Listen To Your Heart

Chapter Ten-Second Chances

GILLIAN.

"She's coming to," a voice said from somewhere above me. I groggily opened my eyes.

"You gave us quite a scare, Miss Ross," another voice said gently.

I blinked a few times, clearing my vision. I was lying on a cot in the hospital wing. A cold compress was resting across my forehead.

"What happened?" I asked cringing. "My head feels like a firecracker had gone off in it."

"Mr. Malone banged your head against the wall," Professor Dumbledore's voice said clearly.

"Mr. Malone?" I asked and soon realized who was standing around my cot.

Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Sam, Professor Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey.

At the sight of Remus, I snapped alert and sat bolt up right in bed.

"Remus!" I cried happily and threw off the covers. I jumped to my feet and rushed over to him. I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly. "You're alive again!"

I pressed my face into his shoulder but I felt my legs getting weak and I felt myself sinking.

"Whoa," Remus said blushing as he helped me back to the cot. "You need rest, Gil."

Madam Pomfrey quickly pulled the covers up over me again.

"You shouldn't be out of bed," she scolded lightly. "With that baby you need all the rest you can get."

"Baby?" I asked confused. "What baby?"

"The one you're carrying," Sirius said sitting on the edge of the cot. "Remember? You told us you were pregnant. That bang must've really done a number."

He looked closely at my head.

"I lost it remember?" I asked. "When Eric kicked me in the stomach."

They all had puzzled looks on their faces.

"No," James said shaking his head. "Eric just banged your head against the wall. You were unconscious for 2 days."

I looked around shocked.

"How can that be? It happened!" I said earnestly.

Sam shook his head.

"The only thing that happened was he banged your head against the wall," Sam said carefully looking at me before turning to Madam Elkin.

"Is this normal?"

She nodded.

"Sure is," she said. "I'll just be giving her a Beoan Potion but she'll be just fine."

"No!" I said grabbing Lily's arm. "Voldemort infiltrated Hogwarts! Along with the werewolves! We were trapped in the tunnel for a bit!"

"Miss Ross," Professor Dumbledore said kindly placing a hand on my shoulder. "Please try to relax. We've set up everything for you when you return next year."

"Next year?" I asked even more confused. "We're in our last year now! Seventh!"

"No," Remus said shaking his head. "We're still in our sixth."

My head began swimming and I suddenly laid back against the cot.

"That's enough for now," Madam Elkin said shooing everyone out of the hospital wing. "She needs her rest."

She gave me the potion, but one side effect was that it made you sleepy. I soon dozed off.

I felt warm sunshine on my face as I slowly opened my eyes.

"Morning," Remus' voice said softly. "Sleep well?"

"Actually yeah," I agreed rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

Remus was sitting on the edge of the cot along with the rest of the bunch…including Peter.

"GET HIM OUT OF HERE!"I yelled angrily.

Peter looked stunned.

"Why?" Lily asked concerned.

"BECAUSE HE IS WORKING WITH YOU-KNOW-WHO!" I cried. "HE'S SNEAKING OUT EVERY NIGHT!"

"That's not true!" Peter stammered going pale in the face. "She's lying!"

"Are you calling her a liar?" Remus rounded on Peter.

"He hasn't been sneaking out," James said frowning. "Maybe you were dreaming?"

I froze suddenly.

Okay wait a minute here. Apparently, I'm still in the sixth year right? Then what I 'dreamed' happened in the seventh year…that's next year! What if I had was a premonition dream into what would happen next year?

I gripped the metal rails that lined the cot.

"That's it," I whispered a loud.

"What's it?" Remus asked picking up on what I said automatically.

"N-nothing," I said. "Never mind."

He eyed me but said nothing more.

"Sorry, Peter," I apologized. "I was having a senior moment there."

Peter smiled.

"Ooookay," Sirius said slowly. "Now that we've got that out of our systems, when is Gillian going to have the baby?"

Madam Pomfrey smiled.

"Well, she said she was three months pregnant now right? It happened around July of this year yes? So figure around March of next year. Next semester."

"Wow," Lily said looking awed and happy.

"Whatcha going to name it?" Sam asked brightly.

"Dunno," I said thoughtfully. "If it's a boy, maybe David and if it's a girl, I'm leaning toward either Gabrielle or Bridget."

