Sweet Misery
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.:: One week earlier ::.
"My Lord," a Deatheater said entering his chambers.
"Have you found them?" Voldemort hissed.
"No, My Lord," he replied. "They disappeared into the woods. We thought we would at least find the seer, but not even she was found."
"Bring me Sommers."
"Yes My Lord."
Sommers arrived in Voldemort's chambers shortly after the other Deatheater had left.
"You summoned me, My Lord?" Sommers said.
"You are an animagus, am I correct?" inquired Voldemort.
"Yes sir, a small rodent."
"Good. I have a mission for you. Will you accept?"
"Anything to help you rise to power."
"I need you to go to Hogwarts. There, you will wait for the seer and the prophetess. Once they arrive, stick closely to the prophetess and never let her out of your sight. Just don't let her see you. While she is sleeping, try to pry the prophecy out of her. Once she tells the prophecy, report back here. I want that prophecy, Sommers!"
"Yes, My Lord."
Sommers apparated out of the study to Hogsmeade where he went to full-fill the mission.
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Lauren didn't realize how far behind she was until she attended classes on Monday. By the end of the day, she was too wiped out to go to dinner. She went straight up to the common room where she proceeded to read all her textbooks thoroughly. When Lily and Gwynn returned with some food for her, they gave her their notes from their classes that they shared with her. Lauren read through those and added the notes she didn't have to hers. When the other girls in the dorm began to come up, Lauren snatched up her stuff and migrated down to the common room, leaving the neglected plate of food up by her bed. The common room slowly began to clear. Soon it was only she and the Marauders left. She knew it was getting late when even they headed up to their dorm. Shortly after they had left, sleep got to Lauren and she fell asleep on top of her books and parchment.
+*+*+*+*+
Lauren woke up when she slipped off her but was even more startled when she didn't hit the floor, but more like went through it. She kicked up and emerged above the surface. She gabbed on to her chair and looked around.
"This is too much…" she murmured, snaking her head. She was floating in a sea of notes and textbooks. "No more cramming for me." After looking around a little longer, she said, "This has got to be the oddest dream I've ever had."
Lauren climbed up on to the chair and felt it start to sink. Lauren laughed at the though of herself drowning in parchment. The chair continued to sink as it drifted in the sea. Lauren caught sight of the table she had been using and climbed on to it as she passed it. As she sat on the table, a scream cut through the silence.
"Loni?" Lauren said looking up. There was another scream. She could definitely tell it was Loni, but where was she? Lauren stood up and saw a faint shadow on the horizon. Loni screamed again. Lauren jumped into the sea of notes and swam fast. But, when she went up to the surface, she found that the surface layer of parchment had hardened into a thick shell. Loni's screams rang trough her ears. Lauren pounded on the shield blocking her. The parchment around her suddenly turned to water, leaving her with out an air supply. She clawed at the wall frantically hoping it would give way. Lauren's lungs burned, she couldn't hold her breath any longer. She exhaled.
+*+*+*+*+
Lauren woke up suddenly looking around, gasping for breath, and just saw a pair of feet flying up above the tabletop. She stood up and looked over the table and saw Sirius lying there, sprawled out on the ground.
"Bad dream?" he asked, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head.
"You okay?" she said.
"Yeah, my book bag broke my fall."
"Ouch… Wait, what time is it?"
"Uh… I don't know, but class starts soon. In like five minutes, I think."
"Five minutes! Why didn't you wake me up?!"
"I though you needed you beauty sleep." Sirius grinned. Lauren pushed one of her heavier books off the table on to Sirius, who fell back on the ground. Lauren ran up to the third year girls' dorm and changing into a fresh uniform. She was back down and shoved her notes and books in her bag.
"You do know where you're going, don't you?" Sirius asked, pulling the transfiguration book out of her bag.
"Divination," she said snatching the book from him. "Okay, ready. Lead the way."
"I thought you knew where you were going."
"I thought you went what class, not what class room."
"It's just getting later, you know."
"You're doing this purposely, aren't you?"
"You found me out. Let's go."
Sirius startled strolling towards the portrait, until Lauren pushed him forward making him go faster. The two sprinted down the halls taking the occasional secret passage. The bell rang as Sirius told Lauren they were nearly there. Shortly, they reached a dead end, till Sirius pulled open a hatch on the ceiling and a silver ladder fell down. Lauren climbed up followed by Sirius. The teacher was standing in the front of room, tapping her foot impatiently.
"You two are late," she stated.
"Technically, we could or couldn't be," Sirius replied. "I mean, it all depends on your definition of 'late'."
"Yeah," said Lauren.
"Your definition of late could mean something like a little after the bell, at the bell, or even before the bell," explained Sirius.
