Disclaimer: All things Buffy the Vampire Slayer are the property of Joss Whedon, and all things Potter are JK Rowling's. 'Blue Suede Shoes' is by Elvis Presley (feel free to laugh) and 'The Longest Time' is by Billy Joel (if I hear of any Billy-bashing, I'll be cranky!)
A.N: Sorry about the lateness AGAIN. I'm shocking, I know. Life is hectic and I get home for one night a week if I'm a very lucky girl, so I don't get so much puter-time anymore. Also, had 2 assignments due in the last couple of weeks. If it's any consolation, I kicked butt in one of them. Sorry to leave you hanging, I love you all for sticking with me and reviewing very much. Thank you all for the continuing support. XX00
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The Longest Time
Dawn had braced one long leg against her otherwise abandoned chair to help hold herself up. Sirius still had her laid out on the table, kissing her as if he would never stop and she couldn't help but revel in the way her body moved to reacquaint itself with his. After so much emptiness in her life, even the smallest amount of intensity was burning deliciously through her veins.
Sirius' hand started to move up underneath her shirt, but then he stopped and pulled away. "We should slow down," he panted. "I want to get it right this time."
He straightened up until he was standing in front of the table and Dawn nodded, sitting up on the edge. "You're right," she agreed, then smiled. Her hand slipped behind his neck to draw him closer. "But this is good..."
"Better than good, baby."
Sirius kissed her again, but much softer than before. This time they were taking the time to explore each other with their kisses, so absorbed in them that the opening and closing of the portrait failed to register.
James and Peter stopped and stared at the back of Sirius' head with some girl's hands tangling in his hair. From the boys' stairwell, Remus was waving them away frantically, but they were much more focused on other things.
"Great legs," James muttered to Peter, drinking in the long smooth leg braced against the chair. Peter nodded mutely.
Then James' eyes became occupied with the scene in a wider sense. From his angle, he couldn't see who the girl on the table was, but some poor studying nerd's books had been shoved aside by her backside in the frenzy of the snogging session. James' eyes narrowed as he glanced at the books. Who else did he know besides Dawn that had drawn little confused monkeys and sexy beetles all over her notebook?
"Bloody hell, Padfoot!" he yelled.
Sirius jumped and spun about, his latest little friend still kept out of sight behind his back. James looked livid.
"I know you're hurt, mate, and you're free to do whoever the hell you want now, but this is getting out of control," he thundered. "If you think I'm just going to sit back and let you fool around all over my sister's books, you've got another thing coming! What's with you acting like such a bastard lately? And just out of curiosity, who is your little tart this time, anyway?"
Throughout the whole tirade, Sirius' face had remained completely impassive. James was pretty sure he'd heard a groan from somewhere upstairs, but didn't pay it any mind. He was still staring stonily at Sirius, waiting for an answer to his question. When Sirius' companion slowly poked her head out from behind his shoulder, the way James' draw droppped was almost comical.
"Hi James."
"Hi Dawn."
James' voice sounded much higher than usual. And then he remembered something.
"Oh Merlin!" he yelped. "I just checked out my own sister's legs."
He ripped his glasses off and rubbed furiously at his eyes. Dawn and Sirius couldn't help but laugh at all James' horrified whimpering, and Peter was desperately talking his facial expression into an appropriate reaction. By the time Remus had come down from the stairs and Sirius had helped Dawn off the table, he'd fixed the mask of a vague smile over his face.
"If you had've bothered looking up, I could've saved you the trauma," Remus commented to James.
He was still staring at Dawn in complete mortification. Dawn couldn't resist giving him a stern look and arching an eyebrow.
"Did I hear you call me a tart? I'm pretty sure I did. Not the most flattering thing for a girl to hear from her own brother, you know. I'll have you know I'm no pushy queen of slut town, thank you very much."
James' cheeks flamed up. "Dawn, Kitten, I'm sos orry. I can't believe I offended you like that, will you forgive me for being a gigantic ass?"
Dawn held her glare for several more seconds, until she could no longer contain her grin. "Of course. I'm joking James. Relax."
James pouted, then grinned himself. "It's great to see you smile again. We should group hug on this."
Sirius immediately pulled Dawn close again, while James and Remus closed in on them. It was a while before they realised Peter hadn't joined them. "Wormtail, where are you?" Sirius called from within the mess of bodies.
"Here," Peter returned, finally stepping close enough to loosely put his arms around the group. He pulled away as soon as he could and the group hug finally disbanded.
Dawn smiled and took Sirius' ahnd to hold it tight, just because at long last she could. James was grinning so broadly his face was starting to feel the strain, but he didn't care. He was too heartened by Sirius and Dawn's reunion; if they could find happiness again, then there had to be hope for the rest of them.
A slight spark had flickered back in Remus' eyes as he took in the scene. "You know, I think this calls for a celebration."
Peter frowned. "A party?" He didn't particularly feel like partying.
"No," Remus smirked. "Not a party."
"Then what?" Sirius asked, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.
"We're not the Marauders for nothing, you know."
