Chapter Seventeen

The next few weeks passed without much incident, and the only real difference in their lives was that they were now taking extra Defense classes with Professor Dumbledore. Michelle was still doing her best to avoid Malfoy and his friends, and she was especially relieved that she no longer had to work with him in Potions. Lily and the other girls were beginning to worry about her, however. After Malfoy's attack on Halloween, Michelle had begun to have nightmares about him. At first, these nightmares only came once or twice a week; now, they happened nearly every night. She still hadn't told anyone about them, and the other girls had decided to just let them pass. They knew what was going on, and understood that Michelle still did not want to talk about what had happened to her.

That's why Michelle wasn't all that surprised when she woke up screaming on the night before the last week of term. She sat up in her four-poster, her chest heaving as she tried to calm herself down. Looking around, Michelle was thankful to see that none of her roommates had woken up. Deciding that she probably wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, Michelle climbed quietly out of bed and walked down to the common room.

She sat down on the couch, staring blankly into the dancing flames. Suddenly, scenes from her nightmare flashed before her eyes. Michelle cringed; she could almost feel Malfoy's hands all over her body, removing her clothes. This brought on memories of what her father and brother had done, and Michelle began to cry silently, just wanting to forget everything that had happened to her.

"Michelle?" she started as she heard someone call her name in concern from the stairs. She quickly tried to dry her eyes, as Remus came over and sat next to her on the couch. He didn't say anything as he put his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

"I couldn't sleep," she mumbled into his chest.

"Obviously," Remus said with a slight smile. "Want to tell me what's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare," Michelle said, shivering a little at the memory. "About Malfoy. And my father and brother. They were hurting me again."

Remus sighed as he tightened his arms around her. "Michelle, it's all right to cry about that, you know. But you don't have to be scared of them. I'm not going to let them hurt you anymore," he said as he kissed her on the head.

"I know, but-" Michelle said, as she tried to keep from crying again. "I just- it was just so real, and then I woke up, and I just- I couldn't go back to sleep, not there, not where it was just so dark. And I just- it was so dark, and quiet, too quiet almost, and I just couldn't stand it, so I came down here."

"Shh," Remus whispered, stroking her hair and back, trying to get the girl he cared so much about to calm down. "Hey, it's okay, you're fine now, you're safe."

After a while, Michelle finally calmed down and stopped shaking. She looked up at Remus, who still had his arms wrapped around her, holding her gently to his chest. "Remus?" she said, feeling a little foolish.

"Hmm?" he asked absentmindedly.

"Um, would you- would you mind, you know, staying with me tonight?" Michelle asked, blushing slightly. "I just- I don't want to be by myself tonight, and I know I'll never get back to sleep in the dorm."

"Sure, I don't mind." He said with a warm smile.

"Thank you," she whispered, before settling back against him.

The next morning, the two of them were shaken awake by Jennifer. She smiled mischievously down at them. "So, just what have you two been up to?" She asked, grinning madly.

Sitting up, both of them blushed as they realized what it probably looked like. "Nothing you're thinking of, Jen, I can promise you that," Michelle said with a slight smile. "Neither of us could sleep last night, and we both happened to come down to the common room. We started talking, and I guess we just fell asleep after a while."

"Uh, huh. Well, regardless of what you guys did or didn't do, you had better get dressed; you don't want some little first year seeing you guys like this – they might get the wrong idea about you two." Jennifer said as they got up from the couch. She grinned even wider. "Of course, they might not be all that wrong, judging by the way you were holding each other."

When they all returned to the common room after classes that day, everyone was gathered around the notice board. Sirius craned his neck to see what the fuss was all about. He smiled when he read the notice. "There's another Hogsmeade trip this Saturday!"

"That's not all," Lily said, reading the notice for herself. "It looks like there's to be a dance contest at the Three Broomsticks. Says here anyone fourth year and up can enter, as long as its boy-girl couples. And they're going to be doing nothing but Muggle dances. Looks like it'll be a mix between classical and modern dances."

"Muggle dances?" Jennifer said, smiling. "That should be interesting. I wonder who'll win."

Naturally, the dance contest in Hogsmeade was the only thing the older students could discuss for the rest of the week. Not that anyone would have paid much attention in classes anyway, what with the end of term so near, but this just gave everyone something new to talk about. Rumors were flying faster than broomsticks about who was going with who, who was entering the contest, and who everyone thought was likely to be the best dancer.

"Geez, you'd think this was some sort of ball or something," Peter grumbled as the Marauders passed yet another group of giggling girls on their way down to dinner the Thursday before the trip. "I don't see what everyone's getting so excited about. I mean, you don't even have to dress up to be in the contest, so it's not like it's anything special."

