Disclaimer: As per usual, we don't own the stuff that you recognize except for the characters that you know are ours. Wait, I'm confused. Never mind, we just don't own what J.K. owns.
Amulet Girl's Note of the Utmost Importance: AN: Greetings good people of Harry Potter Fanfiction! I hope all is well with you all and I hope you enjoy this chapter that I have worked so hard on. I sincerely apologize for the extremely long wait but I finally got it done and up for you lovely people to read. So read and enjoy! Cheers! Also, the title of the chapter is a song by the amazing band Cobra Starship, it doesn't fit exactly, but the title fits a certain part of the chapter and really the character's lives right now. Again, enjoy.
Chapter 38:
Move Like You're Going to Die
Telling my entire family that I was having a baby right as we sat down for Easter dinner was probably not the best time to do so, but really, when is a good time to say these sorts of things. Awkward doesn't even begin to cover the atmosphere around the table. Gran smiled at me, Mom looked mortified, Dad carefully watched my mother, Aunt Suzi had this look of strange satisfaction that her sister's kid screwed up so badly, most of the cousins couldn't really make heads or tails of the situation, and my dad's brothers and sisters sat quietly avoiding eye contact with anyone. Uncle Scott was the only one who was brave enough to speak. "Things could be a lot worse," he had murmured giving Remus and me a nod. "For instance, Gary could have made this entire meal, which looks lovely by the way. Ham anyone?"
After Uncle Scott broke the ice, the tension eased a bit and we were able to have a nice dinner. Nobody mentioned my announcement again while we ate, but afterwards was when all the talking happened. I sat down with my gran and mother and we hashed out all of our problems. There were tears, laughter, yelling, sadness, joy; any emotion you can think of, we felt it. My mother had apologized for the things she had said the night I had told her and explained to me why she was so upset. She told me that she was mostly scared that I would go through the same thing she went through and she never wanted me to hurt the way she did when she lost her first child. And when I left, she felt like she had abandoned me; like Gran had felt when Mum left home. Most of all, she was mad because she felt like she had failed herself. She admitted that she was stupid to have gotten pregnant so young and to have dropped out of school and she wanted better for her children. It put her somewhat at ease when I informed her that I planned to stay in school and finish my education. I could tell she was still somewhat upset about the whole situation, but I couldn't blame her.
The rest of the family took it better than I had thought. It was a kind of confused happiness, but it was happiness nonetheless. The cousins that were at Hogwarts were sworn to secrecy and were threatened by their parents to keep their mouths closed. Uncle Scott offered to help me with anything I needed and Dad gave Remus and I his official blessing; which meant the world to me. Things were finally looking up, just in time to go back to school.
We were all heading back to Hogwarts in a matter of hours and not one of us had packed a thing. Earlier that morning we all said our goodbyes to the Parkers and the house suddenly felt so much larger. Blair, Alexa and I headed up to our room and began to assemble our things. "What a break," Blair said as she put some items in her trunk.
"One for the record books, really," Alexa, said sitting on her bed as Blair and I put away our things and Alexa's. Alexa was never one for packing. "We sure as hell will never forget this." There was a tone of sadness in her voice as she played with her hair.
I gave Blair a look and she nodded in understanding. "Hey, um, Alex, I meant to ask you this before, but with all the commotion I totally forgot," Blair started and Alexa looked at her questioningly. "After the hide-and-go-seek game, you looked really sad. Did something happen?"
Alexa quickly sat up from her bed and walked over to the window. It was obvious by the way she was acting that something had happened, but of course Alexa wouldn't just tell us. "Um… no. Nothing," she said as casually as possible.
"Nothing?" I questioned, trying to dig down to the deeper problem.
Alexa turned to look at us and shook her head. "Oh, wait," she said with a sudden gasp. "There was something." Blair and I leaned forward, greedy to hear what she was going to say. "I scraped my knee." I let out a sigh and gave her a look. "I fell down and scraped my knee. You know how much I love my knees, I was really upset."
Blair rolled her eyes and continued stowing away items in her trunk. I looked at her knees and noticed that neither of them seemed to have been scraped anytime recently. "Wow. I'm sorry to hear that," I said playing along. "But they seem to be healing really quickly. It's amazing, you can barely even tell that anything is wrong with them."
Alexa looked down at her own knees and then started to weave her web of lies. "Yeah, I know, it's pretty incredible," she said quickly. "You know, I've been meaning to tell you guys this for a while, but I think that I have some sort of cool power where I heal really fast. For example, yesterday I got a paper cut and it was totally healed within the day. Crazy, right?"
"Crazy!" I said, faking immense amounts of enthusiasm. I grabbed a few shirts and began to fold them. "Oh, and when you're ready to tell us the truth, we'll be waiting." Alexa scoffed and hurried out of the room mumbling. Something had happened and a monkey with a half a brain would know that it had to do with Sirius. Ever since I came back home, I noticed that Sirius and Alexa were avoiding each other like the plague. Anytime they were in a room together, one of them would leave within ten minutes. Alexa had even been sleeping on the couch just so she didn't have to even sleep in the same room with him. She claims that she just 'fell asleep reading' but I knew better. For now, I just had to give them both their space until one of them was ready to tell me what happened.
After everything was put away and we tidied up our room, we carried our bags down to the front hall and everyone gathered as we prepared to leave. Mom and Dad stood together, my father's arms holding my mother lovingly. All of us kids stood in a row like a receiving line and readied ourselves to say our goodbyes and head back to school. Dad came to me first as Mom said goodbye to the boys.
Dad smiled at me and pulled me into a gentle hug. "Now, I don't know how any of this is going to work out, but I know that if we're going to make it through this we're going to have to stick together," he said placing a kiss on the top of my head. "I'll love you no matter what. And even though you're growing up faster than I intended, you will always be my little girl."
"Thanks Daddy," I said holding him tighter.
"And Lyla, don't let that one go," he said looking over to Remus who was talking to my mother. "He seems like a good boy and I have every confidence that he will take care of you. And in the event that he doesn't, just remember that I'm the only man in your life that you can always count on and I will never let you down." I gave him a knowing smile and nodded. I placed a kiss on his cheek and then he moved over to Alexa.
My mother came over to me next and just looked at me; her eyes gentle and soft. She took my hands in hers and took a deep breath. "No doubt this has been a rough break for you, for all of us," she said somewhat quietly. "And even though it may not seem like it, I am very proud of you. I don't agree with many of your decisions, but I think you've handled yourself beautifully, and I'm very proud of that. You handled it better than I did." I gave my mother a smile.
"I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you," I told her, needing to get it off my chest. "I love you so much, and even though I may say I can do this on my own, I'm going to need you through all this. And even though I'm going to be a mother myself, I still need my mom."
"Just know that I'm here for you always, even if we disagree. And I'm so happy that you learned from my mistakes with my mother," she told me. "When you left, I got a glimpse of how my mother felt when I left. I'm thankful, more than anything, that you came back; I was afraid that I was going to lose another one of my children."
I pulled my mother into a hug and held her tight. "You'll never lose me," I assured her. And as I said this, I knew that it was true. My mother and I had put aside our differences and moved to acceptance. I was having a baby and I had my family's support.
