Chapter 3- Pictures and Embarrassment
"Natalie?" I opened my eyes, and looked around my room groggily. A smiling Ginny Weasley stood beside my bed. I sat up, "Hi Ginny," I had forgotten the Weasleys were here. "How are you?" "I'm ok…" She stopped mid sentence, and sat down at the foot of my bed, smile gone from her face. "I heard you crying…are you alright?" I sighed, "Not at all, actually." My reply surprised me, I normally would've said yes. "I'm sorry. Sirius was great." She had now idea of the real Sirius. The way he'd act in Grimmauld place wasn't the real Sirius. I laughed, as memories of my school days filled my head. "He could be so crazy sometimes. You should've seen him when we were at Hogwarts." The smile returned, "He must have been much different before Azkaban." "Yeah. He was much happier. This house also made him angry, he hated his family." "He was always happy around you, though." I grinned, and grabbed a picture album off of the nightstand. "Want to see some pictures from my seventh year?" Ginny nodded, and eagerly moved closer to where I sat.
I explained each picture to her. Most were of Remus, Sirius, James and Peter being idiotic. Seeing Remus in these pictures made me feel horrible. He had looked so different back then… Seeing Sirius made me smile, even laugh sometimes. But even as I laughed, I longed for him to be here, for him to laugh with me.
When we reached the final picture, I turned beet red. The picture showcased Sirius and I snogging in the Gryffindor Common room. I forgot that picture was in the album. Ginny laughed when she saw how embarrassed I was, "Who took that one?" I scowled. "James did. He thought it would be funny." My scowl turned into a smile as I looked back on that day. "I never understood it, but Sirius was not one bit embarrassed about that incident." Sirius didn't get embarrassed easily. I, on the other hand, did. "I loved him so much..." I said, more to myself than to Ginny. "I'm sorry." She said again, unnecessarily. "You have no how many times those words have been said to me. There's no need for it, the only person who really needs to apologize is Bellatrix Lestrange."
I hate Bellatrix Lestrange. I have since my first year at Hogwarts. She was horrible to anyone who wasn't in Slytherin. She was especially cruel to me since I dated her 'blood-traitor' cousin. "Why would anyone do that? Especially to their own cousin..." She quietly said. "All the Death Eaters will kill anyone who isn't loyal to Voldemort," Ginny flinched. "Even if means killing a member of your own family. But never mind this topic, let's go get some breakfast." I immediatly switched the topic, not wanting to go on. I got out of the bed, and stood up, letting out a yawn. "I already ate, but I'll come down with you." The redhead replied.
As we walked downstairs to the kitchen, I felt that familiar emptiness. I used to wake up to hear Sirius' voice coming from downstairs. Now I only imagined it. I wished that I would just wake up from this nightmare, and find Sirius sleeping beside me. But that'd never happen, who am I trying to fool? Sirius is gone; I'll see him when I die. When ever that happens.
When we reached the kitchen, I was relieved to find out that it was empty. I didn't want to be bombarded with the question "Are you ok?" No one (except for Remus) seemed to realize that they didn't need to ask me if I was ok every time they saw me. Ginny and I sat down at the table, and I wondered where everyone else is. I didn't think Ginny would know, and decided to comment on Molly Weasley's molly-coddling. "Your mum acts way too motherly to me sometimes." I grinned. "Sometimes?" Ginny scoffed. "More like all the time." I laughed and conjured toast with marmalade. That was my usual breakfast. I heard someone chuckle, and looked at the doorway.
I rolled my eyes when I saw that it was Remus. He teased me about my choice of food a lot. When we lived together, he'd always insist that I should start eating toast less often. "Natalie you always eat that." He grinned at me, the lines in his face smoothing out. "I eat other things to, toast just happens to be my favorite." "Whatever you say." I rolled my eyes once more and stood up, placing my toast on the plate. For some reason, I hugged Remus, and then kissed him on the cheek. I have no idea why I did it, I just had the urge to. I could see him blushing, as I held on to him. "Don't be embarrassed, it's not like you fancy me or anything." I let go of Remus, and sat back down. He muttered quietly. "You're right…" As I hungrily bit into my toast, I wondered why I was in such a good mood today.
I looked up at Remus, who was still blushing. "Come one Rem, sit down." I patted the chair beside mine. He obliged, and sat down. "Can I ask you guys something?" I exchanged worried looks with Remus. I really hoped she didn't ask if we had a 'thing'. If you get what I mean. "You guys always say how great your time at Hogwarts was. I was wondering if I could hear some stories about it..." I looked at Remus, who looked relieved. He must have thought the same thing as me. "Shall we tell her?" I smiled at him. "I suppose so." He returned the smile. I laughed, "Let me take you back to a time when Sirius and James were the height of cool..." This time, I didn't start crying.