A/N: Don't hurt me, please.
I know I took over a month to update, but pleasepleaseplease forgive me. Its all Annabelles fault! --Points at betabitch--
No, I was kidding, Anna.
Honestly.
What are you doing with that wand?
Get that away from me!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Yeah, OK, I'm all done now.
But to make up for the big wait, I wrote a lovely long chapter.
The first POV is Remus, then Sirius.
Enjoy!
The world is a spiteful place, full of evil stalkers with malicious intentions.
Imagine someone hands you a pie. You eat said pie.
Then, you discover that someone has laced the pie with lethal poison.
That someone is the world.
And I am not a big fan of the world at the moment.
I will report to you the days events in scriptic form, so that you may understand the true evil nature that is the foundation of the universe.
Scene: Remus arrives at library. Remus finds himself bored so picks up a book of unknown title and pretends to read whilst really just trying to think up how to carry a decent conversation with Miss Evans that does not include nerve-induced-vomiting.
Enter Lily
Lily: Hi, Remus. I've found some stuff on Chomping Cabbages that we could use for the conclusion.
--Remus looks up and all attempts of smile fail, as Lily is looking very pretty this evening--
Remus: Tha - that's good. But I had a look at our notes the other day and putting aconite intothe Potionwould be a waste of time. It doesn't do anything, because its effects are countered by the mandrake.
Lily: Oh. --Face falls-- Crap.
Remus: It doesn't matter. We'll, erm,find something better.
(Mild Remus: Liar.)
(Bob: So long as it makes her happy, you talk as much crap as you like.)
(Mild Remus: Don't listen to him! He's just trying to corrupt yo--)
(Were-Remus: --Licks teeth and bares fangs--)
(Mild Remus: I'll be quiet!)
There is a short silence, and Lily appears to be thinking. Then -
Lily: Why did you ditch me last time?
(Bob: You put whiny little Peter before this glorious beauty? Dear Remus, you have serious prioritoral issues)
(Mild Remus: You did the right thing. Peter is your friend.)
(Were-Remus: Yes... nice and fat, too... taste good with a bit of pepper...)
Remus: --Winces-- There were some, um... events... that needed my attention.
Lily: --Fumes-- When Potter clicks his fingers you jump up to go and do his bidding! You're better than they are, Remus! Why do you continue to endure them? They're not even that nice to you. I saw Black put those apples down your shirt at lunch. They tease you, they get you into trouble, but you continue to tolerate them. Why?
(Bob: Oh Merlin. She saw that?)
(Mild Remus: Wasn't that when James was mocking Peter for never having a girlfriend and you said that was okay and maybe he just wasn't interested in girls?)
(Bob: Yeah. And then Sirius called you a poofter and started stuffing apples down your shirt.)
(Were-Remus: How horrible. Can I eat him?)
(Mild Remus & Bob: No!)
(Were-Remus: Aw.)
(Bob: Hang on a sec. She just... insulted our friends.)
(Mild Remus: After all the stuff they did... she doesn't know a thing about it!)
Remus: You don't know.
(Bob: What the... what kind of response is that? Say something that'll make her swoon, like... What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and you are the Sun! Arise, fair sun, because I don't care about the envious James-moon. He can go and snog Dorcas in a closet.)
--A long pause.--
Lily: Know... know what?
Remus: --Looks at Lily--
(Bob: Yes, I would like to confirm that Miss Evans has the absolute most exquisite eyes in optomical history. Go on, say the crap about the Sun. She'll love it.)
(Were-Remus: Just shut up and let the boy have a purely non-hormonal angst.)
(Bob: What if I don't?)
(Were-Remus: --Growls--)
Remus: You don't know anything. You have no idea... what they did for me. You have no idea what they did for me. You just don't... don't know.
Lily: I'll never know if you don't tell me! What don't I know? Because I do know what type of people they are! Pettigrew's a stupid little fanboy, Black's a self righteous, up-him-self inbred, pure blood bastard and Potters a stupid fuckwit with an ego that the Great Hall can't contain! And you... you're a coward.
