Harry Potter or any other characters associated with the book are the sole property of J. K. Rowling. Any original character created solely for this story belongs to me, Little C.
Reviews, comments and even flames are welcome. A big thank you to my beta reader Dorothy. Chapters 1 to 5 have been through a slight revision to eliminate typos and such.
The Things We Never Did or Said, Chapter Two
Christmas break was quickly approaching when Sirius thought it would be all right to continue his personal quest of getting a smile from Bloodsworth.
"I thought you had given up on that?" James said when Sirius told him, Remus and Peter as they left the Gryffindor common room.
"No, I took a step back," Sirius said, "but now I'm back in the game."
"I don't understand you," Remus said, "do you like Bloodsworth?"
"No," Sirius answered, "I just want to make her smile. Besides, she's more Peter's type than mine."
"She not my type," Peter objected, "she looks like a chipmunk."
"Watch your mouth, Wormtail," Sirius said hotly, "or I might accidentally step on you next full moon."
"Next full moon falls during the weekend of Christmas break," Remus said, earning disappointed sighs from the others.
They continued to the Great Hall, and as they arrived, they saw a small group of people had gathered outside in the Entrance Hall, right below where someone had put a charmed sprig of mistletoe a few days ago. At first people deliberately walked beneath it to become trapped in its magic so someone would have to kiss them, but that soon grew old, so now people were avoiding walking beneath it. Evidently someone had been a little careless and stepped under the sprig.
To their surprise it was Bloodsworth, and from the looks of it she didn't look like she wanted to be kissed. Even though two boys, a sixth year Hufflepuff and a seventh year Ravenclaw seemed more than willing to aid a damsel in distress, a more unwilling damsel had yet to be seen.
"One might think she is being difficult on purpose," James said as they stood and watched the debacle unfold.
"She looks angry," Remus said, "this can't end well."
Lindsey wished they would all just go away and leave her alone. She didn't care that she had to be kissed to be released from the stupid charmed mistletoe; she just wanted to be alone. She wanted to scream at them to leave her alone but she was too angry to get the words out.
A shiver ran down her spine as the crowd silenced somewhat. She looked up in time to see Sirius coming through the crowd. Had she been able, she would have bolted at that moment. There was something about the way he looked at her that she didn't like. He looked very much like a cat stalking a mouse, and she had the uncomfortable feeling that she was the mouse.
"Come here often?" he asked her casually as he stopped in front of her.
"Don't you dare!" she hissed. He just smiled, tilted her head a bit, and kissed her.
It wasn't a little peck or chaste brushing of lips, but a real kiss. His mouth pressed against hers in a way she never imagined would be pleasant. The thought that she could find the sensation pleasant made her recoil from him, and she realised she was free from the charmed mistletoe.
Looking at Sirius, she expected to see a smug grin on his face, but there was none. Instead there was an odd expression she couldn't describe as he looked at her. He lifted his hand to his face and tentatively touched his lips.
She felt something warm against her cheek which she angrily brushed away and was surprised when her fingers came away wet. Appalled, she realised she was crying. Crying! In front of all these people! She felt her anger boiling inside as she drew her wand and pointed it at Sirius, causing him to take a step backward.
"Lindsey," he said pleadingly. She didn't listen, but instead searched her mind for a Hex to cast. Something horrible, but non-lethal. Unable to think of something, she lowered her wand slightly. Sirius made a move to grab it, but Lindsey was quicker. "Tarantallegra!" she shouted before making a mad dash for the gate then out onto the winter-covered grounds.
"You're dumber than a troll!" Lily screamed at Sirius looking dead tired and sitting with his feet in a bucket of hot water. It had taken two hours before anyone had released him from Lindsey's Hex, and that was only because they grew tired of him doing quicksteps through the castle corridors.
"You tell him, Evans," James said taking a bite of an apple.
"Shut up!" both Lily and Sirius shouted.
"Why did you kiss her?" Lily screamed.
"Should I have let her stay there all day?" Sirius asked.
"It's not up to you to decide that," she raved, "did it ever even occur to you that she might not want to be kissed?"
"Then she would have been standing there all day," Sirius objected yet again.
"Then you should have let her," Lily shouted, "sooner or later she would have came to her senses and allowed herself to be kissed by one of those that had offered."
"Offered?" James said with a snort. "They were practically begging to kiss her. Her! Of all people!"
"Shut up!" Both Lily and Sirius shouted at him again.
"I was only referring to her personality," James defended himself upon seeing the looks he got from Remus and Peter.
"I thought you had given up on this insane idea to get her to smile," Lily said, "why did you suddenly start again?"
