"Doing What We're Doing"

-rewrite-

Mystical Mattie

Chapter Two

It had been two weeks since the Halloween party, and the first Quidditch match was quickly approaching. I couldn't say I wasn't excited. I had been the Gryffindor Seeker since my Third year. This was James' first year as Quidditch Captain, and he was being a right foul git about it.

I know it's just nerves, but I'm getting tired of having practice every Saturday all day. The other teams were getting tired of them not having their fair shared time on the Quidditch pitch, but somehow James was able to con his way into getting it every weekend. Joy for the rest of us.

Today, he was pacing in front of them, explaining how this play was wrong or how this move needed perfecting. It was starting to bore me to death, and I yawned. Marlene seemed to agree with me on this and followed my example.

"And Black, you need to work on your focus," James said. That got my attention.

"What?" I said, sitting up straighter. James rolled his eyes.

"Exactly," He said. "I said, you need to work on your focus. Were you paying attention this time?"

"I heard you the first time, Potter," I seethed. "My focus is fine."

"I see you yawning through practice every week, if you can't bring your A-game to practice, you won't be able to play right!"

"James, mate, we've been practicing every Saturday for over a month now," Frank Longbottom interjected. "I think every one is getting a bit burnt out. Maybe we should take a break for a week or so, letting everyone rest up for the big game."

"But that's just it!" James said, rounding on Longbottom. Marlene snickered. "We shouldn't need a break! Not if we're all as eager as I am to win this match!"

"James, it's Hufflepuff," Dorcas said, scoffing. "I highly doubt it will be that hard. Have you forgotten how easy it is to beat them?"

"They have new chasers this year, who knows how good their skills are."

"Well if you let them have the pitch, maybe somebody could spy on their practices for you," I said, the brilliant idea having just occurred to me. James regarded me for a moment, then beamed.

"Right you are, Black! Practice is over! Someone tell Bones the pitch is his!"

With a whoop from all of us, we took off before he could change his mind. I followed Dorcas and Marlene to the locker room, I saw James bypass the lockers all together and start running towards the castle, no doubt to find Peter and have him sniff out when Gregory Bones was going to take the pitch to train his three new Chasers.

"How did you know that would end his tirade?" Marlene called over her shoulder as she took her Gryffindor Chaser sweater off. Normally it was straight to the showers for all of us, but we hadn't actually made it onto our brooms today and had no need for it. I simply shrugged in response. I wasn't trying to be a bitch, truly. But this was our O.W.L year, and as such, our homework was piling up faster than I could try to tackle it. I had known 5th year would be hard but I never expected it to be quite like this.

My mind went back to my conversation with McGonagall just last week. I hadn't been prepared for it at all.

"Miss Black, come in," Professor McGonagall said from her seat behind her desk, waving a hand as if to show me where she intended I go. "I wanted to speak to you first out of all your friends, though I had some debate between you and Mr. Lupin. Ultimately, I thought it best to talk to you first."

"Whatever it is, I had nothing to do with it," I said, raising my hands in defense. I loved my cousin, truly I did, but I did try to stay out of his shenanigans. I wasn't always successful, mind you, and was sometimes a very willing participant. I never did say I was perfect

McGonagall had the faintest of smirks on her face. "This isn't about any trouble making, Miss Black, though, if you have any information you would like to share…" She raised her eyebrows at me in question.

"Nope, no information here," I said, ever the loyal one. "Er-if you don't mind my asking, Professor, if I'm not in trouble, then why have you summoned for me? And why me first out of everyone else?" Luckily for me, McGonagall saw fit to hurry this meeting along as well.

"As you may or may not be aware, Miss Black, every Head of House sits with all of their 5th-year students one on one every year, to discuss their goals and ambitions. Today is my meeting with you on the matter."

She watched me carefully as I took in what she meant. I had known that the Professors met with their 5th years each year, but I didn't know why. I guess if I'd ever thought idly on the matter, that I now had my answer.

