Chapter 22: Aftermath
Sirius Black sauntered at a quick pace down an empty hall, whistling a jaunty tune with a lively bounce in his step. He continued down the corridor and turned into another but ran into someone. Literally. Trying to steady herself so she would not fall, she grabbed onto Sirius's arm, but ended up dragging Sirius down with her.
"Jeez, Amanda, get a hold of yourself," Sirius laughed, leaping to his feet. He held out his hand to help up Amanda Carrick, a Gryffindor fifth year. She glared at him, but grudgingly took his hand and hopped onto her feet. She was not pleased with the innuendo.
"My God, you are so full of it, Black," Amanda growled. She brushed some dust off her pants and tucked a rogue strand of black hair behind her ear.
"Oh, but you know you find me irresistible," he cooed, sweeping his hand smoothly through his velvety hair and cocking his head with an infuriating smirk stretched across his face.
"And I just snogged Snape," she shot back with a drawl. She picked up her two books and resumed her walk down the corridor. Soon her footsteps were barely making a shadow of an echo.
"Oh yeah—she loves me," Sirius joked to himself. He started up his trek back to the Gryffindor Tower again, at a quicker pace this time. He strode past two giggling girls, who both immediately silenced all noise emitting from them when he came into hearing range. Sirius winked and raked his hand through his soft hair once more, flashing a dazzling smile. The girls, who were only in their fourth year, blushed a brick-red all the way to the very roots of their blond hair. The moment they passed the notorious Gryffindor, they shrieked with giggles. Sirius just smirked to himself again. "You've still got it, Black," he said proudly to himself.
In no time at all, he was standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. She looked up from her cup of tea and biscuit.
"Dancing pixies," he said pompously, jiggling his head just a little as he said "pixies".
"And why, Mr. Black, are we so chipper today?" the Fat Lady asked, swinging her picture open.
"Ah, just everything is going my way today." With that, he slowly meandered inside. He stopped after his first hew steps into the dizzyingly warm common room. He gazed around the room, noticing a few things—a handful of second-year girls whispering enthusiastically (Sirius heard the name Bill Weasley and figured it safe to be there), a fire crackling loudly at a corner fireplace, and a slumbering girl draped over the couch. Sirius almost squealed with delight when he saw her, but at the last second he remembered his dignity. He strode over to the sixth year and bent down over her drooping head (which was hanging over the armrest). He gazed and admired her peaceful face and bushy brown hair for just a moment before leaning in closer and closer to her face.
The kiss was slow and easing, even to Sirius's surprise. What he found even more astounding was that he started to feel Hermione kiss him back. Only after two seconds, though, her eyes snapped open and she tried to gasp, but found Sirius covering her mouth with his. She growled in utter annoyance, placed her hands on his chest and shoved him away, and sat up in an instant.
"You really need to stop doing that," Hermione grumbled. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve, looking grossed out.
"Aw, are you telling me you didn't enjoy that?" Sirius asked, leering suggestively at Hermione with raised eyebrows. "Because, you know… Every time I do that, I still get something in return…" He trailed off, his smile glowing from his face.
Every trace of smiling and joking left Hermione's face. "I don't know what you are talking about—"
"I think you do," Sirius interrupted immediately. He sighed. "I know we're from different backgrounds, but that doesn't mean that we still can't—"
"Twenty years!" Hermione shouted abruptly. She glanced at the girls in the far corner of the room. They stopped talking and stared at the two sixth years. One whispered something to the other three and they all turned and left without another whisper or giggle. Hermione looked back at Sirius, her eyes flashing with irritation. "In my mind, we are twenty years apart," she said, using a calm and steady tone.
"But here, we are the same age," pleaded Sirius. He slid down on the couch next to her. She moved an inch or two away.
"I will not mess up our timeline," she said stubbornly. "And beside…" she turned away from Sirius, reaching for a book lying on the floor next to her bag, "you are hardly my type."