"Because I want to see her smile," Sirius said simply. "Is that too much to ask?"
"I guess I have no choice," she said and they looked questioningly at her. "Remember what I said about her father earlier this year?" Sirius nodded. "She got an owl from her uncle last week informing her that her father's condition is deteriorating."
Sirius sighed heavily and buried his face in his hands.
"Really?" James asked and Lily nodded. "You're not just saying that?"
"No," Lily said with a sigh, "I wish it wasn't true, but it is."
"You better give up, Padfoot," James said. "There is no way you are going to get her to smile now."
"If he should try, I doubt it would be an ordinary Hex she'd put on him this time," Remus said with a yawn. "She looked fit to kill down there."
"Now if you'll excuse me," Lily said, "I have some damage control to take care of."
Before she walked out she turned and pointed her wand at the bucket of warm water Sirius had his feet in and it came to an instant boil.
"Hot! Ow! Hot! Ow! Hot!" she heard Sirius shout franticly as she left Gryffindors common room.
James pointed his wand at the water which abruptly stopped boiling with a hiss. As the steam cleared, they could see that the water had now turned into a solid block of ice, trapping Sirius feet at an odd angle.
"Thanks Prongs," Sirius sighed in relief. James smiled brightly.
"I'm tired," James said, putting his wand back in his robe. "I think I'll turn in."
"Me too," said Peter with a huge yawn. He turned to head towards the stairs to the boys' dormitory.
"Same here," said Remus. As he walked past Sirius, he reached inside his robe to confiscate his wand. "You won't be needing this anymore tonight."
Sirius watched them leave, a look of incredulity written all over his face.
"Guys?" he called after them. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
"Do you think Lily will manage to pacify Lindsey?" James asked Remus as they walked up the stairs, blatantly ignoring Sirius' increasingly desperate pleas.
"I certainly do hope so," Remus said.
"Come on guys, this isn't funny," they heard Sirius calling from downstairs. "Bloody turncoats!"
"Maybe we should thaw that bucket his feet are in," Remus said a bit uncertain.
"It can wait until the morning," James said reassuringly, "he will be fine, a little cold perhaps, but fine."
They heard thumping noises from downstairs and then a large crashing sound.
"Bullocks!" they heard Sirius state quite angrily.
"See," said James, "nothing to worry about!"
And with that, they entered the dormitory and got ready for bed.
Lily found Lindsey sitting in Hagrid's garden looking worse for wear. Tears had frozen to her lashes, and it was obvious she had suffered a nosebleed. Blood was smeared all over her face and robe.
Hagrid had obviously been out to talk to her seemingly without success, since she was draped in a large plaid blanket the size of a king-sized bedspread and looking miserable. Lily wasn't at all surprised; despite the giant man's kind demeanour, Lindsey was terrified of him.
"Did you have a vision?" Lily asked as she melted a handful of snow in her hand and proceeded to wipe away the blood from her friend's face.
"No," Lindsey said shaking her head, "it just started to bleed. I was so angry."
"You shouldn't mind anything Sirius does," Lily said, "he's just a big wanker."
"I know," Lindsey said, "but for six years he has acted as if I don't exist and then suddenly he's everywhere. It's creepy."
Lily fought the urge to tell her the truth, that all Sirius wanted from her was a smile, but she didn't dare.
If Lily were going to tell Lindsey the truth, she should have done so in the very beginning. As it was, she was afraid Lindsey might seriously kill Sirius, and get in a lot of trouble. At this moment, Lindsey did not need to have to deal with any additional stress.
No, it was better to keep her mouth shut and let it be, with a little luck she had managed to discourage Sirius, but when that boy set his mind to something, he saw it through to the end. She could only hope he would practise restraint from here on out.
"Are you going home for Christmas?" Lily asked.
"No," Lindsey answered, "I'm staying here. My uncle is having his wife's family over, so they don't have room for me and I don't want to go home to an empty house."
"You're welcome to spend Christmas with us," she said. "I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind."
"I'll be fine here," she said, "at least I won't have to put up with Sirius during the holiday."
"True," Lily said. "It's getting colder; we should get back to the castle."
Lindsey nodded and folded the large blanket into a bundle and walked over to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. The big man opened the door.
"Yes?" Hagrid inquired when he saw her standing there.
"Thanks for the blanket," Lindsey said with a small voice.
"Yer welcome," he said with a smile as he took the blanket. She managed a short nod before bolting from the doorstep towards the castle. Lily saw Hagrid smile before she followed her friend.
