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Chapter 2 Sirius's Memory
Harry blinked. "What? H-how did you come back." he gulped.
"Alive?" finished Sirius, grinning more prominently than ever. "Ah, I had some help. An old school friend of mine dropped in."
"An old school friend?" said a very familiar voice. "More like your childhood sweetheart. Old school friend my foot. Wotcher, Harry."
"Hey, Tonks." He said, glancing at her. Her hair was light blond today and her eyes a violent green that reminded Harry of his own.
"Yeah, well, any way she dropped in and." Sirius was blushing slightly, much to Tonks's obvious amusement.
"Sirius stop kidding,-WHAT HAPPENED!? Can you tell me?" Harry was practically screaming with impatience. Something had happened and Sirius was being mysterious. For the first time, Harry looked around at the kitchen. It was neater and cleaner now and much repaired, although the table still had a nick where the knife had landed last summer. Everything was in slightly better condition, and now that he looked, Harry noticed that Lupin's robes were nicer and he looked healthier, as did Sirius.
When he finally looked back at his godfather, he found that Sirius was looking at him in a thoughtful almost measuring way. "No." He said finally. Harry frowned. This wasn't what he had expected. "But I can show you. Come here, Harry. And sit down."
Harry walked over to the table and sat. "Wadd'you mean, you can show me? How?"
"It's a bit complicated. Now if I could just figure out where to begin." he trailed off, staring into space.
"How about when you first met Arwen?" Lupin suggested. "The very first day we laid eyes on her. That day in Defense against the Dark Arts?"
"Yeah, that'll do. Harry, hold still, this is going to be a bit weird, but you'll get used to it. And if you have any questions, think them, and I'll answer. Now shut your eyes."
"What 'r you going to do?" Harry asked.
"Shush," Answered Sirius. Then, much to Harry's amazement reached over and drew signs on Harry's forehead and on either side of his eyes. "Close your eyes." He demanded again. Obediently Harry shut his eyes, wondering what on earth Sirius was doing. He felt his glasses taken off and signs drawn on his eyelids, then his glasses were put back on him. He heard his godfather say three sharp words in another language. Then he was falling through multicolored lights until landing with a silent thump on the floor of a surprisingly familiar classroom.
-Where am I? - He wondered and then jumped as Sirius's
voice spoke in his mind.
- This is my memory. I'm sixteen if you're wondering.-
-er. thanks.-
-Anytime-
Harry looked around. All of a sudden his stomach gave a weird twist as he saw he was standing next to a very good looking sixteen year old boy. Sirius hadn't changed much since he was fifteen, but he looked slightly less haughty and more, well, mature. He was sitting next to; Harry's stomach gave another squirm, Harry's sixteen year old father. Sitting behind his father, was Remus Lupin. Two seats over was Wormtail, sitting next to what looked like a Draco Malfoy with slightly longer hair. Harry grinned a bit. He wondered if Malfoy was ever told how much he looked like his father, Lucius. The seat next to Lupin was empty, and Harry found himself wondering why Wormtail wasn't sitting next to him. But before he could ponder on that, the door opened. The entire class immediately abandoned the sheets of parchment they were scribbling on and turned around to see who was at the door.
Standing there, to Harry's delight, was Dumbledore, who had his arm around an absolutely gorgeous girl. She had deep blue eyes and brown hair that fell to about her waist, plus a perfect figure and complexion. She was regarding the room with a mixture of fear and curiosity, and Harry saw Sirius's eyes lock on to her with a look of the deepest admiration and he suddenly realized this must be the "childhood sweetheart" that Tonks had been talking about. Then Dumbledore spoke.
"Hello Professor Tarlin, I have a new sixth year to introduce."
"Now?" the tanned, dark haired professor frowned. "Isn't it a bit late for a new student? Especially in the sixth year? What house is she in?"
"Gryffindor. And I believe she will be able to cope. She was," here he paused, "detained from coming at the start of the year. Class, this is Arwen Evenstar. She will be joining you for the remainder of your years at Hogwarts. Now, if you'll excuse me? I have a few things to wrap up."
"Very well," Professor Tarlin smiled at the girl, and she gave him a weak smile in return. He briskly shuffled some papers and said "Miss Evanstar, you may take the seat next to Lupin, have you your book?"
"Yes, Professor." She said. Her voice was light and sweet and reminded Harry of a dove singing. "Umm. Professor?"
"Yes Evanstar? Is there a problem?"
"Kind of. Who's Lupin? Where do I sit?"
"I'm Lupin." Lupin said, rising. 'Over here."
"Thanks," she smiled at him, walking down the rows of seats. As she passed one of the boys in the class, he whistled. Arwen blushed slightly, and sat down.