Sirius barked out a laugh. But he looked at her face and saw no certain flicker in her features. Well that's a first for Sirius Black… He hesitated, but plunged onwards, bracing himself. He gazed deeply at Hermione, one she did not return, but opened her book and started to read. "Why not?" he asked in a mouse-like voice.
Hermione did not react immediately. She finished reading a sentence about the wizard who impersonated Zeus in Ancient Greece, slowly closed her book, slid it into her bag on the floor, and then finally looked up at Sirius's apprehensive face. To his surprise, she did not seem irate or annoyed. She did not sigh heavily or roll her eyes, as he also predicted. If her face had to be described other than emotionless, she seemed pleased that Sirius questioned her.
"Sirius," she said in a monotone, folding her hands and laying them on her lap. "I know how you naturally act. I even now where you actions will lead you." Gazing at Sirius's fed up face, she breathed out deeply. "Sirius, I can't tell you why I won't go out with you. I can't tell you what little details of you that make me not interested. Don't you see? If I tell you, you will, subconsciously, try to change yourself for me. I can't let that happen."
"But Hermione, you've done that already," Sirius shot out, not able to keep it in. "You have changed me."
"And that's what I am afraid of."
Sirius looked at Hermione questioningly. "What's it like in the future?"
Hermione glanced shrewdly at Sirius. "More hectic than you can imagine, to say extremely vaguely and at the very least."
Sirius chuckled. Silence with the quieting crackling from the fire haunted Sirius's mind, along with another troublesome thought. "Do I… do I turn out okay?" he asked as if he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer.
"Yes, Sirius, you turn out fine," Hermione answered with a slight smile. Sirius smiled back with a true grin. They stared at each other with smiles for several moments before someone entering the common room caught their attention. Remus Lupin stepped through the portrait hole, looking quite pleased about something. His grin faltered at the sight of Hermione and Sirius sitting closely together on a couch in front of a romantic fire in an empty room. Why couldn't he ever find Hermione in such a position?
"What's up mate?" Sirius asked Remus, masking his bother with flying colors. Sirius's eyes flickered over to Hermione but other than that, stared straight at his flabbergasted friend. Hermione cleared her throat and slid a good foot away from Sirius, looking back up at Remus.
"Oh, I just came back from a Prefect's meeting," Remus explained, still giving the two on the couch a hairy eye.
"Lupin, don't just stop in the middle of the portrait hole," a feminine voice sounded through the hole behind Remus. A hand reached out and playfully shoved Remus forward, causing him to stumble. Lily stepped through the hole at last. She seemed dead tired, bags under her eyes and all. "Gosh, that was a long meeting," she sighed. "Oh well, it was very productive."
"Really? I thought the Head Boy and Girl were slipping a little towards the end," Remus commented. His eyes flickered over to Sirius and Hermione, but fell right back onto Lily.
"I noticed that too," Lily said thoughtfully, oblivious of Hermione and Sirius's presence. "Maybe next year we'll have better ones."
"Of course we will, since you're going to be Head Girl," Remus said.
Lily nudged him in the side. "Yeah, I doubt that would happen." She looked up and finally noticed Hermione and Sirius staring at her and Remus. "I didn't see you two there!" A crease fell between her perfect eyebrows as the sight sunk in. Hermione with Sirius? But didn't Remus fancy Hermione? ….Sirius and Hermione?! "I—I have homework to finish up. Hermione, will you help me with it… upstairs?"
"I'd love to," Hermione said immediately. She popped up off the couch, gathered her things, and went up the stairs ahead of Lily without any glance to the two boys. Lily, her hand on the railing, cast a fleeting look of questioning to Sirius and Remus before scampering up the stairs after Hermione.
"What was that all about?" Lily asked once they were in the safety of their dormitory. She tossed her bag on the floor and climbed onto Hermione's bed, sitting cross-legged. She sat anxiously, her eyes wide with question and thirst for information. Hermione, though, didn't seem too keen. She slowly, cautiously laid her bag down on the floor by her shoes, fixed her skirt, and unhurriedly crawled onto her bed.
"What was what all about?" Hermione asked calmly. She pulled out a book from underneath her pillow, opened up the rusty book to its bookmark, and started to read.
