JKR owns the people and places, I own Karista, Julia, Amaia, some chick named Vanessa and the dream...
Chapter 14: Moony, Padfoot and Prongs
"Alright James, it is flippin Halloween. We need something cool to do in front of said school, otherwise known as Hogwarts," Sirius hollered through the teacher's dorm. Apparently, James, the late sleeper he was, was refusing to join Sirius and Remus until he broke the world record on snoring.
"I'm up, I'm up," James muttered thickly as he sat up and scratched his chest.
"You look simply gorgeous, Jamie," Sirius said in a feminine voice. "Now, we have to reflect on a few things, dearie."
"Like what, Siri?" James groaned as he flopped back on his bed.
"Things like why Hogwarts is so quiet, why no dungbombs have gone off and why your son should see you in action…as soon as possible," Remus answered as he dumped a box on top of James.
"Ah…yes, Harry, Ron and the rest of the school need to meet and know the Marauders by name, my dear boy. We've been here for almost two months now and nothing 'spectacular' has happened," Sirius jumped onto James' legs, making him yelp in pain. He put on his best puppy dogface and made sure to attract James' attention. "Puh-lease?"
James took one look at Sirius and broke out in laughter. Remus soon joined in until James shooed them off. "Okay, okay, let me get dressed. Can't go walking around Hogwarts in my pajamas."
Sirius and Remus shared a look of victory and pranced out the door.
"Boys," James muttered, walking into the bathroom and turning on the shower.
***
"I still can't believe that you all woke me up at such an un-godly hour," James moaned still trying to wake himself up but to no avail.
"Five o'clock isn't that early, and until we find Lily," Sirius paused awaiting James' reaction. "You will rise early and sleep late with us as you have now officially returned to action with both the Order and being an Auror. Be happy."
James shook his head as they climbed the stairs heading towards the Gryffindor common room, pausing to greet the fat lady.
"Hello, Madame," Sirius said in his most gentlemanly and stiff voice. "You look simply ravenous today."
"Well, Sirius Black," the Fat Lady murmured softly as she swung the door open.
"Works like a charm," Remus laughed as they crossed the common room towards the boy's dormitories. "Well Siri, what are we doing today?"
Sirius' face took on an evil mischieviousness as he swung the door open to the dormitories.
"We are going to wake up Harry, Ron and their dorm mates…Marauder style."
James and Remus looked at each other before manipulating their own mischievous grins and following their counterpart up the stairs to the sixth year dormitory.
"This is it," Remus said softly as Sirius creaked the door open. A heavy snore drifted up from Ron's bed as he rolled over. "Good lord this will be fun."
Remus set the box down that they had brought with them and opened the lid.
"Itching powder. Excellent for heavy sleepers," James laughed as he lifted out one of the cartons and made out for his son's bed. "He sleeps here, right Siri?"
"As far as I can remember," Sirius whispered from Neville's bed.
"Um, guys? Harry isn't in here," James called from Harry's bed. It was indeed true. His bed looked as if it hadn't been slept in at all.
"Well if he isn't here, then where is he?" Remus asked as he sprinkled the black powder over Seamus and his sheets.
"Well…the bed looks as if it was unused," James mused as he felt the sheets for warmth.
Sirius and Remus, after finishing with their handiwork, headed over to Harry's bed. Soon their faces turned from amusement to fear as James went to look in the bathroom.
"Where is he?" James asked, stopping in the door jam.
"Only one place to check, and I am not even going near there," Remus said, backing away from the two of them.
"Where Mooney?" Sirius asked, although he already knew the answer.
"The girl's dorm," James replied, looking around the dorm room again.
***
"Let's just hope none of them are awake yet," Sirius whispered as he creaked open the door. He glanced around the room before waving the other Marauders inside.
"Where does she sleep?" James asked, looking at the different beds for some sign of Karista or Harry.
"James, that answer is so obvious that I think you should get a different eyeglass prescription," Sirius mused as he creeped towards a sleeping area closed in by beads. Just beyond the beads were two guitars, various muggle posters depicting American bands as well as a dish-shaped chair. Sirius slid past the beads and over towards the hangings on her bed. "Should I?"
James and Remus trudged themselves over to Sirius and nodded their heads. He slipped a finger inside and parted the curtains a little ways.
"Oh my," Sirius laughed jumping away from the bed and dissolving into laughter.
