Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Trust me, if I did there would be A LOT more sex than in the books. By the way, sorry it took so long to update. My computer at home is a piece of shit and I can't update from there, so I'm going to try and finish the story on-line before Sunday at 5 pm. So, work with me peoples! The story is finished in long-hand, so all I have to do is type three more chapters then it's time for the sequel.
Author's Note: The first half of this chapter is finally going to explain why this story is called 'The Princess of Silence'. I also owe a lot of this 'explanation' to Dan Brown. (Read THE DA VINCI CODE after this chapter, if you want to learn more.) There is, however, some angst in this chapter. No cutting though. Let's press on, shall we?
CHAPTER EIGHT: BROKEN REPETITION
A month later, Serenity and Sirius were arguing. Again. James and Remus couldn't understand the conversation. Again. James started flirting with Lily. Again. She ignored him. Again.
Repetition. Repetition had been the key to keeping Sirius busy. Repetition had helped to lift his depression. But repetition was about to broken. And the reason it had been broken was two sets of eyes. Two pairs of amethyst eyes.
The reasoning was so vital, Minerva McGonagall made a rare appearance in Gryffindor tower. "Mr. and Miss Black. This way, please."
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"Please, take a seat." Professor Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling. "No, you're not n trouble. I must comment on the fine job you did turning the grounds blue, however. Most-"
Minerva cleared her throat. The headmaster smiled. "Some news had recently fallen into our hands. News about the pair of you."
Serenity and Sirius exchanged looks. "Ummm, sir? Is it . . . bad news?" Sirius asked tentatively.
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "That would depend on your outlook, I believe." he said. "Firstly, Sabriel is NOT your triplet. He is about one year younger than the pair of you. Your parents lied to trick the Ministry of Magic into believing a certain prophesy had not occurred."
"Prophesy?" Sirius asked blankly. "And Sabriel's not our triplet?" He smiled as a thought entered his mind. "Are we not related?"
"You are brother and sister, half-siblings." Dumbledore answered. "You're correct surname should not be Black however. Your father's surname was Merovingian." His eyes twinkled. "Ministry officials will be bringing a record of the prophesy for the pair of you to listen to."
"A prophesy that says what?" Sirius asked. "It can't just say we have a different dad."
Serenity mad some timid motions. Sirius looked at her. "She says she thinks Mer-Mervinging . . ." He looked at McGonagall with a question mark for a face.
"Merovingian." she supplied.
"Yeah, that. She says she thinks it's French . . . and royal." Sirius said, frowning.
"Merovingian is a bloodline that is, indeed, royal. It started in the fifth century. There is a rather . . . important . . . bloodline that helped create the Merovingian line." Dumbledore paused for a moment, thoughtfully. "A bloodline who male . . . creator . . . was born on 0 A.D."
Minerva cleared her throat. Dumbledore seemed to came back to the present. "Serenity, Sirius. You two are indeed royal. Do either of you pay attention in History of Magic?"
Sirius and Serenity exchanged looks. Even Lily had trouble paying attention in Binn's class. "We read the books, sir." Sirius answered honestly.
"Dumbledore smiled. "Have you ever heard of the Prince and Princess of Essence?"
Sirius started to shake his head. "Wait! Yeah, I think I remember something . . . Aren't they the royalty of the wizarding world? The first royalty since Merlin's daughter?" Sirius looked shocked. He didn't know why he had remembered that.
Dumbledore nodded. "The Prince and Princess of Essence are the first legitimate royalty since Princess Celestina."
"Legitimate? But if Mum was married to Dad . . . They've been married since . . ."
"Since your half brother, Sabriel, was born." Dumbledore said gently. "Your mother was married to Prince Sigisbert Henry Merovingian IV. She did know he was Muggle. He knew of the wizarding world and claimed to come from the Rosier family.
"When your mother realized he wasn't a wizard, she left him. She was pregnant with you two, however. A few lies convinced everyone that you two and Sabriel were triplets." Dumbledore shook his head. "The Ministry looked at your birth certificates when reviewing the case. It seems your mother was too worried about disguising you that she forgot to change proper documentation, much to our benefit. You to are the Princes and Princess of Essence."
Sirius burst out laughing. "You're kidding right?" Serenity looked too nervous to laugh.
"I am not 'kidding'." Professor Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. "You and Serenity are royalty."
