I'm soooo sorry this took me so long to update. Life just got really busy lately. I kept saying I'll sacrifice sleep to write, but end up working on things until almost 5 in the morning and only getting two hours of sleep as it was.
And I realized that it's never really shown in the story, but Sev continued to be friends with Alex even through the Alex/Bekka fight. Anyways, enjoy!
The next morning, Sev was waiting in the common room to for Bekka before heading to the Great Hall. He couldn't hide his surprise when Bekka and Alex came in together, arms linked together, laughing as if the past month had never happened.
"Why the look of surprised, Severus dear," Bekka asked, cheerfully.
"Did I miss something?" he asked, waving towards the girls linked arms.
"Yep," Alex said, grinning. "Now shall we continue on to breakfast?"
"Are you going to explain to me what I missed?"
"Nope," the two girls replied together before hurrying on towards the Great Hall. Sev followed silently shaking his head in disbelief.
Halfway through breakfast and mid-conversation, the girls were interrupted by a body forcefully squeezing itself between them.
"Gross, there is a Black touching me!" Alex said, looking at Sirius with disdain.
"Oh, Alex, you are so over dramatic. Good morning, Sirius," Bekka said, rolling her eyes at Alex.
"Morning, love," Sirius said, cheerfully. "I guess you two kissed and made up," he added, looking between Alex and Bekka.
"Indeed we did. Now what can I do for you?" Bekka asked, slapping Sirius's had as he reached for a piece of bacon off her plate. "My bacon!"
Sirius pouted for a second about the bacon before speaking, "I here sitting next to you and someone who is absolutely atrocious," he paused here to look pointedly at Alex. He opened his mouth to continue, but another voice spoke before he could.
"What the bloody hell?" Alex, Sirius, and Bekka turned to find Regulus standing behind them.
"Oh, look, it's someone even more horrible than her," Sirius said, pointing to Alex when he said her.
"What's a blood traitor like you doing soiling our tables?" Reg sneered.
"What's an idiot like you doing interrupting our breakfast?" Bekka asked scornfully.
"Wondering why the hell your laughing with someone you beat the hell out of a few weeks ago," Reg scowled.
Alex and Bekka exchanged glances. "Oh, that whole fight was staged. I wasn't really hurt," Alex said, smirking.
"She told me about her and Remus weeks before that happened," Bekka continued an identical smirk on her face.
"When Christina caught us and went to tell her, we knew we had to plan something," Alex finished.
"Wait a minute, you mean Heart and Lupin were really together?" Regulus asked, confused.
"Duh, why else would Christina have seen them together?" Bekka asked.
Reg sputtered in shock. "You knew before and were okay with it?"
"Of course she was. By then she wanted another Marauder," Sirius said, adding to the lie.
"Surely not you," Reg said, looking surprised.
"Of course not him, it's Peter Pettigrew that's captured my attention," Bekka said, shocking everyone that was listening to the conversation. "Sirius is practically my brother; wanting him would just be gross."
"You used to say I was practically your brother," Reg pointed out. "Is he just your replacement for me?"
Sirius looked surprised as if he hadn't thought about it before.
"Replacement…? No. It's more like I upgraded," Bekka said, shrugging.
Reg glared at her. "So let me get this straight… Lupin and Heart were shagging while you were still dating and you were okay with it because you wanted Pettigrew?" he asked, returning to the original subject.
"Yep, sounds about right," Alex said.
Bekka nodded her head in agreement. "Now can I return to my breakfast?"
Regulus didn't respond, just turned and walked away.
Sev who had remained quiet throughout the whole exchange finally spoke. "Just when the rumors were fading away," he said, shaking his head.
Bekka laughed. "What can I say? I just love the attention."
"No, you don't. You hate it," Sev said.
"I know. But the look on Regulus's face… that was priceless," Bekka said, smirking, as buttered her toast.
"His plan is falling into pieces and he thought it went amazingly," Sirius grinned.
"Well his plan worked in one area," Alex reminded them, "Remus."
"Are you getting back with him?" Sev asked.
Bekka shrugged. "I doubt it. He doesn't seem to care about me anymore. I mean it's been a month, that's plenty of time to move on," she said, nonchalantly. "Speaking of Remus, you might want to go prepare him for the rumors that are going to start."
Sirius frowned. "Right… he's not going to like it you know." Bekka nodded, but was too busy eating to say anything.
"Wait… why did you come annoy us to begin with?" Alex asked.
"Oh! Right!" Sirius said. He turned and glared at Bekka. "Firstly, you little missy got me in trouble yesterday." Bekka raised an eyebrow and waited for him to explain. "About not telling Remus about what happened with Reg. He was a tiny bit furious at me for not telling him right after it happened. And secondly, you were wrong about him not caring about you. He was hurt that you stood him up last night. He waited for two hours for you to show; he probably would have waited longer but he got kicked out the library at closing time."
Bekka stared at him confused before remembering that she was supposed to meet Remus to work on the project. "Oh crap, I totally forgot I was supposed to meet him last night!" she said with wide eyes. "He must totally hate me now."