Looking back at Sirius, Harry saw that he was not returning to his parchment, but scribbling a note to Lupin. When he finished, he folded it into a paper airplane and, after casting a wary look at the dozing teacher, sent it flying into Lupin's head, causing him to jump, and look around. Harry promptly moved over to Lupin, in order to read the note.
Hey Moony,
One word for you,
LUCKY!
-Padfoot
Lupin frowned and scribbled down beneath it before passing it back to Sirius.
Padfoot-
WHY am I lucky again?
I didn't do anything..yet.
So why m' I lucky?
Moony
Sirius read the note with a look of disgust on his face. He scribbled angrily for a bit stopping only when receiving a note from James.
Padfoot-
What's all this fuss about?
Might I remind you that we have essays
to finish this class?
So what r' you writing Moony
for?
-Prongs
Sirius hissed between his teeth, jotted a quick note to James, and then finished the lengthy one to Lupin. They read:
Okay Prongs-
Yes I know that we have essays to finish. The fuss I will explain after class and the same with writing Moony. Best-
Padfoot
and then to Lupin..
Moony you flaming idiot.
TAKE A FREEKING LOOK AROUND YOU! HELLO! Miss Evenstar, who might I add is sitting right next to you, is the hottest piece of work at Hogwarts yet. I'm telling you they don't make them like Like that at Hogwarts! I know that you don't pay To much attention to girls but still, SOME of us notice them and she is the best I've seen yet So maybe you don't see anything in her but the rest of us do.
Padfoot
The result was two notes, one from James, who had been reading over Sirius's shoulder (as Harry had) and just couldn't resist to comment. The other was from Lupin. They were:
Oh my.
Oh my my my my my.. Padfoot's got a cru-sh, Padfoot's got a cru-sh.. Oh you've been teasing me for years about Evans. Oh you are in for it. So. Gonna asker to Hogsmede for Valentines Day? Or are we to shy for that?
Prongs
To person sitting in the chair diagonally in front of me-
Who are you and what have you done with my friend Padfoot?
Moony
Sirius laughed at Lupin's note and kicked James after reading his. Harry had to grin, James's reaction was much the same as what Harry imagined as his would be if Ron was in Sirius's place. He faintly heard Sirius hiss at James "I'll get you for that" before retuning to his paper.
When the bell finally rang, both Lupin and James were grinning and waiting for Sirius to finish his essay and leave with them. Harry followed them quickly out the door so he could hear their conversation.
"Don't even start," he snapped as James opened his mouth. "I know exactly what you're going to say, Prongs, and I have a question. WHERE in that note did I say anything about having a crush on her?"
James frowned. Apparently this hadn't occurred to him. "Nowhere." He said finally. "But you don't normally make that big a fuss over a girl."
"Well, she's gorgeous, okay? I mean, really, James, look at her. I know you've got your heart set on Evens but just look at her for a minute."
James looked. "I think I see what you mean," he said finally. "She can't be human. Maybe she's got veela blood in her."
"She's not human," said Lupin abruptly, nose in a book.
"WHAT!!" yelped James.
"What d'you mean 'she's not human'?" asked Sirius in slightly quieter tones. "How can she not be human?"
"Because she's an elf."
"A what?"
"An elf. Or, at least, I think she is."
"And how, Moony, d'you just happen to know this stuff?" asked Sirius, completely perplexed.
"Her ears. When she was writing, she tucked her hair behind her ears and they were pointed, like."
"You were watching her?" asked James gleefully.
"Don't get your hopes up, Prongs," said Lupin dismissively. "I watched her after reading Sirius's notes. Yeah, okay, she's kind of cute but-"
"'Kind of cute'?" Sirius cut him off. "Just 'kind of'? Nothing more?"
"No." said Lupin at once. "But really. I'm asking Dumbledore."
"Why don't you ask her?"
"Oh that would be real nice. 'Hey Evenstar! Are you an elf?' yeah, right," said James. "Say.. Where's Wormtail?"
"No idea," said Sirius, "he was in class though. Where d' he go"
"Oh, there he is. Down by that tree," said Lupin pointing with his free hand. "C'mon. Let's join him."
They broke into a brisk run down the grounds and Harry, panting, just managed to keep up. When the three friends got to the tree they collapsed beneath it and began to chat again. Except this time it was about their essay. James seemed to want to bring up Arwen again but eventually he stopped trying. While they were talking, Harry looked around.
There was a threesome of girls around the lake edge, including Harry's mum and Arwen. Deciding that he had heard enough by the tree, Harry got up to walk over to them, and on the way nearly tripped over a schoolbag thrown carelessly on the ground by its owner. Looking over, Harry saw his sixteen year old Potions teacher, Snape.