Coming into the Gryffindor common room, they discovered Sirius lying on the floor near the fireplace holding his ice-encased feet up towards the fire. Lily quickly suppressed a chuckle. Lindsey, on the other hand, strode purposefully towards the stairs to the girls dormitory not even acknowledging Sirius' presence.
"Need a hand?" Lily asked walking over to Sirius.
"Nah," Sirius said flippantly, "I've got things covered."
Lily looked at him, his lips blue and trembling, checks flushed and sweating from the heat of the fire combined with the strain of holding his legs up in what must have been an uncomfortable position. Water dripped slowly but steadily from the ice and she could tell that he was in for a long night.
"You sure you don't need anything?" she asked again.
"I'm fine," he said shivering, "you go to bed."
"Okay," she said leaving him by the fire. She'd made it halfway up the stairs before she heard him calling;
"Oi, Evans! I was only joking! Help!"
She ignored his plea and walked into the dormitory where she saw that Lindsey had already gone to bed. As she got ready for bed she heard small noises coming from Lindsey's bed.
"You okay, Lindsey?" she asked but got no reply. Climbing into bed, she noticed the sounds from Lindsey's side of the room had stopped. Falling asleep, she forgot all about it.
Lily didn't see Sirius at all the following day. Nor did she see James, Remus or Peter. She was sure he was alright; otherwise the whole school would have known by know. She had been outside, enjoying the sunny day when she spotted Lindsey coming down from the West Tower. Judging by the feathers on her robes she had been to the Owlery.
"I thought I saw you," she said, joining her friend on the stairs to the common room. "You might want to be more careful, or else you'll be seen."
"They'll just think I was near someone who got mail," Lindsey said.
Lily agreed. It was most fortunate for Lindsey that her Animagus form was that of a Snowy Owl - though not a common bird in Britain it was common enough among wizards. She hadn't been thrilled when Lindsey told her she wanted to become an Animagus. It was quite difficult to master, and had indeed proven to be difficult. Lindsey's first attempt had been successful, and had been done in their sixth year just one week before summer break. Her first attempt at flying was less successful and had ended with a broken arm.
Lily was pretty sure there were several other students that had the ability to transform into an animal at will since Lindsey had told her that sometimes books on the subject seemed to be missing from the library.
They entered the Gryffindor common room only to find it virtually empty.
"Where is everybody?" Lily wondered as they sat down by the fire.
"Hospital wing," Lindsey said, "Sirius is there."
"How did you know?" Lily asked.
"I flew by it," Lindsey answered.
"Did he look badly hurt?" Lily asked a bit worried.
"Not really," Lindsey said, "his feet were bandaged but otherwise he looked fine. Besides, with all those girls fawning over him, why wouldn't he be?"
"I guess so," Lindsey said.
They both fell silent watching the fire burn.
"What do you think of Potter?" Lily asked after awhile.
"As little as possible," Lindsey answered, "why do you ask?"
"I kind of like him," she said. "I know I haven't said anything but you might have noticed that we have sort of been dating."
Lindsey turned and looked at her with an amused expression and was about to say something when she was interrupted by James entering the room, helping a limping Sirius. They were followed by Remus and Peter.
James dumped Sirius in one of the chairs.
"Take it easy," Sirius complained, "I'm injured, remember?"
"Second degree burns and frostbite," Remus said, "isn't much in the way of injuries."
"Whatever," Sirius said, "but it hurts and I can't go home over Christmas because technically I'm not supposed to move around much."
Lily saw from the corner of her eye that Lindsey had got up from her seat, her face a mask of indifference as she left the room.
"She looked happy," Peter said as soon as Lindsey had left.
"Thrilled," Remus agreed.
"Assuming we'll be able to find all of the itty bitty pieces that might be left of you once we return from Christmas break," James said as he looked at Sirius. "How would you like your funeral?"
Sirius glowered at him menacingly.
"I doubt she'd actually kill him," Lily said. "Maim, yes. Kill, no."
"Seems like those galleons are mine," Remus commented and Lily turned to him.
"You've made a bet out of this idiocy?" she asked, her voice rising with every word.
"We did but Sirius didn't." James hurried to say, indicating himself, Remus and Peter.
"As if that makes it better!" Lily fumed. "You turned this into a bet. A game! I should Hex you all into toads this very minute! It's bad enough that Sirius is making a complete fool of himself by trying to get Lindsey to smile when her world is practically falling apart around her. There are just no words to describe how low this has come."
"Wait! We were merely betting on whether the fool would succeed or not," Remus countered. "It really has nothing to do with Lindsey."
"You're all fools," Lily said derisively, glaring at them before leaving the common room.
To Be Continued…