Disclaimer: Not mine (tragically)
Hey guys! So we're finally on the Hogwarts Express! This chapter is pretty heavy on Sirius, mainly because he's not in too good of shape at the moment.
Oh and I personally love Lily and James together so I'm going to be shoving them together and all kinds of things, just by the way.
Anyways, enjoy! (and don't forget to review)
Essie
Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side
I wanna be your left hand man
I love you when you're singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat because
You're gonna sing the words wrong
~Riptide, Vance Joy
"I'm up! I'm up! Rhaegar Nathaniel if you spray me with water one more time I'm going to bloody kill you!" Dany screamed at her brother as she rolled out of her, now soaking, bed. Rae ran out of the room, narrowly missing the boot that his sister threw at his head as he vanished around a corner. "Asshole!" She shouted down the hallway. Her father walked by.
"Language, dear. Now go get ready to leave." He dryly said with a quick wink. She smiled at him, still tired and walked into her bathroom to shower. She shivered slightly under the running water. It was freezing here and it would be no better at Hogwarts, which was also in Scotland. Eventually she warmed up and got out of the shower and quickly dried her hair before she dressed in jeans, leather combat boots, a long sleeve shirt and slung her trench coat over her arm. She pulled her trunk out into the hallway and down the stairs, leaving it by the front door, tossing her jacket on top. She walked into the kitchen to find that she was the last to arrive. She scowled at her brother and he merrily smiled back.
"You're welcome for waking you up on time, Dan." He said with a smile. She threw a piece of toast at him. It hit him on the nose.
"Well I'm not thankful that I got sprayed with water, cold water mind you, in the middle of a sub-zero climate." She responded and their parents looked amused. They all quietly ate breakfast and their father checked the time. Five minutes before they were supposed to leave. Before Dany and Rae were supposed to leave. The Minister and his wife couldn't go to the platform anymore, their lives were too in danger there. They would say their goodbyes from home. They all slowly walked towards the entryway to the house, where the children's things were sitting. Rhea hugged her daughter after both siblings had put on their coats.
"Be safe…and don't forget to eat three times a day. And for the love of everything good in the world, stop getting in detention. I love you, Dan." Dany hugged her mom back.
"Love you too, Mom. I promise to make sure Rae eats enough." She mumbled against her mother's shoulder. She glanced over to where her brother was saying goodbye to their dad and he grinned at her. It was a running joke, no one had to make sure Rae ate enough, he ate enough to feed a small town; he just had a fast metabolism. Dany's mom released her and went to hug and fuss over her son. Daniel Masters looked incredibly sad. Dany hugged him tightly and she felt him kiss the top of her head.
"Dany…your mother wouldn't approve of me telling you this but the war is getting worse. Things at Hogwarts are going to get worse before they get better. I want you to promise me something, Sweetheart. I want you to promise me that you'll keep those friends of yours close. You all are in danger. We all have to die one day, but the least we can do is leave behind one hell of a story. Go write yours." He whispered into her hair. She nodded a little and hugged him tighter.
"I love you, Daddy. Promise me you'll stay safe. Promise me you'll still be here when we come home for break." She whispered into his chest.
"I promise." He said back, "I love you and knock 'em dead, Sweetheart." She released her father and together, she and Rhaegar walked out the front door. They walked down the driveway and once they passed through the wards, she took her brother's hand and he Apparated them to King's Cross.
They appeared in the middle of a group of people who didn't even to notice their appearance. Dany released her brother's hand and together they walked towards Platform 9 and ¾. Once they were through the barrier, they both looked around and Rae almost immediately found his friends.
"See you at school, Little Sister." He said with a quick wink and then vanished into the crowd. Dany looked around for a few minutes and didn't see anyone she recognized. Suddenly, a set of hands grabbed her around the waist from behind, causing her to yelp and briefly wonder if she was being abducted. She turned around and saw it was just James and she laughed and hugged him. He hugged her back quickly.
"Miss me?" He said and she nodded. She hadn't seen anyone but her family since New Years and it would be an understatement to say that they had all almost driven each other crazy.
"You have no idea. If my brother woke me up one more time with a nice shower of freezing cold water from his wand, I was going to murder him in his sleep." She joked. She greeted Dorea and Charlie warmly and they greeted her in return but then quickly left, probably going back to work now that their son wouldn't be left alone. James and Dany wandered around for a bit and soon came across Lily. She tackle hugged Dany and smiled slightly at James.
"Lils! I want to hear all about this boyfriend Petunia has! You have to fill me in on the Petunia-Vernon love saga!" Dany told her. She had become quite addicted to hearing stories of the world's dullest couple told by, at least in her opinion, the world's most entertaining ginger.
"I honestly don't even know where to start…those two, ugh they actually make me nauseous they're so boring and compatible. That's not what love is supposed to be. You're supposed to be incompatible and make each other crazy! If you were supposed to be compatible they'd call it 'convenience' and not love. " Lily said with an eye roll. Dany nodded in agreement. She would bloody kill herself if she ever were with someone just like her. James watched them, amused.
"Is this really what girls do in their free time?" He asked dryly. Both of them laughed and Dany pinched his cheek.
"Oh please, we all know you boys gossip like the old ladies you are." She retorted and James looked scandalized.
"We do no such—guys. Guys, look." He suddenly said, interrupting himself and pointed to somewhere behind Lily and Dany. They both turned around and saw the unmistakable face of Orion Black, taller than most of the crowd and easy to spot.
