Of Quidditch, Malfoy, and Wormtail

"GO, JAMES! GO!"

The Quidditch match quickly arrived and each House, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, had been pumped. Gryffindor had been positive they were going to win against the Hufflepuff team.

The weather was on their side that day, for it wasn't exceedingly hot, though warm. Not a cloud was in the clear blue sky, making it a cinch for the Seeker to see the Snitch.

"COME ON!" Melissa growled.

Remus glanced askance at her, a small smile on his face. A Chaser flew past them with great speed, tousling their hair and clothing.

The whole Gryffindor house was in the stands, cheering on their team, holding up banners and sporting the scarlet and gold House colors. James was sure they were going to win the cup after the final match, and he had declared he'd be damned if his last year at Hogwarts he left as a loser. That added pressure to the team to be in the running for the ultimate first place, though, so far, they seemed to be doing well.

Melissa slammed her hand on the bar in front of them. "Ugh! She missed the goal!"

"If you are complaining so much about their playing, you should've tried out," Remus jokingly said.

"I should of," Melissa grumbled.

Remus' eyes widened slightly, not expecting her to say that. Ariel was just as bad as Melissa, getting irritated over the little, and not meaningful things. Lily, like Remus, secretly could not care any less. Sure they would be happy if their house won, but, really…what is the big deal?

"Oh, come on!" Professor McGonagall shouted.

Remus, Lily, Ariel, and Melissa all simultaneously turned, staring at their Head of House.

"And the Chaser, James Potter, just misses that Bludger!" Peter announced.

Melissa jerked back forward. She cringed. "James almost got hit…he needs to watch!"

Sirius pelted a Bludger at the opposing team, knocking a Chaser off its broom.

"Oops," Sirius said, grinning and looking down.

"YAY, SIRIUS!" Ariel shouted. "GOOD JOB!" She smiled at him.

"The Keeper is doing a good job," Remus commented. Of course, no one listened to him, with the exception of Lily.

"Mhm," she said. "It must be hard, blocking everything like that."

James glanced behind him; a Quaffle was flying at him. He swiftly yanked his broom the other way, catching it by the tips of his fingers.

The Gryffindor house erupted in cheers as he made it squarely into the goal. James smiled, laughing at the pure adrenaline running through his body.

The Seeker on the Gryffindor team suddenly shot upwards. The whole House was on their toes, waiting to see what was about to unfold.

James glanced up, away from the game happening around him.

"JAMES! PAY ATTENTION!" Melissa hollered as a Bludger went flying towards him.

James, thinking fast, flipped upside down and kicked the Bludger. The impact sent the ball flying forward. Sirius shot ahead, whacking it away from the Chaser it was soaring towards.

James swore through his teeth, taking a chance to look up again. Both Seekers from each team had spotted the Snitch.

"The Gryffindor Seeker has caught the Snitch!" Peter shouted excitedly.

"Yes!" Melissa punched her fist up in the air.

Catcalls and joyous shouts resounded in the Gryffindor section. They held up their banners and signs higher, shouting words of praise.

James let out a breath of relief and flew towards the ground. Everyone ran out onto the field. None other than Professor McGonagall was leading the high-spirited group.

"We did it!" Melissa shouted, hugging James, almost toppling him over.

"Victory!" Sirius shouted, throwing his fists up into the air. Both James and Sirius, as were the rest of the team, covered in sweat, though no one cared, and hugged and high-fived them anyway.

Ariel, screaming, jumped up onto Sirius, kissing him.

"We are this close," James pinched his forefinger and thumb not even an inch apart, "to winning the Quidditch Cup!"

"Party in the common room!" someone shouted. And party they did…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

James and Sirius had smuggled in butterbeer and some pumpkin fizz.

Everyone had ogled, saying, "Where did you get those?"

The two boys merely shrugged, handing some out to everyone, though shared identical grins on their faces.

"To the captain, James!" a student shouted, throwing his glass fizzing with butterbeer up into the air.

"To me!" James shouted as everyone cheered. "And to my wonderful, wonderful team! Shall we continue on and defeat all!"

"That's the best speech I've ever heard James say," Remus said with a smile. The common room table seated all him, Melissa, Ariel, Lily, and Peter. Meanwhile, everyone else chattered loudly in the middle of the room.

Melissa glanced down at her bottle of butterbeer, a look of mild disgust on her face.

"Oh. You've never properly tried butterbeer, have you?" Remus asked, looking at Melissa.

