Someone To Understand
Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing except any OCs, so please don't sue!
It had been three days since the incident with the Marauders and the Slytherins and fortunately no one had been killed…yet.
James and Sirius were probably on the worst terms of their lives, not that it was easy to tell. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between the two not to mention what had happened. James was still trying to work through what he had seen, and Sirius… Sirius seemed to be in no particular hurry to tell anyone about what had really happened. He had already told them everything he intended to say on the subject, and that was that.
On the surface the Marauders were back to normal, but beneath it tensions were mounting. James may have been angry and hurt, but Remus and Peter were feeling ostracized which could not possibly be a good thing. They were back to their prank pulling best already but it was obvious to anyone who really knew them, not that many did, that their hearts weren't really in it.
It's hard to close your eyes again one the truth has been rammed so forcefully in your face, and apparently the truth was, that Sirius did not trust the rest of them enough to share his secret, whilst Remus was bearing his soul to them every full moon. It didn't seem fair to any of them, and it was clear that Remus resented it, though he said nothing, but Sirius could not be prevailed upon to talk, and the others didn't want to alienate themselves further by pushing the issue with him.
So no one did anything, they just hoped that things would somehow fix themselves… It's a shame that ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away…
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Meanwhile the rest of the school may have been oblivious to the Marauders' change in dynamic, but Lily wasn't… The years of watching the Marauders, purely over suspicion of their pranks, had finally paid off. She could tell that something was still not quite right between them, it wasn't particularly noticeable, she was sure that no one else had picked up on the strange vibe they were emitting, but she recognised the signs. They were… subdued, that was the only word for it. Before they had been, what exactly? Something… so, flamboyant, excitable, fun, trusting…that was it.
The easy camaraderie that they had always seemed to share, whilst still there, it had clearly been badly dented by whatever had gone down with Sirius, Crystal and the Slytherins that day. Apparently Sirius still hadn't explained to them what that was all about and it was definitely taking its toll on their relationship. She had always been slightly jealous of that facet of the Marauders relationship (not that she would ever tell them that!) she couldn't trust her friends the way that the Marauders seemed to implicitly trust each other. Perhaps such strong friendships had to be formed through common adversity, or in this case common detentions…
She was almost sorry to see it breaking, almost; these were still the Marauders after all. But the loss of that friendship, that easy trust that the group had seemed to share since First Year, with the countless secrets they had shared to bind them together, was slightly disconcerting, it felt… like the end of childhood, and the beginning of darker things to come. She couldn't help but shiver at the thought.
If Sirius wouldn't share this secret, how many other secrets and lies existed in the group just waiting to tear them apart? Was this a sign of things to come? She sincerely hoped not, things were dark enough in their world with that psychotic, muggle hating Dark Lord Voldemort on the rise; they definitely did not need any more problems!
Still she couldn't help but watch the group pretending that everything was normal and had to strongly curb the urge to march over there and tell them to sort it out. She had an awful premonition that if they didn't sort things out then they'd only get worse. But hadn't she tried asking Sirius already? And look how well that had worked out! As if they'd listen to her anyway! But she couldn't stand watching James so miserable. He was James! He should be bouncing back with a cocky grin and a smart remark, why was he sitting there looking so miserable? It just wasn't right, and it hurt her heart more than a little to see it… Not that she would ever admit that to him.
Surprisingly it looked like out of the four boys that James was the worst actor, since he was the only one actually looking upset when she knew perfectly well that they all were. Quite a revelation since he was their self appointed leader, and, modesty aside he generally was the best in their group at most things. Sirius being a good actor she could understand, she'd realised recently that he had never been entirely what he seemed, being a pureblood with a rank equivalent to muggle aristocracy she should have realised years ago that his 'Jack the lad' image was just that, an image, a façade. (She blamed that particular lack of insight on her intense dislike of him, fostered by their disastrous very first meeting on the Hogwarts Express, during which he had somehow managed to turn her hair green, an experience which had been quite disconcerting for the then eleven year old muggle born girl.)
