Disclaimer: Yeah...not mine, I'm very sorry too
Sooo...*scratches head awkwardly* it's only been six months...
Okay in my defense I had this grand plotline planned out that I forgot after I was hospitalized twice within a month and my creative juices just haven't been flowing ever since then.
Alright, sorry, back to the story,
Read, review, and enjoy,
Stars.
I'm still mulling over Lily's words in my mind a couple nights later, on my way down to the Kitchens for a midnight snack. Well technically, Moony has the pre-Full Moon munchies and I drew the short straw and was sent down to get him food, but I digress. I tickle the painting on my way into the Kitchens and immediately the House Elves start bombarding me with food requests. I laugh and request chocolate with more chocolate. I swear Remus is just like a PMSing girl when the Full Moon is only a few nights away. I thank the House Elves and leave back to the Heads' Dorm, lost in the idea that teen girls, and all women for that matter, all essentially hate themselves. Why am I so obsessed with this? Am I becoming a teen girl? God, Sirius, man up. I continue in this vein until I reach the Heads' Dorm and open the portrait hole to hear soft singing (that was actually pretty off-key and not fantastic) "…this love is good, this love is bad, this love is back from the dead, these hands had to let it go free and this love came back to me…Jesus, Sirius!" Nat looks up from where she was writing an essay and jumps. "How long have you been standing there?" I laugh and lean against the wall,
"Not very. I wasn't aware that you enjoyed singing." She laughs and puts her quill down.
"Yeah that's probably because I really suck at it and don't share that information with, like, well, anyone. James knows because I used to sing in the shower as a little kid. My mom could never get me to shut up as a kid; my preschool even called home once to tell her that she had to get me to stop singing during class." I raise an eyebrow,
"I never heard you sing in the shower, Nat. Have I been deaf and never noticed?"
"Nah, I stopped a while ago."
"Oh, why did you stop?" Because you moved in. Her mind says at the same time she shrugs and says,
"I don't know, I guess I kind of realized I was a shitty singer and stopped. I decided that the Potters had suffered enough at the mercy of my vocal chords." I raise an eyebrow at her again.
"Don't lie to me, Holmes." She sighs and runs a hand through her hair.
"Fine…I stopped when you moved in with us. I didn't really know you, and honestly the only reasons I opened the door that night was because of James and because you were so injured. I didn't like you, I didn't trust you, Hell, I didn't know you. So I stopped. It's not that big of a deal, really. It had to stop eventually anyways."
"Sorry I make you so uncomfortable." I mutter, half-joking, half not. She shrugs and twirls her quill between her fingers,
"Don't be, and you really don't. It's just how I am. Now would you like to explain why you have a chocolate-covered caloric monstrosity with you? That has premenstrual girl written all over it. By the way it's melting down your arm." She raises an eyebrow at me and I glance down at the chocolate ice cream cake I had with me that was slowly melting down my hand and forearm.
"Oh, shit!" I laugh and she giggles at the ice cream dripping down onto the carpet, off my elbow, "Moony's going to be disappointed."
"That's for Remus?"
"Uh yeah, he has the pre-moon munchies. It's essentially PMS."
"Oh I feel his pain. Every woman on this planet feels his pain, actually. Well you can tell him that for period cravings, sometimes tea helps them go away, for some people at least. I don't know if werewolf cravings work the same way, but maybe."
"Ugh, Holmes, spare me the details of your time of the month!" I slap my hands over my ears and squeeze my eyes shut but I can hear her laughing in my head. This is probably what I get for listening into her thoughts so much.
"What? You men are such babies. Hey you all are going to be great if you ever get married or move in with women; you're already taking care of someone's time of the month." I laugh despite the period reference and flick some of the melted cake at her. It splatters onto her face, shirt, and (unfortunately) the essay she had been writing. "Seriously? I have to rewrite that now. Give me some of that cake, Black!" before I can stop her, she flicks her wand and smacks the cake out of my hand and into my face. It falls to the ground between us and we both try to summon it simultaneously, resulting in it exploding all over both of us, the floor, the furniture, and the walls of the common room. I look around slowly,
"Aw, man. The House elves are going to be pissed." She laughs and we sit down on the floor, covered in cake and ice cream, her hair looking brown from all the ice cream dripping from it. She looks at a strand of it and wrinkles her nose.