"No. Every time we went to the Three Broomsticks, I got something else." She lifted the glass up and smelled the golden liquid in the cup. She held back a cough. It was a strongly sweet smelling drink. Perhaps, too sweet.

"Try it," Ariel said, taking a sip of hers. "It's really good."

"Then again, should I trust people that eat vomit flavored jelly beans?" Melissa mumbled more so to herself, examining the glass.

"Just try it," Lily said. "It's not going to kill you."

Melissa decided that that was true. "Ah well." She sighed. She took a sip, well, more like a swig. Once it hit her mouth, Melissa's face scrunched up, and the butterbeer in her mouth landed all over Remus' lap.

"Ew," Remus said, sticking his tongue out. His pants were saturated with the sweet smelling drink, and it looked like he had had a little accident to say the least.

"Blech!" Melissa said, her face still scrunched in disgust.

"Hmm…" Ariel mused. "Most everyone likes butterbeer…"

Melissa then looked down at Remus' lap. "Oh…did I do that?"

"Kind of," Remus said, squeezing his pants, causing them to drip.

Melissa blushed. "Sorry."

"Not a problem. It's just not everyday I've had a drink spit all over me…" Remus said, sighing as yet more butterbeer drizzled out of his pants.

Lily and Ariel were fighting the urge the laugh.

"Here," Lily said, and with a wave of her wand Remus' pants were dry.

"It tastes like a horrible mix of cream soda, butterscotch, and…butter all heated up into one hot, disgusting drink," said Melissa, reaching over and stealing a pumpkin fizz.

"Hey, guys!" Sirius said, walking over, two bottles of butterbeer in each of his hands. He hiccupped.

"Oh, no, Padfoot. How many did you have of those?" Remus asked quite motherly.

"Um…I don't know," Sirius said, looking up to the ceiling in thought. "Why?" He looked back down at Remus with a goofy smile.

"Because…sugar gives you the same effects as alcohol," Remus grumbled. "I swear, Sirius, you will never have to be an alcoholic."

"Really?" Sirius asked, hiccupping yet again.

Melissa laughed.

"Hey, are you drinking that?" Sirius asked, motioning towards Melissa's butterbeer.

"No. Take it." Melissa shoved it towards him.

"You don't like butterbeer!?" Sirius gasped. "It has got to be the best tasting drink mankind ever made!"

"To you, perhaps," Melissa said, frowning.

The party had not stopped until 3 A.M. It would've continued, too, if McGonagall hadn't walked in, looking extremely livid, though her attire, pajamas, was kind of throwing off her serious look.

"Look, I know you are all excited about winning the match today…but it is 3 in the morning. You all must go to bed at this instant!"

Remus had gladly went up to bed, though a few minutes later, was, aggravated, dragging his best mates up the dormitory stairs for they had fallen asleep on the floor. He was mumbling something sounding oddly like, "what would they do without me? I have no clue…"

Melissa didn't even get upstairs, she fell asleep on the armchair, and Remus would've gone back and gotten her if he hadn't fallen asleep the instant he put James and Sirius in their beds.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ugh…" Melissa woke up the next morning with a horrible ache in her back. She squinted at the sunlight streaming in through the open window.

James walked down the stairs like a zombie, his glasses on upside down, his pajama shirt stuffed sloppily in his pants, the other side hanging out. He walked aimlessly over to the window. He frowned, apparently not knowing why he had come downstairs. Man…"

As soon as he came, he left. James slowly treaded back up the stairs, yawning all the while.

Remus walked down the stairs next, yawning and scratching his bed head. He seemed far less bad than James was.

"Melissa?"

"Hmm?"

Remus breathed out, walking over to the armchair. "Sorry…" He blushed. "I would've brought you up to my room, but I feel asleep…"

"That's okay," said Melissa through a yawn. "How are James and Sirius?"

"They have horrible stomachaches." Remus rubbed his eyes. "Go figure…"

Melissa laughed quietly. "Hey, Remus?"

"What?"

"Help me up?"

Remus put his hands beneath her underarms, lifting her up as if she were a small child.

"Geez, Remus…" Melissa said, laughing as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. "Maybe you are Hercules…"

Remus smiled.

Melissa groaned. "My back hurts!" she whined.

"What did you do?" Remus asked, looking up at her.

"I slept in fetal position for several hours on that little armchair over there." She pointed towards said armchair.

He smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry…if I would've gotten you…"

"Oh, stop yourself. I'm fine, my back just hurts," Melissa said.

"Here, then. Let me make it up to you." Remus placed her down gently on to floor in standing position. He brought them over to the couch, seating himself, and telling Melissa to sit on the floor.

"This is making it up to me how?" Melissa joked, looking up at him.

"Turn around," Remus said, laughing. He then began to massage her back. "Geez. You sure have a lot of knots…"

"I know that," Melissa said through gritted teeth. Sure, it felt good, in an odd, painful way. "Ow!"

"It's going to hurt for a little bit," Remus said sympathetically.

"So I've realized," Melissa whispered, shutting her eyes.

After awhile, as Remus had said, it did feel kind of nice. Well, nice enough where Melissa almost fell asleep right there on the floor. He had started at her shoulders, working his way down. As soon as he reached her middle back, he had to question if she was even awake or not.

"Melissa?" Remus asked with a laugh.

No response.

"Melissa?"

"Hmm?" She yawned.

An hour later, Remus and Melissa lay on the couch, her lying on top of him as usual.

She sighed contently. "Did I ever tell you that I love you dearly?"

Remus laughed. "Yes you have." He kissed the top of her head.

A loud crash interrupted the two and the glanced up to the boy's dormitory stairs.

"Ouch," Sirius' strained reply came. He was flat on his stomach on the floor, looking quite sick. Melissa sat up, leaning over the back of the couch. "Sirius?" She fought the giggle that wanted to come out. "Are you alright?"

"Peachy…" he mumbled against the floor. Sirius pushed himself off the floor. He walked sluggishly over to the water pitcher. "What time is it?" he asked with a yawn, attempting to hold the glass steady as he poured water into it.

"Around ten," Remus answered, watching his friend with a mildly amused look.

Sirius grumbled. "Can I get away with sleeping all day?"

"Why not?" Remus shrugged. "It is Sunday."

"Well, then. I bid you two good day, have fun with…whatever you are doing. I am retiring back to bed." Sirius left in a fashion as if he were ending a show. Once the door closed behind him, Remus and Melissa turned to each other, bursting out in laughter.

"It happens every time," Remus said, shaking his head.

"Every time they drink butterbeer?" Melissa asked, shocked.

"No. Every time we have a party in the common room…"

Melissa laughed, lying back down. She ran a finger down along the patterns on Remus' pajama bottoms. She cracked a smile as Remus' leg twitched. Melissa continued, until Remus' large hand grasped her hand.

"That tickles," said Remus, smiling.

Melissa then preoccupied herself by tracing irregular shapes along Remus' palm, looking deep in thought. Remus watched her as well. She looked up at him, feeling him staring at her. He leaned forward and kissed her.

The portrait suddenly swung open, revealing Dumbledore. "Oh," he said, a small smile appearing on his face. His eyes twinkled as he stared at Remus and Melissa on the couch.

Remus and Melissa jumped apart as if they got burned, both turning considerably scarlet.

"I don't mean to intrude, but may I speak with you, Ms. Ross?"

"Of course, sir," Melissa said, getting off of Remus.

Dumbledore and Melissa strolled idly through the halls. He had his hands clasped behind his back, simply looking around Hogwarts corridors.

"Ice mice," Dumbledore declared as they reached his office. Melissa laughed. Dumbledore and his sweets…The gargoyle nodded, and the spiral staircase appeared. "Take a seat, Melissa," he said once they stepped into his office.

Melissa sat down in the comfy chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. She glanced around. She had only been in the Headmaster's office twice in her stay at the school. Her eyes locked on a rather large, beautifully colored red phoenix.

"That's Fawkes," Dumbledore said, seemingly reading her mind. "Lemon drop?" He held his bowl out to her.

Melissa slowly took one, popping it into her mouth. It was good, actually. Nothing like the butterbeer she had tried the night before…

"So," he laced his fingers, resting his chin upon them, "how are your lessons going with Severus?"

"Quite well," Melissa answered.

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes drifting to the floor on the right side of his desk. "No problems with James, Sirius, or Remus?"

Melissa, despite herself, let out a small laugh. "No, sir. Except for one incident, they have been doing good about it too…"

He nodded yet again.

"Can I ask you a question, sir?" Melissa asked.

Dumbledore looked back up at her. "Sure you can, Melissa. What would you like to know?"

"Sir, why didn't we just use a, you know…time turner? I heard about it…and I'm just curious."

