DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns the setting and everything that you see in the Harry Potter books. Thanks to Rowling for a brilliant world to write of. However, I do own a few original characters and ideas. If anything in here seems related to another story/fanfic, sorry! It's really not.
A/N: Thanks for all your reviews!! Sorry it took me longer to post this one up, but I was busy with school a lot, and my computer had problems and everything. I'm doing a major revision of my whole story, and there's going to be several changes. So it might be some time before I update. Just warning you guys! Anyways, enjoy!
Madderthanyou: I'm really sorry!! You sound really, really desperate for a sequel, but I already have the ending all planned out... sorry!! But this will be a really long story! I hope that comforts you.
EW4eva: Thanks! Sorry it took so long for me to update.
Hazel: Aww... you're embarrassing me! Lol!
Cottonmouth: Thanks for the review!
Markella: Thanks! Here it is!
I love CHEESECAKE: It is a very good thing! Thanks so much!!
Joy: I'm really glad you like it!!
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---Chapter Six: A Family Christmas---
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"No," I managed to get out. "No, it's never okay to cry. Never. It doesn't do any good, none at all. It just makes me feel weak." With that said, I took a deep breath, gathered myself, and looked up at Black, who was standing right next to me.
"Black?" I asked. He was scrutinizing me carefully, a mixture of unreadable emotions inside his eyes. "Forget about them, those two people, what I said, and what they said to me. It never happened. That's the way it'll be once we get back. It never happened."
"But, Prewitt," he protested. I held up a hand to stop him. I was really getting tired of his protests and objections.
"It's my choice, Black. Mine, not yours. It's bad enough that you heard it. I know that they will do just that. Could you just… disregard it? Put it out of your mind? …Please?" I almost choked on the last word. Me, saying 'please' to Black. Before now, the very idea of that happening would have made me burst out in hysterical laughter.
"You--you just said 'please,'" Black said, sounding awed.
"Yeah, yeah, stop making such a big deal out of it," I snapped, getting slightly back to normal. "You'll be wanting to get back there, now, won't you? To comfort your girlfriend." I spat out the last word. Fiona didn't deserve anything. She hadn't even made an effort to understand me or comfort me or do whatever sisters were supposed to do for one another.
"There you are, getting back to your usual, grumpy self," Black said. "And no, I don't want to go back just yet. She'll probably be fuming. At least you're back to normal." I sighed.
"Whatever," I said, getting up and perching on a swing after I wiped the snow off of it.
"What is that?" Black asked, tentatively poking at the swing and jumping as it moved. "Another one of those strange muggle things, huh? This one isn't working, though.""It's a swing," I told him, trying not to laugh. He just looked too comical, looking suspiciously at a swing, of all things. "I'll show you how to play on it."
I began to swing, and I got higher and higher, with Black looking on in awe, his whole face shining with glee. But just then, our bond reached its limit. I came crashing down off the swing, and I landed facedown on the ground, getting a mouthful of snow for my troubles. Black was also on the ground.
"That was pretty cool until you fell," Black said, spitting out a mixture of sand and snow.
"Stupid curse," I muttered, also spitting out my own mouthful of melting grit.
"Ugh! I think I got snow down my pants!" Black moaned, dancing around. He got too far away… and… THUMP. We were back on the ground.
"Stop moving, you nitwit," I snapped, shaking my shirt so that the freezing snow would fall out.
"I want to try the—the s-swing!" Black cried, after we had gotten ourselves straightened out. His enthusiasm was encouraging… but his skill was not. He looked like a teetering seesaw. Black tried to imitate the way I moved to get the swing going, but he was failing miserably. And when I say miserably—I really, really mean it. Really. When he tried to swing forward with his legs extended, he'd tilt so far backwards that I thought he might fall. When he tried to swing backwards with his legs tucked in, his body would straighten, and thus, the seesaw motion.
"Black, just face it. You're never going to get it at this rate," I said, hiding my laughter. A little girl was swinging nearby, staring at Black with a pitying expression, making him look all the more foolish.
"No!" he said feverishly. "I'll learn it!" He tried even harder, looking even more like a seesaw. I started laughing.
"Don't hurt yourself. Yeesh, I'll push you," I offered, still giggling. "But not too high, or else the curse will get us."
Black looked at me and grinned, the familiar glimmer of mischief twinkling in his eyes. "Alright."
I walked behind him and started pushing gently on his back. I couldn't believe it… I was actually feeling… not murderous towards him. Wow. He hadn't made fun of me for that episode with my parents; he had dropped it. I didn't think that this was possible. Maybe it was all just a dream.
"Wheeee!" he cried, letting his feet skim the snow. I smiled. He sounded just like a child, even though he was 6"1 and almost seventeen years old. Just then, I accidentally pushed too hard. Black came crashing off the swing at the same time I was jerked forward and banged against on the now-empty swing seat.
"Ow," Black moaned.
"That sums it all up," I agreed, rubbing my forehead. Black looked at me after he picked his face up from the ground.
"How'd I do?" he asked.
"Horribly," I replied promptly, before laughing.
He grinned at my reaction. "Great. You're laughing and happy again. Not that you're usually happy around me…. But anyways—let's go back now."
I groaned anew. "I don't want to face them again…" Just the mention of meeting my parents sent my spirits plummeting.
"Today's Christmas Eve, Prewitt. Come on. It's a time for family. You don't want to miss it," Black said seriously. Wow. I didn't know he had it in him. This was amazing. I thought I should write the date of that extraordinary pronouncement, made by Sirius Black himself!
"I never thought that you'd be one to say things like that," I said in an awestruck voice. "Usually, it's 'ugh, whatever,' or 'shut the hell up,' or 'stop spouting all that ridiculous dribble, you shrink.'"
"What do you mean by that?" Black asked, looking insulted. "Of course I can say sweet, heartfelt things like that! Why do you think all those girls come flocking around me?"
Yeah. He was definitely back to normal.
"What-eva," I said, rolling my eyes and throwing the most American-ish drawl I could manage. I looked up, noticing that the sun was already setting. Whoa. I'd spent that long with Black and hadn't tried to strangle him? This must be a new record.
We got up and made our way back to my home. David was outside, stringing up the Christmas lights, and Tracy was obviously cooking inside, as the delicious smells that wafted out house told me. Black was gawking at the string of lights.
"How does it do that blinking thing?" he asked, amazed. "Blimey! You muggles are really smart!"
"Of course," David winked. "Now go on inside. Faye, go ahead and start knitting your sock!"
"Okay!" I agreed amiably.
"Sock?" Black asked, following me. "Why do you need a sock?"
"For Santa Clause," I said patiently. "It's a tradition that Tracy and David have, and they want me to join in as well. We make our socks and hang them by the chimney and wait for Santa Clause to fill them up."
"Santa Clause?" he scoffed, his know-it-all mode back on. "Who believes in that? Everybody knows that he's not real, even me!"
"It's just for the sake of doing it, though I don't expect you to understand," I snapped. I poked my head in the door, and to my relief, neither Fiona, Henry, or Diana was in the living room.
"Faye?" Tracy called from the kitchen. "Is that you?"
"Yeah!"
