Standing There By You
Ch. 33- One Determined Lass
Disclaimer: Let it be known... it's not mine.
A/N: Sorry in advance if this chapter isn't very silly, the mood's a bit dismal over here.
Remus returned to Hogsmeade several days later, but this time it was for much less desireable reasons. The same routine as always followed soon after; his friends gathered together to visit him in the Hospital Wing as soon as the moon left Hogwart's premises, and kept him company as well as up to date on the progress of Project Angimagi.
"Hey Sirius," James beckoned through a muffled yawn. "I think you're wearing my shoe."
Sirius looked down at his feet and frowned as he recognized James's brown shoe against his own black one. "Oh, sorry."
"That's alright," James waved his hand, as Sirius reached to take off the shoe. "I'll just wear yours."
A few minutes later they began their monthly trek to visit Remus, groggily making their way down to the unusually placid common room. That night had been spent collecting and brewing ingredients to further their Animagi Potion, and only an hour of sleep had been managed until they had to get up to visit their friend.
"You think Fluent will notice all of the potion has gone missing?" Peter asked.
James gave a casual shrug. "We filled 'em back up, so he shouldn't care."
"Yeah," Sirius smiled, between bites of an apple he had snatched earlier from the kitchens, "with water."
James tapped on the back of the portrait and it swung open. "Not our problem," he said, as he crawled through and hopped into the hallway. "But class today will prove to be rather amusing."
Grace whistled the tune of Aerosmith's latest hit, Train, as she brushed the knots out of her raven black locks and flipped them into a sloppy pony-tail. Slopping on some chapstick and grabbing her cloak, she made to head out of her dormitory.
"Insidious halfwit!" Lily shouted suddenly, nearly scaring Grace out of her wits. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw her friend's eyes were still closed, and a moment later resumed sleeping.
Rolling her eyes, Grace slinked out of her room and set off down the staircase. Walking quickly through the common room and out the portrait hole, she met a vacant hallway; the atmosphere was a bit mysterious, with musky light from the newly arising sun streaming in through the tall windows. Only light snores that emitted from portraits lining the walls punctured the otherwise eerie silence.
Walking onward towards her destination, she caught a glimpse of her watch and hurried forward, as morning was hastily making its way.
"Do you think he'd like his breakfast before, or after we visit him?" Sirius asked suddenly as they passed by the kitchens.
"Probably after," James replied, "considering he's usually sleeping when we get there." He grinned at Sirius. "You just want some bacon."
"Bacon..." Peter said, licking his lips desireably.
"Or sausage," Sirius added. "Or waffles. Or scrambled eggs. Or french toast. Or-"
"Okay, okay," James cut in. "You're hungry, I get it. But you'll have to wait... it's getting late as it is."
"Fine," Sirius and Peter resigned, pouting slightly.
They walked on in silence for a few moments, until Peter stopped abruptly and shouted, "Pancakes!"
His two friends turned to stare at him, their brows raised questionally. He shrugged sheepishly. "Well you forgot to mention them... and they're my favorite, you know."
Bopping slightly to the rock tune that still lingered in her head, Grace continued down the quiet corridors, pausing only to wave at friendly portraits that were only just rising.
As she came within a close proximity to her sunrise target, she heard muffled muttering several halls ahead, and someone laughing loudly. Quickening her pace, she shortened the distance between herself and the other early morning risers, coming closer with each stride of her long legs.
The lethargic conversation grew louder as she walked faster, and as she turned a corner...
"Ah!" Sirius yelped, as he and another crashed to the hard tiled floor.
"Ugh, Sirius," Grace moaned, rubbing the top of her head where she was sure a large lump was forming.
Sirius brushed himself off and stood up beside his friends. "You should watch where you're going, you know."
"Yeah, yeah," she said, standing up as well. "Sorry, wasn't expecting you to be there."
Sirius jerked his head to look at her, as if just realizing she shouldn't be there. "What are you doing here?" he demanded suspiciously.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, repositioning her fallen cloak.
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" Grace repeated, crossing her arms over her chest.
Sirius continued, glaring at her. "What are-"
"Well I don't know about you lot," Grace interrupted, collecting her things and preparing to set off down the hallway, "but I've got places to be, people to see..." With that she sent them one last smile before continuing her morning trek down the corridor.
"W-which places?" Sirius asked, hurrying beside her.
"Yeah," said James, rushing to her other side, "and which people?"
"Hospital Wing," she replied shortly, not pausing in her long stride. "And, well... Just people."
James and Sirius snapped their heads to look at one another. "Hospital Wing?" James whispered, his eyes wide in alarm. "Who's she going to visit?"
