Chapter 7: In the Shrieking Shack Again

Padfoot's Story

Disclaimer: They're not mine, except Sami. Don't sue me.

And to think that on my first fanfic, I've come this far without getting a flame! *blush* Now on with the Chapter.

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          Sirius stood examining his reflection in the dormitory mirror. He has chosen his outfit particularly carefully tonight, as he would be going out on his first date with a pretty Ravenclaw seventh-year, Sami Jackson.

          Butterflies were bouncing recklessly around Sirius's stomach. In a sudden movement he reached up and dragged a comb through his black hair.

          "Alright," he admitted to himself, "so it shouldn't have taken you this long to pick out an ordinary green sweater and plain old jeans." But he hadn't known how to dress: fancy, casually, conservatively (etc.) . . .

          But at least he knew to dress warmly. He and Sami were going to be out late, and although it was strange weather for early May, the nights were very cool.

          "That's as good as it's gonna get," he muttered mournfully and sat down on his bed.

Remus looked up from the foot of HIS bed, where he was sprawled working on an essay titled "Explain What Was Done To Prevent The Golden Snidget From Being Hunted to Extinction."

             "I wouldn't have thought you'd know how to dress like a muggle," he said with mild interest, "With the way your parents act and everything."

             "I dress this way in the summer," Sirius said wearily. "It used to annoy them, but I think these clothes are more comfortable."

             "Are you nervous?" Peter asked from across the room. Sirius made a point of ignoring him.

             "I wouldn't be," Remus said distractedly, his quill scratching against the parchment. Sirius stared at him until he looked up.

             "Well, I'd much rather go then be stuck here on a perfectly good Friday night working on this essay. It's taking forever; how are you supposed to go on for one and a half feet about a little bird?"

             "Be thankful," Sirius shot back, "At least YOU get to write about something associated with Quidditch. I have to write two feet on how vampire rights have changed since the fifteenth century."

             Sirius was quite sure that Remus would have continued with his list of impossible homework assignments if James hadn't burst through the door at that moment, his hair sticking on end and completely out of breath. He had a very triumphant look on his face.

             He collapsed on his bed and started laughing madly. Sirius and Remus exchanged knowing looks and got off their beds. Peter followed.

             "So, Prongs has lost his mind at last," Remus said casually, leaning against the bedpost. "We were keeping bets on how long it'd take you to crack, you know."

             James ran his fingers through his hair, his breath coming in ragged gasps. When he finally had enough breath to talk, he yelled, "Lily said yes!"

             Sirius looked sideways at Remus, his mouth twitching to keep back a smile. Remus looked so shocked that Sirius thought of an expression his mother had once used- "You could knock him over with a feather."

             Remus recovered and laughed. "Yep, nice try, it was almost convincing that time."

             James shook his head and pounded his pillow in excitement. "I asked her just now in the Great Hall, and she said yes! Ahahaha, IN YOUR FACE! ("Rainbow," brings back good memories doesn't it?) Your piece of parchment means nothing now!"

             He sat up and stabbed his finger in Remus' chest, who fell backwards over James' trunk and landed in a heap of robes and dirty socks. "So I guess a feather really could have knocked him over," Sirius thought in amusement.

             James ran around the room, whooping, then grabbed a pillow and hit Sirius on the head with it. A very enthusiastic pillow fight followed on James' bed, with Remus still on the floor and Peter hovering uncertainly over him.

             "Headline in the Daily Prophet tomorrow," Remus said weakly, but loud enough for Sirius to hear him, 'James Potter goes bonkers convincing himself he got the Girl and injures roommates.'"

             "Hey Sirius," James said dramatically, dropping his pillow in mock astonishment, "is that a STAIN?"

             Sirius looked down frantically at his sweater.

             "Wow," James said seriously, "I didn't think it would work." He leaned forward and emptied an entire bottle of ink down Sirius's front.

             "James Potter, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

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             A short while later the Marauders were sitting in the common room, discussing what they would do after they left Hogwarts. They had all agreed to join the Order, but made a pact not to tell Dumbledore about being animagi. Sirius remembered the conversation from that day clearly.

             *Flashback* "So, I'm going to join as soon as I graduate," Sirius said comfortably, leaning back in his chair after telling the others about the Order. "What about you?"

             "Of course, are you kidding?" they said in unison, James adding, "You think we'd miss out on a chance to fight Voldemort?"