"Oooh, a prank!" James deduced, his face lighting up even further. This afternoon was just getting better and better- he found a galleon in the hall, his sister and best friend were back together where they belonged, Remus was showing signs of real life, and now a prank on the horizon. Once Peter managed to crack a smile and Lily looked at him without wanting to hex him, they'd all be set.
"What do you have in mind?" Dawn asked, curious. It wasn't often that Remus was the instigator of a prank, but when he did come up with ideas, they were nothing if not innovative.
The werewolf's grin took on a cheeky edge. "Something to go off with a... bang."
That was, of course, exactly the right word to get Sirius and James moving. They hustled the other Marauders up to their dorm before anyone could appear in the Common Room to catch them out. Once their privacy was ensured, Remus outlined his idea and they spent the rest of the afternoon looking up the appropriate spells and collecting supplies. By the time dinner rolled around, they were all but prepared.
"So tomorrow at breakfast?" Dawn confirmed.
"Yeah," Remus grinned as they all headed down to the Great Hall together. "It'll have maximum effect then. It'll only take about five minutes to set up later tonight, and then we can set the Timer Charm to go off in the middle of breakfast."
As they walked, James and Sirius shared a grin overf the top of Dawn's head. A few people had done double-takes as they saw the Marauders reunited, and the boys had to admit there was no other word to describe what they were doing: strutting. They were moving through the caslte as though they owned the joint. Again. And it felt good.
Even Peter seemed to be catching the vibe and walking a little taller. When they reached the Great Hall, they shoved the doors open and paused in the opening to stare around insolently. Only when they sure the entire Hall had potted them in their moment of glory would they move towards the Gryffindor table to take their seats. The whispering about Sirius' hand enclosed firmly around Dawn's had taken on a life of its own before they had taken six steps.
Dawn plopped into a seat next to Lily, who was looking at her with a mix of amusement and honest happiness for her. "You'll do anything to keep yourself in the spotlight, won't you?" she muttered.
Dawn smirked as Sirius settled next to her. "You know me."
"Bloody Americans," the redhead kidded.
"Brace yourselves," Remus whispered, discreetly looking at his watch. "Five, four, three, two, one..."
KABOOM!
Practically the entire Great Hall started or screamed at the explosion of colour, many diving out of the way of the bright firework rockets whizzing about. Those who were unlucky enough to get hit with a rocket suddenly found themselves unbreakably tethered to another random, unfortunate person. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick were looking at each other in mild alarm, wondering how they were each supposed to go about organising their classes for after the Easter break when they were unable to move more than a few paces away from each other.
Dawn giggled, much more content to be joined with Sirius than Lucius Malfoy looked to be stuck with Severus Snape. Or Lily looked to have Peter's company indefinitely. One look at those two told Dawn that Peter was spending the day in the Library whether he liked it or not. A few of the rockets had zipped out the open doors of the Great Hall to go zooming about the castle. When they heard a strangled shout of alarm from the corridor, James' face twisted into a savage grin. He may have bewitched a few of those rockets to chase Filch around the castle all day.
The students who hadn't been hit by rockets soon crawled out from underneath the House tables and began to applaud the display. Some of the fireworks had exploded, raining pretty spark showers down over the student body, while a lot of the fireworks were still going strong.
Lily, who looked as though she'd be impressed if it wasn't for the side effect of being attached to Peter, tossed her napkin on her empty plate and jumped up. "Come on, Pettigrew. The Library opens in five minutes."
Peter shoved on last, enormous forkful of ham and eggs into his mouth before scrambling after her. The sheer force of the Prefect's stride propelled him along when he lagged.
"Lucky bugger," James muttered, watching them go.
Dawn just patted his arm. A long shadow fell over the four remaining Marauders, they all turned to see Dumbledore standing behind them, watching them with curiosity sparking in his eyes.
James plastered on his innocent little boy smile. "Hi Professor. Lovely day today."
"Oh yes," Dumbledore replied amicably. "Remarkable day, it seems to have begun with quite a bang, wouldn't you say?"
"I guess you could look at it that way," Sirius said as non-comittally as he could.
"I would like you all in my office after breakfast," Dumbledore said before turning and walking with complete serenity through the fireworks display to exit the Great Hall.
"I feel like somebody should be playing the funeral march," Dawn whispered twenty minutes later, when they were turning down the hallway to get to the Headmaster's office.
"Really?" he returned with a little grin. "All those rockets have just put the 'Roger Ramjet' song in my head."
Dawn snickered. "And how someone from the so-called noble house of Black knows so much about old muggle cartoons, I'll never know."
"If there's one muggle invention the Wizarding World would do well to adopt, it's television," Sirius delcared as Remus gave the password to move the gargoyles aside.
"Hear, hear," seconded James.
They stepped onto the moving staircase and knocked briefly before entering Dumbledore's office. He was seated behind his desk, sipping a cup of tea and merely waved a hand to indicate they wouldn't be detained long enough to take a seat.
"I assume these fireworks, entertaining as they are, won't be overstaying their welcome?" he said, placing his cup back on his saucer.
"My professional opinion would be that whoever set them off knew they'd fizzle out in forty-eight hours or so," James said, smiling.
"And the... effects?" the Headmaster continuied, nodding his head at the strip of leather tying Dawn and Sirius together, choosing not to request a confession.