However Remus and Peter were another matter. She had never got the impression, that aside from being Marauders, and therefore both completely untrustworthy, (well maybe Remus not so much…) that either of them would have been a particularly good actor, but the evidence spoke for itself. They were both doing remarkably fine impressions of people who had nothing to worry about. She couldn't help but wonder where that skill came from, and subconsciously realise that she shouldn't have written off the Marauders so easily all those years ago. They may have been gits, but there was clearly more going on with them than met the eye. Perhaps they deserved a chance after all…
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Crystal meanwhile was glad that no more was being said by the Gryffindors about the incident that they had walked in on. None of them had said anything to the teachers yet, which came as an immense relief to her, and which she was sure was probably solely because of Sirius' pleas on her behalf. She knew that his friends were giving him trouble about not explaining what was going on with him, but she was genuinely grateful that he had yet to spill anything to any of them. She had enough problems to deal with without adding meddling goody-goody Gryffindors to the mix, she only hoped that they'd let what they'd seen go, she did not need anyone else interfering in her life. She had enough people telling her what to do as it was.
However Sirius wasn't the only thing on her mind at the moment. There was definitely something going on with Marius and his friends' gang. It couldn't be anything good.
For one thing she'd noticed an unfamiliar owl delivering mail to her brother almost daily. It didn't belong to anyone in her family, that was for sure, but she did recognise it…who exactly did it belong to? She knew that she'd seen it before…over Christmas maybe, and…delivering post to Regulus once or twice that was it! So the owl had to belong to someone in the Black family, why was it that that thought was not particularly comforting…
They were planning something clearly, and something big at that. What were they up to? They weren't seriously getting involved with Voldemort? They couldn't be that stupid surely? But deep down she knew; they were, what else could they be doing? And Marius had certainly said things often enough to make this a valid explanation. But…she just couldn't believe that her family, despite being what they were, could actually do something so dangerous, so wrong, so… monumentally stupid… Despite everything they had done they were still her blood. But she was worried, and had every intention of keeping an eye on them. However she should probably warn Sirius of her suspicions, she knew that he had his own problems at the moment, but he still needed to know. How could he prepare himself if he didn't know what was coming?
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The next day Crystal decided to do exactly that, warn Sirius about what was happening.
She waited until after breakfast, begging off Sienna by saying that she had left a book in the dorm and would catch up with her in Charms before setting off for the other side of the Hall to talk to Sirius at the Gryffindor table.
She knew of course that this course of action was risky but it had to be done. She reasoned that clandestine meetings were all well and good but in the end confidence was the key. If you did something in plain sight, acted as though nothing was out of the ordinary and you had every right to be doing exactly what you were then no one would spare you a second glance or question your right to be there. It was a long shoot but it could work as long as she didn't act suspiciously, and there were at least enough after breakfast crowds that she wouldn't be immediately noticeable.
There was no point dwelling on what might happen, she'd jinx herself before she even started! Besides, Sirius needed to be aware of what was going on and at present he was unfortunately oblivious to the plotting of the Slytherins.
She wasn't keen about getting the Marauders or the other 6th year Gryffindors involved but nine heads were better than one and if they knew something was up they'd all be on the look out for clues…her very own army of spies…now that was an idea with merit!
She tried to keep the grin off her face as she approached the clearly hostile group of Gryffindors. It wouldn't help her case if they saw her grinning for no reason, James Potter was already glaring accusingly at her, as though it were her fault his best friend would not confide in him.
"Hey." She greeted Sirius quietly, nervously adjusting her book bag as she accidentally caught his surprised eyes. Why was she this nervous again? She was only supposed to be warning him about Marius and co, not professing her undying love or anything, nothing so tawdry.
"This is ridiculous!" She fumed internally, "For Merlin's sake he's just a guy! Pull yourself together Maycomb now is not the time to get distracted!" Fortunately her internal scolding had the mental effect of being doused with a bucket of ice water and she was able to pull herself together somewhat, at least enough to organise her thoughts into some kind of coherent monologue.