We had decided to go back to Platform 9 ¾ without my parents, so we all gathered our belongings and went on our way. The platform was crowded as usual and it was difficult navigating through the throngs of students and parents. In the past, I was usually eager and ready to be heading back to school and Alexa was yearning to stay another few weeks in the comfortable confines of our home. This year, Alexa was the one anxiously anticipating the return to Hogwarts and I was the one clinging to home. I had nothing to hide at home, nothing to be afraid of. At school, I was going to have to work every day to keep my increasingly larger belly from the scrutinizing and judgmental eyes of my classmates.
We dropped off our trunks and then filed into the congested corridors of the Hogwarts Expressed. People passed one after another, some we actually knew, and some were just admirers of the Marauders and offered shallow greetings to the boys. We finally found an empty compartment toward the back of the train. James slid the compartment door open and entered, Blair close behind him. Alexa stopped at the threshold and looked down at the floor. "Yeah, you know what, I completely forgot that Marlene needed to ask me something," she started; I already could see where this was going. "So, I'm going to go find her. I'll find you guys later."
Without another word, she pulled the strap of her bag farther up her shoulder and then walked away from us toward where Marlene supposedly was seated. I shook my head at my clearly tormented sister and prepared to move forward but now Sirius was stopped. "I need something from my trunk," he said. "I'll see you guys later." Sirius took off down the corridor in the opposite direction of Alexa. I continued to watch Sirius as he stalked off and I noticed that he slammed a nearby compartment wall with his hand. I looked back at Remus who just shrugged and then ushered me into the compartment, closing the door behind him.
"Where did Pads go?" James asked looking to Remus and I as we sat down.
"He said he had to get something from his trunk, but he's probably just going somewhere to blow off some steam," Remus said. "He's been extremely edgy lately."
"So has Alexa," Blair added. "Do you guys know what's going on?" she questioned the boys.
They both shook their heads. "Sirius hasn't said anything, which isn't surprising, but obviously something happened during that hide-and-go-seek game," James said. "It's always something with those two, it's a little hard to keep up nowadays." We all nodded knowing all too well.
"So, is it my turn or your turn to go after her?" Blair asked jokingly. I smiled and gave her a nod. "Duty calls," she said patting James's knee and standing up.
"I suppose I'll tend to the other one," James added as Blair left. "Make sure he doesn't hurt anyone. Be back in a bit." I waved goodbye to James and then scooted closer to Remus as he put his arm around me.
"How are you doing?" Remus asked rubbing my arm soothingly.
I appreciated his concern, but honestly, I was getting tired of people asking me if I was okay. I knew he only meant well. "I'm doing fine, can't really complain all too much," I told him. "I'm relieved that our parents finally know and I feel like we can finally move forward with some things now."
"Like what?" he questioned.
"I don't know, just things in general," I said. "Stuff with the baby and us. It feels good to be moving forward again and now I feel like we can really plan for things now." I could feel him nod his head in agreement. "However, even though I'm excited to start making a plan, I realize that there is so much to do and I don't know how we're going to do everything. There's so much that has to be worked out not with just us but with the school. What's going to happen once I have the baby? I want to stay in school, but how is that going to work?"
"Look, we just need to take one step at a time," he said reassuringly. "We will figure it out, and we have some time for that. And we'll talk to Dumbledore and sort out all the stuff for when the baby comes."
"Okay, okay," I repeated. "I just need to relax and calm down." I took a deep breath and thought of something that would be a little bit happier to talk about. "So, I've been thinking, we need to pick godparents for the baby. People who are going to set a good example for him or her, going to give them good advice, people who will be there for them if, God forbid, something were to happen to us. They need to be people we would trust leaving our child with and would trust to raise our child."
As we both sat there for a minute contemplating what I had said Remus said, "I don't think we know anybody like that. In fact, I think they would be better off without any godparents." I laughed and hit him playfully on the chest.
"Remus, I'm serious, we need to think about this carefully," I stressed. "Godparents are a huge part of a child's life, I know mine were. Scott and Jenny, while she was alive, were always there for me and I know Scott will always look after me, he's like my second Dad."
"Can't we just pick the Pope and Mother Teresa? I trust them, they seem pretty morally sound," Remus said, half jokingly.
I sat up quickly and looked Remus straight in the eyes. "No, Remus, we cannot pick the Pope and Mother Teresa! We don't know them, they are strangers to us."
"Well, I trust them with our child more than I trust James, Sirius, or Peter," he explained.
I gave him a look and continued, "Well, we work with what we got." I settled back under his arm and leaned my head on his chest. "Now, as far as the godmother goes, I almost have to pick Alexa because if I didn't she would throw a fit. As for the godfather, I'll leave that one up to you."
"Oh sure, leave all the hard decisions up to me," he said jokingly, squeezing me. "To be honest, I can rule Peter out pretty quickly; he barely can take care of himself. James and Sirius both have their faults; I guess it just comes down to who has the fewest." He paused here to think. "Even though I risk Sirius kicking my ass, I'm going to have to go with James."
"I think that's a good choice," I told him. "But I swear, if James passes on any of his weird quirks to our child, I'm going to kill him." We laughed together as I thought about the day when James would have his own children. "You know, maybe it's not too late to give the Pope a call." Remus's laughed rolled through his body.
He rested his chin on the top of my head and said, "James and Alexa it is then." I nodded my head in agreement. "Look at us, being all mature and such, making plans. I give us an 'A' for the day." He sounded so proud of himself.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself," I told him, patting his leg, "We still have a lot more to do, stuff a lot harder than picking godparents."
"One day at a time," he said simply hugging me closer. A short while later, James returned, cursing under his breath.
"I swear," he said, frustrated, plopping down onto his seat, "There is no talking to him when he's this way. I tried talking to him and tried to help but he just became his distant asshole self and shut me out. That's the last time I try to make him feel better."
"James, you and I both know that's not true," I said to him with a smile.
"I know, but just let me pretend for a little while," he responded, still looking a bit flustered. A short time after that Peter joined us. Peter had been somewhat of a mystery this year. In the past he was always around and constantly trailing after James and Sirius, but this year he was going off by himself or with other people more, which I thought was good for him. "Wormy!" James exclaimed. He grabbed Peter and pulled him down next to him and ruffled his hair. Peter just laughed slightly and shook James off nervously.
"Hey, Peter," I said, giving him a warm smile. "We missed you over break. Did you have a nice time at your grandmother's?"
Peter began to splutter like he usually did when he was put on the spot. Finally, he said, "Yeah, it was alright." Good ole Pete, a many of few words.
"You've been going to your grandmother's a lot lately Wormtail, everything alright with her?" Remus asked, concerned.
"Oh… um… well she's been a bit sick lately," Peter said, slowly searching his mind for each word.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that mate," Remus said. "Let us know if we can ever do anything." Peter nodded his head in thanks to his friend's gesture.
The rest of the train ride was spent without Alexa and Sirius. Blair had eventually returned and said that Alexa wasn't able to come back because she was 'super busy', according to Alexa. She was acting so weird, but what's new, really? Once back at school, Alexa and Sirius finally graced us with their presence, but they kept a good distance between each other and never once did they speak. We made it through dinner without anyone getting mad at anyone. And most people would see this as a good thing, but this wasn't normal for when Alexa and Sirius were fighting; and that's what worried me.
Usually when those two were mad at each other, they fought and fought, and then after that they just fought some more. But this time, they weren't fighting, they weren't speaking to each other or any of us for that matter; they weren't saying anything. As we left the Great Hall and headed back to the dorms, Professor McGonagall stopped us in the front hall.
