Chapter 8: Hogsmeade
The rest of the week dragged on miserably for the students of Hogwarts. The teachers assigned homework, on top of essays, on top of class projects. The students were looking for a break, and the third years in particular were anticipating their first trip to Hogsmeade. Sairina was beyond excited. Because of her status in her own home realm, she was only allowed to visit the upper circles of the city and the shops there, and that was only with a chaperone. Now she was getting to visit a place where her identity was unknown and she could walk freely as she saw fit. The only other time she had felt this excited sense of freedom was when she visited Diagon Alley.
Lily stood by Sairina's side as they waited in line for Filtch to take their permission slips. They chatted about what they would do and where they would go, just simple mundane things. Lily looked at the sky warily. Thick gray clouds covered the normally blue sky and they were threatening to open at any moment.
"Do you think it's going to rain?" Lily asked bored. Thunder rumbled dully in the distance. Sairina cast Lily a bemused look.
"Probably," she said and handed Filtch her paper and Lily did the same. They filed after the other students and found an empty carriage and climbed in. Lily wrapped her black cloak around her tighter. Both the girls were in muggle dress but wore their wizard cloaks. Lily wore the standard black cloak with silver fastening that all students wore when the weather turned cold; Sairina, on the other hand, opted for her deep midnight blue cloak which was trimmed with little silver stitched stars and silver fastenings. Her mother had given it to her for her last birthday.
The carriage moved forward with a lurch and the girls continued to talk.
"Where are you going to meet Remus?" Lily asked lightly, Sairina sighed.
"I had forgotten about that," she groaned, "I don't know what I was thinking when I said yes. This is probably some prank of theirs," she rubbed her temples, "All he said yesterday was that he would find me." Lily patted her friend on the shoulder.
"Remember," Lily reminded, "It's for today only, not a life time commitment. Plus you can always hex him into next week." The two girls laughed.
"I suppose you're right," Sairina gave in.
When the girls stepped out of the carriage they noticed a significant change in the wind. It had started to blow more, and was completely frigid. Lily and Sairina pulled their cloaks tighter around themselves and Lily nudged Sairina.
"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks," she said over the howl of the wind. Sairina could only nod and followed Lily's lead. Upon arriving the girls pushed their way through the black mass of students towards a small booth in the back close to the fire and far from the door. Sitting down the two girls threw back their hoods. Their cheeks were rosy with cold and Sairina's nose was running.
"Lovely," she said taking out a handkerchief and wiping away the offending ooze. A rail thin boy walked up to the table.
"Wot'll ya hav?" he asked pulling out a small pad of paper and a charcoal pencil.
"Two Butterbeers," Lily said confidently and the boy jotted it down on his pad and left as quickly as he had appeared. Lily turned back to Sairina.
"So are there any more details about your brother's coronation that I should know about?" Lily asked. The room was quite noisy, so they didn't have to worry about being overheard.
"You know how to dance properly, right?" Sairina asked and Lily shrugged.
"It depends on what you mean by 'properly'," Lily scoffed. Sairina snapped her fingers.
"Oh . . . what is it called here? I know I've heard some sixth year talking about it," Sairina struggled for the words, "is it hallrune dancing?" Lily giggled softly.
"Do you mean 'ballroom' dancing?" Lily asked and Sairina nodded enthusiastically, "I know the basic steps, but nothing too fancy."
"Don't worry about fancy," Sairina said smiling, "If you dance with any of the TrastahÃl, or lords of the court, they will be sure to take the lead on the dance floor."
"Speaking of TrastahÃl . . ." Lily gestured towards the entrance. The Marauders made their grand entrance. The two girls groaned as they were spotted and the four troublemakers made their way to the girls. Unlike the girls, who had to shove their way through the crowd, the boys had to merely smile and the mass of students parted like the Red Sea did for Moses.
Luckily for the girls, they only took the booth next to theirs and did not attempt to do anything drastic, like attempting to sit with them. Lily cocked and eyebrow and Sairina shrugged. The boys had to be up to something, they were simply being too well-behaved. The rail thin boy returned to their table with their drinks and vanished off again. The girls took a few sips before their conversation resumed, this time in Sindarin.