"Orion. That must mean…" Lily said softly. The three of them stood up as tall as they could (Dany and Lily weren't much help seeing that both were shorter than most of the crowd) and tried to start picking out the faces of the Black family.
"Wait! Oh, no that's just Bellatrix again, it's not Walburga." Dany muttered a few minutes later.
"It should really say something if you keep getting mistaken for a middle-aged woman and you're only like 15." James said absently.
"Are we talking about my cousin? Bella does really look like she's about 40, doesn't she?" A voice said from behind them. They all turned around and saw Sirius standing no more than 5 feet away from them. They had been so busy looking far away they hadn't noticed him walk right up to them. They all stopped frantically scanning the crowd and smiled at him. Dany and Lily both examined him critically, and they were sure he didn't miss it happening. He looked worse than he had on New Years; Dany could have sworn he was skinnier, his skin was an unhealthy color of greyish yellow, and he looked like he hadn't smiled in about a thousand years, let alone laughed. Dany also caught the flash of pain as James clapped him on the back. Something was broken, her gut told her; a rib, an arm, something wasn't right with him.
"Good to see you, man. I'd ask how break was but…let's leave that in the past, huh?" James said. Sirius nodded and seemed about a twenty times more reserved and subdued than he had been before they had left Hogwarts three weeks ago.
"Hey, Sirius. Good to see you." Lily said softly with a genuine Lily smile that you couldn't help but smile back at. Sure enough, he smiled back, but it still seemed wrong, forced even.
"Hey, Evans. I see you're just as ginger as ever."
"I'm not a ginger, I'm a redhead." She corrected with a grin. She hated being called a ginger and they all knew it. Dany chuckled at her immediate response.
"Hey, Dan." He said tiredly and she smiled back and hugged him very gently, in case something was actually broken. He hugged her back with more force than she expected from someone who had barely had spoken more than two sentences since he had shown up. She gasped for breath for a moment as he squished her unprepared lungs and hugged him back but still was trying not to accidentally hit something that was injured. He released her and she took a step back, her lungs screaming for air.
"Hey, Dan…what's that on your jacket?" Lily said suddenly gesturing to the tan coat she was wearing. Dany glanced down and immediately started touching her own face and neck. There was blood on her jacket.
"I'm not bleeding am I?" She asked her friend. Lily critically examined her friend's face, neck, hands, and even her collarbones for any signs of injury, shoving aside the neck of her shirt and jacket.
"No, you're not bleeding." Lily said slowly.
"Not unless it's from an invisible injury." James added on. Dany suddenly looked at Sirius, who had fallen completely quiet.
"That's because it's not my blood…is it?" Dany said quietly. Lily and James looked confused but Sirius shook his head slowly. The other two looked at him and they both understood.
"Oh. Well in that case, I suggest we all get on the train and find a nice quiet compartment all the way in the back where no one will disturb us." Lily said briskly and they all gathered their trunks and loaded them onto the train. They had yet to see any of the others (Peter was still on holiday and would be Apparating directly to Hogwarts) so they found a compartment, the second to last, on their own. Sirius, for his part, looked like he was going to pass out by the time they sat down. They all pulled off their jackets on the warm train.
"Sorry about the jacket, Dan." Sirius said hollowly. Dany waved a hand.
"It's no problem, I can get it out later." She said. "Now, when are you going to tell us where it is exactly that you're bleeding from?" She said with a raised eyebrow and Sirius looked like he'd rather just bleed out than say anything.
"Mate, if you don't tell us I'll start taking your clothes off until we find it." James said, looking like he'd rather not strip his best friend down to his boxers but he would if he had to.
"James…is this really necessary?" He groaned.
"Yes." All three of them responded simultaneously.
"Fine…but only because I don't want to sit around naked…it's probably my chest again. Maybe my stomach."
"Maybe?" James asked critically.
"Yes, James. Maybe. Everything bloody hurts so I can't exactly give you specifics on which part is currently bleeding." Sirius snapped at him. James looked mildly offended by the cruel tone that none of them had ever heard come out of his mouth before. It reminded Dany of his mother.
"Sorry I asked…won't happen again." James said quietly. That had 'James' feelings are hurt' written all over it. Neither Dany nor Lily said anything. Sirius looked at both the girls who were staring at him reproachfully. He groaned and closed his eyes.
"Shit, I'm sorry James…it's been one hell of a week is all. After you've lived a week where someone's sole purpose is to torment you, it kind of leaves you on edge." Sirius said softly. James nodded.
"It's okay man, but please let us help you." James replied. Sirius looked at him and smiled slowly. Then suddenly his eyes moved down to the ground, where they stayed fixed.
"I don't think that it's worth it, you guys…" Sirius started as he shook his head.
"We just want you to be in one piece is all." Lily said softly. He seemed still to be apprehensive and kept his eyes trained on the ground. James and Lily both glanced at Dany as if to say 'say something'. She tried to think quickly.
"Sirius…you're no good to anyone this injured, yourself included. No one here is going to hurt you, I promise. Hey, look at me." She gently said. Slowly, he looked up at her and she forced herself not to break eye contact with him. She was pulling out everything that either of her parents had ever taught her on persuasion. "I don't want to see you hurting like this, and neither do they. Please let us help you." She said with a soft smile. They stared at each other for at least fifteen or twenty seconds, saying nothing. Then suddenly he nodded. Dany saw both Lily and James raise their eyebrows at the same moment the train began to move. Dany relaxed. `James clapped her on the back.
"Masters, my hero." He said with a grin.
