Title - When You're Strange
Chapter title - Sneak
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Romance/Friendship/Drama/Fantasy
Disclaimer - I do not own the Harry Potter, books or films, in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the books or films.
Chapter Word Count - 3471 words
To: Lola - Harrison Musumeci would make a good young Sirius but for me personal I prefer the more commonly used Ben Barnes (: xx
To: Connie Hooper - Thank you! xx
To: tennismaniac19 - Thank you so much! xx
To: Freedom is choice -Thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying. I always worry about writing enough but also not rambling about things that aren't important, lol. xx
A/n - I know I changed Lily and Snape's fall out differently to how it happens in the book but the canon just didn't work in my story so I had to change it. Hope nobody minds too much.
"Do you know what I think?" Malorie smiled, leaning into Lily.
"What do you think?" The red head asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.
"I think you actually like James and just don't want to admit it, not even to yourself."
"You wish."
"Ah, see! Classic denial."
The girls were walking through the halls of the castle, having just finished Care Of Magical Creatures. They were planning on eating with the boys before Potions that afternoon but it seemed their day wouldn't go so smoothly.
Just ahead of them James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were stood facing Snape, Emyrs, Icabod, Russell and Colin. All five of the Slytherin boys were trying their very best to intimidate the Gryffindors but the thing about the marauder boys was that nothing scared them, they were young and they were invincible. The girls moved closer until they could hear what was being said. The main argument seemed to be between Snape and James.
"How can you stand there, bold as brass spouting off 'mudblood this' and 'blood traitor' that and then go to Lily and play the innocent card?"
"I don't pretend to be anything I'm not."
"Severus?" Lily had moved to stand beside him, looking between him and James. "What's going on?"
"Go on, Snape. Tell her what you said."
"Sev?" Lily watched him carefully as Malorie came to stand beside her.
Severus seemed to be fighting some sort of battle in his own head. His friends from Slytherin were waiting for him to say something cruel and Lily was just waiting for him to say anything. It was a long few moments until Sirius pushed him over the edge.
"Tell her the truth, Snivellus. Show her your arm."
"Shut your mouth, Black."
"Back off, Snape." Malorie warned as the hook nosed boy stepped toward her boyfriend.
"No one asked you, mudblood." Emyrs sneered and Sirius was soon pointing his wand directly between his eyes.
"Severus... Show me your arm." Lily reached for his hand but he snatched it away. Lily nodded, sadness in her eyes. "You've chosen your side, then. Alright. Clearly you weren't as good of a person as I thought you were. Everyone was right about you all along, weren't they?"
"Did you really think Severus was going to follow you around forever, Evans? The boy finally found his sense." Colin laughed in her face, backing up when James stepped closer.
"Just go." Snape seemed to settle his mind, smoothing all emotion from his expression. "Mudbloods should always stick together."
Malorie had come to be able to handle people calling her names but one thing she couldn't abide by was people hurting her friends. That word, coming from someone Lily had known for so long, the red head looked like she'd been punched in the stomach.
"You know something, Snivellus." Malorie moved in front of Lily, gently pushing her behind her back. "Us mudbloods don't need hexes, we can fight with our fists just fine."
She reared one hand back, landing a punch on the side of his jaw. He tried to step back, tripped over his own feet in his hurry and landed on his back. Malorie fell down with him, continuing to throw punches despite him now fighting back. She could hear the commotion behind her and knew that the boys were fighting the rest of the Slytherin's. Soon enough someone lifted her from Snape and shoved her to stand against the wall. She heard Professor Grimsby's voice, loud and booming until finally, all was quiet.
The Maruaders were on one side of the wall, Slytherin's on the other. Lily was stood a little way off but even from the distance Malorie could see the tear marks on her cheeks. She waited until Grimsby was distracted before rushing past him, grabbing Lily's hand and pulling her away. She knew her punishment would be much worse when Grimsby finally caught up to her but she needed to get Lily away from there as soon as she could.
She took her back to the girls dormitory, casting a silencing spell around the room. Lily was crying quietly to herself when Malorie finally sat beside her, pulling her into a tight hug. She let her cry herself out, whispering words of comfort into her ear. Lily finally pulled away, standing up and straightening her skirt.
"I should be in class."
"Lily, just skip-"
"I'm a prefect, Malorie. I'm supposed to set an example."
