Chapter Twelve - An Unfulfilling Dinner.

Next morning, the boys couldn't find Lina anywhere. They seperated and ran all over the castle finding for her.

In the end, it was Sirius and Peter who found her, on their second evaquation of the library. It was almost dinner time when they did find her.

"Here you are." Sirius stated annoyedly as he pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down. Startled, Lina jumped, flicking her wand too hard and almost burning the page she was copying. She did, however, send all her parchments flying to the ground.

Shooting him an annoyed look, she flicked her wand again - the papers re-arranged on the table - as Peter took the chair next to her. Ignoring her, Sirius pulled out a mirror from his pocket and muttered 'James' to it.

With a shimmer, James face appeared in the mirror. "Found her. She's in the library, doing... Homework." Sirius told, raising an eyebrow and glaring at her as he said the last part.

Serelina was puzzled. She didn't know they had been finding for the whole day. What do you think it looked like when he found her doing homework. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know that she was infact doing the work she promised them she'd do.

"Homework?" James asked sounding as puzzled as Lina felt. Lina might be a devoted student, but she wasn't as obsessed with homework as... say Lily. "Yeah, whatever. Just keep her there. We're on our way." James ordered and then his face disappeared from the mirror.

"That's... interesting." Lina commented, keeping her voice low and cocking her head towards the mirror.

"Love, we are the Marauders. Everything we have is interesting." Sirius smirked, winking at her. Then he setteled himself comfortably in his chair, even going as far as to put his leg up on the table.

Rolling her eyes at his reply and said, " leg off the table, Black."

His smirk widened as he challengingly said, "make me."

Laughing, she said, "Don't say I didn't warn you." Then she she effortlessly pushed his leg off the table, which resulted in him falling to the floor with the chair.

"What are you doing on the floor, Sirius?" Remus asked as he and James rounded a bookshelf and came into view.

"Enjoying the lovely view." came the reply from the ground. Sirius even had the audasity to give a pointed look at Serelina's leg, under the table. Of course, he was only kidding, as she was wearing her favorite warm tights.

That is why, instead of hexing him into the next century, she gave him a blank look, narrowing her eyes into slits. He smiled at her innocently, knowing very well he had almost been hexed off the century. Though he downplayed it, he was relieved she didn't hex him. He admitted, he couldn't take her on.

With a huffed she looked back at James, a questioning look in her eyes. Taking the seat to her right, while Remus sat next to Sirius, James started questioning her.

"Firstly, tell me where on this castle have you been the whole day?" James demanded, his eyed narrowed at his only lady best friend.

"In the library, why?" Serelina answered, clearly confused with James annoyed-ness and Sirius' somewhat hostility.

"The whole day?" Sirius asked sounding incredulous. Not understanding where he was coming from, Serelina nodded her head, a slight frown between her brows. "Don't lie Lina, we already checked in the library and you weren't here." He said rather sharply. More sharply than he intended.

"Yeah, we were running all around the castle finding for you. We even scared a first year to go look for you in your dorm." Peter, who didn't think sirius could do anything wrong, said. He too frowning like Sirius.

"I was probably in the restricted section." Serelina said, shaking her head. "Why were you guys looking for me anyway?"

Her question was met with three shocked faces.

"What were you doing in the restricted section?" that was James. At the same time James asked that, Sirius went, "Why were we looking for you?" He sounded incredulous and bewildered as he asked that near her. He couldn't believe she forgot her promise to them. Of course he didn't see her book to know that she had been keeping her promise to them all the while they were looking for her.

"Stop it, you two," Remus said tiredly. He - like the smart boy he is - had checked what she had been working on and knew his mates were getting on her case for nothing. "And to answer both of you, she's researching about Animagus." he added with a pointed look at his friends. A look that said that they better apologise to her.

Sirius looked like he had swallowed something bad at Remus revelation. James looked guilty, berating himself for forgetting that it was Lina he was talking to. Lina, who never broke her promises as long as she can keep them. Even Peter looked guilty. Though he hadn't said anything to her, personally, he had been agreeing with James and Sirius all the while - in his head.