"Go ahead and start on your sock! Fiona took… took your parents out to show them around here. She'll be back later."
"Yeah… yeah, sure," I replied, my heart sinking.
"Honey, are you sure you can handle this?" Tracy asked, coming out of the kitchen with her hands covered with flour. "You know, your parents and everything. Henry is David's brother…. But if you don't want them here, then…"
I looked away. "Tracy… thank you. For everything. I think… I think I can handle it. Just this one night. As long as I don't have to speak to them. I… I just can't…."
"Sure, Faye. Sure," Tracy said, looking touched. "Melanie's in her room. Why don't you guys join her?"
I took her advice, and Black and I headed upstairs for Melanie's room. I was thankful that Black didn't mention anything that had just taken place.
"Hey, squirt," I said as I entered. Melanie was in the process of making her sock, and she grinned happily when she saw me.
"I thought that Sirius would take up all of your time, Faye," Melanie pouted. "I thought you wouldn't have any time for me!"
"I'll always have time for you," I chided. "It's not like Black is important or anything." I dodged Black's swipe at my arm, and we ended up falling over—again, while Melanie giggled at us.
"Honestly, you guys look so funny," she said.
I glared at Black. "It's all his fault. He's not very coordinated. Come to think of it, he's not very much of anything."
"What do you mean?" he gasped indignantly. "I am perfect in every way possible!" I rolled my eyes.
"He is perfect at being vain, though," I added. Melanie agreed, to Black's displeasure and my triumph. Melanie got Black and me started on our socks… and to her dismay, neither of us was adept at it.
"Don't you guys think at all?" Melanie wailed in despair as Black got his yarn tangled for the fifth time and I missed another loop. "Seriously, it doesn't take too much! Maybe I should just do it for you two!"
Black readily agreed to that, but I refused, struggling along with my own miserable-looking sock. Hey, I had my pride.
After I was done with my sock, and after I had hit Black for saying that it looked more like a lump of tangled yarn, and after Black and I had attacked Melanie for saying that we were acting like an old, married couple already, I dragged Black after me to help Tracy with baking the cookies.
It turned out that Black couldn't handle being in a kitchen. He got overly excited about an electrical eggbeater and ended up taking it out of the mixture and spraying all of us with some of the mixture as he pretended he was some sort of Auror. And of course, predictably, his antics resulted in both of us getting kicked out of the kitchen.
"The Christiansons are coming over for dinner as well as Henry and Diana," Tracy said to us as she kicked us out. "I can't afford for any distractions." She looked pointedly at Black as she said this.
"Great. Now look. You got us thrown out of the kitchen," Black grumbled at me.
"There you go again, blaming others for your mistake," I said angrily.
The Christiansons…. The name sparked something in my memory. And then, with a groan of horror, I remembered. They had a son, Chris, who was the most obnoxious pervert around. Even worse than Black, and that was saying something. I was lucky I wasn't bonded to Chris. He constantly hit on Fiona and me, and even Melanie, who was five years younger than him… it was disgusting. The last time he said something lecherous and disgustingly suggestive to Melanie, I had bloodied his nose, so I hoped that he would take the hint (honestly, it was more like a threat than a hint) and stay away from Melanie and me.
"Why are you groaning as if your life's going to end?" Black asked, peering at me.
"The Christiansons, Henry, Diana, you… just everything," I moaned.
That night, dinner was a grand affair. Our dining room was bedecked with holly and mistletoe and lights all over. Our Christmas tree was outside; Tracy and David didn't believe in buying cut-down Christmas trees, and they—I mean, we— had a tree of our own in the back yard that had already been decorated. Black and I had particular trouble decorating that tree—he'd had to follow me up the ladder when I placed the star on top. And he had, predictably, lost his balance when he leaned over to inspect the Christmas lights that David had hung all over, making us both crash down in a flurry of ornaments and lights.
The Christiansons arrived before Fiona came back with our parents.
"Hey, Faye," Chris Christianson said as he came in through the door. "Hi, Melanie." His tone and manner was very… suggestive.
"Hi, Chris," I said dully and gestured at Black. "This is Sirius Black, Fiona's scandalous boyfriend. He's staying with us for a while." I looked past him, ready to greet his parents.
"Oh? Are you still single, then?" Chris asked wolfishly, a lecherous smirk pasted over his face.
I snapped back at attention, and I glared at him straight in the eye. "No. I have a boyfriend who'd beat you upside your pimply face and leave you to ooze in the gutters. And don't even think about hitting on Melanie, either, because then I'll have to castrate you, and you'll forever be deprived of the joys of fatherhood. Don't forget what happened last time. Now get out of my face."
He did. I was glad to see that he could follow orders; I just had to speak to him in the right way.
"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Christianson," I automatically pasted a smile onto my face, ushering them in with Black right behind me.
"Do you really?" Black asked me, and I looked at him in confusion.
"Really what?"
"Have a boyfriend."
"Yeah," I said sarcastically. "I mean, from what I've seen of boys, I would certainly have one. DUH, NO! Oof!" I had just fallen down when Black made a wrong turn. "Stop doing that!"
"Well, sorry!" Black said. "I thought we were going up to your room!"
"Well, you thought wrong!"
"Hey, I don't think wrong."
"Then obviously you don't think at all! We're supposed to be the hostesses!"
"Hostesses? Speak for yourself! I'm going up!" Black growled, proceeding to tow me up the stairs against my will.
"You idiot! Stop it!" I yelled as my nose banged into the sixth successive step. But then I heard the door open downstairs open again, and Henry and Diana's voices floated up to my ears.
"On second thought, all right," I said hastily. We walked into my room and I closed the door and locked it. Just in case. I didn't want Henry or Diana barging in on me.
"Why'd you lock the door?" Black asked, raising his eyebrow. "I'm not that kind of guy!" He scrambled backwards, faking horror.
"Get real, Black," I rolled my eyes. "As if I'd want to make out with you. Being stuck with you 24-7 is bad enough."
"Being stuck with you…" he paused, "is actually not that bad, you know," Black said thoughtfully. "I mean… when you take your showers…" I threw my pillow at him, my ears burning.
"Finish that sentence, Black, and I swear I'll throttle you," I threatened. I knew I was still blushing. Dammit, I hated the fact that I could blush!
"Touchy, touchy," Black said in defeat as he flopped down onto his sleeping bag. He looked up at me, and something in his eyes changed.
"Prewitt, why don't you live with your real parents?" he asked seriously. No pun intended. Like, really.
I froze at the question, and I looked at his face searchingly. He had no right to know any of this, none at all. But a part of just wanted to spill everything out to someone, anyone. Just so I could have some sort of vent, some sort of relief from it! Wait, I checked myself sternly, he's your enemy, your ENEMY! Don't spill any secrets to the enemy. They'll just turn the tables on you.
"I thought I told you that it was none of your business," I said icily, falling back into the you-don't-know-me-and-you-never-will mode.
"But I…" Black started, but I cut him off.
"But you what? Black, don't go poking your overlarge nose into everyone else's life. Just… don't. It's bad enough that you're actually seeing this… I'm not going to embarrass myself further," I muttered, turning over on my bed and hiding my face in the covers.