"Right." Sirius said sarcastically. "I'm the Prince of Pranks and she's the Princess of Silence."
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McGonagall and Dumbledore had said not to tell anyone, but Remus and James weren't anyone. "Hey, guys." Sirius whispered. He gestured toward the stairs. The people in the common room were so concerned with friends and Gobstones and everything else they never noticed a girl sneaking up to the third year boys' dormitory.
"What's up?" James asked at they all piled onto Sirius' bed. "Is it bad? Is it something about your—"
"No." Sirius said. "It's crazy. Well, Serenity and me . . . we're twins, not triplets. Our dad isn't really our dad and we're fourteen, not thirteen." Sirius frowned at this point. "We lost a whole year of our lives."
Serenity sighed and leaned her hand on Remus' shoulder, taking his hand in hers. He smiled comfortingly at her.
"Anyway, our last name is supposed to be Mer-Merovingian." He stumbled a bit with the pronunciation. "And we're . . we're . . ."
"You're what?" James asked impatiently.
Sirius glared at him. "Royalty."
Remus and James looked at each other, then burst out laughing. "Royalty?" James asked. "That's a good one, Sirius."
"I'm not kidding." Sirius said. "I said the same thing, but Dumbledore says it's true. Mer-Merovingian is a royal name. I'm serious, you guys."
Serenity stood up and put her hands on her hips. 'Cut it out.' she mouthed. When they didn't, Serenity grabbed Remus' arm and leaned in, a hairsbreadth away from his face. 'Cut it out or I won't kiss your for a month.'
Remus stopped midlaugh. "Royalty, Serenity? C'mon. You two can come up with something better than that."
"It's true." Sirius protested. "Guys, do you honestly think I would pretend to be a prince?" James and Remus exchanged looks. He had a point. "I swear it on my life." Sirius said somberly.
"You're royalty, then." Remus said. "But what exactly are you the royalty of? What do you rule? Britain?"
"We're not exactly sure. Dumbledore said when the people from the Ministry come tomorrow and they bring the prophesy—"
"Hang on." James said. "Ministry? A prophesy? Why would they bring a prophesy? You guys aren't actually going to rule something, are you? Just tell them 'no'."
"Of course, we don't want to rule anything. Are you mad? We're thirteen, I mean fourteen. Damn." Sirius looked at Serenity. "We can't just say 'no'. There's this thing . . . See, if we don't rule, Voldemort stays." James and Remus exchanged looks. Why couldn't Sirius just say You-Know-Who like every other wizard living? "If we do whatever the hell it is we're supposed to do, Voldemort's gone by the time we're twenty. Kind of a no-brainer, James."
James looked taken aback. "Well . . . what is it you're supposed to do anyway?"
Serenity made a few movements and Sirius translated. "She says she doesn't know, but she's damned if she has to wear a dress."
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The Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnold; Rookwood, an Unspeakable; Angel Pur, and Michael Smith were all in Professor Dumbledore's office when Minerva brought Sirius and Serenity up.
"A question first." Dumbledore said to the twins, after they had sat down. "Do the pair of you wish to keep the surname Black or would you prefer to change in to Merovingian?"
Serenity and Sirius had already discussed this. "We want to change it." Sirius said as his sister nodded.
"When the pair of you are officially present," the Minister started, "will you leave the Ministry running as it presently is?"
"Yeah." Sirius said as if it were the stupidest question he had ever heard. "We don't want to do any more of this sh-stuff than we have to. Sir." he added.
Rookwood pulled a small, dusty spherical object from the inside pocket of his robes and performed a sort of complicated tap wit his wand. A figure that Sirius and Serenity didn't recognize, but who seemed to have the same face as their Divination teacher rose.
"A PAIR OF TWINS IS BORN TO A MUGGLE PRINCE AND PUREBLOOD WITCH . . . THE DARK LORD IS MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER BEFORE . . . THE TWINS ARE THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF ESSENCE . .. THEY HAVE THE CHOICE TO RULE AND DEFEAT THE DARK LORD . . . TO REFUSE IS TO LET HIM CONTINUE HIS REIGN . . . THE ROYAL BLOODLINE MUST NOT DIE OUT . . ."
That globe was replaced with another, from which Sybil Trewlawney rose.
"THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF ESSENCE ARE BORN. THEY WILL BE DENIED AND BETRAYED. THE PRINCESS OF ESSENCE DOES NOT SPEAK. THEY WILL DEFEAT THE DARK LORD OR PREISH TRING, FOR PAST AGE TWENTY, ONE MUST FALL."
Sirius looked up. "Professor Trewlawney?" he asked quietly. Dumbledore nodded. Sirius sat for a moment and then spoke. "How do you know it's us?" he asked. "There's go to be more than one set of twins that are boy and girl born around the right time."
"None with purple eyes except you two." Dumbledore said, his own eyes twinkling.
"What do our eyes have to do with anything?" Sirius asked.
"Purple eyes only belong to royalty." Bagnold said. "Anyone with purple eyes is royalty. Those with lavender eyes are illegitimate. Those with amethyst eyes—the same as yours—are legitimate. A pair of eyes that color hasn't been seen since the 14100's. Your father was the last Merovingian of that name. The remaining are all in hiding. You two are the only bearers of that name since your father died."
"So, he died then?" Sirius asked, trying to doge as much of the royalty stuff as much as he could.
Serenity made a few movements. Minerva McGonagall was shocked to realize she understood a few of them. Sirius, however, translated as he always did. "She wants to know what we have to do and if we have to elave school or anything."
"leave school? No, no, no. Of course not. You will have to be presented at the Ministry formally. Then you'll need to study up. You'll need to learn advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts." the Minister said.
Great. Serenity thought. More homework.
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"This bites." Sirius said to Remus and James. Remus was talking to Serenity, however, and not listening to Sirius complain.
Sirius and James were talking about Quidditch when Remus and Serenity stood up to leave. "Where are you going?" Sirius asked, eyes on Remus' hand linked with his sister's.
'A walk,' Serenity mouthed, sticking out her tongue. She grabbed Remus' arm and dragged him from the room. 'He's so annoying.'
"He cares about you is all." Remus said. "It's not a bad think." He slid an arm around his girlfriend's waist and kissed her temple. "But, yes, he's annoying."
Serenity smiled as they made their way out to the grounds. They settled underneath a tree and started 'talking' about mostly nothing. 'You look sick.' Serenity said, concern twinging in her voice.
Remus looked at his girlfriend. Serenity's amethyst eyes were full of worry. "It's nothing." he said, waving off the words with his hand.
'You always get sick around this time of the month, and you're not female, so something's up.' Serenity used hand motions as well as lips syncing to convey her sentence. 'We think we know, but we don't want to jump to convulsions.'
Remus said nothing.
'You always get sick around . . . well, we think we know, but we don't want to jump to conclusions.'
Remus said nothing.
'You're a werewolf, aren't you?'
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It seemed that Remus and Serenity were fighting. Remus refused to tack to his girlfriend and Serenity was hanging out with Lily and crying in the bathroom when she was supposed to be in class. She forgot about her surname, that Bellatrix might attack her, that Sirius and James were worried. All she thought about was that Remus was mad at her and she wondered if she deserved his anger.
"You need to talk to her." James said. "You can break up with her or make up. You can't just ignore her." Remus ignored him. "What the hell are you guys fighting about anyway?"
She knows the truth. Remus usually didn't get angry, and he never resorted to blackmail, but when he felt hot tears pricking his eyes, he lost it. "If you're so damned concerned maybe you could tell me where you and Sirius disappear to for hours on end."
James jerked back as if he had just been slapped. "Fine. I didn't mean to . . . I just wanted to make sure you were okay!" He grabbed his books and stormed out of the library, tears threatening to fall.
Remus buried his head in his arms. All he wanted to do was help and I drove him away like a fucking prick. I really am a monster.
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Remus hid in the secret passageway behind the mirror on the fourth floor. He refused to go to Gryffindor tower, afraid of his guilty. He simply sat there, biting the insides of his cheeks until they bled and hating himself.
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Serenity was worried. She sat up late and stared at the moon, thinking about everything. What if Remus never forgave her and was her accusation right? What would happen when she was official 'a princess'? What if she and Sirius couldn't defeat You-Know-Who? What did Remus say to James that made him cry? Why did Sirius and James hold hands sometimes? And if they were 'together' or even just gay, why did James ht on Lily? Was it a charade?