"Mr. Black, Miss—" the teacher started.
"It could also mean something like pink," interrupted Lauren.
"Yes, if it could mean at or before the bell it could also mean something like pink," said Sirius.
"Therefore, late from now on means pink, and the last time I checked, we weren't pink."
"Cute," the professor said. "But not cute enough to get you out of a detention."
"But Professor Oleassi, detention could have numerous meanings," Sirius stated.
"Yeah," agreed Lauren, "not only could it mean a disciplinary act to discourage students from performing the same stunt again, but also hash and unusual punishment—"
"Don't forget the perfect time to play 'kick the caretaker's cat'."
"Yes, I was getting there, thank you Siri. See, just like late, detention could mean other things too."
"I prefer to stick with the denotation of these words," Professor Oleassi replied.
"Ah but the denotation differs from adults and teenagers," said Sirius. "It's almost like a different language."
This continued on for quite a while. Lauren and Sirius were relentless in their mission to prove false meanings for words. When the bell rang, Sirius and Lauren had thought they won when Professor Oleassi informed them of their week's worth of detentions for wasting valuable class time. They hung their heads in defeat and climbed down to join James and Peter at the bottom of the ladder.
"Y-you re-really h-had h-her goi-ing th-there," stammered Peter.
"I'm surprised we lasted that long," replied Lauren.
"Well thanks for your work, you were great, we really need that more often," said James.
"Oleassi is nothing," Sirius said. "You can get away with nearly anything in her class."
The group walked into the Charms classroom and took a seat down in their usual area. They were joined shortly by Lily, Gwynn, and Remus, who had Ancient Runes before. The bell rang and the students quickly quieted down listening to Professor Flitwick talk about explosion charms. Lauren was taking notes when Sirius leaned over.
"Hey Lauren," he whispered.
"What?" she whispered back, not looking up from her parchment.
"Just to let you know, I don't think blue knickers suit you too well," he teased.
Lauren's cheeks flushed red. In the blink of an eye, Lauren grabbed her Charms book, and whacked the back of Sirius's head, causing him to hit it on the table. The loud 'thwomp' and Sirius's yelp of pain caused the class to look up at them. There, they saw Lauren, bright red, with the Charms book above her head ready to take another swing at Sirius, who was rubbing his forehead growling, "Ow ow ow ow ow ow!"
"Miss Fonseca, may I ask why you hit Mr. Black with your textbook?" Professor Flitwick asked. Lauren, if possible, went even redder.
"Sorry," she mumbled, setting her textbook down and sitting in her seat.
"A warning for you Miss Fonseca," Flitwick said. "I highly suggest you don't do that again."
"Yes sir," she replied.
When Flitwick resumed his lecture, Lily whispered, "What happened?"
"Nothing, it was nothing," Lauren replied, the scarlet hue disappearing slowly from her cheeks. Lauren shot a quick glare at Sirius who was still rubbing his forehead.
+*+*+*+*+
When class was over and the group had gotten into the corridor, Lauren began whacking Sirius with her notebook.
"You jerk!" she shouted. "Freaking prat! Stay! Away! From! Me!" Lauren threw the notebook at him. "PERVERT!" She turned on her heel and stormed off to Herbology.
"What did you do?" Gwynn asked, giving him a slight shove.
"Nothing!" Sirius replied, defensively.
"That was not for nothing," Lily stated, grabbing Lauren's notebook.
"Tell us so we won't make the same mistake," said James.
"P-please?" Peter asked.
"Sirius…" Gwynn growled through gritted teeth.
"All I said was that blue knickers don't suit her!" he replied backing up a little.
"You are a jerk!" Gwynn declared.
"And a pervert!" added Lily. "What were you doing looking up her skirt in the first place?"
"It was an accident!" Sirius shouted. "We were climbing up the ladder to divination, and I thought she was inside, so I looked up, and she wasn't in the classroom…"
"Come on Lil, let's go find Lauren," Gwynn said, giving her brother a look of disgust. Lily and Gwynn walked off down the corridor.
"Sirius, Sirius, Sirius…" Remus said shaking his head.
"Oh shut up," Sirius snapped.
"Hey don't blame me for your errors," Remus said, shrugging.
Sirius sighed and walked of with the other Marauders to Herbology.
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In Herbology, Sirius tried to apologize, but Lauren refused to listen. Any note he tossed to her, she'd tear up, and she made sure to sit down around people he wouldn't dare go near. Which was mostly ditzy Hufflepuffs like Tiffany and Sarah. These two were so dim, they made a pile of rocks look intelligent. Yes, they were that stupid.
"Today, we'll be extracting the mucus built up in the seed pods of these Saloumus Traps," explained Professor Janken. "If you had read the chapter over these plants, you know that these plants are—Yes Tiffany?"
