asked talking about McGonagall.
"Yeah, yeah. We'll tell her." James said trying to get away from the family before any embarrassing scenes could take place.
"We'll see you at Christmas then, right?" Allison asked.
"We'll see you at Christmas mum." Reed giggled. She liked calling her once Aunt, mom. It made her feel like she actually had responsible parents for once.
Allison dabbed the corner of her eyes, and then she wrapped the three teens in her arms, "My little babies are sixth years!" She cried.
This was exactly the type of thing James had been trying to avoid. Soon his mother let her three 'kids' go, and they rushed into the brick wall before any of the muggles saw them.
"Merlin," James muttered after they had gotten on the train, "This is why I wish we could get here on our own."
"I don't know James," Sirius said lounging in one of the seats, "I think your mum is pretty cool. I've never been hugged like that before." Sirius laughed.
"They're great aren't they?" Reed laughed.
"I keep forgetting you're his little sister now," Sirius sighed, "Must be a little more awkward for poor Moony."
"Why would it be awkward?" Reed asked genuinely confused as she stuffed her bags on the top railings.
James scoffed, but he didn't say anything. It was more awkward for him then for Remus he suspected. He had caught them snogging at the end of the year when they didn't think anyone was looking, and it made him want to gag a little.
"Oh Reeedy! Where areeee you?" Reed turned around when she heard someone calling her name from outside the compartment.
Soon, Ruby, Lily, and Remus had thrown open the train compartment door and they all filed in the rather large and spacious compartment. Ruby squealed and hopped up and down as she pulled Reed into a hug.
"I haven't seen you in forever!" Ruby yelled.
"You saw me three months ago!" Reed giggled hugging her back, and then she caught sight of Lily, "Beautiful as ever I see!" She too squealed like Ruby had done and pulled Lily into a big hug.
"Oh please, stop," Lily giggled, "Not as pretty as you, look at your hair! It's getting so long now!"
"Oh, nobody thinks I got any prettier over the summer?" Ruby laughed.
"You can't," Sirius said pulling his girlfriend into his lap, "You were already the prettiest girl alive."
Ruby smiled and placed a soft peck on Sirius's lips, "That's why you make such a good boyfriend." Ruby smiled playing with his hair as she scooted over and sat down beside him.
"Why, because you have him so whipped?" James asked laughing.
"There's nothing wrong with being whipped mate. You'll find out soon enough." Sirius said winking at Lily who grew red in the face.
James scoffed as he grabbed Lily's things out of her hands and gently placed them on the overhead railings that were holding all of their things. Reed giggled when she saw Remus and ran into his arms.
Remus stood there, unsure of what to do. If they were by themselves, he would have hugged her back, most enthusiastically, he was however, not used to public displays of affection as of yet. But he quickly hugged Reed back after he saw the looks they were getting, and even blushed when Reed kissed him on the cheek.
"How cute!" Ruby giggled as Reed grabbed his scarred hand and pulled him into the seat beside her.
"Yeah," James mumbled to himself, "How cute." The happy couples around him were starting to bug him a lot. Especially now that Remus and Ruby had been going steady for around seven months now, when he was sure they wouldn't last more then two just because of Remus's stupidity at times.
No one but Lily seemed to hear him, and she only gave him a frown as she sat down on the other side of Reed. Leaving James to sit in between Sirius and the window.
The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was more or less the most boring thing James had done all year. Reed had fallen asleep early on, her head now resting in Remus's lap. Remus was playing with her hair and reading the daily prophet. Lily was emerged in a book she had just bought. And Sirius and Ruby had only eyes and ears for each other.
When the train finally came to a complete halt, James said a silent prayer and joyfully started getting everyone's things off of the railings for them. Reed even untwined her hand from Remus's, who didn't look to hurt that she left his side, to come wrap her arm around James's as they climbed into the carriage that would take them up to the school.
"Merlin, it's good to be back!" Sirius yelled as they entered the great hall.
"It's going to be a good year. I can tell." Lily said happily.
"Yeah, as long as you're not a mud-blood." Francesca said as she approached the six teens, Severus and another Slytherin Sixth year girl trailing close behind her.
"And I spoke to soon." Lily grumbled narrowing her eyes slightly.
Reed noticed how Severus twitched a little when Francesca called Lily a mud-blood and she frowned. He shouldn't be hanging out with them when it was obvious it made him uncomfortable at times.
"Don't call her that!" James yelled stepping in front of Lily, like he was trying to protect her from words.