"Fine. But I'm going to ask you again," Black sniffed. "You just wait. I'll surprise it out of you. Hah! I bet you're scared now!"
"That's the most brilliant plan I've ever heard," I drawled. "Really. No one could ever think of it differently!" Black playfully tugged on a strand of my hair.
"Thanks," he grinned his wonderful smile. "I'm full of brilliant ideas."
Wait. Stop. Hold up.
Wonderful smile? Oh, no. It wasn't wonderful… I was going nuts. NOTHING about Black was wonderful… except for his eyes and his grin and…. I cut off that train of thought.
A knock on the door made the both of us look up. To my intense relief, Melanie's voice, instead of a certain other person or persons that I was avoiding at the moment, floated through.
"I don't know why you locked the door, and I'm not going to ask."
"It's because…" I hurried to explain, feeling a flush suffuse my face.
"It's exactly what you think it is, Mel," Black said lazily. My jaw dropped at his implication.
"Ew! Don't tell me any more! And don't call me Mel!" Melanie said through the door. "And you guys should probably change. 'Cause it's Christmas. Wear something nice, okay?"
"Sure," I answered.
"And I think you guys need an adult to supervise what you two do in there," Melanie continued, and I screeched in outrage. But before I could explain things, Melanie's footsteps receded, and I whirled onto Black angrily.
"What do you mean, 'it's exactly what you think it is'?" I asked dangerously.
He shrugged at his insinuation. SHRUGGED!
"Oh, nothing much. Now shouldn't you change?" he continued, grinning at me suggestively. I smacked him on his head before going over to my drawers and sorting through the clothes in there. I certainly wasn't going to wear a skirt… I hated skirts. I only wore skirts at Hogwarts because it was part of the uniform. In the end, I chose a pair of black jeans and a dark blue T-shirt with a snowflake in front.
Black scoffed at me once he saw what I was going to wear. "You call that nice?" he snorted derisively.
"Yeah," I said defensively. I usually wore baggy, guy-ish, cargo pants and some sort of jacket over my top, so this was actually stretching it.
"I call that ugly," he snorted, getting up and sorting through my closet. "Honestly, you have no taste as a girl."
"Don't look at my clothes!" I cried, trying to shove him away. I did, but not before he had picked something out. He held up a small silvery shirt that I knew would leave my arms and most of my shoulders bare.
"Eww! I'm not wearing that!" I protested. "It's indecent."
"The dress you wore to the Winter Ball was even more indecent," Black said wickedly. "I almost dropped dead when I saw you. I thought I'd die happy. And so did most other guys."
"You pervert!" I growled, launching myself at him, my ears red with embarrassment. I tried to trap him in a headlock, but he eluded me, sending us both toppling onto the ground when the tie between us stretched and snapped. Unluckily for me, he landed on top, which immediately set me at a disadvantage. Before long, Black had my arms pinned to my sides while he sat on my knees to keep my legs immobile.
"Let me go!" I hissed, trying to break free. Too bad Black was also very strong.
"For a girl, you're a pretty good fighter," Black said contemplatively, looking down at me. I tried to bite him. "But unnecessarily violent," he added, moving his nose out of reach. "What do you think I'm going to do to you?" he asked, grinning.
"You are disgusting," I spat. "Let me go!!"
"I don't think so," Black said. "Not until you've paid." He leaned closer. "A kiss should do it."
"You try that, and I will bite you," I growled. "Hard!"
"Alright then," he said uneasily. "That's not an option. Then I'll just have to tickle you."
My eyes widened with fright. I was unbelievably ticklish. "No! Don't!" But he didn't listen. In an instant, his hands had darted to my waist and neck, tickling my mercilessly.
"No… stop!" I tried to get out, but I was laughing to hard. I twisted this way and that, trying to get away from him, but he had me. I thought I could die laughing, if that was possible. I was ticklish almost everywhere… and Black evidently knew it.
"Okay, okay! Anything but this!" I gasped, grabbing his hands pleadingly to stop him. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard, and my heart pounded quickly. My hair was thrown over my face from why wild twists, and I was breathing hard.
"Anything?" Black asked. I nodded quickly, gulping down air, refreshing my poor, deprived lungs. He brushed my hair out of my face, and I instinctively recoiled.
"Let me kiss you," Black said, smiling. I gaped at him for a moment before I found the words.
"NO WAY IN BLOODY HELL!" If he tried that, I would kill him. I had never been kissed, and I planned to keep it that way.
"You said anything," he reminded me.
"No! I don't want to! Get off!" I said desperately. He started tickling me again. I lay gasping on the ground, weakly gulping in air.
"Still a no?" Black asked wickedly.
"Never," I refused weakly. "You're revolting."
"I think you're too weak to stop me," Black grinned, leaning closer to me.
"I'll bite you, I swear," I threatened virulently. "Hard! And after I'm through with you, you won't be able to kiss another girl properly with those very-soon-to-be dilapidated flaps that you call lips!"
"Maybe you'll enjoy it so much that you won't," he countered.
"Yeah, right, and the sky is pink!"
"Hey, my kisses are perfect, just like the rest of me," Black said. I rolled my eyes.
"I don't ever want to find out."
"Oh, all right. I'll let you go this once," Black said, pulling me up.
"Thank you!" I said gratefully. "I'm beginning to think that…"
"But you have to wear that shirt."
"…You were a gentleman, but you're obviously not," I finished disgustedly.
"Of course I'm not! Who do you think I am? Remus?" he said in a scandalized voice. "Wearing it or not?"
"You just wait," I growled. "Once we get back to Hogwarts, I'll hex you until you won't know which of those lumpy bits of flesh is your face!"
In the end, I had to wear it to avoid another tickle-fest. I was truly, terribly ticklish. It was my one weakness. Perhaps it was because no one had ever really touched me, except for Henry when he beat me.
"I swear, Black, you'll pay," I hissed while we made our way downstairs. He only blinked innocently at me and smiled charmingly at the adults.
Christmas dinner actually wasn't that bad. Neither Henry nor Diana made a move to talk to me, probably because David had given them a talking to. Fiona was her usual, possessive self, literally hanging all over Black. And Melanie was her usual, sweet self, talking to me all throughout dinner. Chris was his normal, perverted self, and everyone ignored him and his sickening commnets all throughout dinner. Tracy and David were nice and cheery, though I noticed that they occasionally darted worried glances at Fiona and me.
After the Christiansons had gone home, we gathered around the Christmas tree in the back yard, just sitting there for a while, staring at the blinking, colored lights and sparkling ornaments. I thought about everything that had happened to me this past year. My life had drastically changed. I had moved to England, gone to Hogwarts, made friends with Grace, made enemies…. I suddenly realized that I actually believed that I had a future, now. I saw that this was the best thing that could have happened to me. I had a family now… a real family. Not Henry or Diana. Tracy and David and Melanie… maybe Fiona, to some extent, though I knew that we would never even be friends, but we did live in the same house. That had to count for something… right? Not. I knew that Fiona and I was a lost case.