"You were just sitting on a couch in an empty room with Sirius Black," Lily said, as if she had broken one of the ten commandments. Lily gazed shrewdly. "And what's with this obsessive need to read all the time? Even I don't read as much…"
"We weren't doing anything, if you were thinking that," Hermione answered, ignoring Lily's side comment. Lily raised her eyebrows and made a soft snort of disbelief in the back of her throat. "We were just… talking, all right?"
"About what?" Lily asked, challenging.
"We—er… he wanted to…" Hermione looked straight up at Lily's face, full of determination. She sighed. "Do you really want to know what we were talking about?"
Lily gave Hermione an odd glance. "Yes."
Downstairs was a whole other problem arising.
Remus watched Lily scurry up the stairs before rounding on Sirius.
"You just can't help yourself, can you?" Remus growled. His eyes were boring into Sirius's. Sirius, however, took this lightly. He looked away from Remus and picked up a spare bit of parchment lying on the floor by the table.
"I don't know what you are talking about," Sirius said, although it was clearly obvious that he did. He flipped the empty parchment over with his fingers delicately, seeming interested.
"Oh, come now," Remus said. He crossed the room in one swift second to stand between Sirius and the fireplace. "You know that Harry and Hermione are at a great risk just being here, and you continue to flirt with someone who could end up being your daughter's age!"
Something just lit up in Sirius's eyes as he stood up slowly. "Hey, I wonder if I have any kids in the future…" he pondered thoughtfully, his eyes starting to glaze.
"Sirius! Do not change the subject!" Remus hissed. He poked a finger at Sirius's chest. "You might be changing the entire future of wizarding kind by just flirting with Hermione. But no, Sirius Black doesn't think about the future, he just thinks ahead to only an hour, doesn't he?"
To Remus's aggravation, Sirius chuckled. "You're overreacting, Moony. I mean, how much of an important role can Hermione and I have in the future? Unless I defeat Voldemort single-handedly or I'm a mass murderer, I don't think I affect the 'entire wizarding kind'," (he mimicked two quotation marks with his fingers). Sirius scoffed. "And besides, you're just jealous that she's actually warming up to me…"
"Sirius Black, you've got some nerve," Remus interrupted. "You think this is all about you, don't you? For once, get off your high horse and take a look around you! There are bigger things happening, aren't there?" He gave Sirius a mind-reading glare.
Sirius shifted his weight. He felt uncomfortable. Someone was actually telling him off. Remus Lupin, as a matter of fact. Remus never contradicted Sirius or James. Not until this year, at least. Sirius actually stumbled a step or two back at the impact of his thoughts. Combing a hand through his hair, he looked up at Remus again. "She's not changing just me, now is she?"
"What're you—"
"Never mind," Sirius said quickly. He closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his hands. "I'm going to go for a walk." He turned and jumped over the couch, landing on his feet with excellent balance, and strode towards the portrait hole.
"Sirius, what are you—"
"Just to clear my head." And he was gone.
"So you're telling me," Lily said slowly, sprawled out on her own bed with her head cradled in her hands, "that two Marauders fancy you, but you can't go out with either of them… because you don't want to ruin your studies and your reputation?"
Hermione nodded. What else could she have said? It seemed hardly reasonable to tell Lily Evans she was from the future. No, the only way Lily could figure out Harry's and Hermione's secret was if she put the pieces together herself. Hermione looked at Lily, anticipating a blow of some sort.
"I can understand where this is coming from… with Sirius," Lily said slowly, revolving so that she lay on her back. "But Lupin? He's sweet and there is no way he would affect your grades. Heck, he'd probably raise them up with the way he studies."
"I know, but—I've tried the whole boy thing… and it just doesn't work," Hermione sighed, thinking of another excuse. True, he was an international Quidditch player hundreds of miles away…
Lily stretched her back, slipped to one side, and sat straight up. "I don't know, Hermione. Though it may not be my business, I just think that there might be a reason deeper behind all this." She held a strong gaze at Hermione, one she quickly avoided. Lily gave a frustrated sigh. She was getting nowhere. This girl was almost as stubborn as she was. "Look, why don't you just try to get to know them better, hm? Hey! You know that this Friday is the last Hogsmeade trip before the Christmas break. You should spend some time with both of them."
