Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series.

Chapter 4
The Library of Banter

Silence was never more uncomfortable than sharing it with Sirius Black. His gray eyes were hard and cold; his stares could probably strip You-Know-Who of his secrets, and it was unfortunate that I was at the receiving end of them more often in the past month than probably any other student in Hogwarts.

Worst of all, I carelessly dragged my best friend into it and I wasn't quite sure how to get her or me out. The look on Black's face didn't suggest we could anytime soon.

We were the last ones on the pitch. The Slytherins were off celebrating and the Gryffindors were probably sulking over lunch. If Lacey and I were to be executed by Sirius Black's stare alone, no one would witness it.

I could almost imagine the engraving on our tombstones. Lacey Fenwick and Monica Dyer: Death by werewolf discrimination.

"I can explain," Lacey suddenly spoke.

I tried to shoot her a pointed look, one that hopefully hinted her babbling about explanations was the last thing we needed. She purposely ignored me.

"I was the only one Monica told, I swear," she continued, boldly addressing Black.

"Wait," Lupin said, eyes uneasily darting from Monica to Lacey. "Told you what?"

It took a moment of silence and a shared look with Lacey before I almost laughed out of bitter realization. Did Remus Lupin have no idea?

"Moony," Black started carefully, "don't freak out."

"Why?" Lupin snapped.

Black shared a look with Pettigrew, who sat stiffly on a bleacher, before speaking again. Then he settled his eyes on me, jaw locked and nostrils flared.

"How much do you know?" he asked.

"Wait, someone explain to me what the hell is going on," Lupin said snippily, glaring at both parties.

"Dyer!" Black insisted and I flinched at his tone.

Lacey was up on her feet and held my wrist. She was clearly waiting for me to respond but the thoughts in my head spun like a tornado and I couldn't quite formulate anything coherent. Sensing this, Lacey spoke up on her own.

"All we know is what you all are," Lacey said vaguely.

Black's eyes flashed, still addressing me as he responded with, "I knew we couldn't trust you! Who else did you tell?"

"I told you, just me!" Lacey said, tone forceful enough to get Black's attention.

"What do you mean 'what we are'?" Lupin said, eyes blank and hands shaking. "Sirius, you better tell me what's going on before I hex you to Romania!"

Suddenly, Pettigrew from the bleacher pointed a finger at me and blurted, "This girl showed up last full moon and we had to get her out before you could eat her, Remus!"

Black hissed, "Peter!" as Lupin yelled, "What?!"

Lacey and I watched blankly as the three argued in hushed, panicked tones.

"You gits! How could you keep this from me?"

"We knew you'd freak out!"

"We needed to know if she was trustworthy!"

"What in Merlin's name are you all still doing here?" the voice of a newcomer interrupted who happened to be James Potter standing in full Quidditch gear, dirt and grime on his arms, and a confused frown on his face.

His eyes scanned the group before growing the size of saucers as soon as he recognized me.

"What's she doing here?" he asked, voice hard.

"She knows," Black snapped, "and she told Blondie."

"But Moony–"

"I know too, arsehole," Lupin spat, eyes blazing in fury.

Suddenly the four boys bickered in raised tones, talking over each other like a bunch of angry pub regulars deciding which footballer deserved Man of the Match. Lacey and I stood there in silence and I wondered if they'd even notice if we left.

"You could've brought her to Dumbledore!"

"We weren't going to risk him finding out about us!"

"Better to risk trusting these people?"

Temper rising for God knows what reason, I opened my mouth and clearly said, "We're not going to tell anyone! So will you all shut up and listen?"

They fell silent at once, distrustful eyes narrowed at me and Lacey.

"Do you seriously expect us to trust you?" Pettigrew spoke first.

"I hardly think you have a choice," I said snippily, the growls in my empty stomach and leftover bitterness from the result of the Quidditch match fueling my responses.

The four boys exchanged wary looks before Black stood up straight, cleared his throat, and set his eyes on me.

"Tell me the truth, Dyer," he said. "How many people did you tell?"

"Just Lacey and only because she's my best friend!" I exclaimed in frustration. "We have no intention of spreading anything about your lot, okay?"

Lacey shifted next to me, voice firm as she added, "Even if we did, Dumbledore would have his wand up both our arses."

Potter's face scrunched up.