"Ahh. I see. Well, the risk would be too great. You aren't going a mere few hours forward, you are going years."

"So, that's why we've been trying other ways," Melissa said, understanding.

"Why?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling once more. "Getting tired of Mr. Lupin?"

Melissa blushed furiously. "No…I could never get tired of Remus, sir."

"I should think so," Dumbledore said, laughing. "Speaking of Mr. Lupin, McGonagall informed me you are thinking of becoming an Animagus?"

"Yes," Melissa said, nodding her head.

"You do know that that is quite an advanced type of Transfiguration, I presume?"

"Yes, sir. I do."

Dumbledore gave her a smile. "That's very brave of you to want to do something like this."

"I just think it might make it easier. For the both of us," she added quietly.

"Well, McGonagall thinks after a bit more lessons with Snape the two of you can give it a try."

The smile that appeared on Melissa's face was priceless at the moment. "Really?"

"Yes, really," he said, still smiling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Melissa practically skipped back to the common room, the smile on her face still evident. She walked through the portrait hole to be greeted by silence, surprisingly.

James and Sirius were involved in a game of Exploding Snap; apparently their minds had changed on sleeping in all day. Sirius' face was scrunched up in concentration, as he tapped his fingers on his chin. James, on the other hand, had been placing his glasses on and off his nose, sticking the plastic stem between his teeth. Remus was sitting on the couch, a book resting in his lap, his legs tucked under him, looking up every so often at the heated game between the two. All had gotten changed out of their pajamas, though were still in comfortable, lazy clothing.

The quiet common room was disrupted as some of Sirius' cards exploded. Sirius yelped, dropping the cards and scrambling backwards.

James was rolling on the floor with laughter. "You do that every time!"

"I hate this stupid game," grumbled Sirius. "I always lose."

Remus glanced up from his book, a small smile appearing on his face. "You lost, Padfoot?"

"Yes," he mumbled.

James continued to laugh, clutching his sides. "No news there!" he howled.

"It's not that funny," Sirius grumbled, folding his arms. "I don't laugh whenever you lose!"

"That's 'cause I don't lose, mate," said James, giving Sirius a straight face.

Remus laughed, looking back down at his book. He suddenly looked back up. "Oh. Hey, Melissa."

Sirius and James looked up as well. They grinned. "Hey, Lissy."

Melissa sat on the floor, crossing her legs in Indian-style, and rested her chin in the palm of her hand. "So…what is this Exploding Snap?"

After about an hour, James and Sirius had successfully explained the art of Exploding Snap to Melissa, though had not won her over on actually playing with them. She had screamed every time they held the deck of cards out to her.

"Geez, Liss, they aren't going to explode on you right away!" Sirius had exclaimed.

The four sat in the common room until around lunchtime. After a bit Peter had joined them, laughing squeakily whenever Melissa would downright refuse and scramble away from the cards. In return she would send him a death glare, shutting him up instantly.

"I give up!" Melissa cried, throwing her hands up into the air. "I will never understand, nor play Exploding Snap. Now, can we please go to lunch?"

"Will you play with us later?" Sirius asked, playing around with the deck until it was in a neat, organized pile again.

"No…"

"Why not?"

"Because…"

"But, Lissy!" Sirius whined.

Melissa, already halfway out the portrait, turned around. "No, Sirius," she sighed.

"But it's fun watching you scream," James said, laughing and jumping up. He, Remus, Sirius, and Peter all followed her out of the portrait.

"I'm glad watching me suffer makes you laugh," Melissa teased, smirking.

"Aww, I don't mean it like that." James slung his arm over her shoulder. He glanced at her. "Alright…maybe just a teensy bit…"

Melissa swatted James' arm. "James Potter! That is not funny!" Though peels of laughter soon ruined her stern demeanor. He, in reply, simply sent her one of his infamous grins.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Ross and her motley crew of boneheads…"

"Good afternoon, Malfoy," said Sirius in a would-be polite way, though he was glaring at Lucius.

"At least we're not a motley crew of guerilla's," James whispered, glancing at Crabbe and Goyle. His arm slipped off Melissa's shoulders. "What do you want, Malfoy?"

"Oh, please," Lucius laughed, "spare me the politeness, Potter."

"What do you want?" Melissa interrupted, folding her arms.

"Nothing, we just left lunch and thought we'd stop by and say hello to our favorite Gryffindors," Lucius said, steely eyes glinting.

