Disclaimer - It's not mine. It never was. I only own Sable and the characters in my fic that J.K Rowling has not brainstormed into existence yet.
A/N - Moving right along. Okay people, get your umbrellas ready, because the proverbial sh** is about to hit the fan in this fic. If you're curious as to why, read on, and you'll soon find out.
Later.
A.A.
In One Corner, Slytherin! In the Other, Gryffindor!
The rest of the week passed without anything too abnormal happening. Remus was slowly coming out of the 'post-lunar separation anxiety', and by the end of the week, seemed almost normal. The Marauders, as well as Lily, Bella, Sable, and Amanda were happy to have the old Moony back so quickly, even though Bella and Amanda were not sure as to why he was not feeling well in the first place.
The coming up weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend, and the students were inpatient for it to arrive. All week, the school was stuck in the stuffy classrooms, and corridors, studying and practicing their magical skills. The N.E.W.T.S were coming up for the seventh years, effectively throwing Lily into a studying machine. Every day after classes and patrols, she would force the Marauders, and even Sable, to sit down and do an extra hour or two of studying for the upcoming tests. Finally, by Friday, James and Sirius had gotten so fed up with the extra studying that they hid all of Lily's books after the last class of the day. The red-headed Head Girl was not amused in the least, and threatened both boys with bodily harm if they did not return her books to her.
James told her that she could have them back on Sunday, and not a day before. Sirius was in agreement, as was Sable -even though she did not voice her opinion to the now fuming redhead- . Lily eventually calmed down and agreed to the terms, but once again crawled James and Sirius about not caring enough about their studies to study in order to get decent grades.
And so, Saturday morning, every student from third year and up were standing at the entrance to the school, bundled up in scarves, cloaks, and coats of all sorts. The weather had turned colder in the last few days, and it looked like it was going to rain at any minute. Sable was with Lily and Arabella when she descended the steps into the waiting hall. She knew Remus and the boys were around somewhere, but she was not sure. The three girls pushed their way up to the front of the group and opened the doors. The other students quickly filed out of the doors in a big rush, trying to get a head start to the little wizarding village. By the time they had filed out, Lily had spotted James and the other boys with Peter's date for the day, Amanda -the same girl he had asked to the Halloween Ball-. They quickly joined ranks and made their way to the town.
The day was mostly spent browsing the shops in Hogsmeade and relaxing. As had been predicted earlier, it had started to rain a few hours before sundown, and it seemed like the majority of Hogwarts had decided to congregate in The Three Broomsticks. By the time the Marauders and their girlfriends and/or dates got there, and out of the pouring rain, most of the tables had been filled up. But, as luck would have it, Bella spotted an empty booth in the back. Unfortunately, it was by a group of Slytherins that they did not particularly want to deal with.
"Don't worry about it." Amanda had said. "We'll just ignore them. It's not like they are going to purposely speak to any of us." Everyone seemed to agree and they piled into the oversized booth. After a few rounds of warm butterbeer was in their stomachs, they felt better. The rain had almost stopped and was only coming down in a light mist now. They finished off their drinks and left the little establishment, heading for the castle and its warm, inviting, DRY interior.
As soon as the bunch of Gryffindors left, Avery and Flint -who had been sitting in the booth behind them- stood and went out the back of the pub. Leaning against the wall of the building was Snape and the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team.
"You ready?" Flint asked the boys. The other six members of the team only smiled and nodded.
"It's time we put those bloody prats in their places." one of them said.
"Yeah, I'm still itching to get my hands on Black for our last game when he knocked me off my broom." said yet another. Flint nodded and looked to Snape, who was watching them with the same bored expression.
"If you bunch are finished, I suggest we go." he said. "They will be back to the castle soon." The Slytherins nodded and pulled their hoods over their heads, effectively hiding their faces from anyone else, and began going down a quick short-cut that ran into the path leading back up to the castle from Hogsmeade.
Lily and James were leading the group of half soaked Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs back up to the castle when they heard scuffling in the bushes to the side of the path.
"What was that?" Lily asked, staring at the bushes.
"Not sure." James said. "Let me go see." Before he could take a step away, a loud scream could be heard from not far away. James and the others were instantly on their guard. "Lily, take the kids and go up to the castle, I'll go see who that was."
"We'll go with you, Prongs." Remus said, nodding to Sirius and two members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team that had joined their little group, Michael Bell and Evan Zuba. "It's better if there is more than one person." Lily nodded, and began walking faster, herding the small group of people towards the pathway up to the castle. Sable passed by and looked at the boys, wondering why they were going off into the underbrush. She was at the end of the small group Lily was herding. Pulling her wand out, she quickly followed the boys into the underbrush. She heard another muffled scream coming from up ahead of her. 'What the hell is going on now?' she thought. It took about half a minute to catch up with the five other boys. She tapped Michael on the shoulder and he only pointed to the woods and shrugged. Remus noticed that she had followed, but said nothing about it. There was no point in arguing with her, she was too stubborn to listen to him.
