AN: Here is Chapter Twelve! Thanks again for all the reviews. Love you guys.
Chapter Twelve: A Wee Bit of an Over Reaction
A few weeks later, after the whole Carlee and Sirius commotion had died down, it became a normal occurrence for Carlee to be seen with James, Remus, Peter, Sirius, and any of the other Gryffindor boys.
Currently, Remus was trying to force himself to eat his breakfast, and avoid James and Sirius' concerned stares. That was one bad thing about Carlee starting to hang around. It was another pair of eyes he had to fool.
When he woke up that morning, he felt very stiff, his body already growing weak to the on coming transformation. But Remus found that it was not nearly as bad as it had been last month, and he thought that this was because he was not dreading it nearly as much this time. He didn't have time to dread it with all the stuff that Sirius and James were getting him to do. Invisible sting trip wires in the hallways, getting Peeves to jump out and scare people as they walked around corners, trying to locate the kitchen, these were just a few of there favorites. He also knew that he would be safe from everybody else in the shack, and that if everything went well, he would have another quick recovery.
"You alright Remus?" Sirius asked quietly, even leaning towards him so that no one else could hear. He surprised Remus sometimes with how considerate he could be.
"I'll be fine." He said smiling gratefully.
"So, who finished that essay that Professor Perkins set for us?" Carlee sang, swinging her leg over the bench and pulling her unfinished essay out of her bag.
"Carlee!" Remus chided. "We have Defense class next hour!"
"I didn't say that I hadn't started it. I just, you know, insinuated that it wasn't all the way completely, finished." She smirked at him and then proceeded to scribble furiously at the parchment, not looking up to acknowledge anyone else.
"So, who is excited for the first Quidditch game?" James said walking in and doing a spot on impression of Carlee, swinging his leg of the bench next to her and then nudging her side. She rolled her eyes, but other then that, she ignored him. "But no, for real though. Hufflepuff against Ravenclaw. We are most definitely going."
"Yes we are." Sirius agreed. "Who do we want to win?"
"The lesser team." James said pouring himself a bowl of cereal.
"What?" Remus asked quite confused.
"You know, the team that should have lost, we want that team to win. Because then it give Gryffindor an advantage."
"And Slytherin." Sirius pointed out.
"Yeah, but we are just going to have to pummel them any way." James shrugged. Then he looked over at Carlee. "Oh crap! I didn't finish mine either!" He pulled out his nearly finished essay and started to jot down the ending.
"When are they going to learn?" Sirius sighed putting an arm around Remus.
"I don't think they ever will." Remus sighed back, Frank and Peter laughed at this. Frank had just sat down and joined them.
"Yeah, I guess I can't really laugh at you both. I finished mine just before coming down here. That would be why I am late." He then proceeded to gather food up on his plate.
"What are all the teachers freaking out about?" Orian asked as he and Stephen sat down next to Frank.
"What are you talking about?" Sirius asked turning to look at the staff table. And there was most defiantly something going on. McGonagall and Sprout were huddled over a copy of the Daily prophet and Dumbledore was in deep conversation with Flitwick. "Hey James?" Sirius asked getting his busy friends attention.
"Yeah?"
"Can I see your copy of the daily prophet when it comes in?"
"What- sure, whatever." James said dropping his head back down to continue writing.
The owls came and they all dropped the letters from home and the prophet at their respected child's hands. James got the prophet and another letter from home. Sirius saw Carlee look at the letter for a fraction of a second and thought he detected envy on her usually cherubic face. But it was gone about as fast as it appeared and he could no longer tell if he had actually seen it, or just imagined it.
"Here." James said throwing the prophet to Sirius and paying the owl. "Well, that's that. I am finished." He said rolling up his parchment and placing it back into his bag.
Sirius grabbed the parchment and Frank, Peter, Remus, Orian, and Stephen all got up and gathered around him.