Sirius frowned. "I don't know, but she'll see him- I... well let's go stop her!"
The two boys bolted down the hallway, Peter trailing and wheezing from his spot where he hurryed behind his athletic friends.
"Grace!" James shouted, catching up quickly. "You- you can't go in there," he said, blocking her way to the corridor that led to the Hospital Wing. "It's infested, I heard..."
Grace nodded her head with mock seriousness. "Oh, well that's okay. My immune level is impeccable."
"No, but-" Sirius tried, as Grace began to walk once more. He looked around wildly for something that could distract her. "Food!" he exclaimed suddenly.
"Food?" she asked, wrinkling her nose. "This early? Are you guys human?"
Sirius crossed his arms and gave an indignant scoff. "Yes. It's just we're growing boys and-"
"Sirius, let it go," James said, "look, she's leaving again."
The boys bounded in front of her, just as she was about to turn the corner to the Hospital Wing. "Oh no you don't," James said, standing in front of her with his feet planted firmly on the ground. Sirius stood on one side, and Peter on the other.
"Would you move?" Grace asked irritably. "You're getting rather annoying, you know that?"
"Do you wanna hear a joke?" Sirius asked desperately. "I know a joke. Here, it's about a duck. And- and grapes-"
"I don't want to hear a joke," Grace said flatly, trying her best to duck around the boys, "now go away!"
"Are you sure?" Sirius asked, earning a rather frightening glare from Grace.
"Well are you hungry?" Peter asked. "Er.. I mean now. It's been a full three minutes, I'll bet you're just ravished by now."
It looked as if Grace was about to put Sirius's beater skills to shame, when all of the sudden her face changed to that of hunger, and she gave a sigh of surrender. "Fine," she said tiredly, taking a step back. "Do you think they've got waffles?"
The three boys gave a collective sigh of relief, as they fell back with her. "Oh definitely," Sirius replied, smiling at James out of the corner of his eye, "they've got quite the selection, too."
"Sounds great," Grace said, perking up a bit. "Syrup and strawberries, do they have those too?"
"Sure do," James responded. "My personal favorite is powdered sugar, though."
"James," Sirius laughed, "blueberries beat powdered sugar anyday."
"I think he's right," Grace said, nodding enthusiastically. "Who eats powdered sugar?"
"Well I do," James replied defensively.
Sirius turned to his friend and patted his arm consolingly. "That's alright, mate. It's not your fault you've got disgusting eating habits."
"I do not!" James shouted, highly affronted at the morning meal mockery. "Blueberries... Disgusting, who eats those?"
"Er... you guys?"
"Do you know how high their antioxidant content is?" Sirius retorted. "They're good for you and are incredible anti-agers."
"...Guys?"
"Powdered sugar has no taste to compare-"
"Guys!"
"What?!" James and Sirius shouted, turning their heads to see the caller. They were met with Peter's frustrated face.
"Weren't we trying to prevent her from entering the Hospital Wing?"
"Ay, no!" Sirius exclaimed, as he and James bolted down the hallway. Grace saw them coming and gave a small squeak as they neared closer; she quickened her pace and sprinted towards the entrance.
James barrelled down the hallway with all of his strength, and slid in front of the intruding girl just as she reached out a hand to turn the doorknob.
Sirius arrived soon after, and going at such a high speed, collided into the others and sent them soaring to the ground. James had been a fraction of a second too late, however, as Grace had achieved in twisting the doorknob sending the door slightly ajar.
Knocking her elbow hard against the door, it cracked open, and before either of the boys had a chance to slam it shut, she poked her head inside.
James grabbed her cloak and heaved her out, as Sirius hastily shut the door. "Remus," she managed to verbalize through her heavy gasps for air.
"Yeah," Sirius said, laughing uneasily. "You're er- probably wondering why he's here, and not at his Grandmother's, right?"
"Well it wasn't her that was sick after all," James explained, looking over at Sirius and nodding, "it was his cousin, uh- Jerry, and it turns out that what he had was contagious." Sirius bowed his head solemnly. "The disease was treetologic, rare, very rare, and they got him out of there as soon as they could, because they didn't want him to get sick as well."
"Left just in time," Sirius put in.
"Yes," James nodded. "So.. Remus arrived here, and they immediately rushed him to the Hospital Wing, where they performed tests and..."
"And he discovered he needed a liver transplant," Sirius continued on. He shook his head dismally. "Well, mine was the right type, so I let him have it."
Peter looked over at Sirius's stomach in amazement. "You did?"
"Yes Peter," Sirius said, his eyes flashing violently. "Don't you remember?"
