Chapter Twelve

--Next day—

Mariana groaned, opening her eyes. Above her she saw her friends all sigh in relief. Furrowing her eyebrows together, Mariana looked at each of them confusedly.

"What happened? And where am I?"

Everyone moved back, James and Remus helping the girl sit up on the bed.

"You fell unconscious after you threw your sister against the wall." Sirius told her, a bit suspicious about that last part.

Getting even more confused, Mariana put a hand to her head as she felt an oncoming headache.

"I fell… unconscious?" She asked slowly.

"Yeah, and I had to bring you back to our room so one else saw you." Sirius told her. "But I don't know where your sister went."

Mariana looked up at Sirius. "So nothing else happened after I threw my sister?"

Sirius frowned. "No, why do you ask?"

Mariana blushed deeply as she remembered the kiss, which seemed to be only a dream now.

"Nothing, never mind."

Marina sighed. 'Great. Now I'm dreaming about kissing a popular guy who's wanted by so many girls.'

"We best get to class." Mariana told them, getting off the bed.

"I'll be right there Mariana." Lily said after her friend.

Mariana looked back to Lily to see her kissing James and smiled sadly. She continued on her way out, closing the door behind her.

"We have a problem guy's, and I don't mean about her sisters either." Sirius told them seriously.

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Everyone was down at the qudditch pit as Gryffindor was playing against Ravenclaw. Mariana stayed behind to finish up some homework (although she had trouble concentrating as her younger sister's threat popped up every five seconds), as did Remus. He was sitting on the couch facing the fireplace, reading a book on Muggle history. Although, he couldn't concentrate much on the words as he was thinking over what Sirius has told him and the others.

'Mariana can't leave Hogwarts! She just… can't.' Remus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes.

Footsteps from the girl's staircase echoed in the emptiness of the Gryffindor tower. Remus closed his book and looked over to the staircase to see Mariana walking down, rubbing her forehead tiredly, her eyes close. She continued her way towards the entrance, believing that everyone was gone.

"Morning Angel." Remus said loudly, putting down his book and grabbing a wrapped object.

Mariana jumped up startled and turned to see Remus smiling, standing up with the wrapped object in his hands.

"Remus? I thought you would be down at the Qudditch game?" Mariana questioned, her eyebrows furrow together.

"I usually read, cheering James on." He shrugged as though it weren't nothing. "And since you don't really go to these games, I decided to wait here for you." Remus smiled mysteriously, which surprised Mariana. "And not let you eat alone on your birthday."

Mariana chuckled softly, smiling sheepishly. "You… actually remembered."

Remus smiled and walked up to her. "Of course! What kind of friend would I be if I forgot someone's birthday?" He handed her the wrapped object. "Your birthday present."

Mariana took it, looking down at it. "You shouldn't have, you remembering my birthday was enough present for me."

She looked up at him than back down. Mariana begun to rip open her present, wondering what it could be. She smiled widely as she saw a familiar book.

"Trapped In Time by M.C. Roberts." Mariana said softly.

(A/N: Just to let you guys know, I made that up k? If there really is a book and an author like that, I don't own it and I never heard of them.)

Remus smiled back. "Yeah, I remember you told me that he was your favorite Muggle author. I just hoped I got you a book that you didn't have yet."

Marina shook her head. "No, not yet." The girl than hugged Remus, catching him off guard. "Thank you so much Remus. You don't know how this means to me."

Mariana let him go but not before kissing his cheek. She smiled shyly as Remus turned red. He cleared his throat, smiling.

"Shall we go eat breakfast?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of hungry." Mariana chuckled along with Remus.

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Throughout most of the day, Remus and Mariana have walked the grounds after breakfast and talked about anything and everything. But the duo mostly talked of the classes they were taking. They were returning back to the Common room just before dinner, wanting to find the others.

"I'm just glad that we don't have to take Divinations anymore." Remus couldn't help but sigh with relief, shaking his head.

Mariana chuckled. "Yeah, Mrs. Hudson's teaching were all pointless."

"The whole class was pointless." Remus said with a smile.

The duo stopped before the Fat Lady, Remus waiting anxiously for Sirius to come running down the halls to come get them for the surprise party for Mariana.

"You know, it's a miracle that none of your friends came looking for you after the match." Mariana said with a bit of suspicion.

Remus laughed nervously, tilting his head. He was about to answer when a bark grabbed their attention, soon followed by several portraits protests.

"A dog inside Hogwarts?"

"This is unheard of!"

"What a beastly animal!"

