5. Flashbacks
Remus, Harry, Draco, Ron, Shaina, and Massie sat at a table outside Gerald's Italian Food Parlor in Diagon Alley. They were talking about the new quidditch season when Harry brought up a new topic.
"Do guys remember in my seventh year when you two first appeared," Harry gestured to Massie and Shaina. "I've always wondered what it was that you two brought Remus in the hall to talk about."
"Oh…that," Shaina said.
"Well you see…"
Flashback…Remus followed Shaina and Massie into the Entrance Hall though rather reluctantly at first. When they closed the doors Remus turned to them, anger evident on his pale face.
"Why are you guys back here?"
"Well…we…we didn't want to leave Remus," Shaina said.
"Our best friend just died," Massie said before Remus could answer. "Then my fiancé was put into Azkaban for it. I knew he didn't do it…he would never have, but there wasn't anything I could do about it."
"You could have stayed. You could have helped try to at least get him a trial!"
"Remus, believe me, we wanted to. But we just…couldn't," Shaina tried to explain, tears blurring her vision.
"Ha," Remus laughed bitterly. "No you didn't! You just wanted to get away! You couldn't handle it, so both of you ran! You ran away from me, Shai!"
"No! Remus I didn't. I was scared. I didn't know what to do!" Tears were now streaming down Shai's face and even some were in Massie's. "I was a coward, you right. I couldn't handle it."
"Neither of us could," Massie almost whispered tears leaking from her face as she faced the truth. "It's the truth. We didn't even stay with each other. We lost touch."
"What happened just tore us apart, inside and out. I quit my job and moved to America," Shaina said trying to calm herself down and stop the tears.
"You hurt me Shai, you never even said good-bye."
"Don't you get it Remus? That would have made it harder!"
"Then why did you do it? I don't get it! I can get why Mass left, but not you."
"I don't know Remus…I really don't know," Shaina whispered more tears falling down her already tear streaked face. She crumpled up into a ball on the floor and cried into her hands. Remus' face softened and sat down next to her. He wrapped his arms around her as Massie sat on the floor on the other side of Shaina, tears of her own silently falling down her face as she watched two of her best friends repair their lost love.
End of flashback…Remus finished telling the story. Harry, Ron, and Draco had no idea what to say. After a few moments Ron broke the silence.
"If you two split away from each other too, then how come you both came together?"
"Well…I moved to America and Massie moved to Australia. About two months before we came back, she was on a business trip to Boston, Mass. Which so happened to be where I was living at the time. We saw each other in the wizarding part of Boston and just stared at each other for a while…"
Flashback…Shaina just walked out of Sandy's Styling Salon in the wizarding part of Boston when she saw something or rather someone that couldn't possibly be who she thought it was. But when the person turned around Shaina saw that it was indeed who she believed it to be. Massie Calyn, her best friend throughout her time schooling, was standing not a few meters away from her.
Massie stared right back at Shaina thinking the same thing that Shaina thought. It couldn't be Shaina Ryans, the Shaina Ryans that she grew up with. They both just stared at each other for what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes.
"Ma-Massie?" Shaina stuttered in disbelief.
"Shaina?"
"Oh-Merlin," Shaina said. She could feel tears stinging her eyes. "It's been, like, sixteen years."
"Oh Shai!" Massie ran up to Shaina and gave her the biggest hug she could muster without squeezing her to death. Both girls let silent tears fall from their eyes.
End of Flashback…"We spent the next two weeks catching up on things we missed," Shaina said.
"During those two months I pestered her to go and see you, Remus. I, like you, didn't understand why she left. She said it was because she was scared. It took me those two months to convince her to go see you, to mend your relationship that was broken those sixteen years before."
Remus knew it was the truth. He'd heard it before, the day after they came back. He knew that they were just saying all this again to clear up any other questions the others might have had.
"Sorry you guys, but I must be getting back to the school. I'll see you all later," Remus said. After they all said their good byes he left. Just a few minutes later they all said good bye to each other and got back to their jobs.
Dear Mum and Dad,
Since James is too lazy to write a letter, this is going to be from both of us. Our first day here was pretty good except that in Herbology there were these two Slytherins, Hera Cortez and Mike Faison, who were pretty rude. James, Ashley, and I are going to take care of it though. We're planning a prank, but it's also a part of our "initiation" to be part of the Marauders The Next Generation. As if we wouldn't be in it anyway. Hayden, Katie, and Jen just feel like fooling around and "seeing" if we can "pull off" a good prank, as if Uncle Remus, Auntie Shai, and Aunt Massie didn't teach us all they knew too.