-oh boy. - He thought.
-yeah. I know. And yes there is another little spat between us. - answered Sirius.
-erm. Sirius? Can I ask you something? - Harry thought walking closer to the lakes edge.
-Fire away-
-Did you have a crush on her?-
-yeah. I didn't tell your dad cause he would've teased me mercilessly for the rest of my life about it.-
-Oh.-
Harry had reached the girls. Arwen was apparently asking names and what people were like.
"And who r' they?" she asked Lily, pointing to where Sirius, James, Lupin and Wormtail were sitting.
Lily frowned. "Oh. them."
The auburn haired girl who was dipping her feet in the lake grinned. "Lily doesn't like them very much. The small one is Peter Pettigrew, he's a cheater. Real sneaky. The one with his nose in a book is Remus Lupin. He's pretty nice."
"Yeah, out of all of them, he's probably the best." Lily said.
"He doesn't look to good." Arwen said, cocking her head to one side.
"Well, he normally looks like that. The brown-haired one with glasses is James Potter..."
"The arrogant little git..." cut in Lily, scowling.
"He's got a bit of a crush on Lily. Keeps asking her to go out with him."
"What about that dark, handsome one? The one who looks like he's bored?"
The girl grinned. "That is Sirius Black. Just about every girl in this school wants to go out with him. 'Cept me n' Lily."
"He's just as bad as Potter, that one. Just as arrogant and selfish and ."
"That's enough Lily."
"Is not Bri."
"Is too."
"Brianna Roselan do not argue with me!"
"I'll argue if I feel like it. Now who el- oh dear. Not AGAIN!"
"What?" asked Arwen, confused.
"Oh they're teasing dear old Snivellus. A-gain. Oh, Lily, don't bother-"
"Snivellus?"
Lily was storming across the grass, walking over to where Snape was hanging off the branches of a tree at the mercy of James's and Sirius's wands.
"Oh.." Arwen ran to catch up, Harry at her heels, but lily was already there and shouting.
"Put him DOWN you pervert!"
"I will if you go out with me Evans. C'mon.. It won't kill you. And little Snivelly will be safe and sound."
"You make me sick, you-"
"What's the problem?" Arwen reached the four. At once Sirius pushed James's wand arm down and lowered his own. Meantime, in a tree not too far away, Lupin's eyes were flicking from Sirius to Arwen to Sirius again. All at once his face lit up. He grinned at Sirius and Harry saw panic creep into his godfather's eyes.
"The PROBLEM, Arwen, is these little, arrogant, conceited boys are just attacking Snivellus for no reason whatsoever and-" Lily ranted
"There is to a reason!" James snapped at her.
"Not a good one!"
"Well, he never loses an opportunity to hex us so you can't exactly expect us to take that lying down, can you?" asked Sirius.
"Oh.you!" Lily was flustered and her wand was out. Arwen crossed her arms and frowned and her friend.
"Lily, you put that thing away."
All of a sudden, Arwen ceased to be a sixteen year old girl became a commanding woman. She seemed to grow about three inches taller and new authority was in her voice. "You heard me, Lily. Put your wand away. You two, same thing- but let him down first."
The three of them were staring at her, completely nonplussed. Harry was with them.
"Okay, you're both right but still. James, Sirius, don't hex him if he doesn't hex you first. Okay?" they were still just staring at her. "I said, OKAY?"
"Er..yeah, I guess so..." James was still thoroughly confused.
"Good." Arwen said brusquely. "C'mon, Lily, lets go."
-alright. That was our first meeting. I'm gonna skip some stuff now, so don't panic. Yeah, if you want to know, Moony did figure out I liked her but he didn't tell. Okay.here you go.-
Once again, Harry was falling through multicolored lights. When everything finally fell into place, he was in the great hall, which was bustling with the usual talk and laughter that accompanied lunchtime. It was snowing outside now, and everyone was dressed for winter.
-er...Sirius?-
-Yeah?-
-Where... no that's not right. When am I?-
-Its February 12th.-
-ah..Valentines and hogsmede, am I right?
-Yup-
He took a seat in the empty spot beside James and listened to them talk.
"So, Prongs, you going to ask Evens out to Hogsmede?" Sirius asked, smiling.
James sighed. "I'm gonna try. Wish me luck."
"Luck!" His three friends chorused, grinning at him.
Harry watched as James walked over to Lily and tapped her shoulder. Deciding that he would experience this better a bit closer, he got up and went over in time to hear James say "Will you go to Hogsmede with me on Valentines Day?"
Lily opened her mouth to say what Harry was sure to be a "No" when Arwen, who was sitting next to her, grabbed her arm and said "She needs to think about it- hang on." And dragging a completely mystified Lily with her, strode to a niche in the wall where they could talk. Harry followed.