"I doubt they'd last longer than twelve hours or so," Remus joined in. "I'm sure nobody would want to be forcing someone to share a room with anyone they didn't want to or anything like that."
"Indeed. I am sure Professors McGonagall and Flitwick will be relieved to hear that. And where is Mr Pettigrew this morning? It seems a bit odd to have him missing from among you," Dumbledore commented, with a miniscule wink to betray his pleasure at the regained sense of solidarity among the Marauders.
"He's at the Library, sticking close by Evans for the day," Sirius quipped, making Dawn giggle.
"Much good may it do him," Dumbledore countered. "Well? It's holidays- off you go and enjoy them," he commanded with a smile far too mischievous for a man in his position of authority.
"Righteo, Headmaster," James said and saluted as the group filed out the door.
Remus went to the Kitchens to collect a picnic basket so piled with food that he had to use a Weightless Charm to be able to lug it around, and they all went out to spend the morning underneath their favourite tree. Dawn had brought a few textbooks with her, she and Remus continued loosely with their study schedule. While they discussed the Goblin Wars with as much enthusiasm as they could muster for so dreary a topic, James and Sirius cleared out the picnic basket. Once they'd unearthed the chocolate coated peanuts and caramel popcorn, they lounged back against the trunk of the tree to guess which window would be the next to light up from the frequent explosions of one of their rockets.
Remus and Dawn's interest in History of Magic study was short-lived, soon they were tossing the books aside in order to bask in the gentle Spring sun. Remus lounged against the grass, folding his arms behind his head and staring up at the sky. His mind was on Isabel, but the thoughts weren't as painful as they once were. It was as if talking to Dawn about seeing her had unlocked some secret floodgates within him and the torrents were bringing along happier memories for him to grasp at now. When he pictured Isabel, she was smiling now, and his deepest regret was not having said a proper goodbye when the time was right.
Dawn had fished a tub of yoghurt from the picnic basket and was leaning back against Sirius as they both ate, feeling the rhythmic crunch of his chewing behind her. She smiled when he rested his free hand comfortably on her hip.
She was just really beginning to relax when a new thought came to her. Her eyes sprang open wide and she bolted upright, scattering a few of Sirius' chocolate coated peanuts with a flailing arm.
"Oh no," she gasped. "I just thought- what happens if one of us has to pee?" she wailed, holding up the leather tie between her and Sirius.
The boys all burst out laughing at her horror. "Might want to lay off the yoghurt then," Remus commented drolly.
Dawn threw the tub aside so hastily it spilled its contents all over the grass. It was then that she noticed the evil smirks passing between James and Sirius, and realised that Sirius was already holding her arms, pinning them by her side.
"Well this might be a bit of a problem then, if you're really worried about having to pee," James grinned, and began to tickle her while she was defenceless.
"No!" Dawn screamed, choking up with helpless laughter and trying to twist away from James' fingers as much as Sirius' restraint would allow.
"Remus, help," she pleaded with her best friend.
Remus grinned. "You sure you want me to help? Ok then."
He moved over and began to help James tickle Dawn. Still screaming and laughing, Dawn twisted and writhed until she fought her way free of Sirius and began to tickle back. But she was no match for three on one. Especially when the 'three' were all bigger and stronger than her, and had the distinct advantage of having wrestled her to the ground and were currently all sitting on her stomach and legs.
"Need to pee yet?" Sirius teased.
"I think you're crushing my bladder," Dawn whimpered in reply.
Sirius' only response was to test the theory by bouncing lightly up and down on Dawn's stomach a couple of times.
"Why do you people enjoy hurting me so much?" she pouted. "I thought you loved me."
She put on her best mournful stare, and it was enough to buy her mercy at last. The boys all piled off her and placidly went back to doing whatever they'd been doing before. Dawn shook her head. Maybe sometimes it was safer for her not to be treated just like 'one of the gang'.
When lunch time rolled around, they found Lily and Peter already in the Great Hall when they arrived. Lily looked extremely annoyed while next to her Peter looked like a man who had been stranded on a desert island for a month, surviving only on water and berries. He was devouring everything in sight, pasuing every now and then to fill his pockets to stock up for the long afternoon ahead. Lily glanced up from her page when Dawn took the seat beside her but did not move to take any food.
"Madam Pince know you've got one of her books within a hundred yards of food?"
"Oh please," Lily muttered with a roll of her emerald eyes. She jerked her head towards Peter. "I think Madam Pince was just too happy to see the back of him. We weren't there half an hour before he started whingeing. 'I'm bored, I'm hungry'," she mimicked.
"It was like a long car trip with a toddler. Or my sister. Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"
Dawn just laughed. Meanwhile, Peter was busy moaning to James.
"What do you see in her?" he cried. "She's the reincarnation of Grindelwald, I'm sure of it. She made me sit there and would barely let me say a word for hours. I was practically starving by the time she finally let me come to lunch, not that she would've cared if I had died of starvation. Probably just shove me off the seat and keep reading."
James just shrugged, his look seeming a bit softer than usual as he forced himself not to look at the girl in question. "Li- Evans is serious about her study, mate. She's passionate, alright?"