I'm going to stop writing like this because it's giving me a headache.
But I was in such shock that she could say something like that. She had absolutely no idea what they are like. And all the little voices in my head were screaming different things at me and I couldn't think or focus or anything. And I swear there were more than three up there.
I honestly think I have lost my sanity.
How could she think that? Sirius and James... James... he only ever acts like a prat around her. Well, alright, he acts like a prat for a notable percentage of his time. But only when he's hexing someone. And he does that...
Perhaps he is a bit of a prat. But he's not all that bad.
Peter is a good listener and, in that respect, a great friend.
And Sirius... that is the most screwed up interpretation of him I have ever heard. I don't think she could be any more wrong. Perhaps he can be a little arrogant at times... but so can everyone, including Lily.
I am unable to recall the exact wording of the rambling that followed, but I yelled a fair bit and am now, in hindsight, shocked that I was unheard by Madam Pince.
And I ended up reducing Lily to tears.
This distressed me. I don't think I've ever shouted like that.
In fact, I don't think I'd ever shouted before.
So, anyway, I was all muddled and confused.
And I tried to comfort her, but we ended up...
Snogging.
Bloody Bob.
It was nice.
A little clumsy.
But nice.
And she sort of stopped crying and put her arms around me.
So I emerged from the library with my hair all ruffled, a couple of books in my arms and the most enormous grin on my face.
And then I was grabbed by the collar, and pulled into a closet.
"You arsehole." someone hissed into my ear.
I recognized the voice very well. It was a voice I probably knew better than my own.
I turned around.
And there stood Sirius Black.
"You arsehole." he repeated, his face screwed up with venom.
"Ca - calm down." I choked. I was having difficulty breathing – Sirius was holding me an inch off the ground my tie and if he didn't put me down soon I was going to suffocate.
"How could you?" he whispered, his face close to mine.
"Please put me down."
His eyes narrowed, and I could tell he was considering letting me hang. But then he thought better of it, and released his grip. I fell to the closet floor, massaging my neck.
"You... and Evans! And you know how much he likes her... I don't believe you. How could you?"
I scowled.
"He has a lovely little fan club of beautiful girls that would kill for a chance to go out with him. He's never shown any interest in her, aside from the occasional crude comment. He's never nice to her, he's never even bothered to ask her out! And yet she's somehow his property. Besides, if you haven't noticed already, he has a girlfriend. And he's been making a point of snogging her where everyone can bear witness to the event." I snarled at Sirius.
He looked a little taken aback – I don't think he'd encountered Bob very much. And Bob is fucking scary.
But then he got his cool back.
"Yeah, so Lily can bear witness to the event. He wants to make her jealous. He makes a prat of himself in front of her to get her attention. And he is absolutely infatuated with her. Like, obsessed. I guess..." he sighed. "He doesn't really talk about it around you and Peter. But Merlin, you should hear him talk about her around me. He thinks she's like... a god. Honestly."
"But... why? She's no more beautiful than any of his previous girlfriends... And she really, really doesn't like him... why?" I asked, bewildered.
"I think... she fascinates him. It's because she doesn't like him that he is so interested in her. If she had simply fallen at his feet like most girls... or at least flirted with him a little... then he wouldn't have given her much more than a second glance. Of course, he's never actually told me why he likes her. Just that he does. So it's all just observation, really." he sighed again and sat on the closet floor, his brow wrinkled in thought.
"I knew... that he liked her and everything. But it doesn't mean... I mean, he just fancies her a little, doesn't he? Like I fancied Annette Glory last year, but you went out with her."
"You liked Annette Glory?"
"Yes."
"But I never knew that."
"Are you telling me that if you knew it would have stopped you?"
"Well... I see your point. But James... it's more than fancying. I really think he is, like... obsessed with her. And I guess you didn't know. But you do now. And I think... that you should tell him."
"WHAT?"
"You should tell him, Remus."
