Gossiping Marauders with Stomachaches
Melissa woke up in the morning, feeling something next to her. She looked up and saw Remus. She smiled.
Remus moved in his sleep causing him to fall off the bed.
"OW!" he yelled. Melissa was trying to suppress her laughs as she crawled across the bed and looked down at him.
"You okay?" she asked, biting her lip to stop laughing. He nodded his head.
"Yeah," he said. "Ow, that really hurt."
"You know, you didn't need to stay in here last night," Melissa said, smiling.
"I wanted to," he said, looking up at her.
"Um, Remus…are you just going to sit down there or…?" Melissa said, giggling.
"Oh…yeah," Remus said, chuckling. He pulled himself up and laid back down on the bed. He yawned and laid back on the pillow.
"I don't think I can leave today…" Melissa said, frowning. Remus maneuvered himself so he was facing her.
"That's okay, I'll stay with you," he said. "It's Sunday, we don't have classes."
Melissa smiled and kissed his cheek. "You don't have to."
"No, I want to. I am not leaving you ever again," Remus said, sounding slightly depressed.
Melissa smiled weakly. "You would just be leaving me in the infirmary, not completely leaving me."
Melissa had a strong feeling that Remus thought that she was just going to disappear any moment after what had happened.
"Remus, I am not going anywhere…at least not yet," Melissa said softly, putting her hand over his. "And I promise I will tell you this time…last…last time I thought you didn't care."
Remus looked slightly taken aback. "Why did you think that?"
"Because I was being stupid," Melissa said. Remus held out his hand and caressed her face gently. Melissa bit her lip, feeling her eyes get watery.
"I was so afraid…" Remus said quietly, "that I was going to loose you."
Melissa closed her eyes and sighed, leaning into his touch.
"I just want to stay here," she said. "I don't want to go back."
"Well just remember it's not goodbye forever," Remus said, smiling weakly. "Only for a little bit."
Melissa opened her eyes and stared at him. "Why does this have to be so hard?"
"I think it's because we are both making it hard," Remus said, his tone still soft. "I admit it is hard though, knowing you are going to be leaving me and I don't know when."
"Why
don't we just not think about it," Melissa said thoughtfully.
"We'll think about it when we need to."
Remus nodded
his head. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."
Within the next couple of days Melissa was let out of the infirmary. She had fully recovered and Dumbledore had apologized, though Melissa strongly thought he shouldn't have.
It was Thanksgiving and everyone was down in the Great Hall, talking, laughing, and eating.
James and Sirius were piling their plates with big smiles on their faces.
"This is my favorite holiday!" James said, grabbing the plate filled with turkey out of Remus' hands.
"I thought you liked Christmas," Melissa said, laughing. James paused, and furrowed his eyebrows in thought.
"Well that is my favorite holiday, but so is this," James said. "They are both my favorite."
"Okay," Melissa said. They all watched as Sirius and James quickly downed their first plates and grabbed their seconds while the rest were just starting.
"Slow down! You don't want a stomach ache," Ariel said, watching in disgust as Sirius started talking with his mouth full.
"I nuber red stumak aze!" he said, swallowing.
"What?" everyone asked in unison. Sirius rolled his eyes as if he thought it was obvious to understand what he had said.
"I said I never get stomach aches," he said.
"Oh," they all said, returning back to their plates.
"Me and James here have stomachs of steel!" Sirius said, smirking.
At the end of dinner they all sat lazily in the common room. James and Sirius were lying on the couch, groaning about the horrible stomachaches they had.
"I thought you had a stomach of steel," Ariel said, smirking. Sirius moaned and put his hand on his stomach.
Remus was sitting in the armchair by the couch, shaking his head at his fellow Marauders. Melissa was sitting on the floor by his feet, laughing at them.
"You two should go to Madam Pomfrey," Lily said, putting her hands on her hips and looking at James. James mumbled something no one could understand and he flipped over on his stomach and buried his head in the pillow.
Melissa smiled. "See you guys should eat like Remus."
James lifted his head. "Melissa, have you ever seen him eat chocolate frogs?"
"Well, no," Melissa said. Remus glared at James.
"Well its true Moony, you gobble it down in two seconds!" James said. He suddenly turned pale and grimaced. "I cannot think of food."
Melissa smiled. "Is Thanksgiving still one of your favorite holidays?"
"NO!" James and Sirius yelled at the same time, causing everyone to laugh. Remus was shaking his head while laughing.