"Ooh! Gabrielle is very pretty!" James said eagerly. "That's what I was thinking of changing my name to legally."

We laughed and Lily playfully smacked James across the back of his head.

"You really are retarded," she said.

"Well, you keep doing that it isn't helping," James said frowning.

We laughed again.

Everything that happened was just a dream…Remus is alive, and so are the rest of the students…there was no Lord Voldemort or castle infiltration…nothing.

But it was going to happen next year. I can't let it come true! I had to protect Remus. I couldn't lose him again.

The group began talking. My eyes moved onto Sam. He was talking with Peter about Quidditch. He laughed at something Peter had said. He looked so much like his father it was a bit scary really. But he was handsome exactly like Sirius was. My eyes moved onto Remus next. Remus was handsome as well…actually, James often teased Sirius about how Remus was more of a heartbreaker than Sirius. But Remus was shy and quiet and really never had any experience with girls. I mean he had Lily and I, but it wasn't the same thing really. I began realizing that I had feelings toward Sam as more than a best friend. James had eagerly joined the conversation. Remus and Lily were talking with Sirius about upcoming exams. I just leaned back against the cot and watched them.

ROSELYN ROURKE.

I quickly hurried up the corridor to the hospital wing. A group of 6th year Slytherins had gotten into a fight with three 2nd year Gryffindors. In a vain attempt to stop it, one of the Slytherin boys had punched me in the face, causing a bleeding cut to appear on my left eyebrow. I felt the blood trickling down.

I pushed open the doors. A group of my fellow Gryffindors was already there. I had heard what had happened to Gillian Ross and was glad to see that she was doing better.

"Madam Pomfrey!" I called fearfully.

"Yes dear?" she called as she stepped out from behind a curtain and cried out when she saw me. "Miss Rourke! What on earth happened?"

Immediately, I saw James, Lily, Remus, Sirius, Sam, and Peter come rushing over. Gillian was watching with fear.

"There's a group fight going on in the library!" I cried. "You've got to stop it!"

"Oh dear," she fretted. "Mr. Lupin? Can you please remain here and take care of Miss Rourke? The rest of you I'm afraid I'm going to need to enlist the help."

"Absolutely," Remus said nodding.

The rest of the group took off with Madam Pomfrey.

"Sit down," Gillian said gesturing to the edge of her cot. I gratefully took a seat as Remus went and got the supplies to help the cut.

"Thanks," I said gratefully. "I tried to stop it but they ended up hitting me."

"That was really brave," Remus said as he sat down across from me and began applying a cool, light pink salve to the cut as well as a bandage.

"Thanks," I said shyly.

I actually had a crush on him. I thought he was really cute. Really cute.

Gillian caught my eye and gave me a wink. I think she picked up on it.

Remus fixed the cut and applied a small bandage over it.

"There you go," he said beaming.

My name is Roselyn Rourke. I'm 16 years old with shoulder length wavy, dark auburn hair and honey brown eyes. My hair was layered and it was combed outwards showing the layers. I had applied light blue eye shadow and light pink lip gloss on.

"So how are you feeling?" I asked Gillian with concern.

"Yeah," she said smiling softly. "Thanks. How are you?"

"I'm good," I said brightly, but then my smile faded. "Although, I'm thinking that I might not go to the Christmas Dance coming up."

"Why not?" Remus asked tilting his head sideways.

I shrugged one shoulder.

"A: No one wants to go with me and B: I don't really want to go alone," I said honestly. "Plus, I've got a lot of HW to do for the exams coming up."

"So do we," Gillian said softly. "But you can't miss out on going to the dance!"

I smiled.

"And secondly," she said sounding shocked. "I think you are very pretty…I find it hard to believe that no one wants to go with you."

I just shrugged one shoulder.

"Meh," I said trying to sound casual. "It happens every year."

"Well not this year," Gillian scolded. "Even if you have to go with him."

She jerked her thumb toward Remus.

Remus began blushing immediately.

"In Fact," Gillian said getting a mischievous look on her face. "Remus? You can take her."

Remus' cheeks flushed even more scarlet.

"Right?" Gillian said turning her eyes onto him.

"I was kind of hoping to go with you," Remus admitted looking guilty.

My heart wrenched.

Gillian was a beautiful girl. Why wouldn't he want to go with her?

"Well," Gillian said. "I'm thinking of going with Sam…is that alright?"