"Mr. Black, Professor Dumbledore needs to see you and Miss Parker in his office now, please," she said plainly, looking over some scrolls in her hands. We all looked at each other, not knowing what to make of this. Did Dumbledore know that they were fighting? Had he had enough of it too? Not to be mean, but that's pretty bad when even the headmaster is tired of your squabbling. Sirius moved forward and then Alexa followed suit. McGonagall looked up over her glasses. "No, not you, Miss Parker," McGonagall said, "The other Miss Parker." She looked over to me and now we were all significantly more confused. "You two get on your way, and the rest of you need to get to your dorms."
Not knowing what on earth was going on, Sirius and I left the group and continued on as we were told. Sirius and I walked side by side down the various empty corridors. "I wonder what all this is about," I said honestly curious but also to try and provoke Sirius to speak. He didn't take the bait, however, he just shrugged his shoulders. "Do you think something's wrong?" Another shrug. "What could have to do with just me and you?" Yet another, noncommittal shrug. "Sirius, do you want to talk about why you're in such a foul mood lately?" He just looked at me with apologetic eyes. "Even though I am Alexa's sister, I'm also your friend; I don't just give best friend hugs to randoms." This extracted a small, tiny smile from him. "I know how to separate those two parts of me if you need to talk to someone. I know talking to the other Marauders about this kind of stuff isn't the easiest at times, they aren't entirely sensitive at times."
Sirius ran his hands through his hair and let out a sigh. "Lyls, I really appreciate the offer, but right now, I can't talk about it," he said quietly. "And I don't mean to be in a foul mood. I didn't mean any of it," he whispered sadly. I didn't really know what he was talking about, but I just nodded my head and patted him on the back, assuring him that it was okay.
We walked the rest of the way in silence. When we finally arrived at Dumbledore's office, I gently knocked on the door and it swung open slowly. Dumbledore was standing by his desk tending to his phoenix. He recognized us as we entered his office and greeted us with a serene smile and that classic twinkle in his eye. "Ah, good evening to you Mr. Black and Miss Parker," he said ushering us to come closer. "I'm sure by now your minds are thoroughly churning away trying to calculate every possibility as to why I have summoned you this night. Now, I won't say that I'm not curious as to what your young, bright minds have invented, but that is not the reason why I have brought you here."
He paused here and motioned to the seats in front of his desk. We both took a seat as he did the same. "Mr. Black, as I'm sure you're aware, you have recently become of age and Miss Parker you will join Mr. Black this Friday, I believe." I nodded my head in agreement. "Our world is changing and is being threatened. I don't tell you this to scare you in any way, I tell you this because you need to be aware that things are going to become very difficult in the near future. There is a group consisting of some faculty and other magical beings that are dedicated to fighting to protect the lives of those in danger."
Dumbledore continued to talk and tell us all about Voldemort and the Order of the Phoenix. He explained that there was a select group of students that would be approached about this as they neared their seventeenth birthday. He said that the choice on whether to join or not was ours, and he stressed the danger that we could be putting ourselves in by joining forces with the Order. I looked to Sirius as Dumbledore talked, and I saw a life in Sirius's eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time.
"You both possess qualities that the Order feels are compatible with our fight. And Miss Parker, while I hesitated extending this offer to you, given your condition, I also believe that you know your limit and will use discretion when it comes to the Order. I now leave the choice to you."
Sirius answered almost immediately. "I'm in," he said with such conviction. "I want to fight against him and everything that he stands for." I knew Sirius was particularly referring to the whole blood status issue that Voldemort promoted.
Dumbledore nodded and then looked to me. I wasn't as quick to answer as Sirius was. I honestly didn't know what to do. I wanted Voldemort to be stopped but I was scared. I had to think about my child now, not just myself. Deep down I knew that I had to do this, I had to fight for my child to be safe, even if that meant putting myself into harms way. "I'm in too," I said. I looked to Sirius who gave me a smile.
"As you wish," Dumbledore said. "I do ask that you mention this to no one. If we want to be affective, we need to retain a semblance of secrecy for the time being. Don't even tell your friends, they, in time, will learn of all this." We nodded in agreement. "Now you two head on back to your house; and remember, tell no one." Sirius and I stood up from our seats and headed for the door. Sirius opened the door first and allowed me to pass and then followed behind me. Once we were back in the main corridor, Sirius and I stopped for a moment letting everything sink in.
"Was that not the most amazing thing that's ever happened?" Sirius said, very excited. "We're in the Order. We're going to fight against Voldemort and all that pureblood bullshit."
"Yeah, it's great," I said, not as enthusiastically. I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared.
"Don't be scared, Lyla," Sirius said, pulling me next to him, his arm around my shoulders. "We're fighting for our safety, for everyone's safety. But if it makes you feel better, you know Remus will protect you to his death. And I'll always be there to look after you, although you'll probably be the one looking after us." He gave me a squeeze and a smile. "We're building a better world for little Sirius III in there."
I looked up at him. "You've got to be completely daft if you think I'm naming my child Sirius III."
"You're right," he said, throwing his own idea out the window. "I would never want to curse another innocent soul with that name. You need a name that's noble, meaningful, and outright epic."
"Are you implying that you're innocent?" I questioned, a small smile creeping onto my lips.
"Let me have my moment," he said looking straight ahead. "Let me have my moment."
"If it was my birthday, where would I be?" I looked up from my book and rolled my eyes at Blair and Alexa sitting across from me. It was late Friday afternoon and the library was buzzing, quietly, with students. "Blair, if it was my birthday, where would I be?" Alexa asked again.
Blair tapped her chin for a few seconds and then jumped to share her idea, "At a party." Alexa shook her head. "At a carnival?" Another no. "In a night club?" Nope. "On the moon?" Yet another shake of Alexa's head. "In the library?"
Alexa slammed the table and then pointed at Blair. "Definitely not in the library," she said forcefully. "Alright, let's try this one. If it were Lyla's birthday, where would she be?" Alexa asked with a large smile. I closed my book, knowing that it was pointless to continue. I sat there patiently as I awaited the reveal of my birthday surprise.
Blair wrinkled her nose and then her eyes twinkled. "Oh, I know this one. In Hogsmeade enjoying a lovely birthday meal with the two best friends in the whole wide world."
"You hit the nail on the head, Blair," Alexa said. "And you know what, what a coincidence," she added looking down at the imaginary watch on her wrist, "Today just happens to be the day of Lyla's birth. Funny how that worked out isn't it?"
I nodded my head playing along. "Yeah, that is wild," I said leaning back against my chair. "As much fun as that sounds guys, I was just kind of hoping to hang around here with everyone."
"Rubbish" exclaimed Alexa, which warranted several, shushes from those around us. "Lyla, it is your seventeenth birthday, this is huge, and we have to do something. And what is it with people not wanting to celebrate their seventeenth birthdays this year? Just for the record, I want a total blowout when I turn seventeen."
"Duly noted," I told her, making a mental note. "But Alexa, my situation's a little different."
"Lyla, you're pregnant, not dead," Blair said quietly. "You deserve to have a little fun. And trust us, it's nothing major, just the three of us hanging out and eating food, plus we get to get out of the castle for a little while."
Now that I thought about it, I was extremely hungry and I was looking to have a bit of fun after being cooped up in the library for most of the day. "What about the boys? Did you check with Remus to make sure it was okay? We had planned on hanging out tonight, all of us and all the guys."
