Yay! I love reviews. Sorry these are coming slow. I'm trying really hard to stay committed to this fic, but I'm writing for four different sections of the student newspaper plus doing an independent column, I have vice prez duties for English Honors Society, and I'm taking all upper level courses this semester! Eep! Bear with me. (:
The Corsaires and the Marauders
November turned out to be a slow, dragging, cold month. It made Quidditch practice rather miserable, and Lindsey was beginning to dread their first game, against Ravenclaw, at the end of the month. This, she realized with a start, was in about a week and a half.
As Lindsey's boyfriend, Remus began to take his job as a tutor a bit more seriously than before. Lindsey loved the tension between them as her encouraged her as she struggled through Defense Against the Dark Arts or Transfiguration, and the passionate kisses that followed as a reward.
One night, Lindsey was curled up against him, her Transfiguration book propped open against her knees. She stared without seeing at the pages, lost in thought.
"Lindsey? You okay?" Lindsey looked up at Remus and smiled. Merlin, he had beautiful eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?"
"I asked you how your reading was coming twice and you didn't answer," he said, lifting an eyebrow at her.
"Oh, selective hearing, I suppose," she teased. Remus rolled his eyes.
"Come on, tell me what you're so wrapped up in," he said, giving her a small squeeze.
"Well, it's an incomplete idea really, there's no point in getting into it yet, I just talked to Sirius earlier and I got this idea…" she rambled on. Remus stared hard at her.
"Sirius? What idea? What in the world has he put you up to?" Remus asked. Lindsey picked at her finger nails.
"Well…I asked him, you know, how he accompanies you when you're a werewolf, and he told me he was an unregistered Animagus, and I was thinking I could do that too," she said nervously. She was worried how Remus would react to that idea. From what Sirius told her, he hadn't liked it much at first when the Marauders proposed it.
"Absolutely not, Lindsey! That's crazy. My mates already put themselves in enough danger, and they could get in serious trouble if it is discovered that they are unregistered! I can't let you do that, Lindsey," he said stubbornly. Lindsey narrowed her eyes.
"Sorry, Daddy, I'll be on my best behavior from now on," she snapped.
"Lindsey, I'm not trying to be controlling, I just don't want you to be rash."
"Well obviously I've already thought a lot about it!" she protested. Remus sighed.
"Lindsey, I can't stop you from doing this, but I really don't think you should," Remus implored.
"Remus, I'm not going to pretend to know the future, but if we end up together for a long time, I want to be able to be around you when you transform. I don't want to have to leave you, potentially alone, just because you might hurt me. I want to support you," she pleaded. "I can't do this if you're not okay with it. It wouldn't feel right. Please, Remus."
"Lindsey…I'm never going to feel totally okay with it, but I won't be angry if you do it. I just…I don't want to risk you. I feel bad enough risking James, Sirius, and Peter every month," he said. The pain in his eyes was nearly a tangible force, exuding from him and spreading throughout the room. Lindsey wrapped her arms around his middle and hugged him.
"Everything will work out okay. I promise."
Chloe wasn't stupid, and not just because she was in Ravenclaw. She saw the tittering bints that giggled and whispered together and she and Sirius walked past; she noticed the ridiculously pretty girls hovering outside the Gryffindor common room, skulking off when Chloe and Sirius walked up together. It only took a couple weeks of this before her nerves were ready to snap.
"Honestly, do they think they're being inconspicuous?" Chloe snapped sharply. A girl with pouty lips and beautiful, golden, curly hair let out a squeak and scurried away under Chloe's furious glare. She was already in a bad mood; Sirius was accompanying her after a particularly brutal Quidditch practice. Her team members seemed to think that just because it was Hufflepuff they were facing in a week that they could slack off. Not to mention the mountain of homework waiting for her in the common room. It was enough to give her a throbbing headache.
"Don't you think you're being a bit paranoid?" Sirius asked. He seemed blissfully unaware of the plethora of girls falling all over themselves in their vain attempts to catch his eye. As if she didn't even exist! Chloe felt that she may as well have been a broomstick he carried around.
"Oh, please. Do you honestly not see all the girls fawning over you around every corner?"
"Not really," Sirius said, shrugging. Chloe rolled her eyes.
"They're like a bunch of damn hinkypunks, attempting to lure you in with their shiny hair and perfect makeup," Chloe snapped. Sirius chuckled.
"Yeah, and those lanterns they carry around. Hard to resist," he teased. Chloe remained silent, ignoring his attempt at a joke. She had barely started to admit it to herself, but every time one of those Barbies made eyes at Sirius, it tugged on her insecurities and dug into her mind, unseating her newfound confidence that she could, in fact, maintain a relationship.
"Come on, don't let them bother you," Sirius said once his joke failed to alleviate the tension. "Regardless of my past, you know you're the only girl in my life."
The irritation ebbed, but the jealousy and insecurity lingered. As they approached the stairs leading up to Ravenclaw tower, Lindsey suddenly came hurtling around the corner.
"Oh, I'm so glad I found you guys!" Lindsey said, out of breath. "I need to talk to Sirius."
It was hard to tell who looked more confused, Sirius or Chloe. Chloe shrugged; though she was still in a rather bad mood, she would hardly suspect foul play between her best friend and her boyfriend. She bid them farewell and headed upstairs to confront the several essays she'd be assigned.
Lindsey had all four Marauders assembled on the far bank of the lake. Remus was looking rather anxious and not at all in a good mood. Lindsey had expected as much, but she was determined to do this with or without his help.