"Oh," I said, still processing. "Well that's much better than being in trouble, I suppose."

"Indeed so," She said, turning to the papers on her desk. I could only assume it was my student file. "So, have you given any thought to what you would like to do once you leave Hogwarts, Isabella?"

Truthfully, I hadn't. I didn't want to see this, however, in case I ruined whatever image McGonagall had in her head of me. I wanted her to continue I was worth putting effort into. Of course, she would always put effort into each of her students, but I still wanted the feeling of being one of her top students.

So I lied. "Um, a little. Not in detail, mind you. I suppose I should be thinking of it more, though," I said this thoughtfully, and more to myself. She just watched me silently over her spectacles, occasionally glancing down at my file on her desk. "I did have the thought of possibly doing something with creatures. I don't know where it would lead me though. But I know I want to help them, in some way."

"So perhaps something of a Magizooligist?" Professor McGonagall seemed pleased with that answer. "Well, that is slightly surprising. I thought maybe you might want to take on something like a Potions Master, or perhaps a Healer. But, I suppose, a Magizooligist isn't too surprising…."

She went on to talk about how no NEWTs were required for my field of choice, but I wasn't listening to her though. Magizooligy wasn't really what I had in mind. "Um," I said, accidentally cutting her off. "Maybe not necessarily a Magizooligist, Professor. I...I don't really know how to explain it. I want to learn about creatures, sure, and study them, but…... I really want to help them. Does that make any sense? I really am not sure what I'm trying to say." And this was true. I didn't know how to tell her what I wanted beyond that.

She considered me for a moment, a then folded her arms before her on her desk. "Do you mean, perhaps, advocating for their rights?"

"Something like that, yeah," I said. "But I don't know how to make a job out of that."

She didn't hold back on me. "To be frank, Miss Black, there isn't. You can advocate and protest and be as loud as you want, but it is no guarantee of a career. There is always the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures in the Ministry, but you will be expected to help control creatures, even if that means stepping on their toes. You will also be expected to follow all of the Ministry's rules regarding creatures.

"Your want is very admirable, and do not let our conversation here stop you from doing what you feel is necessary. However, I feel I have to advise you against simply trying to make a career out of advocating," She looked at me grimly. I wondered if I had butchered her mental image of me. "Now, back to Magizooligy. The two are closely linked, mind you, and I believe you could be of great use to them. There is also the option to return to the school and teach Care for Magical Creatures if that would be something you think about later in life. There is also…."

We hadn't ever really settled on a career for me. The most we got to was Magizooligy, and I'm sure she knew I still wasn't keen on that idea. After the conversation, I went to Remus to discuss it further with him. Out of all our friends, I knew he would listen and try to understand the most.

I found him hiding not too far from the Whomping Willow. This year had been easier for him so far since the four of us had finally managed to become Animagi. But it was never truly easy, I knew. Around the full moon every month, he started to feel almost claustrophobic and needed to escape the castle and the tower. I could almost always find him close to the Whomping Willow.

We had sat out there for a while in silence, not an awkward one, of course, but more of one of great companionship. It was comforting after the stress of talking to McGonagall.

"How was your day?" He asked at last; I knew he would eventually need to break the silence. He always did.

"It was okay," I sighed. He turned to look at me, concern clouding his features. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you're lying."

"Am not."

"Are too," He said. "You have a tell." He took his pointer finger and poked me right between the eyebrows. "You always try so hard to concentrate on your lie, and it creates a little dimple right here."

I swatted his hand away. "I'm not lying. Really," I said earnestly when all he did was quirk an eyebrow up at me. "I'm just not being entirely truthful." I gave him a devilish smirk, and he rolled his eyes.

"Dandelion…."

"Oh, alright," I said. "I talked to McGonagall today. About my goals for after Hogwarts."

"She's getting started a bit early, isn't she?"