"Thank God you said yes, I think my eye was going to start twitching from making that much nonstop eye contact." Dany joked and Lily grinned and even Sirius smiled a little. "Alright, let's see the damage." Dany gestured to Sirius who slowly took off his jacket and Dany saw where the blood had gotten on her jacket. Even through the bandages, Sirius' chest was still bleeding onto his white t-shirt. He stared at them like he expected them to do something.
"We can't do anything through your shirt, you do know that right?" James said. Dany whacked him over the head.
"Hey. Go easy, James. Don't make me tell your mother." Dany told her Godbrother. Sirius ignored the banter and Lily helped him out of his shirt gingerly. As soon as he was out of his shirt, he seemed to draw into himself even more, if that was possible, Dany thought to herself. He moved away from Lily as best he could and looked like he would rather them all leave. James tried to move towards him but he moved away from his adopted brother too.
"Man, is there anyone you will let near you? Someone's gotta take a peek under those nasty bandages or this is pointless."
"Seriously James? Rude much?" Dany asked him with another eye roll.
"Sorry." He muttered. Sirius didn't say anything but Lily got the idea that it wasn't going to be her.
"I'm going to wait in the compartment behind us. Fewer people in here's probably better anyways." She said and the redhead vanished from view. James looked at Sirius hard.
"So you don't want me near you…you want Dan to do this?" Sirius didn't give him a straight answer.
"James, no one wants to do this, it's disgusting. Believe me, I'd know seeing that I patched this up all on my own. She doesn't want to do this." He said, still avoiding the question. Dany had the distinct impression that he wasn't going to ever answer.
"I think I can decide what I do and don't want to do on my own. And I do want to help you. I don't have to, but I want to." Dany said softly. Finally Sirius relented.
"Fine…just try not to judge too hard, okay?" He said and he sounded very much like a small child. Dany nodded.
"I don't judge. James, why don't you go give Lily some company next door? Just please don't try to ask her out, okay? She isn't going to say yes." Dany said. James nodded and left the compartment, leaving Dany and Sirius alone.
Lily was sitting in the last compartment in the train on her own when suddenly, the door slid open to reveal James. Lily looked at him.
"What happened? Where's Dany?" Lily asked him curiously.
"Dany's trying to patch him us as best she can. Lucky that her parents taught her and her brother basic healing, you know Minister's kids and all." James said with a shrug, sitting down opposite her. "He didn't want me there. It must be pretty fucked up for him not to want anyone to see." James murmured, mostly to himself. Lily had to admit he was probably right; they lived together 9 months of the year and Lily doubted there was any part of Sirius that James hadn't seen.
"No one except her." Lily said. James looked at her.
"Okay, this is going to sound totally crazy, but do you think that maybe—" James started.
"Dany has a thing for Sirius? Absolutely. Thank goodness someone else sees it. The other girls thought I was going bonkers." Lily finished for him. James looked at her like she was crazy.
"Wait, Evans. I was going to ask if you think maybe Sirius has a thing for Dany…not the other way around." He said slowly. Lily raised her eyebrows.
"What? You're joking." Lily said. James shook his head.
"No, I'm not joking at all…after the ball, I was just wondering if you saw it too. He's never said anything about it but it just seemed like it was there." James said. Lily thought it over. It made sense. Besides, who wouldn't like her beautiful and talented best friend?
"She's never said anything to me either, I've just had a hunch is all. Well here we are, thinking that our best friends like each other." Lily laughed.
"Well this just took a random turn. Who knew?" James responded. Certainly not me, Lily thought.
"Should we be the official 'get Dany and Sirius together before we graduate' team?" Lily asked, smiling. Not that she particularly cared for Potter, but his best friend made her best friend happy and that was what mattered right now to her.
"I think we should be. It would be good for them, for both of them." James said, glancing at the wall that separated them from Dany and Sirius. "On an unrelated, and slightly less complicated note, how did your parents like the party?" He asked. Lily was momentarily taken aback.
"They thought it was great. Dad's always been so interested in magic, ever since we found out I was a witch. And Mom was really interested in all the people; she's like that though. She loves people. All people." Lily said with a smile, thinking about her parents.
"You have a sister too, right?" James asked. Lily realized that this was the longest he had ever gone without asking her out.
"Yeah…Petunia is, well she likes all things ordinary and Muggle. She despises everything magical…including me." James raised his eyebrows but didn't interrupt. "Dany always says it's because she was jealous of me but I don't know about that. She's the older sister, I should be jealous of her. Except I'm not…her job is dismal and her boyfriend looks like an overweight walrus!" Lily exclaimed and then realized that she probably shouldn't have said that at all, let alone so loud. James burst out laughing.
"An overweight walrus? Oh, you've got to let me see this guy sometime. That's truly fantastic. What's so bad about her job?" James asked after he got over the fact she had just called her sister's boyfriend a fat, blubbery animal.
"She works as a secretary at a drill company…drills are a type of tool Muggles use to build things by the way."
"I know what a drill is, Lily." He interrupted dryly.
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't sure because well, Purebloods. Anyways, she works as a secretary at a drill company and that just sounds so…unfulfilling, I guess would be a good word for it. I would never want to do that, it just seems like you're not helping anyone. And with the state that we're all in right now, I just feel like pushing papers all day is so…so insignificant, you know?" She said, finally admitting why she had always held disdain for her sister's occupation. James nodded.
"You feel like you have a higher calling?"
"Yeah…that's a good way to put it, I think."
"Lily, don't take this the wrong way but if you, the brightest person in our class, decides to become a secretary in a drill company that will be the greatest loss of potential that I've ever heard of in my entire life. And I'm friends with some really disappointing people. Like Peter, for instance." James said in a completely straightforward voice. Lily was rather flattered because he sounded so honest.
