Disclaimer: Me no own...if I did, I'd have money and wouldn't be writing stuff like this for fun...wait...oh n/m

Chapter 6

The Hierarchy of Things

"I don't understand why you're protesting now, James," Eleanor quirked an eyebrow at the other chaser. "Even back when Eve...Avalon...whatever her name is now, was 'team captain,'" she flexed her fingers like quotation marks, "you were the one who made all the plans and moves. She didn't need to worry about that, being the Seeker and all."

James opened his moth to protest further, but was cut off by Sirius, a Gryffindor beater. "And another can of acid worms is opened up. Avalon is taking up the beater position, which is fine by me (especially after seeing Luscious' little souvenir), but she doesn't have any real team experience. She won't have the first clue how to execute any of our plays."

"Isn't that what practice is for?" Avalon stepped from the shadow of the doorway.

"How long have you been-"

"Oh, and James should go ahead be captain," commented the tall girl, cutting James off in mid-sentence.

"Obviously long enough," Sirius answered James' unfinished question.

"Well, that settles it then," Eleanor grabbed her broom while smirking at James, "come on captain, tell us the plan!"

He sighed heavily, with a hint of sarcasm, finally giving in. "Right, Sirius, fill Avalon in on her new beater duties. And Avalon? I need you to also inform Ian about his seeker duties."

The girl nodded, glancing over at the new seeker. It was going to be a long evening, but Avalon welcomed the distraction. That was the nice thing about Quidditch: there was no room to think, just react. She wouldn't have to worry about her mind wandering tonight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No! Avalon!" James slid two hands through his hair and let a long and frustrated sigh. "Wait for Sirius' signal before knocking the blugder away."

She bit back an excuse and looked away sheepishly. They had already tried this play several times and she had yet to get it right. James took a long breath, "You aren't the star of the show anymore. You're part of the team now and you must remain aware of Sirius' moves. The same goes for Sirius. Be aware of each other and make sure none of us get pummeled."

Avalon nodded, "I never realized it'd be so hard to break old habits."

"Well, they better be broken by Saturday." James glanced up at the sky. The sun had just set and only a bit of light remained, "It's too dark to do anything more tonight. Hufflepuff has the field again in the morning, so we'll meet tomorrow night."

The team grounded their brooms and headed to the changing rooms. Avalon peeled off her sweaty clothes and jumped into the shower for a quick wash; Eleanor took the stall next to her.

"Hey Eve!" Avalon grimaced as the other quickly corrected herself, "I mean, Avalon. I hear you're going steady with a particular Slytherin."

The short-haired girl chocked and sputtered, "What?!"

"Oh, don't deny it. Severus is rather cute - for a Slytherin. That is kind weird though, you just seem the type to go for someone-"

"Where the hell did you hear that?!" Avalon was at the front of her stall, glaring at the other nude girl.

Eleanor shrieked and tried to cover herself, " Do you mind?!"

Avalon rolled her eyes, "Oh please, its not like you have anything I've never seen! Now tell me where you heard that!"

The other Gryffindor shrank back, "Its just a rumor going around!"

Amber eyes narrowed, "Guess no one bothered to think about how damaging 'just a rumor' can be...who did you hear it from?"

After a moment of fidgeting, Eleanor replied, "I heard it from a group of 5th years while going to class this morning. They mentioned something about some scrawny, 7th year boy talking to his friends about seeing you two together."

Avalon frowned and placed one hand on her hip while grinding her teeth, "I'm going to kill him..."

"Great, as long as it isn't me. Now can you please give me some privacy? I've told you what you wanted to know!"

Fuming, Avalon left the other girl alone and quickly finished showering. Throwing her school uniform on, she was half running back up to the castle. Supper had already started as she stormed into the Great Hall. Heads turned towards her as the doors swung open. Avalon took in her surroundings and quickly concluded that nearly the entire student body had heard the gossip.

Some were smiling and giggling, while others looked a bit mad and betrayed (namely, Gryffindors). A glance to the Slytherin table told that Severus had locked himself in a room somewhere. Her steps did not falter as she took in the information. Her target destination: a particular group of boys. Sirius jabbed an oblivious Peter in the side and the boy jerked his head around. All color drained from his face and he tried to hide behind Sirius. Remus stabbed at his food numbly while James looked at Lilly, pretending to be talking to her and ignoring the situation.

Professor McGonagal was on her feet in an instant, meaning to intercept Avalon. Dumbledore held up his hand to stop her, "Don't worry, Minerva, she won't be hurting anyone tonight. Do sit down and relax."

"But Albus, last time she..." she sat down hesitantly.

"I am well aware that her intentions are hard to read...but watch." As he spoke, McGonagal surveyed the disaster waiting to happen.

To her amazement, though, as Peter shrank away and shielded himself with his hands, Avalon seemed to calm substantially. Bewildered, Peter slowly dropped his hands, as the girl took her seat next to Remus and began to serve herself dinner.

Avalon chewed on her chicken mercilessly and washed it down with a sweet tasting punch. No one said anything, preferring she took out her frustration on the meat, rather then one of them. Remus glanced over at her and fought back the urge to try and comfort her.

"Where the Hell did you get an idea like that?!" Everyone jumped at the sharpness in her voice.

Peter chocked on a carrot, "I...I saw you with the Slytherin-"

"Severus"

"Um...yeah...yesterday before you left, I saw you two in the hall..."

"So you told everyone we were in some kind of relationship?"

"No! Not really, I told James and the guys what I saw, but that was all! Honest!"

"He did tell us-in the COMMON room," interjected James, finding the courage to enter the conversation.