Sirius snorted. "What a load of bull!"

Melissa placed her hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Sirius," she hissed. "Stop it." Melissa, still holding onto Sirius, began walking forwards. She kept her eyes averted forwards, looking anywhere but at Malfoy.

Lucius, with the speed of a Seeker, whipped his arm out and stopped her. Melissa gasped in surprised and stepped back.

"Don't touch her!" Remus advanced forwards.

"Oh, look," Lucius snickered. "The wer—"

"Stupefy!"

Eyes as wide as saucers, James and Sirius turned and looked at Melissa. She blew a strand of hair out of her face, pocketing her wand. Remus was staring down the hall where Lucius had landed, while Peter looked slightly frightened, twisting his shirt tightly between his hands.

Melissa stomped forward. She stared down at Lucius. "If you ever insult Remus again I will strangle you with my bare hands," she whispered, eyes narrowed in fury.

Lucius stared up at her, seemingly stuck between laughter and awe. He pushed himself off the floor and roughly ran a hand through his long, white-blonde hair. "Crabbe, Goyle, come on. Let's get back to the common room, shall we?"

Crabbe and Goyle scurried passed Melissa, sending her odd looks. They met up with Lucius, and the three Slytherins turned on their heels and went down the hallway. Melissa watched them until they rounded the corner.

"Bloody prats…" she mumbled under her breath. She rounded on the Marauders. "How does he know!?"

Remus cringed. "Melissa, Malfoy knew in the beginning of the year…when I had that incident…"

"How!?" Melissa shrieked.

"I highly doubt Snivellus would've told him," said James. "Dumbledore did say that if Snivvy told anyone he would be expelled."

"Lucius probably heard Snape saying nasty things about Moony," said Sirius, staring at Melissa.

"Besides," Remus said, sighing. "Lucius, as bigheaded as he may be, is not stupid enough to go around parading my secret to the entire student body. If Snape did happen to slip it out that I was a werewolf, it would most likely be to Lucius."

Melissa turned away from Remus and glanced at Peter. He looked extremely anxious. His watery eyes were darting and he was wringing his shirt out as if his life depended on it.

That dirty rat told!

Melissa, ever the eager one to jump to a conclusion, instantly blamed Peter. Who else could it have been? Snape knew better than to tell, for he knew the consequences. Peter, on the other hand, would tell the information to Lucius just to get a higher rank within that posse.

They continued walking down the corridors in silence. The only noise was their footsteps reverberating on the stone floor and walls, along with some of the pictures talking amongst themselves.

"Are you alright?" Remus pulled Melissa aside before they walked into the Great Hall.

"Fine." Melissa gently wrenched her arm out of Remus' grasp. "Just peachy."

Remus sighed, staring at her. "I know something's wrong because you always act like this. I also know to not bug you about it or else you'll be really angry with me." He smiled slightly. "Though, that doesn't stop me from asking each time. What's wrong?"

"Remus," Melissa said, looking anywhere but at his eyes. She had never realized that the part in his hair was so precise…"Did you ever think that maybe, even the tiny bit's chance that it was Peter who told Lucius?"

Remus breathed out, looking away in a type of 'oh no, here we go again' fashion. "Melissa…"

"No. You asked me, and I told you." She folded her arms loosely around her middle. "It's your own fault. If you weren't so nosy…"

"Nosy?" said Remus, his head snapping back forwards. "I exactly call caring nosy…"

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. If you ask me something, prepare to get an answer. Whether you like it or not."

"I don't see how…" Remus said calmly, in no way as angry as Melissa was.

"I am not going to help you to understand," said Melissa, staring at him. "Therefore I would be responsible for you turning against your friend…and I, no matter how much I despise that guy, don't want that to happen. Because, you, Remus, trust Peter."

Remus stared at her; his head tilted slightly to the side, as if he were a muggle parent listening to his 5-year-old trying to persuade him into thinking unicorns truly existed.

"Alright," Remus sighed, placing his hands on each of her forearms. "I may not believe your theory…but I will respect the fact that you dislike him. Okay?" He looked at her directly in the eyes, having to bend down a bit to do so.

Melissa mumbled stubbornly to herself, looking down at the floor by Remus' right foot. "Fine," she muttered.

Remus couldn't count the amount of times they had gotten into an argument over Peter's loyalty. She just seemed too headstrong on the fact that Peter wasn't what he seemed.