"Uh, Professor J? What does 'extracting' mean?" Tiffany asked in her normal breathy voice while twirling a strand of her lemony blonde hair around her finger. Sarah had a blank looked on her face as she cracked her gum loudly.
"It means we will be removing the mucus from the pods," explained Professor Janken.
"EW!" Tiffany and Sarah shouted.
"Girls, please desist," he said, shaking his head. "I'm tired of your whining and Sarah get rid of that gum!"
"But Professor!" Sarah shouted.
"Enough. Let me continue." Sarah and Tiffany slumped in their chairs. No sooner had they done so, they forgot about the whole incident and went on to talk about their usual topics; hair, make up, shopping, boys, etc. Professor Janken continued with his lecture. "Please form groups of three and take a position in front of a plant." Professor Janken said after demonstrating what to do.
Remus walked over to Lauren. "Do you want to join me and Peter in our group?"
"No Sirius?" Lauren asked.
"Nope," he replied.
"Okay."
Lauren followed Remus over to the plant where Peter was waiting.
The groups all worked on de-mucusing their plants, careful not to destroy the seedpods. The shrieks of disgust from Sarah and Tiffany were echoing off the glass walls of the green house. Professor Janken spent most of his time trying to get them to calm down.
"I have officially decided that I don't like Herbology," Lauren said, draining the mucus from a seedpod.
"Oh come on, cheer up!" Remus said. "It's not like we have to do this everyday!"
Lauren gave him a quick look of annoyance before grabbing a probe to finish getting the mucus out of the pod. The pod squirted some mucus out and Lauren stepped back to avoid being hit with it but slipped on a stray flask. She fell back into Lily who was at the table behind her. Lily dropped the flask she was filling, which shattered on contact with the ground splattering on to Gwynn's legs. Gwynn shrieked and tried to get the mucus off. Apparently Professor Janken forgot to mention that there was a certain compound in the seedpods that at away the skin upon contact. She dropped to the ground because it hurt to put wait on her legs. The class crowded around gasping at the sight. Professor Janken pushed through the crowd to get a closer look at what had happened. He pulled out his wand and mumbled a spell to slow the compound's effects and also a spell to cover the wounds.
"That should slow it," he said. "We need to get you to the hospital wing."
"I'll take her professor!" Remus said.
"Thank you. Don't waste any time."
"Yes sir."
Remus crouched down and helped Gwynn onto his back, careful not to touch the wounds. He left as fast as he could to get Gwynn to the hospital wing. He felt her nails digging into his shoulders.
"Don't worry Gwynn," Remus said. "We'll be there in no time."
"It burns, Remus," whispered Gwynn.
He pushed open the doors to the castle. Remus could feel the back of his robes getting wet. He had never seen Gwynn cry, not in all the years he knew her. Not when she fell, not even when she broke her arm. He didn't want to see her this way. He had to get her mind off the pain.
"Remember when we were seven, and we talked Regulus and Sirius into eating those cockroach clusters? We told them they were Fizzing Whizzbees." Remus began up the stairs to the sixth floor where the Hospital Wing was located. "They didn't believe us at first, but we made them seem so great. Told them that if they didn't want to fly, it was okay with us, we'd just travel to the moon and back with out them. They were so gullible then… I can't believe they ate them." Gwynn let out a small laugh.
"We were six," she corrected. "Seven was when we stole my father's wand."
"Some good times, eh?"
"Especially seeing you with pink hair."
"I was thinking of doing that again." He felt Gwynn's head lift off his back. He looked over his shoulder and grinned. Gwynn smiled back, idle tears in her eyes.
"Green might be nice," Gwynn joked.
"I'll think about it."
As they continued up to the Hospital wing, Remus continued to tell humorous stories about their past to keep her from thinking about the pain. When they got there, Remus yelled for Madam Pommedeterr as he set Gwynn down on a hospital bed. Madam Pommedeterr hurried out of her office and nearly flipped when she saw Gwynn. Remus explained the situation to the nurse since the pain had come back with a vengeance leading to Gwynn crying some more.
Remus stood on the side as Madam Pommedeterr healed Gwynn while muttering something about, "Jonas is always being so reckless… never caring about safety…"
"There you go dear," she said when she finished. "You're going to have to stay here for a while to let the potion run its toll." She turned and saw Remus still standing there. "Mr. Lupin, you can go now."
"I actually would like to stay here, class is practically over, and lunch will be starting soon so I don't necessarily have to be there," Remus explained.
"Fine, but don't disturb Miss Black too much," replied Madam Pommedeterr, before returning to her office.
"You really don't have to stay," Gwynn said.
"I want to," he replied. "Does it still burn?"
"Not really, it's kind of dulled now."