             Sirius shrugged. James continued, "But I don't see why we shouldn't join now. I'm sure if we tell Dumbledore we're animagi, he'll let us join immediately-"

             "No!" Remus hissed, looking around fearfully. "He'll find out about what we do!"

             James looked indignant. "I didn't say tell him about THAT, he knows we're smart, we could have learned how just for the heck of it-"

             "Dumbledore's not stupid," Peter said suddenly, "He'll put two and two together, quicker than you can catch a Snitch." James made a face at him.

             "It's illegal not to have told him sooner anyway," Remus said firmly, "So let's promise, here and now, not to tell him about the Marauders, and wait until we graduate. Agreed?"

             "Agreed," they chorused. *End flashback*
             Sirius checked the Grandfather Clock in the corner of the common room and stood up.

             "It's almost eight," he said, his voice high and squeaky. Inwardly he groaned, he sounded like Peter. "See you guys later."

             James grinned cheekily and gave him thumbs up. Sirius rolled his eyes.

             "Have fun in the old shack," Remus said vaguely, then returned to setting up a chessboard. Sirius shook his head hopelessly at his friends, picked up his school bag (there were some things he wanted to bring) and walked through the portrait hole.

             He was going to meet Sami at the bottom of the marble staircase. On the way down he fiddled with his shirt and toyed with his hair. The ink had disappeared after a while, but not before changing colors so he looked like a living rainbow. Plus he had somehow managed to do a Concealing Charm on his black eye. It was still a little purple near the eyelid, but Sami wouldn't be close enough to see that- would she?

             Sirius sat down on the last step of the staircase and held his head in his hands.

             "I've been on dates before," he muttered under his breath to reassure himself, "And most of them went fine. Girls are crazy about you; remember that, Padfoot, you've seen them fall all over you every day . . . even though you needed an attitude adjustment, you're fine now, so WHY are you so worried . . ."

             "Because I'm more important than the other girls?" a voice said lightly from behind him. He

wheeled around to stare at Sami, who was leaning against the banister three steps up.  

             "How long have you been listening?" he asked accusingly.

             She laughed. "I followed you all the way down, since the fifth floor."

             He was at a loss for words, staring at her; she looked so pretty. He had told her to dress warmly, too, and she was wearing a wool navy sweater and a knee-length white skirt that looked as if it was made entirely of delicate lace. Her thick chocolate curls were hanging in a halo around her face, and there was a white lily ("What's with all the lilies?" Sirius thought) tucked behind her ear.

             "Well . . .should we go then?" she asked, obviously thinking he was angry. Sirius laughed nervously, remembering how he had said that only two weeks ago.

             "Sure," he said and stood up. "Oh," he said, reaching into the bag and pulling out a rose, "I almost forgot, this is for you."

             She smiled and smelled the flower. "Thanks, that's really sweet," she said happily, and they set off together to the castle doors.

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             The night was clear and refreshingly breezy, and the air smelled like violets. Sirius and Sami walked across the school grounds towards the Whomping Willow, although Sami didn't know that that was were they were headed. Sirius had put a lot of thought into this date, and done a lot of work on the Shrieking Shack (sometimes with the help of the rest of the Marauders) since Sami had agreed to go out with him.

             The sun was setting over the lake. Sami watched it wistfully, her hair billowing around her shoulders. She was still holding tightly onto the rose.

             "Pretty sunset, isn't it?" she said softly.

             "Yeah, it reminds me of you," Sirius said before he could stop himself. Sami smiled at him and reached up to ruffle his hair. He ducked, but not fast enough.

             "So do I get to know where we're going yet?" she asked him teasingly.

             "We'll be there soon enough," he answered gruffly. They were now in sight of the Whomping Willow, and Sami noticed it.

             "I always wondered why they planted that tree," she said thoughtfully. "They did it in our first year, remember? I always thought it was so ugly that they wouldn't have planted it unless there was a purpose- I mean, so maybe it's rare, but that one kid almost lost an eye- what do you think?"

             "I think you'll know the purpose of it soon enough," he replied heavily. She gave him an odd look and fell silent.

             After a few more seconds, she became suspicious. "Sirius," she asked as though fearful for his sanity, "Why are we getting so close to this tree?"

             "Because it's guarding the only way to get to where we want to go," he said slowly. "Stay here."

             He transformed and darted forward just as the branches began to swing at him. Amidst the swirl of thrashing leaves he tried to find the knot at the base of the trunk. He heard Sami scream behind him and prayed she hadn't gotten hurt.