"I never asked but what do your parents do? I'm always curious about Wizarding jobs." She asked, trying to change the topic from her magical abilities.
"Oh, they're Aurors…an Auror is—" he started off but she interrupted him.
"I know what an Auror is, James." She said with a smile. He grinned.
"Oh, sorry. I wasn't sure because well, Muggleborns." He said, echoing her from minutes before. "Anyways, they're Aurors. They work right under Alastor Moody."
"Oh, what's it like? Being an Auror, I mean. Not working for Moody. That sounds like a nightmare if you ask me."
"Oh, they really love it. They've been at it for, oh about twenty years now. Right now it's pretty dangerous, you know with the war and all. But they do a lot of good and save a lot of lives. According to Dad there's no better feeling than seeing a Death Eater you caught being sentenced to life in Azkaban. I wouldn't know myself, but I'd like to one day." James said thoughtfully. Lily nodded and found herself actually enjoying the conversation and not wanting to kill him.
"You want to be an Auror?" She asked.
"Yeah…I mean my family have kind of been in the business since forever and when Rae and Dan take over the Ministry, someone's gotta be ready to back them with some muscle." James laughed.
"You know, I kind of forget sometimes; that Dany is going to be essentially running the Ministry with her brother one day, I mean. It's kind of intimidating, honestly." Lily admitted. She frequently felt overshadowed by her best friend's last name. "I mean it's not her fault that she was born into a particular family, but it just feels like sometimes when we walk into a room together, no one hears anything else after they hear her last name."
"It can be hard to deal with, I know. I had a difficult time with it when we were kids. Believe it or not, she doesn't like it either, that's why she hid her hair for so long. At least she had until she introduced herself to be anonymous. She might as well have her name tattooed on her forehead now." James said. Lily raised her eyebrows. She had never put much thought into why exactly Dany had gone to such lengths to hide her hair. It made sense though, her hair was practically white; it drew attention. She supposed that perhaps Dany got sick of all of the attention sometimes too.
"Yeah…I never thought about it. I would get sick of it too, to be honest." Lily said absently, trying to imagine what it would even be like to have lights constantly on your life. She couldn't fathom what that would be like.
"Yeah…and Lily? Don't ever think that your best friend overshadows you. You're amazing on your own, you know." James told her and she found herself surprised that she really believed that he was being honest and 100% genuine.
Sirius was terrified of her coming near him. She'd be so disgusted with the nastiness the open wounds his mother had left on his chest had become. At least his ribs were mostly healed. Last he'd seen his chest, it was still open and infected. It still hurt like a bitch too. But he wasn't going to let Evans near him, as much as they were friends that was a little too close for comfort. And James…he loved him like a brother but random discussions of emotion didn't really fly with him. So here he was, shirtless and covered in bandages on the Hogwarts Express, alone in a compartment sitting across from Dany. She looked like she was trying to think of a good way to go about this.
"Do you mind if I sit over there next to you?" She asked. Sirius shook his head, saying nothing in hopes of keeping his 'breakfast' down. Not like he'd actually had anything of substance all week. She moved over and sat next to him. "Are you okay with me taking that off?" She gestured to his chest and what was left of the bandages. "I'll do my best to make it painless." She added on hopefully, when he gave no indication either way. He finally nodded. She put one hand on his good shoulder, opposite the actual wound and started to work the fingers of her other hand under the tape and tried to get it off his skin. At least she had warm hands. They sat there for a little while as Dany tried her best to get the tape off. Sirius was doing his best to simultaneously ignore the pain in every part of his body and ignore the fact that Dany currently had both of her hands on his chest and was exceedingly close to him, her hair brushing his elbow occasionally when her head moved. It was difficult to ignore both mainly because there was nothing else to think about. Finally, she let go and pulled off the half-hearted dressing on the wound that probably needed medical attention the same day it had happened. She looked at it critically and pushed her hair back and out of her face. Sirius waited for some kind of horrified reaction but he got none.
"Uh, Dany? Are you okay over there?" He asked slowly when at least five minutes had passed and she hadn't moved. She tore her eyes off his chest and looked him in the eye, blinking.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking about the best way to go about this…I can get the infection out, I'm almost positive…but I don't know how to heal this without it scarring. One of my parents probably could do it, but it's beyond me." She said, biting her lip as her eyes flicked back and forth between his eyes and his oozing chest wound.
"I don't really care if it scars, if that's what you're worried about. As long as I don't die or look mangled, I'll be okay." He said half-hopefully. She nodded.
"If you're sure about the scarring… I have no idea what the original injury looked like because of all of the swelling and the, uh, puss. I can't tell you what it will look like." She said. Sirius shrugged.
"I don't care either way. Besides, there were really only like 2 cuts originally. They just didn't do so well healing in the dirt with no food." He said and then clamped his mouth shut. Shit. She wasn't supposed to have heard that.
"Okay, I promised myself I wasn't going to ask you how you got hurt but I am going to ask what your parents they thought they were going to accomplish by starving you. Damn, I knew you looked thinner. I'm never wrong." She said, now examining his whole body. It made him rather uncomfortable. Not only was he being scrutinized but he also happened to like the girl quite a bit who was currently looking him up and down. She pursed her lips and said nothing else.
