A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed it brightens my day to read them, so notable mention to Messer. Tonks and angel2u
Chapter 14: Friends
The weekend passed quickly, the fifth years mostly stuck doing homework with very little time for entertainment. But that didn't stop the incessant chatter about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend, just one short week away. Girls twittered about where they wanted to go, what they wanted to buy and most importantly who everyone was going with. It seemed to be the only topic of conversation in the ensuing days, not homework or classes, not even things that needed to be bought at Hogsmeade, who was going with whom captured the attention of the Hogwarts population, including the infamous Marauders.
"So, Padfoot, have you decided who you're going to ask to Hogsmeade yet?" James asked as the Marauders sat on the floor of their dormitory playing Exploding Snap.
"No, I'm not even sure if I'm going to ask anyone. What about you guys, Moony, Wormtail? Don't answer Prongs; we all know who you asked." James let out an indignant humph but looked at Remus and Peter expectantly.
"N-no" Peter stuttered out cheeks tinged slightly pink. The others nodded and turned to Remus who rolled his eyes.
"You all know that I'm not going to ask anyone."
"Well, why not? Moony, any girl would be thrilled to go out with you! You're a Marauder!" Sirius exclaimed and the same discussion they've had for the past two years, when Sirius and James first became interested in girls, began.
"You don't have to tell them about you furry little problem right away, just have a little fun!" James insisted at Remus' shake of his head.
What they didn't understand was that Remus didn't want to date; he didn't want to deal with his issues of lycanthropy and someone else's. He didn't want to have to lie to a girlfriend, and despite what Sirius and James said one-night stands were not alright.
"I-"
"Come on, Moony just ask a girl out, have a snog!"
"I just don't want to date anyone, okay? And no one would want to date me, so let's just drop it. I'm going down to the Common Room to do some homework." Tired of the nagging from his friends, Remus got up and grabbed his Transfiguration text from his bedside table and headed out of the room ignoring his friend's calls for him to come back.
He saw Brenna sitting at table in the corner scowling at a piece of parchment a few books scattered around the table open. After a moment's hesitation about her expression, Remus walked over to her.
"Hey Brenna, do you mind if I join you?" He asked with his customary polite smile. She paused in her furious flipping through the pages of one of the books on the table. As she recognised who it was standing in front of her, her scowl turned into pleasant smile.
"As long as you promise not to talk about the bloody Hogsmeade trip,"
"Definitely not." Brenna cleared a spot at the table glaring at the book she had been looking through as he pulled out a chair and sat down. "Having some issues with homework?" He asked a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.
"Just trying to will the damn book into submission." She said giving an exasperated sigh still glaring at the book. Remus let out a low chuckle.
"And how's that going for you?"
"Not particularly well, as it would appear." Looking up at him she grinned brightly, humour twinkling in her eyes. "I can't find this one passage that I know I read about the last battle of the goblin rebellions of 1343 for a History essay."
"Mind if I take a look?" Remus asked as she cast the books a spiteful glance.
"Be my guest," She turned the books toward him and Remus began thumbing through one. After a few moments during which Brenna idly watched the other people in the Common Room, Remus turned the book back to face her.
"Is this the one?" He asked pointing to a small paragraph in the middle of a page. Brenna bent over the book scanning the words with her eyes before taking it gratefully.
"You have a way with books, Mr Lupin." She declared as she began writing the quote into the essay earning a spout of laughter from Remus.
"Why thank you, Miss Templar. Have you the same luck?" He said in the same proper tone that she used.
"Alas I do not, this book is a curse upon me, Mr Lupin, it favours me not." There was a brief moment of silence between the two where they both simply looked at each other faces completely straight before Brenna's mouth twitched and they both burst into laughter.
Once they had composed themselves Brenna, still grinning, went back to writing the finishing few phrases on her essay and Remus sat simply smiling, his Transfiguration textbook lying forgotten on the table beside him.
"Thanks, Remus, I would never have found that bloody passage again." She said as she waited for the ink to dry and with a wave of her wand all the books she had open were closed and stacked in an orderly pile on the side of the table.