"She's psychotic," Peter countered.
James shot him a glare for one insult too many of Lily and Peter wisely turned his attention back to his lunch.
"Five minutes and we're back in the Library, Pettigrew," Lily announced, her eyes flying across the page even as she spoke.
Peter's face fell.
"Er, Prongs, have you got a minute?"
James paused to glance at Remus, his curiosity roused by the hesitant tone in the other boy's voice. Remus inclined his head to indicate they should step down an empty corridor to speak in private. Dawn and Sirius had walked a ways ahead, hand in hand and talking softly to each other. Both Remus and James were glad to see it; those two really had a lot to talk about. Peter had headed right for the Kitchens the moment the binding between himself and Lily had worn off and had yet to leave the comfort of the House-Elves' catering.
"What's wrong, Moony? You know how that serious face makes me worry."
"Sorry. I try not to think so much, but I just can't help it."
"You know thinking too much will give you wrinkles."
"That's worrying, not thinking. Besides, I'm a bloody werewolf. I've already got wrinkles!"
"No you don't," James said, looking offended by the mere suggestion of one of his dearest friends having wrinkles before his sixteenth birthday. Then he really looked at Remus. "Well maybe tiny ones round the eyes, but that's probably from screwing your face up at me all the time... yeah, like that! Er, what did you want to talk about?"
Remus just sighed and pushed James' not-exactly-heartening rambles from his mind. "I need you to do something with me tomorrow. Do you think you'll have time? it could take a while."
"I got no plans," James shrugged. "My time is yours, Rem."
Remus smirked. "Rem?"
"Bloody sister," James muttered.
"Well, I've got to go somewhere, and I don't know if I can do it alone," the werewolf continued. "Will you come to... Will you come with me to Isabel's grave ?"
"Sure," James said without hesitation. "We can use the Honeydukes passage to get to Hogsmeade and take the Knight Bus. Of course I'll come."
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it. What's a Marauder for?"
When the Marauders all convened for breakfast the following morning, both James and Remus were dressed in dark trousers and neatly pressed shirts. Only Dawn seemed to notice, her eyes clicked with comprehension after only a few minutes of thinking it over, but she held back any enquiries. While they were all eating, she busied herself felling her friends in on her plans for the day.
"Since it's the last Saturday of Easter holidays, I talked Lily into a little girl-time for pampering this afternoon," she grinned. "Of course, I hadto sacrifice my morning for Library time in negotiations to get her to agree, but it'll so be worth it."
Sirius patted her leg. "So you're telling me I'm on my own for today? That I'll have to keep myself amused?"
Dawn shrugged lightly. "Sorry, baby. Looks like a day with the boys for you. Besides, you know what they say- absence makes the heart grow fonder. You'll be missing me nicely by dinner time if I'm lucky."
"I'll be missing you before you walk out the door," he whispered in her ear, before lightly kissing the lobe and pulling away again. "Right then, poker, cigars and Firewhisky with the boys it is. Fellas?" he looked around at his friends for support.
"Sorry mate," James shrugged, casting a look at Remus. "Moony and I have somewhere to be. It's up to you and Peter to hold up our delinquency front today."
Sirius frowned at what felt like large-scale abandonment, but bounced back quickly. Peter may not be the most exciting Marauder to hang with, but they were still capable of making their own fun for one day.
"Ah well. We'll think of something cool to blow up, won't we Wormtail?"
Peter's eyes widened a little. "S-sure," he choked. He'd never blown anything up before. Not without James there to help him, anyway.
"Dawn, are you still coming?" Lily called down the table as she began to gather her things.
"Ill be along in a minute, Lil," Dawn called back and hurried to finish the rest of her breakfast.
"We should make a move too, I guess," Remus said and they all stood up.
He and James shared a sombre look, but they were unexpectedly interrupted by Dawn doing something she'd never done before. She fixed James' collar and then kissed Remus' cheek. She grinned at Peter briefly before smacking a kiss on Sirius' lips and turned to hurry away. Five steps later she paused, spun around, and flew back to Sirius.
"Have a good day. I love you," she breathed in his ear, stealing another kiss from him. When she reached the door and glanced back, he was grinning broadly at her.
"You ready?" James asked Remus, who only nodded in reply. "See you later, guys."
Remus and James went down one of the little-used hallways shooting off from Entrance Hall and, in the privacy of one of the alcoves, took cover underneath James' Invisibility Cloak. They moved stealthily through the castle until they were safely into the secret passage, and a short while later the two boys had stolen through Honeydukes and were standing on Main Street in Hogsmeade.
Nobody seemed to notice two boys who should not have been there appearing in the light human traffic of Saturday morning in the village, but James and Remus walked to a much quieter where there were less prying eyes.
"You sure?" James asked one final time.
Instead of responding, Remus took his wand from his pocket and extended his arm out over the kerb.
BANG!
They both jumped back as a triple-decker, purple bus snapped out of nothingness and came to a perfect halt right before them. 'The Knight Bus' was printed in shiny gold letters on the side. A weedy looking man who had to be almost thirty but still looked like a teenager appeared in the stairwell.