"Wouldn't you, if you had four different classes to counsel, on top of regular lesson plans?" He didn't respond to that, so I continued. "I wasn't prepared at all. I believe she's a bit disappointed in me."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I told her I wanted to advocate, but not in as many words. It was more along the lines of, 'I just want to help them, Professor'. I think it rather sounded like I didn't want to put in the work to do it, and it was obvious I hadn't given any real thought to the matter. She wants me to consider Magizooligy, and we would revisit later in the year," I sighed. "I'm supposed to put real thought and effort into figuring out before O.W.L.s, so she knows how to advise me on my grades. You're next, by the way."

"She's going to talk to me about a job after Hogwarts?" He scoffed. "I hope she knows it won't go any better than yours did."

"Why would you think that? I'm sure you've given it a great deal of thought."

"Well, I have," Remus muttered. "Before I was bitten. I wanted to master Transfiguration. Mum was always good at it, and it's always fascinated me. After, Mum and Dad insisted that I could still do whatever I wanted, but...we all know that to be untrue."

"I don't think so," I said quietly. He turned to me, disbelief in his eyes. "I don't!"

"Bell, you know the stigma around werewolves. I'll be lucky to ever find and hold a job."

"There's always teaching," I said. I thought it was sad that I had given his career more thought than my own.

"And what parent would want their kids being taught by someone like me?"

"Your furry little problem can remain that…..a furry little problem," I said. "No one would ever have to know."

"Until, of course, the 2nd years have their first Astronomy class on moon cycles and Defense class on werewolves," He said drily. This was true. It hadn't taken much longer than that for me to figure out what his big secret was.

I shook my head away from the memory. I hadn't given my future career anymore thought since then, though it did weigh heavily on my mind. I knew I needed to figure something out before my next meeting with McGonagall. I didn't have a clue when that might be, either.

Blinking and looking around, I noticed I was the last one left in the locker area. I sighed. I must have been so caught up in my thoughts, I hadn't realized the sounds of the others changing around me, or that I had been left alone.

I quickly finished dressing and hurried up to the Castle. Dinner was to be served soon, and I for one was starving. Upon arriving at the Great Hall, I quickly found Sirius and Peter. James and Remus, and Lily and the other girls, still hadn't made it to dinner yet.

"Evening, boys," I said slyly, scooting into my seat beside Sirius. "Have a pleasant Saturday?"

"It's been all the more pleasant without you, Isabella," Peter said with a fake tone of malic. Sirius and I looked up at him in surprise, to find him smiling. "Only kidding. Have either of you tried the fish yet? It's quite good if I do say so myself."

I shook my head. "Nope, I'm not a fan."

Sirius elbowed me in the side as he said, "Not much of a fan, eh? I thought all pussycats liked fish."

I rolled my eyes and scooped some chicken onto my plate. "That was a horrible pun. You can do better, Black."

"I'll take that as a challenge, Black."

We were always taking cracks at each other's Animagi forms. Sirius' was a large black dog, James' was a stag, Peters' was a rat. My own was a rather regal, in my own biased opinion, black jaguar. Hence our nicknames. Padfoot for the pads on Sirius' feet, Prongs for the points on James' antlers, Wormtail for the worm-like look of Peters' tail, and Dandelion for the color of my jaguars' eyes, a brilliant yellow, much like a dandelion. Remus' nickname came from his furry little problem.

Just as I was finishing my dinner, Remus and James showed up.

"Oi!" Sirius said, noticing them as well. "Just where have you two been, eh?"

James grumbled, but Remus was grinning behind him. "Prongsie here just got himself hexed."

"Hexed!?" I said incredulously. "Was it one of the Slytherins? Did you get them back?"

"No," James grumbled again, while Remus was roaring with laughter.

"Who, then?" Peter asked insistently.

"We need to go get them back!" This was Sirius' angry statement.

"You will do no such thing!" James hissed at him. Sirius sat back, surprised.

"James, who hexed you!?" I asked again.