"When do you think you'll be able to get out of here?"
"Not yet, knowing how protective Pomme is."
Remus lowered his voice to a whisper, "How bout we sneak out and grab some lunch?"
"Great thinking, I'm starved."
Remus kneeled down, "Climb on."
"I think I'm able to walk."
"Don't you think she'll think it's suspicious if she hears two sets of footsteps?"
"Too true." Gwynn climbed on to his back.
"See you after classes are through Gwynn!" Remus said, just loud enough for Madam Pommedeterr to hear.
"Bye Remus!" Gwynn replied at the same volume. Remus walked out at a normal pace to avoid suspicion. Once outside the Hospital Wing, Remus let Gwynn down.
"We better get going before she comes out of her office," Gwynn said.
"You sure you're fine walking?" asked Remus.
"I'm standing aren't I? I feel like I can run a mile."
They started down the corridor when the door to the Hospital Wing flung open.
"Get back in that Hospital bed, Black!" Madam Pommedeterr shouted.
"Looks like those running skills will come in handy!" Remus said. He grabbed Gwynn's hand and led the way as they ran down the corridor, laughing as Madam Pommedeterr chased them. At a staircase on the third floor, they couldn't hear her shouts any more. Both of them were out of breath. Remus leaned back against the wall to catch his breath, while Gwynn took a seat on the top stair of the staircase.
"That was fun," Gwynn said.
"I've never seen Pomme so passionate about keeping a student in the wing," replied Remus.
"Let's get moving, I'm starved." Gwynn stood up and waited for Remus to get off the wall. He jumped from his place to a step in front of her. They walked down the steps. Remus paused for a moment at the bottom waiting for Gwynn. She forgot about the trick step at the bottom and stepped right into it. She gasped as she fell forward, but Remus caught her before she hit the ground. Gwynn pulled her foot out and stood up, with a little help from Remus.
"Thanks," she said straightening her robes.
"No problem," he replied. Gwynn looked down at the ground and realized something.
"You know what?" she said still looking at the ground.
"What?" Remus asked, confused.
Gwynn looked back up directly into Remus's eyes.
"I forgot my shoes in the Hospital Wing." She and Remus looked down and saw her bare feet and the bandages covering her lower legs.
"Too late to get them now."
"Because I'll be bound to one of those beds for probably the rest of the year."
"Lunch is almost over, we better get down there."
"Yeah. Then on to our next class."
"Hopefully the other's grabbed our stuff."
Remus and Gwynn walked down to the Great Hall where they found the others with their stuff.
"Great you grabbed it!" Gwynn said sitting between Lily and Peter. Remus sat down across from her next to James.
"Sh-shouldn't you b-be in th-the H-hospital w-wing?"
"Yes I should, but I don't want to," replied Gwynn.
"What took you so long?" Lily asked.
"You weren't off snogging in a closet somewhere, were you?" inquired James.
"No Jamsie," replied Remus.
"You think they would tell us if they were?" Lily asked.
"Nope," chorused James and Peter.
"Where's Lauren and Sirius?" Gwynn asked.
"I think Sirius is apologizing, or at least trying," replied James.
"Poor, poor, poor brother of mine…" Gwynn muttered shaking her head.
The bell rang signaling the end of lunch. Gwynn grabbed a sandwich from one of the plates and took her bag from Lily.
"Gwynn," said Lily.
"Yes Lil?" Gwynn replied.
"Where are your shoes?"
"Left them in the Hospital Wing. Come on, we're going to be late for our lesson."
Gwynn lead the way munching on her sandwich. As the group walked down the corridors, they spotted Madam Pommedeterr. Gwynn and Remus jumped into the nearest classroom, which happened to be filled with seventh years. Remus kept a watch for the nurse while Gwynn turned to the seventh years.
"Please go back to what you were doing," she said waving her hand. "We'll be out in just a minute."
"She's gone," Remus said to Gwynn. Gwynn nodded and followed him out. They ran down the corridor to catch up with the others who had left them there. They ran into their next class just as the bell rang.
"So nice of you two to join us," their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher said.
"Well, you know us," Gwynn said between breaths.
"We can't stand to be late for your class," added Remus.
They took their seats in the back with Lily, Lauren, and the other Marauders. The class was pretty uneventful. They listened to the professor drone on about Kappas, their characteristics, where they were found, and how to defend yourself against them.
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After classes were over for the day and Madam Pommedeterr had caught Gwynn at last. Lauren waved goodbye to her friends and went to go visit Loni. She walked down the corridors to a portrait of a heard of unicorns. She reached up to the only unicorn with a golden horn and stroked its back. The portrait swung open, revealing a flight of stairs. Lauren walked up then and knocked on the door to Loni's room. She heard the lock click and the door opened. Loni let out a sigh of relief when she saw Lauren standing there. She moved out of the way letting Lauren in.