"You know non-verbal spells?" He asked eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Huh? Oh yeah, like I said we had practical homework not bloody essays." Once again she cast the parchment in front of her a distasteful look. Remus nodded in mild understanding. "So what brings a great Marauder down from the evil lair?"
"Evil lair?" He asked grinning even bigger at her choice of words.
"It's a boys' dorm isn't it?"
"Fair enough…Sirius and James were getting on my case about Hogsmeade." He explained not really sure why he was telling her about this when he had never told anyone else. For some reason it seemed like private Marauder-only information around everyone else.
"Oh, that sucks." Brenna made a face, not wanting to press him for more information unless he wanted to share; she wasn't nosy…most of the time.
"Yeah, they think I should get find a date." It was as if Remus just couldn't help himself, he just found Brenna easy to talk to, and for some reason he felt as if she would understand.
"And you don't want one?" She guessed.
"You think I'm mental for that?"
"No, well, you might be a little mental, but that would have more to do with you're exposure to insane people like Sirius and James. I'm with you though, who needs a date? Really, just go exploring, that's my idea of fun, not sitting in some tea shop that's covered in pink ruffles." Brenna explained pulling disgusted faces at the mention of ruffles. Remus smiled, she did understand.
"My sentiments exactly."
The two Gryffindors continued talking, about everything and nothing, just pointless, good conversation. Eventually, people began heading up to their various dorms and it wasn't until the other Marauders graced them with their presence (note the sarcasm) that Brenna and Remus realised how long they had been sitting there doing absolutely nothing productive.
"Moony, mate you ever coming back to the dorm?" Sirius called as the three other Marauders walked over.
"No Padfoot, Brenna and I have decided to run away together." Remus answered both him and Brenna keeping completely straight faces.
"We're leaving tonight and there's nothing you can do to stop us." Brenna continued Sirius and James appearing a little shell-shocked looked between Remus and Brenna both now wearing matching grins, their homework lying off to the side of the table.
"Obviously I'm coming back to the dorm." Remus clarified with a discreet eye roll.
"Oh, well, about before mate…"
"Okay, I'm just going to go now before you lot get all sappy and hug it out or whatever you blokes do." Brenna said standing and gathering her things quickly. "See ya later, Remus, good luck surviving until Hogsmeade."
"Yeah, see ya later, Brenna."
"Sirius, James." She said giving each a nod of acknowledgement before she proceeded up the stairs to the girls' dorms. After watching her leave, Sirius and James turned back to Remus.
"What was that all about?" Sirius asked tone mildly accusing.
"Nothing, we were just talking 'bout how people talking constantly about dates and Hogsmeade is incredibly annoying. Turns out I'm not the only odd person in Gryffindor Tower." Remus replied looking pointedly at both boys.
"Too bad, Padfoot, now you can't ask her out." James teased smirking at Sirius who simply glared in response.
"Come on you lot, let's get to bed."
The next day was more of the same, people continuously talking of Hogsmeade; it was, suffice it to say, wearing on Brenna's very limited patience. She was only managing to cope because people didn't ask about her very often and she buried herself in books and homework, always appearing busy so people wouldn't ask her about dates for Hogsmeade. Brenna was quite sure that girls here would not understand that she didn't want to date people, Remus had told her that. Thank Merlin no one had asked her, Brenna hadn't exactly figured out what she would say to them but she was certain it would not be anything close to an 'I'd love to'.
That evening, after a very exhausting day of listening to-and pretending to care about-gossiping girls, Brenna spotted Remus on the couch in front of the Common Room fire reading a book. Smiling she walked over to him, for some reason she felt comfortable with him, he wasn't perverted or creepy or arrogant, if anything he was a bit reserved and shy, but he was easy to talk to or just sit with. Someone you can sit next to on the couch while reading a book and not have to worry about being interrupted.
"Mind if I join you, Remus?" He looked up at her somewhat startled before a smile found its way onto his face and he nodded.