She pulled out her wand and muttered a spell. Sirius resisted the urge to look down when the pain lessened considerably. She tapped her wand against his chest and he sighed in relief. It was gone. Whatever she had done, it had worked. She felt around her work experimentally and Sirius remembered for the first time that it was directly over his heart; she would undoubtedly feel his heart racing. Because it was. Because she was no more than six inches away from him and her hair had fallen back into her face and it was tickling his arm again. "Not too bad, if I do say so myself. Go ahead, take a look." She said and got a mirror out of her bag and handed it to him, sitting down much farther away than she just had been.
He looked down in the mirror and agreed with her. She had done a pretty bang up job, especially considering she was only 14 and a Third Year. The infection had cleared out and it had healed into two, clean, crisscrossing lines over his heart.
"I'm impressed, not going to lie." He said with a grateful smile. She smiled back at him, relief apparent on her face, "Who taught you how to do that?"
"My dad. He thought it was good for me and Rae to know how to heal. Except my brother never took a real interest in it so he quit. Dad kept teaching me though because I wanted to learn how to help in anyway I could. My skills just aren't…super refined. I can keep you from bleeding out but it isn't going to look pretty." She replied. Sirius nodded. Seemed like Daniel Masters, from the little he knew about him from his limited personal experience with the man. "Now, is there any other part of you that needs attention?" She asked, going back to the original topic. Sirius really wished she had worded that differently. He physically had to bite his tongue from replying with the first thing that came to mind. He really wanted to say 'all of me. Now can we please make out for the rest of the train ride?' but he held his tongue. That was not going to go over well so he didn't say it.
"Uh, yeah I can't tell if I have a concussion or am just really dehydrated…everything starts spinning occasionally." Dany scooted closer and looked at his eyes.
"Your pupils look normal but I can take a look at your head." She said and he nodded. "Alright turn around." He turned so his back was to her and he felt her gently moving her hands over his scalp, looking for blood or anything that seemed wrong. "Um, you're a little too tall for me to see the top of your head so don't mind the fact I'm going to use your shoulders to balance myself on my knees. Because you know, we're on a moving train." She said and he nodded as she put her hands on his shoulders. A hand would occasionally move from his shoulders to head but eventually she let go and said, "There's nothing wrong with your head…well no more than usual." She joked and he rolled his eyes. "It's probably just dehydration…and hunger I'm guessing. Speaking of which…" She stood up and grabbed something out of her bag and tossed it to him, "Have a sandwich."
"Dan, I'm not eating your food."
"Well, there's no way I can eat it with a clean conscious knowing that you haven't eaten anything decent, if anything at all, since I last saw you. So shut up and eat the sandwich." Dany told him. She watched him eat the sandwich with a raised eyebrow. She didn't try to get him to talk, which he appreciated because he was very content just shoving the sandwich in his mouth as fast as possible. He finished in a couple minutes.
"Thanks for the food." He said quietly.
"Don't worry about it…now are you going to tell me why your parents felt the need to starve you out?" She asked him.
"The usual…I'm a disgrace to the family, your brother should have been born first, Regulus is a better son, blood traitor filth, blah, blah, blah. Hey at least they gave me some water sometimes." Dany raised her eyebrows at the last part.
"They gave you water? You're their son not their dog. What the fuck is wrong with these people?" She snapped, mainly to herself. Sirius realized this really had nothing to do with him at the moment. For a second he saw her eyes go angry; it was the kind of anger that usually only lasted for seconds but could burn down entire cities if it lasted any longer. It was dangerous. For the first time, he understood what people were talking about when they spoke of Daniel Masters' temper; clearly, his daughter had inherited it. Suddenly a quill flew out of Lily's bag of its own accord and impaled itself into the wall across from the bag it had previously been in. Sirius looked at Dany. She hadn't even noticed it had happened.
"Uh…Dany? Did you just see that?" She focused back on what he was saying and clearly had no clue what he was talking about.
"See what?"
"Um…one of Lily's quills, it just kind of came out of her bag and stabbed itself into the wall…all the way over there." He said, pointing to the quill where it was still sticking out of the wood. Dany looked mildly annoyed.
"Damn. I finally thought I was getting it under control. There goes my streak." She said as she stood on her seat and pulled it out of the wall like nothing was really out of the ordinary about a quill stabbing itself into a wall like it had been made of steel.
"Would you care to explain that to me?" Sirius said slowly.
"Your parents never told you? Huh, well everyone has energy floating around them, right?" Sirius nodded, "That energy is called an aura, and everyone, even Muggles, have one. Witches and wizard's energy is of course, magical. And like everyone else's, including Muggles, it fluctuates with their mood and emotions. But unlike Muggles, the energy is stronger or weaker, depending on the magical capabilities of the wizard or, in this case, witch. The stronger the person, the more…physical the aura becomes because there's nowhere else for any excess magic to go. You've seriously never heard of this?" She asked.
"No…none of this is familiar. I mean it kind of sounds like accidental magic, to be honest. What does all of this have to do with that?" Sirius replied, gesturing to the quill in Dany's hand.
"Well, auras carry our extra magic around right? So say, when a witch gets upset, her aura throws things into walls or breaks something. Or trips someone or even pushes someone out of the way, you get the point. Your aura is your magic acting out because you can't control your emotions. It's like a little kid who throws things when it gets angry."
"So…that was you?" Sirius said slowly.
"Yeah, that was me. I've been trying to get it under control and it hasn't been going too bad…until just now, clearly." She said with a shrug.
"What particular emotion would make you want to impale a wall?" Sirius asked slowly.
"That was anger…and bloodlust." She said, clearly debating in adding the second part.
"Bloodlust?"