"They do this every year," he said. "They say it's their favorite holiday, they eat, get sick, and then they say it's not, and when it comes around the next year they say it's their favorite again."
Everyone laughed again except for Sirius and James who scowled.
"But…but the food is so good!" Sirius said, motioning with his hands.
"That doesn't mean you need to eat half of the food on the table, Sirius," Ariel said, smiling. "It's amazing how the both of you aren't fat with the amount of food you consume."
Sirius snorted with sarcastic laughter. "Very funny."
"I think it is," Ariel said, plopping down on the couch next to him. Sirius grimaced at the sudden movement. "Sorry."
Melissa yawned and leaned her head against Remus' leg. He looked down and smiled at her.
"Come up here," he said. She smiled to herself and curled up in his lap, leaning her head on his chest. He leaned his head on top of hers and sighed.
"What's wrong?" Melissa asked, looking up at him.
"Nothing," he said, smiling and brushing a piece of hair out of her face. She smiled and leaned her head back on his chest.
That night James and Sirius had to drag themselves up the stairs, still complaining about their stomachs.
The girls went up to their dorm, and the boys went to theirs.
"I'm taking a shower," Sirius grumbled, grabbing his pajamas off his unmade bed and clambered into the bathroom.
James collapsed back on his bed.
"I am never eating again," James said.
"Sure you won't Prongs," Remus said, smiling. James seemed to think Remus was being serious so he just dropped the matter.
James laid a hand on his stomach absentmindedly and stared up at the ceiling.
"Something on your mind?" Remus asked, pulling out his pajamas from his trunk and looking at James. James raised his head to look at Remus.
"Well I've been thinking…" James started.
"About?" Remus said.
"Life after Hogwarts, you know, stuff like that," James said. Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Do you mean life in general or life with a certain red headed girl by the name of Lily?" Remus asked, smiling.
"You're too smart Moony," James said, smirking. "But I was thinking about life with Lily. I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and I was just thinking about what it might be like. Have you thought about it?"
"Well I think everyone has Prongs," Remus said. "But yes, I have thought. It's different with me though. She has to leave, and I don't know when I'll see her again. Who knows I might see her when I'm eighty."
James caught the sad look on Remus' face. "No you won't. You'll see her when you're still young."
Remus smiled weakly. "I'm going to be a lot older than her, you know that right?"
"Nah, I'm sure it's not that much," James said, waving his hand dismissively. He paused for a moment. "Do you think Sirius has thought about it?"
"Maybe," Remus said. "I mean Ariel is the first girl that he has finally settled down with."
"You have a point," James said. Just then Sirius came out of the bathroom, shaking his hair.
"Whatcha talking about?" he asked.
"Life after Hogwarts," James said simply, shrugging his shoulders. Sirius smiled knowingly.
"Oh, like with the girls?" he asked. Remus and James nodded their heads. "I've thought about that."
"You have?" James asked, rising his head. Sirius nodded his head.
"Shocker right?" he asked, chuckling. "I never thought I'd be thinking of marriage and stuff."
"We never thought so either," James said. Remus smiled and sat on his bed.
"Well believe it or not I have," Sirius said, sighing, a dreamy look on his face. James smiled.
"So has the notorious Sirius Black finally settled down?" James asked, laughing. Sirius smirked and threw a pillow at James.
"Well what does settling down feel like?" Sirius asked, smiling. Remus and James looked at each other.
"Well you don't want to be with anybody else," Remus started, smiling. Sirius nodded his head.
"You tend to think about them a lot," James added. Sirius nodded again. Remus and James started listing more things, Sirius nodding his head with each one.
"And most importantly you love them and no matter what they do you always will," Remus and James said in unison. Sirius smiled.
"I guess I am a settled man than," he said, slapping his knee. James and Remus laughed. "I seriously never thought I would truly love someone though."
"Okay, you know I think it's best if we stop now. We sound like a bunch of gossiping girls!" James said. The rest of the boys nodded in agreement.
"So when's the next Quidditch game Prongs?" Sirius asked. Remus couldn't help but chuckle at the sudden change in conversation. He sat and read his book while James and Sirius talked about Quidditch.
That conversation had made him think about what would happen after Hogwarts. Would Melissa still be there? Remus stared at the words on the page, not really reading anymore, he was more lost in thought. Will she be here long enough to even ask her? Won't I be too old for her?
A/N- I'm almost positive that they don't have Thanksgiving in England, but let's just pretend that they do for this one chapter. Other than the ending I found this chapter kind of pointless, but that's okay. Read and Review!
