Hi! So, I realized last chapter that I told you all that there was an illusion to when Dany and Sirius get together, but I kind of forgot to say that it was in Feel Again (and not here), so sorry about that.
Okay, so now I'm going to address why I got rid of Brady and why it took so long.
I hated writing him, but I wanted really capture how he was so manipulative and I felt that could really only be done through a slower progression, going from being outwardly loving to downright emotionally, verbally, and (finally) physically abusive. I felt that having him become incrementally worse and worse was truer to how destructive relationships actually work.
The bottom line is that Brady was a major lesson for Dany in several things, including recognizing just how tolerant she is and whether or not that's a good or bad thing in some instances.
Read and Review!
Love, Essie
Oh, also check out the AN at the end!
We are young, we are one
Let us shine for what it's worth
To your place, place, place
We're on our way, way, way
We're on our way
Hold me close
We're losing time
Hold me close
We're falling to the ground
Taxi drive the sun is rising
Damn the sirens, keep on driving
Flashing light, oh what a night
I miss her bed, I lost my head
And it's sunning, we're still running
For her rooftop, our last stop
Barefoot, naked, don't you let me go
~On Our Way, The Royal Concept
Dany was cheering for her team, relaxed for the first time in a while, ever since Brady. James scored. And he scored again. And again. And again. Finally, Sirius clapped him a high-five and transferring his bat to his weaker hand to do so. Dany saw what was happening before anyone on the Pitch did. Dany saw the bludger that Sirius didn't see, even though it was flying straight towards his face. Thud. After the initial impact, everything happened in slow motion. James started to fly towards Sirius and Madam Hooch moved her whistle to her lips. The crowd gasped. The only thing that Dany really was paying attention to were the facts that Sirius was taking a one-way trip straight to the ground and James was on the other side of the Pitch; he wasn't going to make it to his best friend in time. Sirius was at least fifty feet off the ground and as fast as James was trying to get there, it just wasn't possible. Dany grabbed Lily's hand. Lily squeezed back tightly.
"Oh, God…" The redhead said faintly and Dany shook her head. No. No. No. It was Sirius. No matter what life threw at him, he was always fine. Sure, he got hurt; but he always bounced back. Suddenly, he stopped in midair. Dumbledore—it had to have been him to slow the descent. James rushed over to where his best friend was being lowered to the ground and he left with Sirius, who was being levitated off the Quidditch Pitch by Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore and McGonagall trailing them. Lily and Dany started pushing out of the stands. "Move! Everyone move! Prefect coming!" Lily started shouting and people started to clear a path. Judging by the looks on people's faces, they would have cleared a path anyways; they all knew how close Sirius was to Lily and especially Dany.
As soon as they were on the grounds, free from the masses of people, both girls started to look around. The injured boy they had been following was long gone—they hadn't had to wade through a crowd of people like the girls had.
"They had to have gone to the hospital wing." Dany said and Lily nodded.
"Yeah, even if he had to be transferred, they'd go there first." She answered and Dany felt her stomach clench and she suddenly thought she might be sick.
"He's not being transferred Lily." Dany snapped, not thinking. Lily nodded and both girls started to walk towards the castle. They weren't worried about crowds because the game would keep on going without Gryffindor's star beater and the chaser that had just left the Pitch with him. James and Sirius were both important to the team but they could keep going without them if they had to; Toby had made sure that they never relied too heavily on either of them, just in case. Just because it felt like Dany's world might be ending, no one else except probably Lily and James shared her feelings.
Suddenly the girls exchanged a look and both started to run through the doors of the castle, up the stairs, down a corridor, around two turns, up another flight of stairs and down one more corridor. Once the doors were in sight, both girls slowed. Lily and Dany each pushed a door open and James looked up from where he was standing with his eyes trained on the ground. He was still in his Quidditch gear. Dany ran over to him before she could stop herself. James hugged her instantly.
"I'm scared." He whispered in her hair. Dany nodded a little.
"Me too." She whispered back before they let go of each other. Lily walked over slower.
"James. What's—?" She started and suddenly Madam Pomfrey bustled over to where they were standing near the door.
"Shoo! Out! We don't need you all here!" She started to scold and James looked outraged.