"Hey." Greeted Sirius with a self-conscious nod of his head and a slightly confused smile, brushing his silky hair out of his eyes with a slightly trembling hand, "I thought you weren't talking to me." He stated mildly, though there was an undertone of accusation to his would be calm voice.
"Great, just great," mused Crystal frustratedly, "he's pissed off with me which means he's probably not going to be open to what I have to say."
"I didn't want to cause a scene." She replied honestly, dropping her bag to the floor and moving to sit opposite him, next to the obviously curious Lily Evans in the only available seat at their end of the House table.
"Little late for that don't you think?" Sniped James viciously, not that she really blamed him for it. He was little more than a child and he did not understand what was going on here, it was understandable that he would be angry and want to strike out at the nearest available target, namely her.
Shooting his friend a dirty look Sirius asked what they were all thinking, "So what brings you over to our corner of the Hall then?"
"To offer a warning." She responded cautiously, she wasn't quite sure how Sirius was going to react to this, his temper was mercurial at the best of times and he tended to act rashly without considering the consequences of his actions. Still, he did have to know what was going on.
"About what?" Questioned Lily curiously, she seemed to be the only one not too shocked by Crystal's sudden appearance to be able to string together coherent sentences.
" Just like last time." Mused Crystal with interest, apparently the girl was made of sterner stuff than it appeared at first glance.
Crystal had noted with interest the fact that she appeared to be spending more and more time with the Marauders lately, perhaps James Potter's advances weren't quite as unwelcome to her as she had led people to believe…. This could only strengthen her cause. With Lily there to prod them in the right direction the Marauders would be encouraged to think more analytically and act more carefully.
Crystal had had little contact with the Muggleborn girl herself; being in a different House and year to her, but she did know her by reputation. By all accounts Lily was fair, open minded, and not as prone to House prejudice as most Gryfffindors, she was also reported to be quite intelligent, often ranked higher than Marius and Violet in end of year exams, (to Marius' intense fury) in short Crystal respected her even if she didn't particularly like her.
"I don't know exactly…" Returned Crystal, measuring her words carefully, unsure exactly how much to tell them.
"Well that's helpful." Interrupted James snappishly, still glaring at Crystal in obvious distrust.
She did not give him the satisfaction of replying to his barb, merely looked at him, raising an eyebrow in silent contemplation of him, until his glare subsided, replaced by a look of confusion, he clearly did not understand her. She did not have time for his games.
This time Remus was the one to shoot James an irritated look, "Let her speak." He pleaded in a soft slightly roughened voice.
James appeared chastened by his friend's request and remained silent thereafter.
"A very interesting group dynamic indeed." Noted Crystal with equal parts curiosity and concern, she wasn't entirely sure what she had just got herself involved in but she had a feeling that it might be dangerous, things involving the Marauders usually were.
She was still unsure quite what to make of Remus, but he appeared to be on her side so for now she would give him the benefit of the doubt, even if the boy was clearly hiding something she reasoned that everybody had secrets.
Tilting her head towards Remus in silent thanks Crystal continued her explanation as best she could, "There's something weird going on with Marius and his friends…"
Upon seeing Sirius open his mouth as if to interrupt her she raised a hand in the universal signal of silence and his tongue stilled. Relieved she continued quickly, almost tripping over her words in her hurry to get them out before she was discovered at this table by someone unfortunate. Unbeknownst to her she already had been, Severus Snape had seen the entire encounter…
"Marius has been getting a lot of mail from this black eagle owl." She explained, shooting covert furtive glances around in a vain attempt to check for eavesdroppers before continuing, "I don't recognise the bird which means it doesn't belong to anyone in my family and he is looking far too smug for comfort about whatever is in those letters. I'm not getting a good feeling about this whole situation. He is up to something I can feel it. I just thought they you ought to know…" She trailed off, uncertain what to do or say next, she had only thought as far ahead as how to approach the Marauders, not how to end this conversation or what to do about Marius. She only hoped Sirius had some kind of logical plan about what to do next… Though that didn't seem likely, still, stranger things had happened…
XXX
Sirius for his part was pensive, he'd been surprised to see Crystal approach him, especially after ignoring him for so long but the circumstances under which she had done it were definitely not good.
