Authors Note:
Hi all! Thank you for continuing to read!
This one contains a hint of Full Moon fun, and a hint of foreshadowing.
I hope you enjoy.
Oh, and as a sidenote: Happy Ace Awareness Week!
A howl split the crisp night air, echoing around the sleepy town of Hogsmeade. Halloween was fast approaching, and the people of the only wizarding village were uneasy. Unknown to them, four stalwart friends ran up a passage to the most haunted building in Britain, no thoughts in mind but to make this transformation easier on their unfortunate brother. This night, like so many others, was carefully planned down to the last detail - Hogwarts had given up some secrets, now Hogsmeade would fall before the Marauder Pack. They were, without doubt, the strangest pack in all of Britain; a somewhat tamed werewolf running with a bear sided black dog, a majestic stag, a wily rat, and a shining unicorn. The pack broke cover and ran for the mountains surrounding the sleepy village. Playful barks and yips were exchanged, none thinking of the possible danger their carelessness could cause. That playful exuberance sent Padfoot tumbling down the side of the mountain, running back to the others moments later as if nothing had happened. Prongs tossed his magnificent head, Moony sending a challenging howl at the radiant disc of the Full Moon. The message was clear; even this curse was a blessing when surrounded by the loving warmth of a pack. Wormtail chittered excitedly, running back and forth on a rock deep within a cave in the mountainside. Padfoot gently bumped into a watchful Astra, dark eyes twinkling with a familiar mischief. A motion of a golden hoof cuffed the playful dog, Padfoot tackling Prongs for the stag-influenced maneuver. Life was simpler as the pack, there were no real human distractions in these forms - just the pure animal instincts, the need of the pack, the sense of something bigger than the individual. That was the core of the Marauders; they were more than any one member, but could be nothing without the whole group. Moony saw the fun that Padfoot and Prongs were having and threw himself in with a gleeful yip, Wormtail chittering unbiased encouragement to the four (after Astra was brought in sneakily by Padfoot) roughhousing Marauders. A woof of laughter from Padfoot meant a moment of distraction, a lapse that saw the black dog sailing down the mountain for the second time that night. With an ease born of these situations, Prongs distracted the distressed werewolf, letting Astra scaled the mountainside, returning to her human form as soon as it was safe to do so. Padfoot whimpered piteously from on top of a precarious rock, leaning into the ginger hand Rose extended. "Oh, Siri" Rose breathed softly, voice swallowed by the night. She hated the thought of what she was about to do - force a transformation - but there was no way she had the skill to heal Sirius' animagus form like she could his human one. Healing was a skill they learned by dangerous necessity - after all, running with a werewolf and pranking everything in sight was a dangerous business. "I'm sorry, Sirius" Rose murmured, drawing her wand on the handsomest Marauder and beginning the spell. Mere moments later, a gentle blue light gathered around the injured dog animagus, an unfairly handsome, shirtless Sirius groaning in pain and holding his ribs. Merlin, there really should be laws against men looking that good - especially ones that were off limits and among the only people in the world Rose actually cared about.
"The best healers are the most compassionate" Sirius groaned, pain crossing his features. "Remember what Pommers said. It's the care-"
"For the patients that makes a healer truly great in their ability" Rose parroted quietly. "I know, Siri. But what-"
"Non-verbal, Rosebud and make it quick" Sirius cut in, talking over her. "Broken ribs are no fun." She felt herself scowling at the impatience in his grey eyes. If she did this wrong, she could potentially vanish all the bones in his chest. That moronic Ravenclaw that graduated last year, Gilderoy Lockhart, had vanished all the bones in his leg while trying to fix a broken toe. And yet, Sirius had faith in her, so she kept that faith in herself, drawing a deep breath in through her nose before her wand raised. The pained groan that escaped Sirius' clenched jaw stabbed fear straight into Rose's heart. Had it gone wrong? "Mending bones is no pleasure cruise" Sirius gritted out, breathing heavily. He pushed himself to his feet, tugging Rose into his arms. She went willingly, falling limp against his muscular chest. At a wordless nod from Sirius, she ran her hands up and down his chest, feeling the solid warmth and unbroken reassurance of his health. Rose let out a shuddering breath of relief, and hid her face in his chest; up until now her healing had just been minor things, Sirius and Remus the expert ones in the friendship. His heart beat steadily under her palm, an unreadable emotion in his suddenly vault-like eyes. "I'm alright, Rosebud. Let's go" he murmured, well-bred accent deepening the words. Rose pushed aside the sudden spike of warmth (what was going on with her tonight, Merlin's Beard) and focused on his voice. "They'll be worried." Unspoken was the knowledge of what a worried Moony could do to Prongs and tiny Wormtail.