"What else will we have to do?" Lily asked kindly, "You said that we would have to stay for three days."
"There are a few contests during the Winter Solstice feast that I must attend to act the part as judge," Sairina explained, "The festivities last for about a week, but we will only be there for the last three days. The first day will be the coronation of my brother, the second is when I need to be a judge, and the third is the day of the feast." Lily nodded silently and looked up.
"Can I help you with something, Potter?" Lily asked coldly. Sairina turned and saw that James was turned around in the Marauder's booth peering over in to the girls'. Sirius was also in this same position.
"What the bloody hell kind of language was that?" he asked cocking an eyebrow and running his hand through his hair. Lily stiffened; she absolutely hated when he did that. She had this theory that the only reason James would ruffle his own messy hair would be to make the appearance that he had just gotten off a broomstick. She then somehow equated this to him being big headed, and Sairina didn't fully understand that part.
"That's for us to know," Lily huffed angrily, "and for you to never find out." She glared at James, and he glared right back.
"Just ignore them Lily," Sairina said, "They're only doing this to get a rise out of us." Sairina turned back to face Lily.
"Are your brother and his friends this annoying?" Lily demanded in Sindarin. Sairina reflected for a moment.
"Well, my brother and his friends aren't annoying in a pest-type sense," Sairina said finally, "but their pranks are far worse than anything the Marauders could cook up." She heard a gasp from behind her. James and Sirius looked completely offended. Laughing the girls placed their money for drinks on the table and left.
"This," Sirius said ominously, "means war!" Remus snorted into hhis butterbeer and he received a glare from his companions.
"What's so funny, Moony?" James wanted to know. Remus sighed and shook his head. How could his friends be so thick?
"First off," he began, "You don't even know if Sai has a brother. Secondly, she could have been prompted by Lily when she spoke a moment before in whatever that language was. Thirdly, it was probably French that they were speaking. Have you ever noticed that Sai always refers to her 'native land' not to mention she has the slightest accent?" The other boys nodded seeming to understand Remus' logic.
"But what about that one day" Peter protested, "when we heard them from the passage? They were talking about Middle-Earth and that seeing stone." James rolled his eyes.
"Don't you get it, Peter?" James scoffed, "I live in Godric Hallow which is a wizarding community, that's probably what Middle-Earth is, some French wizarding community. I'll bet the name sounds more mysterious in French though."
"And the seeing stone?" Peter prodded.
"Come on Peter!" Sirius groaned, "Seeing stone, crystal ball, they're the same thing! You're taking Divination with us! You should know what a seeing stone is!" So the boys convinced themselves that they knew Sairina's big secret.
"What I don't understand is why she would hide this stuff," Remus confessed wearily standing up and throwing a couple coins on the table to pay for his butterbeer, "I'm going to go for a walk." His friends stared at his retreating back.
"You know," James began taking a swig of his butterbeer, "He would have a lot more fun if he wasn't swooning over Sairina." Sirius laughed darkly.
"You should have seen him last night during their tutoring session," Sirius scoffed, "I mean, I can be a gentleman whenever I want, but Moony takes it way to seriously." He flashed a grin at a couple of fifth years who were checking out the boys (or at least James and Sirius), "I don't see how he can harbor affections for only one girl when there are so many fish in the sea."
"I agree," James said and Sirius snorted, "Yea, I know what you're thinking, Lily. But she is more of a 'challenge' for me to win because she hates me. Anyways, I want the old Remus back, the Remus who would flirt and play pranks. This responsible Remus is a stick in the mud."
"I think I've got just the thing," Peter piped up and pulled a few orange sacks from his pocket, "These are brand new at Zonko's. They're called dungbombs." The boys' faces lit up with evil smirks.
/0/0/
"Hey, Lily, Sai, wait up!" The two girls turned and saw Remus making his way towards them, "Sorry about James and Sirius, they were just trying to annoy you." Lily and Sairina smiled.