"Oh, forget the boys, what they want doesn't matter," Alexa said, anger underlying her voice. "If what I want isn't important to him, then what he wants isn't important to me." Blair and I gave her a curious look, not really following what she was talking about. "Us," she said, "What they want isn't important to us." She quickly looked away and started biting at the nail on her thumb.
"What Alexa is trying to say, I think, is yes, we talked it over with Remus and the guys, and they all agree that you should do this," Blair said, attempting to clarify.
"Okay, fine, I'm in," I said, giving in. "I'm yours for the evening."
"Excellent," Alexa responded, quite mischievously. "Now, let's go, time to get dressed and ready. It's your birthday and you need to look totally hot."
I was led to our dorm room and immediately forced into the shower. After I exiting the shower I was pulled in front of the mirror. Alexa and Blair pulled and prodded pretty much everything. As Alexa attacked my hair, Blair was equally busy fooling with my face. When they were finally done 'glamming me up', as Blair put it, they led me out to the bedroom where there was an outfit lying on my bed. There was a light aqua colored long-sleeved shirt, a high-waisted black skirt and a pair of grey ballet flats sitting on the floor. I looked back at Alexa and Blair, who were beaming.
"Now, get dressed, mind your hair, and we're going to get dressed," Alexa said. I nodded and then pulled them into a hug. When I released them, they scurried off to get ready and I quickly put on the new clothes that were before me. When we were all dressed, we stood in front of the full-length mirror and assessed ourselves. "Damn, we look good," Blair, described our reflection. And she was right; we did look good.
Blair stood a little taller than usual in her heels that matched her pink and black dress. The dress fell right above her knee and the heels elongated her legs and made them look endless. Her hair was in soft beach waves that fell loosely over her shoulders. Alexa looked exceptional as well. She was sporting a dark pair of skinny jeans, black heels, and a black leather jacket with the perfect color purple underneath it. Her short blonde hair rested right at the shoulder of her jacket and her smoky makeup looked marvelous on her.
"I'm going to be honest," Alexa started, turning to the side and pulling on her jacket, "I feel like I could totally kick somebody's ass right now." She struck a pose in the mirror and gave a hardcore look that got me laughing. "I'm serious, I feel like I should be packing heat with this outfit." Blair and I laughed as we gathered up our bags and got ready to leave. Before we left, though, we stopped by the boy's dorm to say goodnight.
We knocked on the door and waited until James opened the door, whom's mouth literally dropped to the floor when he saw us. The reaction was pretty satisfying. "Um," he said, clearing his throat, "Hey, come in." He backed up and let us in, closing the door behind us. The four boys sat in silence on their respective beds and stared at us. "Happy birthday, Lyla," James managed to get out. I gave him a smile and offered my thanks.
"Alright," Sirius said suddenly, "Since it's clearly the elephant in the room, I'm just going to say it. You guys look freaking hot right now." Little seconds later, a pillow made contact with Sirius's head.
"Oi! That's my girlfriend you're talking about," Remus exclaimed, looking sternly at Sirius. "My pregnant girlfriend, at that." He got up off his bed and moved over to where I was standing.
"Look Moony, I can't help it if the mother of your child looks stunning, she's a hot mom," Sirius added, not really helping his case.
"Well, thank you, Sirius," I said. Remus pulled me into his arms and placed a kiss on my lips.
"Happy birthday," he said quietly, kissing me again. "And you do look beautiful. Maybe a little too beautiful," he said jokingly. I assured him that he had nothing to worry about, gave him one last kiss and then we moved to leave. "You three have fun," Remus called after us.
"Not too much fun, though," James added as we headed down the stairs. The three of us laughed at the boys we were leaving behind.
"So, not to put a damper on this whole evening and not to undermine our own abilities, but how are we going to get in and out of Hogsmeade without getting caught when we don't have the guys with us?" I asked.
"You know, I'm so glad you asked," Alexa said confidently. "While you two were busy being ogled by your boyfriends, I went into James's trunk and got this." Out of her bag she pulled familiar looking parchment. "Even if Sirius and Peter saw me take it, they were too distracted to say anything, and by the time they realize what happened, we'll be long gone. No need for applause." Blair and I looked at each other and then to Alexa, who was indeed kicking some ass tonight.
"Alex, you're brilliant!" Blair said taking the map from Alexa. "That's the way to use your body to get what you want." Blair tapped the map and we began our journey to Hogsmeade.
Surprisingly enough, we made it to Hogsmeade with no trouble at all and never once had to dodge a teacher. We arrived at the Three Broomsticks where Rosmerta was kind enough to seat us without a big fuss. We settled into our booth, ordered some drinks, and relaxed. Alexa picked up her firewhiskey and raised it in the air. I grabbed my water and did the same. "To Lyla, on her seventeenth birthday. May the years to come be filled with laughter, joy, love and friendship," Alexa said, quite cheekily. We clinked our classes together and then took a drink.
Blair let out a breath and then leaned forward on the table. "Oh, man. Isn't this great? The three of us just hanging out," she said. "It's been a while since it's just been the three of us. And with everything that happened over break, I feel like I've barely gotten to talk to either of you."
"You know, this is nice," I agreed. "And I can't thank you guys enough for being there for me these last few months; it truly meant the world to me." Alexa and Blair both smiled and nodded. "So," I said shifting the conversation, "Alexa, I couldn't help but notice that Sirius was practically devouring you with his eyes."
Alexa nearly started choking on her drink when I said this. She covered her mouth and coughed slightly. "I… um, I highly doubt that," she said taking another careful sip.
"Oh, I don't know, Alex, it looked that way to me too," Blair added.
"Really, I know that's not how it was," Alexa said a little sadly. "He wasn't looking at me like that at all. Not anymore."
"Okay, what the hell happened between you two?" I asked, just coming out with it. "I wanted to give you some time because I knew you'd come to me eventually, but I can't keep seeing you like this and I can't take anymore of you guys ignoring each other like the plague. So, spill."
"Lyls, it's your birthday," Alexa started, clearly trying to avoid this particular topic, "We aren't going to talk about what's going on between me and Sirius."
"So there is something going on?" Blair asked, jumping on Alexa's words.
"No," she said quickly. "Just can we drop it, please?"
"We can't drop it," I told her plainly. "I'm the birthday girl, and this is what I want to talk about."
Seeing that she wasn't getting out of this one, Alexa let out a large sigh and then she dropped her head to rest on the table and covered it with her arms. "It's over," she said solemnly.
"Alex," I said soothingly, "You know it's not over. You guys always say that but then you get back together. You guys just need some time apart."
"I wish that were the case," she said tracing her finger around the rim of her mug. "This time, it really is over. When we were playing hide-and-seek, we were down behind that hill by the old creek and we just started talking. We were trying to figure out what the hell we were going to do because what we were doing wasn't working. I told him I couldn't be a friend with him because it was too hard. I can't be around him day in and day out and act like nothing's wrong. So, he ended it all for good."
"He may not have meant it, Alexa," Blair said, trying to comfort Alexa. "Maybe he just didn't know what else to say."
"He meant it," Alexa assured us. "He looked me straight in the eyes and told me it was over. He can't be what I need and I can't be what he needs. I can't even be a friend to him. I just can't take it. That's why I've been avoiding him. It hurts too much."
"I'm so sorry, Alexa," Blair said, putting her hand overtop of Alexa's. "Is there anything we can do? I just hate seeing you like this."