As I stared at the brightly lit tree, I felt, strangely enough, happy. A fulfilling, light feeling that filled my chest, seemed to overflow my heart. Even the sight of Henry and Diana across from me couldn't completely erase the feeling. My old Christmases had never been so wonderful. My part in the family Christmas had extended to cleaning up after the family and removing the Christmas tree from the living room. And the Christmases I had spent at Drake's with Andrew didn't fill me up like this one did. Oh, Andrew and I had had fun, catching as many fairies in an Unbreakable jar as we could… but this was different, more… magical somehow. Probably because Christmas was a time for family.
Long after everyone else had gone to sleep and long after Black's deep, even breathing had filled my room, I still lay awake, unable to douse that happy feeling in my chest. Truly, Christmas was a wonderful, magical time. And by magical, I mean the type of magic that muggles believed in, the untouchable, the unreachable, the otherworldly and ethereal.
The next morning, a hand roughly shaking my shoulder unceremoniously awakened me at an ungodly hour. The sun wasn't even up over the horizon.
Yawning, I asked, "What time in the bloody morning is it?" I focused on Melanie's excited face.
"Ouch!" Black grunted from somewhere down on the ground. "You just trod all over my face!"
"Come on! It's Christmas Day!" Melanie cried. "Let's go and open the presents!" Melanie dragged me, and I in turn dragged Black, down the stairs. There was a pile of presents in the living room.
"Melanie…" I broke off as a yawn assaulted me, "it's five o'clock in the bloody morning!"
"Yeah, I know!" she replied as Black groaned.
"I hate you," he moaned. He was still in his pj's, his hair rumpled and his eyes tired.
I, however, had sufficiently awakened at the sight of the colorfully wrapped presents. Melanie and I started ripping the wrapping paper off our own presents. A loud snore interrupted us, and we looked around to see that Black had drooped over onto the ground, fast asleep. Melanie and I shared a glance, shrugged, and went on with our gifts. Melanie had a much bigger pile than me, but I didn't really care. I received one from Grace, Lily, Bella, Alice, Andrew, Fabian, Melanie, Tracy and David… and Henry and Diana. It was no more than a small card in an envelope, and I held it up in shaking fingers, debating on whether or not to open it. I stuffed it into my pocket. I couldn't bear to look at it right now.
After everyone else in the house had trudged down at a more reasonable hour, we all had a great time having a snowball fight in the front yard. It was actually a very dangerous game, especially with all the roses and walkways that were hidden under the snow, just waiting for someone to trap. Black and I were at a severe disadvantage, seeing as we were bonded to each other. We couldn't move fast enough to avoid the snowballs, and we kept on running in opposite directions, which ended up in the both of us tumbling to the ground.
Soon enough, it erupted into war between Black and I. It was a ferocious battle, and I got many snowballs head-on, since Black and I couldn't get very far away from each other. We ended up rolling around in the snow, each of us trying to stuff as much snow down the other's shirt as possible. This time I would make sure that I won. Besides, I wore too many layers of clothing to be ticklish.
"Take this, Black!" I shouted gleefully, grabbing a handful of snow and stuffing it down his shirt. I laughed delightedly when he shrieked just like a girl and jumped up in panic.
"Stuff it!" he yelled back at me before shoving my face down into the snow. "Haha!" he smirked, dancing away as I picked my face up from the ground. I lunged at him, grabbing his leg and bringing him down onto the ground as well. While he was trying to get up, I promptly sat on him.
"Give up?" I asked the back of his head. His face was mashed into the snow.
Suddenly, someone pushed me so hard that I went tumbling completely off of Black, dragging him with me a little ways as well. I shook the snow out of my face as I stared up confusedly… into Fiona's angry face.
"Stop flirting with Sirius! He's my boyfriend!" Fiona was saying in a very loud voice. For a moment I didn't comprehend… then I scrambled off the ground in anger.
"I'm not! Who would want to flirt with him? God, you're such a dork!" I yelled. I was suddenly aware that everyone was staring at the pair of us… Tracy and David and Henry and Diana and Melanie and Black. "You can have him! I wouldn't have wanted to be bonded to him, but those stupid teachers decided it was a 'just punishment'! What I can't even have a snowball fight with one measly Sirius Black?"
"Don't give me that crap! You guys were obviously…." Fiona flapped her hands helplessly. "You've always wanted to make me unhappy, disrupt my life… even when we were back in Fremont!" she shrieked.
"Fiona… calm down," Black said in a placating manner. "We weren't…"
Anger flared again, stronger. How could she presume to know the reasons behind my actions? And… how could she even think that I wanted to disrupt her life just for the heck of it? There was a perfectly good reason for all of this animosity between us. WHY COULDN'T THAT DOLT SEE IT? WAS SHE PRETENDING TO NOT REMEMBER?
"Because you were in on the people who made my life a pit of living hell that would pound all the niceties out of ANYONE!" I shouted, glancing around murderously at Henry and Diana. They were looking very uncomfortable and guilty, gazing at anywhere but me. Good. They should be guilty. If they weren't, I would have flown into a rage and attacked Fiona and pulled all her fingernails out with my bare hands, like I'd been planning to do ever since—well, years ago!
"You were just jealous that everyone liked me better," Fiona laughed. "Our parents, everyone at school…. I've always been better! You've always wanted what I had, and even now—!"
"That isn't half of it, you idiot," I hissed with so much venom in my voice that Fiona involuntarily took a step back. "Can you deny what—he—did to me? And you! Can you deny that you… watched… watched through all of it? You watched him tear my life to shreds, tear me down to nothing! And… you still didn't stop. At school, at home… everywhere! You made fun of me, taunted me, humiliated me in front of all your little friends, showing me, your 'dork sister' as the complete loser…. And you still think that I need another reason to make you as miserable as you made me?!"
I was too angry to focus on anyone but Fiona. I was slightly aware of Henry looking very, very uncomfortable, but I felt a savage pleasure in that. He should be uncomfortable—more than uncomfortable— unnerved at best. He had barged back in my life without so much as a warning, seeking forgiveness, of all things! After what he had done to me… I knew I could never forgive him. Never.
Fiona was staring at me furiously, too. "Your attitude didn't make anything easier for me!" Her face changed to a more subtle expression, almost triumphant, as if she knew where to strike to make it hurt. She did.
"The reason behind all of that, behind Dad, behind me… isn't it just because I'm better than you? Mom and Dad have always liked me better. You can't deny that. Everyone at school likes me better, here and back there. Really, Faye. It is jealousy. I've always been the perfect little sister. I've always been better, smarter, and more popular… and you couldn't stand that. Could you?" Fiona said smugly.
That hit deep. Henry and Diana had always loved Fiona, not me. Everyone at school had all flocked around her, not me. It was me… my fault that they hated me…. I felt a big lump in the back of my throat and a burning in the back of my eyes.
"I hate you," I said softly, hating myself as my voice shook. "I hate you and your stupid words, Fiona. Even after the trial and everything, after you saw all of what Henry did, and even testified against him, after those officials thinking that you were also in on the pain… you can still stoop as low as to say something like this. And you can have Black! I don't want him!!" I glared at her with all my pent-up emotions, wishing that I could strike her down right now. I turned to Henry and Diana for a moment. The raging turmoil of hate wouldn't let me pass them by.