"Yeah..." he said without enthusiasm. "Knight Bus... Stu Shuntpike, Conductor... get in already."
Remus shrugged and climbed aboard. James gave the name of the cemetery West of London and the boys paid their fares. They'd barely taken a seat at a breakfast nook on the second level when the bus shot off so violently that they stumbled, and only Remus' quick Cushioning Charm saved James from a bruised backside.
There was no point trying to take in the scenery; if they looked out the windows for more than a few seconds the kaleidescope of blurred colour would give them motion sickness. Instead they sat in silence, munching absently on the bag of complimentary walnuts Stu had plonked down in front of them.
"Do you even remember when you lost your passion for your job?" James had deadpanned, but received no answer.
Twenty minutes later, they were setting their feet back down on solid ground, contemplating the wrought iron gates before them and what lay beyond. James just waited patiently and after a few minutes of gathering his nerve, Remus walked into the cemetary.
Just beyond the gates was a small tent housing a small, grandmotherly woman selling flowers and fussing over the arrangements tirelessly. Remus didn't even seem to notice her. A fair amount of his courage had been spent in just getting on that bus and then through those gates and he was busy rallying all his reserves.
James, however, had gone to look at the flowers. It just seemed like the right thing to do. He pulled his wallet out and checked how much muggle money he had. Ten dollars. He bit his lip and let out a soft hiss of disappointment. The cheapest bouquets were at least fifteen dollars.
"Can I help you, dearir?" the woman asked, her voice as soothing as a hot, sweet cup of tea.
James shook his head. "No thanks. I, er, haven't got enough, sorry."
"Oh, what a shame," the woman cooed. "And neither you or your friend over there have a parent here to help you out?"
James coloured a little, partly embarrassed that for the first time since he could remember he couldn't afford something he wanted on the spot, and aprtly worried about sliping up, saying too much and sounding suspicious.
"No... My friend just needed to come here before he changed his mind, I think. So we didn't wait. His girlfriend is buried here and he hasn't been back since the burial," he admitted, beginning to edge away.
"So young," the woman whispered, looking heartbroken on Remus' behalf. She watched him for a few moments, still standing off to one side and looking mentally bankrupt, before clasping her hands together decisively. "Well that just won't do now. I'm sure I can put something together for you."
James didn't know what to say, so he fell silent and watched the woman work. She began putting together an arrangement just for him, and he couldn't help but notice it was looking very much like the most expensive bouquets she had on display. When she was finished, he pulled out his lone ten dollar note and tried to hand it to her.
"Oh no, dearie. I couldn't. I don't want anything but to see you take those pretty flowers for your friend to lay down at his girlfriend's grave. There's a good lad. And you take care now, you hear?" she said earnestly, pushing both the flowers and the money into James' hands.
"I will. Thankyou," James said with a sincere smile. He pocketed his money and carefully cradled the flowers in his arms.
Remus blinked when the bouquet was presented to him. "Oh James, they're lovely. But I just don't know if I'm ready for that kind of committment," he said sardonically.
"Git," James whipped back. "You're not my type of Prefect anyway, mate."
Remus gave a slight smirk and took the flowers. Both boys well remembered the way to the gravesite, without another word they began the slow march down that path. His feet felt heavier with each step, but Remus kept himself moving until they'd reached the right row. James grasped his arm briefly before standing back to let his friend go on alone.
The grave looked different from the last time he'd seen it. The shiny headstone had been put in place now and the mound of dirt had been turfed and cultivated. But it was still so impersonal to Remus. Desolate.
He stopped at the foot of the grave, uncertain about what exactly he wanted to do now that he'd come.
"Er... We got you some flowers," he began. "Well, um, James got them for me, but they're for you. I hope you like them... You should have some colour around here, at least."
Careful of where he was treading, Remus skirted the turf-line and moved up towards the headstone. He knelt in the grass and carefully laid the flowers over Isabel's grave.
One finger reached out and, trembling, traced the 'I' of 'Isabel'.
A tear fell onto the grave.
"I'll never stop missing you. You know that, don't you? I'll always wish... I'll always wonder how things would be different if you could be a part of it. So much has happened already, but it just isn't the same to me without you."
There were tremors in his voice, but a tiny smile was on his lips as Remus sat, cross-legged in the gras and proceeded to tell Isabel everything and anything that crossed his mind.
James stood back and watched Remus creep up to the grave, tentative at first, but becoming more and more at ease with each passing minute. A long time passed, and when Remus ran out of words he sat in silence, memories of Isabel companion enough for the time being. A part of him wanted to stay. He could just just sit here next to Isabel's grave until the grass grew up over him and he was part of the earth, too. But he knew it wasn't time for him yet. He owed it to Isabel and to himself to keep living.
He reached over and laid his palm flat against the ground as if he could take the essence from the body buried beneath into him. Then he brought his fingers to his lips, taking the kiss from them and pressing it to the name carved into the headstone.
"Goodbye, Isabel," he whispered at last.
By the time he'd gained his feet, James was there by his side. They stood over the grave in silent reflection for a while longer before Remus gave a decisive nod.
"I'm ready to go now."