"I'm not so sure if that's a good idea, Lily…" Hermione trailed off. "And besides, didn't we already have plans that trip?"
Lily thought for a moment. She had never failed the rest of her roommates when it came to boys. She had always helped them (even if they didn't ask) and always ended as victorious matchmaker. A sudden thought came into Lily's head, like a light bulb clicked on. "I'll make you this promise. I will spend the day with you and Potter's gang at Hogsmeade. What say you?"
"You would be willing to stay in close vicinity with James Potter for an entire trip at Hogsmeade… just for me?" Hermione asked with a weak smile. She forgot how nice it was to have a real close friend that was a girl.
Lily sighed, heavily, and pondered a moment, rethinking her offer. Before she could take it back, Hermione agreed with a quick, "Too late! I say yes to your proposal."
Lily smiled. "Good, then it's settled." Both smiled before switching the topic of conversation to Aylward's and Smirch's heated altercation over Quidditch teams.
Sirius, skipping down the steps at the entrance of Hogwarts with his hands stuffed in his pockets, breathed out and saw a puff of air rise in front of his eyes. It was one of Hogwart's cold, mid-December days, snow blanketing the magical grounds and ice suffocating the lake and its inhabitants. Sirius eyed all the whiteness around with a half-interest. Hugging his thick cloak around him, he felt his feet crunch as he stepped onto the snow covered grass. It was dead quiet outside, just what he needed to let his mind really wander.
As he continued down around the grounds, Sirius heard feet thumping behind him. A while back was a bespectacled boy with jet-black hair that stood almost straight up. "What do you want, Potter?" Sirius yelled over his shoulder bemusedly, slowing down to let the boy catch up with him. Moments later, he saw the puffs of air from the side of his eye and turned to look. Sirius first was about to repeat himself when he noticed a pair of bright green eyes staring at him beneath a lightening bolt shaped scar. "Now, can I actually call you Potter, since that's your real surname?"
Harry laughed, but his hot breath ended up steaming his eyeglasses. Wiping them with his gloved hands, he answered with a smile, "Call me Thewler, because no one is supposed to know about my past, remember?"
"Ah, that's right…" Sirius cast a sideways look at Harry, but looked at his feet seconds later. "Harry… where did you get that scar from? The one on your head… like a lightening bolt?"
Harry let his head roll back and closed his eyes. "You'll find out in a few short years from now, don't worry." His voice was saddened. Sirius would find James and Lily dead, see baby Harry, ask Hagrid for him, but would leave to chase after Peter, and be sent to Azkaban. Every time Harry had to think of the Marauder's futures, he had to force himself not to blurt out their fate.
"So you've had that scar for your whole life?" Sirius asked curiously. If he were Harry, he would have gotten rid of that thing a long time ago, and he was sure James, in the future, would know a spell to cover it up.
"I better not say anymore," was Harry's only answer.
The only sounds were the crunching of snow, the very light whistling of the wind, and a cry of a bird every so often. They walked quietly pass the frozen-over lake, watching the Giant Squid tap the glassy ice that covered its pond, when Sirius hit Harry with another question.
"So, any particular reason as to why you're here with me right now?" Sirius didn't speak as if accusing or hinting for solitary, but just trying to spark up conversation.
"Well, I was talking to James and Peter… and Remus in the common room…" Harry paused at Sirius's sudden scoff, but continued anyways. "And Remus mentioned how you left abruptly to… think, so I thought you might want some company."
"Er—thanks…" though Sirius didn't sound like it much. All that was on his mind was Hermione, and he doubted that Harry would want to talk about his… thing for her. Especially since Harry said Sirius is like a father-figure to him. "Isn't this awkward for you to be here?" Harry looked up with a confused look about his face. "You're here with you father when he was young, his best friends, probably your mother…" Sirius trailed off.