"Then set the example of 'it's ok to take time off sometimes'. Times like this."
"But-"
"Lily Evans, sit down right now." Malorie demanded and with a sigh, Lily did as she was told. "You're in no state to listen to Slughorn drone on about the correct amount of horned slugs and knat's wings."
"You should go to Madam Pomfrey. You look terrible." Lily gingerly touched Malorie's face and it wasn't until then that Malorie felt the throbbing in her lip and around her eye. "I'll stay here, I promise. Try some of the hazelnut hot chocolate you're always raving about."
"Good, it'll make you feel better." Malorie stood and headed for the door. "I'm sorry, Lily. Honestly, I would've rather had been wrong about him."
Grimsby was waiting for her in the hospital wing. He'd made everyone go to get their cuts and bruises tended to. It seemed that Severus and Malorie had both gotten the worst of it though. Everyone else just had scrapes here and there but Severus was sporting a swollen jaw and eye and a cut across the bridge of his nose. When Malorie caught sight of herself in the mirror she saw the swelling around her left eye that was beginning to bruise, a cut lip and blood coming from her nose as well as a little cut on the top of her right cheek.
Grimsby made sure that Madam Pomfrey healed the cuts so there was no further bleeding or swelling but the cuts and bruises were to remain. Madam Pomfrey could've had them gone in no time, it was all superficial but Grimsby was somewhat sadistic and thought it was a deserving punishment. He lectured them all about fighting, took thirty points each from their houses and gave everyone detention everyday for a week.
When they were finally allowed to leave and head back to class, Sirius was quick to pull Malorie to face him, looking over her injuries with a worried frown. He reached forward, brushing his fingertips along the cut on her cheek.
"Are you alright?" He asked, voice quiet.
"I'm fine. It was worth it, honestly it felt incredible." She smiled a little as the rest of the boys caught up to them. She reached out and touched James' shoulder. "Lily's in the girls dorm. I think she could use a good hug, Prongs."
"I can't get into your dorm though."
"Boys can't climb our staircase. No one said anything about Stags."
James paused for a second, a vacant expression on his face until he suddenly realized what she meant and sped off down the hall.
"Are you sure it's wise, sending him to see Lily?" Peter frowned as they watched him go.
"Lily likes James, almost as much as he likes her. She won't admit it thought because she's stubborn as a mule."
"Is that true by the way? Your staircase won't sense us if we're animals?" Sirius asked.
"I'm assuming, I don't know for certain." Malorie saw the look of mischief in his eyes. "That doesn't mean you can start playing pranks on us. Our dorm is the one place us girls are safe from you."
"No, we made the agreement in second year that dorms are out of bounds for pranks. Everyone needs somewhere to be completely safe." Remus laughed.
"Then what are you planning, Padfoot?"
"Nothing... I mean, I might be tempted to come for a cuddle now I know that I can."
"The girls would flip."
"The girls would think you've acquired a pet dog."
"You're doggy self is not getting in my bed. I don't want fleas or wet dog smell in my sheets thank you very much."
Of course Sirius took no notice of what she said. That same night, after their first detention with Grimsby, the group walked sluggishly back to their dorms with a murmuring of 'goodnight'. It wasn't even past curfew but Grimsby had had them clean every piece of equipment in his classroom until he could see his own reflection in them. They were exhausted by the time they were done.
The girls common room was empty when Malorie arrived. She had a quick shower, changed into her pajamas and all but collapsed into her bed. She pulled the duvet over her head and waited for sleep to come. However, no less than a half hour later the door opened, seemingly by itself. She pulled the duvet from her face when she heard the creak of the hinges and frowned as she watched the door close again.
"Who's there?" She sat up, ready to climb out of bed.
Suddenly, there was a big black dog in the centre of the room, revealing itself as it shook an unseen cover from it's back. The dog let it's tongue loll out of the side of it's mouth making Malorie snort before turning into the shaggy haired boy she liked so much. He laughed along with her, picking up James' cloak so as not to loose it and draped it over the foot of Malorie's bed.
"I should've known it'd be you." Malorie shuffled over in her bed, leaving room for Sirius to slide in beside her.