"She has a point," Pettigrew mumbled not so softly to his friends.

After a moment of silence, Lupin exhaled a heavy sigh and plopped on the bleacher next to Pettigrew. Black started mumbling to Potter while Lacey and I stood there like idiots.

While I understood the pressure they must have been in, I couldn't see why we were so untrustworthy to them. Okay, so we were complete strangers. We weren't even in the same year. They've probably never seen us in their entire seven years of attending this school.

Fine. So I could see the logic of their wariness, but it wasn't like they had a choice. I don't know how many times they scoffed at the suggestion of taking us to Dumbledore and unless they were as unethical as the Death Eaters running around Britain, they couldn't just erase our memories against our will either.

The duration of the argument was unnecessary and I preferred having my lunch in the Great Hall where Carter Robins provided a view rather than the bloody kitchens. I was pretty sure if they couldn't reach a verdict anytime soon, Lacey and I would be stuck with the latter.

"Just let them go, Sirius," Lupin said, looking defeated.

I blinked in surprise. Lacey's grip on my wrist tightened.

"But Moony–"

"She's right," Lupin cut him off with a sigh. "We have no choice. If you don't want to take them to Dumbledore–"

"We're not going to risk getting caught and let you suffer those nights alone, Remus," Potter spoke up firmly.

My shoulders fell at his sincerity but I could've sworn Lupin teared up a bit. Yet the moment passed as quickly as it came and suddenly Black was all business. He crossed his arms and gave me a threatening look.

"Clearly we have no choice but to trust you here," he said, "but I want to ask something of you."

"What, a pinky swear?" I drawled, too eager to get this over with.

"No," Black said flatly, unamused by my sarcasm, while at the same time Pettigrew in the background daftly inquired, "The heck's a pinky swear?"

"Every time you even think about telling another soul about us, I want you to remember that this isn't some third year broom closet snogging gossip. This is about a person's education, lifestyle, and well-being."

I found it harder to look at Black in the eye not because I was guilty of demeaning a person's entire life to Hogwarts gossip, but because of the intensity of his glare. I've never received a harder stare from anyone else but instead of spite, I felt respect for the boys in front of me, sincerely feeling the protective barrier they acted as around their friend.

Even cheesier, I don't think I've encountered anyone more Gryffindor.

I was more at peace the following days after the Quidditch match. Though still as bitter as Dad's morning coffee, the atmosphere after the disastrous match result didn't seem as depressing since the Marauders, Lacey, and I had that talk.

For one, it didn't feel like I saw them at every corner I turned. I'd only really notice them during meals, occupying the same seats and laughing at each other's jokes. Two girls or three would sigh in their direction but most students just sat around them, forming their own little groups while minding their own businesses.

Finally it actually felt like a regular school day. No drama; no werewolf-related concerns.

"Heard anything from your old man yet?" Lacey asked before sipping from her goblet.

My hands froze in the middle of cutting a piece of my chicken. Of course, in the midst of the Marauder fiasco, the imminent death by French verbal abuse awaiting me this Christmas completely slipped my mind.

I sent an owl to my dad a few weeks ago about the concern but I was yet to receive a reply. Now that Lacey so kindly reminded me of it, I panickedly wondered if his refusal to reply meant he couldn't do anything about my mother's insistence to spend Christmas with her or he was actually finding a way to keep his only daughter alive before the New Year.

"I'll take that as a no," Lacey said, eyeing my frozen figure.

Releasing a defeated sigh, I continued to slice (or stab) my chicken.

"Hey, maybe Martin's working it out," Lacey said, piling dessert on her plate.

"Please don't call him that."

"What, Martin?"

"Yes."

"But that's his name," Lacey said, reaching for another brownie square. "What else am I supposed to call him?"

I continued to chew aggressively on my chicken. "I don't know, my dad? Or you could call him Mr. Dyer like a normal person would."

Lacey rolled her eyes. "He said that makes him feel old!"

I looked at her, unamused. "If he's not old, then what is he?"

"Incapable of sending owls back on time, maybe," Lacey said, eyeing me pointedly. "You need to loosen up, Mon. Head to the library or something."

I tried to discern how she decided going to the library would help me loosen up. Before I could inquire however, a petite pigtailed Gryffindor approached Lacey from behind and tapped her on the shoulder. Lacey spun around and received the piece of parchment the kid was handing her.