"He's in there?" Remus asked, stepping up to the bed.
"Just like what James used to do with Lily," Sirius managed through stifled laughter. James' eyebrows immediately shot up as he flung open the hangings on Karista's bed. Warm sunlight bathed across the features of Karista, who was sleeping peacefully across Harry's chest.
"Oh dear," James whispered as he closed the hangings again, yet he was too late.
"Wha-," Harry mumbled. The sunrise above was bathing Karista and himself in an orange shimmery glow, yet that wasn't what woke him up. It was the voices outside of the bed.
"That isn't like Lily and I!" one voice, which sounded suspiciously like his father, gasped amidst a painful shout from some one else.
"I was kidding, you prat!" another voice called who he instantly realized was Sirius.
"We should leave em to it…or itching powder the two of them," another voice called.
"Right-o, Mooney. Itching powder sounds marvelous!"
"Don't even think about it," Harry called out causing three big gasps to come from the other side of the hangings. He carefully lifted Karista off of him, emitting a light snore and mumble, and sat up.
"Hi Harry. Didn't see you in the boy's dorm," Sirius grinned, barely dodging a punch on the arm from Remus and James.
"Well, nice to see that you three are up, at the crack of dawn I might add," Harry laughed, stepping off the bed and reaching for his bath robe.
"So…what were you doing in there, Harry?" Remus asked dodging a flying punch by James.
"She couldn't sleep, I couldn't sleep…just sat up and talked," Harry shrugged his shoulders and headed for the door leading the Marauders.
"Nothing…else?" Sirius begged after being pushed out into the hallway by both James and Remus.
"Nothing else," Harry said as he made his way down the stairwell and into the common room. Suddenly, a loud crash came from the boy's dorm rooms.
"Oh, our little prank has worked then!" Remus clapped as he jogged to the boy's door and opened it, immediately followed by James and Sirius. Harry shook his head and flopped onto one of the armchairs by the smoldering fire.
***
"Morning," Julia muttered as she crossed the Great Hall and plopped herself next to Amaia, who looked equally tired.
"Why so sleepy, Simpson?" Sirius asked, causing Julia to turn red and glare at him. "What? What did I say?"
"Other than she hasn't heard that pet name for some time, nothing Siri," Amaia answered, pulling apart a banana.
"Oh…thank you for the valuable information there, Ama," Sirius gawked as he began to eat his cereal with much force.
"Easy, Padfoot. No one wants your cereal," James cooed as he gently patted Sirius' shoulder.
"You know Prongs? She won't even have a decent conversation with me," Sirius grumbled.
"I wonder why," Remus muttered absently as he flipped the pages of the Daily Prophet open.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sirius yelled angrily, the rest of the faculty and Dumbledore looking at Sirius with shocked faces.
"Sirius, I think we should have a nice, private chat," Julia glowered, standing from the table and marching out of the Great Hall, which had already filled with students. Sirius reluctantly stood from the table and followed with supporting comments from James and Remus.
***
Sirius followed Julia until she reached her office on the third floor.
"What, Julia. What is it that is so important that we have to walk three hundred miles from civilization?"
Julia rounded on Sirius, her eyes full of anger and sadness.
"Sirius, do you know why I left at the end of Hogwarts?"
Sirius stopped. Whatever he had expected Julia to come up with, it wasn't this. He pondered it for a while, watching as Julia crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently before him.
"No. I don't know. Why?" Sirius muttered crossly as he entered the now open DADA classroom.
"Because…because…my parents wanted a different life away from you," Julia replied, her voice cracking slightly. "You've known that I was a muggleborn, right?"
Sirius nodded his head, still shocked by her answer.
"Well, my parents didn't want me hanging around with all of you, even if Lily was also a muggle and such. They moved me to Ireland and I've been there until Dumbledore asked me to come to Hogwarts," she replied swiftly.
Sirius relaxed himself. So it wasn't because of me, he thought without realizing that he was moving towards Julia and hugging her. He also failed to notice she had begun crying.
"I'm sorry, Sirius. It was no excuse yet I had no control. After I turned eighteen, I was too scared to come back here, including with what happened to Lily and James," she sobbed, letting Sirius smooth her hair and robes.
"It's alright, Jules. I just wish that you could have told me it wasn't my fault," Sirius murmured into her hair. "I forgive you."