"Well, it's only the truth," Francesca laughed, she turned her eyes on Reed then who stepped closer to Remus and clutched his arm, he patted it comfortingly, "And would you look at that. A perfectly good pureblood dating a werewolf." Francesca laughed.
"Don't call him that!" Reed said stepping out from behind Remus.
"It's sick really. Send me a card when the puppies are born and I'll be sure not to send a gift."
Reed's face turned scarlet red at the mention of puppies. Ruby actually coughed, trying to keep her amusement of Reed's embarrassment at bay. Francesca looked at her then and narrowed her eyes.
"Don't even get me started on you, you filthy blood traitor," Francesca sneered, "I heard how your father helped some mud-bloods out of the country over the summer. Of course he paid for it in the end."
"Shut up!" Ruby yelled.
Reed, Lily, Remus, James, and Sirius turned to Ruby. They obviously had not heard about this. Ruby's face grew as red as Reed's had been a second ago. Francesca raised her eyebrows amused.
"What she didn't tell you?" She scoffed, "What a horrible friend."
"I said to shut your stupid mouth!" Ruby yelled stepping forward, but Sirius stepped in front of her.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I…I…" Ruby looked at the floor, her face getting red.
"Let's just say Mr. Taylor became very familiar with the Cruciatus curse."
"That's illegal!" Lily yelled getting into the argument now.
Francesca scoffed, "Your point being Mud-blood?"
"I told you to stop calling her that!" James yelled to the surprise of some first years that were passing by.
"Whatever. Let's go. I have better things to do then hang around blood traitors and mud-bloods all day." Francesca spun around on her heel and left, the girl following immediately, Severus stayed for a few seconds.
His mouth opened like he was going to say something. And a pained look spread across his face as he looked at Lily. But he closed his mouth, and like Francesca had done, he spun on his heel and sped off.
"Stupid git." Lily muttered watching his back.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sirius asked, everyone turned around to see Sirius bent over Ruby protectively. His face a mere inch or so away from hers, his hair was obscuring her face, so no one could see what expression she was wearing, but they could see her shoulders shake, and they knew she was crying.
"H-He's okay. Just cut up and bruised. But when he got home, my mom was screaming for me. He was bleeding all over the carpet, and his hand was sliced open. He made me promise when I was fixing up his hand not to tell anyone. That if anyone else knew, he was afraid that they would come after my mom and I next."
"Oh, Ruby. You should have told me." Sirius said pulling her into an embrace while she shook from the crying.
"Ruby…" Lily said after she stopped crying, "When you said he was afraid they would come after your mom and you, who did he mean?"
"The Corleones. They were the ones who tortured him."
"Oh, Ruby. I'm so sorry. You could have come to my house and stayed with me over the summer if you had wanted too." Lily said soothingly, rubbing her back.
"I'm fine, really. It happened at the very beginning of the summer, practically the day I got home. I'm over it now." Ruby plastered a fake smile over her face, and the six teens filed into the great hall, and into seats at their house table.
Remus shuffled in slower then normal, and when he sat down beside Reed, the look on his face was anything but happy. Reed frowned and nudged him a little whispering so she wouldn't interrupt the sorting ceremony, "What's wrong?"
Remus smiled weakly at her, "Nothing. I'm fine."
Reed narrowed her eyes, "Don't tell me that you're fine. Because I know you aren't."
Remus twitched irritably for a second before he frowned sadly, "I'm just sorry that I didn't say anything to her when she was making fun of you."
"Oh, Remus. Don't worry about it. She didn't make me mad or upset or anything."
"You… you got embarrassed when she… when she made the puppy comment…" Remus trailed off, he wasn't exactly sure what he was trying to say.
"Of course I got embarrassed," Reed laughed grabbing hold of his arm, "I don't want Francesca Corleone talking about my romantic life with other people standing around, especially the goons she had standing with her."
Remus seemed to cheer up at that statement, "So, I don't embarrass you then?" Remus asked.
Reed smiled warmly, and she leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on his lips, "Remus John Lupin, there is not one part of you that makes me embarrassed."
"Well then…" Remus smiled turning pink.
When Reed turned around to watch the sorting ceremony, not only did she see James making gagging motions, but she saw Professor McGonagall give her a pointed look. Reed turned pink again and ducked her head a little bit.
"Warren, Anna." McGonagall called as a small red-headed, brown-eyed, freckled girl made her way up to the stool that they always set out for the students to sit in. She sat down and smoothed her skirt out as she waited for McGonagall to place the hat on her head.
"She reminds me of you Evans." James said jokingly to Lily.