"I hate you more," I hissed. "Both of you. Coming here like this…. I never thought I'd have to look on your disgusting faces again. But you came here… for your own selfish reasons… never thinking about me, as usual. I hate you! I absolutely loathe you! Why do you have to do this to me, even after I thought I was rid of you lot forever?! I WISH YOU COULD JUST GET THE HELL OUT OF MY LIFE, AND STAY OUT!!"
Henry and Diana looked more resigned than surprised. That was the way it should be. They knew I hated them. Tracy and David looked mortified and surprised, and Melanie… she looked on sadly, as if she were viewing the destruction of a beautiful painting. At this thought, I almost laughed out loud. Some beautiful painting. It had been ripped to shreds the day Henry met Diana. Or maybe the day I was born and my mother died. I didn't care—it didn't matter anymore anyways. It was all in the past.
The insistent burning in the back of my eyes warned me that I was about to cry. I'd kill myself before I was caught crying in front of my damn family. The need to escape reached a screeching climax. Turning around sharply, I grabbed Black's collar and lugged him inside the house so the bond wouldn't catch me mid-step. I avoided looking at his face. He was an intruder on family affairs. He had no right to be here… and yet he was. Once I reached my room, I dropped Black on the ground just by my door and went inside, closing the door and locking it. I was alone in my room… but I couldn't move very far away from the door, as Black was on the other side.
I could finally relax. A tear trickled down my cheek, followed by a few more before I could stop myself. I took a shuddering breath to reinforce myself and stop any other tears from coming. I had to be strong. I thumped down to the ground and leaned against the door, ignoring the snow down my shirt that was starting to melt. My hair was already damp, making it less wavy. Why did Fiona have to choose this time to bring everything to surface? Why did Henry and Diana come here, anyway? I hated them; I hated them all. But it hurt… it hurt so much.
I remembered the Sorting Hat's words to me. It seemed like so long ago.
Hating someone is a painful job, even for someone like you. Forgive and forget… it's the best thing that you can do for yourself and anyone else.
The Sorting Hat was right, dammit. Hating someone—anyone— was a painful job.
"Prewitt?"
I suppressed a groan. Why couldn't Black leave me alone, just for a little while more? I hated this tie between us more than ever.
"Black. Just shut up," I said tonelessly. "For once in your whole miserable existence… just shut the hell up." Silence, blessed silence, passed for some time before he spoke up yet again.
"Prewitt. Just let me in," his voice was matter-of-fact. "It's very uncomfortable for the both of us to be sitting on either side of the door. I need comfort 24-7, remember?"
That almost made me laugh. After I was sure that I had my tears under control and after I had scrubbed my face furiously with my hands, I stood up and slowly unlocked the door. Black had evidently been leaning on it, and as soon as I opened it, he tumbled backwards, yelping with surprise.
"Finally," he said, looking up at me.
"Just get your whole body in," I snapped. As soon as he cleared his feet, I slammed the door shut and locked it again. I might be forced to be with Black, but at least I could lock everyone else out.
I walked over to my bed and collapsed, but I leapt up with disgust a moment later. I unwound my scarf from my neck, threw off my heavy jacket, and jerked my shoes off before throwing them violently onto the ground. It was so hot! Then I collapsed onto my bed.
Black watched me silently.
I felt something in my pocket crackle. Oh, yeah. Henry and Diana's Christmas card to me. With shaking fingers, I pulled it out and smoothed out the wrinkles. I stared at the white envelope. Should I open it, or just burn it? I gave in to curiosity and ripped open the letter. I wasn't too interested in being neat or careful at the moment.
Faye,
We know that you probably won't even open this, or take it. We know that you hate us… and I guess we don't blame you, after everything we've done to you. But… after everything that happened this year… Diana and I have seriously thought about all our wrongs. Especially me. I can't tell you how sorry I am that I did what I did to you. I know you probably won't forgive me, or even look at this apology, but I have to try to say how sorry I am.
This apology would most likely seem insincere, considering the circumstances… but we want you to know that we have changed. For the better. We know that we're not legally your parents anymore… but we want to care for you and Fiona again. I'm trying really hard to get off my addiction.
We wanted to ask for your forgiveness. We want to move on…. I know you most likely won't give it to us, not after what we did. And we wanted to tell you that we're sorry. For everything.
Merry Christmas.
Henry
At least they got one thing right. I would probably never forgive them. I crumbled up the letter and threw it into my open bag before collapsing onto my bed. But still… that he had thought to say all those things made me want to cry. I couldn't sort out my feelings….
"Forget about asking me anything," I said to the ceiling without looking at Black. I'd have been happy if I never saw him again in my whole life. "Forget about everything." I heard his footsteps coming closer, and I instinctively rolled over to my side so that I wouldn't have to see him.
"Hey," he said, pushing on my shoulder. I shrank back from his touch.
"I don't want to talk, least of all to you," I mumbled into my covers. Pain lanced through me as my face touched the blanket. Sunburned. Again. The bed sank a little as he sat next to me on my bed.
"Talk," he said softly. "It'll make you feel better."
"Go away."
"You have to open up to someone."
"Oh, and I suppose you think that that someone is going to be you," I snapped, feeling angry again. Why must he go poking into my business? I'd already told him that I didn't want to talk about it.
"Why not?"
"Why not? Because we're enemies, because we dislike each other, because we can't stand each other!" I shouted. I seemed to be doing a lot of shouting these days.
"We're not enemies anymore," Black pointed out. "You can tell me."
Furious as I sat up and threw my pillow in his face. "What!? Tell you that my life used to be a sinkhole of living hell? Tell you where and when I got this and the tons of other scars?" I shook my arm in front of his face, the arm with the pale, almost unnoticeable scar on it. "Why should I divulge my deepest, darkest, most shameful secret to you, Sirius Black, of all people?"
"Because you need someone to talk to."
I stared at Black. He seemed so serious, so honest… was his only objective really only to comfort me? Rage spurted up yet again. Before I knew what was the matter with me, I was talking. Spilling out my secret.
"He hit me, alright! Henry hit me, beat me, hurt me!" I yelled. "He started hurting me when I was nine! Nine! Then the police found out, and viola, here I am! Are you happy now? Satisfied? Does that please your nosy brain? Will you shut up now?!"
Black looked at me with understanding. "Okay. Okay, don't yell anymore…" He reached a hand out to me, but I slapped it away in a panic. He withdrew his hand, looking almost hurt.
"Look, I'm just trying to help you," he said with a hint of anger.
"Help me?" I snorted disbelievingly. "You can't 'help' me when you don't understand!"
"But I do," Black interrupted. "I do understand."
"Right," I said scathingly. "Right. What would you, poor little Siri-poo know about this? You're a right pampered prince! You have money, looks, brains—everything anyone would ever want!"
I knew that saying that was a mistake when his face closed off and his jaw tensed. After a moment, he took a deep breath, obviously trying to keep a tight reign on his anger, and said,
"I know what it's like to be hated by your own family." His face showed anger… a lot of it. "I'm pureblood, from the wonderful, pure, high-class Black family." His tone was sarcastic and bitter.