"Are you out of your mind? Even if all he thought was that she had a nice arse, he'd still disembowel me! You should know better than anyone how... possessive he gets."
Sirius gave me a long look.
"Remus, I'm serious. If you don't tell him..."
"Is that a threat?"
"Perhaps."
"Hang on – how did you know about me and Lily anyway?"
"I saw you, dumbshit."
"In the library? You're never in the library!"
He smiled grimly.
"You'd be surprised."
"What aren't you saying?"
"I was... shall we say... waiting for someone."
"Oh. So you and Nina..."
"No. Helena Smith. She's Dorcas' dorm-mate. James introduced us."
"So you're over Nina then? That didn't take long."
"I, unlike James, can tell when I'm not wanted. Besides, have you actually seen Helena? Beauty beyond compare."
He opened the door to leave.
"Oh – and I'm serious about telling James about it. If you don't... I will."
And he left.
So that was my afternoon.
And there is no way in hell I am telling James about it.
I just can't believe him. I honestly can't. My brain is refusing to register that he... did that.
I guess that he didn't know.
Actually, I don't see how he would have known.
Like, he knew that James liked Lily. Knew he fancied her.
But he hasn't really heard him talk about her.
I spent half last summer at his house. And during most of that time we just talked.
About Lily.
About how he's had this huge crush on her since third year, before any of us knew.
About how he's been trying to work up the courage to ask her out since then.
About how she is so beautiful, and kind and intelligent and loving and special. And not like any other girl he has ever met.
What scares me is that this made me angry at him. I tried to figure out why, and I realised that... he doesn't want her because she's special.
He wants her because she doesn't want him. It's a conquest.
And to James, she's just... a prize.
He shouldn't be like that about her. Poor Remus. The first girl he actually likes, and James has sort of, reserved her. For no bloody good reason.
I was thinking the other day about first year. And I remember what she was like.
Lily Evans... she was this psycho little freak with really long red hair and a really loud laugh. And she was really irritating because she'd always get top off class. She wasn't very nice about it either. I remember one conversation we had, and it went like this:
"Oh Sirius. I see you have yourPotions marks back. Might I see them?"
"Uh..."
And then she snatched my paper out of my hand.
"Oh, you only got 72 percent... how very sad."
"What did you get? Three?"
"Actually, I got full marks. It must really suck being stupid."
And then she laughed with her maniacal mega-loud laugh and sent some blue sparks out of her wand.
Yeah, she was the craziest psychopath in first year.
She looked it too. Freckles all over the place, huge green eyes too big for her skull, wild hair wrists that were so thin they looked like they were going to snap.
Then again, I wasn't the most normal firstie ever to walk the halls of Hogwarts.
Coming from a family of maniac purebloods, I had very strong ideologies about heritage. Always pure. I arrived at the Platform every bit a Black.
And then I met James.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
My mother had just left, and I could still feel her kiss on my cheek, her words in my ear:
"Owl me when you're sorted. I know you'll make me proud."
I knew what she meant. Every member of my family had been sorted into Slytherin - I was not expecting any different. I didn't even contemplate whether or not I'd get put there.
I was standing there, with all my trunks and no idea what to do next, when this boy with glasses and hair that looked like a birds nest comes up to me, looking about as clueless as I felt.
"Got any idea what we do now?" he asked me, ruffling his black hair as he did so.
I shrugged.
"Maybe we should put our stuff on the train..." I said, casting a glance over my baggage.
"Oh... yeah."
Then we stood in silence for a minute or so.
"How do we do that?"
Eventually we managed todrag all our things onto the train and find a compartment.
The boy and I sat down and I sat down next to him, putting my feet up on the seat opposite.
"You know... I don't even know your name yet..." I grinned at him.
He laughed, and stuck out a hand. "James Potter."
I shook it, trying to place his name in my head. I'd never heard of the Potters, so they obviously weren't part of the pureblood elite.
"You pureblood?" I asked casually. His eyebrows rose at my question and he withdrew his hand very quickly.
"Yes... why do you ask?" he questioned suspiciously. I shrugged again.