"A black eagle owl?" He questioned, trying to keep the undercurrent of panic from overwhelming his voice. He felt like fainting. He knew very well that was what she'd said, he only hoped he had been mistaken in what he thought he'd heard.
Crystal nodded curtly in confirmation shattering any hopes he'd had about mistaken identity. He could practically feel his body breaking out in a cold sweat. This was not good.
"A black eagle owl…" He mused, considering the words carefully as if seeking to divine some hidden meaning from them, something other than what they so clearly indicated to him. That sounded suspiciously like his cousin Bellatrix's owl, not that she ever sent him mail but he'd certainly seen the bird often enough at home.
Bellatix. Shit that was not good! She was a depraved bitch at the best of times and he strongly suspected that she and her husband were already servants of this new Dark Lord. If she was corresponding with Marius and his little friends that could only mean one thing, either they were already servants of the Dark Lord or they very soon would be.
"Shit Reg what have you done?" Cursed Sirius internally. If Marius and his gang were involved then Regulus would surely be involved too, the little twerp always had been a sheep, he'd follow whoever he thought was big and bad enough to protect him, whoever he felt he could look up to. Time was that had been Sirius but since Sirius' start at Hogwarts and his sorting into Gryffindor that honour had been transferred to Marius. There was not doubt in Sirius' mind that Regulus would do whatever Marius asked of him and Marius could sure as hell be a twisted son of a bitch, as his treatment of his own sister conclusively proved.
Marius and Bellatrix together was a marriage made in hell. How could he have not noticed this happening? Cursing himself for his inattention (he could not afford to be so sloppy in such dangerous times!) Sirius determined to tell Crystal what he knew. She needed to be prepared, besides, he was only returning the favour, she had warned him first. Without her interference he'd still be dangerously ignorant. In such situations ignorance was not bliss.
Noting his preoccupation Crystal stated what they all now knew, " I take it you know that owl then?" She asked inquisitively, blue eyes alight with interest. He wondered if perhaps she'd guessed that he would recognise it, she didn't seem all that surprised by his reaction.
"I know it." He agreed redundantly, "If it's the one I'm thinking of it belongs to my cousin Bellatrix."
Crystal closed her eyes dejectedly; a curse word clearly visible on her lips before she swallowed it and stated simply, "It's worse than I thought."
"Apparently." Agreed Sirius tiredly. He really didn't see how this could get much worse.
" I don't understand." Stated Lily in irritation at the conversation quite obviously taking place above all of their heads.
" Lets just say that Bellatrix is not someone that any of them should be involved with." Retorted Sirius sardonically.
"So she's a bad influence… what?" Asked Lily insistently.
"She's like a dog with a bone!" Thought Sirius, highly amused by her persistence.
"She has questionable allegiances." Explained Crystal vaguely.
Sirius shot her a grateful look, the Marauders knew all about his family's dark links but Lily didn't and for some reason he didn't want her to think badly of him.
"Anything else we should know about?" Asked Sirius, not sure he really wanted to hear the answer to this question.
"I don't have any proof but I think they've been having some kind of meetings with other Slytherins in the library…about what I couldn't say." To Sirius her obvious pause in the middle of the sentence seemed to indicate otherwise but he did not contradict her, he'd have to try and talk to her again later, when there weren't so many witnesses.
"So why not report them to a teacher?" Suggested Lily tentatively, not that that was surprising considering Sirius' reaction the last time she had suggested involving a teacher.
"And say what?" Questioned Sirius reasonably.
"What you just told us?" muttered James, sardonically raising an eyebrow.
"What that we think they're planning something nefarious and evil?" Mocked Crystal irritably.
Sirius inwardly cringed, James did not take kindly to being mocked, of course Crystal didn't know that…
Continuing on oblivious she returned to explaining the situation to James, "We don't have any proof. It's not illegal to get mail and they'll claim that the meetings in the library are a study group or something. We have nothing except suspicions." She shook her head sadly and in tone that implied long experience with such situations, said simply, "No one is going to believe us."