"Are you mad? Why are you yelling at us when you're supposed to be healing him?" He snapped at the hospital matron and Dany wasn't particularly surprised. James became possessive and much more aggressive than usual when he was scared. "And like hell we're leaving so you might as well do your damn job and fix him. Fix him now." He snarled and Madam Pomfrey looked like she didn't know what to do with that so she went back behind a curtain that Dany supposed was hiding Sirius. Lily looked shocked.
"James…what's happening? How bad is it?" Dany asked her Godbrother quietly, putting a hand on his arm. James looked at both the girls sadly.
"It's bad. Mulciber smacked a bludger straight into the side of his head. He was unconscious before I got to him on the Pitch. You should have seen Regulus' face. He looked pissed." James added on. Dany was oddly unsurprised by this. She had somehow always doubted that the bond between siblings could vanish the way Sirius insisted it had.
"You don't think he's going to have to be transferred do you?" Lily asked and Dany glared at her again. They all knew how she felt about St. Mungo's but none of them really understood how much time she had spent with those walls. They knew the number of days she had been there with her dad but no one had lived it but her…and Sirius. Sirius had lived it with her. James shrugged.
"Don't know. I haven't gotten a good look at him since Pomfrey got to him." He said and sat down in a chair.
"He's going to be fine, James. He's always fine." Dany said softly and sat down next to him. James looked unconvinced and Lily quietly took a seat next to Dany.
"You have some unwavering faith and hope, has anyone ever told you that?" He asked and Dany shrugged.
"Hope? Yes, all the time. Faith? This has nothing to do with faith."
"Whatever you say…" He said softly and suddenly Madam Pomfrey walked over to him.
"Well now that Mr. Black is stable, I do believe I have the time to tell you all to get out. It's family only and you all know it." She said dryly and like the universe had summoned him, Albus Dumbledore appeared in the doorway.
"Poppy, I do think we can make an exception on that particular rule. I do believe that Sirius Black wouldn't particularly care for his family's presence at the moment…I do believe, however, that the company of Mr. Potter, Miss Danilynn, and Miss Evans would be greatly welcome." He said serenely and Pomfrey looked like she was going to protest. She apparently decided against bickering with the Headmaster and simply nodded. Lily, Dany, and James all rushed towards the bed and Dany felt her heart squeeze as every organ in her body squirmed.
Sirius looked like himself except half of his face was covered in blood and there was a bandage on his head that bowed inward slightly, near his temple. Dany thought that was where his head had taken the hit and his skull had crunched.
"It's a damn miracle that he's even alive at all." Dany said absently and Lily, James, Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey looked at her. "What? Another inch towards his face and it would have killed him almost instantly; no one can survive a direct hit to the temple like that." She said with a shrug.
"Miss Masters…how did you know that?" Pomfrey asked reproachfully.
"Because it's a kill hit. A set of knuckles to the temples hard enough can knock someone out, if not kill. A bludger? You can forget it." Dany said hollowly. She didn't really care about explaining herself and she knew that neither James nor Lily really cared either. Both professors and the matron all left quietly and Dany, James, and Lily exchanged looks. This was bad.
"I'm staying with him." James said hollowly and Dany and Lily nodded.
"We'll stay too, James." Lily said softly and James smiled at her, so kindly and vulnerably that she looked taken aback.
"No, you girls go…he's going to be out for a while." Dany shook her head.
"We'll take shifts. Eight hours each should cover 24 hours. One of us will come get you at…6 tonight, alright?" Dany asked and James nodded before looking at his brother's face mournfully.
"Alright…see you guys." He said and Dany kissed the top of his head gently before casting one more look at her injured friend and going to leave with Lily. Before they could get anywhere near the exit, someone came tearing into the doorway. It was Jessie Simpson. It was Sirius' girlfriend, otherwise known as the biggest attention whore at Hogwarts.
"Where is he?" She started screaming and everyone just stared at her blankly. "Out of my way, Masters." She snapped and both girls glared at her even though Lily had been completely ignored.
"Pleasure as always, Simpson." Dany said dryly. She was ignored as the annoying blonde started to look for her boyfriend. Dany and Lily followed her, hanging behind to see what would happen.
"Has he been asking for me? Does he know I'm here?" She was asking James frantically. James looked like he was at a loss for words and looked at Dany, clearly asking her to say something.
"He took a bludger to the head. He won't be awake—let alone asking for anyone—for a while." She said blandly and Jessie looked at her scathingly.
