So this chapter goes backwards a little bit. To the morning, before Sev and Bekka fight to fill in the holes the last chapter had.
Bekka wasn't all too surprised when Alex and Sirius never showed up for potions. She was surprised when a fierce looking Alex showed up on their way to Transfiguration and grabbed her and Sev and dragged them the opposite way of class.
"Erm, where are we going?" Bekka asked.
"We need to talk without anyone listening," she said. She pulled them into an empty classroom and began to cast every charm she could think to soundproof the room.
"Alex, what is going on?" Bekka asked.
"I have something I need to say."
"About what?"
"After graduation. I can't run away with you like we planned."
Bekka sighed. "No one is running away. It was a nice fantasy for that day, but let's be honest, now that I'm back with Remus, I can't either. I'm guessing you don't want to leave Sirius either."
"It's not just about Sirius. It's also about Jason," Alex said.
"Your brother?" Bekka asked, greatly confused.
"Look, I've accept the fact that he's an evil twat that is perfectly okay with killing innocent people. I cannot live with myself if I just run away and hide and let him kill people."
"So what are you going to do? Fight him?"
Alex nodded. "That's exactly what I'm going to do."
"But that means fighting all the Death Eaters," Bekka said, still surprised. Alex nodded once more. Bekka sighed. "Well, if you're going to fight, I'm going to fight too." Alex sighed in relief.
"How are the two of you going to take on the hundreds of Death Eaters?" Sev asked, speaking for the first time.
"It won't be just us. Sirius has heard rumors of a group ran by Dumbledore that's fighting back. And he's talking to the Marauders about the same thing. So there will be more than two of us."
"And what if the rumors aren't true? What if there is no group fighting back?"
"Then it's us and the Marauders. We might die in the process, but we still could've made a difference. And I'm sure we aren't the only ones looking to fight back. Lily will. And some of the other Gryffindors. Actually, there is probably some from all the houses that will join us. If there is no group already, we will make one," Bekka said, determined now that she had committed herself to the cause.
Sev stared at her. "Do you really think Lily will fight?" He asked, his face pale.
Bekka raised her eyebrows at him. "Do you really need me to answer that?" she asked.
Sev shook his head. He knew Lily was a fighter and that she would never back down, even if the odds were against her.
"So are you in?" Alex asked.
"Yes. And no," Sev answered. The girls looked at him quizzically. "I have to protect her. I know she hates me now. And I can't blame her, but I couldn't live with myself if something happened to her."
"So you're going to fight with us then?" Bekka asked, still confused.
"I'm going to fight against you," he replied.
"What?" The two girls said together.
Sev sighed. "Look, as much as I hate to admit it, she has Potter. Potter will do everything he can to keep her safe. So I'm going to try and protect her from the other side. I can try and keep her safe in a way he can't. If I can earn Voldemort's trust, I can learn of anything that might endanger her - or you guys."
"But Sev, they do horrible things," Bekka said, softly.
"I know, but I'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe. Even if it means participating in those horrible things."
Bekka sighed sadly. "There's no way to change your mind about this is there?"
Sev shook his head, a determined look on his face.
"Look, this is pointless to talk about," Alex said. "They'll never believe Sev is ready to come to the darkside. Especially not when his best friends are dating Gryffindors," Alex pointed out.
"This I guess it's time I lose another best friend," Bekka said. "We have to have a huge fight in public."
"Wait, you're actually going along with this?" Alex asked, surprised.
Bekka shrugged. "He's made up his mind, and he can be more stubborn than the two of combined. I'll support his choice, not matter how much I don't like it."
"But he could get killed if they find out!" Alex protested.
"Alex, we could all get killed, no matter what side we're on! It's going to be dangerous for him, but it's also going to be dangerous for us!"
Alex frowned at her friends, before sighing in defeat. "Fine, but I still don't like it. How is this going to happen?"
"Tonight at dinner, Sev and I are going to have a public fight. And he's going to say the same thing Reg thought about me back in December. That will at least get Reg on his side. After that he's on his own," Bekka said.
"I'll figure it out," Sev said, "Why do we start fighting? And what do I have to say?"
"We'll have to figure out a reason to fight. As far as what to say… just say that I'm manipulative and you wasted your time with me. That I'm an ice queen," Bekka said, trying to pretend that it still didn't hurt. The words Regulus had written about her would be forever burned in her memory.
Sev sighed. 'You know none of that is true."
Bekka nodded. "You have to convince everyone that you think it's true though."
"I will. Why do we have to do it dinner though? Why not lunch?"
"Because I promised Remus would meet him for lunch."
"Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think him - or anybody else - should know about this."
"I don't like lying to Remus or any of them, but I agree. Besides, it's not like they would believe me anyways," Bekka said, a deep frown etched on her face.