"If it was just anger, something would have just broken; like the window probably would have gotten it if I had been purely angry. I can't really stop it, I just have to stop my emotions before they become too…intense." She said. "I'm honestly surprised that you've never had anything like that happen to you; most witches and wizards have it happen to them at least once in their lives. And you're not what I'd call of average horsepower either." Dany said, looking at him skeptically. "You're awfully strong to have never had an outburst."
"Maybe I'm just good at controlling my emotions." Sirius said, unsure of what exactly had just been explained to him.
"Maybe…I don't know why but people definitely tend to have it happen more once they know about it so we shall see." She said with a shrug, "But don't get me wrong, your aura doesn't only react to negative emotions; there are positive ones too like love and excitement. They're powerful, more intense than anything negative emotions can produce."
"More intense than that?" Sirius asked, nodding towards the quill.
"Absolutely. That was just a temper tantrum, really. But incredible things come of love and empathy and happiness; things Muggles would call miracles. You know my brother was born with a cleft palate? It was pretty severe too." She asked.
"No, I had no idea. I see he remedied that somehow." Sirius said with raised eyebrows.
"It was my mom. They handed her a son, her firstborn, and he had a major deformity. She was devastated but of course she loved him, he was her son, her baby boy. He started crying and she touched his face to calm him down and it just…vanished. Dad saw the whole thing happen." Dany said.
"Seriously?"
"Yep…I told you that what just happened was pretty minor. Anyways, do you have anymore problems for me to fix with my magical healing powers?" she said with a little laugh and a grin. Sirius thought for a second.
"Um, I think I might have a couple broken ribs but I'm not sure. Something definitely broke the skin though." He said and she looked at his abdomen critically making him wish he had done more crunches in his life. The longer she stared, the flabbier he felt. She poked a spot and he winced.
"Yeah, I found it…okay this is going to smart, just be aware…episkey." He winced and tried not to groan. He prodded the area and it was painless.
"You're a wonderful human being. Thank you so much." He said and she laughed again.
"Oh, I'm not done being a goddess. I can even clean your shirt." She grabbed his shirt and muttered a spell he didn't catch and tossed it to him. And it actually was clean. She tapped her jacket and the bloodstain vanished. "No blood, no foul." She said with a grin that quickly faded. "But seriously, what did they do to you? This isn't you, Sirius. You're not this withdrawn of a person." She said softly. She sounded quite concerned, actually. He looked at her and he could tell that she really wanted him to tell her the truth. To everyone's surprise, Sirius included, he caved. Well, for the most part. No way in Hell he was telling her that this had mostly been over her.
"My parents…didn't take well to my attitude towards them the night we got back from New Years. Truth be told, I'd been mouthing off for weeks knowing they couldn't do anything until after New Years…so as soon as we went home, things went to hell. I was trapped in the basement the whole time; it was bloody frigid, just by the way I don't suggest a basement in January to anyone. It was just…nonstop for days. Most of the damage, all of this, was done in the first two. The rest of the time was…well let's just leave it at my mom likes to play mind games with people. She finds your fears, your weaknesses and plays with them, she intensifies them and makes them so real that it's terrifying…she's also a real fan of the Cruciatus Curse, which is always delightful." Dany's mouth opened in shock and Sirius realized what he'd said. "Shit, no don't tell anyone that I told you that. Damn, I wasn't going to say that out loud. Forget that part." He quickly said.
"Sirius…my God, how often does that happen?" She asked, clearly ignoring the 'let it go' request. Not like he could really blame her. It was outrageously illegal.
"Dan, please don't. I'm used to it." He said, trying to brush it off.
"Used to it? You've got to be kidding me. What if James came to you and said 'yeah man, you know the Cruciatus Curse, but its okay I'm used to it.' Seriously? Seriously?" She said. He knew she was right. But she absolutely had to stay away from his parents. They wanted to get their hands on her in a bad way and he was not going to let them get within spitting distance of her. "If this was reversed and that had just come out of my mouth, how would you be acting? You'd be pissed…Well I'd hope you'd be." She added on at the end. Pissed would be a spectacular understatement. He would be livid and he knew it.
"Honestly? If this were reversed I'd probably try to go kill them, I'm not going to lie to you. And the only reason I say that is because I've lived it; and there are very few people in the world that deserve that kind of pain." He responded quietly. There was a resounding silence. Finally she broke it, speaking in a voice he had never heard from her before. For once, there was no smile or laugh, no anger or angst in her voice. She sounded incredibly sad and incredibly sympathetic.
"Sirius, you think you're one of them?" He looked up at her and she looked incredibly upset at this piece of information. He shrugged; mainly because he'd never given it much thought. "You think you deserve to be treated like that?" He said nothing and she continued, "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you deserve to be treated like you're nothing. You matter; don't let them convince you otherwise."
"Dan…the things I've done and seen…" Sirius started. He had been in awful places and seen horrific things.
"You're not what you've done or what you've seen. That doesn't mean you're a bad person because you've seen horrible things."
"You don't understand. You can't understand." Sirius said, begging her to let it go.
"Help me understand then. I don't even know what I'm talking about, to be honest. You won't let any of us in." She told him. Sirius knew it was true. He didn't let people in because people he cared about tended to get hurt.
"Horrible things happen to the people I let in. The best thing I can do for the people I care about is to keep them out of this mess." He said and Dany leaned forward, putting her elbow on her knee and her head in her hand. She stared at him and said nothing. "You're just going to sit there until I tell you, aren't you?" She continued to silently stare. He could feel her eyes boring into his face. "Of course you are. Fine, I'll tell you. What do you want to know?" He sighed. She finally moved and stopped staring.