Harry gave him a shrewd look. He knew Sirius and James, probably Peter too, would be trying to find out anything about the future, especially who Harry's mother was. Sometimes, Harry would actually look away from direct eye contact with the four Marauders, just in case they noticed his eyes. Everyone who knew Lily always said Harry had her exact eyes.
"Well, isn't it odd?" Sirius repeated, noticing the glazed eyes on Harry.
"You couldn't imagine," Harry said, still lost in thoughts. Shaking his head, his eyes cleared a little.
"Aren't you ever just itching to tell us something about the future?" Sirius pushed. He might as well try the feeble attempts before he started to turn cunning and sly.
"Don't think that I'll let slip information that easily… But yes, sometimes I wish I could just tell you four…"
"Ah ha! So there's something to tell!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Ho ho," Harry said, sounding bored. "But I didn't come here to talk to you about the future (obviously, since I can't)."
"Then what did you come here for?" Sirius asked challengingly.
"Well, to clear up the one concept you have yet to grasp," Harry said calmly. Continuing at the look of puzzlement on Sirius's face, "Hermione, and how you shouldn't even be flirting with her."
Sirius snorted and looked towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"Seriously, this could affect my future a lot more than you think it can. Also, Hermione and I, once we get back, will be in serious trouble if something major happens…" Like if you never go to Azkaban for twelve years, or never "murder" Peter… continued Harry in his head. "And I just don't know what the consequences will be for us."
Sirius made a sound half way between a growl and a sigh. "I'm not going to marry her or anything. It's not like we can last that long together, now is it?" he finished with a bite. Before Harry could get a word in, Sirius carried on. "She's just—" If James trusted Harry, he, Sirius, could too, right? "I just love being around her, "Sirius sighed. "She's makes me feel… different… than any other girl does, from when she laughs with me to when she laughs at me. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
Harry glanced at Sirius. "Never experienced it myself, but yes, I know what you mean (but not with Hermione, however)."
"You're telling me that you never had a thing for Hermione?" Sirius said, disbelieving.
"For almost six straight years, I never thought of her more than a friend," Harry said honestly. "But then something… tragic happened at the beginning of this past summer, and I just thought having someone close would help…"
"Can you tell me what this 'tragic' incident was?" Sirius asked softly. "Or can I not know?"
"You can't know anything from the future," Harry answered almost too sharply. Sirius faltered in his steps, taken aback at the harshness of Harry's tone. "Sorry," Harry muttered. "It's just hard to be—here—and not want to speak of the future."
Sirius was about to open his mouth to ask what Harry was keeping hidden, but decided to not push the buttons. He stayed silent for awhile, for everything he thought up dealt with Harry's time. Harry, on the other hand, was keen to hear more of the Marauder's past.
After a right amount of silence, Harry asked curiously, "What's the worst trick you four have ever done?" Snow started to lightly fall again around them.
Sirius smirked awfully. "That's a tough one…" His eyes wandered off to the clouded sky in thought, pulling back memories of past pranks. "Well, there was the time when James and I, along with Remus's instruction of the spell, had turned the entire Hogwart's population into their favourite animal…" Harry snorted. "We actually got in-school suspension for that one. Unfortunately, Miss Evans had overheard us and reported us… Hmm, what's another good one…?" Sirius suddenly clapped his hands. "Ooo! There was one time where just James and I hexed the corridor leading to the Slytherin common room so that when anyone walked out, all of their hair would fall out."
"You're not serious, are you?" Harry burst out in peels of laughter. "Oh, that's excellent!"
"Even better, all we got was a week of detention," Sirius added with a grin. "Alas, Madam Pomfrey gave them all Hair-Growing potions, and they were as right as rain by dinnertime." Sirius sighed, as if content by the mere memory of it all. But his happy thoughts were interrupted by a swift, solid, white, cold, circular form hitting him in the side of the head. Sirius looked wildly around, wiping snow out of his eyes, searching for the culprit. "JAMES POTTER! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Harry heard giggling coming from behind one of the nearby trees.
