Standing There By You
Ch. 16- Confiding In Fides
Disclaimer: Let it be known... I hereby declare that by legal binding matters, any recognizable material belongs to the infamous J.K.Rowling.
a.k.a- it's not mine.
A/N: Utterly speechless : ) I love you all...
Lily looked up from her book, as four fellow second years entered the common room. She watched the Marauders walk across the room and ascend the staircase, disappearing out of sight. Frowning, she turned toward her friends.
"Isn't it odd," she began slowly, peering across her shoulder at the stairs, "that they haven't shown any sign of getting us back. I would've thought we'd have to be on our guard 24/7, but they've barely even acknowledged it."
Grace shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. But-"
"Don't worry, Evans."
Lily jumped at the unexpected voice, and turned quickly to the source. Seeing James, her eyes widened. "I distinctly saw you go up-stairs!"
"Did you?" He asked, tilting his head in mock puzzlement. "How odd." James smirked as Lily scowled, eyeing him suspiciously. "Anyway," he said, walking around the couch and plopping beside Lily. "No worries. We have absolutely no plans to retaliate."
"Oh," Lily commented, still sending him a glare of suspicion. "And why not?"
James leaned over her lap, ignoring the question. His face contorted into a look of disgust. "The Magic Within?! Why are you reading this again? You just read it last year!"
Lily snapped the book shut and held the it protectively against her chest. "It's my favorite book, that's why. None of your business, anyway."
James rolled his eyes. "You're so weird," he muttered, standing up.
"Hey, I wouldn't be making snide comments if I were you," Lily shot at him. "Especially considering you're all frightened of us now."
James laughed. "Frightened? Of you?"
"Yes," Lily replied, smiling contemptibly. "You are afraid to try and get us back, after all."
"Sure we are," James said sarcastically. "I never said we aren't going to get you back. You lot are so juvenile; it's the element of surprise that counts most."
"We are not juvenile!" Grace shouted, standing up beside him. "Our pranking techniques are just as good as yours, if not better."
"Right," James stood up, shaking his head. "And this is coming from the girls who forgot to take our wands."
"We didn't forget!" Lily shouted, as James began to walk to the Portrait Hole. "And remember, you got a detention too, how do you know we didn't set that up, huh?"
James kept on walking. "You didn't."
"And how would you know?"
"Because you didn't," he replied simply, swinging open the portrait.
"How would you know?"
"Because you didn't," he repeated, just before disappearing through the exit.
Lily frowned as the portrait clicked shut. "How did he know?"
"Remus, you need to take a break from studying," Sirius commented, nodding to his towering pile of books. "Exams aren't for..."
"Two weeks," Remus supplied, not glancing up from a large Herbology book. "And you lot better crack open a text sometime soon, unless you'd like to fail, that is."
"We won't fail," James responded airily. "It's all up here," he pointed to his head. "Right mate?"
"Right," Sirius agreed, nodding. "All up here."
"Right!" Peter quipped, throwing a book across his bed lazily. "We did pass with flying colors last year, didn't we?"
James, Sirius and Remus eyed each other wearily. The three boys scored fantastically, but Peter in fact, did not pass with flying colors. Far from, actually.
"Well maybe we should study," James began uncertainly. It'd be rather unfortunate if his friend did fail, after all.
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, probably." The two boys looked over at Peter meaningfully.
" 'Course," he said, grabbing the book that lay haphazardly on top of his bed.
James and Sirius looked down at their own books with matching looks of dread and boredom.
Several silent moments passed by, in which Remus raced across the lines with interest, James concentrated on twiddling his thumbs, Sirius stared at a speck across the room as he emitted a numerous amount of bored sighs, and Peter glanced at his book, mouth slack.
After five minutes or so of this, James spoke up.
"Well, maybe we can study later."
"Sounds good!" Sirius said, throwing aside his book and hopping off his bed. "Let's go check out that room we found, or perhaps-"
"'Fraid I can't," Remus said, peering outside the window.
"Oh, c'mon Remus," Sirius said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "Have some fun once in awhile, why don't you?"
Remus sighed. "Wish I could. It's a full moon, though." Setting aside his book, he stood up and walked across the room. "I'll see you guys later."
Remus reached for his cloak, and made to head out the door. "Oh," Sirius said, stepping up beside him. "Well we'll come too, then."
"Er.. I don't think that'd be such a good idea."
"Why not?" Sirius asked, smiling. "It'll be fun. I've always wondered what a werewolf looks like." Remus opened his mouth to respond, but Sirius continued on. "It's got to be awfully lonely out there, anyway. We'll come keep you company!"
"Sirius," Remus began slowly. "I don't think you're comprehending the whole werewolf thing. They don't exactly.. get along with humans."
"Oh," Sirius frowned. "Right."
"Bye then," Remus said, as he disappeared down the stair-case.
Sirius stared after him for a few moments, before turning toward James. "So, there's absolutely nothing we can do?"
James frowned and shook his head. "Guess not."
Sirius looked over to where Remus had been, and furrowed his brow. "Well that's unfair," he said, standing up angrily. "We went through all that trouble to find what was wrong, and now we've just got to sit here and do nothing?"
"I know," said James. "Do you think there's anything we could do?"
"There's got to be something," Sirius said, his face determined. "And whatever it is, we'll figure it out."
James nodded. "We wouldn't be the Marauders otherwise, right?"
Sirius smiled. "Right."
"Please pass these along," Professor Fides requested, handing stacks of parchments down the rows. "Hopefully you'll find them useful."
Looking down at the paper in her hands, Lily gave a small squeak of delight. "Recommended topics to study," she said excitedly, "and oh, look there's several techniques at the bottom!"