"You're just trying to get rid of me, Masters." Dany raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me? Last time I checked, unconscious people can't talk. That's a fact and it has nothing to do with you, or me for that matter. He won't be talking until Pomfrey fixes his head at the very least…but then again you manage with an empty head so who knows? Maybe miracles do happen." She snapped and Lily and James both laughed and Jessie looked mortified.
"I won't stand here and be insulted. Someone come get me when he wakes up. I'm sure he'll want to see his girlfriend." She said loftily before walking off.
"What the hell was that about? I don't think I've ever spoken more than five words to her." Dany said and Lily shook her head slightly.
"Oh Danilynn…come on, let's go. See you at 6, James." Lily said before guiding her friend out of the room. Dany walked next to Lily for a while, they even made it back to Gryffindor Tower before Dany once again felt the overwhelming urge to vomit. Except this time there was no way she could keep her breakfast down. She ran up a flight of stairs and opened the door that said "Fifth Years". She found the toilet not three seconds before she started violently throwing up. "Dany?" Lily said cautiously.
Dany moaned into the toilet bowl. She waited a second and nodded. "I'm good. I'm good. I'm alright." Dany said, looking up at her best friend.
"Come on, Dan. Get some sleep. You'll feel better, I promise. I'll be here when you wake up." She said gently and Dany nodded before closing her eyes.
Lily was sitting in her own bed, waiting for her turn to sit with Sirius. She'd be with him from 6 to 2 in the morning. Then Dany would be there from 2 to 10. Dany was sleeping; she had been asleep ever since Lily had brought her to her bed almost five hours ago. Suddenly, Dany gasped from her bed and stumbled out from between her curtains. Lily looked up.
"Dan? Everything okay?" She asked and Dany didn't acknowledge her. Lily got up and inspected her friend's face. Gold eyes. She was having a vision. She frantically grabbed her sketchbook and started to draw. Lily backed off from her friend and went to the bathroom, in preparation for the potentially funny drawing (some of them were rather hilarious, if she was being honest). She came back and Dany was still going. Lily watched for a few more minutes, keeping her distance. Just as abruptly as she had got up, she was back to her normal self. She looked around and realized that she was standing up. Blue eyes. It was over.
"Lils? Did it happen?" She asked and Lily nodded. She looked down at what was in her hands. "Oh…oh my." She said and put a hand over her mouth. Lily approached her and looked at the drawing.
It was an older Dany, maybe by ten or so years, and she was obviously very pregnant. She had her hands on her stomach, which she was looking at lovingly. Lily noticed that she had a sizable ring on her ring finger. There was a second pair of hands reaching from the edge of the paper that obviously belonged to a child, as they were so much smaller than Dany's hands, touching Dany's extended stomach. And last, there was a set of definitively masculine hands wearing a wedding band. Whoever he was, he had his arms wrapped around Dany from the back, letting his hands rest on her stomach as well. The only face that was visible was Dany's. The only part of her husband that was visible was his hands, arms, and part of his torso and only the child's hands were in the frame. She and her husband were expecting their second child.
"Oh, Dany…I know how much you want this. I'm happy to see that it works out for you." Lily said softly and smiled at her friend. Dany was a kind human being and the violence of this war went against her gentle nature. She didn't like all of the violence but she also wanted justice. It left her in the awkward position between wanting hard-won justice and her nature that was best described as "do no harm". She'd be as good of a Healer as an Auror. She'd be a wonderful mother one day.
"Thanks…I wonder who he is." She said absently. Lily agreed; she wished that Dany would finally fill in some of the gaps. Her husband's face would be a good place to start.
"You look so happy." Lily said and she really did. Older Dany was absolutely glowing. It was everything she wanted. She had a husband and a couple of kids.
"Yeah…I do, don't I? Well, let's not carried away, it's probably more than a decade off, Lils. We'll have to wait." She said and Lily nodded, checking the time.
"It's six. I'm going to go give James a break from staring at his best friend's face. I'll see you at two." Lily said and Dany nodded before crawling back into bed.
"I'm going back to sleep." She said before pulling the covers over her face. Lily grabbed her wand and walked down to the hospital wing, not bothered with being caught; she was a Prefect. It was her job to catch people, not the other way around. She quietly walked into the hospital wing and James looked up and smiled half-heartedly.
"No improvement?" She asked and he shook his head.