"Sirius Black." I bobbed my head in a sort of half-bow. His eyebrows disappeared into his messy fringe.
"Black... you wouldn't happen to know Cepheus Black, would you?" his tone had lost most of its warmth.
"Yeah... he's my uncle." I gave a small smile, which was not returned.
James stood.
"Okay, well... I've, uh, seen a friend." he jerked his head towards the door. "So... I might see you... again." a cold smile crossed his face, as though he were amused by his words.
Then he exited, leaving me sitting alone.
Sirius Black wasn't used to being rejected.
Being quite a social eleven year old, I left my compartment in search of some new company.
What I found was a circle of Slytherin sixth and seventh years surrounding a small, plump boy, a half-melted chocolate frog in his hand and a wand in the other. He seemed to be frozen in terror in the presence of all the older students.
"What do you think you're doing?" a husky voice addressed the boy, one I knew very well.
"Bella?" the speaker spun around in a flash of dark hair. A striking looking seventeen year old girl with heavy features and narrow gray eyes towered over me, a scowl on her face.
"Sirius... what are you doing here?" my cousin asked me, her hand on her hip.
"I was... looking for... a friend..." I trailed off as I looked at Bellatrix – her nose was twitching, which I knew from years of experience, was a sure sign that she was irritated. Obviously she had absolutely no interest in what I was doing there.
But I wasn't going to be daunted by her and her friends. I never backed down from a fight, and I had a feeling this was likely to turn into a big one. Besides, Bella was my least favourite cousin, and I never gave up an opportunity to irritate her.
"I could ask you the same question!" I placed my hands on my hips and glared at Bella. The crowd burst into laughter.
Another female emerged from the circle – I was familiar with her too.
"Practicing for spats with Reggie, now are we?" the second girl crouched down so she was at my hight, and grinned at me. She looked quite similar to the first, but her eyes were less hooded, her face narrower and her jaw less defined.
"I don't need to practice. Regulus is just like you, Andy, he sucks up to his elder siblings." I was just asking for a fight now.
Several people laughed, including to a tall blond boy who came and put his hand on Andromeda's shoulder.
"Haven't we met? Sirius, is it?" he asked me. I nodded grimly. "Yes, I saw you at Andy's house in the summer. Quite a little bastard, isn't he?" he said to Bella cheerfully. Andy giggled, and put her arm around the boy – Bella didn't laugh, but turned back around.
"Returning to the matter at hand." Bella glared at the boy, who had been trying to sneak away while everyone's attention was turned towards me. "Where did you get the frog?" she asked in her most dangerous tone - almostseductive sounding, to anyone that didn't know Bella only ever spoke like that when she was very annoyed.
"I-I b-bought it!" the boy stuttered. I noticed he had quite a bit of chocolate smeared around his mouth.
"Don't lie to me, you fat little shit." she said softly. "The cart hasn't been past yet. Now Lucius here -" she pointed to the blond boy, who had also turned back towards the boy. "Lucius had a lovely little stash of frogs in his compartment. He left to check on some friends. And when he returned, several of his frogs were missing."
The boy quivered. I felt a pang of sympathy towards him - I knew how horribly intimidating Bella could be.
"I think you stole them. I think you crept in and stole them." she whispered. "Didn't you?"
He just quivered some more.
"They're only frogs." I muttered, looking with pity upon the boys face.
"What?" Bellatrix turned around again.
"It doesn't matter. They're only chocolate frogs." I said, louder this time. Then, to my surprise, she smiled. One of her horrible grins that were a little higher on one side of her mouth.
"Aw. 'Ickle Sirius, defender of the fat little firsties. Is this your boyfriend, Siry? Are you in loooove?" she crooned in a mock-baby voice. The party started to laugh.
"How sweet. Why don't you give the little thief a kiss? Go on. We won't laugh. I swear." You could have fried an egg on my face, I was so red. The sixth and seventh years were killing themselves.