Anyway the first day of classes was boring, as expected. All they really did was talk to us all about what our first year would be like and stuff like that. I'm sure you already know that as you've already been through all this. Our teachers are pretty nice. Professor's Lipton and Treidson are cool. Professor Lipton is our Head of House, he's really nice. But he doesn't give Gryffindor's special treatment. And he shouldn't! Sorry James seems to think that he should. Professor Treidson is from Germany! Isn't that cool? After he was done going over what we were going to do this year he told us about Germany and what it was like there for wizards…I found it all interesting while James just slept. I did not! Yes he did. He's a bad seed. I can't believe he's my brother sometimes. Ah, but she loves me anyway. You wish! Just kidding, as much as he annoys me sometimes and doesn't pay attention in class…I do too! (he lies!) I still love him…somewhere deep, deep down. Don't pay attention to her, she's delusional. She makes just as much mischief as I do. Whatever, don't believe him.
Well Saturday we're going to explore the castle a bit, you know get used to it. Even though we have the Marauder's Map. Yeah, we're going to find more places, then have Uncle Remus add them to the map for us! He acts as if the REAL Marauder's didn't get everything the first time. Anyway that's all for now I guess.
Love you and miss you,
Marie and James
Marie read over the letter one more time, shaking her head at the things James wrote, before tying the letter to Grayson, their family owl (Hedwig was too old now). She watched Grayson fly off for a minute before turning and heading down from the Owlry.
On her way back to Gryffindor tower she bumped into two people she rather didn't want to see more than she was forced to…Hera and Mike.
"What's this Hera?"
"Look's like the Potter girl. Where's your brother? Did you two get into a fight?" Hera sneered.
"Ugh, leave me alone and go do whatever it is you Slytherins do," Marie tried to push past them, but they wouldn't get out of her way.
"No, I don't think we will," Mike said indignantly. Marie was instantly reminded off her first encounter with them.
Flashback…Marie, James, and Ashley waited outside the greenhouses for their Herbology teacher to come out.
"Mmm, when will this teacher come and let us in?" James groaned.
"Merlin I know. We've been waiting for like ten minutes," Ashley replied.
"Oh you two need to grow up and get some patience."
Just then two Slytherins left their little pack a little way's down the hall and headed towards them.
"Oh look what we have here," the boy who came over hissed.
"If it isn't the stupid Potter children and what, a Weasley kid? God that family has way to many blood traitors in it," the girl beside the boy sneered.
"And just who might you two idiots be?" Ashley asked coldly.
"As if it's any of your business, but I'm Mike Faison and this is Hera Cortez," the boy answered.
"Oh, a girlfriend? Already? Aren't we a bit young?"
"Shut up you!" Hera snapped.
"Well aren't we defensive?" Marie teased. The two Slytherins glared at her. "Now leave us alone and go back to your stupid little posse over there."
"No, I don't think we will," Mike answered coolly. The five of them were saved a confrontation by the teacher coming out of the greenhouse and retrieving her class.
End of Flashback…Marie decided it was best to ignore the two Slytherins and just find another way back to the tower, so she turned around and headed the other way. She could hear behind her Mike saying "Oh, look she's giving up" to Hera loudly. Then she heard Hera laugh shrilly, but soon all the sound of them was gone as she turned a corner and kept making her way back to her common room.
A woman sat down in her chair by a fireplace in a dark room with the light of the fire being the only source of light. She looked down at the completed translation of the scroll in front of her.
Hidden in the Trayjing CrevasseLies knowledge of dark power
To find this information you must
Learn of an ancient incantation
The incantation alone can bring you the knowledge
Deep within the Amazon is
A seer who knows allBring her what she wants
And learn of the incantation you willShe had all the information she needed to begin her quest for the dark power.
"Congratulations," an eerie voice hissed into the darkness. She knew that voice to be the voice of her deceased father. "You have finished the first part of the task."
"What do I do now?"
"Find the seer of course. She lives in the middle of the forest."
"If you knew this then why did you make me spend weeks translating the scroll?"
"Because I'm not aloud to give out certain information until you find out most of it for yourself. I am only aloud to be a messenger of certain information."
"I understand."
"I must go now though. I will not be back until after you find the seer and are back here."
"Okay then, bye father."
"Good-bye my darling Katie."