"I am not going with him," Lily said at once.
"Oh for havens sake, lily, hear me out at least! He's been after you for ages why won't you go to hogsmede with him?"
"Because he's an arrogant, bratty, conceited, annoying..."
"Okay, okay, but still, he's sixteen!"
"So am I!"
"A lot of boys are brats at sixteen. He'll grow out of it."
"And what if he doesn't?'
"Than you can punch me in the nose, but Lily, c'mon! Humor me. Go with him. Please?"
"Oh all right."
The two of them walked back to the table, Arwen looking triumphant, Lily annoyed. "All right, I'll go with you." She said to James, who grinned. "But..." she said, holding up a finger, "just this once."
James grinned again. "Great! Meet you here." He walked away.
"What's wrong, Lily?" asked Bri. "You look like you've just received a death sentence."
Lily made a face. "In a way, I think I have. A whole day with that arrogant creep. I can't believe I'm doing this."
Meanwhile, James walked back to his end of the table, Harry in tow. He looked just about the happiest Harry had ever seen him, and there was more spring in his step.
"Well?" asked Lupin when he sat down. "What did she say?"
"She said yes!"
"YOU'RE KIDDING!!'
"Nope."
"You're going? Together?"
"Uh-huh."
"Congrats."
"Thanks, Padfoot."
"And speaking of Prongs and Lily," Lupin cut in, grinning, "what about Padfoot and Arwen?"
The result was instantaneous. James put down his goblet with a bang and stared at Sirius. Wormtail even put down his 'Daily Prophet'. Sirius was dead white. He coughed, "what about us?"
Lupin grinned even wider. "Oh come off it, Padfoot, it's a bit obvious you like her."
"So?"
"SO ASK HER!!"
"Er. I dunno about this."
"Padfoot if you don't ask her, I will ask her for you." James snapped. "C'mon. It won't be that bad! You can double date with me n' Lily. Ask her. Now."
"Okay, okay."
Sirius got up and walked down the table towards where Arwen and her friends were sitting. "Erm... Arwen? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Umm. D'you want to go with me to Hogsmede this weekend? With James and Lily?"
It took a second for the impact of these words to sink in. A couple of girls mouths had dropped open and Harry could almost read what they were thinking. Why her?.why not me? ...why's he going with her?
After a few tense seconds, Arwen's face lit up like Christmas. She threw her arms around Sirius's neck and said "I'd love to!" before grabbing Lily and Bri's hands and racing from the room, leaving Sirius standing there, incredibly surprised. After a bit, James came up beside him and said "I guess it's a double then."
"Yeah."
-okay..long story short, we went, had a good time, which resulted in more dates and blah, blah, blah.- said Sirius's voice in a bored tone. -okay, more time travel, don't worry we're nearly done. Save all questions for later. Okay... End of seventh year, here we come-
-End of seventh year?-
-Yeah-
There was another rush of light and Harry was standing beside seventeen year old Sirius and Arwen. Arwen looked as though she had been crying and Sirius's eyes were bright.
"Here," Arwen said, pressing a necklace into Sirius's hand. "Take this. I'll always be able to find you if you wear it."
Sirius looked at the pendent. So did Harry. It was crystal and looked a bit like two dragons wrapped around a pole. It was beautiful, and seemed to catch light and hold it.
"I'll wear it always. When will you come back?"
"Probably never."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
They parted and once again Harry found himself swirling in colored lights.
-That was sad.-
Sirius sighed in his mind. -I know. I wish she'd never left. Ah, here we go!-
Harry was once again standing in front of the arch in the department of mysteries. But he was not alone. Arwen stood there too, singing in some other language. The marks on top of the archway were shining with her blood. Harry frowned suddenly, he was quite sure that there had been no markings before. This thought was completely lost when someone stepped out from behind the curtain.
"Sirius." Arwen breathed, stepping foreword. He took her in his arms and kissed her. Harry would have turned away, except he was staring at the necklace Sirius was wearing. It was the same one that Arwen had given him years ago. Smiling slightly, he turned around and fell into the swirling darkness and light that was Sirius's memory.
Harry blinked. He was sitting in the kitchen of number twelve and his godfather was beaming down at him. "Any questions?" he asked.
"Oh yeah. Whatever happened to Arwen?" Harry asked, grabbing an orange from the middle of the table and starting to peel it. He was suddenly hungry, as though he'd traveled for a long time.
"I thought you might ask that." Sirius got up, and left the room, only to return a few seconds later with his arm around the real Arwen, and a big smile on his face. "Harry, I'd like you to meet your godmother."
The orange fell unnoticed from Harry's hands. "My what?!"