"Oh, you're just upset 'cause you don't have a date," James said, grinning widely. He'd asked Lily to be his date at breakfast that morning, and to his and everyone else's surprise, she'd actually said yes. James had been so surprised he'd actually fainted from shock, landing right in his bowl of cereal and sending food and milk everywhere. He'd had to be revived by Madame Pomfrey before going to Transfiguration.

"I am not!" Peter said, blushing. "I'll have you know, I do have a date for this weekend!"

"What? You got a date and didn't tell us, Pete?" Sirius asked, pretending to be devastated as they entered the Great Hall. "I'm wounded, Wormtail, truly wounded. How could you allow such a momentous occasion to pass without informing us?"

"Cut it out, Padfoot," Remus said, as he and James chuckled at Peter's embarrassment. "Who is she, anyway, Peter? Someone we know?"

"Better not be some Slytherin," Sirius said, now pretending to glare warningly at Peter.

"Actually, it's Grace Pole." Peter said, now blushing brighter than a tomato.

"Grace? When did you ask her?" James asked as they sat down at the table.

"This morning, when you were in the Hospital Wing," Peter said, smirking a little. Now it was James' turn to blush as he piled food onto his plate. "What about you, Sirius? I haven't heard you talk about having a date."

"Oh, don't you worry, Wormtail. I've got a date." Sirius said, glancing down the table to where Jennifer was talking with Michelle and Lily about something.

"Jennifer?" Remus asked, noticing the look. "You mean she said yes? When was this?"

"Er, well, she hasn't exactly said yes yet," Sirius said, blushing slightly. "But I'm sure she will. Just as soon as I ask her."

James laughed, accidentally spitting pumpkin juice on Peter, who was sitting directly across from him. "You mean you haven't even asked her yet? You'd better hurry up, before she says yes to someone else!"

Sirius smirked at James and said, "All right. I'll ask her now." So, he stood up and yelled down the table loud enough to get the entire Hall's attention, "Hey Sharpe! Want to go into Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

Jennifer laughed, and looked at Sirius appraisingly before shouting back, "All right, Black, I'll go! Just as long as you agree to enter the dance contest!"

"No problem!" Sirius said, as he sat back down, grinning triumphantly. Peter looked at him in awe, while James just chuckled appreciatively.

"Really romantic, there Padfoot," Remus said, shaking his head with a smile as he cut up a large steak. "Do you even know how to dance?"

"Well, no, but it can't be that difficult if Muggles can do it, can it? And besides, it's not as if romance has gotten you anywhere, has it?" Sirius smirked as he continued to eat.

"What do you mean? I told Michelle how I felt about her, and she said she feels the same way." Remus looked at him in confusion.

"Yeah," James said, "but you haven't actually asked her out, now have you?"

"Well, no, not yet." Remus said, looking back down at his plate with a slight blush.

"You'd better hurry up, then! Someone else is bound to ask her," Sirius said, repeating what James had told him just a few minutes ago.

"Looks like someone else is asking her," Peter said, gesturing to where the Hufflepuff, Michael Dawson, was standing, talking with Michelle.

Remus spent the rest of dinner glaring at Michael Dawson, as he sat, chatting with friends at the Hufflepuff table.

Later that night, when everyone but he and Michelle had gone to bed, Remus decided to take Sirius' advice. He approached Michelle as she sat working on a bit of homework in front of the fire. "Um, Michelle?" Remus began somewhat nervously as he sat down next to her.

"What is it, Remy?" she asked, looking at him in some concern.

"Oh, it's nothing important," he said, blushing more furiously than he'd ever done before. "I was just wondering if you'd be my date for Hogsmeade this weekend." He looked down at his hands as he spoke, feeling completely embarrassed.

Michelle smiled and said, "I'd love to."

Remus looked at her in surprise. Despite what she'd said on Halloween, he'd expected her to turn him down. "Really? You want to?"

"Would I have said yes if I didn't?" Michelle laughed as she stuck her work in her bag.

"No, I guess not." Remus said, before leaning in to give her a kiss on the lips. "So, do you want to enter the dance contest?"

"Well, do you remember all those Muggle dance lessons our parents made us take when we were little?" Michelle asked, grinning slightly.

Remus nodded apprehensively. "Yeah, I might be a little rusty, but I think I remember how to do most of those dances. And I remember the ones you taught me that time my dad and I came to visit you in America."

"Then yes, I want us to be in the contest." Michelle said, as she packed up her bag. "I also want us to keep it a secret that we're going together, or that we've got dates at all, just to see the looks on everyone's faces when we dance together."

Remus smiled. "You know they'll be bugging us the entire time about not having dates," he said.

"I know," Michelle said, smiling and shouldering her bag. "That'll just make it even more hilarious when they see that we actually did have dates – each other." Before going back up to her dormitory, Michelle turned and kissed Remus hard on the lips, leaving him in a slight daze.