"No…he's stable though and nothing's gotten worse either, so that's good I guess. Pomfrey's healed his head so we're just waiting on him to wake up now." He added on and she nodded as she walked towards the bed.
"That's good. I'm glad he'll be okay…you should have seen Dany's reaction when I mentioned him being transferred to St. Mungo's. She freaked. It was like I suggested shipping him off to the fiery pits of hell." She said and James shrugged.
"She's spent a lot of time with the people she loves in St. Mungo's. I can't particularly say I blame her." He said. Lily nodded again as she sat down next to him. "Thirty-five days in St. Mungo's is rough. I thought a week was bad." He said quietly.
"What?" She asked, not sure she'd heard him right.
"Yeah…my parents were both laid up for about a week when I was about thirteen. They had both gotten hurt in the line of duty. Daniel and Rhea were really good to me. They helped me and stayed with me the whole time. Dany and Rae couldn't because they had to be in school. Dumbledore wouldn't let them come home; he's nice but he's not that nice and couldn't find an exception in the rules, even if he had tried to send them home with me." He said quietly. Lily was surprised; she never really considered that James carried a similar burden that Dany did.
"You must worry about them a lot, huh?" She said and he nodded.
"All the time. Every time I get mail I think it might be a letter telling me that they're dead or insane or comatose or worse. I can't particularly say that I enjoy St. Mungo's either." He mused and Lily felt bad for him.
"I don't blame you…why don't you go get some sleep? You've had a long day and you look like you could use it." She said gently and he looked at her. "I'll be right here with him, I promise." He quietly got up and left, with one last look at his best friend. Lily moved over a chair into the sat James had just left and stared at Sirius. "Alright Black, listen here. I've got a best friend sick to her stomach worried about you and I don't think that James is ever going to forgive himself if you don't wake up so do us all a favor and open your damn eyes." She leaned back in her chair and sighed. It was going to be a long ass night.
Lily checked the time for at least the hundredth time that night. It was twenty till two. She was expecting Dany any minute now, unless she had slept through her alarm, which she doubted greatly. She doubted that Dany had been sleeping at all since she had been disturbed by her vision almost eight hours ago. Suddenly, the door creaked open of it's own accord.
"Right on time…actually I think you might be early. That's a first." She said and she waited for Dany to pull off the Invisibility Cloak. Except she didn't.
"I don't think you were waiting for me, Evans. You're smart but I don't think you're a seer." A distinctly male voice said. She didn't really recognize it. She wasn't very familiar with it and that set her on edge.
"Uh, well it would be awfully nice to see who I'm talking to." She said, her eyes flicking around as her hand drifted towards her wand. Whoever it was knew how to cast a damn good Disillusionment Charm. Suddenly, a form appeared in the chair next to her. Lily jumped. "Shit." She gasped, startled by how close the other person was.
"Potty Mouth Evans…who would've guessed?" He said and Lily finally got a good look at his face.
"Regulus?" She asked disbelievingly.
"Yup. Nice to meet you." He said and kicked his feet up on his brother's hospital bed.
"Likewise…if you don't mind me asking, why exactly are you here? Last I checked; there's no real love lost between you two." She said carefully and he shrugged.
"What can I say? I like my brother and I don't want him to die. It's not a crime, Evans." He said and Lily was rather taken aback. The more he spoke, the more he loosened up, the more like Sirius he sounded.
"I'm not saying that it is. I'm just surprised." She said and he didn't seem bothered by this.
"What did Pomfrey say?" He asked.
"I'm not really sure. I wasn't here when she did her full work-up and exam of his head. Dan said that it was damn close though…said another inch forwards and he would've been dead before he hit the ground." She said and watched the boy's expression.
"Masters would know, wouldn't she? That family knows all about killing. Not like they have much of a choice these days…she's not having him transferred?" He asked and Lily shook her head.
"I don't think so. I think if she was going to, she would have already." Lily checked the time. It was two. "Well, as nice as this has been, we're about to have a shift change so I'd scoot if you don't want to deal with the aforementioned Masters." Lily said and Regulus didn't seem bothered by this.
"Hey, I never said I had a problem with her. I think she's probably a perfectly normal person. From what I've seen of her, she seems pretty nice. She definitely doesn't have the thickest skin in the world though." He added on and Lily silently agreed with that.