At this point, Remus expected Avalon to hit Peter with another burst of angry words. Yet, instead, she drooped and sighed with a weariness that made even him feel tired.

"Well, thanks a lot. Appreciate your concern for my well-being." She stood up, her food hardly touched. "I'm going to bed now, I've had a long day."

Peter opened his mouth, then closed it, deciding that he'd stay quiet this time. No one else said anything either. Remus stared back down at his food; more then likely it was cold by now. That's what he felt like most of the day.

His insides had gone cold last evening when Peter proudly revealed his estranged information. Other emotions flashed through him and left him feeling overwhelmed and numb. Remus sighed heavily and started to stab his food absentmindedly once more.

Lilly whispered something to James and he leaned over to the werewolf. "Maybe you should go talk to her."

Remus looked up at him, furrowing his eyebrows. Lilly smiled at him and gestured at Avalon's untouched food. "She probably hasn't eaten very much in the past day, why don't you take her plate up to her," she suggested.

Remus fidgeted for a moment and then nodded slowly, "You're right, she's probably famished."

He grabbed her plate and stood up to leave.

"Um, Remus?" Peter spoke hesitantly, "Let her know that if she really wants to beat me up, she can."

"Oh, no," protested Sirius, putting a comforting hand around Peter's shoulders. "Tell Avalon not to worry about it. James and I will beat him up for her."

Remus chuckled softly, walking away as Peter struggled to get out of Sirius' grasp. The quiet halls echoed his footsteps as he ascended to Gryffindor tower. The Common room welcomed him with a warm embrace, which he accepted gratefully after his long walk through the chilled halls.

Hoping that no prefects would suddenly appear and question his presence on the girls' side, Remus knocked hesitantly on Avalon's door to her dorm. No reply.

"Avalon?" Remus called out her name.

A few moments passed and he was about to repeat it when he heard a muffled response. He pushed the door open and let himself in; the door closed with a rather loud click. His eyes searched the room and fell across her form, laying with her back to him. Remus was across the room in just a few steps. He put the plate of food on her nightstand, next to a lit candle. Over the aroma the warm food, he could pick up the spicy scent of pumpkin.

He slowly dropped his weight on the bed and watched Avalon for a few minutes. The silence stretched out and he could no longer take it. "Avalon, talk to me, please," the werewolf pleaded.

For a moment, no response, but then, the girl drew her knees up, hugging them tightly. Remus opened his mouth to speak again, but Avalon sat up and turned to face him.

She had been crying, her warm cheeks damp from the tears and her yes were read and glossy. Remus' heart broke to see her like that. All he wanted to do at that moment was to hold her and reassure her that all was well.

His eyebrows went up in worry and gently, yet firmly, Remus pulled her into his arms. "Oh Avalon, I'm so sorry..."

Her body began shaking from her renewed sobbing. The young man found himself caressing her back, rubbing his hand in small circles over it.

"I...I saw him die, Remus," Avalon chocked out, "I tried to warn him...to stop all those deaths...but I couldn't do anything...not a damn thing.."

Remus stopped moving his hand but continued to hold her in the embrace, "You were here, at the school when it happened, there wasn't anything you could have done. You didn't even know it was happening."

Avalon bunched the front of his robes up in her fists. Her sobs had ceased once more. "Please don't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you...I'm sure I'll sound crazy." She pulled away from him and for a moment, Remus panicked, wondering if had done something wrong. But she tugged on his arm and he found himself sitting next to her, leaning back against the headboard of her bed.

With her hand in his, Avalon spoke again, "I had a really strange dream last night. But it wasn't a dream like go-to-bed-and-sleep-dream because I wasn't asleep. I had been in front of my mirror when suddenly I was outside, in some kind of park. It was like the article read, a group of muggles were attacked." Her voice started to quaver again, "No one could see me, except...I saw my father...right before he died, he saw me."

More silence. Not surprising, Remus didn't know what to say, yet felt that words weren't necessary anyway. He could hear muffled voices from below, supper must be over. Speaking of which, Avalon's was probably getting cold.

A rather loud rumble filled the room and Avalon tensed beside him. Another moment of silence, then she let out a small laugh. "Thanks for bringing some food up to me, I suppose I am a bit hungry."

Remus smiled at her and nodded, "Well, better hurry up and eat some...I don't think its very warm now..."

"Its okay," she pushed up from the bed and the young man followed. "You should probably go now, before anyway catches you and assumes the worst."

He continued to hold her hand, not wanting to leave yet. The voices downstairs were getting louder and he glanced over at the door with a sort of pouting look. Avalon grinned and pulled him over to the door, peeking out to make sure no one was in the hallway yet. Remus let her lead him out, still holding on to those warm hands.

"Okay, really Remus, you should go now..." He sighed and let go of her hand. He smiled sheepishly at her and turned to head over to his dorm. "Oh, Remus?"

As he turned back around to look at her, he was surprised to find himself with an armful of Avalon. She hugged him tightly and then pulled away slightly, looking up into his eyes. "Thanks for being there for me..." His eyes then widened as she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. Before he could make a coherent response, she flashed a smile at him and was back in her room with the door closed.

Remus just stood there in shock for a moment before finally heading back to his dorm. James and Sirius were already in the room, throwing their nightshirts on. Both stared at Remus as he walked past them, completely ignoring, or not noticing their presence. Both boys stared after him with knowing grins and chuckled quietly to themselves.

He was on autopilot, not even realizing that he had already changed and was in bed. The only thing that he was able to realize was that he was warm. For as long as he could remember, he had been cold and almost empty. After meeting the other boys, some of that had left, but now he felt so warm...so warm and full of life.