"No-"
"Of course he doesn't remember," James quickly recovered, "because after Sirius transplanted his liver, they discovered it wasn't enough, so Peter had to give his kidney."
"What?!" Peter exclaimed, looking down at his own stomach.
"Yes," said James, leaning over to Peter clapping him on the shoulder with admiration. "The surgery went well, but they accidentally gave him a dose more of anesthesia than needed, so Pete here's memory is a bit wavered."
Peter looked down at where he thought his kidney was, and patted it sadly. "Hey, it's okay Pete," Sirius consoled, "you don't need your kidney, anyway."
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Grace put her hand over her heart and shook her head in amazement. "Wow," she breathed, looking at them with a newfound respect. "You're all just so... so... Well it's just indescribable..."
"Yes, well..." James said, puffing up modestly. "We do what we have to do."
"Yeah, I just can't believe," she continued in a raspy and emotionally swollen voice, "I just can't believe... how daft you take me for."
"Huh?" Sirius asked, swerving his head up to look at her. "Daft? No, we're not, what? Never-"
Grace shook her head. "I'm truly insulted," she said, standing up. She rolled her eyes when James and Sirius rushed beside her at the slight sign of movement.
"Why er- breakfast, remember?" Sirius said, stuttering his weak attempts in vain.
Grace put her hands on her hips. "What's wrong with you guys?"
"Well, he just," James turned to Sirius with a hesitant expression, "he just wouldn't want you to see him now, is all."
"Well why not?" Grace demanded, standing on her tip-toes to see above Sirius and through the door's tiny window. "How come you guys are allowed to see him and I'm not?"
"Young lady," a sharp voice called from down the corridor. Everyone's heads snapped in the direction of the voice to see Madame Pomfrey come bustling down the hallway. As she reached the group of kids she sent them an astonished glare. "You're talking much too loud, don't you know where you're at?"
"The Hospital Wing," Grace responded obediently. "Actually, I was just going in..."
"Oh Heaven's no." The young nurse ushered the girl away from the door. "And you children better not see him today either, there's already been enough of a racket, I believe."
"But," Grace persisted, trying her best to get free of Madame Pomfrey's grasp, "no, I just want to-"
"Absolutely not," the nurse shook her head firmly, before snapping the door shut with a click of finality.
"Is everyone against me!?" Grace shouted, lifting her hands up in disbelief.
The three boys looked at one another before nodding their heads collectively. "Argh," Grace yelled, pushing past the boys and stomping down the hallway.
"Phew," Sirius said, leaning against the doorway. "Glad that's taken care of."
"I don't see Pomfrey," James said, tilting his head up to look through the window. "Let's hurry up before she comes out of her office."
The boys quietly crept into the Hospital Wing, going directly to Remus's half covered bed. When they got there, however, he wasn't sleeping at all.
"Who was out there?" he asked, looking up at his friends with worry etched in his face.
"Oh... um," James began, looking over at Sirius for help. "It was just-"
Remus leaned back onto his pillow. "It was Grace, wasn't it? I heard her voice."
"Yup," Peter replied casually, plopping onto the end of the bed. "She's persistent, you know that?"
Remus sank further into his bed. Sirius sat down beside him, and lightly clapped his shoulder. "Aw, buck up, mate," he said, thowing him a broad smile. "It's not like anything happened; she still doesn't know."
"But if she found out..." Remus said, his voice dismally low. He straightened up. "Well... I'll just make sure she doesn't find out, is all. The less I talk to her, the less chance of her knowing, right?"
That evening's dinner proved to be a slightly somber one, as the Headmaster informed the student body of the frightening recent events. Although these words contained caution and trepidation, once the respects were paid, the children went back to their everyday routines. There was, after all, an occassional Wizard-gone-bad, and this they just figured to be another.
"Are you sure?" Lily asked, staring at her friends with lingering hesitance. "I mean, what do we know about this guy? How do we know he's not going to attack us at any given-"
"There's a lunatic in every society, right Lily?" Julie reasoned. Lily nodded so she continued on. "And none of those societies have the powers that we do of stopping them. The Ministry's always been able to catch them before, and don't forget, we'll always have Dumbledore."
"Yeah, I guess..." Lily said, going back to her plate of spaghetti. "Sorry, I'm just not used to this. Aside from your aunt's information, you're not either, right Grace?" The girl seemed to be distracted as she swirled a rather long noodle around and around her prongs. "Grace?"
"Wh- oh, sorry," Grace apologized tiredly, turning her attention back to the table. "What were we talking about?"
"Nevermind," Lily said, diving a fork into her salad. "Could you pass me the dressing?"