"Something wrong?" Lauren asked, stepping in.
"Yeah…" Loni said rubbing the back of her neck.
"What is it?"
"Every night, I have horrible dreams that I'm back in Voldemort's castle, and I'm being tortured, and every morning when I wake up, I hurt so much, I want to scream."
"All from a dream?"
"I don't think it's from the dream." Loni lifted the sleeve to her nightgown and showed her bruises running the length of her arm.
"Merlin!" Lauren shouted. "How is this happening?"
"I don't know… But will you stay here, tonight? Please?"
"Of course."
Lauren pulled up a chair next to Loni's bed and kept watch over her. She held on to her hand to keep her assured that she hadn't left. Loni fell asleep sometime around ten, and Lauren, sometime around midnight.
Over in a dark corner of the room sat a small mouse watching the two girls. The mouse transformed into a human. He stepped quietly over to the foot of the bed and stared silently at the seer and prophetess. He was suddenly startled when the prophetess' eyes blinked open. He jumped back while transforming into his animagus form. He landed on a desktop as the prophetess sat up in her bed. Lauren stirred and opened her eyes slightly. She lifted her head and saw Loni wide-awake. Or at least she thought at first. Loni's eyes were glowing an odd bright blue.
"Loni?" Lauren whispered. Loni's head whipped back, then looked straightforward, never blinking. Then in an odd voice, like another was speaking through her, she said:
The blackened shepherd herds his sheep
Spreading flocks all o'er the land
Conquering 'till none are left to weep
No tears are left to fall upon the sand
The sky hath switch its hues
As do the bulls and wren
But ne'er doth the hues be changed
Within the lion's den
The plague surrounds the dampened fort
Seeking entrance through the field
Its efforts hath remain unpleased
'Til the rats hath break the shield
The cave hath hold both stag and rose
Divided in body, united in soul
Each half shall be cut in two
But the sharpest blade shan't cut the whole
Petals of glass shall shatter then break
Last one fallen creates the shield
Murder's heart destroyeth death
And love shall be the power wield
The snake mark that had constricted her wrist flashed a bright green and dissolved into her skin. Loni's eyes rolled back and she fainted on to her pillow.
"Loni!" Lauren shouted, snapping out of her trance. Lauren shook her lightly. Loni opened her eyes and smacked Lauren's shoulder.
"It's three in the morning… What do you want?" she asked.
"You… you don't remember what just happened?"
"You woke me up, that's what."
Lauren stared at Loni, as she turned to her side and went back to sleep, wondering what had just happened and what all that meant. She was too busy to notice a small brown mouse slip out through a crack in the wall.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
Later that morning, Lauren left Loni's room and went to Dumbledore's office. She didn't find him there, and decided to wait. She really wanted to talk to him about what had happened earlier to Loni. Lauren spotted Fawkes sitting on his normal perch, looking as radiant as ever.
"Hey Fawkes," Lauren said, walking over and stroking him on the head. "Do you know where the headmaster is?" The phoenix let out a small chirp and nuzzled Lauren's hand. "I'll take that as a no." Fawkes chirped again and flew out the window for his normal morning flight.
"Ah, Miss Fonseca, I've been wondering when I'd see you back in here," a cheerful voice said, breaking the silence, making Lauren jump. "Getting in trouble again? What have you done this time?" A smile pulled at the corners of his lips.
"Nothing Professor," she replied. "It's about Loni."
"Really?" he asked, becoming serious. "What is it?"
"Well, around three this morning, she suddenly woke up, but she didn't seem anything like her normal self. Her eyes were glowing blue. Glowing, professor. Then she began to speak in an odd voice."
"What did she say?"
"I don't know… It was something about a blackened shepherd herding his sheep and taking over, something about murder, and the power of love."
"Can you remember it more specifically?"
"No professor. Sorry."
"How about Loni?"
"No, she doesn't even know it happened."
"The prophecy…"
"You mean that was it? That useless bunch of rubbish?"
"Voldemort's probably heard it by now…" Dumbledore stood up and started to pace. "If only I had heard it!" Lauren watched him pace for a little bit before he realized she was still there. "Thank you, Miss Fonseca, you may go now." He sounded distracted, but she left anyway, leaving him to think. She walked down to the Great Hall to grab some food before she had to go to class. The hall was packed when she got there. She sat down in her normal seat with her friends.
The day progressed slowly for our heroes, but back at Voldemort's castle, he was having a field day. Sommers had brought the complete prophecy to his master. Voldemort had all his best decipherers working on the prophecy to find out what it meant.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
A few days had past, and a Death Eater approached Voldemort.