"Oh, don't flatter me too much, Regulus. You might hurt yourself." A feminine voice said and Dany pulled the cloak off and walked towards them from just inside the entrance of the wing.
"I'll do my best, Masters." He said dryly and she looked amused.
"I'm surprised that it didn't burn your mouth to say something nice about my family. Mommy wouldn't be very happy with you." She said and, to Lily's surprise, Regulus laughed.
"You have no idea." He said and Dany grinned. Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes. Of course Dany would get on with Regulus; she was best friends with his elder brother. The boys were notoriously similar in many aspects and apparently they shared a sense of humor.
"You've got that right…someone we know likes to keep us all in the dark." She said and Lily saw her face shift to concern for a minute and her body language changed for a second before she returned her attention back to Regulus. Dany was hurting, that much was obvious, but she was living by the same motto she had always lived by in tough situations: fake it 'til you make it.
"You can't even begin to imagine how much he keeps from you…from all of you." He added on. Lily started to correct him. He talked to James and Dany.
"I know we can't. And it's not our place to pry."
"Come on, Regulus; I'll walk you back to your common room. If anyone stops us, I found you near the Astronomy tower after hours and I already gave you a week of detention." Lily said and all but dragged him out. She paused next to Dany. "James will be here at ten. I hope you brought something to do; sitting here is boring as shit." She added on.
"Great, I'm glad I brought nothing to do." Dany said before sitting down in Lily's seat. Lily walked Regulus out of the hospital wing and they started to walk towards the Slytherin common room.
"So, Evans…can you do me a favor?" Regulus said. Lily glanced at him.
"That depends…what is it?" She asked warily. She had been warned many times about the slippery tongues that most Slytherins had.
"Don't tell my brother that I ever came to see him." He said and Lily was surprised by that request.
"What? Why not?" She asked blankly and he shrugged.
"I don't want him to know. You know, it was obvious from the minute we could both talk how different we were. He wasn't meant for the last name he has. He was meant for the likes of James Potter and Danilynn Masters; he's good. He always has been and I never have been. And I know that; I like to think it says something about me that I know what I am. He's a good person; he's selfless. I've let him think that I don't love him because if he knew that I was still his little brother that needed him, he'd stay. He'd stay with me because he knows that I won't leave with him."
"Regulus—"
"Swear to me that you won't tell him." He insisted and Lily nodded.
"I swear…damn, she was right. I'm actually rather glad that you made me swear to keep that a secret because if Dany found out, I'd never hear the end of it." He looked intrigued by this. It appeared that all of the Black men had a fascination with her friend. Lily hoped that fascination didn't extend to Orion.
"Oh really? Why's that?"
"Because she has an older brother who she adores endlessly. She never thought that love like that could be so casually thrown away as it seemed it had been between you two. She always thought that there was more to it than that…it appears that she's right." Lily said thoughtfully.
"Masters is smarter than I give her credit for…I wasn't kidding, you know, when I said he keeps you in the dark. The things that happen to him at home…they're horrific and it needs to stop. He needs to leave and never come back." He said softly as they entered the dungeons.
"What—?"
"I'm not saying; it's not my place to share what his personal hell looks like."
"But you've seen it? That's what she does? She locks you in your own head?" Lily asked, horrified and assuming he had his mother in mind. Regulus nodded.
"For the most part, that's what she does. And yeah, I've seen it…it's been changing for a while, evolving. She's been trying to figure out what really hurts him for years."
"That's horrific." Lily said and felt slightly nauseated.
"You should know that last summer, my mother got to the bottom of what gets under my brother's skin and what really makes him hurt. It's been the same ever since then." He said and looked around. "I think I can take it from here. Thanks for the chat." He said with a grin that reminded her strongly of his older brother. He stopped after a few steps and turned back around, no longer smiling at all. "Keep an eye on Masters, Evans. You don't want her to…fall into the wrong hands, shall we say? It wouldn't be pretty." He added on seriously and then vanished.
Days passed like that. James and Dany were no longer going to classes because James sat with Sirius during the day and Dany was so exhausted from being up all night. Four days passed and people were starting to wonder if he was ever going to wake up. James continued to look miserable and Dany looked like she was only a hop, skip, and a jump away from losing her sanity.
Someone was talking. Someone wasn't just talking; someone was reading. Sirius had no idea why he could hear someone reading when he was pretty sure that only dead people felt like this.