Serenity stood up and walked to the wardrobe. She pulled it open, wincing as it creaked, but neither Lily or Natasha moved. She pulled the Marauder's Map from inside her hanging robes. I solemnly swear I am up to no good. He was in the secret passage on the fourth floor. She slipped on her robe and slipped out of the dormitory, hurrying to the fourth floor, using the Marauder's Map to avoid Filch, Mrs. Norris, and a certain Slytherin boy. When she finally pulled open the mirror/door, she was surprised to see that Remus was huddled in the corner, knees drawn up to his chest, blood on his bottom lip, face tear-streaked.
"S-Serenity?" he breathed, almost afraid to believe it.
'We need to talk.'she mouthed, kneeling and taking his hands in hers. 'I don't want you to be mad.'
Remus wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. "I fucked up, Serenity. I fucked up big time. With you, with James . . . gods, with everything! Dammit!" Remus yanked his hand from Serenity's grasp and buried his head in his hands. "It's like some fucked up nightmare, Serenity, except I can't fucking wake up!"
Serenity moved in closer to him and kissed the top of his head. 'Love you.' Remus wasn't looking at her, but she mouthed the words anyway. 'James'll forgive you . . . with time.'
"Did he tell you what I did, Serenity?" Remus asked. "I as good as called him a fag. Calling him a fag probably would hve been kinder than what I did." For the first time, Serenity heard Remus cry. "I didn't want to say it. I was just so . . . gods, I don't even know what my fucking problem is! I should have just told you the truth. Then none of this would have happened." Remus looked at his girlfriend. "How upset was James?"
Serenity bit her bottom lip. James had been crying, but did Remus really need to know that? Should she just say he was upset and leave it at that? 'He was upset, but Sirius took care of everything.' That was true. Sirius had lead James upstairs, leaving Serenity more alone than she had ever felt; excluded from her friend's grief, an angry boyfriend, a brother who was keeping secrets, and a title she didn't even understand. 'He'll be fine.' Gods, I hope we all will.
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"I-I'm sorry." Remus stammered, his eyes burning from the threat of tears. James looked broken and Remus knew it was his fault. "I shouldn't have said that. It was wrong and I was a jackass." Remus looked at his feet. "I know about you two and I used it and—"
"You know? I mean, of course you know, but how did you . . ." James blushed and Remus thought it made him look sweet, innocent.
"You guys hold hands sometimes when you think Serenity and me aren't looking, and I've seen you two kiss a couple times." Remus shook his head. "I really don't care if you two are 'together' or just experimenting or whatever. It doesn't bug me. I should have said what I did and I'm sorry."
"It's okay." James whispered. "I know you didn't mean it."
"The reason Serenity and I were fighting—you know, like you asked me before." James nodded. "Well, Serenity guessed why I disappear three nights a month."
"So, we were right?" James asked, lowering his voice. "You're a werewolf?"
Remus hesitated for a second, then nodded.
"I knew it. Wait until you hear what we've been up to."
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"Moony, Fangs, Padfoot and Prongs." Remus said grinning. "It's got a nice ring to it." He couldn't believe this. In their second year, Sirius, Serenity and James had been so sure Remus was a werewolf they had began studying to come Animagi. They had finally pulled it off.
James was Prongs, a stag. Sirius was a huge bear-like dog named Padfoot, and Serenity was a white cat called Fangs. The three had spied on Sirius using the Marauder's Map and discovered he want to the Shriek Shack during the full moon. On other nights they had looked up werewolf symptoms and discovered Remus had all of them.
"it's going to be awesome, mate." Sirius grinning. "Well, kinda . . ." Sirius realized too late he had just said Remus' transformation nights were 'awesome'.
Remus smiled thought. "I can't believe you guys would do this." He looked at James. Less that twenty-four hours ago, he had made him cry and James still wanted to do this.
For the first time since he had been diagnosed, Remus felt a tremor of hope. Maybe the transformations wouldn't be so bad now. Maybe . . . Serenity caught his eye and smiled.
To hell with 'maybes'. Everything was going to be okay.
We held each other tight
Through our hell of dreams
I still hear the never ending
Echo of those screams.
-10,000 Maniacs
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So, what did you think? Please R&R because I need the support. Here's the preview for Chapter Nine: Sailing Through the Storm.
CHAPTER NINE: SAILING THROUGH THE STORM
Sirius' blush deepened. "yeah, but when we were doing that, we didn't worry about being gay or straight or anything and now . . . now that he's gone , I have t-to . . ."
"To decide your sexuality?" Remus offered.