"It looks like a bear."

"It's a dog… right?"

"Snuffles!" Mariana cried, smiling down at Sirius.

She kneeled down in front of him and hugged his neck. Remus raised an amused eyebrow, smiling at Sirius.

"Snuffles?" Remus questioned, nearly laughing.

Sirius narrowed his eyes as he gave a bark at him as soon as Mariana let him go. 'Oh, he'll never let me hear the end of this.' Sirius thought.

"He tends to sniff a lot when I first met him, okay?" Mariana defended before looking at Sirius. "What are you doing here boy?" She questioned, scratching Sirius between his ears.

Sirius gave a low growl, his tail swishing back and forth quickly. A cough from Remus brought Sirius out of his enjoyment and barked once excited, making Mariana frown.

"What's got you so excited?" Mariana asked amused.

Sirius barked and went in a circle. Mariana stood; shaking her head as Sirius continued to bark, facing up the stairs.

"I think he wants us to follow him." Remus said.

Sirius barked, wagging his tail.

Marina shrugged. "That couldn't hurt I guess."

At these words, Sirius took off up the flight of stairs, Remus and Mariana dashing right behind him.

"Snuffles!" Mariana cried, hoping they won't lose him.

Sirius led them up the Changing Staircases to the seventh floor, than down an empty hallway. They turned right, than seconds later turned left, than another right, than left. Before both teens knew it, they were dizzy from all the twisting and turning every few seconds. Soon, Sirius led them towards the right direction and turned a sharp left, disappearing from sight.

Just as Mariana rounded the corner first, she collided into someone, both figures toppling over to the ground. Mariana blushed deeply as she stared into gray eyes that begun to darken with an emotion she cannot read.

"S-Si?" Mariana stuttered and quickly got off of Sirius.

Remus walked up to them and held out a hand to Sirius as Mariana stood up on her own. Sirius took Remus' offered hand, Remus quickly pulling him up to a stand.

"What happened? It seemed as though you two were being chased down by a ghost." Sirius laughed but quickly stopped as a ghost passed by the walls.

"I resent that!" He said before passing through the wall.

The trio only stared at the wall, not really knowing what to say to that.

"O-kay," Sirius turned to Mariana and Remus. "We got a surprise for you."

Mariana frowned, looking back and froth at the two best friends. "Like what? Why? And what about Snuffles?"

"You'll see, because we can, and who's Snuffles?" Sirius answered, frowning at the last part to make it more believable.

"Just close your eyes Angel." Remus instructed.

Mariana narrowed her eyes at them before doing so.

"Wow, you actually trust us?" Sirius questioned surprise.

"That's it." Mariana opened her eyes, shaking her head at them. "What's going on?"

"No, no, no, no, don't listen to Sirius!" Remus told her. "You can trust me, okay?"

Mariana sighed, pointing her forefinger at him in warning before closing her eyes. Remus glared at Sirius, who only shrugged in innocent. The two boys went on either side of Mariana and gently took hold of her upper arms.

"Will lead you, so don't worry. And we won't make you fall or hit anything." Sirius told her reassuringly.

"Good to hear since you're the one telling me Si." Mariana sighed but had no choice to close her eyes.

It didn't take too long to reach a single door on the seventh floor, just a long ways from Dumbledore's office.

"Okay, open your eyes." Sirius told Mariana.

She did so and raised an eyebrow. "A door?" She questioned. "That's my surprise?"

"It's what's inside that's your surprise." Sirius defended.

Mariana cautiously took hold of the knob and opened the door. She walked into the darkness, wondering were a lamp could be. Just as she was completely inside, the two boys at the entrance of the door, candles were quickly lit and many teens popped up from hiding, yelling.

"Surprise!"

Mariana could only stare in disbelief, everyone telling her happy birthday. She started to laugh and cry at the same time when Lily was the first to come up to her and give her a hug.

"You shouldn't have done this." Mariana told her.

Lily slowly pulls away, smiling. "Everybody should have a birthday party Mariana!"

The two girls laughed, Mariana wiping her tears. James and Peter came up to them, James hugging Mariana in turn as Peter only hung back.

"Happy birthday Angel."

Mariana hugged back quickly. "Thanks James."

Remus hugged her next with an apology smile. "I had to keep you busy somehow. At least I got to know you better."

Mariana laughed. "You knew about Snuffles, didn't you?" Mariana asked.

Remus couldn't help but smile sheepishly as he let's the girl go. "Yeah, but I can't say much about him though. At least he finally has a name." Remus grinned widely behind Mariana to Sirius, who rolls his eyes.