"Whoa, did I miss something?" James laughed, watching the peculiar behavior of his friends.
"There's been an attack." Sirius said completely shocked.
"A what?" James asked trying to pull the paper away from Sirius, but Frank slapped his hand away. "It's my paper!" He cried indignantly, this only got him shushed.
"An attack. There were three muggle borns killed out side Gringotts yesterday evening around 6 o'clock. 7 more were hospitalized. But it's weird. It says that only the muggle borns were attacked. How would one even know if they were muggle borns just by looking at them? This had to have been a planned attack." Sirius speculated aloud.
"Who attacked them?" James asked now trying to read the paper upside down.
"Masked men." Frank said pointing to the picture.
"None of them were caught either." Sirius said, scanning the rest of the article.
By Lunch the whole school was talking about the attack on the muggle borns. The Slytherins were finding that whole thing hilarious and took to harassing most of the Hufflepuff rather quickly. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the school seemed against there idea of fun and put an end to it. Now they would just make snide remarks to no one in particular when ever a muggle born was near.
No one seemed to be shaken by this news more then Carl though. People were scared and writing home, checking in on family members and friends, but Carl was absolutely beside himself with fear. No one could talk him down either.
"Carl, Hogwarts is one of the safest places you could possibly be." Frank said with an arm around him. They were sitting in front of the fire place in the common room. It was Friday and classes had just finished. Sirius had taken Remus down to the hospital wing with James in the middle of Divination, for which they were grateful. So besides Remus, everybody else was sitting around Carl trying to comfort him. Actually almost all the Gryffindors, year one through seven were all huddled together in the common room. Some in smaller groups then others, all trying to either comfort there muggle born friends, or work out what the heck had happened the other day.
"Yeah Carl, nobody can hurt you while you are here." A first year girl named Jamie Parks said soothingly.
"But the thing is, everyone who was killed or injured was muggle born." Lily said. "They were sought out, targeted."
"Yeah!" Carl cried out. "Why?"
"Some wizards just don't like muggle borns." Author said from his spot on the couch next to another fifth year girl named Molly. They were holding hands.
"But why? I don't understand." Lily said throwing her hands in the air.
"How do you explain any prejudice?" A deep voice came from Kingsley Shacklebolt, a third year who was sitting on the floor near the hearth of the fire place. "People are ignorant."
"Alright forget about the real world for a moment." Carl said. "What about the Slytherins. They think this is funny. Just some joke."
"Not all of them." Lily said quietly, most people chose to ignore that statement.
"If one of the scum bags are giving you a hard time, them just tell us." James said pointing to himself and Sirius.
"Yeah Carl, we got your back." Frank added, others were quick to agree with him.
"You too Lily." James said looking at the red head. "If they give you any crap, just tell us."
"Thanks." She muttered. She couldn't really say anything rude to him when he was trying to help her feel safe. And the truth was that she was quite shaken up.
"Besides, the ministry is going to catch them soon. They can't just get away with something like this." Mary said confidently. And that seemed to be a point that no one could argue, seeing as how the ministry had never before failed in there lifetime.
By Saturday, things had died down a bit, people weren't as frightened, the Slytherins wanted to harass the two houses who were playing Quidditch in only a few hours, and Remus was still in the hospital.
"But Madam Poomfry!" James begged dropping to his knees at her feet. "He needs to go to the game!"
"Oh does he? Because I was under the impression that sick children need rest, not cold air and excitement. Pardon my mistake." She said stepping around him as she made her way to Remus to give him a pain relief potion. The transformation hadn't gone as smoothly as last time. He luckily had no broken bones to explain this time, and his bruises were all safely hidden under the blankets and his robes. Unfortunately he was in a lot of pain, more then he was willing to admit to Madam Poomfry, who seemed to be able to tell regardless of what he told her.
"But it's the first Quidditch game of our Hogwarts careers!" He said standing up and walking around to face her again.