"We could tell," Lily answered and turned to Sairina, "I'll catch up with you later; I want to go check out Honeydukes." With a flutter of her cloak, Lily was gone and Sairina was alone with Remus. He kindly offered his arm to her.
"Shall we?" he asked with a smirk and Sairina took his arm. The two walked around the main part of town for a while stopping at Honeydukes, the post office, and a small used book store. They talked of the weather, their classes, and people they knew.
"As much as she denies it," Sairina laughed, "I really think that Lily fancies James a bit." This got Remus laughing, "No, I'm serious! All she ever does is talk about 'big-headed Potter'."
"James is just as bad," Remus chuckled, "He moans about Lily in his sleep. He claims that she is just another challenge for him to conquer, but I think deep down he is head over heals for her."
"Could you imagine if they did get together?" Sairina exclaimed, "What would their poor children be like?"
"Witty and cunning with extremely short tempers and messy red hair," Remus replied instantly and garnered a laugh from Sarina, "It's a common topic in the boys' dorm." The two had walked to the edge of town and were now standing in front of a fence that blocked out a bit of land. In the center of the rough ground was a house that seemed to bend with the wind.
"What is that?" Sairina asked with a hint of excitement in her voice. It's the house from my vision, I know it is!
"That would be the Shrieking Shack," Remus replied, "Supposedly it's one of the most haunted houses in Britain." A shiver rose up Sairina's spine.
"Ghosts are the only thing in it," she murmured to herself. Remus not hearing her remark continued to talk.
"Sai, I have a question," Remus began softly, "Where are you from? I hear you keep mentioning this 'native land' of yours, and the strange language you always talk with Lily, and the athelas you gave me isn't in any herbology books, and I even asked Professor Sprout about it. She's never heard of it. I covered for you earlier, back in the Three Broomsticks. The other guys were going to do something, and I told them that you were from France and that you were speaking French." He held up a hand to stop her oncoming protest, "Don't try to tell me that is what it is, because I've been to France before and you, my dear, were not speaking French. I may be young, but I'm not stupid."
Sairina felt like she was back in the corner. She had underestimated how smart Remus was, and he had put the pieces together much faster than she expected. She wasn't ready to tell him the truth and have his entire attitude change towards her. Sure she had told Lily, but that was after over two years and the girls had developed a firm trust and relationship, where as she and Remus had only been friends for a few months.
Then there was the prophecy. Sairina had no clue what it would entail, and she didn't want anyone she cared about getting hurt. As it stood now, she was selfish and put Lily into a dangerous position by making her a lady in waiting. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if Lily got hurt, and she had put Lily in that position! She couldn't do the same to Remus . . . her heart wouldn't let her.
"What are you hiding and why?" Remus asked of her again, "I'll understand, you can trust me." All she could do was shake her head and look at the ground. Remus let out a frustrated grunt. This wasn't going at all how he had planned.
Time to take a different approach . . . he thought.
"Middle-Earth," Remus said and Sairina's head jerked up, "You come from a place called Middle-Earth. I don't know what it is or where it is, but I know that is where you come from."
"How do you know that?" Sairina demanded, "No one is supposed to know . . ."
"But why?" Remus interrupted, "Why is no one supposed to know about where you come from? Are you in hiding? Are you a convict? What is going on Sai?" He was pleading for an answer, but she couldn't give him one. Not yet.
Sairina then did the only thing, and dumbest thing, she could think of doing. She started to back away. Remus gently grabbed her arm and took her hand. He wasn't going to just let her walk away just like that.
"Are you in danger?" he tried again his voice cracked, "Please tell me." He was getting desperate; Sairina could see it in his eyes. She could see his worry, his torment, his affection . . .
"Someday, Remmy," she whispered patting his hand gently, "but not today." Releasing his hand she steeled her determination and walked away. It was probably the hardest thing she had to do. But he couldn't know about who she really was, at least not yet. Pulling her cloak tighter about her, she began to walk faster, with her head down, and ran into something. Actually it was someone.