Dawn capped the bottle of nail polish and set it on her bedside table. Lily was studying her new glittery pink fingernails with interest.
"I can't remember the last time I painted my nails," she commented.
Dawn grinned, taking a Drying Charm to the redhead's purple toenails. "Facials, manicures, pedicures, who says you have to study to be constructive, huh?"
She finished drying Lily's nails, pulled the dividers from between her toes and took a look around at the remains of their girly afternoon together. The dorm room floor was littered with nail polish bottles, Honeydukes wrappers, hot towels, and a couple of bowls that had contained what Sirius liked to call 'expensive mould' for their facials. All in all, the telltale signs of a successful afternoon of pampering.
"This is just what I needed," Lily admitted. "Just a couple of hours to recharge..."
"But you're already itching to get back to the Library," Dawn finished, reading the look on her face.
She shrugged. "It relaxes me. I like feeling constructive."
"Then go," Dawn smiled. "I'll handle the clean-up. It gives me a good excuse to swipe that last candy bar, anyway."
Lily hesitated. "Are you certain? I can wait. I mean, we haven't done your toenails yet."
"Don't sweat it," Dawn said, waving her off. "I'll do it in the boys dorm. I think I've made Sirius miss me enough by now... well, he'd better be missing me because to be honest I'm kinda missing him too. And they're all secretly enthralled by beauty products anyway. I think even by readig the labels they can't quite figure out how they work or something."
Lily laughed. "I'll tell you what; if any one of those boys are sporting nail polish by dinner tonight, I'll owe you a butterbeer."
"You're on. Now go- the books are calling you home," Dawn cried dramatically.
After Lily was gone, it only took Dawn a few minutes to pack away all her cosmetics and accessories, most of which had been well-received Christmas gifts from the Potters. Then she vanished her left-over rubbish and se;ected her nail polish and toe dividers to take over to the boys' dorm. She crept on over, feeling a tingle of delight in her stomach. Once upon a time, she'd felt more at home in the Marauders' dorm than in her own. It was nice to be welcomed back with open arms. With only a brief knock on the door, she slid into the room and looked around.
Peter was scrunched up in one corner of his bed, trying in vain to get his holiday assignments done. Sirius was sprawled against the wall, a haughtily bored but astonishingly handsome in Dawn's eyes look on his face. He was pelting a super bouncy-ball around the dorm, using his wand to 'Accio' it back into his hand each time it came to a stop. His face lit up when he saw Dawn and he bounced to his feet with enthusiasm to rival the little rubber ball that had rolled away under James' bed, probably never to be seen again.
"Hey, baby. How was your day?"
Dawn smiled at his enthusiasm and kissed him hello. "It was fun. How about you boys, what did you get up to? I shouldn't be expecting a screaming McGonagall tearing up here anytime soon, should I?"
She playfully stared at Sirius, then at Peter, who just shook his head and returned to his books. Dawn but had no time to ponder Peter's apparent distance from her because Sirius was sighing dramatically and resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Bad day, baby?" she asked, rubbing at the hands that were now resting on her stomach.
"Uh-huh. Our big explosive prank ended up just firing blanks, so Wormtail and I spent two hours running around the castle with a mixture of seaweed sludge and cow intestines looking for a safe place to dump it."
"Eew. Not exactly sorry about the blanks then, if the alternative was firing that stuff. Where did you dump it, anyway?"
"Don't know," Sirius said airily. "Wormtail just said he'd found a good spot for it and we went to lunch"
Her eyes flicked to Peter, and she thought that the wide forehead showing over the top of his book was flushed. She was busily weighing up the pros and cons of interrogating Peter to find out what he'd done with the waste when the dorm room door opened once again.
"You'll never guess what we came across when we were crawling out of the Honeydukes passage just now," Remus said drolly.
He stepped aside, and there stood James covered in green sludge and pinkish cow intestines, not looking half as calm about the situation as Remus. There was a piece of cow... something stuck to the rim of his glasses.
"Meep!" Peter took one look and cowered behind his book with increased determination.
Dawn and Sirius, both sets of blue eyes widened with shock, just stared at James in silence. He took a long, hard look at each of his friends.
"Ok. Before I start hexing, does anyone have an explanation for this?" He picked a strap of seaweed from his shoulder and threw it down to the floor, where it made a wet, slapping noise.
Sirius looked at Peter, or at as much of the trembling boy as was visible, then turned back to his best friend. "Looks like you've been walking around with your eyes closed, mate. Maybe you should get your glasses checked next Hogsmeade weekend."
With a snort of disgust, James stalked into the bathroom and whipped the door closed. Everyone else in the dorm seemed to be holding their breath. Dawn counted to ten in her head, and then everyone burst out laughing all at once.
A few seconds later, the bathroom door swung open and James stood there in his gold boxers, fuming. He glared his supposed friends into silence then disappeared, slamming the door again. Without hesitation, he stripped his boxers off and stepped straight into a steaming shower. He scrubbed furiously at himself with the soap until the vaguely fleshy and rotten smells had gone, along with the grimy feeling in his skin. Next he doused his head in the water and shampooed his hair more times in ten minutes than he had in the past month.