"What have you seen that's horrible you think you deserve to be treated the way you are? What's your great crime against humanity?" She asked quietly but still unafraid.
"My family…well let me start by saying that even though the war is relatively new, in terms of being big news, it's been a long time in the making." Dany raised her eyebrows. Sirius wasn't surprised that she didn't know this. Her father was the Minister; he wasn't exactly privy to all of the sketchy comings and goings of the darker parts of the Wizarding World. "Just before I started Hogwarts, I was probably around 10, we had a visitor. Regulus and I were shooed upstairs to our rooms and Kreacher put us in some dreadful dress robes for little kids.
"Eventually, we were called downstairs and my entire family was there. My parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, grandparents, everyone was there. There was also a man that I didn't recognize. The weird part was that he didn't look…quite human. His eyes were all wrong; the pupils were slits, like a snake's. Regulus freaked, he hid behind me and refused to let go of my sleeve when he saw the guy; he was just a kid, only nine or so. He bloody terrified me too, you know. Except Reg was already hiding and we couldn't both run away so I sucked it up and when the guy greeted me I shook his hand. I think deep down, I knew something wasn't right; everyone was too on edge and my mother looked at the guy like she fucking loved him.
"He started asking me questions about my family…and what I thought about Muggleborns." Dany's gaze sharpened. He suspected she knew where this was going. "I'd never met a Muggleborn in my life, I didn't know any better, so I just restated something that my parents had told me a million times. He liked the answers I gave him, I think. He asked me if I'd help him with something when I was older, after I'd gone to Hogwarts and learned how to do magic properly. He asked me if I'd get a tattoo from him, like my parents had, when I turned sixteen. I had no clue what the guy meant so I said yes." Dany looked at him critically, not like she was judging, but like she was trying to discern what exactly had happened.
"Sirius…did you accidentally agree to be a Death Eater when you were ten?" She asked slowly. Like she wasn't sure if she had completely misinterpreted what she had just heard.
"Yeah…I kinda promised Voldemort I'd be a Death Eater when I grew up. God, the worst part was that I believed all that shit. Until I met Lily, one of the best people I know, I seriously used the term 'mudblood'. I can never forgive myself for what I did that day. It just makes me feel…dirty." Sirius said. Dany looked sad. He vaguely wondered if she'd hate him after hearing that. If he was her, he'd walk out of the room and never come back.
"Well, your childhood sounds way more dramatic than mine was. But you said it yourself, you didn't know any better. You were just going along with your parents, and probably everyone else you knew. There was no one to show you that there was a different way to live and treat people, not until you came to Hogwarts. A child has to be taught how to treat people different from them with love and kindness and there was no one to do that for you." Dany said and he could tell that she absolutely believed what she was saying.
"You have no idea how hard it was for me to come to Hogwarts…and when I was put in Gryffindor and I met James and Frank and Marlene and Alice, all of whom I was taught to avoid purely based on their surnames, and then I found out about Remus and I just didn't understand how they were all so nice but they were supposed to be so evil and half-breeds and freaks. And then there was Lily. She was so smart and sweet. My parents had always told me that Muggleborns were stupid and mean; that they had to be exterminated. It just didn't add up." Sirius put his head in his hands.
"Well at least you were open to change and to accepting them. It led to some pretty great friendships." She said kindly. He knew she had noticed her own absence in that list and judging by the look on her face she was mildly hurt. He knew he'd have to tell her. Once he started, it all came pouring out, way more than what was supposed to. He couldn't look at her as he said it, out of shame and then embarrassment.
"And then I met a girl whose name was one that I was supposed to despise, I was taught to hate her and everything she and her family stood for. And I did, I hated her. But one Tuesday, I tripped on my way to Potions during First Year and dropped my books. One of my older cousins kicked my things away from me. I was bloody terrified of everyone and what they thought of me as I tried to pick everything up. Then someone leaned down next to me and helped me pick my stuff up. She kept saying things along the lines of 'don't worry about them' and 'they'll find someone else to torment soon'. Once I had my books again I finally looked at her face and I was shocked. There was no white hair, it was charmed brown, but it was undeniably the same girl that I was supposed to hate. And then you smiled and said 'I'm Dany, you're Sirius right?' and it was one of the first times no one bothered with my last name. I nodded and you said 'well Sirius, it's nice to meet you. I'd keep an eye on those cousins of yours if I were you' and you laughed. Lily caught up with you and you told her to go on ahead without you. We walked to Potions together and I wasn't scared anymore by the time we got there." He looked up at her, trying to gauge her reaction to that. She had a hand over her mouth and had a strange expression on her face that he couldn't quite place.
"I didn't know any of that…and that might be the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She said and her voice sounded strained. Sirius realized what that expression was; she was trying not to cry and failing miserably at it as tears started to drip down her cheeks. "Oh my god, this is embarrassing. Sorry." She said as she furiously rubbed her eyes, trying to get her tears to stop.
"Shit, I didn't mean to make you cry, seriously. I was going to not say like half of that but it just kind of came out." Sirius said uncomfortably. Tears freaked him out, mainly because he didn't know how to make them stop.
"No, no I'm glad you did." She said with a slightly watery smile. "Really, I am. Never underestimate the power of helping someone pick up their books." She said jokingly. He laughed, truly laughed for the first time since the last time he had seen his friends.
James was getting worried. They were almost to Hogwarts and while Marlene, Frank, Alice, and Remus had found them long ago, Dany and Sirius had not reappeared from the other compartment. Lily was talking to Marlene and Alice but he didn't miss the way her eyes kept flicking to the door. They had told the others what had happened but they hadn't seen it themselves so they seemed relatively unconcerned.