Lily was sanding there and pulled her friend into a tight embrace. She murmured words of comfort as Sairina cried into her shoulder. She let everything out in that one sob session. Her worries, her stress, her emotions were all released through her salty, bitter tears.
"How much of it did you hear?" Sairina asked pulling back. Lily smiled softly.
"Only the last little bit," she replied softly, "its fine though, Sai. You alone have the right to tell people when you're good and ready, not a moment sooner." There was a faint cracking noise, the sound of someone stepping on a branch. Both Sairina and Lily whirled around to see who made the noise, but they were alone. Lily grabbed Sairina's arm tightly.
"Isn't the Shrieking Shack . . ." Lily trailed off.
"One of the most haunted buildings in Britain?" Sairina finished for her, "Yes, it is. What's that smell?" That was when the girls screamed.
/0/0/
Remus kicked the fence post angrily. Why did he have to press her so? He just kept pushing and pushing; now he pushed Sairina completely away. He sunk to his knees on the cold ground and fell forward. He beat the ground with his fist and cursed himself silently letting bitter tears escape his eyes.
One of the few people I truly care about . . . and I pushed her away, He thought bitterly. A little voice comforted him.
She said, "Someday." She'll tell you when she's ready. Who knows, perhaps she is trying to help keep you out of whatever trouble she is in . . .
A scream interrupted Remus' thoughts. It sounded distinctly feminine, and like there were multiple people doing the screaming.
"Sai," Remus breathed and was off and running. He didn't run very far before a putrid smell accosted his senses. Taking a few steps further a group of people came into view, and as he got closer he groaned at seeing what had happened.
His three "friends" were rolling on the ground laughing so hard they were crying. Standing just a little ways down were Sairina and Lily, and that was where the smell was coming from. While both girls were hit, and it appeared that Lily had gotten the brunt of the attack. Zonko's wonderful new invention of the dungbomb had been put use for the first time in the hands of the Marauders.
Lily was doing her best to wipe some of the disgusting filth off her clothes and cloak, Sarina's cloak seemed to be fine, but her clothes underneath had a decent amount of dung on them. James was the first to notice the arrival of Remus.
"Excellent job mate," he said standing up and slapping Remus on the back, "Way to trick her." Sairina's head shot up and she glared at Remus. Remus, in turn, glared at James.
"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" He rasped dangerously. Sirius now stood and smiled at his friend.
"Oh don't play stupid!" he exclaimed, "You did your part perfectly in luring Telcontar out here. I hope you got a good snog while you were out there." Remus' jaw dropped. They are NOT doing this; they cannot be doing this to me! The thoughts raced through his head faster than a snitch. He looked back at Sairina and opened his mouth to explain.
He was struck silent by the look on her face. Her laughing gray eyes had darkened and tears were forming in them. Her pale skin was flushed with anger and embarrassment. Her mouth was set into a thin line. Her eyes were the worst feature, though. Not only were they brimming with tears, but there was betrayal and hurt in her eyes. Lily tugged on her arm and the two marched off.
"Did you see the look on her face," Sirius laughed, "Man was she pissed . . ." Remus grabbed his collar and slammed him up against the nearest tree. Thunder rumbled louder in the distance.
"What . . . the bloody hell . . . have you just done?" Remus demanded in a terrifyingly quiet voice. There was a big bold line a person had to cross to enrage the mild Marauder, but Sirius quickly put together that he had crossed it. In a BIG way.
"I . . . we . . ." Sirius tried to say, but Remus, in his anger, was beginning to cut ofSirius' ability to breathe.
"Remus," James said grabbing his shoulder, "Mate, it was just a prank. Lighten up." Remus let go of Sirius and he fell to the ground. Lightning struck in the distance followed by the booming of thunder.
"Lighten up?" Remus asked advancing on James, "Just a prank? Do you understand, James Harold Potter, that you have just pulled a prank on the one person who probably means the most to me? I am trying to gain her trust, and all the work I have put towards that is gone in a flash because of your petty, childish games!"