"Yeah, you're right" Rose agreed, nodding perhaps a bit to much. "Remmy will be worried." Another odd emotion crossed his eyes, but it was quickly gone. Sirius smiled once and brushed a gentle kiss to her cheek.
"Thank you, Rosebud."
"There's nothing you ever need to thank me for, Sirius Black" Rose replied quickly, watching the handsome man transform back into the loyal black dog. He barked and watched over her own transformation, leading the way back to the cave with a wagging tail.
Morning came upon them too soon, a rare occasion that the Marauders were unprepared for daybreak. They'd slumped into a pile not long before dawn, falling asleep in that darkest hour before day. The only consolation was that the Full Moon had fallen on a Friday, meaning they weren't late for any classes. However, their absence was sure to be missed - especially by the occupants of their dormitories. "Prongs. Prongs! PRONGS!" Remus' whisper-hiss brought Rose unwillingly into consciousness. James sleepily mumbled something, a sound then followed by something oddly akin to a forceful slap around the head. "James Harold Fleamont Potter!"
"That means you, Prongs" Sirius' voice muttered, Rose feeling a brush of air move past her.
"Wussgoinnon?" James slurred sleepily.
"It's past daybreak and I'm not wearing a Godric damned stitch!" Remus growled, louder than he probably intended to. Rose felt a horrified groan escape her lips, and promptly buried her head in the nearest convenient place. Judging by the automatic feel of arms coming around her, Rose guessed that place was in one of her fellow Marauders' chests.
"I did not need to know that, Rem" Rose said tiredly, feeling the exhaustion that usually followed their Full Moon escapades. "Not now, not ever. Ew." Rose felt a chuckle rumble through the chest she was hiding in, something oddly comforting about it. She was tired, she wasn't going to think too much about that. Remus' mortification was palpable.
"I was hoping to remedy the situation before you woke up, Rosie" the responsible Marauder complained sheepishly.
"Why?" Peter, bless him, was never the most perceptive fellow in the mornings.
"Because he's bloody naked, you fool" James snapped, quick to anger without his breakfast - as Bertram Aubrey had found out when he casually called for the extermination of all muggle-borns.
"But why in the name of Merlin's stinkiest unwashed underpants should that even matter?" Peter complained, rather petulant. Rose pitied the others for having to put up with him in the mornings. "We're all Marauders here."
"Marauders we may be" Sirius acknowledged, his voice vibrating from the chest in front of Rose. "But you're forgetting that our beloved Lady Astra is still, Godric preserve us, a person of the feminine persuasion."
"A what?" Peter's stupid question was punctuated by a loud growl from his stomach.
"She's a sodding girl, you tosser" Sirius barked, rubbing absent circles into Rose's back to stop her from turning around. "Now, Prongs" he continued calmly, as if sensing Rose didn't feel comfortable not being able to see them. "If you would be so kind as to demonstrate the remarkable transfiguration skills McGonagall is always harping about, and transfigure Moony some clothes, we might be able to get back to the Shrieking Shack before Evans sends out a search party."
"Or comes tearing after us, demanding to know what horrible, depraved, Marauder acts we've done to her sister" James agreed, humming happily to himself. Rose huffed, breath tickling the smooth skin in front of her. She almost thought she felt a shudder, but that was probably just her overactive imagination.
"Soon, Rosebud" Sirius murmured softly. "Prongs, I'm not even going to think about wearing that." James grumbled under his breath, Rose having the awful feeling that Sirius was giving James the finger.
"Very mature, Pads" James smirked, tossing over something that hit Rose's back.
"Prongs" Sirius' voice was a low growl, a warning sound she'd only heard a few times before - usually when the word mudblood was being tossed about.
"I meant to hit you?" James offered, but the excuse sounded much more like a weak question.
"You're just lucky it's a leather jacket" Sirius informed him sseriously , his voice taking on a more gentle note when he turned, metaphorically speaking, to Rose. "You can look now, Rosebud." She pulled away slowly and smiled gratefully.
"Thanks, Siri."