"My whole damn family believes that to be a Black is to be practically royalty. You saw my cousin Bellatrix. They all have this stupid pureblood mania. I hate it. I hate them. And… they hate me, since I don't believe in their beliefs. You say I don't understand… I do! I know what it feels like, how much it hurts even though you know you hate them! I know," Black bit out. There was a calm, fiery rage in his dark eyes that I could understand and relate to.
I suddenly understood everything. What I had unknowingly said about his family had gotten him so mad at me in the first place. How many bad memories had I forced him to relive when I'd said those cruel words regarding his family. I felt small and mean and wrong, and that made me spill.
"Henry… he's my real father. My mom died giving birth to me. I never knew her," I sighed softly. I leaned against the wall looked at the ground rather than look at Black. "Sometimes… I think that everything would have been different… if she hadn't died. Everything would have changed… Henry would have never married Diana…." I stopped, choking on a lump in my throat. Would have's and if's were nothing. They weren't real—they only clouded reality.
"Fiona is my half-sister. They favored her. Everyone did. Diana cooed over her every move. Even Henry, my own father… he preferred her to me." I stared at the ground, dry-eyed. Strangely enough, I did feel a bit better, as if I was bleeding off poison.
"When he started hitting me… I don't know how I can describe it. He made my whole world seem so much darker… my own father hated me enough to beat on my regularly. I even thought about killing myself… but then when I thought about Andrew, I would refrain from it."
Memories of sleepless, black nights, and the raging turmoil of emotions and thoughts inside me… telling myself to just end it, end it all… it all came rushing back to me.
"Andrew?" Black asked. "Who's that?"
"My friend," I said, still looking down expressionlessly. "My one and only friend in California. But even with Andrew… I still felt so lost. Just… lost. That's why I hate them. They made me like this; they did this to me. They're the reason why I'm even here, in England."
I glanced at Black, and his eyes caught mine. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I'm sorry about what I said to you about your family. I didn't know… I thought your life was perfect, easy…"
"It doesn't matter. It's all right—you didn't know."
At those words, I felt tears burning behind my eyes even more strongly than before. I took deep breaths to calm myself.
"Hey, it's okay to cry." He had said that before, and I had denied it. I still denied it.
Black hesitantly reached out a hand to stroke my hair… I was too tired to pull back. All my energy was spent in those moments of fiercely hating Fiona and Henry and Diana with every fiber of my being and keeping my tears in check. My eyelids were drooping down with drowsiness. I felt the bed shift, and then Black was sitting next to me, his back on the wall as well. I felt a hand gently push my head over… and my head landed on his shoulder.
I slept peacefully.
ll----ll
I woke slowly to the sound of someone knocking on the door.
"Faye? Um… it's dinnertime," came Melanie's voice sounding nervous and anxious. "But if you don't want to come down, it's alright. I'll just bring something up for you later, okay?" Before I could work enough moisture in my mouth to reply, her footsteps sounded, going down the stairs.
I didn't feel like moving at all—I felt warm and completely at ease. I snuggled deeper into my pillow… but somehow it didn't feel quite like a pillow. Then I realized that what my head was lying on wasn't a pillow. With a gong of vibrating horror, I realized that my head was lying on someone's lap… Sirius Black's lap. I got up too slowly to suit my liking, and my blanket fell off my shoulders. Looking at that, I realized that he must have covered me with a blanket after I fell asleep… and he hadn't moved or anything… he had just been waiting for me to wake up.
I felt a rush of gratitude and embarrassment. And with that, came the memory that… I had told him of my family. I looked into his face. Black was still leaning against the wall, and he was obviously asleep. His head had drooped onto his shoulder, and he was snoring. All in all, it was pretty funny. I saw a strand of his black hair that was moving up and down with his breathing. I leaned closer and blew at it, and suddenly Black jerked.
Startled, I moved back and promptly fell off my bed, nearly pulling him off as well.
"Ouch," I mumbled, rubbing my head. I looked up, and I saw his eyes regarding me sleepily. "Oh… sorry for waking you up." I blushed to remember that I had been sleeping on his lap! God! Blimey! Holy shit!
"Is it morning already?" he yawned, rumpling his hair.
"No," I laughed. I was suddenly wondering why I wasn't flinching at the sight of him. "It's dinnertime. You want to eat?"
Black cocked his head to the side and studied me. "Are you feeling better?"
"Um… yeah," I said uncomfortably. "Listen… sorry for… you know." I couldn't bring myself to say it.
"No problem. It was my pleasure, really," he winked cheekily at me. I rolled my eyes.
"Well, at least you're back to normal. All this kindness from you was actually pretty unnerving," I said. He tried to look angry, but he was failing miserably.
"Hey… thanks," I said, looking away. I felt like I really needed to thank him. "Really."
"Any time," he said easily, as if he didn't really care. "Truce?" He held out a hand.
I looked at his hand, and back to his face again. "Truce." We shook on it. I didn't know how long this truce would last… but for now, I was happy to just have it.
"Are you ready to face them?" Black asked. I took a deep breath.
"No," I said, swallowing, ashamed of my cowardice. "But I'll go down for a while to give you time to speak to Fiona. She is still your girlfriend."
Black sighed and shook his head sadly. "You have so much to learn. Don't you know that a girl's time with me, the Sirius Black, expires in a week?" Black asked. "And it's already been… two!"
"There you go again…" I sighed.
"What?" he said defensively. "I just want to have fun before I'm too old to!"
"Your bit of 'fun' is at the expense of a lot of girls' hearts," I snapped. "Even if those girls are brainless buffoons for going out with you in the first place."
"Everyone knows that I'm only in it for one thing, but they're all still willing," Black shrugged. "I think it's because I'm just positively irresistible."
"Get real," I snorted. And we kept on bickering until Melanie brought some food up.
Ah, things between us, at least, were back to normal.
ll----ll
"Bye. Take care, and keep yourself out of trouble," Tracy said, hugging me. We were at Kings Cross Station, getting ready to cross the barrier and board Platform 9 ¾. Henry and Diana had left days ago, to my intense relief, and Fiona and I hadn't exchanged so much as the barest civilities. Tracy and David, however, seemed to understand my outburst that day, and they hadn't even mentioned it. Melanie had asked me about it, but didn't seem to hold anything that I had said against me.
"I'll miss you guys," I said. Surprisingly, it was true. David waved cheerily at me, and Melanie hugged me one last time before I turned to Black. Fiona had already gone through the barrier without even a goodbye to anyone. That annoyed me immensely.
"Are the sappy goodbyes over with?" Black asked, clutching his stomach. He still looked a bit green from the car ride. I had had to force him into the car, but he had screeched for twenty minutes before I got him to shut up by way of threatening to knock all his teeth out.
"You are such a guy," I replied acidly. "No feelings whatsoever. Let's go." With one last wave behind my shoulder, Black and I set off at a run at the barrier. In another moment, other Hogwarts students going back to Hogwarts surrounded us in a mass.
"Oy! Prongs! Moony!" Black suddenly yelled, waving frantically. Oh, great. Just what I needed, Black's friends. Even though we had called a truce, we just couldn't help sniping at one another every once in a while, and the Marauders would probably gang up on me and cut me to pieces.