Chapter 2 Sirius's Memory
Harry blinked. "What? H-how did you come back." he gulped.
"Alive?" finished Sirius, grinning more prominently than ever. "Ah, I had some help. An old school friend of mine dropped in."
"An old school friend?" said a very familiar voice. "More like your childhood sweetheart. Old school friend my foot. Wotcher, Harry."
"Hey, Tonks." He said, glancing at her. Her hair was light blond today and her eyes a violent green that reminded Harry of his own.
"Yeah, well, any way she dropped in and." Sirius was blushing slightly, much to Tonks's obvious amusement.
"Sirius stop kidding,-WHAT HAPPENED!? Can you tell me?" Harry was practically screaming with impatience. Something had happened and Sirius was being mysterious. For the first time, Harry looked around at the kitchen. It was neater and cleaner now and much repaired, although the table still had a nick where the knife had landed last summer. Everything was in slightly better condition, and now that he looked, Harry noticed that Lupin's robes were nicer and he looked healthier, as did Sirius.
When he finally looked back at his godfather, he found that Sirius was looking at him in a thoughtful almost measuring way. "No." He said finally. Harry frowned. This wasn't what he had expected. "But I can show you. Come here, Harry. And sit down."
Harry walked over to the table and sat. "Wadd'you mean, you can show me? How?"
"It's a bit complicated. Now if I could just figure out where to begin." he trailed off, staring into space.
"How about when you first met Arwen?" Lupin suggested. "The very first day we laid eyes on her. That day in Defense against the Dark Arts?"
"Yeah, that'll do. Harry, hold still, this is going to be a bit weird, but you'll get used to it. And if you have any questions, think them, and I'll answer. Now shut your eyes."
"What 'r you going to do?" Harry asked.
"Shush," Answered Sirius. Then, much to Harry's amazement reached over and drew signs on Harry's forehead and on either side of his eyes. "Close your eyes." He demanded again. Obediently Harry shut his eyes, wondering what on earth Sirius was doing. He felt his glasses taken off and signs drawn on his eyelids, then his glasses were put back on him. He heard his godfather say three sharp words in another language. Then he was falling through multicolored lights until landing with a silent thump on the floor of a surprisingly familiar classroom.
-Where am I? - He wondered and then jumped as Sirius's
voice spoke in his mind.
- This is my memory. I'm sixteen if you're wondering.-
-er. thanks.-
-Anytime-
Harry looked around. All of a sudden his stomach gave a weird twist as he saw he was standing next to a very good looking sixteen year old boy. Sirius hadn't changed much since he was fifteen, but he looked slightly less haughty and more, well, mature. He was sitting next to; Harry's stomach gave another squirm, Harry's sixteen year old father. Sitting behind his father, was Remus Lupin. Two seats over was Wormtail, sitting next to what looked like a Draco Malfoy with slightly longer hair. Harry grinned a bit. He wondered if Malfoy was ever told how much he looked like his father, Lucius. The seat next to Lupin was empty, and Harry found himself wondering why Wormtail wasn't sitting next to him. But before he could ponder on that, the door opened. The entire class immediately abandoned the sheets of parchment they were scribbling on and turned around to see who was at the door.
Standing there, to Harry's delight, was Dumbledore, who had his arm around an absolutely gorgeous girl. She had deep blue eyes and brown hair that fell to about her waist, plus a perfect figure and complexion. She was regarding the room with a mixture of fear and curiosity, and Harry saw Sirius's eyes lock on to her with a look of the deepest admiration and he suddenly realized this must be the "childhood sweetheart" that Tonks had been talking about. Then Dumbledore spoke.
"Hello Professor Tarlin, I have a new sixth year to introduce."
"Now?" the tanned, dark haired professor frowned. "Isn't it a bit late for a new student? Especially in the sixth year? What house is she in?"
"Gryffindor. And I believe she will be able to cope. She was," here he paused, "detained from coming at the start of the year. Class, this is Arwen Evenstar. She will be joining you for the remainder of your years at Hogwarts. Now, if you'll excuse me? I have a few things to wrap up."
"Very well," Professor Tarlin smiled at the girl, and she gave him a weak smile in return. He briskly shuffled some papers and said "Miss Evanstar, you may take the seat next to Lupin, have you your book?"
"Yes, Professor." She said. Her voice was light and sweet and reminded Harry of a dove singing. "Umm. Professor?"
"Yes Evanstar? Is there a problem?"
"Kind of. Who's Lupin? Where do I sit?"
"I'm Lupin." Lupin said, rising. 'Over here."
"Thanks," she smiled at him, walking down the rows of seats. As she passed one of the boys in the class, he whistled. Arwen blushed slightly, and sat down.