"I don't care if it is the world cup for Pete's sake. He is not going James and that is final!" She said sternly. She handed Remus the potion, which he drank quickly, took back the empty goblet and then stormed off to her office. "Five minutes, then I want you both out of here." She called without turning around.
James collapsed on the bed next to Remus'. "This is totally not fair!" He said running his hand through his hair.
"Well, don't let it get you down too much." Remus said hoarsely. "You'll just have to come back after the game and tell me all about it." James looked up and smiled at his friend.
"Yeah, I guess." James stood up and walked over to his bedside. "You know, you really don't seem all that bummed about missing the game."
"James, I think that he just wants to sleep." Sirius said rolling his eyes. "He's ill, remember?"
"I know, but just for the record, you would have come if you weren't sick, right?"
"Yes James, I would never insult you like that." Remus smiled. James nodded his head.
"Of course you wouldn't." He laughed. "Well, Sirius and I should head down to the pitch if we want to get good seats. Plus, we have to pick up his girlfriend." He winked at Remus and then dodged a punch that Sirius threw at him.
"Let it go already!" Sirius huffed and then started walking towards the door. "Feel better Remus."
"Thanks Sirius." Remus called. James was still next to him, he grabbed his sleeve. "What did you guys tell Carlee?"
"Nothing. Just told her you weren't feeling well." James looked confused for a moment. "That's the truth, isn't it?"
"No James, I am laying here being feed potions because I enjoy there taste." Remus said rolling his eyes though his stomach had tightened in anticipation of what other questions he could bring up. James laughed and patted his shoulder, Remus let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, feel better then." He waved and then he too walked out of the hospital.
While receiving the play by play of the game, Remus found it very hard to stay awake. He found Sirius and James' endless supply of energy quite exhausting.
"It was amazing!" James sighed. "I mean, it was such a close game, and Hufflepuff would have lost by over 100 points if they didn't catch the snitch like they did."
"That was cool too." Sirius added jumping up off the empty bed he had been sitting on. "The seekers were racing for the snitch and the Hufflepuff seeker practically jumped off his broom to grab the snitch. I thought he was going to miss."
"But he didn't" James almost shouted. "He just launched himself, and then he had it. It was sooo cool. You really should have been there."
"I couldn't have gone. You heard what madam Poomfry said."
"Yeah, so. She went into her office right afterwards. We could have got you down to the pitch before she realized you were gone." Sirius whispered, looking over his shoulder at the closed door. "I mean, fresh air is good for you when you're sick." Remus knew that he would never disrespect madam Poomfry like that, but he held his tongue and smiled at his friends.
"Well, it's too late now." He said trying to sound disappointed. "I'll just have to come to the next one."
"Yeah, there is no way you are missing the next game. It's Gryffindor v. Ravenclaw. You can't miss your own houses game. It's like a rule or something." James said gesticulating madly.
"And rules are ever so important to you." Remus said smirking at the over enthusiastic boy.
"Some rules were made to be broken; this was not one of them. I'll be sure to differentiate from now on." James said rolling his eyes.
"That would be ever so helpful." Remus said, playing along.
"Alright, I think we should head off to dinner now. That game was fairly long and I am starving." Sirius said. "See you later Remus. Get some rest."
"Okay, thanks for stopping in guys."
"Hey, no problem." James smiled following Sirius towards the door. "See you around mate."
"Yep, see you." He called and waved to his friends. Then he rolled over on his side and drifted off to sleep.
After dinner, Sirius, Peter, James, Carlee, and Frank all went outside to hang out by the black lake. Carlee and Frank were both working on an essay that McGonagall had gave them, James and Sirius were playing exploding snap, and Peter was watching everyone with a look of earnest interest and amazement on his face. It was as though he couldn't believe that he was surrounded by so many people, and just being near them was enough to please him.
"You two do realize that it is Saturday correct?" Sirius asked eyeing the furiously moving quills seemingly glued to Carlee and Frank's hands.