Finally, they got to the origin of the muffled screams. Standing around a tree were nine figures in black cloaks, their hoods pulled up around their faces. Tied to a tree was a girl. The water had soaked her clothes and was running down the exposed skin. She was gagged, and there were bruises forming on her wrists. Sable shook her head and quickly pushed the images of the Death Eater's meeting to the back of her head. Without warning, James, Sirius, Remus, Michael, and Evan jumped out of the bushes and walked towards the group of people.
"What the Hell?" James asked, finally getting a closer look at the girl tied to the tree. "Sedera Walsh?" The nine figures around the girl turned and formed a tight knit group around the girl, effectively cutting off any route to get to her.
"What in Merlin's name is going on here?" Sirius demanded, looking at the group of black garbed men in front of him. "Who are you and what have you done to her?"
"What business is it of yours, Black?" one of them asked. "She is of no concern to you."
"But she is a concern to me." James said, looking at the figures in front of him. "I am Head Boy, and it is my responsibility to insure the welfare of all the students. Ms. Walsh is no exception."
"Let her go, you maniacs." Remus said, getting a peek at her through the bodies of the other people. "She's bleeding!" James pulled his wand out and pointed it at the boys. Evan, Michael, Remus, and Sirius followed suit. Sable, still crouched down in the bushes, slowly made her way out, her own wand poised at the ready.
"What's going on here?" she asked the boys. "Why's Walsh tied to a tree, and bleeding?"
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Gryffindor's whore." one of the black cloaked boys teased. "Figured we'd be seeing you."
"How about you quit talking like the moron you are, and let the girl down?" she said, pointing her wand at him. Remus stepped up beside her, as did Sirius and Evan.
"The lady asked you a question." Evan said evenly. "Now let her down."
"I don't think so."
"Well, I do. Expellaramus!" James yelled. Nine wands immediately flew from their owners hands and into his. But the nine black cloaked boys did not seem to take notice of this inconvenience. Instead, they lunged at the group of Gryffindors. Before they could get too far, Sable had already cursed two of them, and made a dash for Sedera, intent on getting the obviously battered girl down.
The fight going on between the black figures and the Gryffindor boys was evenly matched. Even with their wands, the black cloaked figures were nimble enough to dodge the curses and hexes. One of them had put Remus in a headlock and yet another one had James and Sirius going head for head. Evan and Michael had forwent their wands and were in the middle of a fistfight with two other boys. Sitting the Slytherin girl down on the wet ground, Sable pulled out her own wand and started hexing the boys off of her housemates.
"You bloody prats!" one of them yelled. "We'll get you for this!" And with that, all nine of the figured Dis-Apparated without a trace. Remus quickly ran over to her and hugged her.
"You alright?" he asked.
"Fine." she said. She turned and looked down at the unconscious form of Sedera Walsh. "Although I can't say the same for her." James walked over and murmured a spell. Sedera was now floating on a stretcher, a blanket around her battered body.
"Let's get out of here." he said. "We need to get her to Pomfrey."
"Do you think we should go round up an straglers, James?" Remus asked, looking back towards the little village they had just exited. "Just incase those psychos decide to make another appearance?"
"Good idea, Moony." he said. "Come take her for me, will you?" Remus nodded and quickly cast his own spell to keep the stretcher in mid air. "Bell, you and Evan come with me. We need to get the rest of the students back to the school before anything else happens."
"We'll catch back up with Lily and tell her what happened." Sirius said. James nodded and took off back towards the village. They began walking back up the path, hoping to catch up with Lily before the rain started coming down again. Sable took a quick look at the Slytherin girl on the stretcher. Her clothes were soaking wet, and her face was dirty and scratched. She quickly thought about the Death Eaters meeting again. Shaking her head, she walked quicker than before, hoping to get back into the halls of Hogwarts before anything else could happen.
******Back in the dungeons of Hogwarts…******
Snape, Flint, and Avery shrugged the wet cloaks off and made their way to the room that Snape used to brew his own potions. The rest of the Quidditch team had dispersed, leaving them to their own devices. In Avery's hand was a small capped vial.
Snape walked to one of the cauldrons and poured out a container of the potion. Avery quickly stepped up and handed him the vial. Extracting a few of the hairs, he put them in the potion and waited. After a few seconds. Snape handed the cup to Flint with a smirk.
"Drink up, Cody." he said. The Quidditch player frowned and took the container, downing the mixture in one gulp.
"Good Merlin!" he exclaimed, "That stuff is bloody horrid!" He tossed the container onto the counter and shook his head. "Is Polyjuice Potion supposed to taste like that?" he asked. Suddenly, his body began to squirm and change. He looked over at Snape, who had a smirk on his face.
Flint looked down at his hands, noticing that they were changing, along with the rest of his body. In just a few moments, where Cody Flint had been standing, was the exact replica of the very person they wanted. Flint looked at his reflection in one of the potion and nodded.