"You know, I helped lead you to your party too, Angel!" Sirius said in a teasing exasperation.

Mariana laughed and turned to Sirius, hugging him. "Thank you Si."

"Mariana," Mariana let Sirius go and turned to see Severus walking up to the small group, the Marauder's quickly tensing up. "I'm sorry I can't stay long, but I wanted to wish you a happy birthday." Severus gave a faint smile before clearing his throat and looking at Lily. "Thank you, Evan, for inviting me." Severus forced out. He turned to Mariana, his features quickly softening. "Good night Fairy."

"Thanks for coming Sev, it means a lot." Marina smiled. "Good night."

Severus nods his head once and walks out. Mariana turned to her now relaxed friends, music all ready playing and some teens dancing.

"So, what do we do now?" Mariana questioned curiously.

The boys grinned almost immediately, Lily smiling mysteriously. Marina was almost afraid and wished that she didn't ask them anything.

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--Outside of the Great Hall—

"She's being as stubborn as always." Christina said, pacing back and forth.

Isabel was leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. She had her eyes close, listening to every word her baby sister was telling her.

"I could have done a lot of damage to Theresa, but that stupid boy had to come down and distract me!"

Isabel snapped her eyes opened. "What boy?" She asked deadly sweet.

Christina stopped her pacing and turned to her oldest sister. "I don't know. He appeared out of nowhere, giving Theresa the opportunity to throw me back. I had to shimmer out before the boy or Theresa could do any damage to me." The youngest Nava continued her pace.

Isabel narrowed her eyes. "Could it be that he be friends with our dear sister?"

Christina scoffed. "Doubt it. He seemed to be popular around here. Why would he want to be friends with Theresa? Besides, I think he was just surprise to see me in the Gryffindor Tower."

Isabel narrowed her eyes down to the floor. "Will, Theresa just better be careful. She knows that anyone close to her will die. Mom would do anything to send the message through to our sister."

"I still don't get why dad even gave the keys to Javier and Theresa! They don't deserve them!" Christina complained.

"Because they were pure and dad trusted them." Isabel close her eyes once more. "Because they were allied with our mother."

"Will, we better hurry up and report to her." Christina stops and sighs. "You know how mom gets when we're late reporting to her.

"Yeah." Isabel opens her eyes and pushes off the wall. "Try and find out more of this boy that distracted you with our mission."

"Yes sister." Christina gave a quick nod.

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Flora Black: I'm glad you liked the last chapter; I hoped you liked this one. Thanks for reviewing.

Lady Anck-su-namun: Yes, siblings are sometimes evil, depending on what they do. Did I really surprise you? I didn't I could do that to someone, lol. Thanks for reviewing!

Emma-J-Riddle: So were you surprise to have the kiss be nothing but a dream? LOL, and you could be right, Mariana's sister is a bit of a follower. Will, thank you for reviewing, I hoped you liked this chapter!

CrazyPirateGirl: Yes, Sirius saved Mariana from her evil sister, but too bad they didn't kiss in reality. (shrugs) But at least we now know Mariana's feelings for him. I'm glad you love this story, and trust me; you could always tell me that you love it! LOL, thank you for reviewing!

Kara Adar: I hoped you liked this chapter. Thanks for reviewing!

bumblebee25: Were you surprise about the beginning of this chapter? Yeah, the kiss was naught but a dream, but now we know how Mariana's feeling towards him! Thanks for reviewing!

MiwSher-Sekhmet: Don't worry about reviewing; just as long as you review everyone once in a while, I at least know you're reading this story. Yeah, the kiss was a dream and Mariana's not with Sirius… at least not yet… Wow, I'm actually surprise you were the only one that saw that Mariana's sister called her Theresa. (Hands a cookie) Your reward! LOL, Mariana might leave… her sisters might kill her… Mariana might find out that Snuffles is really Sirius… Or she might not! (Evil laugh) You just have to continue reading and review!

A/N: Did I surprise you guys again in the beginning? (Evil laugh) I'm so evil and mean! LOL, had too much coffee this night so I can stay up all night to finish this up, so don't mind me. And I must say, I say the fourth movie of Harry Potter and they took out (I think) most of the important things out from the book, for example the Qudditch tournament! They could have at least showed the game! But overall, it was still good and far better then the first three movies. Now I wonder how the next three movies of this series will turn out! Oh, I also have to confess, the character Fudge's son looked hot! Anyways, if you want to know what happens next, you'll have to review! Thanks.