             Come on; come on, where is it? A branch narrowly missed Sirius's head. Aha, finally! He pressed it hard with his paws and, to his immense relief, the tree froze as if carved from stone. He now had a lot more sympathy for Wormtail- but then again it had to be easier for a rat.

             "Sirius?"

             Sami was ducking underneath the frozen branches to reach him. She looked badly shaken, but otherwise fine. Sirius transformed back and crawled to meet her.

             "Sorry," he said, taking her hand to help her navigate the branches, "I know that must have been kind of scary."

             "H-how did you know?" she asked weakly.

             Sirius thought about his answer. He knew he would have to tell her the truth at some point, but he wasn't ready to explain it all yet.

             "My friends and I have done this loads of times," he said carefully. "Just don't tell anyone about it, okay? They could get hurt. A lot of people could get hurt, and not just physically." He said that thinking of Moony and what would happen if it got out that he was a werewolf. Sami nodded.

                   Sirius helped her through the tangle of stiff branches to the other side of the trunk, and she gasped- there was a hole at the base of the trunk large enough for an average- sized person to slide through.

             "I'll go first, then you follow me," Sirius told her, and when he saw her hesitate, he added, "It's kind of fun sliding down it, actually. And nothing down there can hurt you. I've spent a lot of time fixing the place up, so I THINK you'll like it . . . and if you don't pretend you do anyway."

             Smirking slightly he slid down the hole.

             Sami took out her wand and looked around uneasily to make sure no one was watching before following.

             Sirius was right, it was kind of fun- the chute was steeper than she expected, and it twisted a lot. The wind whistled in her ears and made her eyes water.

             Suddenly there was a sharp drop; she screamed loudly until it flattened out and she rocketed out onto soft dirt. Scrambling up hastily and brushing dirt off her skirt, she realized she was in a damp earthy passageway with a low ceiling and just enough light to see by.

             A hand reached out and gripped her shoulder, and she screamed again.

             "Just me," Sirius said cheerfully. "Now we're even. Let's go."

             She followed him down the passage, amazed at what had been hiding behind the ugly old Whomping Willow all these years.

             She took a brave stab at conversation. "So, do you have anything planned for after you graduate besides joining the Order?"

             Sirius snorted. "My family'll probably disown me for that. Not that I'll care, but it's kind of depressing to have a family that hates you."

             She was confused. "Why would they hate you?"

             "We hate each other. And I'll take that back, they already HAVE disowned me, right after I ran away. I was so fed up with them and all their pure-blood mania, oh, it used to make me sick." He said viciously.

             He looked down at her. She looked appalled. "You belong to one of the families who believe in the pure-blood nonsense?" She asked quietly.

             "Well- yes- but I'm not like that, I think it's horrible. I ran away to James' house last summer, and haven't seen my family since. And I never will again if I can help it," he spat.

              "Good. If you were like them I certainly wouldn't be here right now- I'm muggle- born."

             "Only one in your family?"

             "No, my sister started this year. She's in Hufflepuff, though. I was really surprised when I got my letter- I'd never even heard of the school, never knew magic really existed. To muggles it's all a game, you know? It's all 'AbraKadabra' and a guy in a cape pulling a rabbit out of a hat." Sirius laughed, but it wasn't sarcastic or ridiculing.

             "You're lucky. I'd rather be muggle-born than pure-blood with the family I have. My brother Regulus is a Slytherin, which automatically boosted his reputation in the Black family. 'That's where the Black family belongs,' according to my mother. He'll graduate next year, and I won't be surprised if he joins the Death Eaters."

             She looked up and searched his face. His expression was grim, he was slightly disgusted, she supposed, of being related to the type of people who thought Voldemort had the right idea. Then it occurred to her how much he had told her when she asked such a simple question.

             "Well, back to the original question, what types of jobs are you looking into?"

             "After I get my N.E.W.T results back I'm going to try and start Auror Training," he said swiftly. She nodded in approval; it was the answer she had been expecting. "James is too."

             "What about Remus?"

             "I'm sure he'd like to, but-"

             Sirius stopped, startled. It was true that Moony would like to be an Auror, but of course there was no way the Ministry would hire him. "I don't think he really knows what he wants to do yet," Sirius said to fill the silence. She raised her eyebrows. "Peter wouldn't be an Auror though, he's not brave enough. Not that's he's smart enough anyway. What about you?"