Grace was momentarily distracted yet again as a group of familiar boys passed by. "Hi Remus," she said hurriedly, spinning around in her seat and standing to catch up with him. After a slight nod, however, the boy just walked faster, his friends looking after her with mixed expressions.
"Argh," Grace grumbled loudly, plopping hard back onto the bench. "This has been going on all day."
"Maybe he's really hungry," Julie suggested doubtfully.
Grace shook her head. "In Charms when I congratulated him on a fantatic essay, he mysteriously spilled his quills and left my side to go pick them up." When Lily opened her mouth to say it could've been simply a coincidence, Grace relayed the rest of the day's events. "In Potions when I asked if he minded if I joined him and Peter for the next assignment, he shook his head and said he prefered working in twos. In Defense-"
"He's probably just nervous..." Lily said, "He always has been, you know."
"Yeah," Grace agreed forlornly. "But this is different." She shook away her gloomy expression and replaced it with a determined one. "Well I'm not just going to sit around and do nothing. I'll find out what's wrong, whether he wants to tell me or not."
"Oy James, we've got to get these," Sirius said excitedly, pointing to an image that lay in their laps. "Do you think we could get the team to go tye-dye?"
"Hey guys," Grace greeted casually as she approached James and Sirius in their usual chairs by the fire.
The boys looked up from the Quidditch Magazine they were currently hunched over. "Hello," Sirius said, before returning to the page on 'Unique Robes and Accessories.'
Grace settled herself on the arm of James's chair and rested her head behind her. She sat watching them for several minutes, before finally speaking up. "I need your help," she informed them matter-of-factly.
Sirius looked up from the Quidditch embellished knickers. "Help? Sure thing. What do you need?"
She flashed a slight grin. "Thanks," she said slowly, dragging out her response. "Alright, I need help with Remus."
"Remus?" James sneaked a glance at Sirius. "Oh... well, afraid we can't help you there..." He mentally sent Sirius a look that said, quick exit.
Unfortunately, Grace got the message too.
"Oh no you don't," Grace said, standing up a split second after they prepared to bolt.
"Terribly sorry, Grace," Sirius said, twisting left and right in hopes to duck past her, "we just can't help you."
"Uh-uh..." Grace grabbed the boys' robes and shoved them hard, causing them both to collectively fall back into their chairs. She stood determinedly above them, placing hands on her hips and shooting a imperiling glare in their direction. "Remus is avoiding me and I need your help; I've got to talk to him."
James lifted a hand to scratch his head. "Avoiding you?" he asked lightly, turning to Sirius in feigned confusion. His friend gave a bewildered shrug in return. "Nope, not a clue what you're talking about."
"Don't pull that with me," Grace growled, leaning forward to shorten the menacing distance. "You know as well as I do that he's avoiding me."
"Grace," Sirius laughed, "we really don't know what you're..." he trailed off as the portrait hole swung open and a sandy-haired boy entered the room.
Remus looked up and scanned the common room's contents. Finding James and Sirius in their usual chairs, he smiled, but upon realizing Grace was there with him, his eyes widened and his smile quickly dissapeared.
"Why hello, Remus," Grace said loudly.
Remus looked back at the her and mumbled something about being late for Herbology, before hastily retreating back into the halllway.
"See," Grace declared, swiveling back around to face James and Sirius.
Sirius grimaced. "Oh that... that was nothing, you see..."
"Yeah," James nodded his head reassuringly. "Remus was just late for Herbology."
Grace sighed. "Classes ended four hours ago."
Shaking his head at the rotten luck, Sirius winced. "Right."
"So you'll help me, then?" Grace asked hopefully.
James and Sirius glanced at one another, silently deliberating their response. After a few head jerks, motions of the eyes, and slight grunts, they turned to face the anticipating girl. "We'll help."
A/N: Please don't yell at me about Remus... Please...
Lily Skylo- Urgh.. yeah, your review wasn't sent to me and I saw it on the review board after I submitted the chapter, so sorry about that. Anyway, good guess about the lid! Surprisingly, no one else even mentioned it! I'll keep you updated if I see Mr. Black, thanks for the review, ta ta!
RnB Diva Gurl- Yeah, I also missed your review. Sorry 'bout that. Well... about Lily and James not having any romance yet... in the HP books, Sirius says James finally changed in seventh year, and in the OotP (Snape's Worst Memory) it has them (Lily and James) fighting and such.. and I'm trying to stay as true as possible to the books, so I can't have them get together immediatly. They'll be other romance though, promise.
Siriusismine- Lol, glad you liked it ; ) Thanks for the review!