The plan had worked out perfectly. The ambush on the trail to Hogsmeade had given them the chance to pull some of the Gryffindork's hair out during the tussle. Avery had done a good job of getting enough of the hair. Sedera had been more than helpful, and he was sure she would be amply compensated for her little acting stint.
"Well, it seems as though things are looking to the bright side for a change." Avery said.
"We are not finished, not yet." Snape said, bottling up the Polyjuice Potion and placing the vial of hair away in a safe place. "The next part of our plan will begin tomorrow. Are you ready, Avery?"
"Ready and willing." he said with a grin. "Robbins won't know what hit her."
******************The Next Day at Dinner**************
Sable had just finished some work in her lab and was coming out of the entrance to her room, and into the corridor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts hallway. She waited until the suit of armor was back in place before beginning her walk towards the Great Hall. She had spent all day doing her homework, and she was about to starve. Remus had spent most of the day with her, but had left a few hours earlier to do something with Sirius and James and Peter. She was not sure what, but it probably had something to do with their next prank.
Turning the corner that led out of the Defense hallway, Sable caught a glimpse of Sedera Walsh and some boy with brown hair turning into the next hallway down from her. As they turned the corner, Sable got a quick glimpse of the boy's profile. Even though it was dark in the hallways, Sable knew that face, and knew it well.
"Remus?" she questioned, shaking her head in confusion. Sedera and the guy slipped into the hallway, unknowingly leaving a very confused Sable behind. Sable looked down the hallway again and blinked in confusion. 'That looked like Remus!' she thought. 'That can't be Remus. He hates Sedera Walsh almost as much as I do.' She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself to make sure she was not dreaming. When a little red spot appeared on her arm, she knew she was not dreaming. 'Remus said he was going with James, Sirius, and Peter though. What would he be doing down here? And with her none the less?' She shook her head and tried to clear the confusing thoughts that were racing through her mind. 'I'm loosing my mind.' she thought finally, walking to the end of the hall and going to the Great Hall for dinner. 'I did not just see Sedera Walsh and Remus together. It was a figment of my imagination, a play on lights, or something.' She reasoned with herself until she got to the Great Hall and took her seat next to Lily.
Everyone was there…except for Remus. Sable glanced at the seat next to her and frowned. Lily noticed the grimace and looked at her friend.
"Something wrong, Sable?" she asked.
"No, I don't think so." she answered. Sirius looked over at her and smirked.
"You don't THINK anything is wrong?" he asked. "You feeling okay, Sable?" Sable looked at him and nodded, a small smile on her face.
"I'm fine." she said. "I think I've just had my head in the books too long today. I'm starting to see things." Sirius chuckled and shook his head.
"I told you all that studying was not good, Lils." the prankster laughed. "It's making Sable see things."
"I'll have you know, Sirius Black…." Lily began, but was cut off by Sable.
"Uh, guys, where's Remus?" she asked. James shrugged and frowned.
"Don't know, actually." he said. "I figured he was with you. After we finished a few hours ago, he said he had something to do."
"Yeah," Peter said. "We haven't seen him since he left the dorms. And that was over two hours ago."
"Oh." she said. "I'm sure he's alright." James only shrugged and continued to eat. Sable on the other hand, was having the worst internal battle she had ever faced. 'That was NOT Remus I saw down there.' she reasoned to herself. 'He's probably off somewhere doing something with someone else. He is NOT with Sedera Walsh!' She pushed her food around on her plate, her appetite suddenly forgotten. She was so absorbed in her own musings that she never took note when the object of her internal monologue sat down next to her.
"You okay, love?" Remus asked, startling her out of her reverie. Sable blinked rapidly and looked over at him in confusion. He looked utterly concerned.
"I'm fine, Remus." she said quickly, a little too quickly. Remus looked at her and furrowed his eyebrows. Something was wrong with her, but he could not tell what it was.
"You sure?" he asked again, putting his arm around her. Sable nodded, not sure of herself.
"Yeah. I'm fine, Remus." she said again, giving him a small smile. "I think I've just been in the books too long. I'm starting to see the weirdest things." Remus grinned and put some food on his plate.
"Like what?" he asked.
"You don't wanna know." she answered truthfully.
"That bad, huh?" he asked. Sable only nodded.
"Where'd you disappear off to this evening, Moony?" Sirius asked, finally addressing the other member of their pack as he ate.
"I had some work to finish up of my own." he said, eating his food and never looking up from the plate. "I went to the library and finished that Potions essay Treble assigned us." Sable nodded, she still had to finish that essay herself. She continued to eat her food and talk to her housemates, her worries over her boyfriend slipping away.
By the time dinner was over with, Sable had convinced herself that she had not seen Remus with Sedera Walsh earlier that evening, and that she had in fact been hallucination from staying in her lab for too long and reading too much in one day. As she climbed into her bed that night, there was only one thing that bothered her.
She could have sworn that she helped Remus finish that Potions Essay only a few days before.
A/N - So, was Sable seeing things, or was that actually Remus she saw down in the corridor? Hmmm? What do you guys think? Well, leave me a review and let me know.
Later.
A.A.
3/11/04