"Aw, leave him alone, Bella." Andromeda nudged her sister, but a smirk was curling at her lips, she was barely concealing her giggles. "Just hex the freak and we can get back to our compartment."
"I'll deal with the pilferer later. This is fun." Bellatrix smiled her lopsided smile.
"So, Sirius, did you help the ugly littlefreak steal my chocolate? Was it a wedding gift?" Malfoy crouched down next to Andy, who was now howling with laughter.
I wasn't letting him get away with that.
"Speaking of weddings, how is 'Cissa? Aren't you betrothed? Oh wait... that can't be right. I suppose my parents know about you and Andy's little rendezvous in the Black bedchambers? Aren't you engaged anymore?" it was my turn to smile – the grins had faded off both Lucius' and Andromeda's faces. The rest of the company, however, were laughing even harder, including Bellatrix.
"Shut the fuck up, you nasty little prick." Malfoy hit me over the head, hard. I fell to the ground, and felt little tears well up in my eyes. It was a hard blow. "Keep your mouth shut." he whispered in my ear. "Because trust me, there's plenty more where that came from."
"Lets just get back to the thief, shall we?" Andy's voice was cold. I felt a little remorse – Andy was almost nice when she wasn't around her sisters, and the closest thing I had to a friend in my family.
"Leave him." hissed Malfoy. "We'll just go back to the compartment."
"If you'd heeded that exact advice a little earlier then you would have escaped plenty of embarrassment in front of your friends, you know." I sneered at his back as he turned to leave.
And he just kept turning.
--
I was about three minutes into my punishment (Malfoy discarded his wand and was taking great pleasure in belting me in the stomach) when I heard an indignant 'Oi!'
I remember thinking, thank god, a prefect, or a teacher, or even the lady that drives the sweet trolley. But no.
It was James.
"Oi! What the hell do you think you're doing?" I had to admire his courage. It was one thing for me to insult the Slytherins – after all, I was a relative, and it was therefore my job to annoy them as much as is humanly possible. It was only expected. I was also a Black, which gave me near equal standing as them, despite the age difference. But for some random,
unrelated first year who couldn't so much as transfigure a pea, to address them with such superiority – it was just plain thick.
But they did stop hitting me for a few seconds.
"Another of your boyfriends, Sirius?" a spotty sixth year giggled.
"No, thanks. But I think you might want to stop attacking him, or I might just tell a teacher. You wouldn't want to be expelled on the first day back!" James folded his arms and smirked at them all. You could tell he thought he'd just said something terribly cool.
Malfoy lifted his wand lazily.
"Petrificus Totalus." he pointed it at James, who immediately turned rigid and fell to the ground.
"How many first years have we assaulted today?" Malfoy sighed.
"Three." a small voice said from behind his back. He turned around and gaped at the speaker.
"You! The little mudblood... from the Platform! Piss off!"
And Lily Evans hit him on the head with her collapsible cauldron.
I took this opportunity to run.
Lily pulled her wand out of her robes, waved it in James' direction and muttered an incantation as she ran. He sat up, surveyed the scene – Malfoy getting to his feet and yelling at both me and Lily, and his posse of Slytherins hot on our heels (Bellatrix and Andy were not among these – they left soon after Malfoy began his attack. I don't think Andy really wanted to see it, and Bella didn't approve of fistfights. They were for muggles.)
James did what most people would do in that situation, and ran like hell.
We sprinted down the hallway, attracting the attention of many passengers, who stuck their heads out of their doors, and, after seeing Malfoy, pink in the face and blond hair flying out behind him, pulled them back in.
They began to gain on us, and I was thinking we were going to die – when we crashed into the sweet trolley.
"My my! What's this?" the short, dimpled lady who pushed the trolley came to a halt. Malfoy stopped and brushed the hair out of his eyes.
"These first years were causing trouble. I was trying to catch them so I could find out their names and notify the authorities. I'm head boy, you see." he lied smoothly, and indicated to his badge, smiling at the lady all the while.
"That's not true Miss! This boy and his friends were beating up that boy and his friend." Evans indicated to the Slytherins and then to me and James.