"There's literally nothing that can be done," she told us. "I just have to work through this and get to the point where I'm okay with not being anything to Sirius."
"Well," I said, draping my arm around Alexa's shoulders, "Know that we are hear for you if you need anything. We're here if you need someone to talk to, someone to cry on, someone to break Sirius's knee caps, we'll pretty much do anything." Alexa laughed slightly at this and smiled.
Rosmerta suddenly appeared at our table, three drinks in her hands. "Here you go ladies," she said setting the drinks down in front of us.
"Um, Rosmerta, we didn't order these," Blair said, confused.
"I know," she said. "They're from the blokes over there." We looked over to where Rosmerta nodded and seated at a table were three guys. They looked slightly older than us, in their early twenties, and they raised their glasses when they caught sight of us staring. Alexa raised her drink to them and then smiled.
"Ah, it really pays off to look hot," Alexa said in a satisfactory tone.
"Alexa, maybe we shouldn't accept these," I said, me being the overly cautious one. "I mean we don't even know those guys."
"Oh, relax Lyla," Alexa said sipping at her drink. "Loosen up a bit, it's your birthday. And since you're not going to drink that, I'll just help myself." She took my drink and placed it in front of her along with the other.
I tried to loosen up but there was just something off about these guys. They had practically been staring the whole night, and to be honest, they just had some shifty looking eyes. I just had this feeling that they were no good, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. They kept sending drinks, not all of which Alexa and Blair drank, but by the third round I knew that we had to leave.
"Hey, you guys, I hate to end this party early, but I'm getting pretty tired," I lied. "I know I'm not as much fun as I used to be," I joked, "But would you terribly mind if we just headed back up to the castle?"
"Of course that's okay," Blair said. "We can do whatever you like." We gathered our stuff up, paid Rosmerta and then slid out of the booth. As we readied ourselves to leave, the guys at the table shifted slightly in their seats impatiently and began to discuss something. I quickly made for the door, Blair and Alexa close behind me.
As the door to the Three Broomsticks closed behind us, we heard it open a few seconds later. "Can I buy you another drink?" a voice called out. We stopped and turned around to see one of the guys trailing after us.
"No thanks," Alexa said coolly. "We're not interested." As Alexa turned, the man grabbed Alexa's arm to stop her and the other two guys filed out of the pub.
"Really," the guy said darkly, "Let me buy you another drink." Alexa tried to pull her arm free but it was no use, his grip was too strong.
"Let go of me," Alexa muttered with as much confidence as possible. As I stood by Blair watching the whole scene unfold I could see Blair begin to tense up and I could feel my heart rate climbing. Instinctively, I pulled my wand out and held it behind my back. "Let. Go," Alexa repeated. Suddenly, everything started to move so fast.
Alexa's free hand flew up and made contact with the guys face. The other two had drawn their wands. Spells were flying and I tried my best to cast defensive spell after defensive spell until Alexa and Blair could get their wands. I had never been in a situation like this before but somehow I just knew what to do. Magic had never flowed through me so fluently and real like it was at this moment. I could tell the three mystery men were pretty advanced because I didn't even recognize some of the spells they were casting. Alexa and Blair finally joined me just as I ducked to miss a spell.
Several people began to come out of the various shops and pubs and saw what was going on. And then all hell broke loose. It seemed that the three we were fighting weren't alone. Pretty soon several more had joined them and many of the shop tenders and bystanders had joined in the scuffle.
Spells were flying back and forth and when I looked around me I realized that I had lost Alexa and Blair. I searched frantically for them but I couldn't find them. Suddenly, someone grabbed my shoulders and I let out a shriek. When I turned around I saw that it was Rosmerta. She quickly dragged me into the backroom of the Three Broomsticks, where Blair and Alexa were already waiting, breathing heavily. "I've alerted Dumbledore to what's going on. I've also told Professor Flitwick, who was already here, about you three and he's going to take you back to the castle. You need to wait here and stay hidden until Flitwick comes." She left us without another word and returned outside.
"What the hell is going on?" Alexa panicked. "One second we're just enjoying a lovely evening, the next some psychos are blowing shit up."
"I have no clue," I said brushing the hair from my face, "But we need to get out of here."
"Where the hell is Flitwick? Where is that tiny man when you need him?" Blair exclaimed. Shortly after Blair's outburst, Flitwick burst into the room and quickly gathered us up and led the way out the back toward the castle. We were practically running back to the castle when a sharp pain hit me. I kept going but the pain shot through my abdomen again and this time it was too strong to overcome. I had to stop and I doubled over in pain.
"Lyla!" Alexa shouted, seeing that I had stopped. "Why are you stopping?"
"Ow!" I held my stomach as a wave of pain brushed over me. "Alexa, I think something's wrong," I said, genuine fear in my voice. Fear not for what we were fleeing from but for what I was feeling.
Flitwick and Blair were ahead of us now and were nearing the castle. Alexa put her arm around my waist and took my hand to help me walk. "Okay, just hold onto me and move as quickly as you can."
When we caught up to Flitwick and Blair are the doors to the school, Flitwick realized that something was wrong. "Is she okay?" he asked Alexa.
"She's hurt," Alexa said, keeping it vague enough so she wouldn't have to explain that I was pregnant to Flitwick. "We need to get her to the Hospital Wing. Blair, go get Remus."
"Okay, I'll go on ahead and alert Madame Pomfrey," Flitwick sputtered hastily. He was freaking out, I could tell. "Alexa, can you get her to the Hospital Wing on your own?" Alexa nodded her head as another pang vibrated through me like a bell.
"Alexa," I said through clenched teeth. "It hurts so bad." Alexa looked at me and she tried to hide the fear in her eyes but it was no use. I had no idea what was wrong with me or what this unbearable pain was but I couldn't help but get the terrible feeling that it had something to do with the baby.
"I know it hurts," she said trying to calm me down. "You just have to hang in there. I need you to just hang in there until we get to Madame Pomfrey. Just push through it. Please get through this." Alexa sounded like she was almost pleading. I took in a sharp breath and closed my eyes trying to block out the discomfort as we continued to walk. Alexa was practically holding me up but that didn't seem to ease the cramps.
Out of nowhere the sound of frantic footsteps were approaching. "Lyla!" Suddenly Remus came running into my line of vision. "Oh my God, Lyls, are you okay?" He brushed the hair from my eyes and then held my face in his hands. "What the hell happened?"
Before I could say anything, Alexa began to explain. "We were just in Hogsmeade, these people started to attack us and then a full out fight broke out. And when we were coming back up here Lyla started having some pains."
"Remus," I said, grabbing his arm and squeezing it. "I need to get to Madame Pomfrey. There's something wrong." Remus nodded his head and then moved to my side, slipping one arm underneath my arms and the other went to the underside of my knees. He scooped me up and held me close to his body. I wrapped my arms around Remus's neck and rested my head against his chest.
"I've got you, sweetheart. I've got you," Remus whispered to me as he continued down the corridor, Alexa trailing right behind us. There were so many thoughts running through my mind, each one interrupted by a shooting pain. What if there was a complication with the baby? I had just gotten used to the idea that I was actually pregnant and I couldn't bear the thought of losing it. My mind also kept going back to the attack. I played it all back to myself trying to figure it out. Who were those people? What were they doing? And why were they attacking innocent people? I couldn't help but feel that it had something to do with what Dumbledore had told Sirius and I.