"Have you discovered it's meaning?" he inquired.
"Yes, My Lord…" the Death Eater said, nervously shifting his weight.
"Well?!"
"It tells of your downfall, after a great succession."
"What!? How?" Voldemort whipped out his wand and held it threateningly at the Death Eater.
"A stag and a rose, we believe they may be students at Hogwarts."
"Find out who they are! Send every animagus to that filthy school and don't come back till you know who!" Voldemort left the library and stormed down the hall, his robes billowing fiendishly behind him, cursing everything.
The Death Eater, still shaking from his encounter with Voldemort, ran off to find the animagi he knew of.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
"Sorry, sorry, sorry! I'm so sorry!" was heard from the staircase leading up to the girls' dorms. A few people glanced over as a girl with blonde hair came down backwards apologizing to someone still walking down the stairs. The girl begging for forgiveness turned out to be Trisha McMillan.
"Say something!" Trisha said. Gwynn stepped into the common room playing with her hair with a look of shock on her face.
"It's so short…" she mumbled. Gwynn's once waist long black hair was now cut to just below her chin. Gwynn used her arms to cover her hair the best she could.
"I'm sorry Gwynn," said Trisha. "It's all Dana's fault! I swear!" Gwynn just nodded and walked past Trisha across the common room to where the Marauders, Lily, and Lauren were all seated. She sat down next to Lily and dropped her arms to her sides.
"Oh my god," Lauren said. Gwynn groaned and placed her hands back over her head.
"Who cut your hair?" Lily asked.
"Trisha," Gwynn said.
"Any shorter and you and I would be identical," Sirius teased.
"Shut it!" Gwynn snapped.
"I take it it's shorter than you wanted it?" James said.
"I wanted to have it cut like Newt Eye's* Jessica Gellar's new style," said Gwynn.
"Oh I love her new hair style!" said Lauren.
Gwynn shot Lauren a quick glare. "Trisha said she could cut my hair for me," explained Gwynn. "I trusted her. But, as she was cutting, Dana ran into her, making her hand slip. So now I have this! It looks horrible."
"I think it looks good on you," said Remus. "That is if you'd actually let us see it." Gwynn removed her hands rather reluctantly. "No, I was wrong—" Gwynn kicked him and covered her hair again.
"I'm going to the library now," she said, getting up.
"No," said Remus. "What I meant by 'I was wrong' was that it looks great."
"Really?" Gwynn asked.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Thanks." Gwynn blushed slightly and turn her head, which normally caused her hair to block her face from view.
"Ha ha! We can actually tell when you're embarrassed now!" Lauren said.
"Oh be quiet," Gwynn said sitting back down.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
It was a wonderful Friday afternoon, and the Marauders and the girls were sitting down by the lake either taunting or watching them taunt the Giant Squid. Mainly Sirius and James teased it. Occasionally Remus or one of the girls would join in, but Peter preferred to sit off on the sidelines watching the others dodge the tentacles. During one of the rounds in which Remus and James were the only ones, they thought they had won since the squid stopped grabbing for them and took the chance to do a victory dance. As they finished their dance, the squid grabbed them and pulled them under. The others screamed and ran to the edge of the lake. James and Remus appeared above water ten meters from shore about thirty seconds after being pulled under. After the initial shock of being grabbed by the Giant Squid and coughing their lungs out (not literally of course), they burst out laughing, although not to the amusement of their friends on shore. They swam back to shore where they were bombarded with questions regarding their physical and mental health. After it was established that they were fine, Gwynn hit Remus's shoulder.
"What's wrong with you?" she practically shouted.
"What?" Remus asked.
"You scared me half to death! You could have died!"
"I could've died too," James added, feeling left out.
"Yes, but you're like a cockroach and will never die," said Gwynn.
"She's right you know," Sirius agreed.
"You pull the same stunts as me you know!"
"And?"
"That makes you a cockroach too."
"Oh."
Lauren and Lily were too busy paying attention to James and Sirius argue over whether they had the right to be called cockroaches, with Peter's occasional comments, to pay any attention to Remus and Gwynn.
"I'm sorry," Remus said scratching the back of his head.
Gwynn glanced over at the others who were still discussing cockroaches. "It's ok."
Remus smirked when he spotted an open opportunity to cause trouble and grabbed Gwynn's hand and pulled her towards the lake. Gwynn shrieked and grabbed Remus for balance. But Gwynn was already heading towards the water when she grabbed Remus, causing him to lose his balance and fall with her.
Upon hearing the shriek and the splash, the others looked back towards Remus and Gwynn, who were sitting in the lake, soaked. Gwynn brushed her hair off her face and looked towards Remus who was grinning like a maniac. She blinked and pushed him back into the water. Remus reappeared sputtering. Gwynn wrung out her hair and stood up. She held out her hand to help him up, but he pulled her back down into the water.