"There's nothing you'll ever have to thank me for, Rose Evans" Sirius replied, echoing her words from last night. Rose inclined her head in acknowledgement, smiling slightly. She turned to Remus, seeing her friend tired but healed, and wearing a comfortable pair of trousers and a loose blue shirt. He looked like any teenager on their relaxing weekend. Sirius, on the other hand, looked the very image of his bad-boy persona; his jeans were torn at the knees and covered with various suspicious stains that spoke of his nonchalant carelessness. The brand new black leather jacket (perfectly matching the one Sirius had in his truck back at the castle) worn without any shirt underneath just completed the rebellious image. Objectively, he would make half the women in the castle swoon, the other half either being too young or too related to him to see the utter perfection on display to them. Rose mentally slapped that little voice in her head, pushing it firmly back into the box it had inhabited for the past eighteen months, give or take. "We should get back to the castle" Sirius said reluctantly. "There's no Hogsmeade weekend until Halloween."
"And we won't be able to stay long because of our lingering tradition" Remus yawned reluctantly. "At every feast, a Marauder prank."
"One we'll have to start planning" James smirked, that look never boding well.
"Oh, how do I look?" Sirius asked them all, waggling his eyebrows just so.
"Like a complete berk" James told him cheerfully, Peter muttering mournfully to himself. Rose heard him anyway.
"Just once, Merlin, just give us one outfit he looks a right berk in."
"That's never going to happen, Pete" Rose told him sadly, knowing the statement to be truth. Peter nodded and groaned again, stretching protesting muscles as he got to his feet. James grinned at them all, a familiar mischievous twinkle in his eyes, and then took off outside.
"Race you to the shack!"
"That's a low, underhanded trick, Prongs!" Sirius yelled, legging it out after him. Remus pinched the bridge of his nose, avoiding Rose's gaze sheepishly .
"I suppose we'd better go keep them out of trouble" the werewolf suggested, coughing awkwardly. James and Sirius popped back in with identical grins.
"We heard that" James teased, shoving Remus playfully. "But, Siriusly, last one to the shack is a Grindylow." Remus' delighted laughter lit up the morning, rushing past the others with a bright grin.
"Get back here, Moony!" James yelled, sharing a brief look with the others before they ran off after him.
The castle corridors were still as the Marauders crept out of the grounds-castle passage hidden behind the statue of Godric Gryffindor near the Fat Lady's Portrait. It was still early enough that most of the students were still snug in their beds, dreaming of whatever it was that normal teenagers dreamt of. The Fat Lady was so used to them being out at all hours that she barely even batted an eyelid at the sight of them standing before her, yawning. Remus gave a jaw-cracking yawn and mangled the password, Sirius rolling his eyes at the bookish male. "Paravel" he intoned clearly, the portrait opening to reveal the portrait hole entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. Dear sweet Dorcas was the only one awake in the common room, sitting at a desk by the window, writing a letter to her parents. A fuzzy pink robe was on over her pyjamas and she blinked at the sight of them covered in Godric only knows what from their night out and subsequent race down the mountainside. Her dark eyes stayed on Sirius a bit too long for Rose's peace of mind, but otherwise didn't seem bothered by the sight of them.
"I don't even want to know" Dorcas informed them swiftly. "I'm just sitting here, minding my own business before I'm going to post a letter." She looked at them shrewdly. "Is there anywhere I should stay away from?"
"Peeves and his usual trick of dropping that bust on unsuspecting passersby" James recommended cheerfully, his hand already messing up his hair.
"You look like a berk, Prongs" Rose told him snappishly, Sirius glancing curiously at her.
"And that is night-night time for Rosebud" the grey-eyed Marauder announced swiftly. "And for me, because I'm exhausted."
"See you in three hours, after I kill Marlene for playing the Banshees again" Rose smiled sweetly, James snickering into his hand.
"They're not that bad, Rose" Dorcas made the mistake of saying, Remus and Sirius wincing in unison.
"They're Girl Wrock" Rose replied with dignity. She hated girl wrock.
"It beats Glam Wrock" Dorcas shrugged, and if Rose wasn't so tired and emotionally drained from the events of the previous night, she might have reacted better or quicker. As it was, Sirius was holding the tops of her arms, pushing her gently but firmly towards the staircase to the Girls Dormitories.