As we neared the hospital, I could see Madame Pomfrey standing in the corridor waiting for us, the light from the inner wing framing her. She rushed forward upon seeing us and guided us in. "Take her to any bed," she instructed Remus, "I'll get my things." Remus laid me down gently on one of the beds. I grabbed his hand before he could move too far away. Madame Pomfrey came over in a hurry holding several vials. She uncorked a pinkish looking one and leaned toward me. "Here, this will help with the pain." As the fluid snaked it's way down my throat, the taste nearly made me spit it out. I swallowed hard and let out a shutter. "Now, I'm going to take a look at the baby." Alexa's eyes widened and she looked panic-stricken. I grabbed her hand with my free hand and gave her a weak smile.
Just as it had gone before, the orb of energy drifted from the tip of Madame Pomfrey's wand and dissolved into my abdomen. However, this time I didn't feel the same warm soothing sensation that I had felt before. It was almost as if the energy was experiencing some friction. When the orb reappeared before us, Madame Pomfrey leaned closer to examine the scan. When she turned back to me, her eyes told me that something was definitely wrong. "What is it?" I asked forcefully, not wanting her to sugar coat things.
She took a deep breath, looked at the scan again and then back to me. "It seems that your baby is in some distress," she said straightforward. "Professor Flitwick told me what happened down in Hogsmeade and if you were doing a lot of heavy spell casting, it would put a lot of stress on the baby. As a magical being, you have this part of you that takes a lot of energy and coupled with a pregnancy can be detrimental to both the mother and child if one isn't careful." Remus squeezed my hand and Alexa grabbed the closest chair and sat down next to me.
"Now, the baby's heart rate is abnormal due to the amount of stress it's under. We need to stabilize the baby and then I think that will take care of the pain," she continued. She looked at the remaining vials and chose a deep blue one. She handed it to me and I again ingested the liquid. Within minutes I could already feel the pain dulling. Madame Pomfrey inspected the scan again and nodded in a pleased manner. "I'm not saying that you can't do magic, but every person has their limit. For now, I would stay away from extensive, complicated spell work. Schoolwork should be fine but you have to start listening closer to your body. When you start to feel anything out of the ordinary you need to stop." I nodded my head in agreement and looked at the energy form that was still in front of me.
I looked over at Alexa who was staring at the same thing. She turned to me and said, "So that's it then? That's my little niece or nephew?" I nodded. "Well, it's not very cute, is it?" I scoffed and hit her arm. How dare she call my baby 'not very cute'! She had no clue what she was talking about.
"For your information, he or she has six or so months left in here," I said pointing to my stomach. "That's six months for additional cuteness to develop. And you know it's going to be cute, I mean look at us." I pointed to me and Remus and Alexa just laughed.
"You know," Madame Pomfrey chimed in, "I can tell you the sex of the baby, if you'd like to know. Finally know whether it's a he or a she."
I looked up to Remus. "Do you want to know?" I asked, a little blown away by what Madame Pomfrey had proposed.
Remus lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. "I want to know if you want to know, but if you want to be surprised, I'm more than happy to wait."
"Well, I know I want to know," Alexa added. "I'm tired of calling this kid an it." It was almost as if she had any say in the matter. "I mean, having it be a surprise is kind of exciting, but if you find out the sex now, you can start planning their name, buying gender specific clothes and other things."
"Having this baby is surprise enough," I said. "I think I'd like to know what I'm having. Even if it is trivial, it gives me a slight feeling of comfort knowing something in advance." Remus nodded giving me his blessing and then Madame Pomfrey nodded. She flicked her wand at the energy form and it started to shift and turn. When it finally stilled, she looked back at us with a smile. "Miss Parker, Mr. Lupin, I'm pleased to say that you are having a baby girl."
A smile spread across my face and I was filled with insurmountable joy. In a little over six months I would be giving birth to a little baby girl. Visions of the future suddenly flooded my mind. I began to think of all the things that we would be able to do with her, all the things that Remus and I could pass onto her. I couldn't wait to watch her grow up and to see which features of Remus and me she would inherit. And although I had known that this baby was coming, it was like I was finding it out all over again. This was our baby, our little girl.
Remus looked at me and he looked even more excited than I did. He leaned down and brushed the hair from my face. "We're having a girl," he said, almost laughing from his joy. "We're having a girl," he repeated, placing several soft pecks on my lips. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. "I love," he whispered. "I love you and our daughter."
When Remus released me, Alexa moved in for a hug. "Congrats, sis," she said. "And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'How can I possibly ensure that my daughter will grow up to be just like her favorite auntie?' But, don't worry, I'm going to be there every step of the way to make sure she gets all the important knowledge and life lessons one needs to be like me."
"Thanks, Alex, that's highly reassuring and comforting," I said patting her hand.
Madame Pomfrey waved her wand again and the energy dissolved and entered back through the tip of her wand. "Now, I suggest that you take it easy the next few days; allow yourself some time to get your strength back up. Also, I think it'd be best if you stay here for the remainder of the evening," she informed me. "Mr. Lupin and Miss Parker, you are welcome to stay as long as you like, but I do require you to keep this between us; I bend the rules far to often for you lot." Madame Pomfrey shook her head and then returned to her office.
"Thank you, Poppy," Remus called after her. Remus turned his focus back to me and smiled at me adoringly. He looked so happy. I hadn't seen him this excited about something in a long time, possibly ever. I liked seeing him like this. "Are you happy?" he asked me.
"Yeah," I said with a certainty that I hadn't felt in so long. "I've got my boyfriend, my sister, and my daughter, what more could I possibly ask for?"
"That by some miracle no one in this entire school will notice that you're pregnant, for a million dollars to pay for all the expenses of a baby, not to mention the grace of God and patience to deal with wedding plans," Alexa offered, killing the perfectly good, possibly a little naïve, mood that filled the room. What a dream killer. I don't know if it was my hormones acting crazy or if I was genuinely freaking out, but I completely lost it and started to panic.
Even thought I had accepted that I was pregnant and was so happy to be having this baby with someone that I truly loved, I knew the rest of the school didn't feel the way that I did. And I know that I shouldn't care what others think about me, it's really none of their business anyways, but I didn't know if I could handle quite yet the harsh criticism that would come from my schoolmates. I also realized that in all this time, Remus and I never really discussed exactly how we were to care for this child. How could we have missed something so obvious?
This kid was going to have to eat, she was going to need diapers, and she was going to have to wear clothes. Where was everything going to come from? Sure I was a witch but I couldn't exactly just pull food and clothes out of a hat. I was going to have to drop out of school and get a job; there was no other way. And then on top of all that, Remus and I were getting married. We still had to plan an entire wedding. I suddenly forgot how to breathe. As I began to hyperventilate, Alexa and Remus stood over me.
"Oh, Alexa, why the hell did you have to say that?" Remus asked as he tried to calm me down.
"What?" Alexa exclaimed. "She asked what more she could ask for so I simply told her." Pausing for a moment shrugged her shoulders. "Looking back on it now, I realize that that was a rhetorical question and I'm sorry," she said sheepishly. "Lyls, you've got to calm down, I was just kidding, don't listen to me, seriously, don't worry."
"Don't worry?" I said somewhat calmly. "Don't worry!" I turned to Alexa. "How do expect me not to worry, when you've so aptly laid out all the stuff I need to worry about! The whole school is going to think I'm a slut, I won't be able to feed or clothe my own child, and I don't know the first thing about planning a wedding."