Julia looked up into Sirius' eyes. They are still the same childish eyes I grew to love before, she thought raising a hand to wipe her eyes.
"And for that matter, I love you."
"Sirius, I don't know what to say to that."
Sirius paused briefly thinking of his approach. He knew that he shouldn't mess it up, as he had feared he had before. Of course, there was no more ring and he wasn't in a nice restaurant.
"Julia," Sirius said quietly as he dropped onto one knee. He heard her gasp in surprise. "This is probably long overdue."
Julia stood in a mixture of shock, happiness, pleasure and sadness.
"I've loved you since I met you when you crashed into me on platform 9 ¾ in our first year. And I have loved you, worshipped you, pined for you since."
Her knees were wobbling uncontrollably now. She remembered so clearly that night in the three broomsticks.
James, Lily, Peter, Remus, Amaia and Jolene were sitting there stunned as Sirius dropped to his knee and produced a beautiful diamond ring. No one, including her thought that such a prankster, including a Marauder, would ever be serious enough to accomplish something like that.
"And now that you have returned to me," Sirius paused owing to the fact that his memory was shot and he was trying to relive the night he first attempted this. "I only want you more."
His eyes gazed back into hers, causing her heart to melt as he recited the exact same proposal as he was doing at the moment. The others at the table, as well as in the restaurant, held their breaths as Sirius finished.
"To live even longer without you would mean a certain death for me…a punishment a billion times worse than what I have already gone through," Sirius flinched involuntarily. Azkaban was worse as he could possibly think of.
How to tell him I can't? She had thought that night in the restaurant. How do I tell the man I love that my parents are shipping me away? How?
"Julia Lauren Glideron, will you marry me?"
Sirius had finished with that same line and now the silence in the restaurant could be cut with a knife.
"I can't," she murmured, running out of the restaurant with tears pouring down her face.
Sirius had stared off into the space that she sat, the silence pounding in his ears.
"Padfoot, its alright," James said quietly, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "She'll come through."
He stood up so suddenly that it made everyone jerk to attention. Without another word, he left, silently sobbing for the one he loved. The next day, she was gone, not to be seen for another eighteen years.
Julia paused for a moment, trying to break the wobbly feeling in her knees. Then, her answer pierced the air loud and clear.
"Yes."
Chapter 14: Moony, Padfoot and Prongs
"Alright James, it is flippin Halloween. We need something cool to do in front of said school, otherwise known as Hogwarts," Sirius hollered through the teacher's dorm. Apparently, James, the late sleeper he was, was refusing to join Sirius and Remus until he broke the world record on snoring.
"I'm up, I'm up," James muttered thickly as he sat up and scratched his chest.
"You look simply gorgeous, Jamie," Sirius said in a feminine voice. "Now, we have to reflect on a few things, dearie."
"Like what, Siri?" James groaned as he flopped back on his bed.
"Things like why Hogwarts is so quiet, why no dungbombs have gone off and why your son should see you in action…as soon as possible," Remus answered as he dumped a box on top of James.
"Ah…yes, Harry, Ron and the rest of the school need to meet and know the Marauders by name, my dear boy. We've been here for almost two months now and nothing 'spectacular' has happened," Sirius jumped onto James' legs, making him yelp in pain. He put on his best puppy dogface and made sure to attract James' attention. "Puh-lease?"
James took one look at Sirius and broke out in laughter. Remus soon joined in until James shooed them off. "Okay, okay, let me get dressed. Can't go walking around Hogwarts in my pajamas."
Sirius and Remus shared a look of victory and pranced out the door.
"Boys," James muttered, walking into the bathroom and turning on the shower.
***
"I still can't believe that you all woke me up at such an un-godly hour," James moaned still trying to wake himself up but to no avail.
"Five o'clock isn't that early, and until we find Lily," Sirius paused awaiting James' reaction. "You will rise early and sleep late with us as you have now officially returned to action with both the Order and being an Auror. Be happy."
James shook his head as they climbed the stairs heading towards the Gryffindor common room, pausing to greet the fat lady.
"Hello, Madame," Sirius said in his most gentlemanly and stiff voice. "You look simply ravenous today."
"Well, Sirius Black," the Fat Lady murmured softly as she swung the door open.
"Works like a charm," Remus laughed as they crossed the common room towards the boy's dormitories. "Well Siri, what are we doing today?"
Sirius' face took on an evil mischieviousness as he swung the door open to the dormitories.