"So, what's all this about, Lindsey?" James asked.
"Well," Lindsey started, taking a deep breath to steel her nerves. "I know the three of you are unregistered Animagi, and I want to be one, too."
Dead silence followed this announcement.
"Who told you?" James said, much quieter than she'd ever heard him speak before.
"Sirius," she said. "I asked him if and how you three watch out for Remus when he transforms, and he told me."
"I didn't mean to give you any ideas though!" Sirius protested. "Lindsey, this is crazy. It took us three years to figure it out."
"Exactly. I figure you three can teach me how!" she said excitedly.
The boys exchanged uneasy looks.
"And how do you feel about this, Remus?" James asked.
"I don't like it, but I can't exactly tell her what to do, can I?" he muttered.
"Well, then I guess we can't, either," Sirius said.
"It's really hard, and if you don't do everything exactly right, you could really hurt yourself," Peter piped up.
"That's okay. I'm sure I'll be fine with you three helping me," Lindsey said, smiling optimistically.
"Well, I guess we can start meeting in the Room of Requirement as early as next week," James said.
"It'll have to be the week after next," Lindsey said. "My first Quidditch match is coming up."
Cassie was surprised to exit the library and see Lindsey rounding the corner with all four Marauders in tow.
"Hey, Lindsey! What have you all been sneaking around for?" she asked.
"Oh, you know, just homework and school and that kind of stuff,"' Lindsey said vaguely. The boys exchanged nervous glances before taking leave of what was sure to be a sticky situation. Cassie watched them go with a suspicious glare. What on earth had they been up to, and why would Lindsey hide it from her?
Just then, Lily emerged from the library. She and Cassie had been studying together, but Lily had told Cassie that she was going to stay a bit longer. Apparently, she had changed her mind.
"Did I just see the Marauders scurrying away as if they had just planted a Dung Bomb?" Lily asked suspiciously. Lindsey opened her mouth to protest, but Cassie beat her to it.
"Lindsey won't tell me why she's been sneaking around with the Marauders," Cassie said. Lily raised an eyebrow.
"Oh really? Alright, Miss Sneaky, spill it," Lily said. Lindsey bristled at her demanding tone.
"I don't have to tell you everything!" she said defensively.
"Yeah, but you usually do," Cassie protested. What was wrong with her? Lindsey was usually friendly and open. Lindsey bit her lip, obviously debating something hotly in her head. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, as if the words didn't know how to form themselves into coherent sentences. Finally, she sighed, defeated and withering under their suspicious, disbelieving stares.
"Let's find Chloe. This is going to be a tough one to explain," she muttered.
Once they had located Chloe (on her way to Professor Slughorn's office to ask him a question about Forgetfulness Potions), they drug her off to finally find out what Lindsey had been hiding from them.
"What's this all about?" Chloe said, obviously in quite a grouchy mood. "I really need to talk to Professor Slughorn about my essay—"
"Lindsey's being sneaky and we're finding out why," Cassie said matter-of-factly.
They entered the Room of Requirement and took a seat in one of the comfortable chairs the room provided for them.
"Spill it!" Lily demanded. "What've you been hiding?"
Lindsey bit her lip, twirled her hair, and shifted her gaze around nervously. She rarely got her nerves this bunched up. Lindsey couldn't help but feel like she was betraying Remus a bit by revealing this information. Realistically, she reasoned with herself, how long could she hide something like this from her best friends? They would eventually notice her monthly disappearances, and she'd have to make up excuses for where she was going to learn to be an Animagus….no, Remus would understand. Feeling slightly more confident, she took a breath and placed her hands in her lap.
"Well, I guess the first thing you should know is that Remus is a werewolf," she said. She paused there to give them time to react. Cassie's hands flew to her mouth; Lily simply let her mouth hang open; Chloe's eyes bugged out of her head.
"Are you serious?" Cassie asked finally.
"I knew there was something suspicious about their sneaking out every month…" Lily muttered.
"That's not all," Lindsey said, nibbling on her lip again as the nerves crept back over her. "James, Sirius, and Peter accompany him to the Shrieking Shack as…as unregistered Animagi, and I've asked them to teach me how to do it."
The silence that followed this statement was painful.
"Lindsey, that's crazy!" Chloe shrieked, startling the rest of them. "That's incredibly dangerous, it takes so much time and energy to learn to do that, and…and…you just, you can't!" she cried.
"Chloe, it's fine. I'll be fine," Lindsey protested. "James, Sirius, and Peter did it safely, and they're going to help me do it."
"You're mad. You've gone completely mental," Lily said, staring at her in disbelief. Cassie remained in stunned silence.
"Oh come on!" Lindsey said, her patience thinning. "It's not that big of a deal. It will be perfectly safe! Just trust me on this, okay?"
The other three Corsaires still looked skeptical.
"Let us help, then," Cassie said finally. "Maybe we can make it easier on you. I'm sure Chloe could find something in the library on Animagi…"
"No, you guys don't need to get caught up in this, too," Lindsey said.
"Too late. You're our best friend. You're pretty much a sister to us, Lindsey. We're not letting you go through this without us," Chloe said firmly. Lindsey grinned.
"Damn, just when I think I'm going to shake you losers off…"
Lily grabbed a pillow off the nearby couch and smacked Lindsey upside the head with it, starting a rather large pillow fight that left the Room of Requirement covered in feathers.