"I doubt that he could ever really hate you. But why didn't you meet him last night?" Sirius asked.
"That was my fault. I needed her," Alex said. "But why was she supposed to meet him?"
"To work on the project, I'm guessing," Sev said. Sirius and Bekka nodded their heads in confirmation.
"Oh, right, I had forgotten about that."
"Right, so now that I've delivered my message, I'm leaving this horrible table and rejoining my friends. Hopefully the rumors haven't reached their ears before I had time to warn them. Oh my God… Peter has never been involved in a rumor before. He won't know how to react," Sirius said, in shock. "We took his rumor virginity."
"Sirius, you are so theatrical sometimes," Bekka pointed out.
"I am not!" he said, before standing and stomping away to the Gryffindor table.
"Yeah, he is," Alex commented, watching him leave.
"Shut up, you're just as bad. I swear you two should just get together already. You guys are a match made in heaven," Bekka said grinning.
"Gross," Alex said, glaring at her.
"Come on think about it, Alex. You both have brother issues. You both are over dramatic ninety percent of the time. You're both my best friends. See you guys have so much in common," Bekka said with a straight face.
"You're forgetting that I hate him."
"See there's another thing you guys have in common… he said the same thing when I explained all this to him. And like I told him, there is a fine line between love and hate."
"You know I agree with you," Sev said.
Alex stared at her two friends in disbelief. "You have got to be kidding me… Me… Black… No… Never…"
The shocked looked on her face did Bekka in and she began laughing loudly. "Oh my god, that was amazing. You should have seen your face," she said, as Sev began to laugh as well.
"I hate you both," Alex said, glaring at them.
"Although in all honesty, if you two channeled all that hatred into sex, you guys would probably have one incredible shag."
"As much as I love incredible shags, it's Black… which automatically makes it not incredible."
Bekka laughed and shook her head. "Well I'm done with breakfast. I'm going to go apologize to Remus. I'll catch up with you guys in charms," she said, standing. She headed towards the Gryffindor table before either of her friends could reply.
"Hey Powers, do you really like Peter?" Lily asked as she approached the table.
"You really shouldn't believe everything you hear, Evans," Bekka said, smiling.
"But I heard it from Sirius," she said.
"Lily-kins… this is Sirius we're talking about," James said from his seat next to her.
"Hey!" Sirius exclaimed, from James side. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"That no one should believe anything you say," Remus said from across the table. James and Bekka nodded their heads in agreement.
"You all suck," Sirius pouted.
"Yet you love us anyways," Bekka said, squeezing between James and Sirius.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sirius said. "Did you decide to come interrupt my breakfast since I interrupted yours?"
"No, I came to steal your bacon," she said, grabbing a piece off his plate before he could stop her. "And to talk to Remus." She turned her attention to Remus. "I'm so sorry I forgot about last night. I went to my room to get my stuff and Alex was upset about something," Bekka paused here to glare across the Great Hall to where Jason was sitting. "And best friend mode kicked in automatically."
"You attacked her a few weeks ago, how are you two best friends?" Lily asked, listening to the conversation.
"Because no matter how much of a selfish bitch I am, she and I are sisters. Nothing can separate us for long," Bekka said, shrugging. "But I really am sorry I didn't even think to send you a message or anything," she continued, looking at Remus.
He shrugged and said, "When do you want to work on it then?"
"Erm… I have a free period after lunch," she said, realizing this was the second time he ignored her apologizing for something.
"That's fine. I'll meet you in the library," he said.
"Alrighty then, got to go finish last minute charms homework," Bekka said, standing.
"See ya," Sirius said.
"Bye, Bekka," James added.
"Good talking to you, I guess," Lily said, as Peter waved good-bye.
Bekka stood there for a second, waiting to see if Remus would say anything. When it became obvious that he wasn't, she walked quickly out of the Great Hall.
After lunch, Bekka was waiting in the library for Remus. He was exactly on time, like he normally was. Sirius was with him and Bekka looked at him in surprise. Sirius shrugged and held up his potions book. Bekka and Remus quickly got to work, making up for lost time. "Remus, do you hate me?" Bekka asked, after about twenty minutes.
Remus didn't acknowledge her question, just made a note on the parchment in front of him. Bekka sighed sadly, taking his silence as a yes. Bekka spent the rest of the time, trying to make small talk or joking around, while she worked, just like she had before the Holidays, when she and Remus were just friends. Sirius would reply or laugh, but Remus remained in a stony silence, only speaking to make a comment about the project.
The next week went by quickly for all the seventh years; the teachers were increasing the homework load more every day. Remus and Bekka met in the Library every day, usually after dinner, to work on their project. Remus continued to ignore everything Bekka said, unless it was about the project. Every day, Bekka asked him if he hated her, even though she began to realize she'd never get an answer.
Remus and Bekka were finishing up their project for the night. The rest of the Marauders, who had joined them, were following suit. "Do you hate me?" Bekka asked, thinking that if he'd just admit it, she'd be able to move on. Remus didn't look at her, just continued to pack up his things. "Damn it, Remus. If you don't answer me, I swear to God, I'll tell everyone your furry secret," she hissed, looking everywhere but at any of the Marauders. James, Peter, and Sirius looked at her shocked. Remus looked at her with wide eyes, before fleeing out of the library.