"Sirius didn't want me telling Sev about it anyways. So we'll just pretend I just talked to Bekka, if he asks," Alex said.
Bekka nodded. "Sounds like a plan. This stays between the three of us."
"I still don't like it," Alex mumbled. The other two didn't disagree.
"Wait here, I have to go grab something!" Bekka said, running out the door.
"What in the world could she possibly be getting?" Alex asked, surprised by her friend's sudden departure.
Sev shrugged. "With her, it's hard to tell." He paused for a minute before continuing. "I still think Sirius is a prick, but I hope you're happy with him. I really do."
Alex stared at him, surprised. Bekka saved her from having to reply by running back in. She proudly held up a camera, as she caught her breath. "One last picture of the three of us, before life gets absolutely insane," she said, grinning.
The other two couldn't help but smile back. "After this war is over, we'll have to take another one," Alex said. "Because we are ALL making it through this alive."
Nobody pointed out how slim the odds of that was. Nobody disagreed. They just smiled as they took the picture.
"Now time for Defense," Sev reminded them. The other two nodded and the three headed out the door towards Defense Against the Dark Arts.
When they arrived, Sirius was waiting for them outside. Sev didn't hang around the hallway and headed inside to his seat. "Did you guys get a chance to talk?" he asked after giving Alex a kiss.
"Bekka is in," she said. "Did you?"
Sirius shook his head. "Remus and James are refusing to miss class the day before N.E.W.T.s. What are these stupid exams going to mean, once we leave here? What I need to talk to them about is much more important. They won't even listen to me until after dinner." He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I didn't have a choice," Bekka mumbled. "She just showed up and dragged me off." She glared at her friend. Alex grinned back, unashamed.
"Don't say anything to Moony, please. I really want to be the one to talk to him about this," Sirius pleaded.
"I won't," Bekka promised. "Now let's get to class. I really don't want to miss anymore before exams."
The three headed into the class without another word.
Bekka had a hard time making it through lunch with Remus without saying anything. When he asked her if everything was okay, she wanted to tell him everything. But she didn't. She kept her silence. She had promised Sirius after all. The only good part of the day so far was Lupin asking her to move in with him. She couldn't help but smile every time she thought about it the rest of the day.
Bekka groaned as the last class of the day was dismissed. She had thought she would be excited. No more classes ever. But she knew dinner was next and she would have to fight with her oldest friend. Bekka headed slowly to the Great Hall. "You know, it doesn't matter how slow you walk you're going to have to get there eventually," Alex said, frustrated by her friend's snail-like pace.
Bekka nodded, but didn't speed up. "I figured out what we're going to fight about," she told Alex.
Alex looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Something that would normally be happy news. And I am happy about it. I just hate that I'm going to have use the news this way."
Alex wanted to question her friend further, but they had arrived at the Great Hall.
Severus was waiting outside for them. "I figured we'd all go in together. Hopefully, you've figured out a reason for us to fight, because I got nothing."
Bekka nodded. "Yeah, I figured it out. I have some news, it's happy news, but it'll be the perfect thing to start the fight. I love you, Sev," she said, giving her friend a hug. She was already fighting back tears, but she knew she had to get it together if they were going to pull this off.
"I love you too, Bekka," Sev said. "Don't ever forget that no matter what happens."
"I won't," she promised.
"Come on, let's get this over with," Alex said, rolling her eyes. She could not handle the mushy crap between them, it was going to make her emotional. "Besides, someone might mistake you for Hufflepuffs with the way you two are acting."
They try to scowl at her, but they ended up laughing. The three of them walked in still laughing.
They sat down and made small talk for a few minutes about the exams starting tomorrow, before Bekka said, "So I have some news. Remus and I got talking at lunch," she told them grinning. "And we're moving in together after graduation."
The two stared at her frozen by of them had really seen that coming. Alex was the first to recover. "What? That's so awesome," Alex said, grinning at her.
"Congratulations," Severus said. "Congratulations on completely throwing your life away."
"Sev… what are you talking about?" Bekka asked.
"I thought this was just a fling. That once we left Hogwarts, you'd see reason and forget about him. But this is too much."
"Sev… don't be like that… I love him…"
"Do you really? Or do you just love that he's easy to manipulate? Do you even know how to love anyone?" Sirius said, his voice getting louder and louder with every sentence.
"I don't manipulate anyone!" Bekka said, her voice just near shouting.
Then the two were shouting at each other. Bekka found it surprisingly easy to be angry towards him. She hadn't realized until then how much anger she really had over Regulus's words and now Sev was going to feel her wrath. She saw the pumpkin juice and thought, Sorry Sev, before dumping it on him and storming out.