"I suggest you find cover, Black," shouted a different voice from a neighboring giggling tree.
"Lupin?!" Harry yelled out, surprised. His answer was a snowball painfully colliding with his shoulder. Sirius and Harry fled for cover, flailing their arms around, trying to maintain balance as they shuffled through the deep snow. Dodging snowball that were flying out from James, Remus, and Peter's hands, Harry and Sirius finally made it under some cover.
Everything just flew by in a flash of laughter, bewitched snowballs, and a few profanities. And only too soon, the five Gryffindor boys were trudging up the stairs and were facing the Fat Lady.
"Honestly, Potter, you didn't have to hit me so bloody hard," Sirius growled. He massaged his buttocks gingerly and winced.
"It's not my fault you can't keep your balance on a sheet of ice," James started.
"And also the fact that James wouldn't stop targeting your one hurt spot afterwards," laughed Remus. James, Remus, and Peter all laughed harmoniously.
Sirius glared at the twosome for a moment, then smiled wickedly. "But you must admit Thewler and I had some pretty good tactics." His smirk pronounced even more. He and Harry had both,simultaneously jinxed iced-up snowballs to repetitively lodge themselves at the back of Remus's head, but also caused all the snow to fall off the trees that James had been standing under.
"I swear I'm going to find snow in my robes after Christmas," grumbled James.
Someone in front of them cleared their throat. They suddenly stopped their gloating smirks and dagger glares: the Fat Lady was sitting in front of the five boys with an aggravated look about her.
"Do I have to hear every single detail before you boys enter?" she asked huffily. She sniffed.
"I'm deeply sorry, my dear lady," purred Sirius, sweeping into a deep bow. "Getting a catch of the sniffles, are you? I'm sorry to hear that. Well, we'll be on our way and we shan't bother you any longer… Fuzzles." And he left with a wink.
James, Remus, Harry, and Peter just kept their laughs in until the portrait shut tightly behind them. Then they erupted in absolute mirth.
"What in name of Merlin was that about?" Peter questioned loudly, as if seriously doubting Sirius's sanity.
"'We shan't bother you any longer'?" echoed Harry, taken quite aback, though not as pink-faced as James was.
"'Getting a catch of the sniffles'?!" James let out. "Where did that come from? Honestly, Siri, you cease to amaze me sometimes…" James, still guffawing, laid an arm around Sirius's shoulder.
As Hermione and Lily were skipping down the stairs to the common room, arguing over Professor Aylward's previous lesson, they heard a sudden burst of laughter. Lily looked warily over her shoulder at Hermione, who looked equally confused, and quicken her pace.
"What? I can't be nice to the Fat Lady every once in a while," Sirius whined. He strolled animatedly over to the couches across from the heated, glowing fire.
James paused in his laughter. "But you're not supposed to seduce the paintings," he laughed exasperatedly, joining his friend by the fire. The couch and the two chairs closest to the off center fireplace was known throughout all of Gryffindor as the Marauder's Spot. No one dared to touch it. The last time a Gryffindor sat there, they had them bums bitten by the chair repeatedly until they reached the Hospital Wing.
"I always knew Black was easy," drawled an amused voice from the back stairs. Lily rounded the corner and came into view. "But I never would have guessed that easy. Honestly, two-dimensional paintings…"
Sirius and James had simultaneously pivoted in their comfy spots on the couch with raised eyebrows. James was in awe that Lily was taking his side for once in mocking Sirius. And at that, James just stared at Lily as if she had just fallen from heaven.
Peter, on the other hand, just asked stupidly, "What's a dimension?"
Remus just shook his head, rubbed his temples, and sat in his usual chair.
Before Sirius could retort back, and after he feigned an indignant look, another being glided down the steps: Hermione. "I don't know, Evans, but I think I have my mind set on a certain three-dimensional woman." Sirius pointedly right over her shoulder at Hermione, who stopped like a deer in the road.