"Fine," Remus said quietly.

"Good," Gillian said brightly clapping her hands. "Then you and Roselyn can go together! This will be so much fun!"

I smiled halfheartedly.

A few moments later, the rest of the group returned and Gillian filled everyone in on what had just happened.

"Sure I'd love to go with you," Sam said brightly.

"Hey Rose," Sirius said turning to me. "Since you're going to be hanging out with us weirdos, why don't you tell us about yourself more?"

I smiled and felt the heat rising to my cheeks.

"Well," I said slowly. "Both of my parents work in the Ministry of Magic. Me Dad works in the Misuse Of Muggle Artifacts and me Mum works in the Magical Law Enforcement Division. I have an older brother, Mario and a younger sister, Ellie, who will be attending here next year."

"Your older brother is Mario Rourke?" James asked suddenly.

"Yes," I said confused at hi reaction.

"He was the Slytherin Seeker here 3 years ago," James said. "He was amazing! They used to call him Bullet Boy. He would see the Snitch and go into this fantastic dive that was so fast everyone always thought he would lose control, but he never did. He always caught the Snitch."

"Oh," I said beaming. "Thank you! He taught me how to fly as well. Although, I don't have a broom."

"Your brother was in Slytherin?" Sirius said frowning. "The Snake house?"

I turned my eyes onto him.

"Sirius," Gillian scolded angrily. "She is in Gryffindor. Alright? That should end it."

"What does your brother do? Work in Knockturn Alley?" Sirius continued.

"Sirius that's enough," Lily snapped now.

"No," I said. "He's studying to be an Auror."

"Probably easier to keep the Dark Wizards and Witches on alert from inside the company," Sirius said meaningfully.

"SIRIUS!" James shouted at this point.

Sirius muttered something and lowered his eyes to the floor.

"I am not my brother," I said as my voice shook violently. "Secondly, he isn't evil. He hates the Dark Lord. And for your information, the reason why he wanted to become an Auror was because he lost his best friend. Her name was Kate Nayton. She was killed by You-Know-Who right after they had graduated from Here,

My voice shook even more as I explained what had happened. Everyone was watching with rapt attention including Remus.

"My brother loved Kate," I continued. "He would've done anything for her. In Fact, he was about to tell her how he felt when Voldemort attacked Hogsmeade one night. Kate was in shopping for a new pet when Death Eaters stormed the streets. She had just come out of the store when one of the Death Eaters saw her and Avada Kedavra'd her without any emotion. She fell to the floor dead. When my brother learned about this he was devastated. He vowed to get even with HIM if it was the last thing he ever did. So yes, Sirius…Mario does work in Knockturn Alley selling bewitched objects to first years and he uses them as bait for Voldemort!"

My voice continued to shake really badly at this point so I got up abruptly and stormed from the hospital wing.

I finally stopped in the corridor and pressed my back against the wall and slid down until I was sitting on the cold polished floor. My legs were stretched out and I began sobbing softly.

My poor brother was really devastated when he had heard about Kate. He seemed like a robot, wanting revenge. Each time people hear his name, they automatically assume that just because he was in Slytherin that makes him evil and hateful…but he was completely the opposite. We still don't know why the Sorting Hat had chosen that house but it must've seen something in him. But the person I knew would never hurt anyone.

A few minutes later, I heard someone walking up the corridor.

"Are you alright?" Remus' voice asked gently.

I felt him sit down next to me.

"Yeah," I said wiping my eyes with the back of my hands. "I get that a lot, but it still hurts."

Remus looked at me sympathetically.

"Just out of curiosity, why did your brother get put into Slytherin if he's a good person? Which I'm sure he is," Remus finished quickly.

I shrugged.

"Dunno," I said. "The Hat said he would be good in Slytherin. It's a mystery."

"Look," Remus said quietly clearing his throat. "I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I didn't want to go with you to the dance. See, I like Gillian but I'm guessing she likes Sam. So I was wrong. But I really would like to go with you if you still want to?"

"Like a second resort?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him. "That I'm not pretty enough like Gillian? That if she had liked you, you would've gone with her instead of me?"

Remus began looking upset now.

"No! Of course not!" he said looking guilty and upset. "I just meant that…"

I moaned.

"Save it alright?" I said disgustedly and scrambled to my feet. "See you around."

I briskly walked away down the corridor.