Looking back at Sirius, Harry saw that he was not returning to his parchment, but scribbling a note to Lupin. When he finished, he folded it into a paper airplane and, after casting a wary look at the dozing teacher, sent it flying into Lupin's head, causing him to jump, and look around. Harry promptly moved over to Lupin, in order to read the note.
Hey Moony,
One word for you,
LUCKY!
-Padfoot
Lupin frowned and scribbled down beneath it before passing it back to Sirius.
Padfoot-
WHY am I lucky again?
I didn't do anything..yet.
So why m' I lucky?
Moony
Sirius read the note with a look of disgust on his face. He scribbled angrily for a bit stopping only when receiving a note from James.
Padfoot-
What's all this fuss about?
Might I remind you that we have essays
to finish this class?
So what r' you writing Moony
for?
-Prongs
Sirius hissed between his teeth, jotted a quick note to James, and then finished the lengthy one to Lupin. They read:
Okay Prongs-
Yes I know that we have essays to finish. The fuss I will explain after class and the same with writing Moony. Best-
Padfoot
and then to Lupin..
Moony you flaming idiot.
TAKE A FREEKING LOOK AROUND YOU! HELLO! Miss Evenstar, who might I add is sitting right next to you, is the hottest piece of work at Hogwarts yet. I'm telling you they don't make them like Like that at Hogwarts! I know that you don't pay To much attention to girls but still, SOME of us notice them and she is the best I've seen yet So maybe you don't see anything in her but the rest of us do.
Padfoot
The result was two notes, one from James, who had been reading over Sirius's shoulder (as Harry had) and just couldn't resist to comment. The other was from Lupin. They were:
Oh my.
Oh my my my my my.. Padfoot's got a cru-sh, Padfoot's got a cru-sh.. Oh you've been teasing me for years about Evans. Oh you are in for it. So. Gonna asker to Hogsmede for Valentines Day? Or are we to shy for that?
Prongs
To person sitting in the chair diagonally in front of me-
Who are you and what have you done with my friend Padfoot?
Moony
Sirius laughed at Lupin's note and kicked James after reading his. Harry had to grin, James's reaction was much the same as what Harry imagined as his would be if Ron was in Sirius's place. He faintly heard Sirius hiss at James "I'll get you for that" before retuning to his paper.
When the bell finally rang, both Lupin and James were grinning and waiting for Sirius to finish his essay and leave with them. Harry followed them quickly out the door so he could hear their conversation.
"Don't even start," he snapped as James opened his mouth. "I know exactly what you're going to say, Prongs, and I have a question. WHERE in that note did I say anything about having a crush on her?"
James frowned. Apparently this hadn't occurred to him. "Nowhere." He said finally. "But you don't normally make that big a fuss over a girl."
"Well, she's gorgeous, okay? I mean, really, James, look at her. I know you've got your heart set on Evens but just look at her for a minute."
James looked. "I think I see what you mean," he said finally. "She can't be human. Maybe she's got veela blood in her."
"She's not human," said Lupin abruptly, nose in a book.
"WHAT!!" yelped James.
"What d'you mean 'she's not human'?" asked Sirius in slightly quieter tones. "How can she not be human?"
"Because she's an elf."
"A what?"
"An elf. Or, at least, I think she is."
"And how, Moony, d'you just happen to know this stuff?" asked Sirius, completely perplexed.
"Her ears. When she was writing, she tucked her hair behind her ears and they were pointed, like."
"You were watching her?" asked James gleefully.
"Don't get your hopes up, Prongs," said Lupin dismissively. "I watched her after reading Sirius's notes. Yeah, okay, she's kind of cute but-"
"'Kind of cute'?" Sirius cut him off. "Just 'kind of'? Nothing more?"
"No." said Lupin at once. "But really. I'm asking Dumbledore."
"Why don't you ask her?"
"Oh that would be real nice. 'Hey Evenstar! Are you an elf?' yeah, right," said James. "Say.. Where's Wormtail?"
"No idea," said Sirius, "he was in class though. Where d' he go"
"Oh, there he is. Down by that tree," said Lupin pointing with his free hand. "C'mon. Let's join him."
They broke into a brisk run down the grounds and Harry, panting, just managed to keep up. When the three friends got to the tree they collapsed beneath it and began to chat again. Except this time it was about their essay. James seemed to want to bring up Arwen again but eventually he stopped trying. While they were talking, Harry looked around.
There was a threesome of girls around the lake edge, including Harry's mum and Arwen. Deciding that he had heard enough by the tree, Harry got up to walk over to them, and on the way nearly tripped over a schoolbag thrown carelessly on the ground by its owner. Looking over, Harry saw his sixteen year old Potions teacher, Snape.