She took one look at it and groaned in distress.

"It's from Slughorn!" she moaned. "Reminding me about my detention tonight. Bloody git, how'd he know I'd forgotten?"

"Maybe because you didn't show up the first time because you forgot?" I said flatly.

Lacey shot me an unamused look then sighed before turning back to face the first year.

"Please tell me none of your potions exploded today," she said desperately.

The kid squeaked and ran off. I snickered to myself as Lacey groaned in despair and begrudgingly stood, abandoning the array of desserts on her plate.

"Have fun!" I grinned as she stalked off.

Finishing my dinner alone, I could see Becca and Polly laughing while pointing at me from the corner of my eye. Too exhausted to bother with them, I quickly finished my meal and left.

Ironically, I ended up taking Lacey's half-assed advice and found myself in the library on a Saturday night. I've never considered myself the overly studious type who visited the library at any given time possible but it offered the solace I needed after stress-ridden weeks.

Lacey must have noticed this, which explains her peculiar suggestion. A wave of affection for my best friend washed over me before heading towards the bookshelves.

For a Saturday night, the library had a fair amount of people catching up on work. It was understandable seeing as the semester was nearing its end and exams before the Christmas holidays were coming up.

Yet, I didn't have anything academic-related in mind. Instead I walked straight into the aisle that was categorized for magical creatures and transformations. I ran a finger across the row of books, titles varying from exotic magical beasts to the most complicated magical creature transfigurations. Right next to the biography of a wizard who spent fifty years of his life as a Chimaera, I got the jackpot: The Duality of Animagi

But just as I was about grab the book, another hand reached in and plucked the book out of its shelf. I flinched back, turning to face the culprit who scanned through the pages, fiery red hair pooling down her bent head.

Miffed by her manners, I cleared my throat to get her attention. She didn't seem to notice; her eyes were too invested in the book's contents. I crossed my arms and stared until her green eyes flicked up. She blinked twice before straightening up and addressing me.

"Yes?"

"Sorry, but I was supposed to get that book first," I said.

Slightly scrunching her eyebrows, she tucked the book under her arm and replied, "No, I was actually looking for this book from way down the aisle."

"Well, me too," I said, straightening up.

"Well, I'm tutoring a third year right now," she insisted, irritation lacing her tone, "and he left his copy in the dormitories."

I looked at her, open-mouthed. "Maybe you could, I don't know, tell him to go back and get it?"

The girl scoffed, standing her ground. "I don't think you understand what I'm doing here. I'm offering academic aid to a struggling third year and you're trying to rid me of my teaching material for some leisure reading."

"Perhaps you could teach him some responsibilities too. Why would he go to a tutoring session without his book?" I snapped back.

"Probably because he doesn't want to study in the first place!"

"Yeah, probably not!"

Silence fell between us and we continued to glare, but the line of conversation seemed to go from arguing over the book to agreeing on the incompetence of her student. Despite myself, I let out a chuckle.

Soon after, the redhead burst into hysterical laughter.

I awkwardly stood as she clutched her stomach in hilarity. I joined her half-heartedly, partly amused, but mostly dumbfounded.

She managed to calm down when Madam Pince shushed her from the next aisle, wiping tears of what I hoped to be mirth from her eyes. Sad to say, when she took in deep breaths, the tears didn't stop falling. She hastily wiped each drop but I could already tell something was definitely wrong.

"Er…" I began incomprehensibly. "You all right?"

"God, no," she surprisingly replied in the same crisp tone, tears still flowing down her cheeks. "I'm so bloody tired teaching kids who don't want to be taught. That's supposed to be the professor's job!"

"So why are you doing it?"

She chuckled. "Because they ask me to. I can't say no to a professor."

"Er, yes you can."

She shot me a look. "No, I can't."

I blinked at her insistence and I noticed a glint by the collar of her robes. At first glance, everything suddenly made sense. The glint was coming from the gleaming Head Girl badge pinned to her chest and I finally connected the face to a name.

Lily Evans wasn't someone I typically ran into during a normal day. Despite belonging to the same house, we never actually had a proper conversation; though I did recognize her from the Quidditch pitch.

"Here," Evans said, handing me the book.

My eyebrows shot up and I hesitantly accepted it.