"Padfoot! You're still alive?" Potter asked with mock surprise, his hazel eyes twinkling. "Or did she just feed you some slow-acting poison that won't be evident until two weeks later?"
"No, she didn't. I can totally handle her. You just have to know how to charm her," Black said lazily, patting my head. I slapped his hand away.
"Stop talking about me as if I weren't here," I said irritably.
"Glad to see that you both are still in one piece," Remus said approvingly.
"It wasn't easy," I told him. "There were times when I would've willingly throttled him with my bare hands."
"I can sympathize," Remus agreed, glancing at Black, who was pouting. "I'd know, since I have to share a dorm with him."
I patted his arm in pity. "It's only a matter of time before you're sent off to a mental asylum."
"I know," he sighed as we laughed. "I'll have to enjoy the rest of my sanity while it lasts."
"So, Sirius," Potter elbowed him, smirking. "Did you get around to doing anything? I mean, sharing a room with her, and living with your girlfriend! How much more of a chance can you get?"
"Well," Black began, but I cut him off.
"You two are both perverts," I snapped.
"As I was saying, when Faye here takes her showers…" Black said with a smile.
"If you even think of finishing that sentence, Black, I will personally make sure that you die a horrible, slow, painful death down in the deepest, darkest, coldest dungeon I can find," I growled threateningly, my ears red. "And don't call me Faye, Black!"
"We're back on a last-name basis?" Black asked with fake hurt. "You wound me!"
"Ugh…!" I struggled to find a witty remark to snap back at him, all the while painfully aware of a flush creeping up my cheeks.
"Aw… is Faye embarrassed?" Potter teased. He cowered as I raised my fist. "No… no, I'm kidding! Kidding!"
"You better be," I muttered. "And it's Prewitt to you, Potter!"
"Yeah, she's really violent," Black said. "But you just have know how to get past that. Right?" He lifted my chin with a finger, and I jerked back and tried to bite his hand. Potter and Remus burst into laughter.
"Some handling you're doing, Padfoot," Potter snorted. "I thought you'd be handling her the way you handle every other pretty girl." I smacked him hard on the head.
"You deserved that," I snapped as Potter looked at me through watering eyes.
"Faye!" a voice interrupted our talk, argument, banter… whatever it was. I looked towards the source of the sound and saw Grace running up to me, puffing for breath. "Is Black still alive?"
I laughed. "Yeah. Too bad, huh?"
"What do you mean by that?" Black asked indignantly. "I'll have you know that—"
"So, let's get onto the train," I rode over him. The others agreed heartily, and Black had to follow sulkily.
The train ride back to Hogwarts actually wasn't that bad, considering that I sat in a compartment with the Marauders. As soon as we were settled into a compartment, Black and I started arguing again. Even with our truce… he was very, very hard to live with.
"She's touchy," Potter said after I had swiped at him for saying that I was pretty. I wasn't. Definitely not. Fiona was prettier. "I can't even compliment her without getting my head bitten off."
"Oh, you just need to know how to make her listen," Black said airily. "For example, she's really ticklish."
"Really?" Potter and Grace asked at the same time. Grace had surprise written all over her face, and Potter merely had a evil smirk pasted on his stupid face.
"We should test," Potter said seriously. "Just to make sure."
"Touch me, Potter, and you die," I hissed. "And you!" I whirled on Black. "Don't think I haven't forgotten my promise to get you back for what you did to me."
"Oh, no… you don't really need to," Black laughed nervously. "I've learned my lesson already, really."
"I think I'll make it a bit clearer, just for your benefit," I said, whipping out my wand and taking aim. Between one heartbeat and the next, Sirius Black had been turned into a…
…Snail.
Grace and I burst out laughing.
"He looks great!" Grace cried, poking Black's shell with her wand. The two little tentacles, or eyes, or feelers, or whatever it was, waved around angrily. Black made a valiant attempt to turn to look at Grace straight in the eye, but Grace had already straightened before he'd even gotten halfway around.
Remus, Peter, and Potter bent close to look. "Hey, that is Padfoot! See, it has a bit of dark stuff on its slimy head that could be hair…!" They started laughing, laughing hard and with joyful, youthful, and wild abandon.
"Sirius, you look absolutely ridiculous!" Peter gasped.
"Got salt?" I grinned, magicking a saltshaker out of Grace's handbag. "So, Black, now you know that you shouldn't spill so many things. You've got a really loose tongue, you know that?"
"Hey, you can't really pour salt all over him," Potter interrupted.
"Can't I?" I asked sweetly.
"Well, for one thing, you'd have to carry around a half-dead, foaming snail with you all day, and for another thing, I'M GOING TO CHANGE HIM BACK!" Potter declared, taking his wand out.
"No!" I cried, jumping forward and grabbing his arm. "He looks better this way, honestly! And I still have to sprinkle salt over him! I want to watch him sizzle! AHH!"
"Get—off—you—evil—witch—!" Potter panted, trying to throw me off. He was taller and stronger than me, so he pushed me away and cleared his wand hand… just as my elbow went crunching down on Black's shell.
"Oh… oops," I said, getting off the crushed snail. "Sorry about that, Black. It was completely accidental. Ew! Look what he did do my sleeve!" I held up my slightly gooey sleeve that was covered with snail slime.
Potter's jaw was gaping open in shock. "You just killed my best mate!" he screeched like a girl. "Sirius! Padfoot! Paddy! Speak to me, old pal!" He threw himself onto his knees by the…er… snail and wailed dramatically. "Oh, dear Sirius! Open your eyes! Oh, no, you really are dead!!"—I thought he accepted the fact a little to quickly—"The least I can do for you is make sure you're buried in your proper, handsome shape so you can retain the Marauder pride!" He waved his wand at the snail.
Black was suddenly lying on the ground before me, groaning. Potter rushed to him in fake relief and tried to engulf him in a hug. And men say that women are overemotional.
"Do you want to kill me, Prewitt? Oh… my back…!" Black whimpered. "Get—off! James!"
It was too bad Potter was so good at Transfiguration. I leaned back and grinned at him. "Possibly. How did you ever guess?" After all, a little hurting back wasn't that serious.
"You're aliivvee!!!" Potter yowled, attempting to plant a mushy kiss on Black's cheek. "And here I'd thought that I'd lost you forever!"
Boys. Couldn't handle anything without getting all mushy. Grace and I shared an exasperated eye-roll.
As soon as we were back in the school, I dragged Black into the library to look up a countercurse to the jinx that held us together.
"We're never going to find it," I groaned, letting my head fall onto the table with a loud thump. "I'm never going to be rid of you!"
"Hey, I resent that," Black said indignantly. "I'm not that bad, am I?"
"I'm not even going to answer that," I snorted.
"Let's get out of here," Black yawned. "Blimey! Me, in the library! This must be my… third time or so. Oh my God! I got to get the hell out! I'm tarnishing my beautiful record of never setting foot inside the library!"
"Third time?" I repeated incredulously. "You've been here for five years! You must have come in here more than that!"
He shrugged. "I've never really needed to," he said airily.