-oh boy. - He thought.
-yeah. I know. And yes there is another little spat between us. - answered Sirius.
-erm. Sirius? Can I ask you something? - Harry thought walking closer to the lakes edge.
-Fire away-
-Did you have a crush on her?-
-yeah. I didn't tell your dad cause he would've teased me mercilessly for the rest of my life about it.-
-Oh.-
Harry had reached the girls. Arwen was apparently asking names and what people were like.
"And who r' they?" she asked Lily, pointing to where Sirius, James, Lupin and Wormtail were sitting.
Lily frowned. "Oh. them."
The auburn haired girl who was dipping her feet in the lake grinned. "Lily doesn't like them very much. The small one is Peter Pettigrew, he's a cheater. Real sneaky. The one with his nose in a book is Remus Lupin. He's pretty nice."
"Yeah, out of all of them, he's probably the best." Lily said.
"He doesn't look to good." Arwen said, cocking her head to one side.
"Well, he normally looks like that. The brown-haired one with glasses is James Potter..."
"The arrogant little git..." cut in Lily, scowling.
"He's got a bit of a crush on Lily. Keeps asking her to go out with him."
"What about that dark, handsome one? The one who looks like he's bored?"
The girl grinned. "That is Sirius Black. Just about every girl in this school wants to go out with him. 'Cept me n' Lily."
"He's just as bad as Potter, that one. Just as arrogant and selfish and ."
"That's enough Lily."
"Is not Bri."
"Is too."
"Brianna Roselan do not argue with me!"
"I'll argue if I feel like it. Now who el- oh dear. Not AGAIN!"
"What?" asked Arwen, confused.
"Oh they're teasing dear old Snivellus. A-gain. Oh, Lily, don't bother-"
"Snivellus?"
Lily was storming across the grass, walking over to where Snape was hanging off the branches of a tree at the mercy of James's and Sirius's wands.
"Oh.." Arwen ran to catch up, Harry at her heels, but lily was already there and shouting.
"Put him DOWN you pervert!"
"I will if you go out with me Evans. C'mon.. It won't kill you. And little Snivelly will be safe and sound."
"You make me sick, you-"
"What's the problem?" Arwen reached the four. At once Sirius pushed James's wand arm down and lowered his own. Meantime, in a tree not too far away, Lupin's eyes were flicking from Sirius to Arwen to Sirius again. All at once his face lit up. He grinned at Sirius and Harry saw panic creep into his godfather's eyes.
"The PROBLEM, Arwen, is these little, arrogant, conceited boys are just attacking Snivellus for no reason whatsoever and-" Lily ranted
"There is to a reason!" James snapped at her.
"Not a good one!"
"Well, he never loses an opportunity to hex us so you can't exactly expect us to take that lying down, can you?" asked Sirius.
"Oh.you!" Lily was flustered and her wand was out. Arwen crossed her arms and frowned and her friend.
"Lily, you put that thing away."
All of a sudden, Arwen ceased to be a sixteen year old girl became a commanding woman. She seemed to grow about three inches taller and new authority was in her voice. "You heard me, Lily. Put your wand away. You two, same thing- but let him down first."
The three of them were staring at her, completely nonplussed. Harry was with them.
"Okay, you're both right but still. James, Sirius, don't hex him if he doesn't hex you first. Okay?" they were still just staring at her. "I said, OKAY?"
"Er..yeah, I guess so..." James was still thoroughly confused.
"Good." Arwen said brusquely. "C'mon, Lily, lets go."
-alright. That was our first meeting. I'm gonna skip some stuff now, so don't panic. Yeah, if you want to know, Moony did figure out I liked her but he didn't tell. Okay.here you go.-
Once again, Harry was falling through multicolored lights. When everything finally fell into place, he was in the great hall, which was bustling with the usual talk and laughter that accompanied lunchtime. It was snowing outside now, and everyone was dressed for winter.
-er...Sirius?-
-Yeah?-
-Where... no that's not right. When am I?-
-Its February 12th.-
-ah..Valentines and hogsmede, am I right?
-Yup-
He took a seat in the empty spot beside James and listened to them talk.
"So, Prongs, you going to ask Evens out to Hogsmede?" Sirius asked, smiling.
James sighed. "I'm gonna try. Wish me luck."
"Luck!" His three friends chorused, grinning at him.
Harry watched as James walked over to Lily and tapped her shoulder. Deciding that he would experience this better a bit closer, he got up and went over in time to hear James say "Will you go to Hogsmede with me on Valentines Day?"
Lily opened her mouth to say what Harry was sure to be a "No" when Arwen, who was sitting next to her, grabbed her arm and said "She needs to think about it- hang on." And dragging a completely mystified Lily with her, strode to a niche in the wall where they could talk. Harry followed.