"Thanks," I said sincerely. "What are you gonna do about your kid?"

"Tell him to get his bloody book or he's not getting any kind of tutoring from me," Evans said, sniffling but looking determined.

With that, she left the aisle. I felt a tad guilty fighting her for a book I didn't even technically need, but I liked to think I motivated her to stand up to her third year student… or something.

There was no reason to dwell on it further. I occupied a table by the back of the library, avoiding any awkward inquiries about my textbook choices. Looking thoroughly invested in a third year reading material could seem strange.

I skimmed through the first chapters, somewhat aware of all the information it offered seeing as I bent over backwards studying them for finals three years ago. The coverage was mostly objective and historical so the latter part of the book was untouched by my eyes. It covered the basic process, legalities, and repercussions and I read through quickly, fueled by my curiosity.

The process of Animagi is immensely long and difficult. Only wizards with impeccable patience and skill are advised to attempt. The procedure includes housing the leaf of a mandrake in one's mouth for a month, reciting a specific incantation every single day for the duration of the process, and drinking the Animagus potion during a lighting storm. The specifics of the procedure are available in advanced transfiguration textbooks as this is only catered for young minds.

The legality of being Animagi is rightfully strict, at least in Great Britain. Unregistered Animagi are sentenced to Azkaban as the skill can be abused in illegal contexts. However, registration is fairly simple and open to public which does not give Animagi reason to avoid it, unless acting against the law.

"Bloody hell," I mumbled, imagining how many serious Wizarding laws the Marauders were breaking once a month.

"Interesting read."

Every single strand of hair in my body shot up and my hands slammed the textbook shut in an instant. I looked up and saw Sirius Black looking back, clearly unamused. I risked a sheepish grin.

"Just some, er, leisure reading," I lamely attempted, mimicking Lily Evans minus the mockery.

"Nice try," Black said. "Didn't we tell you to stay out of this?"

"I can't exactly stay out of it seeing as I'm already in," I said snippily. "I was curious how you were able to do it."

Black raised an eyebrow. "Impressed?"

"Mildly," I admitted stubbornly.

Black snorted and took the seat opposite me. He leaned back and crossed his arms, an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Four Gryffindor boys successfully becoming illegal Animagi at fifteen years old is only mildly impressive for you?" he asked. "I didn't think you'd be so hard to impress, Monica Dyer."

"Tell me how you did it," I said boldly.

Black raised his eyebrows. "With lots of bloody patience."

"'Cause it took too long?" I nodded in understanding, recalling the tedious process the book vaguely explained.

But Black shook his head and said in all seriousness, "No, because Peter kept swallowing the bloody mandrake leaf."

I couldn't help a laugh and the atmosphere between us thinned. He reached for the book and examined the cover.

"If you want details, I suggest you look in the restricted section," he said. "You won't get anything from this third year textbook."

I wrinkled my nose. "I think I'll spare myself the details and just take your word for it."

Black smirked, but before he could retort, a familiar redhead appeared from the shelves behind him. Lily Evans stopped by our table, a suspicious look on her face as her green eyes darted from me to her fellow seventh year.

"You're disgusting," she spat at Black, who looked unfazed by her insult.

He replied with a heart stopping grin, balancing his chair's hind legs as he leaned back even further.

"You're really getting better at this whole greeting thing, aren't you?" Black said humorously.

"Very funny," Evans said snippily. "What are you doing bothering innocent girls in the library of all places?"

"I happened to be passing by," Black said lightly.

"People come here to study, Black. No one here's trying to get in your pants. I suggest you head to the Great Hall where the Hufflepuff bimbos are probably waiting for you to make an appearance."

Black cackled at her vulgarity. I watched their exchange with much amusement. I'd never much cared for Lily Evans' feud with the Marauders (unlike majority of the Hogwarts population who fed off this sort of drama) but watching them up close was actually quite entertaining.

Evans' quick tongue was impressive, but Black's ability to match up was very endearing.

"What did I ever do to you, Evans?" Black said, still smirking. "Or maybe you're just disappointed you ran into the wrong Marauder."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Evans snapped, cheeks tinged red.

"Oh, you know exactly what it means, Evans." Black grinned. "Oh, how rude of me. Have you met Monica Dyer? She's a new acquaintance."

"We've met," Evans said snippily, still glaring at him.