"It-it-" Remus was still laughing. He couldn't talk properly. "It-"

"It was Evans, alright?" James muttered angrily. I gasped and turned away to look around. I couldn't see Lily anywhere. "She's in with McGonagall," James mumbled, I supposed he'd seen me looking for her.

"Well, I hope she gets a year's worth of detention!" Peter said, decidedly. He turned back to his dinner plate.

"What did she do to ya, eh, Prongsie?" Sirius asked. He'd also been laughing, though not as hard as Remus still was.

"She turned him into a-a ferret!" Remus practically yelled this. Sirius roared with laughter, drawing the attention of everybody nearby. James turned bright red and hissed at Sirius to shut up. Peter was choking on his drink, and James, being nearest to him, slapped him on the back. When Peter had finished spewing out his half-swallowed drink, he too began laughing loudly. James sighed, and buried his face in his arms. "It was brilliant, too," Remus continued, seeming to have finally calmed down enough to talk normally. "He was flirting with her again, and she'd told him to get lost or she'd turn him into a ferret. And he didn't listen, so she did! What's worse, is no one could get it reversed, and she and I had to take him to Professor McGonagall, who reversed it. Then she sent us here and started yelling at Lily."

"She's too pretty to be yelled at," James sighed.

"Well, she wouldn't be yelling at if you would've just listened to her," Remus said matter of factly.

"Piss off."

Sirius and Peter were still laughing, and I allowed a few giggles to escape. James glared at us all. I tried to hide my grin by taking a sip of my pumpkin juice. "So how'd it feel to be a ferret rather than a stag, Prongs?"

"Piss off!" He said angrily and shoved away from the table. Clearly, his ego had come into question. "I'm not hungry anyway." With this, he stormed out of the Great Hall. Peter shoved some more food into his mouth and then got up as well.

"I...I'm gonna go check on him," He said, and hurried after James.

"I wonder if we should all go?" I asked aloud. I was done eating anyway, but Sirius shook his head.

"Nah, Wormtail's just going 'cause he thinks James is mad at him," He said. He was right, of course. Peter couldn't stand when any of us was mad at him. "Besides, Prongs needs time to get over his ego. I betcha he compliments Evans on her transfiguration tomorrow morning, and gets himself hexed again."

"I doubt it, you know Lily hates getting into trouble," I pointed out. Sirius shrugged. I turned to Remus. "How mad was McGonagall?"

"Oh, she was livid," He said as he spooned potatoes onto his plate. "She was yelling at Lily before she'd even turned James back."

"I bet Evans is beside herself right now," Sirius sniggered.

"It's not funny," Remus and I said at the same time. Remus and I looked at each other in surprise. Sirius stopped laughing and looked at us weird before shaking his head.

"You two are weird," He said. He took another bite of his bread, and then stood up. "I gotta go find Marlene, she's demanding we 'spend time together' after dinner at least three times a week." He rolled his eyes. "Might be time to break up with her soon."

"Don't do that, you two go so nicely together," I tell him with a smile. He sticks his tongue out in disgust.

"Only thing nice about her is her ass." I gave him a look of disgust this time.

"Sirius, that's degrading."

"Well, it's true," He laughed. "I'm not here for a long time, I'm here for a good time. Ladies need to realize this before they get involved with me."

He turned and left the Great Hall after that. I turned back to Remus with a look of disappointment on my face. "Do all guys think like that?"

He shook his head. "Of course not," He said. I raised my eyebrows at him. "Okay, well, most do. But not all. I don't."

"Well, you're not most guys," I teased him. His ears turned pink, and my cheeks warmed up. I cleared my throat. "I'm so scared to find someone that acts as Sirius does. I don't want to put effort into someone that doesn't give a damn."

"Is that why you don't date?" Remus asked me curiously.

"Well, that and because Sirius would probably kill whoever tried to come near me," I said. I shrugged. "I guess I'm not that interested in a lot of guys, to be honest." I looked at him. "How come you don't date? I hear how girls talk about you. They all seem to think your 'mysteriousness' is rather appealing."