"You like Dorcas" Sirius told her quickly, reassuringly. "If you like we can prank her later. I'll personally help you plan and implement it." He looked at her with that puppy dog look of concern. "Just please get a few hours sleep first. For m- us." Rose found herself nodding helplessly - no one could resist Sirius Black when he looked that sincere and hopeful. She stopped just out of sight from the common room, and clearly heard Sirius turn to Dorcas. "For the love of Merlin, Meadowes, when Rose looks like that, either be nice or shut up. I'm going to bed, Prongs. I'll see you up there, or later."
Behind scarlet curtains, Rose tossed and turned, lost in the depths of a nightmare. Her eyelids fluttered, murmurs and screams broke free from her bitten and bleeding lips. She was running, running through her hometown, being chased or chasing something she couldn't see, but knew was there. Danger lurked around every corner, blood pumping fast through her veins. It wasn't the adrenaline euphoria of quidditch, this was the flight for life reflex. She ran around the corner, hoping to see the familiar turn to her childhood home, and came face-to-face with black mist. There were voices coming from the darkness;
"Lily, take Harry and run! I'll hold him off!" - James
"There's a spy within the Order" - McGonagall
"It does not do to dwell on the past and forget the future" - Dumbledore
"Lily and James" - Remus, horrified. Then there were just snippets of voices she couldn't place;
"Wormtail, go to the castle, tell them we need reinforcements-"
"Crucio!"
"He's a Death Eater!"
"Step aside, silly girl-"
"Join me-"
"Nothing less than the deepest desires of your heart-"
"Love is the one thing they will never understand-"
"Mudblood-"
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Rosebud!"
"Where are the Potter's?-"
"Tell me or watch him die."
"Rosie!"
A flash of green came out of the darkness, accompanied by cackling laughter and a blood curdling scream.
Wailing and shrieking and loud guitar riffs broke rudely into Rose's sleep, disturbed though it was. A rough jolting motion kept her from succumbing to the sweet bliss of sleep, Lily's worried voice joining the motions. "Rosie. Rosie!" Rose didn't think, her wand was drawn and pointed at the intruder before her eyes even opened. Lily's emerald eyes were wide in concern and fear, her hands spread wide in that universal gesture of being unarmed and meaning no harm. "You were having a nightmare. You woke us up." Lily's soothing tone equally calmed Rose and set her teeth on edge. But she was confused, so confused. She didn't remember a nightmare.
"I was?" The last time she had a nightmare, she had been seven and cried out for her father. Had she done the same now? Or had it been something even more mortifying that she had cried out for? Mary, the shyest and gentlest girl Rose had ever met ran back into the dormitory, breathing heavily. Her dark curls were in disarray, and her blue eyes were watery with strain.
"Boys, waiting. Common room" she panted, gasping for breath. "Black tried, get up. Slide. Stupid." Rose forced her jelly-like arms to hold her weight long enough to sit up, pushing strands of dark red hair out of her face.
"Lily. What did I say?" Her twin sisters cherry lips opened, but another voice echoed into the dormitory.
"Evans! For the love of Merlin! What the Salazar is going on up there!" Rose blushed, mortified, but raised an eyebrow at her studious sister.
"Well?" Lily glanced to the right, where Marlene and Alice were standing with a pale Hestia and still-gasping Mary, and perched at the end of Rose's bed. Were they back in Cokeworth, this would've been a normal Saturday morning girl talk kind of thing, but they were at Hogwarts, and girl talk was generally regulated to the times they had massive girls night pyjama parties with lots of chocolate and bad music, and too much complaining about James and his insufferable arrogant toerag-ness, ego, and inability to understand the word no.
"You were mumbling for a while" Lily began quietly, looking pale herself. "Then you went quiet, like you were listening to something we couldn't hear. A-and then, there was this scream, Rosie, it was horrible-"
"Like someone had been killed in front of your eyes" Hestia stated, always a sensitive soul. Rose winced, Lily shooting the red-cheeked witch a glare that said she wasn't helping.
"And then?" Rose asked coolly. She was starting to remember, but there was a piece missing.
"You said 'James'" Marlene said, matter of fact. "You sounded worried, like James was in some sort of danger. And then you screamed. I think you said-"
"She did say" Alice cut in, unhelpful herself. "She did, Marls." Rose glanced at her wand on the nightstand, contemplating hexing them until she got some answers.
"Black" Lily sniffed, sympathy and annoyance in her voice.