Saving Hermione from a witty retort, and the fact that James wasn't listening to a word Sirius had said, James spoke in a more mature voice to Lily. "Lily, you look cold. Want to sit next to me by the fire?" To add more, James ruffled his hair, but from his previous snowball fight, chunks of snow flew out of his hair.
Sirius and Harry burst out laughing (Sirius was almost crying). Remus bit back his laugh, but his eyes were shining with laughter. Even Peter had a hard time not laughing. Lily actually broke out into a smile.
"You sure you won't get me wet with all that snow you've kept in your hair?" she asked.
James recovered quickly. "Well, sit next to me and you can run your fingers through it, just to make sure I have no more," he continued in his deep voice.
"Just so you know, Pott—James," Lily corrected herself at Hermione's cough, "Hermione and I were planning on going to Hogsmeade with you five this weekend, but if you're going to act that egotistical…" she trailed off, waiting for the impact.
It took a moment for the Marauders and Harry to realize what Lily had just proposed, especially to Remus, James, and Sirius.
"Do my ears deceive me?" James asked at last. "Both you and Hermione wanted to go to Hogsmeade with us?"
"Not if you keep up that horrible ego, Potter," Lily said. And with a smile she floated towards the portrait hole. "Oh yes, McGonagall has the list for who is staying over Christmas Break. I'm going to go sign up." She left with a grin from ear to ear.
The five boys immediately looked at Hermione.
"What?" she asked uncomfortably, with ten eyes staring at her.
"Are you really going to Hogsmeade with us?" Remus asked tentatively.
"I don't see why not," Hermione answered with a careless shrug.
"And Lily will be there too?" James asked quickly.
"As far as I know, yes… Are all five of you staying here over Christmas Break?"
"With Lily now warming up to me, of course!" James exclaimed gleefully.
"And I stay with him," Sirius answered.
"My parents are visiting my uncle in Australia, so I won't see them until summertime," was Remus's excuse.
Everyone turned to Peter. "My mum wants me home for Christmas, as always," he answered in a small, mousy tone. He seemed genuinely bummed-out. He turned to James for support.
"Don't worry, Petey," James said. "We'll pull all of our best pranks, forget all about you, and won't fill you in on any of the juicy stories," he finished sardonically. Glancing at Peter, James noted Peter' s anxious face and uptight shoulder. "Relax, Wormtail, we won't forget you…"
"Unless his mind is still occupied with Lily and Quidditch, which is all the time," Sirius added.
Only Remus noticed Hermione slowly backing out of the common room while James and Sirius were arguing. Hermione put her fingers to her lips (which was a sort of lopsided smile) towards Remus and slipped out the door. Remus smiled before turning back to the light-hearted squabble.
"I'm not the only one who's 'got it bad', Black. I know who is on your mind twenty-four/seven."
Sirius perked up like a dog. "Hey! Where did Hermione go?" He looked wildly around, his hair whipping into his face.
"She left a few minutes ago, Padfoot…" Remus groaned.
"Oh…"
Remus loosened up and let his shoulders fall against the back of the elegant Gryffindor chair. Hermione was going to Hogsmeade with him… them. "This trip is going to surely be a lot different than the last one, won't it?" he asked aloud to no one in particular.
"Yeah, let's hope we don't get drunk," James guffawed. "'Cuz we would never get our girls that way."
"Ugh, don't even remind me of that horrible experience," groaned Harry, his head in his hands.
"I thought it was kind of fun," Peter smiled.
"We weren't that bad, were we?" asked Remus.
Harry gave a twisted grin. "Moony, you sang Christmas songs with Sirius and Peter. Not on key, either, mind you."
"Ha! I didn't do anything embarrassing…" James started. He quickly looked at Harry. "Did I?"
Harry just stared at his father with a sick sort of smile. "No, you were the one trying to prove your love to a red mop, thinking it was Lily."