"We are going to wake up Harry, Ron and their dorm mates…Marauder style."
James and Remus looked at each other before manipulating their own mischievous grins and following their counterpart up the stairs to the sixth year dormitory.
"This is it," Remus said softly as Sirius creaked the door open. A heavy snore drifted up from Ron's bed as he rolled over. "Good lord this will be fun."
Remus set the box down that they had brought with them and opened the lid.
"Itching powder. Excellent for heavy sleepers," James laughed as he lifted out one of the cartons and made out for his son's bed. "He sleeps here, right Siri?"
"As far as I can remember," Sirius whispered from Neville's bed.
"Um, guys? Harry isn't in here," James called from Harry's bed. It was indeed true. His bed looked as if it hadn't been slept in at all.
"Well if he isn't here, then where is he?" Remus asked as he sprinkled the black powder over Seamus and his sheets.
"Well…the bed looks as if it was unused," James mused as he felt the sheets for warmth.
Sirius and Remus, after finishing with their handiwork, headed over to Harry's bed. Soon their faces turned from amusement to fear as James went to look in the bathroom.
"Where is he?" James asked, stopping in the door jam.
"Only one place to check, and I am not even going near there," Remus said, backing away from the two of them.
"Where Mooney?" Sirius asked, although he already knew the answer.
"The girl's dorm," James replied, looking around the dorm room again.
***
"Let's just hope none of them are awake yet," Sirius whispered as he creaked open the door. He glanced around the room before waving the other Marauders inside.
"Where does she sleep?" James asked, looking at the different beds for some sign of Karista or Harry.
"James, that answer is so obvious that I think you should get a different eyeglass prescription," Sirius mused as he creeped towards a sleeping area closed in by beads. Just beyond the beads were two guitars, various muggle posters depicting American bands as well as a dish-shaped chair. Sirius slid past the beads and over towards the hangings on her bed. "Should I?"
James and Remus trudged themselves over to Sirius and nodded their heads. He slipped a finger inside and parted the curtains a little ways.
"Oh my," Sirius laughed jumping away from the bed and dissolving into laughter.
"He's in there?" Remus asked, stepping up to the bed.
"Just like what James used to do with Lily," Sirius managed through stifled laughter. James' eyebrows immediately shot up as he flung open the hangings on Karista's bed. Warm sunlight bathed across the features of Karista, who was sleeping peacefully across Harry's chest.
"Oh dear," James whispered as he closed the hangings again, yet he was too late.
"Wha-," Harry mumbled. The sunrise above was bathing Karista and himself in an orange shimmery glow, yet that wasn't what woke him up. It was the voices outside of the bed.
"That isn't like Lily and I!" one voice, which sounded suspiciously like his father, gasped amidst a painful shout from some one else.
"I was kidding, you prat!" another voice called who he instantly realized was Sirius.
"We should leave em to it…or itching powder the two of them," another voice called.
"Right-o, Mooney. Itching powder sounds marvelous!"
"Don't even think about it," Harry called out causing three big gasps to come from the other side of the hangings. He carefully lifted Karista off of him, emitting a light snore and mumble, and sat up.
"Hi Harry. Didn't see you in the boy's dorm," Sirius grinned, barely dodging a punch on the arm from Remus and James.
"Well, nice to see that you three are up, at the crack of dawn I might add," Harry laughed, stepping off the bed and reaching for his bath robe.
"So…what were you doing in there, Harry?" Remus asked dodging a flying punch by James.
"She couldn't sleep, I couldn't sleep…just sat up and talked," Harry shrugged his shoulders and headed for the door leading the Marauders.
"Nothing…else?" Sirius begged after being pushed out into the hallway by both James and Remus.
"Nothing else," Harry said as he made his way down the stairwell and into the common room. Suddenly, a loud crash came from the boy's dorm rooms.
"Oh, our little prank has worked then!" Remus clapped as he jogged to the boy's door and opened it, immediately followed by James and Sirius. Harry shook his head and flopped onto one of the armchairs by the smoldering fire.
***
"Morning," Julia muttered as she crossed the Great Hall and plopped herself next to Amaia, who looked equally tired.
"Why so sleepy, Simpson?" Sirius asked, causing Julia to turn red and glare at him. "What? What did I say?"
"Other than she hasn't heard that pet name for some time, nothing Siri," Amaia answered, pulling apart a banana.