Bekka barely made it out of the Great Hall, when the tears began streaming down her face. She ran out the Entrance Hall and down to the lake before falling to the ground and sobbing. Bekka felt someone kneel down next to her.
"He didn't mean that," Alex softly reminded her.
"I know, but it just felt so real. And it doesn't change the fact that I've lost him as friend. Even if it wasn't real. I won't be able to talk or laugh with him anymore. I feel like I lost a piece of me. We met on the Hogwarts Express our first year and have been friends ever since. It just seems wrong that I'm going to finish Hogwarts without him by my side."
"I know, but at least you won't be alone. You have me. And you have the Marauders, although I bet you never saw that coming, judging from the stories I've heard. And you haven't lost him forever."
"It just feels that way," Bekka said, sadly. "Go back inside, Alex. I just need some time alone to process this."
"Ok, we have our bracelets if you decide you want to talk," Alex said standing. She looked down at her friend sitting in the mud, crying. She hated to leave her like this, but knew sometimes it was best to let someone have some alone time.
"Thank you, Alex," Bekka said. "I'll be okay, I promise. It's just been a crazy day. Us deciding to fight. Sev making his decision. Remus asking me to live with him. Then fighting with Sev. I just need to be alone for a little while."
"I understand. Just be careful," Alex said, before turning and heading towards the castle.
Bekka watched her friend disappear before standing and heading towards the Forbidden Forest. It wasn't long until she was sitting on the edge of a cliff that looked out over the Great Lake. To her it was the most beautiful and peaceful place on the castle grounds. She had discovered in her third year at Hogwarts. No one else seemed to even know it existed it. It was her escape.
Bekka sat there, letting the occasional tear slip down her face. She realized this might be the last time she ever came here. She thought about all that happened in the past year and how much her life had changed.
Bekka jumped in surprise when Remus sat down next to her.
"Hey," he said, softly.
"Hi," she said. "How'd you find me?"
Remus smiled mysteriously, "I'm a Marauder. We have our ways." Bekka couldn't help, but smile at him. Remus put his arm around her as he continued, "You know I thought I had been all over the grounds but I've never been here. It's beautiful."
Bekka nodded. "It's my favorite place in all of Hogwarts. I don't think anyone has found it in recent years. I found it a few years ago when I was trying to hide after one of the pranks you played on me."
"I really don't think I can apologize enough for the first 6 years. I was young and stupid," Remus said, frowning.
Bekka shrugged. "It's okay. You've already been forgiven. I'm actually okay with it all. It all helped form me into the person I am now and I'm rather proud of who I am."
"You're an amazing person," Remus admitted. Bekka gave him a kiss on the cheek before laying her head against his shoulder. The two sat in silence, just staring over the peaceful lake.
"I couldn't help but overhear your fight with Snape," Remus finally said.
Bekka laughed bitterly. "I think the whole school overheard it."
"How are you handling it?"
"About as well I could be I guess," Bekka said, sadly.
"Well we all knew he was spineless prick anyways," Remus said.
Bekka pulled away from him. "Don't say that," she said, frowning at him. She couldn't stand to hear him say those things about Sev. She wanted to scream at him that Severus was doing something no one else could do.
"What am I supposed to say? Especially after the way he treated you?"
"I'm not remembering him by his foolish actions tonight. I'm just going to remember him by all the times he was a great friend to me. Because those times greatly outweigh this. I'm going to forget the bad memories and remember the good ones about him and Reg both. So don't say anything bad about him, because no matter what I will defend him."
Remus rolled his eyes, but didn't make any other comment. He pulled Bekka back into his arms. "I finally found out what Sirius wanted to talk to me about," he said, changing the conversation.
"Oh? Was it important as he made it out to be?"
"You know it was. He told us Alex already talked to you. Are we crazy for trying to take on Voldemort? Just a small group of us?"
"Probably. But it would be crazier to sit by and do nothing. It'll be worth it, even if all we do is save one innocent life."
"Life is going to be crazy after graduation isn't it?"
"After graduation? This entire year has been crazy!" Bekka said. "My life has been turned upside down. My worst enemy ended up being my best friend and lover. And my best friends ended up my worst enemies! Oi, what a year!"
Remus didn't reply just held her close as they sat there staring at the lake until the sun came up.
AN: So classes are over. And the school year is almost over. This story is almost over as well. But will go past the end of the school year., for a few chapters. I have random parts of the chapters written (like the Potter Wedding 3). So stay tuned. I'm writing every chance I get right now in either this or my book (I'm writing my own book! Go me!). Working 2 full time jobs I don't have a lot of writing time and since Spring Break is over, spare time is going to be even less. All well, I will make time for it. And I'm rambling now, so have a great day. Review and I'll see you next time.
Always remember to stay awesome! :)