Title: Understand Me (3/?)

Author: Eleret

Author E-mail:Eleret@aol.com

Category: Romance/Angst

Rating: PG-13 (For some kissing, depressing stuff, and adult themes)

Spoilers: PoA GoF (maybe) (Knowledge in all of the books is recommended but not necessary.)

Summary: Lily Evans and James Potter have been on the same Quiditch team for a while, yet they know almost nothing about each other. Narcissa Claude and Sirius Black are completely different and they don't even know each other yet. Remus Lupin can't figure Nancy Bode out. Sybil Trelawney and Peter Petigrew form a club for unappreciated people. And no matter how much they deny it, what all of these eight teens want most is someone to understand them. N/S, L/J, R/OC (not a Mary Sue), and P/Sybil.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. I own only Nancy Bode's first name and Narcissa Claude's last name.

A/N: Third chapter! Thanx to everyone who reviewed so far, especially WhetheredRose (or it might have been WhetherRose- Sorry! I'm horrible with names!)! I read your review and I was so happy! It's the longest review I've ever *seen* on FF.Net, much less had. It inspired me to keep this going. I can't believe that someone actually enjoyed this so much! Never be sorry for making long reviews. Thanx for pointing out my mistakes too! I'll try to be more careful next time. And on with the third chapter now.

Chapter Three: A Meeting of Friends and the Unacquainted

Nancy Bode had always been the one who wasn't noticed, the one who was second best. Because of this, she had built up a shell around herself, a shell to keep everyone out. Her older brother had just graduated Hogwarts and was quickly moving up in the Ministry, currently training to become an Unspeakable. Nancy was very smart, but, as her teachers always said, she didn't apply herself to school. "Nancy," they were always saying, "Has other things on her mind. She's smart and writes brilliant essays, but she doesn't pay attention." After years of her parents scapegoat-ing her, she had just shut down. She didn't care anymore. Now she refused to let anyone inside her shell. She refused to be disappointed again.

Nancy willingly admitted she was prejudiced against Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. But then, weren't they just as prejudiced against her? She admitted that she didn't care who she hurt. She loved confusing people. And there, she thought as she walked into the Great Hall for lunch, was the sixth and final person she had managed to confuse the day before. He was sitting at the Gryffindor table, so she must have been right. He was a Gryffindor. He had been so confused by her, it almost made her giggle. Almost, but it didn't. Nancy didn't giggle. She didn't even smile. She did cackle evilly to herself when she was alone. Looking at him, she realized he must be one of the Marauders; she had seen him with the others. What was his name? Something or other Lupin.

Sighing, Nancy took her customary seat at the Slytherin table. Quickly eating a couple of waffles, she was out of the Great hall in fifteen minutes. Walking along the corridor, she found herself walking to the Library: her refuge. She didn't have any homework, but she could always loose herself in the books. Books were the one thing that she could open up to. Books didn't hate you or call you a freak. Books didn't leave.

She sank to her knees at the end of the row where she was reading her latest book. It was called, "The famous endeavors of Salazar Slytherin," and it was by someone named," TM Riddle. She had decided to read every book that the Library possessed this year, and so far she had read almost an eighth of the huge selection. Picking up the book, she lost herself in the twists and turns of the book, letting the real world melt away.

***

Remus Lupin was normally a very logical person. He figured things out, he solved problems, and he worked with things that had black-and-white answers. Remus's greatest hatred (besides himself) was the horrible gray between the black and the white. He didn't like answers that didn't have a right and a wrong, though he knew they existed everywhere. Oh, did he every know. He himself was a walking mass of the gray. However, he didn't like to deal with it. It was this that had led him to loving Arithmancy. It was all numbers, and it was all right or wrong. There were no maybes and no ifs. He didn't like to have anything disturb this.

That was, perhaps, one of the reasons that the girl who had bumped into him yesterday was still floating around in his mind. She had disturbed his sensibleness and made him sound like a fool. If there was anything he hated more than the gray, it was sounding like a fool. Remus knew he wasn't a fool.

When Remus sat down at his customary place in the Great Hall, he looked for her. Deciding she couldn't possibly be a Hufflepuff, he searched the Ravenclaw table, just to be fair, before looking at the Slytherin table. As he had thought, she was sitting there. She sat with her face looking down at her plate, eating mechanically as though not really seeing the food at all. Her face had a zombie-like quality. She left the Great Hall a few minutes later, and, for reasons he couldn't comprehend (and therefore hated; Remus hated not knowing everything), he got up and followed her. She was heading towards the Library. Walking in, he saw her sitting down beside one of the book shelves, reading a book. A look of extreme peace was on her features.

Walking over to a table, Remus sat down and got out a half-finished essay for Defense Against the Dark Arts. He began writing in systematically, paying almost no attention. Defense Against the Dark Arts was another thing he was good at, partly because of what he tried to prove that he wasn't and partly because almost everything had a straight answer. As he wrote, Remus observed the girl. He realized he still didn't know her name and decided he would have to find out what it was. He knew that they shared a few classes together and there for were in the same grade, but he couldn't remember her name or having ever known it.

She was still bent intently over the large volume in her lap, her face screwed up in intense concentration. Finally, she looked up. Remus tried to avert his gaze, but before he could their eyes locked, and the world stopped. She stared at him for a moment, then she quickly slammed her book shut, stood up, and ran out of the Library. She left behind a very bewildered boy who was more determined than ever to figure her out.