"Petty, childish games?" growled James, "Up until the start of this year, you loved to take part in these games! But then you and little Miss Ravenclaw started making lovey-dovey eyes at each other, and now you are a stick in the mud!"
"You don't understand," Remus growled, "I love her."
"Love?" Sirius scoffed standing up, "Love! My God man, we're only thirteen; how do you know what love is? And you talk about getting her to trust you . . . have you told her your little secret yet? Have you told the love of your life that you're a werewolf? Face it Remus, the moment you tell her all that trust you worked so hard to build up, will be gone in the blink of an eye!" There was one more boom of thunder. The heavens opened up and the rain fell down in large, cold drops.
Remus was shocked silent. He clung to a tree for support. How would Sairina act when she found out? Once again pain and the fear of rejection and lonliness coursed through his veins. His passion, which had burned so brightly a few moments before, had been doused with icy water at Sirius' words. A hand gripped his shoulder helping to steady him.
"Look," Sirius said squeezing his shoulder, "We just don't want to see you get hurt by some girl because of what you are. We know what you are, we know how troublesome your life has been up to this point, and we know that right now you don't need a girl making your life more troublesome by trying to hide your secret."
"We're just trying to look out for you," James added and Peter nodded. Remus looked at his friends.
"While that is all well and good," he began, "I need to talk to her, and you need to apologize." With the whip of his cloak, Remus headed back towards town and the castle.
/0/0/
The tears were flowing freely now andwere mixed with the rainas Sairina entered the castle. On their way back, Lily and Sairina had run into Iam and a few other members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. The girls were cleaned up instantly and the boys left to have a little "chat" with the Marauders. Sairina threw her hood back and motioned for Lily to follow her.
"What are you planning on doing?" Lily asked with a slight edge of fright to her voice. The girls were making their way towards the eighth floor corridor.
"Turnabout is fair play," Sairina said angrily, "and I'm calling in the experts." By now they had arrived at the mirror, and with a waver of her hand and a mumbled word, the portal opened. Without hesitation Sairina went through followed by Lily. The mirror resealed as Sairina flung her door open and shouted:
"Eldarion, come here now!"
Sairina stood waiting at the open door tapping her foot impatiently. Several minutes later, her brother appeared with his gang of misfits in tow.
"Whatever happened," he began, "I swear that it wasn't us." He and his friends looked somewhat frightened. They knew Sairina was powerful, and they didn't want to cross her.
"I didn't call you here to talk about something you did or didn't do," she said hastily, "I'm here to talk business." Her brother's entire demeanor changed instantly.
"Go on," he encouraged and motioned for Elfwine to shut the door.
"How would you four like to pull the biggest prank of your lives and not be blamed for it?" The four boys looked incredulously at each other and then back to the second eldest Telcontar.
"Elaborate," Alphros commanded. Sairina and Lily explained what the Marauders had done. Sairina also reluctantly added what happened between her and Remus. This part seemed to upset Eldarion the most.
"I'll gut the bastard," he growled but Sairina calmed him down. Eldarion, with his impending coronation, had sobered up greatly during the past few months.
The boys asked for more information on the Marauders, and after milking the girls for all the information they had they began the basics of a plan.
"This will take a few weeks to get everything worked out," Eldarion said, "In the mean time; you need to act like what they did is now water under the bridge. Don't worry, my little sister, we'll avenge you." The four boys left the room.
Sairina turned to Lily suddenly with worry one her face.
"Suddenly I'm starting to think that this may be a bit too drastic," she said suddenly and Lily patted her on the back comfortingly.
"Those boys have it coming," Lily said, "For the past two and a half years they have gotten away with being pranked without anyone pranking them back. Not to mention Remus completely deceived you," Lily noted that her friend seemed worried and she let out a sigh, "Look, if they do something to make it up to you, then you can call the plan off. It's not set in stone yet." Sairina nodded. Like always, Lily was right.
But it was going to have to be one hell of an apology before she forgave Remus.