Chapter
11
Padfoot's Mistake (Christmas Part B)
Down at breakfast, Maj pointed out the smug looks on the several Slytherins there for the holidays. One of those Slytherins was, of course, Snape. Snape looked very pleased with himself, and Sirius didn't like it. All through breakfast, Sirius tried to think of some way to get back at him for what he did to Maj and Pence.
After
they were done eating, they headed towards the common room. Sirius
was still trying to plot his revenge as they made their way up a
staircase. Halfway up the stairs, Snape came up behind Remus and
pushed him. Remus, who was caught off-guard, fell and landed on his
knees.
"Watch where you're going, Lupin." Snape
sneered in a satisfied voice, as James helped him up. Snape started
up the stairs again, but was slammed into a wall by Pence.
"Don't you ever touch him again!" Pence said in a dangerous
tone.
"And what do you think you're going to do about
it?" Snape replied, trying to hide the intimidation in his
voice.
"Listen dirt bag, I was in prison for seven months
for something I had no control of. Don't make me go back for doing it
on purpose." she hissed at him, finally taking her hand off his
shoulder and letting him slide to the ground. "Now get out of my
face. I don't want to see your ugly face all day, understand?"
Snape glared at her and walked a little faster back down the stairs.
"Um…" Maj said as Pence smiled and gave Remus a hug.
"I'm not in a good mood today. That's because of the full moon
though."
"That's it," Sirius said quietly.
"What did you say?" asked Peter.
"That's it!"
Sirius laughed, running down the stairs.
"Someone's had a
little too much eggnog," Maj said, "And I'm not talking
about Prongs." James scowled at her,
"Just let him
have his moment," he said.
"Besides, we need to start
that Charms report before tonight." Remus said giving a scared
glance towards
Pence.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:45
p.m. December 25,
1976
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remus
stood up and looked at his watch; he went and shook Pence, who was
sleeping on the couch, awake.
"We better head
downstairs." Pence looked at him for a moment, before nodding
and standing
up.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maj
made her way down the stairs and to Slughorn's office. He'd finally
cornered her; she had no excuse for being busy on Christmas evening.
But in any case, she still wasn't planning on staying more than
twenty
minutes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snape
looked at his watch, he still had fifteen minutes. Black had said to
go out at seven, so until then, he sat around impatiently waiting for
the time to
come
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James,
Sirius, and Peter sat in the common room trying to work on their
Charms report. They were getting it done, then around 7:20 they'd try
and find Maj, then go out and run about with Remus and
Pence.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pence
closed the door to the bedroom of the Shrieking Shack. She sat down
on the dusty floor and looked at last month's paw prints. She put her
hands in her head,
"Rem, I have a bad feeling about
tonight."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maj
got to Slughorn's office; she was greeted by him as she walked in.
'Oh screw you.' she thought as she gave him a fake smile and
pretended to care about whatever he was trying to tell
her.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snape
checked his watches once more, 6:57, close enough. He stood up and
put on his coat. He headed out of the Slytherin common room and up
the stone
steps.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sirius
had a look in his eye, and seemed a bit anxious. James noticed both
these things, as Sirius tapped his foot hurriedly as they worked on
the report.
"Padfoot, where were you earlier?"
Sirius gave him a
grin.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"What do you mean?" asked Remus, starting to shiver.
Pence sat for a moment, then started her reply, but as she did, she
was cut off as the moonlight shone through the cracks in the boarded
up
windows.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maj
lingered in a corner of the room, trying to figure out the best time
to sneak out. She had to get to the common room by 7:20 so they could
leave, she didn't want to be late for their monthly
rampage.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snape
walked across the grounds, thinking of Black's instructions as he
made his way towards the Whomping Willow. He was to poke around the
knots until the tree froze, he could always find a stick or
something.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"YOU
WHAT!" James yelled getting to his feet.
"Oh, come
on!" Sirius said also standing up, "Like he's gonna get in!