"Not at all, had a long day of gossip?" He inquired knowingly as he folded the corner of his page down and closed the book.
"Oh you have no idea. How can people talk for so long about the same thing? Honestly, I don't care if Samantha McCormick is going with Ricky Henderson even though she just broke up with one of his mates, John Andrews, last week or that Adelaide Brown is going to wear a short skirt and revealing top 'cause apparently she's a slut. Who bloody cares?" Remus chuckled at her exasperated tone as she relayed just some of the day's gossip.
"I'd say I know what you mean, but I can't say I do. Blokes don't talk about that sort of thing; they just rag on you to find a girl to snog."
"Ah, Potter and Black I presume? Sucks to be you, mate, that's rough. So what're you reading?" She asked gesturing to the book in his lap.
"A Muggle novel, To Kill a Mockingbird."
"Oh that's a good one, a classic. How far are you?"
"Almost done, it's interesting how it talks about mockingbirds."
"Yeah, and that they're innocent because all they do is sing, they don't hurt anyone so it's a sin to kill them, or rather destroy innocence." Remus nodded thoughtfully.
"It relates doesn't it? To what's going on out there, I mean. It talks about the existence of good and evil, and morals and inequality and all that. That's what's really happening out there, isn't it?" He asked though they weren't really questions since he knew the answers.
"Yeah, it is kind of like what's happening now. There are people like Atticus though, people that see what's happening is wrong and are still committed to justice."
"It's bad out there. Really bad, it's not just some crazy person making noise anymore."
"It's been getting bad for a while; it's been bad for a while. But still, there is good, too."
"I don't know, Brenna, those people are just…evil."
"Atticus understood the evil in the world but he didn't lose his faith in humanity's capacity for goodness. We should be the same."
"I think…I think that we're kind of in the stage now where we're all confronted with the evils of the world and we have to incorporate that into our understanding of everything but we can't let innocence be destroyed."
"Yeah, we can't kill any mockingbirds. We have to accept that there's good and evil in the world, and like Atticus we have to stand up for what we think is right, you know?"
"We have to defend the world's Tom Robinsons."
"Exactly, only they're Muggleborns right now not African-Americans." After a few moments of contemplative silence, Brenna spoke again, her tone much lighter than before. "Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet?"
"Of course, its one of Shakespeare's most famous."
"I'm impressed, Mr Lupin, you read that play and still have your masculinity intact." Brenna said humour in her voice.
"Yeah, well, had to see what all you girls are on about. Romeo, bloody romantic sap, has set pretty high expectations for love with you lot."
"Oh please, Romeo is a spineless, whiny bloke who doesn't know what love is. He was infatuated with Juliet, first of all, not in love. And he's a complete idiot, I mean really, he talks about how Juliet looks like she's still alive and then goes and kills himself." Remus grinned at her obvious distaste for the 'romantic' tragic hero.
"I take your not a romantic one then."
"If that's romance, then you can count me out."
Brenna and Remus continued talking about books they'd read and their opinions of characters in a much more relaxed matter. They didn't talk about the war anymore, but both had a little more respect for the other now that they had some sort of understanding about their positions on the war. They both felt like they had gained a friend, though for Brenna it was more like an ally since she rarely considered people friends-even Sirius wasn't really. 'Friend' was a cherished title for her.
The two remained chatting on the couch oblivious to the Marauders and various other Gryffindors watching them. At one point Sirius and James had planned on going over to join them but once they heard that the conversation revolved around books they just kept walking and sat at a table in the corner. Shortly after people began going upstairs to the dorms, even the other Marauders had gone up.
"I guess it's pretty late, huh?" Brenna asked during a lapse in their conversation, looking around the almost deserted Common Room.
"Yeah, 11:45, actually." Remus answered looking at his watch and yawning. "I'm pretty tired, should probably head up, you coming?"
"Nah you go ahead, I'm not tired yet."
"Alright, good night, Brenna." Remus said standing as he made his way to the staircase leading to the dorms.
"Good night, Remus."