Could she possibly be right? Remus mused to himself, staring at her. What am I saying? This is Peter we're talking about…yeah, Peter…

Aside from his need to overprotect her, this was the other thing that Remus and Melissa butted heads on. Remus, not one to argue, would simply let Melissa tell him Peter was no good until she was blue in the face.

Melissa looked up, meeting his eyes. "You'll never believe me, will you?" she questioned quietly.

"I…I don't know." Remus was quite pleased with that answer. It wasn't choosing sides; it was simply and plainly right smack in the middle. If he didn't believe either side of the story, he was safe, right?

Melissa, shaking her head, pushed herself passed Remus and walked into the Great Hall. Remus followed, though kept his distance.

"Ooooh! Moony's in trouble!" James and Sirius said in singsong voices, watching as Melissa went and sat as far from Remus as possible.

Remus sighed. "Thank you for reminding me, guys…"

"What did you say?" Sirius asked, looking up at Remus.

"Or perhaps what did you not say?" James neatly folded his arms on each other on the table, giving Remus an understanding smile.

"I don't know," Remus sighed, rubbing his temples.

James suddenly caught on, and it was apparent because his eyes widened and he sat up a little in his seat. "Oh."

"Oh? Oh, what?" Sirius turned and looked at James. "What are you oh-ing about, Prongs?"

James sent Remus an apologetic look. "She'll get over it. She always does, doesn't she?"

"Get over what!?" asked Sirius.

James glanced over at Peter, who seemed to absorbed in his food at that moment to even pay attention to the conversation. James jutted his head towards Peter.

"OH!" Sirius said, grinning that he had figured it out. He then realized. "Oh…that? Why is that bothering her again?"

"It's not about the time problem," Remus whispered. His eyes went down the table until they landed on her.

"Than what's the new problem?" James asked, confused.

Remus shook his head. "It's nothing." He stopped, considering the thought that it was indeed something. "It's not my place to tell…"

"Do you think she would strangle me if I went over there and asked?" Sirius asked, looking over at Melissa.

"Most likely," James and Remus said, wry smiles on their faces.

Sirius sighed, resting back in his seat. "I don't understand women sometimes…"

"I don't think we're supposed to," said James airily, picking at his food. "Because if we were supposed to…life would be a heck of a lot easier."

Remus and Sirius laughed.

"Hey, guys." Ariel and Lily sat down besides the boys. Ariel swooped down and placed a kiss on Sirius' lips, making herself comfortable next to him.

"Where's Melissa?" Lily asked.

"She's mad…" James said.

"At?" Ariel asked.

"Who else?" Remus asked, his hands resting on the sides of his face. "Me."

Ariel sent him an apologetic look. She looked at Lily. "I think we should go sit with her…"

"I think so too." Lily nodded.

Ariel and Lily walked over to the other side of the table to sit with Melissa.

The rest of the day the girls had hung out, not really paying attention to the boys. James and Sirius were kind of irked about that, since their girlfriends weren't mad at them.

"It's been, like, five hours and they still haven't come down!" Sirius grumbled, slinging his arm over the back of the common room couch.

Remus stared wistfully at the girl's dormitory door. Sighing, he looked back down at the book sitting in his lap, where he had been reading the same sentence over for the past few hours.

The door that had been closed suddenly creaked open. Sirius, James, and Remus' heads all shot up. Lily peeked out, then Ariel.

"Remus," Lily said, smiling, "we think we've persuaded her to talk to you. Do you want us to send her down?"

Remus nodded his head, swallowing.

A few minutes later, the common room had cleared and Remus was the only one occupying it. As he lay on the couch, a throw blanket covering him, he took to finding different shapes within the carpet. He wasn't nervous, technically speaking, though he kept looking towards the dormitory stairs.

"Remus?"

He jumped, looking up. Melissa was standing on the dormitory stairs, clad in her pajamas, which Remus realized was his boxer shorts, the same longish socks, and a messy bun to top off the 'I'm tired, what do you want?' look. She was leaning languidly against the wall, her arms folded across her chest.

She walked down the stairs, arms never leaving their folded position. Melissa looked down at Remus, where he was still sitting on the couch.

Remus looked up at her. The earlier traces of her frustration at him were gone. Melissa was staring down at him softly, guilt swimming in her pools of blue. Remus, not exactly sure what to say, pulled the blanket back.

Melissa slowly laid down next to him, snuggling into his chest. "I'm sorry…" she whispered, her hand resting on his stomach.