Remus glowered down at his plate. "You know why I can't date."

I furrowed my brow. Desert appeared on the table, and I scooped up some cake. "Sorry? I don't think we've had this conversation before."

Remus glanced up at me. He seemed apologetic. "The Wolf," He whispered. "I could never curse someone to live with me! It's too dangerous…." He could see my argument building, and quickly added, "And besides that, you know how the Wizarding World views my kind. Anyone who associates with me would be deemed a...Barker." He said the word so lowly, I barely caught it. I was infuriated.

"Remus Lupin!" I hissed, leaning across the table and keeping my voice low. "Don't you dare say that! Anyone worthy of being with you won't give to shits about what everyone else thinks! And don't you use that word!"

He was right, though. The Wizarding World was not all-inclusive as some might think. Half-breeds, any creature that was not entirely human, was thought of as lesser than and had a great deal of stigma around them. Take 'Barker' for example. Anyone willing to be around a werewolf, and especially a werewolves spouse and family, were known as 'Barkers'. It was as bad as calling a Muggleborn a Mudblood, in my opinion. But unfortunately, even 'good' witches and wizards still used the term.

"It's true, Bell!" He hissed back.

"While it may be true, Remus, that doesn't mean it should matter to the right person!" I retorted.

"And how do you suggest I find the right person, without telling them about my condition, hm?"

He had me there. One didn't just talk about their feelings on werewolves on the first date. And even then, most people didn't let their true opinions show just so that they didn't seem like a horrible person. Remus could tell a girl he fancied about his condition, she'd pretend to be okay with it for a while, find a reason to leave him, and could tell the entire school about him. Remus would be expelled, have his wand snapped, and his life would be ruined. I sighed, and the fight left me.

Remus saw me slump my shoulders and gave me a wary smile. "I'm not trying to argue with you, Bell," He said softly. "And I know you mean well. I just don't think you understand the dangers of doing even normal things for those with….a furry little problem."

"I get it," I murmured back, taking a bite of my cake gloomily. "But I still think that whoever you end up with will be with you for the right reasons."

"We'll never know," Remus shrugged. "If I'm lucky, I'll be able to keep my condition a secret for the rest of my life, and be able to hold down a fairly normal, low profile job."

That made me sad. Remus deserved the world, and he was an excellent wizard. He deserved to put his talents somewhere worthy, not somewhere 'low profile'. And he certainly deserved to live his life as his authentic self, not hiding anything. But I didn't voice this, for fear of starting another argument.

A/N:

Hello, all! So nothing really going on here, much just laying groundwork for later. Next chapter will have the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match and Sirius' birthday. We may also see our first full moon with Remus, but I'm undecided on whether I want that in chapter 3 or 4. We'll see where that takes me.

Also! This got way more attention than I expected it to! So I'm going to quickly answer the reviews from last chapter-

Ghostwriter71:Good start. It's nice to read a story that doesn't set me to grinding my teeth due to a plethora of spelling and grammatical errors.

One question: Just who is this girl? If she's Sirius' cousin, is she from some heretofore unknown other Black relative, or is she related to the Three Sisters? (This, of course, I'm certain you will reveal later, but I just had to ask...because I'm nosey).

I agree with you. I can't stand to read anything that just doesn't follow basic grammar/spelling.

She's not related to the Three Sisters! And she's not related to an 'unknown' Black relative...All in due time, young grasshopper ;) We find out... In 6th year.

Stanleydoodles: Love this! Excited to see where it goes!

Thank you!

SilverWolf1130: I like this so far. Hope you continue as this has loads of potential :)

Thank you! I do plan to continue, as far as the story takes me!

Guest: This is quite interesting. I'm looking forward to how the story progresses. Can't wait for the next chapter

Thank you! A hint on how it progresses...S L O W. Almost too slow for me to bare.

Thank you again to all who reviewed, all who favorited, and all who followed! As always, reviews are always welcome! Until next chapter, goodbye!