             "Oh- well- at some point I'd like to come back here and teach, but right now there aren't any positions available. Until then I'll get a job in the muggle world, maybe, or Diagon Alley." She blushed slightly.

             "What subject?"

             "Care of Magical Creatures," she said promptly. "There's a lot of potential for that class. But I wouldn't mind Defense Against the Dark Arts."

             By now they had reached the door to the Shrieking Shack.

             Sirius reached out and turned the doorknob.

             "After you," he teased, and opened the door.

             She walked in. The room was entirely dark (Sirius had kept it dark to cover up all the blood, the cardboard on the windows, and chipping paint) except for a sliver of light spanning the width of an elaborate, oriental runner. The rug, which was cream colored and embroidered with sky-blue thread, was so long it ran the length of the room and into the next. Sami couldn't see anything except the runner in front of her. (a/n That was kind of hard to explain, hopefully you understood it . . .)

             Sirius stepped in behind her and closed the door.

             "Don't light your wand," he whispered softly. The whisper wasn't really necessary, but the mood of the room made you feel strangely small. "Just follow the runner."

             She walked along the runner to the end of the room, thankful that she was able to see the door before she crashed into it. She opened it (it creaked loudly and Sirius winced) and continued along the embroidered rug. She got the feeling that she was now in a hallway even though it was still dark outside the edge of the runner. Sirius was always just a step behind her.

             The hallway turned and rose in a spiraling staircase, the runner directly in the center of it. The stairway ended, she walked along another hallway- and saw a light glittering in a doorway to her left. As she reached the room, the runner ended abruptly.

             "Go on, this is the room," Sirius said behind her, and she walked in.

             The room was small and rectangular, but very cozy. There were no windows, but a soft glow from several candles hovering above Sami's head illuminated the walls. They were cream colored, like the rug, and near the ceiling there was a painted border- this was the same design from the rug, in the same light blue color.

             In the center of the room was a small mahogany table set for two. A long, thin white candle was hovering just above it. Sami smiled when she saw this and turned to look at Sirius.

             "A candlelit dinner?" she asked suspiciously, trying and failing to keep back a smile. He nodded.

             "Didn't think I was capable of this, did you?" he asked slyly. Her cheeks reddened slightly, but she retorted, "If I may speak my mind, I didn't think ANY man was capable of this, Black. In my life I have never been on a romantic date."

             Sirius smirked. "Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?" He sat down, looking pleased with himself. She closed her mouth, which had been hanging open, and did the same.

             "So, Jackson, what would you like for dinner?" he asked politely. She gaped at him again.

             "What are you saying? Do you mean I can have anything?" she asked incredulously.

             "Whatever you want," Sirius replied brightly, grinning at the look on Sami's face. "These are the same plates they use in the Great Hall. I arranged it with the house elves."

             "This is amazing," she said, leaning forward to order lobster from her plate without moving her gaze from Sirius. "I can't believe how much thought you put into this. But I must say, I've never seen a more original way of getting out of paying for dinner."

             He coughed; looking embarrassed, and then ordered a hamburger from his plate.

             Sami looked up from her seafood and swallowed. " Sirius Black," she said, shaking her head in mock despair, "You are positively hopeless."

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             After dinner (and after the plates had cleaned themselves) Sirius led Sami up another staircase to a door that opened onto the roof. He had, after some searching, found a square, flat area of roof that was large enough to lie on- and gave a wonderful view of the night sky.

             "Oh WOW!" Sami said in delight when she saw the view. Night had fallen over the wizard town like a blanket, and thousands of stars were visible twinkling above them. The crescent moon was suspended among them, looking abnormally large. "It's so beautiful," she said happily. "I didn't know you see this many stars around here. Hey- are we in Hogsmeade?"

             Sirius took her hand and led her over to the flat part of the roof. "Yeah," he said. "This is the Shrieking Shack."

             Hey eyes widened. "Isn't this place supposed to be haunted?" she said in alarm as Sirius took a small, portable fire in a jar out of his bag. "No- no, it's not haunted, the noises are made by . . ."

             In the blue firelight he saw a look of dawning comprehension on her face.

             "The noises are made by Remus, aren't they?"

             Sirius was startled that she had figured it out. No part of him desired to tell her the truth, but of course, lying would get him in hot water later.

             "What makes you think that?" he asked casually.