"I am not going with him," Lily said at once.
"Oh for havens sake, lily, hear me out at least! He's been after you for ages why won't you go to hogsmede with him?"
"Because he's an arrogant, bratty, conceited, annoying..."
"Okay, okay, but still, he's sixteen!"
"So am I!"
"A lot of boys are brats at sixteen. He'll grow out of it."
"And what if he doesn't?'
"Than you can punch me in the nose, but Lily, c'mon! Humor me. Go with him. Please?"
"Oh all right."
The two of them walked back to the table, Arwen looking triumphant, Lily annoyed. "All right, I'll go with you." She said to James, who grinned. "But..." she said, holding up a finger, "just this once."
James grinned again. "Great! Meet you here." He walked away.
"What's wrong, Lily?" asked Bri. "You look like you've just received a death sentence."
Lily made a face. "In a way, I think I have. A whole day with that arrogant creep. I can't believe I'm doing this."
Meanwhile, James walked back to his end of the table, Harry in tow. He looked just about the happiest Harry had ever seen him, and there was more spring in his step.
"Well?" asked Lupin when he sat down. "What did she say?"
"She said yes!"
"YOU'RE KIDDING!!'
"Nope."
"You're going? Together?"
"Uh-huh."
"Congrats."
"Thanks, Padfoot."
"And speaking of Prongs and Lily," Lupin cut in, grinning, "what about Padfoot and Arwen?"
The result was instantaneous. James put down his goblet with a bang and stared at Sirius. Wormtail even put down his 'Daily Prophet'. Sirius was dead white. He coughed, "what about us?"
Lupin grinned even wider. "Oh come off it, Padfoot, it's a bit obvious you like her."
"So?"
"SO ASK HER!!"
"Er. I dunno about this."
"Padfoot if you don't ask her, I will ask her for you." James snapped. "C'mon. It won't be that bad! You can double date with me n' Lily. Ask her. Now."
"Okay, okay."
Sirius got up and walked down the table towards where Arwen and her friends were sitting. "Erm... Arwen? Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"Umm. D'you want to go with me to Hogsmede this weekend? With James and Lily?"
It took a second for the impact of these words to sink in. A couple of girls mouths had dropped open and Harry could almost read what they were thinking. Why her?.why not me? ...why's he going with her?
After a few tense seconds, Arwen's face lit up like Christmas. She threw her arms around Sirius's neck and said "I'd love to!" before grabbing Lily and Bri's hands and racing from the room, leaving Sirius standing there, incredibly surprised. After a bit, James came up beside him and said "I guess it's a double then."
"Yeah."
-okay..long story short, we went, had a good time, which resulted in more dates and blah, blah, blah.- said Sirius's voice in a bored tone. -okay, more time travel, don't worry we're nearly done. Save all questions for later. Okay... End of seventh year, here we come-
-End of seventh year?-
-Yeah-
There was another rush of light and Harry was standing beside seventeen year old Sirius and Arwen. Arwen looked as though she had been crying and Sirius's eyes were bright.
"Here," Arwen said, pressing a necklace into Sirius's hand. "Take this. I'll always be able to find you if you wear it."
Sirius looked at the pendent. So did Harry. It was crystal and looked a bit like two dragons wrapped around a pole. It was beautiful, and seemed to catch light and hold it.
"I'll wear it always. When will you come back?"
"Probably never."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
They parted and once again Harry found himself swirling in colored lights.
-That was sad.-
Sirius sighed in his mind. -I know. I wish she'd never left. Ah, here we go!-
Harry was once again standing in front of the arch in the department of mysteries. But he was not alone. Arwen stood there too, singing in some other language. The marks on top of the archway were shining with her blood. Harry frowned suddenly, he was quite sure that there had been no markings before. This thought was completely lost when someone stepped out from behind the curtain.
"Sirius." Arwen breathed, stepping foreword. He took her in his arms and kissed her. Harry would have turned away, except he was staring at the necklace Sirius was wearing. It was the same one that Arwen had given him years ago. Smiling slightly, he turned around and fell into the swirling darkness and light that was Sirius's memory.
Harry blinked. He was sitting in the kitchen of number twelve and his godfather was beaming down at him. "Any questions?" he asked.
"Oh yeah. Whatever happened to Arwen?" Harry asked, grabbing an orange from the middle of the table and starting to peel it. He was suddenly hungry, as though he'd traveled for a long time.
"I thought you might ask that." Sirius got up, and left the room, only to return a few seconds later with his arm around the real Arwen, and a big smile on his face. "Harry, I'd like you to meet your godmother."
The orange fell unnoticed from Harry's hands. "My what?!"