"Sirius" Marlene corrected, seeing the glint in Rose's eye. She saw it again in her mind; the wand raising, that green light, a boyish smirk of defiance frozen forever on the most handsome of faces. She promptly leaned off the side of the bed and threw up.
"Do you want to go to the Hospital Wing?" Lily murmured, rubbing her back gently. That was the last thing in the world that Rose wanted. She shook her head anyway, just to get the point across.
"Black, Potter, Pettigrew and Lupin are going to have a collective aneurysm if they don't get some answers soon" Dorcas announced, standing just inside the doorway. She saw Rose awake and smiled the smile of the desperately relieved and still worried. "I'm sorry about earlier, Rose."
"Insulting Glam Wrock is the last of my problems right now, Dor, but thanks" Rose said, noting how raw and raspy her voice was. Suddenly, the last place on Earth she wanted to be was in that bed surrounded by the well-meaning smothering concern. "Excuse me." Her legs were shaky, but they held her weight long enough for her to stumble downstairs.
Standing frozen at the bottom of the girls dormitory stairs, Rose saw the worry (if such a tame word applied) in her friends faces. Peter was pale, nervously eating Fudge Flies (his comfort food) by the handful, eyes darting continuously to the very doorway Rose was standing in. Remus sat on the armchair closest to the girls dorms, his head in his hands, body rocking gently. James paced wildly in front of the fireplace, dressed still in the clothes from last night, his hazel eyes tired behind his glasses. Sirius just stood there like a statue, grey eyes fixed on Rose with an intensity that also hid whatever he was thinking and feeling. His grey orbs filled with a relief that she could virtually reach out and touch. As for Rose, she didn't think, she just snapped out of her stupor and let out a quiet kind of sob. It was just a horrible nightmare; they were all okay. Empathy and warmth softened the unrelenting intensity in Sirius' face, the only decent Black opening his arms slightly in invitation. It wasn't much of an invitation, but it was all she needed to cross that final distance to his arms. Just like last night, she reacted without thinking, trusting in the safety and protection she felt whenever she was in his embrace. She could feel his slightly erratic heartbeat relax through the fabric of his loose, untucked formal shirt, his arms holding her closer to him. Another sob bubbled up from her chest, born of relief and the lingering horror of the nightmare. "It's okay, Rosebud" Sirius murmured, barely able to be heard. "Whatever it was, it was just a bad dream." She shook her head, feeling him unbalance slightly as he sat down on the nearest sofa.
"James and Lily and- and you. Green light and laughing, so much laughing. And I couldn't- I couldn't, Siri, I tried so hard. But I couldn't, I just couldn't. And you all, you all-"
"It was just a nightmare" Sirius said gently but firmly, cutting off her babbling. "You saw Ev- Lily, and she's fine; worried about you, but fine. And Prongs, you saw him pacing like a fool - clearly he's struggling to find words to get Evans to go out with him again. Which means he's fine" Rose breathed out a faint huff of laughter, feeling Sirius smile in response.
"Pads!" James glared, offended. It was Remus not Sirius who replied.
"Shut up, Prongs. Carry on, Padfoot."
"Thank you, Moony" Sirius said, Rose feeling a chuckle go through him. "And as for me, well, I wouldn't be talking if I weren't here, Rosebud. And I am sitting here in all my unfair, Merlin-sent handsomeness."
"Ugh" Lily's groan of disgust perfectly punctuated Rose's slightly hysterical but genuine giggles. "He's more conceited than Potter."
"Is it conceitedness if it's true?" Rose heard herself ask, and promptly hid her burning face deeper against the soft fabric of Sirius' shirt.
"She's got you there, Lily" Remus admitted, Sirius suddenly shaking with laughter.
"Your face, Evans, really is priceless."
"Black, I swear to Merlin, if-"
"No threats, Lilykins" Sirius sang in his most irritating tone of voice. "You promised to get along with us."
"I promised to try, Black" Lily glowered dangerously. "That doesn't mean I won't hex you into a grease spot." Rose heard the warning and tensed, ready to do Godric knows what.
"If you could lay off the threats of bodily harm for five minutes, Evans" Sirius began lightly, implication hiding in his words. "We might be able to rescue our weekend." Rose felt his arms tighten around her, the feeling inexplicably relaxing her to the point her tired eyes began to drift shut. The last thing she heard was the wireless coming on, playing the gentle sounds of a wizarding radio comedy show. She felt Sirius say something, but she fell asleep before she could think to try and translate it.
Thank you again for reading!