Once he had disappeared from view, Brenna moved to one of the window seats overlooking the grounds. The moon shone brightly, reflecting in the Black Lake and casting a cool, yellow light on the various objects on the grounds including the Forbidden Forest where Shinya, the dragon that had accompanied Brenna to Hogwarts and lived in the forest. Shinya translated from Japanese to 'Truthful one', the title the centaurs had used to describe the dragon that 'united' the Templars and made them a force to be reckoned with.
Brenna had met Shinya when she was only 5 years old had just begun magical training with the Order of the Dragon. He was a massive Japanese Black Diamond Dragon and she was only a little girl at the time and yet she didn't feel fear but rather a sort of kinship with him immediately. She felt a connection. Everyday after her lessons she would walk up to the field where Shinya waited and the two of them would talk, yes, talk. Shinya spoke to Brenna in her mind, the first, and one of the only, to break through her mental defences.
Eventually her parents had found out and were obviously concerned with her safety-it was a dragon, after all. Her mother, being a lover of all creatures, had somehow managed to convince her father to let Brenna continue to visit Shinya seeing that he was a benevolent dragon who spoke to her with compassion and an old world wisdom, teaching her Japanese and offering her someone to talk to her problems about. Shinya was the only one Brenna really ever talked to about her feelings, afraid to be seen as a weak and frivolous girl and having issues with trusting people. She used to still talk to Cyrus and the others but not to the same in-depth extent as she did with Shinya. But, a few years ago, when this war became life for Brenna and Cyrus, Shinya became an even more crucial support for her, protecting her and sharing with her his wisdom.
Brenna had not been to see Shinya since the start of term. There had not been a moment where she could sneak away without alerting the Marauders or other students and staff, after all, very few students chose to take a stroll through the Forbidden Forest late at night and she longed for the contact and guidance of her friend whom she trusted even more than her fellow members of Atomos. Well, its not quite that Brenna didn't trust Cyrus or Maverick or Darren or Levi, she did, with her life and she would do anything for them…except tell them that she felt scared or upset or betrayed. She just couldn't open herself up to people anymore, it was a vulnerability she couldn't afford and the boys had come to accept that.
Her secrecy had gotten worse, though, since the…incident with her uncle. The boys knew not to push her; she had retreated into herself for protection. She had learned what betrayal felt like and her ability to trust people had been almost completely shattered. They loved her, the boys of Atomos, like a sister, they would do anything for her and they knew she would do anything for them; she would die for them without a second thought. But they missed the Brenna they had once known so closely, when she was younger and would actually talk to them, when she was still an innocent child if not a little naïve. They missed the way she used to sing for them at parties and tell them if there was a girl or guy giving her a hard time. They had been so close that they knew everything about each other.
Now, they could still tell what the others were thinking with a single glance but what Brenna was feeling that was a completely different story and unreadable. Brenna knew that it must hurt them not knowing as much about her as they used to, but she couldn't bring herself to open up, to let them in, and she was forever grateful that they just let it be. At first, of course, they had tried getting her to talk but they didn't force her, they never did, they respected her and for them, having her around still was victory enough and so they let it go.
Atomos had evolved as was necessary in this day in age and in a couple days; they were coming to Hogsmeade as security for the trip, and part of Brenna told her that it was time for her to open up, to fully let her true family in and fully be a part of Atomos again, and part of each of the other members secretly held onto a hope that Brenna would come around even all these years later. And yet neither party was really expecting any change.
Thinking back to the various (and numerous) adventures Atomos had over the years, Brenna smiled to herself taking in the Hogsmeade skyline that they could be seen in the distance. The cottage roof tops of the quaint wizarding village were just barely visible in the distance and Brenna had a feeling that Hogsmeade just wasn't ready Atomos. This was one of the best-if not the best-unit in the Order of the Dragon and was filled with teenagers (mostly boys) that had a...unusual sense of humour. Brenna chuckled a little to herself shaking her head slightly at the unsuspecting village.
Cheers, she thought, to Hogsmeade, if it's still standing when we're through.
A/N: Fancy a review anyone? I know I do. Leave one. Thanks.