"Oh, that's just nasty, I'm all sticky. Do you know how long this is going to take to get out of all of my hair? I should just shave my head at this point, honestly." I laugh too and say,
"Yeah I think we both definitely need showers…but don't cut your hair, it would be a shame, even if it's chock full of ice cream cake." She smiles and halfheartedly tried to unknot her hair with her fingers but gives up pretty quickly once she realizes that it's futile. I'm pretty sure I look marginally better mainly because my hair is dark.
"Sirius?"
"Yeah?"
"How bad is the war actually? I know the Potters never really told us the truth. Dorea wanted to protect us for as long as she could, and I don't blame her, but I want to know. I know you know." I look at her, shocked at the change in the subject.
"What made you think of that?"
"I don't know…I guess I was just thinking about the night I opened the door to a broken and bleeding boy. I know they talked about the war, your parents, I mean." I listen to her mind and indeed I see her memory of the day I had arrived at the Potter's home.
"Nattie, I got it last time!" "Ugh, fine…" The doorbell rings again and again and someone bangs on the door. Nat walks to the door and opens it without bothering to check who it was. The wards protect her home, and they always will. As soon as she opens the door, something, or rather someone falls on top of her and she yelps. She pushes whoever it is off of her and notices that she's now covered in blood. I'm passed out on the floor, blood hemorrhaging. From his chest, she thought with odd clarity. She pulls her shirt off to try to stop it, the first thing she can think of and starts shout for her parents "Dorea! Charlie! James! It's Sirius! He—he needs help. He needs St. Mungo's, I think." The Potters run in and see what is happening in their doorway, the teen's trunk on the front stoop, door flung open, daughter shirtless and starting to actually cry, bleeding boy unconscious, and Charlie and Dorea step in as James pulls Nat to him. "It's okay, Nattie. Thank you for saving my brother. Thank you, little sister."
I leave her mind. I don't remember any of that. I remember making it to the Potter's and then nothing. I don't even remember knocking. I remember the driveway and then blacking out. I apparently hadn't blacked out in the driveway though. I had walked up to the door and rang the doorbell. And then when no one answered, I had started to bang on the door. Nat had answered and I had collapsed on top of her. She had tried to save me, her first kind gesture to me that I don't even remember.
"I always knew you didn't remember that. That's why I never brought it up. I let you think you passed out in the driveway because it was easier than explaining that you had come into our house, fallen on top of me, and then almost died." She says to me quietly.
"You saved my life."
"No I didn't. I opened my front door. You saved your own life, Sirius."
"I still feel like I owe you a thank you. So, thanks" she smiles and shrugs as some cake slips off her face, almost comically.
"Don't mention it. I wasn't too keen on seeing you, or anyone for that matter, die on my floor." She says. I look at her, and despite there being cake and ice cream all over her school uniform and her hair is a ratty mess, turned a strange brown color by the food fight, she looks grown, capable, and ready for the world.
"The war is not going well at all," I say. She looks at me, surprised that I was saying anything at all on the subject, "Death Eaters are being recruited younger and younger and Voldemort's followers are no longer just witches and wizards but all kind of creatures. My parents used to say it was only a matter of time before the giants joined him. Everyone who knows what is happening is scared, and most are too afraid to do much of anything. What we think of Voldemort, the Death Eaters think of Dumbledore. He's a great man and he's leading the resistance, to the best of my knowledge. More and more Muggle towns are being raided according to the Prophet and from what I used to hear; it's only a matter of time before not only Muggles but Muggleborns are targeted. Eventually half-bloods will be as well is he's successful from what I understand."
"Half-bloods? I understand his sick reasoning for targeting Muggleborns, but half-bloods are just as much pureblood as Muggleborn. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I understand it." She says, shocked by that. I'm not surprised. Not many people have guessed that eventually Voldemort will target half-bloods. He wasn't looking to tidy up, he was looking to clean house.
"I know. He's looking to completely purge the world of anything that's not the 'perfect' wizarding race: his pureblooded followers. It's just…what I just can't understand it how people but into it. How people always but into shit like this. He's like the new Hitler. And the people and creatures fighting for him that aren't pureblood, they're as good as dead once he no longer has use for them. They're not even worth keeping alive to him."