"Yes Sirius, I know. But if I don't do it now, I might never work up the courage to do it again." Carlee said still looking down at her parchment.
"Some Gryffindor you are." James laughed. "Not even brave enough to do your own homework." Sirius snickered as well.
"It was a mistake." Carlee muttered. Sirius looked up at her, but she was still writing away at her parchment.
"What?" James asked. Sirius wasn't the only one who had heard her cryptic remark. All four boys were looking at her with confused looks on their faces. She looked up and realized what she had said.
"What what?" She asked looking at James, trying to throw the attention off of herself.
"What did you mean it was a mistake?" James asked, the thought of letting the comment slide never even crossed his mind. He was far too proud of his house to let anyone bash it in any way. "You don't want to be in Gryffindor?"
"I never said that!" She exclaimed almost wildly.
"It sure sounded like that's what you said." Frank said still looking at Carlee from his place on her left. She quickly opened her mouth to argue with them.
"If that's not what you meant, then what did you mean?" Sirius asked cutting her off, also not willing to let go of this opportunity to extract something from Carlee.
"I just meant that, I mean, you know what?" She sputtered, grasping at straws. "I don't have to explain myself."
"Yeah, you do." James said sternly. Sirius wanted to laugh at how clueless his friend was. James just thought that Carlee had something against being in Gryffindor, Sirius heard the tone of voice Carlee used, and he could tell it was something more. She had come to him after she heard the howler, her and her sister were protective of each other.
"Come on." Frank said, just as clueless as James.
"Fine!" She shouted getting up to her feet. "I am a coward, and I am dead sure that the hat made a mistake when it put me in Gryffindor." With that, she picked up her bag shoved her paper and quill in it, and stormed off up towards the castle. They all just watched her go.
"What was that?" James asked after they saw her small figure disappear through the castle doors.
"I am pretty sure that we upset her." Frank said stating the obvious. Sirius punched him in the arm.
"No, really?" He asked. "I should have told you two to shove it." Sirius said pushing James over.
"Hey!" James said sitting back up. "If I had known that I was going to upset her so much, I would have shut up all on my own thanks."
"Why did she get so mad?" Peter asked, speaking up for the first time.
"If we knew that, we wouldn't be so shocked." James said harshly. "This isn't my fault. You wanted her to answer too." He pointed out. Sirius looked at him and then hung his head.
"I know." He sighed.
"Should we go and apologize?" Frank asked.
"No." Sirius said shaking his head. "Let's let her cool off, we'll tell her that we're sorry tomorrow."
"You better." A voice shouted at them, one that was quite similar to the one that had just left.
"Hey Ella." James said waving cheerfully. Ella scoffed at him.
"You have no tact, do you?" She asked glaring him down. "None of you do." She looked around at them, her eyes resting on Sirius. He found himself looking into the same orbs of blue he had the first time he met Carlee. Only this time, instead of curiosity, they were filled with anger, and pain. He quickly looked away. "You should have just let it go."
"I didn't know she was going to get upset like that?" James said defensively.
"Oh? Well then, what did you think?" She said putting her hands on her hips.
"I thought she was just bashing Gryffindor!"
"What?" She said much softer then before, "What did she say?" James proceeded to tell Ella the contents of the conversation before looking at her smugly and smirking.
"See, you shouldn't yell at somebody before you know what happened."
"Actually, you shouldn't push it when Carlee tells you she doesn't want to talk." Ella smirked back at him before going after her sister, who was by now long gone.
"To bad Remus wasn't here. He probably could have prevented that." James sighed.
"Yeah." Sirius agreed, not really listening to his friends. "Hey, let's head back up to the dorm."
"If that's what you want." James shrugged. "Let's go." They all picked up their things and walked back to the common room.
AN: Hope you liked it, it was sort of written in a stream of consciousness. Sorry about that. Reviews are always appreciated.
~Craz