A clueless Serelina looked from one boy to the other. "What's all this about?" Serelina asked them, peering at all of them curiously.

"Well... It's like this. You said you will help us with finding how to become Animagus and then you disappeared on us and... We thought that-" James explained, struttering at the end. Ashamed to admit he thought what he thought.

"And you lot thought I was dissing you." She concluded with a knowing nod of her head.

"Please, Lina, don't be mad. We're sorry. It's just that -" Sirius started apologising with a grunt when a pause followed her conclusion.

Before he could finish his sentence, Serelina started laughing, throwing her head back and holding her stomach. She found Sirius apologising so readyly very uncharacteristic of him. As a fact, she hadn't ever seen him apologising to anyone - well, maybe to James, but she hadn't actually seen him apologising to even him.

"She's not mad." James stated the obvious, rolling his eyes at his silver haired friend. He sat back on his chair and put his legs up on the table - much like Sirius had. As soon as he eased himself into the chair, he quickly sat up straight again, looking from Sirius to Serelina with amusement. He had just understood why Sirius had been in the floor when they found them.

"Oh Merlin! That explains a lot. You put your leg up in the table didn't you?" James questioned his best mate excitedly. His eyes were lit up like a christmas tree. Only, with mirth and excitement rather than with lights.

Sirius nodded his head, looking at James a little creeped out. He was wondering how James had guessed that right. He should've known that James knew Lina enough to know that she doesn't like it when someone keeps their leg up in the table she is working on.

When Sirius nodded his head, James burst out laughing.

Rolling her crystal blue eyes, Serelina turned back to her work - taking notes about Animagi.

"No. No. No. No!" James exclaimed, holding on to Lina's hand. Lina looked at James startled. "Enough with the notes already, it's time for dinner. And you are not skipping dinner too." he added the last part shooting her a fierce glare. He didn't like it that she had skipped breakfast and lunch because of them.

James shot her a look that clearly said all her whining - or pleading - wasn't going to get her anywhere. "Get a move on." he told her with a fakely pleasent smile that had Serelina shacking her head annoyedly. She, however, couldn't hide the affectionate smile on her lips. She truely loved this boy too much - in a brotherly way - to ever get really annoyed with him.

"Fine," she grumbled - not liking leaving a work in half - as she got up and started gathering the library books. "Give me a miniute, I'll be right back." With that said, she sneacked back into the restricted section and deposited the bools she had on animagus - after chaging back the covers to their original state.

When she got back to the boys, she was mildly surprised to find all her stuff packed and the table cleared. As soon as the four boys saw the silver haired girl appear from behind a bookshelf, they jumped up thier feet. Sirius even shouldered her bag like it weighed nothing - when in fact it was filled with books and parchment and quills and ink pots and... Well, you get the point.

"Lets go." James said enthusiastically, taking Serelinas elbow and leading her out of the library. The other three silently followed them.

Once they were out of the library did Peter hurry to catch up with James and Lina - who was getting dragged at a brisk pace. The small chubby boy timidly tugged on Lina's sleeve, making her crystal blue eys to turn away from James back to look at him.

"Um... You left this in the table." He struttered, holding out the eleven and a halt inch, willow wand.

"Oh, thankx Peter." Serelina laughed as she took the wand from Peters hand, not noticing the pink that tinted boys cheek as she did.

Taking the fact that she hadnt looked at all disgusted with him - for touching her wand - he took the courage to spproach her with a question.

"Do you mind if I ask something?" He mumbled rather than asked near her. His face went completely red as he talked to her, much to the amusement of Sirius and James. Lina didn't seem to notice that she was the reason for the boys struttering and red face. She truely thought that this was because the boy had barely talked to girls before. Which was true to some extenct.

"Go ahead." She said enthisiastically, waving her free hand - which James wasn't holding tightly onto - enthusiastically in a 'go ahead' motion.

"Why is their a tiny jewel stuck in your wand?" Peter questioned curiously, but looking embarassed at the same time.

"To keep my wand crumbling to dust." Serelina told, matter-of-factly. Peter looked completely lost at her explanation so she opted for giving him an explanation - aware that Sirius and Remus too were listenting to her explanation intently.