"That's vile. They're all disgusting, every single one of them." She looks at me with big eyes and says quickly, "oh, shit, your family. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that—"
"No, you did, and you're right. They're not good people, they're actually quite horrible people. I use the term 'people' loosely. It's why I left; I realized that no matter how hard I tried I couldn't save Regulus, so I decided to save myself instead." She nods slowly and sighs,
"I can't believe we're graduating into this mess in less than three months. We're so royally screwed. I mean what are we even going to do? Where are we going to live? Forget where, how are we going to live?" I laugh a little and say,
"Wow, take it easy Holmes, a day at a time. First things first, we both need a shower and someone needs to explain to Moony where his cake is." We look around the room and she says slowly,
"I don't think you need to explain that. It's pretty easy to find. It's everywhere."
"It's literally everywhere. I didn't know trying to summon something in opposite directions would do…this." I say
"Yeah…the things you learn, huh?"
"No shit." I answer absently while looking around the room. It really is a mess and I consider leaving a note of apology for the poor House Elf that has to come clean this. Well, at least they're magic.
"Sirius. Hello? Anyone in there? Sirius?" A hand waves in front of my face and I look at Nat, who is looking at me with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah?" I say and she rolls her eyes as her eyebrows drop down to a normal level on her forehead.
"You just missed all of that didn't you?"
"Erm, sorry. What did you say?" she looks at my face like she isn't quite sure what to think but slowly answers, like she's thinking about something else.
"I asked if you know why Mulciber and Avery are more, um…interested in me this year than they were before." I look at her and listen for any internal chatter of hers, taken aback by the question. There's nothing except fear of them and an overwhelming desire to whack them both over the heads with heavy objects.
"I don't know…My best guess is that they happened onto you at the start of the year right before that Hogsmeade trip and thought you were pretty, or hot, or what have you and got really interested once they got knocked flat on their asses. Then they found out you were pureblooded and their moms got involved and my mom got involved and someone started to ring wedding bells, which I'm sorry about by the way. I think it just snowballed out of control." I watch what I say about that incident that I had walked in on in September earlier that year and the fear is on her face and screaming out of her head.
I push gently at the fear and momentarily get a flash of her fear that I had walked in on at the very start of the year, before the Hogsmeade trip that we had spent together. They're too close, too big, I can't fight them off. Where's my wand? Shit, it's gone. Oh, God, I can't get away. Get your hands off. Get off! Who was that? I don't think I've ever been so happy to see Sirius Black in my entire life. I have never felt so violated in my entire life and it wasn't even me they were after. She speaks, interrupting my thoughts,
"You're telling that you think that this entire problem started because I'm cute? Or they thought I was cute?" I think about it momentarily,
"Essentially. You're a pretty girl, Nat. Men have done far worse for less than a pretty girl. Look at the Trojan War, that was all for Helen." She laughs and raises an eyebrow,
"Was there a compliment in there, Sirius Black?"
"There really was, Natalia Holmes." I retort.
"Yeah. I'm feeling like the epitome of sexy with this cake plastered onto every inch of my skin and clothes." I almost come onto her. I almost ask her to take a shower with me, but I stop myself. I had already seen how she fears Mulciber and Avery, she doesn't need me trying to get in the shower with her too. So instead I laugh and stand, helping her up once I'm up and say,
"It's a pretty hot look for both of us. If you're really that worried though, I'd go get a shower. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go explain to a premenstrual werewolf where exactly his cake is." She watches me go with a curious expression on her face and she says gently,
"Goodnight. And sorry if Remus kills you for demolishing his cake." I laugh again and say,
"Don't worry about it, it was totally worth it. Goodnight." I can feel her eyes all the way up the stairs out of the Common Room and just beyond my range of human hearing I swear my dog-ears hear a soft, "goodnight" whispered back to me just before I enter James' room and a show hits the wall next to me, thrown by Moony Lupin himself.
"Padfoot, Goddammit! Where the fuck is my cake? And what the bloody hell happened to your clothes? Why are you covered in crap?"