"We'll help you Lyla, with everything," Alexa tried to comfort me. "Plus, all that is in the future, you don't need to fool with that stuff right now. It'll be fine."
"That's easy for you to say!" I said accusingly. Remus just covered his face and shook his head at Alexa. "You're not the one who has to carry another human being for nine months. You're not the one that everyone is going to talk about. You're not going to have to be the one who has to provide for this child, you get to be the fun aunt." I was thoroughly flustered and, I'll admit, I started jumping to extreme conclusions. "I've figured it all out. I'll mysteriously just disappear from school, get a job and work until we have enough money to support a child, which could be forever. And maybe we should hold off on getting married. Just take a few years and see how this whole parenting thing goes. We just have so much else going on, the last thing we need right now is a wedding."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Remus spoke up. He sat on the edge of the bed and turned me toward him. "I am going to do everything in my power to work it out so you can stay in school, my parents have already offered to help financially with the baby until we get out of school and I have some money saved up, and we are getting married." I went to protest but he just silenced me. "You are going to be my wife, and I don't need to 'test drive' anything, I know that I want you and parenthood and everything that comes with marrying you. And remember, we are in this together, none of this is solely your burden; I'm here to lighten the load. So, even though I know it's going to be hard, you need to let go of some of that control; let us take care of you for a change."
I don't know how he did it, but Remus was always able to put things in perspective for me. "Let me handle any financial stuff, Blair and Alexa will help with the wedding stuff, and if anyone even thinks a negative thought about you when you start to show, James and Sirius will beat them up. Okay?" he asked. I nodded my head. He placed a kiss on my temple and smoothed back my hair. "Now, you need to get some sleep."
"So do you," I said, seeing the tiredness in his eyes. "You go back and let the others know that I'm okay and you get some good sleep."
"I'm fine," he assured me. "I don't mind staying with you, I just want to make sure you're alright."
"If I have to stop worrying so much, so do you," I said with a smile. "I'm not a porcelain doll, Remus, I'm perfectly fine, and you need to rest just as much as I do." I could tell that he wasn't quite satisfied with this deal. "If it makes you feel better, Alexa will stay with me." Fighting through a large yawn, Alexa nodded her head.
"Never fear, Reemsy," Alexa said, "I will guard your fair maiden with my life. She shall see no harm as long as I am by her side." Remus gave Alexa a smirk. "Now get out of here, get some sleep and quit pestering us; we're sister bonding tonight." Remus gave me a kiss and the somewhat reluctantly left my side. Once he completely exited the wing, Alexa let out a sigh. "I never thought we'd get rid of him," she said with a wink. She nudged me and I moved to make room for her in the bed.
She settled in under the covers and we laid side by side like we had so many years ago when we'd stay up for hours on end talking in the moonlight. "Now, in all seriousness, and now that Remus is gone, how are you really? You feel okay right?"
"Yes, I promise," I told her. "I feel fine again, I was just over stressed before, and that's all." We sat there for a few minutes just staring up at the ceiling. Madame Pomfrey came out and turned off the lights, only a small amount of light filled the room. "Thanks for tonight, by the way, I had a lot of fun."
She let out a laugh. "Yeah, nothing says fun like getting attacked by randoms and having your baby get distressed," she said sarcastically. "It's just what we had planned for your birthday. You may have thought that this was all just spontaneous, but we totally worked this all out for you." We both laughed slightly. I closed my eyes and pulled the thin blanket up around my neck. "Hey, Lyla?" Alexa said in a whisper.
"Mhmm," I muttered.
"When you and Remus got in that huge fight, did you ever think that you two were really done, over for good?" she asked timidly.
If I was nearly asleep before, I sure wasn't now. "Even though sometimes I acted like we were, I knew deep down that we weren't. Or maybe I just didn't want to accept that reality," I tried to explain. "I knew I loved Remus, and at the end of the day, I knew that even though we were fighting, I didn't want to fight with anyone else. I knew I wanted him in my life forever, even if we were fighting."
"How'd you know that he was the one?" she questioned.
I really didn't even know how to answer that one. "It's kind of hard to explain," I said. "One day I just tried to picture my future without him and it just didn't add up. I know it sounds cheesy and cliché, but if he weren't in my life there would be a part of me missing; I wouldn't be completely happy without him." Alexa didn't say anything. "Sometimes I worry that even though I know Remus is the one for me, he's going to wake up one day and maybe think that I'm not truly the one for him. With the baby and everything, the affect that it could have on our relationship scares me. It's like I know he'll always love his daughter, but what if he falls out of love with me?
"And although it's hard, I try not to think like that most of the time. I trust Remus and I just have to trust in what we have right now and hope that our love is strong enough to carry us through all the trials and struggles we are going to encounter."
After a few moments of silence and thought Alexa said, "I love you, Lyla."
"I love you too, Alex," I responded. "Goodnight."
"For the last time Alexa, I am absolutely not having a themed wedding," I said forcefully. We had all gathered in the Room of Requirement the next day after I was released from the Hospital Wing. The sun was shining through the stained glass windows and we had gathered together to, in short, plan my future. What was that old saying? 'It takes a village to raise a family.' Well, this was my village.
"Look, all I'm saying is that it would be so much easier if we had a theme and totally kick ass," Alexa argued her point, not very well I might add.
Blair shifted on her pillow and looked down at the notebook, which was now being referred to as the wedding bible. Blair had been diligently jotting down notes, noting what others were saying and her own ideas. Lord even knows what was actually in that notebook, she wouldn't let anyone see; she had officially become the 'wedding planner.'
"What theme do you have in mind, Alex?" Blair asked looking curiously at Alexa. I looked over to the four boys sitting around the circle and they looked even less interested than they did when they were in Arithmancy. I laughed slightly as James was trying to touch his tongue to his nose.
Alexa shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Is awesome a theme?" I narrowed my eyes on Alexa and shook my head.
"Yeah, I'm with Lyla on this one, no theme," Blair said crossing something out viciously on the page in front of her. "I'm thinking fairytale with the ever so sudden undertone of modern romanticism," Blair said looking off into space as she envisioned the wedding in her mind.
"What the hell is modern romanticism?" Sirius asked, the first time any of the boys had spoken since we arrived; I think Peter was asleep.
"I honestly don't even know what we're talking about," James added looking highly confused. Blair rolled her eyes. "Why are we even here?" he asked, motioning to the other Marauders and himself. "It's not like we have a clue, and we're guys… just saying."
"James!" Blair chastised. "We are helping our dear friends plan the happiest day of their lives. And that is so old fashion to say that only girls can plan a wedding. I think what Remus wants is very crucial to the plans and I know Lyla would not want to leave him out."
"Blair, it's fine if they don't want to do this," I told her. "Honestly, if you just want to plan everything and leave me out of it, I'm fine with that too." Blair immediately started shaking her head.
"While I know it seems like I have a lot of experience in this area, this is your wedding and you both need to be involved in the planning," Blair informed me. "Now, let me look at the list of things I wrote down and we'll start checking things off the list."
Remus leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Do you really want my input on this stuff?"
I smiled and twisted my neck to look at him. "You don't have to if you don't want to, none of you do," I told him. "As far as I'm concerned, as long as you show up on the day of the wedding that's good enough for me. But, for your sake, I would just pretend like you guys care so Blair doesn't kill you." He nodded his head in total agreement, placed a kiss on my cheek and then turned back to his three friends.