Remus moved his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you," Melissa continued in a hushed voice. She stared up at him, her eyes locking with his.

Remus still could not accumulate a full, intelligent sounding sentence, whether he wanted to speak or not. The quietness of the common room was somewhat comforting, and Remus didn't want to open his mouth and ruin what Melissa was saying.

"I mean, I always get so mad at you when things like this come up." Melissa looked down, finding his shirt quite interesting. "And…I shouldn't. Peter is, after all, a very good friend of yours and I have no right to judge him when I, clearly, don't know him like you do."

A small smile appeared on Remus' face. He ran a finger down her nose. "I accept your apology," he said, placing the finger under her chin and raising it

"Yay!" James unexpectedly jumped onto Remus and Melissa. "You guys made up!"

"They did!?" Sirius' head popped out from behind the boy's dormitory door. "Hurray for Moony and Lissy!" He launched himself into the pile of people as well.

The four, due to the lack of room on the couch, fell onto the floor in a heap of tangled limbs and arms. Heads clunked together, legs kicked at stomachs, though they were all laughing.

"Hey, James," Remus tried to dislodge himself from the pile, "do you think you could move your elbow? It's digging into my back…" He gritted his teeth as a sharp pain went flying through his back. He continued to laugh anyway, though.

"Lissy…you're crushing my ankle," James said, attempting to wrench himself out from under Melissa.

Sirius took a stab at pushing himself off the floor with no prevail. The weight of his friends pushed him back down and some of the wind got knocked out of him.

"Well, I am not lying here all evening," Melissa said, kicking Remus' backside away from her feet.

"Ow!" Remus said, looking at her. "That hurt!"

Melissa callously shoved Sirius' leg off her middle. She stood up, blowing a strand of hair out of her face, and straightened her disheveled pajamas. By kicking Sirius, though, she left him in a twisted position not known to humankind.

Sirius then pressed his hands on the floor and, not expecting it to be so simple, pushed himself too hard and sent himself flying forward and sliding. After removing a second person, James and Remus easily separated.

"Geez," Sirius breathed out, slouching against the base of the couch. He grinned. "That was fun!"

"For you maybe," Remus grumbled, flicking fuzz from the carpet off of his shirt.

"Oh, sorry," James gushed, "did me and Paddy Waddy ruin you're little lovey dovey moment?" He batted his eyelashes, cooing exaggeratingly.

Remus glared at James, running a hand through his messy hair, only making it worse. "No…"

"Yes we did!" Sirius said, jumping up. He had an enormous smile on his face. "Me and Jamesie ruined your mush!"

"What are you guys doing down here?" Ariel said, coming down the stairs. "It sounded like you were trying to kill each other!" Though when she caught sight of James and Sirius in the room as well, she understood. "Of course," she said with a roll of her eyes.

Sirius, flashing her a smirk, opened his arms wide. "Come here, pookie."

A smile appeared on Ariel's face despite her prior aggravation. She walked over to Sirius and fell into his lap.

Sirius, teasing, cringed. "Ouch, woman!"

Ariel playfully swatted his arm, laughing.

"What on earth are you all doing down here?" Lily asked, walking into the common room as well.

"Party!" Sirius shouted, punching his fist in the air and making Ariel jump.

"It's Sunday, Sirius," said Melissa, groaning at the thought of another party.

"Plus we just had one yesterday," Remus piped in, smiling at Sirius. He pulled Melissa over to him by her waist, keeping his arm around her.

Ariel and Lily shared identical smiles, looking at Remus and Melissa. Lily's eyes then widened as she realized. "James Potter!" she shrieked.

James jumped up. "Ah! What!?"

"How dare you and Sirius interrupt Remus and Melissa?" Lily said, placing her hands on her hips.

James stared up at Lily. "Well, I'm sorry, Lily. We thought they were done…" His eyes were large and he resembled a small boy apologizing for eating all the cookies.

"Apologize!" Lily said, pointing a finger back at Remus and Melissa, who were currently trying to not laugh. "You too, Sirius," Lily added as an afterthought.

"Sorry," Sirius and James mumbled.

Lily let her arms rest at her sides. She smiled and kissed James' cheek. "Now that's better."

James grinned. "Anything for you, Lily dearest."

A/N- This chapter is kind of longer than I wanted it to be. I couldn't find the right spot to end it in…Anyway, I finished Deathly Hallows! It has got to be one of the best ones. Your reviews are greatly appreciated!