They moved around for a moment, trying to fit the two of them comfortably in a single bed. They settled lying chest to chest with their legs tangled together. Both Malorie's hands lay on Sirius' chest whilst he had one around her shoulders and the other was twirling her hair around his finger.
"You know if the girls come up here they're going to kick you out. Probably literally." She said with a yawn.
"Mm. They can try." Sirius was staring at her lips, at the cut that was now there. He moved the hand that was playing with her hair to run his thumb over the sore flesh. "Does it hurt?"
"Bit." She shrugged.
"Want me to kiss it better?"
Malorie laughed, wincing when her lip stretched too far and so pouting, she nodded her head. Sirius moved to close the already tiny gap between them to press their lips together. Malorie let one of her hand slide up into his hair, nails lightly scratching his scalp like she knew he liked. Sirius let his hand rest on her jaw, his thumb softly rubbing circles on her cheek.
They moved slowly, melting into each other. Sirius finally moved his hand to her back, pulling her even closer to him and letting his tongue slip between her lips. Malorie moaned a little, gripping his hair too tight as she got caught up in the feeling.
Before they could get too carried away, they heard footsteps coming toward the dorm. Malorie pulled away first, leaving Sirius pouting and leaning in for more. She lightly slapped his chest and gestured to the door.
"Quickly, get under the bed. You'll have to wait until they're all asleep and then leave quietly. It's too late now."
"One more kiss."
"Sirius!"
"One more, please."
With a shake of her head she gave his lips one last peck before he returned to his dog form and scurried beneath her bed just as the door opened to reveal the rest of the sixth year Gryffindor girls.
Whilst Holly and Alice demanded to know everything about the fight and Lily quietly got herself ready for bed, Imelda lay on her front on her bed and began to write a letter. As Malorie briefly brushed over the facts of the fight to Holly and Alice she got up from her bed and headed over to Imelda, peering over her shoulder.
"Who's Ben?" She asked and Imelda pulled her pillow over the parchment with a furious blush.
"Just a friend."
"Judging by the color of your cheeks I'd say he's more than a friend." Malorie teased. "Come on, you spent two years relentlessly teasing me for supposedly dating Remus I think it's about time I had my turn don't you?"
"He lives in the next town over from where I live. It's a muggle town."
"You're dating a muggle?" Malorie smiled. "Good god, don't tell the Slytherins."
"Don't tell anyone!" Imelda glanced between all of the girl with a sudden look of seriousness. "Ben knows that I'm a witch and I'm not sure whether we're supposed to tell muggles about our world or not. I mean... We make a conscious effort to hide ourselves and I accidentally let it slip when he asked me why he only sees me at Christmas or over summer."
"As if we're going to tell anyone." Holly shook her head. "You know that what's said in this dorm, stays in this dorm. It's been that way since first year and will be that way until we finish seventh." She finished changing into her pajamas and hopped into her bed. "So, tell us about Ben. Is he cute?"
Malorie checked on Lily who gave her a soft smile and promised that she was ok before closing her drapes to go to sleep. Imelda gushed about her new boyfriend with his dark hair and eyes and his love for football. Holly had no idea what football was and nor did Imelda or Alice so Malorie had to do her best to explain it to them until they eventually decided it was time to sleep.
She had been so caught up in talking to the girls that she completely forgot that Sirius was beneath her bed. She pulled her drapes around the bed and huddled down into her duvet to sleep. Around ten minutes later she felt the bed dip to her left and nearly jumped out of her skin. Luckily Sirius had the quick thought to cover her mouth before she could alert the others. When she realized who it was she sighed in relief and promptly slapped him on the side of the head for scaring her.
"You should head back to your dorm." She whispered as Sirius settled himself back in her bed.
"Actually I figured I'd just stay here tonight." He shrugged. "Why are you whispering?"
"Because you're loud mouth is going to wake everyone up."
"I'm quite good a silencing charms you know." Sirius pulled back on the drapes and turned to face Lily's bed. "HEY! EVANS! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO FACE THE TRUTH AND SNOG JAMES' FACE OFF?" Nothing. Lily didn't even stir. "See? Silencing charms. Way of the future, babe."
"Don't call me babe." Malorie pursed her lips, shifting around until they were comfortable again. "Are you sure you want to stay here? Lily says I talk in my sleep sometimes and I..." She trailed off, frowning at her own train of thought.
"And what?"