***

Nancy had gotten to a lull in the book, and looked up to rest her eyes a minute. They immediately locked with gray ones that had been observing her; Lupin. With a small gasp, she slammed her book shut and ran out of the Library.

He was looking at me! How dare he? How dare he try to figure me out? Doesn't he know that's impossible? Doesn't he know that I don't want people observing me?

She ran all the way back to the Slytherin Common Room and quickly went into it with a quick mumble of, "Snakes rock." When she got to her dormitory, she threw herself onto the bed and shut the curtains with a resounding smack. Catching her breath, she tried to figure out what it was that had disturbed her so much. She never lost her cool. She never, ever, lost her control. What was it about him that made her unravel? He wasn't normal. No one was allowed to be so perceptive and quiet. Boys were supposed to be loud and rambunctious and thick. They weren't allowed to act so quietly understand.

Though I did manage to confuse him, didn't I?  She thought with a smile. Perhaps all wasn't horrible. She was still at the top. She could still make him act like an idiot.

Just don't let him in. It doesn't matter how kind he seems, he'd leave you as soon as he thought you'd been redeemed enough. He's a Gryffindor!

She took a deep breath and opened her curtains. She would go back to the Library. If he was there, she would walk straight up to him and confront him.

***

"I don't need a body guard, you know!" Narcissa told Sirius as she caught up to him, then finished a bit grudgingly, "But thank you anyway."

Sirius looked up at her, eyes uncharacteristically somber, "I know you don't, but it's not right what he does. Why don't you stop it?"

Narcissa gave him a haughty look, "I don't see how you could understand."

Sirius sighed, "Yes, I could. My mother always got abused by my father, and he finally killed her. Literally. He's in Azbakan now. So, believe me, I can understand. He abused me, too. I never said anything. You were stronger than I was," Sirius wasn't at all sure why he was telling her this. He had never told anyone the last part, though he suspected his friends knew. He looked up at her, eyes daring her to pity him.

Narcissa gulped. He did know what she was going through. He understood. She bit her lip, admonished, "I don't stop it because I've given up hoping. Lucius and I are betrothed. If I stand up to him, his thugs get me the next day and my parents send me a howler. If I try to tell my parents, they say I'm being silly. I can't loose their respect; I'll be nothing. Besides, without their protection Lucius would already have me completely under his thumb. If I let them disown me, he can control me. I won't be able to hide from him."

Sirius looked thoughtful, "What about telling Dumbledor?" he asked.

"He couldn't do anything, though I'm certain he would try. My father is one of the Governors of the school and has the council completely under his thumb."

Sirius looked exasperated, "Are you trying to cancel all the options? Do you like being beaten up?"

She looked down, "No, I just don't want to get my hopes set on anything."

"Well, you don't have to do that, but how about we try to figure something out? I'll help you, and I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

Narcissa looked up at him, distrust evident in her eyes, "Why? Why are you doing this? Do you want me for yourself?"

Sirius looked straight back at her, "I sometimes get feelings about people. Yours says, 'This person needs help,' so I'm helping. I don't want you for anyone but yourself."

Narcissa looked at him thoughtfully. Finally, she answered, "You can tell anyone you like, as long as you trust that they won't tell anyone else. And I don't want any pity. I hate it."

Sirius nodded and held out his hand, "Deal?"

"Deal!"

***

Sybil Trelawney had always wanted to be something special. She had always felt something lurking inside her, but it never came out. She had always also had a strong urge to predict things, probably because she had always wanted to know what would happen in the future. The problem was that no one would listen to her. They scorned her and called her a liar. Sybil didn't give up, though. She knew she'd get it right one day.

Then, just yesterday, Sybil had met someone in a similar predicament, and everything had changed. Peter understood what she felt. He was the same as she was. He was her first true friend. Today they would be meeting in the room right below the Divination classroom, Sybil's favorite place on earth.

As Sybil walked up the many flights of stairs there, her heart jumped around nervously in her throat. She reached the room and paused a second at it. Then she opened up the door slowly to see Peter waiting for her.

He gave her a smile as she entered the room, "Hello. I just got here a few seconds ago."

"Hi," She said, walking over to him and sitting down beside him.

"So how are things, since yesterday?" Peter asked.

Sybil shrugged, "They still tease me. Everyone thinks I'm lying. And perhaps I am, just a bit. But I know I've got it in me somewhere. Sometimes I feel something stirring, but it never wakes up."

Peter looked at her understandingly, but with a bit of puzzlement, "So why don't you just stop telling them? They might leave off on you, and perhaps the thing that's stirring would wake."

Sybil looked at him with eyes full of fear, "Because it's all I've got. I'd be nobody without it."

***

End of Chapter Three!

A/N2: So tell me what you think! The plot for this is getting much clearer every day, and it's easy to write, but I'd like some encouragement! Okay, so not any L/J, but there was some more S/N, wasn't there? And here's the thank-you list.

Hollie- Thank You! Homework is evil, very evil.

Anarkeay- Thank You, too! I think of Narcissa as being a little bit like me, so that's how I write her.

WhetherRose- I can't thank you enough! Your review made me so happy I almost cried. Seriously. It was wonderful!  Actually, I forgot about Amos! It doesn't bug me at all that you quote. I love hearing what I'm good at. Be careful, you'll give me an inflated head!

Meghan- Thank you!

Raven- Thank you, and I did add, didn't I?

Clavel- Thanx a bunch!

So next chapter. Probably more of James and Lily, maybe some more Peter and Sybil, and almost deffinetly some more Nancy, Remus, Sirius, and Narcissa.