"That wasn't funny," Gwynn said looking at Remus through the strands of hair that were plastered to her face.
"I thought it was," he replied getting up. Gwynn stood up and the two of them walked over to the others.
"You guys have been acting odd lately," Lauren said.
"Someone could mistake you two for a couple!" said James. Sirius scoffed at this remark. They looked at him with a questioning look.
"Come on, we're thirteen," said Sirius. "Like any of us would be thinking of dating."
"Please!" Lily said. "The other day I over heard you talking about asking Trisha out."
"Y-yeah, Sirius-s," stammered Peter.
"What is it Siri?" Gwynn asked. "Is Remus not good enough for your little sister?"
"You're just too young, okay?" Sirius replied. "And another thing, it's Remus."
"What's wrong with me?" asked Remus.
"And…?" Gwynn asked.
"Well...he's...strange...I mean, for some reason or another, someone in his family gets sick once a month...I mean, what if it's hereditary? Do you want kids that are prone to illness once a month? And I mean, he'll never be here...
"What if people in his family aren't getting sick? What if he has a girlfriend or something in another house? Or what if he joined a cult and wants to sacrifice you to his dead evil warlord to bring him back to life or something?
"Or... I mean, how do you expect him to support you? He's nearly failing Arithmancy! And besides, why would you want a guy that's failing stuff? That means he's not smart, and guys that aren't smart are never going to get a decent job that will put food on your table and will buy your kids diapers and stuff... You'll have to make them out of paper bags... I mean, do you want kids running around in paper bag diapers?
"Or...or...or...I mean, look at him! He's a scrawny little thing! If there was an earthquake and the roof of your house started to cave in, how would he protect you? AND the babies in the paper bag diapers? Or... what if there was a volcanic eruption and he was holding one of the little babies and was running away and couldn't run fast enough and killed the baby? Do you want to live your life like that, with your guy killing your baby with the paper bag diaper?
"Or what if you get sick after the babies die from the volcano and he can't run to Alaska fast enough to get the only remedy for your illness and you die alone, a cold and shriveled old maid having been abandoned by Remus?
"Or... What if a Dark wizard came by the house to kill the babies in the paper bag diapers because it would kill some prophecy or another and he couldn't fight the Dark wizard and died and left you to either die or watch your paper bag diapered babies die before your eyes… and then you die?
"Or...or...or...or poison! What if he's grocery shopping one day and comes home with poison cabbages because he doesn't quite know how to tell poison cabbages from not-poison cabbages and you and the paper bag babies eat the poison cabbages and DIE?!?!?! and then he collects the insurance money and runs away to Vegas and meets one of the dancing girls..." By this time Sirius was walking in circles, waving his hands about while the others were seriously questioning his sanity.
"You put a lot of thought into this," Gwynn said, sticking her foot out. Sirius tripped, which stopped his relentless pacing.
"Hey Sir, thanks for making me feel good about myself," Remus said sarcastically. "You gave me this warm fuzzy feeling telling me someone actually cares enough to give me those compliments."
Sirius stood up, with a look saying he had something to add. "And what will he say when he finds out about your little 'secret'? Do you think that he'll like you any more? NO! You'll be alone and sad and furthermore, female werewolves live longer than average wizards....Why would you want to have a guy that would have to suffer the pain of watching die? Furthermore, what would he say about the little half-werewolf babies running around in paper bag diapers? How you think he's going to manage half-werewolf babies, let alone human babies! He's going to hate it! And he's going to abandon you and your little half-werewolf kids and run away to Vegas and watch more dancing girls..." Lily, Peter, and James gasped looking at Gwynn in shock, while Remus and Lauren groaned and shook their heads. Sirius stopped when he realized what he had just said.
"You jerk! Stupid tosser! You were supposed to keep it a secret!" she shouted. "You PROMISED! Why don't you go tell the rest of the school, huh!? I'm sure they'd love to know! Because, hell! What could make my stay at Hogwarts better than having the whole school avoid me?!"
"I'm sorry…" he said. "It slipped…"
"I. Don't. Care. You are a complete arse for telling them!" Gwynn turned and ran towards the castle.
"Remus, go comfort her," Lauren said looking to where he was standing but saw him walking up towards the castle already.
"Two steps ahead of you," he replied, and continued up towards the castle.
"Sirius, you couldn't just stop could you?" Lauren asked. "You know how touchy she is about that! You just had to play big brother, didn't you?"
"Gw-Gwynn's a w-werew-wolf?" Peter stuttered.
"Yes Peter," Lauren said, calming herself. "Ever since last year."
"Why didn't she tell us?" Lily asked. "Why do you know?"