"I keep having nightmares." She confessed.
"What about?"
"You-know-who. Well, I think it's him, I don't really know what he looks like." She sighed, tucking her head beneath Sirius' chin. He held her close, sensing that she wasn't comfortable with the subject. "I'll wake up in this bed and it's quiet so I get up and all the girls still have their drapes closed. I always go to Lily's first cause I know she'd be annoyed if she was late for class. But when I open the drapes she's dead. So I try to get the others but their all dead too. They all have their eyes open and it feels like their looking at me. I run down to the common room and their are more dead people. I'm always about to go to the boys dorm to find you when he appears by the fire. He pulls out his wand and I wake up."
"You know it's just a dream." Sirius whispered, lips close to her ear. "That's all he will ever be to you because I won't let him get near enough to hurt you. I promise."
"He's building an army, Sirius." Malorie pulled back so she was looking into his eyes. "How do you beat a man with an army?"
"Because there are enough good people who will fight back. Essentially, we are an army too." He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then her nose. "There is darkness in our world but the light will always over power it."
Luckily enough, Malorie slept soundly through the night, kept safe in Sirius' arms. That was until Lily was shaking her awake in the morning demanding to know why she had a dog in her bed. Sirius who had been snoring beside her, having turned into his furry alter ego in the early hours just in case, woke up to their chatter.
"I, uh..." Malorie thought back to how she had first introduced Padfoot to the boys. "I found him in the forest."
"You found a dog in the forbidden forest and brought it inside?"
"I think he's cute." Malorie scratched Sirius behind the ear when he affectionately nudged his head against her shoulder. "See, he's harmless."
Lily shook her head but ultimately accepted the new pet. She waited until the other girls were gone before she sat down to talk to Malorie, unknowingly petting Sirius as she did.
"Hey, you know you have detention all week?" She asked and Malorie nodded, searching for her tie on her floor. "Well, did you realize it's a full moon on Friday?"
Malorie froze for a brief second, glancing at Sirius who was watching Lily carefully. "So?" She tried to play it cool, waiting to see why Lily was bringing it up.
"Malorie, I'm not stupid. Five years of Remus disappearing once a month and you sneaking out in the evenings and not coming back until the early hours, coupled with his scars and calling him Moony all the time... I know that he's a werewolf."
"Um... Well, I... I-"
"I'm not going to tell anyone. I've know for about a year or so, I just never said anything. Remus is my friend and if he wanted me to know he would tell me himself."
"You've known all this time?" Malorie plopped down onto her bed with a sudden loss for words.
"You've been helping him haven't you? That's why you sneak out?" Malorie nodded. "I'm only bringing it up because you and Remus are supposed to be in detention with Grimsby and I'm guessing by his prejudiced teachings that he doesn't know about Remus. If you don't turn up on Friday he's going to flip."
"Well what else can I do? I can't leave Remus on his own."
"I know and I wish I knew how to help you. I thought about making polyjuice potion and pretending to be you for the evening but it only lasts for an hour and it takes weeks to make. Then I thought about a suppressant potion to postpone Remus' change for a day or two but it's really complicated magic and again, it take weeks."
"Thanks Lils. If Remus knew that you were trying to help he'd appreciate it." She stood up again to get dressed. "I'll see you in class."
As soon as Lily had left Sirius was back to being himself, lying on his side on Malorie's bed. When she turned to look at him she couldn't help but snort.
"If only you were wearing a silk dress and on top of a piano."
"Am I seducing you?" Sirius pouted and fluttered his eyes, earning laugh before they both fell serious. "We can trust Lily but do we tell Moony that she knows."
"I think he'd like to know there's someone else he can trust. Our issue is that Remus and I are going to end up with more detentions. You, James and Peter will have to sit Friday out and leave it to me."
"Talk to Dumbledore. He knows about Remus and probably about us to. See if he'll excuse the two of for Friday."
"You think that'll work?"
"Maybe. If not then I'm sure me and the boys can think of someway to end up joining you in detention again."
"I think you have a talent for that. Now shoo so I can get dressed."
"What no kiss?" Sirius smirked when he paused at the door.
"If you can manage without me for ten minutes whilst I get dressed you can have as many kisses as you like."
"Big words, Red. I hope you're prepared to be snogged to within an inch of your life today."