"Let's just start with some simple details," Blair started, pen in hand, ready to write down my every word. "When do you want to have the wedding?"
She looked at me expectantly and it was making me feel a little anxious. "Well, I think we talked about having it in the summer before the baby gets here and while we're out of school. Maybe towards the end of July?" I suggested.
Blair looked concerned but shrugged and wrote something down. "That doesn't leave us much time, but I do some of my best work under pressure."
"I think that sounds lovely," Alexa said giving me a smile.
"Next, the color scheme," Blair said, her eyes sparkling with so much joy. "This practically defines the whole wedding. What flowers you'll have, the bridesmaids' dresses, everything. And keep in mind it's a summer wedding."
Color scheme? This was going to define my whole wedding? What if I screwed it up? I could see Blair getting a little impatient with me when I didn't answer immediately, but what she had to understand is that it took me almost two months to finally decide on a color to repaint the walls of my room. And now I had to come up with a color scheme on the spot? "Purple?" I said quietly. Blair didn't respond. "Pink?" Still no reply. "Blue?" Then Blair nodded her head skeptically.
"Bold. I like it," she said approvingly. I smiled to myself, pleased. "Of course, light shades, pastels most likely. That will be stunning. So for flowers, maybe, hydrangeas. How do you feel about hydrangeas?" she asked me. I just nodded and Blair smiled. I looked over to Alexa who rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Now, Remus this concerns you so I'm going to need you to pay attention for a bit. Do you guys have who you want your maid of honor and best man in mind?"
Remus and I looked at each other and he motioned me to go first. "Well, Blair, I love you to pieces, you know that, and obviously I want you up there with me on that altar," I started and Blair nodded her head knowingly. I turned to Alexa and looked her straight in the eyes. "Alexa, would you do me the great favor of being my maid of honor?"
Alexa's face pulled into a smirk. "Like I didn't see that coming," she said. I slapped her on her knee and shook my head. "Of course I'll be your maid of honor, I've been waiting for this for sixteen years." I grabbed her and pulled her into a grateful hug. "Love you, sis," she whispered and I squeezed her in response.
Now, it was Remus's turn. I was really curious to see whom he picked. It was going to be a hard decision and he hadn't really brought it up before. He was such good friend with all three boys it was hard to say what he was going to do. "After much thought about this," Remus began, he paused, very dramatically, "I would like it if Sirius would be my best man."
James smiled and clapped Sirius on the back. Sirius looked up from his lap slowly and looked at Remus questioningly. "You want me to be your best man?" he asked. Remus nodded. "You know there's a very high chance that I'll fuck this up in some way, right?"
"That doesn't mean you don't deserve a chance to get it right," Remus told him. "So what do you say?"
Sirius just shook his head in disbelief. "I mean, yeah, I'll do it," he said. "I'll try really hard not to screw this up," Sirius said with certainty.
Remus grabbed Sirius's shoulder and looked him right in the eyes. "I have complete faith in you."
Sirius smiled slightly and then that small smile grew to a broad grin. "You know what this means?" he asked a mischievous glint in his eyes. We all shook our heads; curious as to what he was talking about, all of us except Alexa. Alexa somehow knew exactly what he was referring to.
"Bachelor party." "Bachelorette party." Oh, Lord. I had completely forgot about that.
Alexa shared the same diabolical look that Sirius had and they were looked at each other. This was the first time that they had addressed each other in days. "My bachelorette party is going to kick your bachelor party's ass," Alexa said competitively.
Sirius scoffed. "Please, your person can't even drink, mine can, ergo, mine wins," Sirius countered.
"Oh, no he can't," I jumped in. "If Remus shows up to our wedding hung over I'm going to personally murder you," I told Sirius.
He just smiled at me. "Don't you worry your pretty little head, Lyla. Let me handle my best man duties and let your maid of honor handle hers, we've got this." Realizing he had referring to him and Alexa as a 'we', Sirius and Alexa both become uncomfortable yet again and got quiet.
"Um," Alexa said, "I have to go to the bathroom, and I'll be right back." Without another word, she got up from the floor and left. Blair gave me a look and I nodded. I was going to give her a few minutes and then go after her. It was always best to give her some time before approaching her about this kind of stuff. I looked over to Sirius who looked distraught and he was running his fingers through his hair, clearly frustrated. Blair scooted over to where James, Sirius and Peter were sitting to distract them so I could slip away without making a huge fuss.
Before I left, I turned to Remus. "So, what made you decide to pick Sirius?" I asked curiously.
Remus shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly had no clue, and I was nervous about what to do because I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings," he said. "But, then, James came to me and told me to pick Sirius. He said that he needed something like this and that maybe if he and Alexa had to work together on the wedding and stuff maybe that would help them work through their own problems."
I looked over at James and smiled. "That James is one smart guy," I said, marveling at the love that these boys had for each other. Remus nodded and looked over to James. I placed a quick peck on Remus's lips and then quietly slipped out of the room to find Alexa.
Out in the corridor, there were a few students roaming the halls on this lazy Saturday. I made my way to the nearest bathroom, and there was Alexa leaning against a sink. I slowly walked up behind her. "It took you longer to come this time," she said mundanely. I laughed slightly at how predictable we had become. She turned around to face me.
"Are you okay?" I asked leaning up against the sink next to her.
"Yeah, I'm fine, really I am," she said brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "And I know you want to help, but I just don't want to talk about it, okay?" I nodded my head. She nodded back and then pushed off the sink. She left me in the silent bathroom and disappeared. Normally I would go after her, but she just seemed like she needed to be alone.
I let out a sigh and turned to look at myself in the mirror. My head was swimming with so many things that it was hard to even focus on my own reflection. I leaned closer to the mirror and inspected my appearance. I looked tired. I stood back and my gaze shifted south and landed on my abdomen. I turned to the side and smoothed the material of my shirt over my stomach. My shirt hid my ever-growing bump and I knew that soon I wasn't going to be able to hide it so well. I lifted my shirt up slightly and pushed my stomach out to see what it was going to look like.
The reflection of an additional person in my mirror made me jump and release my shirt. When I turned around, I saw that the person in the mirror was Bree. She looked just as surprised as I was, but she seemed to calm down and she looked at me, her eyes narrow. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I started to feel nauseas. "Hey, Lyla," she said, "What's up?"
"Oh, you know, just peeing," I said as casually as I could moving past her towards the door.
"Of course," she said knowingly, with a smile. "This is a bathroom after all." I nodded my head and gave her a weak smile. "Well, I'll talk to you later." I turned to get the hell out of there but I was stopped. "That's a cute shirt, by the way."
I looked back at Bree and I swear I just wanted to go over there and slap that smile off her face. "Thanks," I said superficially. She nodded and then faded into a stall. As I booked it back to the Room of Requirement, I suddenly had the urge to actually pee for real, but I sure as hell wasn't going back to that bathroom.
BabyBlue's Author's Note: Well, well, well. What the heck does Bree think she's doing sneaking around and following personal matters, aye? It's about to get crazy up in Hogwarts so stay tuned to the next little bit of the story. It's almost over kiddies! Never fear though, there will be a sequel for those of you who want to know how the rest of their lives play out. Have I revealed too much? Sigh Anyways, tell us what you think in a review or a message or whatever you fancy. Thanks for reading! And I'm working on the next chapter so it shouldn't be too long.
Peace and blessings! (Glozel style)