A/N: Almost two months. I don't think I can say sorry enough to relieve myself of the guilt inside me. I honestly didn't go a day without thinking of this story and how frustrated my reviewers were with me. And I don't have a strong excuse. No one close died. I didn't have an extremely hard schedule (though my tap dancing and honors biology classes aren't just a walk in the park). I had Internet access this entire time. But I will tell you that my whole plot of Saving Siri just vanished. I realized during one biology lesson that my ending would not work for me OR my reviewers. Therefore, I spent so much time rethinking the ending of Saving Siri. As of right now, I have a hazy idea of what's going to happen, but I'm at a lost. And how can an author write their story quickly if they don't know how to end it? ::sigh:: SORRY!!!
Okay, I hate Peter, like all Marauder Fans, but I just want to say that I have reason behind shooing him out of my story for Christmas Break. You see, if you all didn't catch this already, the older Peter cannot remember much about when Harry Potter is back in his schooldays, or else he could tell Voldemort and Voldemort would take advantage of Harry Potter missing in 1996. So therefore (I love that word), Peter cannot be around Harry in the past for too long, or else he would remember (and also, the boy has poor memory, hence why he doesn't remember this in the future)…
To my beloved reviewers, I'm just going to say a quick thanks, since I know you wanted to read this chapter quickly:
Thanks to PHSgirl, Rane2920072, Secretly Smiling, HarrryNDracosDarlin, Drama Queen 2004, DrStrangelove007, lgfrommk2931 (yes on the joke in chapter 12!), khuu-khuu, Mrs. Raven Wood, PinkPuff514 (not too late to cast votes!), DancerChick314, sapphire66 (that sword is still away, right? ::nervous laugh::), Turtle, yaukira, DarkRaven-04, The Dark One Reborn, SashaBT245, vindicated16, Draco's Slytherin Vampiress, Niphredel Black (high off… a hallway?), EmzyTrish, RainynDawn, HPprincess23, Patricia Luksich, DarkKestralSilkeQueen, lysia1982, Stormyeyes, miranda (yes! An X-Men fan!), Chrissy, Goddess of Idun (another X-Men fan! You rock!), Gywnn-Potter, acdecnerd, Dawn1, Remusgrl01 (not a bad idea), MasteroftheFlame, Pieceocake, Frk-werewolf, Doodler Girl, and Fanfic-Frankie.
Navi (Nathalie): I love long reviews from my dear reviewers. It just makes me feel happy because, not only are people taking time to read my story, but also the fact that they spend time talking about it to me afterwards....... So, first and simplest first: yes, I am a girl. Phew, got that one over with (it was a tough one :wink:) Now, about James and Lily… that's a good idea. Have James find out Lily is the mother, then have him change because of that. Not bad at all… But I will certainly not let Lily know that she is the mother of Harry. You're right, that'd just be creepy. And I'm still having that inner battle between Sirius and Remus (and you're right with the Ron thing. He really is the only one I actually pictured Hermione with…). I'm just so confused!........Finally, I want to say thanks! And in no way are you annoying with the long reviews. I just love them!
Blondekat3: A dance is an excellent idea! But just one thing: does it look too cheesy? I mean, the only dances Harry Potter has is the Yule Ball, and that is under a special circumstance. I just feel a tad bit odd adding two dances into the Marauder's Era. But, then again, this is a fanfic. But I think your idea just sparked some great plan… Thanks!
Sorry if I missed anyone. I'm kinda in a hurry to update!
TO ALL MY REVIEWERS:
First: So many of you commented on Harry having Lily's exact eyes, and therefore that the Marauders should find out who the mother is… People, if you take a step back and step into the Marauder's shoes, you'll see my thoughts. Everyone (other than James) thinks that Lily hates James and will hate him until the end of her days. So therefore they ignore that Harry has uncannily similar eyes to Lily. But don't worry, I'll comment about the eyes later on in the story… and I can tell you now, it'll be funny.
Second: I am wide open for suggestions. Suggestions on anything! As I said before, I have a slight idea of how this story is now going to end, but I could always use ideas form my lovely reviewers…
Third: THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME THIS LONG! YOU ALL ARE WICKED AWESOME!
Fourth:… There is no fourth. Good night!