"I find her rather interesting." Black's mocking smirk turned to me. "She happens to have a sudden interest in Animagi. Or maybe she just flunked third year Transfiguration."

"Don't be so rude, Black. At least she's got thirst for knowledge."

"Oh, don't be talking about thirst with me, Evans; I've got plenty of those."

I shot Black an utterly disgusted look mixed with some amusement. If he weren't such a right arse, I'd actually find him quite hilarious.

Evans on the other hand didn't hold back in giving him the most menacing glare (maybe for the fifth time in this particular conversation). She definitely did those glares justice. It was frightening just being in her vicinity.

"I don't have time for this," Evans snapped. "I only stopped by because I thought you were bothering Monica."

"Dyer's far from being bothered," Black said lightly. "If anything, she's the one bothering me."

I gave him a sarcastic smile as Evans stalked away with a huff. Black snickered to himself at his apparent victory then acknowledged me with another handsome grin.

"Oh, take a joke, will ya?"

"Doubt it was," I said.

"Not wrong there." Black shrugged. "Evans is a fascinating character. It's obvious she fancies Prongs but she's in the toughest state of denial."

"Prongs is James?"

"No, it's Peter," Black said, rolling his eyes as I looked unamused. "Of course, James! Though I'm not surprised she only started showing signs when James stopped."

"Stopped doing what?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

"Showing signs!" Black exclaimed. "He stopped asking her out! He stopped giving her gifts! He stopped opening doors for her!"

"Aren't boys supposed to be gentlemanly enough to open doors, regardless of romantic feelings?" I deadpanned.

"Really? Guess I never got the memo," Black said, me unable to decipher if his confused look was sarcastic or not.

The grin that followed gave it away though and I rolled my eyes. I wondered briefly how I found the time to banter with Sirius Black when I had more important things to do.

Like what, you ask? Homework, probably. Then I had a scheduled anxiety breakdown in my dorm room because of the looming Christmas break that my dad hadn't sent a word about.

That kind of stuff.

"As much as I hate to cut this short," I said as I prepared my things to leave, "Lacey's probably waiting for me in the common room."

"Nice try, Dyer," Black said, looking amused. "I know your friend's having the time of her life cleaning the first year dungeons with Slughorn."

I froze, blinking dumbly at him. "How–"

"Bumped into her outside the Great Hall," he continued with a smirk.

A crazy thought came in my head linking Black's convenient appearance in the library to mine but I erased the idea knowing Black wouldn't willingly look for me. He hated me after all.

"Well, explains how you knew I was here then," I dared to say anyway.

"Precisely," Black said almost immediately.

I lost my composure for a second, blinking absentmindedly at him before realizing how it probably looked like. Before Black could get any ideas that he affected me in any way besides blinding vexation, I hurriedly got out of my seat and wished him goodbye with narrowed eyes.

I didn't give him time to say anything in return but I heard an amused chuckle as I headed towards the door. In my hurry, I didn't realize another student was just entering as I exited until I crashed straight into his chest.

I fell on my arse at the impact but the boy barely even moved. I blinked the tears of sharp pain away and my eyes focused in a few seconds. I disgruntledly looked up but surprisingly he was on his knees next to me, stuffing my things back in my open bag.

He moved too quickly before I could say a word. Next thing I knew he was back on his feet, my bag in one hand and the other stretched out to pull me up. I took it instantly and let his firm grip pull me to my feet.

At the first full glance of his face, I almost gasped out loud. My first thought was Sirius Black but I just left him inside the library. Then I realized the slight differing features: thicker eyebrows, smaller nose, and a darker head of hair. And yet, he was almost like a carbon copy; the perfect curls, sharp cheekbones, and stony gray eyes were too on point that I had to look twice.

I saw Regulus Black quite often, despite being a Slytherin. He was in my year after all. But his resemblance to his older brother was something I never paid much attention to, especially since I barely used to see Sirius at all.

"Sorry," Regulus muttered before handing me back my bag.

"Thanks," I said with sincerity as I took it.

He gave me a formal nod before resuming his stride into the library. I stood in place for Merlin knows how long, contemplating on how strange this day turned out to be. When a second year Hufflepuff rudely asked me what I was doing blocking the door, I finally headed back to Gryffindor Tower.

A/N

I'm kind of back. Leave me a review. :)

-Finner