If this was beyond Dany, she would go get her brother, that James was sure of. They had been in there almost four hours.
"We should probably change, guys." Marlene said and everyone nodded. Lily and James exchanged a look.
"Our stuff is back in there…so wish us luck." Lily said slowly to the compartment at large. They all nodded and James followed Lily out into the hallway and listened for any sounds in the compartment that they had left Sirius and Dany in hours ago. James opened the door and was taken aback.
Sirius was still shirtless, except now he no longer looked like he was on his deathbed and the only remnants of his injury were a few scars. Dany was sitting across from him and her hands were a little bloody. In her hands was a quill that James didn't recognize; he supposed it was probably Lily's if he had never seen it before. The most shocking part wasn't that Sirius was looking at her like she hung the moon (which she didn't notice). She probably didn't notice that he was staring because Dany was wiping her eyes, which left a small trace of blood on her cheek. She had been crying.
"What the hell is going on here?" James said loudly. Both of them jumped, apparently not noticing the intrusion. Sirius shoved his (clean) shirt on and looked like he had been caught in the middle of doing something he wasn't supposed to be. Dany looked at Lily, who raised an eyebrow as if to say 'we're talking about this later'. "Is she crying? Sirius Black so help me if you made her cry." James told Sirius. Sirius' eyes widened and looked like he was scrambling for something to say.
"James! No, it's fine, really it is. We don't need to beat anyone up, I promise. Besides, I can do that myself." Dany said, standing and moving towards her Godbrother, putting a hand on his arm. "It's okay." James looked at them both skeptically but nodded.
"We need to get changed, we're almost there." Lily said. "By the way we found the others."
"Lily, I think you've lost your mind. There's no way we're almost to Hogwarts. It's like a five hour ride." Sirius said, looking at her like she was absolutely nuts.
"Hey, you two were in here almost four hours. Don't blame us." James said. Dany checked her watch and her eyes widened.
"Holy crap. Well we better change. You said you found everyone else?" She said. Lily nodded.
"Is that my quill?" Lily abruptly said. Dany looked down at the object in her hands. It was slightly bloody, like her hands were. She handed it to her best friend.
"Erm, yeah it is…I don't think it's much good anymore. Sorry about that, I'll but you a new one." Dany said with an awkward smile.
"Danilynn what happened to this poor thing?" Lily replied. James looked at it closely; it wasn't just bloody but the tip had been completely destroyed and flattened. He could have a guess at what happened to it exactly.
"Damn, Dan I thought you were getting that under control." He said to his Godsister.
"Well, I did have it under control…until I didn't. It impaled itself in that," she gestured behind her, "wall, in case you were wondering." She said.
"Wow, whose head were you out for?" He asked her with a grin.
"Ah, you know me too well… but alas, that's secret." She said and patted him on the cheek patronizingly. Lily and Sirius watched on, both amused. James had a pretty good guess that something Sirius had told her, probably about his parents, had made her lose her cool for just long enough to violently launch something across the room. "We should change you guys, I'm starting to recognize things out the window." She said, changing topics. They all pulled their bags down from the racks above their heads.
"Um, are we just going with the 'we're friends why not change clothes out in the open' philosophy this year?" Lily asked hesitantly.
"I don't see why not. It's not like no one has ever seen you in a bathing suit, Lily. Same idea." James said with a shrug as he dug through his bag and extracted his top, tie, and shoes. He knew this was her idea of seeing what the other two in the compartment would do.
"Alright…" Lily said and looked around, waiting for someone else to start taking clothes off first. They all looked at each other.
"Jesus, this is ridiculous. I'll start." James said and pulled his shirt off. Sirius followed suit and Dany pulled her shirt off over her head and wiggled out of her jeans while Lily took the time to unbutton her shirt.
James glanced at Sirius when Dany stripped down to her underwear and bra. His eyes immediately looked her up and down, from head to toe, and then rested on her chest before James caught his eye and raised an eyebrow at him. He looked away with an unmistakable look of guilt. She turned around to grab her skirt and James saw him glance at her butt before looking away and concentrating very hard on the window. Dany pulled her skirt on and James didn't miss the fact she clearly checked out Sirius as he looked out the window and changed pants. He appeared dedicated to watching the scenery as to not look at Dany's rack in front of her Godbrother. James pulled on his school shirt and pants and buttoned up his shirt. He glanced at Lily and then quickly looked away. No, we're not thinking about that right now, he told himself and he too looked out the window.
"Okay, is everyone done?" Lily suddenly asked. She received three affirmative answers. "Alright. Boys, I think you can stop looking out the window. I know we're incredibly beautiful but seriously, we're clothed now." She said with a laugh. Both guys broke their stares with the window and indeed, both girls were clothed, except for the fact Dany still had to button the top three buttons of her shirt. James watched Sirius get a good look at her cleavage before looking away again and loudly clearing his throat.
"Uh, Dan you have something on your face." Lily said, pointing to the spot on her own face. Dany touched her cheek and wiped the blood off her face. Once she realized what it was she rubbed it off on her skirt.
"Thanks, Lils." She threw her tie around her neck; she hadn't noticed the fact that Sirius had intensely checked her out or that he had looked completely embarrassed that his blood had ended up on her face. The train suddenly turned a corner and Hogwarts came into view. Marlene, Al, Frank, and Remus came into their compartment.
"We're back, guys." Remus said with a grin. Everyone exchanged smiles. It was time to finish off the year with a bang.