"Well then, let's hope she isn't in Gryffindor." Lily shot back.
"Gryffindor!" The hat yelled, the Gryffindor table applauded as the young girl ran to the table smiling.
"Well, isn't that ironic." Lily said laughing at James's sour look.
"Zorn, Anastasia." McGonagall called as a girl with long blond hair sashayed her way to the bar stool. Her eyes were a sparkling blue color, and she had a certain sneer on her face, but she looked outstandingly beautiful anyways.
"Let's hope she's in Gryffindor." Sirius laughed with James.
"Ew! She's eleven!" Reed gasped kicking Sirius from under the table.
"I was joking!" Sirius yelled rubbing his knee.
"I wasn't," James laughed, "She'll be a looker in a couple of years."
"Disgusting." Lily muttered.
"Slytherin!" the hat called.
"To bad," Ruby sighed, "And she looked so normal too."
The small blond girl ran to the Slytherin table with a happy look on her face, and when she got there, Francesca snapped at the girl sitting next to her, and waved Anastasia over to sit by her.
"Oh Merlin." Reed muttered, "She's already recruiting new evil bitches."
"Reed!" Lily hissed, "She could be a nice girl for all we know."
"Really Lily?" Ruby asked a confused look on her face.
"Well…oh, never mind!" Lily huffed turning back around.
The sorting ceremony was over, and the new first years, and the older kids shuffled out of the great hall and into their common rooms. When the six teens got to their common room, they were surprised to see Peter sitting there by himself.
"Peter!" Reed yelled surprised, she hadn't seen him at first, and he scared her when he was suddenly there, "Why weren't you at the sorting ceremony?" Reed asked the slight mousy boy.
"I…I was late catching the train. So my mom had to bring me here personally."
"Oh, bad luck for you Wormtail." Sirius said as he flopped down on the couch.
"Did you hear about the new Slytherin girl yet?" Peter asked as they lit the fire in the fireplace.
"Which one?" Ruby asked snuggling up to Sirius.
"Anastasia Zorn," Peter said.
"What about her, Wormtail?" James asked as he poked at the fire with the poker.
"Her parents are Death Eaters." Peter said.
"Yeah, so are every other Slytherin's parents." Lily scoffed.
"Yeah, well her father was just sent to Azkaban because he was caught torturing a group of muggle born witches and wizards. There were five of them. Had to all be sent to Saint Mungo's." Peter said sadly.
"Sick bastard." James muttered.
"One of them was Hank." Peter said after a few moments of silence.
"H-Hank?" Reed asked, "Hank from the Quidditch team?"
Peter just shook his head sullenly, "It's horrible isn't it?" he asked.
"Sick bastard." James muttered.
"I…I think I'm going to go to bed." Reed said after a little bit.
"I'll come with you." Ruby said giving Sirius a quick kiss.
Reed leaned over and hugged Remus and smiled, "Goodnight Remus."
"Goodnight Reed." He smiled back happily as the two girls walked up the stairs to the girls sleeping quarters.
"And you said I was whipped." Sirius laughed, "But they have a good idea. It's late, I'm tired, and class starts tomorrow."
"I'm coming to." Remus said yawning.
"Me too." Peter squeaked.
"Coming James?" Sirius asked as he was half way up the stairs.
"Nah, I'm going to stay down here for a bit."
"Suit yourself." Sirius said as he walked up the rest of the stairs yawning.
Soon it was just Lily and James left in the common room. Lily sitting on the couch, James sitting on the floor, tending the fire. Lily saved her place in her book, and put it down slowly. She sighed before she talked.
"I…I wanted to thank you for defending me today." She said, although it sounded like she really didn't want to say it.
"It was nothing Lily, anyone would have done it," James turned around to give her a friendly smiled, and was surprised. Instead of the frown she normally had on her face when she talked to him, she had a smile spread across her lips.
"Either way, it was… it was nice of you," She said getting up off the couch and stepping closer to James. She kneeled down so that she was level with him. She smiled and kissed him lightly on the cheek, "Thank you. For not being a git." Lily stood and walked up the stairs to get to the girls' bedrooms.
"Wait, Lily!" James whispered loudly, but she was already in her room.
Contrary to what had already happened that evening, James had to admit. Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad year after all.
So this chapter was longer then chapter 10 by a whole page so… be happy..? Haha. Anyways, remember the more reviews, the more apt I am to update faster, although I wouldn't not update because of little reviews, that's just mean
Um but… Please review….
Every time you don't review Voldy kills a little bunny!