As the last of the suds were washing away down the drain, James felt an icy prickling down the back of his neck, completely at odds with the heat of the water. He turned, opened his eyes, and bellowed in horror. There was a silvery, hazy outline of a person standing just outside the shower stall. James snatched his glasses off the vanity unit and shoved them on, wiping hastily at the fog in them.
"Myrtle!"
She was hovering on the spot, a silvery blush lighting up her cheeks and her eyes wide... And staring.
"What the bloody hell are you doing?"
His voice seemed to shock some movement back into the ghost. She turned her back on James to give him privacy, and also to hide the grin she just couldn't stop from sneaking out. James shut off the water and dived for cover beneath the nearest towel, wrapping it around his waist and tying it securely.
"Well?" he demanded when still she offered no explanation. His face was on fire. "What do you mean by sneaking into my bathroom and perving on me in the shower, eh?"
"I'm sorry," Myrtle squeaked, upset now that James was angry with her. "I didn't mean to... perv. Really, I didn't! Lily said Dawn would be up here, so I came up through the sink pipes to visit. When I saw that someone was in here, I was just going to leave, but then you turned around and I... forgot I was supposed to be leaving."
James released his frustration with a growl. "Fine. You didn't mean it. Now can you go so I can get dressed in peace?" he said, not leaving much room for discussion.
"Ok," Myrtle agreed. She floated towards the wall, but paused before going through.
"Oh and James," she said coyly, tossing a look over her shoulder at him. "You're very nice looking, you know."
He sputtered in her wake. "Merlin kill me now..."
Mrytle floated through the wall and into the main part of the Marauders' dorm. The four people in there tossed her a casual wave and a greeting, then all did double-takes. It took them only a few seconds to realise that the ghost had just passed through from the bathroom, where James was still in the shower.
A slow grin spread over Sirius' face as he looked to the ghost. Although he'd seen her, been in her bathroom haunt once before, he hadn't been formally introduced to Dawn's deceased friend until earlier in the week. Myrtle had whined in a torturously high-pitched voice for ten minutes about how upset Dawn had been with his man-whoring ways while they weren't together until Sirius had been begging for Merlin that McGonagall would happen by and catch him out of bounds. But once Dawn had intervened on his behlaf and he had half a chance, it hadn't taken him long to sweet talk her into liking him. He suspected the glow in Dawn's eyes as she looked at him had a lot to do with it, though.
"Myrtle, tell me you just walked in on James in the shower," he pleaded.
"I didn't walk in on him," Myrtle said blankly. "I floated through the sink pipes."
"Yes! Bloody priceless!"
Sirius pumped his fist into the air so vehemently that Dawn had to swing her nail polish bottle out of the way in order to save it. She and Sirius were sharing the space of his bed, Sirius pretending not to be captivated by the sight of Dawn putting funny things in between her toes and painting them a sparkly blue to match her already-painted fingernails.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly.
"S'ok," Dawn said, screwing the cap back on the bottle and putting it aside to prevent any possible spillages.
Mrytle had drifted over to chat to Remus and Peter, leaving Dawn and Sirius to themselves. Sirius leaned in to nuzzle Dawn's neck.
"I don't know why you girls are so into all that stuff for," he said, picking up a hand to examine the blue nails. "You're perfect without even trying, Dawn, so why go to all the effort? You don't see blokes walking around with colours all over their bloody nails."
He kissed her hand and dropped it back down. Dawn spent a few seconds weighing up Sirius' words. Sure, he'd basically told her he thought she was wasting her time trying to look good, but he had meant it because to him, she already looked good. She smiled, easily able to live with that.
"It's fun. And I've seen guys wear nail polish plenty of times, actually," she contradicted.
"What? Like strange American cross-dressing Muggles or something?" Sirius said. "They don't count."
"Yes they do! And I wasn't talking about transvestites, I happened to have been talking about some really cool guys who looked great with their nails painted," she insisted.
"Like who?"
"Like Spike."
"Spike?" Sirius repeated. "As in 'William the Bloody'? You're telling me one of the most vicious vampires in the recent history of both our worlds paints his nails? You're pulling my leg, baby, aren't you?"
She arched an eyebrow. "I'm not pulling anything, it's true. Oz as well. They wore black nail polish..." she let out a little giggle. "I remember I used to look at Spike's nails, all black and smooth, and I thought he was so sexy..."
He choked on the breath he'd been drawing. Dawn patted his back while staring innocently up at him.
"What, honey? You can't honestly think that I'd never had a schoolgirl crush on anyone before, and besides, it doesn't really matter if I did. One; anyone I'd ever had a crush on is now in a world I won't ever be able to get back to, and two; it's you I fell in love with."
"Really?" Sirius suddenly looked much more at ease.
"Really, really," she promised. "Now will you drop the insecurity look, it doesn't suit you."
"Well..." his eyes shifted sideways to the little bottles lined up on his bedside table. There was a black one. "Do you really think nail polish looks good on blokes?"
Dawn's grin was wide with triumph as she reached for the little black bottle.
"This is it. Our last shot."
"I know. It's all or nothing now. Do you think we can make it?"
"We have to."
"We will. Or we'll die trying."