Lauren explained everything.
+*+*+*+*+
When Remus finally caught up to Gwynn, she had shut and locked the door to her dorm. He knocked and waited for a reply.
"Go away!" he heard.
"Gwynn, it's Remus, open up," he said. He heard silence from inside. He was about to ask her again when he heard the lock click. Remus opened the door and walked in. He went over to the only bed that had its hangings closed. He pulled back the hangings and saw Gwynn hiding beneath the sheets of her bed. Remus sat down on her bed.
"You okay?" he asked.
"No!" came Gwynn's muffled reply.
"Sirius said it was an accident."
"He meant to do it!"
"No he didn't."
"How can you side with him?"
"I'm not taking his side."
"Yes you are."
"Well, Gwynn tell me this, weren't you going to tell them anyway?" No reply came. "I'll take that as a yes. Well, if they can't accept you for what you are, screw them! You don't need them then. They're not your true friends then."
"Still, I can't face them."
"Yes you can. Come on, out from under there."
"No." Remus shook her shoulder. "Nooooo." Remus got up and lifted part of the blanket and looked under.
"Come on out," he said. Gwynn sat up and removed the sheets from over her. "I'm sure Lauren has explained everything to Lily, James, and Peter and that they're fine with it. Clean yourself up and meet me in the common room. We'll go get some dinner." Gwynn nodded and walked over to the bathroom while Remus walked down to the common room.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+
Saturday was the second Hogsmeade trip and nearly everyone above third year went, though some of the older students didn't go since Hogsmeade had lost it's flare over the years. The day was spent wandering the streets, visiting shops like Zonko's and Honeydukes. A must stop was at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer.
Upon returning later that night, the girls headed straight up for their dorm to hide the candy they had bought from Honeydukes from the guys, who had spent all the money they brought on pranks from Zonko's, and had been eyeing the candy for nearly the whole day.
"Come on! Give us some!" James pleaded.
"Have pity!" Sirius said.
"Oi, it's your fault that that you spent all you money on pranks," said Lauren.
"So we don't have to pity you," added Gwynn.
"B-but—" Peter started to stutter, but was cut off by Lily.
"Uh uh. We show no mercy!" The girls ran up to their dorm, shutting and locking the door. Lauren and Lily began to dig through their trunks to hide their sweets, while Gwynn dropped the bag on top of her trunk and continued walking to the head of her bed. A smile grew on her face as she got a closer looked at what was placed upon her pillow; a bouquet of tiger lilies, her favorite flowers. They were charmed to glitter, and when she smelled them, they smelled exactly like honeysuckle. She noticed a card that had been sitting beneath the bouquet. She set the flowers down carefully on her nightstand and opened the envelope.
+*+*+
All these years spent with you,
Seeing you every day,
Every one a blessing in disguise.
Seeing every one of your smiles,
The adventurous flare in you eyes,
And hearing every giggle from you.
I've finally realized how I feel.
All it took were your tears,
Left unshed for all these years,
And the pain it caused me
To see you that way.
My heart is yours
From now until forever
+*+*+
She pressed her hand to her mouth and reread the poem. She flipped it over to see if the author had signed it on the back (even though she believed she knew who it was) and found something written.
+*+*+
A little cliché I know, but it gets the point across, doesn't it? Meet me up in the Astronomy Tower tonight at eight.
+*+*+
Gwynn set the letter in her nightstand drawer and changed a quill into a vase with water to set the flowers in.
"Hey guys, what time is it?" Gwynn asked, looking over towards Lily and Lauren.
"About 7:50," replied Lily.
"Why?" asked Lauren.
"No reason," said Gwynn, before leaving the dorm, practically skipping.
"What's got into her?" Lauren said.
"Don't know," answered Lily.
+*+*+*+*+
Gwynn hurried down the corridors to the Astronomy tower. She narrowly missed tripping over Alexis (the caretaker's cat) at least once or twice. She slowed when she reached the stairs that lead up to the astronomy and walked up the stairs, not wanting to seem overly zealous. Then it hit her, what if it wasn't who she was hoping it was? It could be a few guys she knew. Gwynn continued up the stairs, the suspense of who it could be was killing her.
She finally reached the top of the tower, and opened the door. There, out of the balcony across the room, was a dark figure silhouetted against the moonlight. The figure turned around when he heard the door shut.
"You came," he said.
"You were afraid I wouldn't?" Gwynn asked walking towards him.
"Kind of," he replied rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought you'd find my little confession a little, well, frightening."
"No, it was sweet, and I feel the exact same way. You're giving me your heart, and I want to give you mine in return, Remus." Gwynn reached out and took Remus's hand, squeezing it slightly, and Remus pulled her in to a tight embrace.
+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+