I gasped at his arrogant tone. "Well, excuse me for asking!"
"You're excused," he flapped a hand lazily. "No need to thank me." ("Okay, I won't!" I muttered.) "Now… I think it's about time for dinner." He looked at his wizard's watch on his wrist and swore quite loudly.
"Now look! We've missed dinner!" he groaned.
"Oh, stop being such a baby. What's missing one meal going to do to you?" I asked, flipping through another book.
"I'm going to starve!!" he whined.
"I'll live," I snapped.
"You're mean, cruel, unjust, and heartless. I've had enough of the library. We're getting out of here!" Black declared.
"No! I want to find out how to separate us!" I protested.
"No! I'm hungry, and I want something to eat, and we're going to get it!"
"How? Dinner's already over, you nitwit!"
"Not if you know where to go," Black retorted with an air of great knowing.
"What—?" I asked. I couldn't keep a little bubble of excitement from growing inside me. Was he going to show me a secret passageway of some sort?
Black pulled me out of my seat and through the halls and corridors until we reached a portrait of a bowl of fruit. He tickled one… and then the portrait swung open to reveal a huge, huge kitchen with bustling little… house-elves?
I gasped with amazement. We were in the Hogwarts kitchens!
And Black was obviously a regular customer. All the house-elves crowded around us, greeting Black with shrill little cries of, "Good evening, Master Black! Good evening!"
"Hi, Tilly, hi, Milly," Black said. "Could you just give me the usual?" I was staring in fascination at the house-elves. I had never seen one before. I only knew that they were reserved for the rich and wealthy. It was strange. It seemed as if the house-elves liked obeying orders and doing work!
"What would the lady like?" another house-elf asked me with its shrilly voice.
"Uh… I… uh…" I stuttered. The crowd of house-elves around me, all of them with weird, bat-like ears, large eyes, and bulbous noses, were a bit intimidating.
"Just tell them what you'd like to eat," Black said exasperatedly. "Is that so hard?"
"Well, excuse me," I snapped. "It's my first time in here, and I don't really feel comfortable giving orders just like that, your Majesty."
"I'll help you, then," Black said loftily. "Some clam chowder and bread for Prewitt."
Almost immediately, two huge trays borne by several house-elves each was carried to the both of us, and we were escorted to a little table in the corner.
"Wow," I breathed. "How did you ever manage to find this place?" I chewed on my garlic bread slowly.
"A little exploring never hurt anyone," Black said casually. Suddenly, a wonderful thought struck me.
"Do you know any secret passageways in the school?" I breathed, giddy with excitement. Black examined me, his face blank.
"And if I do?" he asked as if he were choosing his words with great care.
"Can you show me?" I said breathlessly.
He coolly arched an eyebrow. "And why would I do that? Why would you want to know?"
I blushed uncomfortably. "Just for the heck of it."
Black leaned back in his chair and scrutinized me intently. "I might show you some. Might. But don't tell anyone else. It's strictly Marauder knowledge only." My heart lifted with excitement.
"Really? Can we go right now?" I said quickly, my words tumbling over each other.
"After I'm done with my meal. Blimey, you're a pushy broad," Black said. That silenced me, and I nibbled at my dinner only halfheartedly.
"Oh, all right," Black sighed after a while. "Let's go. Watching you watch me hopefully really makes me lose my appetite. I know a shortcut back to the Gryffindor common room."
"Great!" I cried. Maybe a pouty face worked on every guy.
We thanked the house-elves and climbed out of the kitchen with Black leading the way. He led me down towards the dungeons, and I shivered as I felt the colder air against my cheek.
"Are you sure this shortcut is faster?" I asked. I wasn't feeling very confident.
"Yes. I am me, after all," Black said with sureness and the air of somebody who knew what he was doing. He stopped in front of a beautifully woven tapestry, and he brushed it aside. All I saw was a plain, paneled wooden wall.
"What—" I cut off as Black pushed on one, and then all the panels started rippling, moving, and forming a hole just big enough for us to get through.
Black stepped through. After several moment, he stuck his head back out and asked, "Are you coming or not?"
I snapped out of my amazement and followed him in… into a dark, dark hallway, tunnel thing. Black lit his wand ("Lumos!"). The ceiling was so low that I thought it might collapse on me, and the floor wasn't level.
"Are you sure this thing… is safe?" I asked, to my shame. "It doesn't look—very—reliable."
"Yes, I'm sure. What's wrong? Scared?" Black had the mocking tone in his voice again. It made me instinctively stiffen my back and lift my chin.
"No." We proceeded in silence for a while until Black spoke up again.
"Okay, be careful over here. It starts to slope downhill."
No sooner were those words out of his mouth than I snagged my foot on a crack and tripped, crashing into Black's back and dooming the both of us. The light flickered out when Black presumably lost his hold on his wand in surprise. Tumbling over one another, Black and I rolled the rest of the way and only stopped when we hit a wall. For a moment, silence broken only by our heavy breathing reigned. And then Black spoke up.
"Are you trying to kill the both of us, or just me?" he growled. "Dammit, where's my wand?"
"Just you," I snapped. "And f you get off me, perhaps we can go find it." My voice was muffled as my face was mashed up against the wall.
"I got it!" Black said after a moment's fumbling. He stood, to my relief. I peeled my face off the wall thankfully. "Let's get out of here." He leaned on another panel, and the wooden blocks started moving again.
"We going to have to jump a bit," Black whispered. I looked out and saw that that we were standing very high up, and a Hogwarts moving staircase was under us… by a long way.
"Jump a bit?" I asked in a strangled voice. "This is a bit?"
"Don't worry," he said. "I've done this a million times."
"And I assume we're aiming for the moving staircase?" I breathed, barely able to keep my panic in check.
"Yup," Black assured me. "We can't miss."
"Can't miss?" I squeaked. It looked as if there was a very good chance we would miss. A very, very good chance indeed.
"We have to jump at the same time," Black told me. "The curse calls. Come on. Don't tell me you're scared of jumping this little distance."
He successfully goaded my pride into high gear. "I'm not!"
Black smirked at me. "Then jump." He did so, and I followed suit not a moment later before the bond could get to me. Wind whipped my hair back for a second, and then I hit the ground with driving force. My knees bent from the force, and I rolled… all the way down the stairs, pulling Black after me.
"Ow," I groaned. "Get off, Black." He was sprawled over my chest, making it hard for me to breathe.
"Nah, I think I rather like it here," Black smirked at me, and I hit him a good one on the head.
"This is the thanks I get for showing you a shortcut," Black said with a fake air of hurt. "That's the last time I do anything for you!" He dramatically hid his face in his hands and pretended to cry.
"Suck it up," I giggled at his silly antics. He could be funny and, well, normal… when he felt like it. We walked back to the common room, bickering as usual, though with more humor than anger.
As soon as the portrait hole swung open to reveal the common room, I saw the Marauders and Grace and Leah waiting for us. I cut off my laughter at something Black had said that was so stupid that it was funny at the thunderstruck looks on all their faces.
--
A/N: If any of you pick up any hints I've dropped off about Faye's fate, then please tell me! I want to see if I made a point!