Bekka sighed and slammed her head on the table, feeling more discouraged than ever before. She felt tears gathering in her eyes, but quickly blinked to keep them from falling. "You aren't really going to tell are you?" Sirius asked, quietly, reminding Bekka that they were still there.
Bekka lifted her head and found her vision blurry with unfallen tears. She shook her and said, "Of course not." The three remaining Marauders sighed in relief. "I just thought maybe he'd talk to me. This silence is killing me. I've fallen in love with him and his indifference is destroying me," she admitted. The Marauders were surprised to see her looking so broken.
"He isn't indifferent. He always looks at you, when he thinks no one is paying attention," Peter said.
"And you should see the faraway look he gets whenever Lily asks James how you are," Sirius added.
"And the murderous glares Padfoot gets whenever he sees you two laughing together," James continued. Sirius looked surprised at this and shot James a questioning glance. James shrugged and said, "He tries to hide them, but he's jealous of you."
"Then why won't he talk to me? I've apologized. I've tried to be friends with him again. I've tried to rebuild our relationship. But every time it's like I'm talking to a stone wall… a cold stone wall," Bekka said, her voice cracking.
"Because he thinks it's what you want," Sirius said, hugging her tightly.
"How can he believe this is what I want?"
James shrugged. "I know he thinks you ask him if he hate you every day because you want him to say yes."
At that moment the library door flew open, slamming loudly against the wall. Alex came running in, getting a glare from the librarian for being so loud. She spotted Bekka and ran over. "What's wrong?" she asked, instantly.
"I love him. He hates me, no matter what those three say," Bekka said, pointing to the Marauders. "I messed up. I even threatened to tell everyone his secret and he still wouldn't talk to me. He probably hates me even more now."
"Bekka, we're going to let Alex take over here. We're going to go check on Remus," James said, giving her a quick hug.
Bekka waved good-bye and they headed out the door.
When the Marauders reached the common room, they were greeted by a confused Frank Longbottom. "Is there some reason Remus is upstairs packing?" he asked.
James, Sirius, and Peter exchanged glances before racing past Frank and up the stairs. When they entered the dorm, they found Remus had already managed to pack the majority of his things. "Remus, unpack all of your things," Sirius said looking at his friend.
"No, I'll be kicked out of school soon enough. Once everyone knows, they'll tell their parents and their parents will throw a fit about me being unsafe to be around. You know it's true, they'll kick me out of Hogwarts," Remus said, pacing around the room.
"They won't kick you out of Hogwarts," James said.
"They will once she tells," Remus said, walking quicker.
"Moony, she isn't going to tell," Sirius said, grabbing his friend by the shoulders forcing him to stop.
"Yes she is; she said she would if I didn't answer her. But I couldn't answer her. She wants me to say yes, but I don't. I never could. I'm still hopelessly in love with her. But that is the last thing she wants to hear and I won't lie to her. So I can't answer that question and now she's going to tell everyone!" Remus said, going into full on panic mode.
"Remus, calm the hell down," James said, sternly. "She told us she wasn't going to tell. You are not going to get kicked out of Hogwarts. She just wanted an answer."
Remus looked at James skeptically. "She could have just said that to keep you guys from trying to stop you."
"Remus, trust me, she was telling the truth," Sirius said. "Now unpack your things and let's go to sleep."
"We can go to sleep, but I'm not unpacking," Remus said, stubbornly.
"Fine, you'll unpack tomorrow," James promised.
"I'll be on my way home tomorrow," Remus muttered under his breath.
The other three sighed in frustration, but the conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. A third year Gryffindor stuck his head in. "Hey Pettigrew, there's a girl outside the common room looking for you." All four of the Marauders stared at the boy in shock.
"Who?" Peter asked in disbelief. The boy shrugged and disappeared back down the stairs.
Peter looked wide-eyed at the other Marauders unsure of what to do. "Well go see who it is and what they want," Sirius said, motioning towards the door.
Peter nodded and headed towards the door nervously. Once Peter exited the common room, he was surprised to see Bekka pacing back and forth waiting for him. "Peter, you're my last hope!" Bekka said.
"M-me?" Peter stuttered surprised.
"Yes, you," she said, still pacing. "You're the last Marauder that owes me something! And I want – I need you to get him to talk to me!" She stopped in front of him, pleading with her eyes.
"How am I supposed to do that?" he asked, thinking it might be impossible to do.
"I don't know. But you have to do it!" Bekka said.
"Erm… I'll try…" he said, slowly.
"Thank you," she said, throwing her arms around him a hug.
"Uh… you're welcome," Peter said, blushing deeply. "I'll go try and talk to him now." He quickly scurried back inside. However when he reached his dorm he found all his friends sound asleep. "Guess it'll have to wait until tomorrow," he said, yawning. He crawled into his own bed and quickly joined his friends in dream land.
So Remus is being stubborn. Bekka is hurting. And Peter has a seemingly impossible task to accomplish.
Interesting things to happen next chapter. :D