"As a Loralie, my migic is muc more advanced than of an average wizards. Therefore the wooden wands that wizards make have a had time keeping up with so much power leaving its clutches at once and it turns to dust. The jewel in the wand is from my original wand - my Loralia wand - and it keeps too much power from escaping all at once and this keeps the wooden wand from crumbling." she explained, though she wasn't all that sure Peter understood half of what she had just said.

Anyhow, before he could question her further James forcefully pulled her down sit on the Gryffindor table and started pilling food in her plate.

"James!" Lina exclaiimed, slapping his hand away from her plate. Stopping him from putting more food on my plate. But the damage was already done, he had already piled food in her plate like his own - half of which she normally ate - while she had been talking to Peter. "i don't even half as much this." She said pouting when James glared at her for slapping his hand away.

James merely shot her a drak look that had her grumble under her breath, but dig in. Even by then Sirius and Peter were gobbling down their food like there was no tomorrow. Though Remus wasn't gobbling down his food, he was eating at a brisk pace. Once Serelina started eating James dived into his food same as Sirius and Peter.

Besides making a disgusted face, she kept her disgust to herself. It wasnt like she wasn't used to this happening at her home to - she had way to many males, cousins, living in her house for her to get used to such behaviour.

Eating as much as she could, she stubornly refused to eat anymore, staring at James unyeildingly. Sencing that he wasn't about win this as easily - especially now that she was showing her stuborn Gryffindor in her - James shrugged his shoulder with a dramatic dejected sigh. Rolling her eyes, and not buying James act, she called a 'goodnight' for the guys before she skipped over to her girlfriends.

He couldn't wrap his head around which was worse. The fact that she was over-working herself because of them, or how much she looked ready to pass out. There were actual dark circles under eyes and her sick straight hair, which was usually tame and fell in a graceful waterfall to her waist, was a tangled mess. To make him feel even worse, he had noticed her wincing everytime she used her wrist.

He knew she had been trying to downplay it, and that's why he hadn'r mention anything in front of her.

He couldn't help clicking his tongue and muttering 'typical' under his breath. It was just like Serelina to hide her pain and still think of everyone but herself.

"What's typical?" Remus, having heard James muttering asked.

Now that Serelina was no longer within the Marauders earshot, James looked at his friends with a look that said he wanted to talk business. And by business they usually meant Maraudering.

"We need to keep an eye on Serelina, especially when she goes into the library next." James told the in a serious voice, not bothering to answer Remus' question.

All three of his friend looked at him strangely, none of them realising why James would say such a thing. It wasn't like Serelina couldn't take care of herself. She was more than upto such a task.

"If I know Serelina as well as I think I do, then she's completely gonna forget to eat until she gets us the recipe for that potion. And believe me when I say that we dont want that happening." James said in a grave voice as he tured to watch his silver haired friend talking animatedly to the one girl of his dreams.

"Okay, how about we come up with a schedule to keep an eye on her? Though it'll be hard to keep an eye on her during school -" Remus sentence was cut off when Lina breezed back over to them, motioning her friends to go on ahead.

"Guys, I just realised something." She said, widening her crystal blue eyes with the silver specks in them. "Tell me, the reason you lot are asking for my help is becasue you lot already went through all the books in the library and couldn't come up with the potion recipe right?" she asked point on.

She recieved multiple nods from the four boys and pursed her lips in thought. "Hmm... How about the restricted section?"

"Been there, done that." Sirius answered in a bored voice, but honestly, he was only trying to rile her up. Only it didn't work as Lina was too lost in her thoughts.

She sighed, puffing out her cheeks. "That'll mean we'll have to come up with some other way to find for this potion." she murmured mostly to herself than to anyone else and walked away again with out another word to the boys, lost deep in her thought.

"I guess we won't need that schedule after all." James stated, watching a distracted Serelina walk out of the Great Hall.

A/N -

I'm so very sorry for the late update. This time I have no excuse... I just completely forgot about PoHH - Just like I forgot about Princess Pirate. But i deeply apologise to Everyone who bothered to take their time to read my book. R&R

RNDeen