"So why bother telling us any of this if we're not actually going to do anything about it?" Snapped James angrily.
"So that you're aware of what's going on and won't be surprised if they try anything." She responded haughtily, gazing at James in distaste.
Quite obviously she did not know what to make of him and was concerned he might prove to be more of a hindrance than a help. He appeared to feel much the same. They'd barely talked twice and already there was clearly no love lost between the two of them. Just perfect!
On the upside at least Sirius now knew what this conversation had been about. She did want to warn him, he didn't think she was being entirely cynical with her motives, but she also wanted people do to her dirty work for her, to keep their eyes on the Slytherins so that they could all compare notes later, which also explained why she had chosen to tell all of them rather than just him. Sneaky, and such a plan might just prove to be beneficial to all of them in the long run.
"We'll keep an eye on things." Agreed Lily readily; surprising everyone with her quick acquiescence despite her obvious confusion about what exactly was going on.
Sirius personally was starting to see what had James so infatuated with her. He'd never understood his best friends' attraction to the red head before but now he was starting to realise that it might be more than just physical and he could certainly see why. The girl had a quick mind, she was loyal, persistent and brave, not at all like the giggly little twits she seemed to hang out with. Yes Lily Evans most definitely had his seal of approval, he would be quite happy for those two to live happily ever after and let him play the cool godfather to their dozen kids, if they ever got their act together that was…
"Of course we will." Concurred Remus, clearly speaking for all the Marauders if his stern glances at Peter and James were anything to go by.
Sirius didn't need Remus' encouragement, he inclined his head in agreement anyway, not that there had ever been any question of his helping Crystal.
"Thank you." She acknowledged with obvious gratitude to the redhead, and Remus for agreeing to help her.
"Anytime." Smiled Lily bashfully, clearly unsure what to say next. An uncomfortable silence quickly ensued.
The silence was swiftly broken by Crystal's, as was becoming habit, hasty withdrawal, something she seemed almost programmed to do having revealed, once again more than she had intended.
"I'm going to be late for Charms." She stammered, nervously moving away from the group, "Be safe Sirius." She murmured sincerely, catching his eyes in a searing look for the briefest of moments before grabbing her bag and disappearing into the teaming crowd of students hurriedly exiting the Great Hall for lessons.
She was gone before he could so much as reply.
Once again she was apparently leaving clean up duties to Sirius. That was quickly becoming an annoying habit….
XXX
Meanwhile over at the Slytherin table Severus Snape was smirking darkly. Crystal Maycomb consorting with Gryffindors, this was indeed an interesting turn of events. How could he use this situation to his advantage…?
Yeah I'm back, and look an extra long chapter! (I know that really doesn't make up for the lateness but real life has to take precedence!)
I haven't forgotten this story, honest, I often think about things to add to it but I have to be in the right 'zone' for writing or else I really can't get inside the character's heads and rarely does my 'zone' actually coincide with free time. (I'm not just making up crap to use as an excuse it's true! I really want this story to turn out well so I don't want to screw it up by rushing, whether this story is actually working remains to be seen, but still I'm mainly writing this for my own amusement anyway, besides, when I finish I'll probably go back and edit and rewrite it anyway.)
Right anyway please review and tell me what you think, it would be nice to know if anyone is still reading!
Thanks for reading, now review!
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PS In response to criticism about the future one shots I've added if you don't like them don't read them, they're not vital to the story and I'm not just randomly skipping ahead without finishing this story I just had inspiration to write those one shots in the same universe and none for this story at the time so I thought people might appreciate me publishing something rather than nothing. It isn't that I don't plan to finish this story its just that it takes time to get back into the right frame of mind, so sometimes its easier just to write a one shot just to keep the creative juices flowing.
PPS I DO NOT HATE JAMES! Re reading this chapter I realise it may come across as very anti James but he is just a little kid scared of loosing his best friend, he'll grow up eventually but for now he is acting a little bratish, no one is perfect!