The lady raised an eyebrow, and I winced. She had to tattle, didn't she? Now we were going to be absolutely pummelled.
"She's lying, of course." Malfoy said quickly.
"Well." the Lady smiled coldly at Malfoy. "I'm not an authority. But I would like you to please return to your compartment."
She stood tapping her foot, until Malfoy realised she wasn't moving until he did. He smiled once more at the lady, and turned his back on us.
But I knew very well that he'd get us back for that.
--
"Well, aren't you going to say thank you?" Evans asked us.
I laughed harshly.
"And why would we do that?" I smirked at her.
"Because... I just rescued you from a large older boy's wrath. And that of several others." she smirked back.
"Saved? Hah. We didn't need your help." James folded his arms.
"You were lying petrified on the ground, and your mate was being clobbered... did I miss something?" she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.
"Please!" James scoffed. "I was just... uh..."
"Playing possum." I finished.
"Yeah."
"I just SAVED YOU from a giant blond guy and his cronies by hitting him on the head with a CAULDRON THAT COST ME FIVE GALLEONS! NOW IT HAS A BIG HEAD SIZED DENT IN IT, AND I HAVE TO GO AND GET IT BECAUSE I HAD TO RUN AWAY AND I COULDN'T CARRY IT AT THE SAME TIME AND I HATE RUNNING! I ABSOLUTELY DETEST RUNNING! AND YOU TWO MADE ME RUN!" me and James cowered as she yelled at us, growing steadily redder and redder in the face as her speech progressed. Once her rant was finished, she set off towards her cauldron, and left us not a little shaken.
"James! 'Lo. What's with the psychotic redhead?" a girl appeared at James' shoulder. I don't really remember her, but she had very short brown hair.
"Why don't you ask her?" James pointed a still slightlyquivering finger in the direction of Evans.
And, to my surprise, the girl skipped off to do just that.
"Who was that?"
"Neighbour." James grunted.
Come to think of it, the girl was probably Nina.
Beautiful Nina.
(I do have to wonder about her taste... Diggory? I guess he plays Quidditch, and he's older... and good looking in a very obvious way. And I suppose thats attractive to some girls.
But he doesn't seem her type. And, forgive me for my lack of modesty, but most girls would kill to go out with me. Literally. Anita Froud tried in third year.)
"Wow." said James as he sat down. "What a freak."
He meant Evans.
"I know." I said, sitting down next to him.
"Hey, I'm, uh, sorry I was a jerk before." he grinned sheepishly at me.
"Yeah, well. I guess you're just a total prick." I snapped.
He stared at me.
"I'm joking, mate." I chuckled.
And then we cracked up like maniacs.
--
James wants to talk about his day with Dorcas now, so that's enough 'Reminiscing with Uncle Sirius', if I don't want to miss out on all the lovely details. For someone who's meant to be so into Evans, James is pretty keen on Dorcas, who he didn't really like to begin with.
She's pretty incredible though. Great company – into Quidditch, just like James, and very conversational.
Also a great snog.
And she keeps very attractive company. Passing over my pining for James' neighbour, today I wooed the lovely Helena Smith in aisle fifty-two, dormmate of the worshipful Dorcas.
So I'm sure I can live without Nina for a while longer.
A/N:I'm still not really sure if I like this chapter, so I need your opinions. Marshmallows for ALL reveiwers! As always.
And if anyone writes a really spectacularlylum review, they get 5 MARSHMALLOWS! Not one,but FIVE! --bribes--
I couldn't have done it without teh l00vely Anna, my brilliant and very tolerant beta who helped me edit this chapter.
Sixtimes.
And I think I will be doing some more memories, because I'd like to go into the founding of the friendships (and emnities, hehehe) of the Marauders. But if you thought the reminiscing was the most horrible thing I ever wrote, pray tell.
Remember:
IF YOU FLAME, YOU ARE LAME
REMEMBER THAT, OR YOU'RE A PRAT.
- Banana :)