"Yay," Grace commented dryly. "How very exciting."
"Isn't it?" Lily asked, not catching on to Grace's sarcasm.
Several minutes later Professor Fides dismissed the class, and after the majority of the students departed, he retreated to his back office.
James glanced side-ways at Sirius and Peter. Remus was still in the Hospital Wing, as he always was after a particularly tough night in the Shrieking Shack. The boys nodded, and they strode up to the front of the room, before the professor's office.
James knocked, and as the door was slightly ajar, it pushed open with one light tap. Their professor looked up from his messy desk, and seeing the three hesitant boys, he grinned.
"What can I do for you?" He asked, opening the door wider to welcome them in.
Sirius got right to the point. "We want to help Remus," he said, looking up at his professor.
His eyes widened as if he hadn't been expecting this. "Here," Professor Fides said, motioning to a disgruntled couch and two armchairs, "take a seat."
The boys did so, and Professor Fides watched them with interest as he perched onto his desk. "I assume," he started slowly, "that you're talking about his.. monthly ailment?"
"Oh no," Sirius said, before anyone else could answer. "We know he's a werewolf."
James rolled his eyes and Professor Fides gave a small chuckle. "Okay then. What exactly do you mean.. help?"
The boys were silent, as each tried to figure out what it was exactly that they wanted to do. "Well, we're not really sure," James finally spoke up. "All we know is that we want to help. He's our friend; we can't just sit around and do nothing."
Professor Fides nodded slowly. "Alright. Well," he glanced at a calendar that hung on his wall, "the school year's nearly over, and there won't be any more full moons until holidays, so there's not much you can do until next year."
Three sets of shoulders sagged- it was very unlike the Marauders to do absolutely nothing, especially in a case as important as this.
"Well," Professor Fides began, seeing their disappointed faces. "That's not to say that you can't brainstorm over the summer, and then see me once you arrive back. I'll look over some of my books, and see if I can't find a few possibilities too."
The boys looked a considerable amount happier. "Okay," they agreed, standing up. Professor Fides watched the boys depart, their heads already close together as they elaborated on several possibilities.
Shutting his door, Professor Fides frowned as he glanced over his over-stuffed bookcases. Silently wondering what he had gotten himself into, he grabbed a pile of books, and began shifting through them. He wasn't one to go back on his word, after all.
A/N: Alright, so if you couldn't tell, second year is nearing it's end. I think next chapter will be the last of this year, and then it's off to third : ) Sorry if you think I'm rushing this, but there's only so much you can put in the first couple of years, without ruining things for the later. Oh, and several people asked me about Remus and Peter's detention, so let's just say they were scrubbing the owlery, okay? : ) Thanks.
Morgan Riordan- hehe, thanks mucho! I'm glad you liked that, thanks for the review!
Siriuslyfun19212- Yes, thinking can be dangerous, can't it? lol, thanks for the wonderful review, i LOVE the long ones. Oh, and there's absolutely no problem with over-using words of excitement : ) Makes me feel special
hprincess- Yay, glad you liked it! Oooh, gummy bears is a good idea, it's funny how many pranks could be created out of food. Thanks for the suggestion, but as the chapter implied, the boys won't be getting the girls back just yet. Thanks for the review!
dreamlessnights- heyhey! lol, i'm glad i made you laugh : ) Thanks for the review!!
Suji- Wow!! Very much enjoyed the long review, very awesome : ) lol, yes, this could cause problems, and yes, we love em! Thank you endlessly for the great (and consistent) reviews, I just adore them.
Oxide-insanity- Thanks! I'm really glad you like it, and the review is soo much appreciated.
Siriusly-Devilish-Angel- Thanks for the review, I'm glad you like em!
Lanette- Hey, I'm sure any of your stories would be awesome!! You can tell how somebody writes (as in a fanfic story) or would write, just by the reviews they send, and I can tell by yours. Just give it a shot if you have time, it's soo fun. If you need any help, you can always e-mail me. Thanks for the review!
Secret Lily- I'm glad you liked it, and I took a peek at your story (or actually, stories) how do you keep up with them all?! hehe, well, i only had time to really read one, I'll try and check out more in the future.
Angelfish13- Wow, I never even thought about seeker being the prank, lol, good idea : ) Thanks for the review!
Imperishable Stars- Yay! I thought you were lost forever : ) Thanks for the review(s), very much appreciated. Mmm.. oh, about Remus wearing glasses, I dunno, I just kind of assumed he did. I guess I'm being prejudice, eh? Smart people wearing glasses. But, as I imagine him, I see him with a thin, light pair of silverish (but not real silver, for obvious reasons) glasses. Oh, and yes, I. Hate. Movie. Remus. ARGH!! He's soooo ugly.... why?!?! How could they ruin such fantastically sexy men? Stupid people.
Marauder Marion- hehe, glad you liked it : ) Thanks loads for the review!
Midnight Princess- Glad you liked Sirius. Did you really think the prank was lame? mm.. i guess it sort of was supposed to be, we can't have the Marauders out done, now can we?
Aerandir- Lol, I'm very happy that you enjoyed it : )
Jess- Yay, glad you liked the chap. title! : ) Thanks for the review!
EW4eva- Oooh good, I'm glad I could trick some people, hehehe. Thanks for the fabulous review!
Dulcis Caelum- You're going away? Okie doke, I'll just assume you mean an exotic foreign country where there's intricate silk fabrics and nice looking cabana boys... sigh. Don't dissapoint me and say you just went out of town, okay? Oh yeah, and I'm also assuming there's no computers where you went.