             Her eyes narrowed. "Oh, c'mon, after you've almost been bitten by a werewolf wouldn't you want to find out who it is? As careful as you guys think you are, you and James and the others talk about the whole werewolf thing in public more than you should. And some people DO notice the way Remus gets sick every month as though it's scheduled."  She sat down next to him, beside the fire.

             Sirius's shoulders slumped. "Okay, so you're right, it's Remus. Since you're going to weasel the rest of it out of me anyway, James is the stag and Peter is a rat. We decided to become animagi after we found out Remus was a werewolf so that we could keep him company during the full moon. That night we ran into you, we had left the Shrieking Shack to go explore Hogsmeade, and we weren't counting on running into someone at one in the morning."

             The look on Sami's face was a blend between awe and admiration. "I didn't think you would tell me," she said softly.

             "Yeah, well, you absolutely CAN NOT tell anyone, not even Lily. Nobody else knows except you, and that's illegal." He said warningly.

             Sami smiled at him warmly and stood up.

             "Where are you going?" Sirius said unhappily.

             "I really didn't expect you to be honest with me," she said. "Now I'm going to be honest with you. Hard as it is to believe, you and your friends are not the only animagi in Hogwarts."

             Sirius stared at her in amazement, and a second later a beautiful snowy owl was perched on his shoulder. It nuzzled his cheek and gave a loud hoot before transforming back into Sami.

             Sirius gaped at her. When he didn't say anything, she said, "I asked McGonagall to teach me. I only figured it out last year, but when Dumbledore founded the Order he asked me if I wanted to join."             

             "He was right when he said you could disguise yourself," Sirius mumbled, still in shock. "This makes me feel even worse about not joining the Order."

             "Sorry," Sami said apologetically. "Now let's play some games of Exploding Snap, and then I'll teach you some muggle card games." Sirius reached into his bag and pulled out several packets of the magical cards and said, "You're not going to have any eyebrows left by tomorrow, Jackson."

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             It was very late by the time the last deck of Exploding Snap cards had exploded. Although it was true Sirius was pretty skilled at wizard cards games, he wasn't quite as good with muggle ones, and his eyebrows were still smoking. Sami was currently smirking about that: even though her cards often exploded in wizard games, she was quick enough to get out of the way when they went off.

             Now they were lying on their backs on the blanket Sirius had brought, admiring the night sky in silence and drinking coffee that Sirius had brought in a thermos.

             "Hey," Sirius said, pointing, "It's a shooting star. Make a wish."

             A moment later he rolled over to look at her. "Well? What did you wish for?"

             She pushed him playfully. "You dolt, you know perfectly well that when you tell what you wished for it won't come true."

             "What, is that some kind of muggle superstition or something?"

             She was blushing. "Hey," he whispered, suddenly feeling very bold and leaning closer, "Is it something that I can make come true?" Her face was extremely red now. Sirius was feeling very strange; he had never felt this way with a girl before . . . he felt stronger, braver . . .

             He leaned in and kissed her.

             It was the most wonderful thing that he had ever experienced. The kiss lasted longer than he had expected, because he wanted to drink everything in: the way she smelled, like lavender, the way she tasted, like coffee, the way she felt, so warm and gentle. Even though a few moments before he had felt so strong and sure of himself, now he felt weak and shaky. It was like a dream, and with a start he realized that he was losing himself, his very soul, to Sami Jackson. He had never thought that any girl could do that to him.

             Fireworks of emotion were exploding behind Sami's closed eyelids. Happiness and bliss were radiating throughout her body to her fingertips and made her tremble. She felt addicted, as if he was the thing keeping her alive, the thing keeping her heart beating. She felt as if she was never going to be lonely again. Lord, he was amazing. She smiled against his lips.  

             At long last Sirius broke the kiss, and then it was only because he needed to breathe. They smiled at each other, then Sami leaned in again and kissed him briefly.

             "Thanks for making my wish come true," she whispered, then leaned back in his arms.

             Sirius lay back too and looked at her. He sighed contentedly. "I am the luckiest guy on earth," he thought, and closed his eyes.

             The owl and the dog fell asleep like that, feeling as if they were the only people in the world.

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             My Chapters keep getting longer and longer, just like the Harry Potter books! I'd like to give credit to Morgona5 and Child of the Wolves: aren't you smart! You were right about Sami.

                                                                   ~*Padfoot-dreamer*~