Gaby-Malfoy- Oh good, I'm glad you got the review. You're going to London!? That's so cool! That's all right, don't rush your writing. I'm glad you laughed, thanks so much for the review!
ImperishableStars- Wow! ::sigh:: your reviews are just so utterly fantastic! Yeah... unfortunately he was around... what if I just didn't put him in? Just like.. never. That'd be funny. Sorry, I amuse myself ; p Thanks sooo much for the review! Oh wait... "Once again your story has hit the mark on...doing things...right...myes..." What's myes?
Oksana- What can I say? I'm one tough chick to keep up with. Thanks for the review!
Emma jo- Hey! Are you saying my story's obnoxious?! Should I expect a banner to come falling down from my ceiling now? Lol... how long did it take for you to write it backwords? Took me quite awhile...
Pline- Gasp.. I know. Scary stuff. Thanks for the review!
Sapphire039- Hehe, funny you say the 'quest for Firewhiskey', that was part of a possible chapter title. They're hard to make after awhile, you know? Running short on creative juices, I suppose. Thanks as always for your review!
Secret Lily- Yes, it has been Sirius and Grace since the beginning... I did that on purpose, I wanted to add a little element of surprise ; ) Sirius is a nice character to work with, definitely one of my favorites. Thanks for the review!
Jess- Hehe, it would be fun to draw them in their disguises. Wish I could draw... : ) Glad you liked it, thanks for the review!
Oliverwoodschic- Oh don't worry, that's not the end of the Firewhiskey scenes ; ) I just thought them getting drunk in fourth year was a bit much. Drunk Sirius... hehe. Thanks for the review : )
Molly- Did you call me a pig? Did you call me a pig?! ::snort:: well I am one... you know I ate practically a whole bag of Doritos last night? Yeesh. It's okay, I work it off in tennis. : ) Sirius is awesome at "strutting his stuff," and you will see much more of it! Thanks for the review, tootles!
L.M. Robertson- Thanks for the review, you motivate me more and more with each one!
Zayne- ::sigh:: I know, drinking is bad. I should've put a warning to not try this at home, or something. But... do you really think Sirius went through all of his years at Hogwarts without trying a tad of Firewhiskey? hehe, thanks for the review!
EW4eva- Glad I could inspire you, and glad you liked the chapter so much! Congrats on reading the book, which was it?
SiriusJamesRemus'sgirl- Random snogging session? Sirius would never have one of those. Hmm.. okay, he would. Unfortunately (for you, hehe) I already have a couple other people lined up for cameos, but as soon as a slot opens up, I'll letcha know!
Dance-flirt- Hehe, not your fault about the review! Sorry you thought the chapter was hard to follow, it works in my head sometimes, but not well for others. ; ) Thanks for the review! Triple yay.
FreckledIrishMaiden- Took me awhile to figure out what you were referring to about the Mudblood part, and yes, James probably would've done something, but when I was writing I just meant for you to assume he hadn't arrived to class yet. He's our galliant hero, and would never leave a poor maiden in distress, now would he? Lol, thanks for the review!
MilesFromNormal- I'm glad you liked it so much (and my A/N, hehe) Himalayan men... I really don't know where these things come from. Scares me, sometimes.
Ninde Annare- Hehe, I'm glad you think so! Thanks so much for your review, much appreciated as always!
MidnightPrincess- Well, for the most part I just wanted to give Voldemort an introduction. It's not going to get all dark or anything, but he has to play a part sooner or later. Guess you'll just have to read to find out!
MissBlueAngel- Yes, the old man was Dumbledore, lol. Sorry if I confused you. Thanks for the review!
RSB-Raven Sirius Black- Hehe, amusing review. But... If James, Remus, and Sirius were holding on to you, would you really want them to let go? ; )
Dulcis- Ay, it's okay. We both had a twiggy moment. Me with the 'he', and you with the 'must'. We're both geniouses in my mind.
Emma jo- Vacation was pretty good, I went to South Carolina. Thanks for asking! Hm... Sirius and James locking them in a closet? Muwhahahaha.
Curiousknowitall- Aw, it touches me that you check so often for my story : ) I tried to update sooner, hope you enjoyed!
Ieyre- Hehe, glad you thought it suit them well. You're one of the only people that were happy with the situation! Some were mad they didn't get drunk and go hog wild, and others tutted the underage drinking. ::sigh:: You can never please everybody.. but at least I pleased you!
Jounin-Elite- What kind of review was that? Tsk tsk, now you're going to have to wait forever and ever until your cameo. ::Deletes name and replaces it at the bottom:: : p