He'll get whacked be the tree and come back knowing not to ever mess
with us again." James stood there, his mind racing. Sirius gave
a stupid smirk. James then did the only thing that he could think of;
he punched Sirius hard in the face. Sirius was now knocked out on the
common room floor, but he wasn't James's concern at the moment. James
ran out of the room yelling for Peter to go get
help.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The
two wolves fought, but only out of boredom. They were waiting for
their comrades to show up so they could go hunt, but for now they'd
have to make due with each
other.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maj
looked over at Slughorn; he was surrounded, talking animatedly with
several former students. Maj smiled to herself, and took that as her
chance. She stood up, glanced at Slughorn once more, and then slipped
out of the room,
unnoticed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snape
got to the tree; he looked around for a few seconds, until he found a
long stick. He prodded at the knots until one gave in and made the
tree completely still. He gave a dark, accomplished smile as he went
into the
tunnel.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James
ran out across the grounds. He couldn't stop thinking about the
consequences if Snape got in. Remus wouldn't be able to handle the
thought of someone being hurt by him. Pence…he didn't even want to
imagine what Pence would do if she bit another person. He finally got
to the tree, luckily, it was still immobile. He ducked into the
opening and hoped that everyone was
okay.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without
warning, both wolves stopped and whipped around to face the door. The
smaller, darker wolf growled as the larger, lighter one sniffed the
air. They both smelled it: Human. Then, as if given a silent signal,
both wolves threw themselves against the locked
door.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maj
walked into the common room and screamed. Sirius was lying on the
floor with an enormous purple bruise forming around his left eye. Maj
bent down and tried shaking him awake, it wasn't working. Suddenly,
the portrait door opened and Peter and Professor McGonagall rushed
in.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Snape
looked up the dusty stairs with his mouth open in shock.
'They've been hiding those…creatures here…' His lip curled as he
thought of how wonderful the next day would be, when the whole school
knew it, and the looks on Lupin and Auryion's faces when they were
expelled. All of a sudden, the door at the top of the stairs flew
open and two growling wolves appeared in the
doorway.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"SNAPE!" James screamed, grabbing Snape by the collar and
pulling him out the front door and into the tunnel, just as the
wolves started down the stairs.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8:57
a.m. December 26,
1976
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Remus
woke up coughing. He looked around, he was in the hospital wing, but
he couldn't remember anything from the night before. He slowly (and
painfully) rolled over onto his side to see Pence awake in the bed
next to his. She wasn't acknowledging him though, just staring at the
wall shaking. Madam Pomfrey heard Remus coughing and went over to
him.
"Poor boy," she murmured, handing him a potion
and looking towards Pence's bed, "Miss Auryion, you should have
told me you were awake!" Pence said nothing, and continued her
staring contest with the wall. Suddenly, there was a crash heard,
Madame Pomfrey rushed over to the door, which was now lying on the
ground.
"I thought I told you to come back later."
Remus heard her say in an irritated voice, then he heard a familiar
voice, it was Maj,
"We've got a note from Professor
McGonagall." she said quietly. Remus then heard a sigh, as
Madame Pomfrey gave in and walked into her office and shut the door.
Footsteps were heard, getting louder as they got to the beds. Maj,
James, Sirius, and Peter gathered around the two beds, but didn't say
anything.
"Hey guys," Remus said hoarsely, deciding
to break the ice. He noticed that Maj was standing in between Sirius
and James, who usually stood side by side. They all looked very
tired, and Sirius wouldn't meet Remus's eyes.
"What
happened?" asked Pence, attempting to sit up. Maj glanced at
James and Sirius before speaking.
"Remember when Sirius
ran off yesterday?" she asked, Pence and Remus nodded, "Well…he
went after Snape. He told him he knew how to find where you guys go
each month. Snape got in, he glimpsed you; but James saved him before
he could get hurt or anything. Dumbledore made him swear he wouldn't
tell anyone about it." There was a silence,
"Sirius-"
Remus started, but was cut off,
"He would have deserved
it." Sirius said, "For all the shit he's done to
us…treating Pence and Maj like dirt…he deserves it!"
"No one deserves this!" Pence yelled at him with anger, "No
one should have to live like this. Everyday, people like us die…years
before they're supposed too, just because they're not strong enough
to live with this damned curse. I assure Sirius, there is no one
who should have to live this way." She looked Sirius straight in
the eye, not blinking. They all sat down, silent, until Sirius
spoke,
"I'm sorry," he said, in a voice that seemed so
unlike him, "for everything. I'm sorry that I'm so bloody
reckless and-just, fuck…okay? I'm just sorry." he stood up and
walked out of the
room.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maj
found Sirius in the empty Astronomy Tower, just staring off into the
sky. She came and sat down by him, not saying a word. He put his arm
around her, without thinking, as it was now a habit. She looked at
him,
"They forgive you, you know…Pence and Moony?"
said Maj quietly. Sirius put his head in his hand,
"I just
feel…just so fucking stupid. I feel like this is all my fault, and
I was trying to do something right…I wasn't thinking about
myself…but even---even when I try and do something good, I end up
almost killing someone."
"That's just who you are,
and that's not going to change." Maj said leaning against him,
"You just need to learn a little bit of self control maybe. Not
act on impulse as much, you know?"
"Yea…see? This is
why it's good to have a girl that's at least half-way smart." he
gave her a grin as she hit him on the arm.
They
sat there for awhile, before Sirius said,
"C'mon. I think
Moony and She-Wolf have too much chocolate for their own good.
They'll die if we're not there to eat half of it." Maj laughed
and walked back to the Hospital Wing with him.