"Oh…thank you for the valuable information there, Ama," Sirius gawked as he began to eat his cereal with much force.
"Easy, Padfoot. No one wants your cereal," James cooed as he gently patted Sirius' shoulder.
"You know Prongs? She won't even have a decent conversation with me," Sirius grumbled.
"I wonder why," Remus muttered absently as he flipped the pages of the Daily Prophet open.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Sirius yelled angrily, the rest of the faculty and Dumbledore looking at Sirius with shocked faces.
"Sirius, I think we should have a nice, private chat," Julia glowered, standing from the table and marching out of the Great Hall, which had already filled with students. Sirius reluctantly stood from the table and followed with supporting comments from James and Remus.
***
Sirius followed Julia until she reached her office on the third floor.
"What, Julia. What is it that is so important that we have to walk three hundred miles from civilization?"
Julia rounded on Sirius, her eyes full of anger and sadness.
"Sirius, do you know why I left at the end of Hogwarts?"
Sirius stopped. Whatever he had expected Julia to come up with, it wasn't this. He pondered it for a while, watching as Julia crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently before him.
"No. I don't know. Why?" Sirius muttered crossly as he entered the now open DADA classroom.
"Because…because…my parents wanted a different life away from you," Julia replied, her voice cracking slightly. "You've known that I was a muggleborn, right?"
Sirius nodded his head, still shocked by her answer.
"Well, my parents didn't want me hanging around with all of you, even if Lily was also a muggle and such. They moved me to Ireland and I've been there until Dumbledore asked me to come to Hogwarts," she replied swiftly.
Sirius relaxed himself. So it wasn't because of me, he thought without realizing that he was moving towards Julia and hugging her. He also failed to notice she had begun crying.
"I'm sorry, Sirius. It was no excuse yet I had no control. After I turned eighteen, I was too scared to come back here, including with what happened to Lily and James," she sobbed, letting Sirius smooth her hair and robes.
"It's alright, Jules. I just wish that you could have told me it wasn't my fault," Sirius murmured into her hair. "I forgive you."
Julia looked up into Sirius' eyes. They are still the same childish eyes I grew to love before, she thought raising a hand to wipe her eyes.
"And for that matter, I love you."
"Sirius, I don't know what to say to that."
Sirius paused briefly thinking of his approach. He knew that he shouldn't mess it up, as he had feared he had before. Of course, there was no more ring and he wasn't in a nice restaurant.
"Julia," Sirius said quietly as he dropped onto one knee. He heard her gasp in surprise. "This is probably long overdue."
Julia stood in a mixture of shock, happiness, pleasure and sadness.
"I've loved you since I met you when you crashed into me on platform 9 ¾ in our first year. And I have loved you, worshipped you, pined for you since."
Her knees were wobbling uncontrollably now. She remembered so clearly that night in the three broomsticks.
James, Lily, Peter, Remus, Amaia and Jolene were sitting there stunned as Sirius dropped to his knee and produced a beautiful diamond ring. No one, including her thought that such a prankster, including a Marauder, would ever be serious enough to accomplish something like that.
"And now that you have returned to me," Sirius paused owing to the fact that his memory was shot and he was trying to relive the night he first attempted this. "I only want you more."
His eyes gazed back into hers, causing her heart to melt as he recited the exact same proposal as he was doing at the moment. The others at the table, as well as in the restaurant, held their breaths as Sirius finished.
"To live even longer without you would mean a certain death for me…a punishment a billion times worse than what I have already gone through," Sirius flinched involuntarily. Azkaban was worse as he could possibly think of.
How to tell him I can't? She had thought that night in the restaurant. How do I tell the man I love that my parents are shipping me away? How?
"Julia Lauren Glideron, will you marry me?"
Sirius had finished with that same line and now the silence in the restaurant could be cut with a knife.
"I can't," she murmured, running out of the restaurant with tears pouring down her face.
Sirius had stared off into the space that she sat, the silence pounding in his ears.
"Padfoot, its alright," James said quietly, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "She'll come through."
He stood up so suddenly that it made everyone jerk to attention. Without another word, he left, silently sobbing for the one he loved. The next day, she was gone, not to be seen for another eighteen years.
Julia paused for a moment, trying to break the wobbly feeling in her knees. Then, her answer pierced the air loud and clear.
"Yes."