"Oh just get on with it!" a voice interrupted, bringing a halt to the hushed, dramatic conversation.
Dawn and Lily turned and stared Sirius down. "This happens to be a momentous occasion," Dawn informed him.
"Not if you just sit there chatting all night and don't actually do anything."
Lily huffed, but accepted the challenge. The time for talk was over. She picked up her wand and trained it on the CD sitting on the coffee table in the Common Room. She took a deep breath and shot one last glance at Dawn for a confidence booster. She jabbed her wand sharply forwards, then waved it in a small cirlce whilst reciting the incantation she'd learned off by heart by this stage. The CD rose into the air and the girls froze in anticipation.
'One for the money-'
Lily raised her eyebrows.
'Two for the show-'
Dawn's head turned sharply to look at Lily.
'Three, get ready-'
Smiles broke out on both girls' faces.
'Now go cat go
But don't you step on my blue suede shoes...'
They were on their feet by this stage, limbs flailing everywhere. It was not quite dancing, with a lot of jumping up and down mixed in and a little hugging and squealing for good measure. Slowly, the squealing, the jumping and the dancing fell away, and all of a sudden, Dawn and Lily were just hugging. Fiercely.
Little tears had sprung to Lily's eyes. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, Lils."
They broke apart, and the four boys scattered around them gave a round of applause. Laughing, the girls made a quick bow each.
"Just in time, too," Lily commented. "That was Petunia's last Elvis CD."
Now that she'd worked the spell out, Lily took away the Elvis and broke out the CD collections that both she and Dawn had in the girls' dorm. She began to play the music she most enjoyed while she was in the Muggle world while the Common Room settled more peacefully.
Dawn had plopped down next to Sirius, taken her Dream Journal out, and was currently chewing her lip as her quill flew across the page, trying to keep up with whatever was coming to her mind. Sirius had begun to lightly stroke her hair and Peter was daydreaming, his eyes following the path of Sirius' hand. Lily frowned and looked closer. It almost seemed as though Peter wasn't really dreaming, but was jealously coveting what Sirius was allowed to touch. She shook the thoughts off and turned away. It was all in her imagination, surely.
Keenly aware of the way a pair of relentless hazel eyes were watching her, Lily fell into a conversation with Remus.
"You did well on this," her fellow Prefect said, and she perked up instantly. Praise always had that effect on her.
"Thanks. But now I can't help but wonder what else can be done to improve it. I mean, there's track skipping, fast-forward and rewind, random selection, multi-disc programming, bass and volume control..." She began to rattle off ideas as quickly as they would come to her.
Dawn had finished reading, and was now regarding what was on her page. Sirius turned his head and began to read over her shoulder. She'd scribbled the date, the time, and then 'Tara' before recording what was obviously a voice she'd heard only in her mind. He smiled. He could relate to the words, identify with them almost perfectly.
Things fall apart. They fall apart so hard. You can't ever... put them back the way they were. I'm sorry, it's just... You know, it takes time. You can't just... have coffee and expect- There's just so much to work through. Trust has to be built again, on both sides... You have to learn if... if we're even the same people we were, if you can fit in each other's lives. It's a long, important process, and... can we just skip it? Can- can you just be kissing me now?
Sirius tightened his hold on Dawn as she flipped the Journal closed and put it aside. A new song began to play, he recognised the tune and couldn't resist singing along to her.
If you said goodbye to me tonight
There would still be music left to write
What else could I do? I'm so inspired by you.
That hasn't happened for the longest time.
The other three boys and Lily were all gaping at him, but Sirius didn't care. Dawn's eyes had brightened and were fixed eagerly on his face. He pulled her up and began swayng her back and forth in his arms.
Once I thought my innocence was gone
Now I know that happiness goes on
That's where you found me, when you put your arms around me
I haven't been there for the longest time
At this point, James and Remus shared a glance and realised that the temptation to join in was just too much to pass up. They put their heads together and began to croon along, giving Sirius a hand with the chorus.
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, for the longest time
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, for the longest time
I'm that voice you're hearing in the hall
And the greatest miracle of all
Is how I need you, and how you needed me too
That hasn't happened for the longest time.
Maybe this won't last very long
But you feel so right
And I could be wrong
Maybe I've been hoping too hard
But I've gone this far
And it's more than I hoped for
Who knows how much further we'll go on?
Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone
I'll take my chances I forgot how nice romance is
I haven't been there for the longest time
I had second thoughts at the start
I said to myself - "Hold onto your heart"
Now I know the woman that you are
You're wonderful so far
And it's more than I hoped for
I don't care what consequence it brings
I have been a fool for lesser things
I want you so bad I think you ought to know that
I intend to hold you for the longest time
Whoa oh oh oh, for the longest time
Whoa oh oh, for the longest time
Whoa oh oh, for the longest time
Peter was staring open-mouthed at the entire performance, but a laughing Lily gave them an enthusiastic round of applause. She was too impressed and light to even bother scowling when James glanced back at her. Sirius, however, was busy sealing his sung pledge to Dawn with a deep, promising kiss.
A.N: Took forever, I know. Next up- life changes yet again for our young Marauders... R&R, love you all the more for it! XX00