"…Now that very day the hundred years were ended; and as the prince came to the thicket he saw nothing but beautiful flowering shrubs, through which he went with ease, and they shut in after him as thick as ever. Then he came at last to the palace, and there in the court lay the dogs asleep; and the horses were standing in the stables; and on the roof sat the pigeons fast asleep, with their heads under their wings. And when he came into the palace, the flies were sleeping on the walls; the spit was standing still; the butler had the jug of ale at his lips, going to drink a draught; the maid sat with a fowl in her lap ready to be plucked."
What the hell? It was Dany speaking, he was sure. He told his eyes to open and they maybe moved a little. "Then he went on still farther, and all was so still that he could hear every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower, and opened the door of the little room in which…" He yelled at his eyes to open again and they finally did. She looked up and the book smacked to the floor. "Sirius?" She asked abruptly and she immediately changed position from having her feet kicked up on his nightstand to paying attention.
"Hey, Dan." She leaned down over him and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, surprised. Her hair was all over his face and she was in sweatpants and a tank top. He noticed that even in the dim light, she wasn't wearing makeup and she looked exhausted.
"Wow, hey Dan. Is everything okay?" He asked and he felt her arms momentarily tighten.
"You almost died. Do you remember what happened?" She asked him quietly. Her arms were still wrapped around him and her hair was tickling his arms.
"Not really…last thing I remember is the game." He said and she let go of him and he was rather sad that she had moved.
"You took a bludger to your temple. It cracked your skull. You damn near almost took a fifty-foot tumble too, except Dumbledore stopped you from hitting the ground. James tried to catch you but he wasn't fast enough. You've been out for about four days. You're lucky to be alive. Mulciber was about an inch off from killing you." She said gently and as she said it, it started to come back in flashes.
"Is there a particular reason you were reading out loud?" He asked and she shrugged. He noticed that the moon was getting fuller and the moonlight was catching on her hair, making it glow a little. It looked like she had a halo. Angelic Dany Masters.
"Madam Pomfrey told me to. I was already reading and she told me to read out loud. Apparently the comatose like fairytales." She said with a laugh. He chuckled and then winced. His head felt like a horse had kicked him.
"Tell me, Danilynn, why were you reading 'Briar Rose'? Waiting for your happy ending?" He asked and rubbed his head. She shrugged and Sirius was still wondering if he had suffered damage to his verbal filter because he had seriously just let the words 'happy ending' come out of his mouth.
"Oh, you got me; I'm waiting for a prince to kiss me so we can live happily ever after. No, more like I got a book of fairytales for my birthday last year and I'm just now getting around to reading them…wait how did you know what I was reading?" She asked and he wanted to smack himself for openly admitting that he had read fairytales in his life. Super manly, Sirius. Great job. He thought to himself.
"Uh, my uncle. He'd read them to me when I was a little kid when he babysat me overnight. He had a book of them. God that thing must be ancient by now…who sent you the book?" He said and she laughed.
"Don't know. It came anonymous. It's all a great big mystery." She said with a smile before picking the book off the ground. He caught a glimpse of it and felt his mouth open slightly.
"Let me see that." He said suddenly and she looked at him curiously but still handed it to him. He flipped through the pages to the end and sure enough, there was a red mark drawn in marker down one of the pages. "You said this was anonymous?" He asked and she nodded.
"Yeah. There wasn't a name…just a note. But I didn't recognize the handwriting, so I just kind of hit a dead end with who sent it." She said carefully, like she wasn't sure what he was talking about.
"Do you still have the note?" He asked and flip another few pages and saw an orange stain covering an entire page. A little kid had spilled pumpkin juice onto the book. She nodded and handed it to him.
"Yeah, I use it as a bookmark. Why? Sirius, what the hell are you going on about?" She asked and he read the note. Love me, read me, never leave me. Dany may not have recognized the handwriting, but he did.
"This was mine when I was a kid." He said.
"What?" She said like she wasn't quite sure that she had heard him right. "I think you're still kind of loopy from the hit your head took. I'm going to get Madam Pomfrey…" She said and started to stand up.
"Okay, I'm not loopy. The handwriting; it's Alphard's. This was the book that he used to read to me from when I was at his house. I dumped pumpkin juice on it when I was like eight here." He pointed and flipped to the page that had been drawn on. "And when I was maybe four or five, I wrote in it with a marker…that's how I recognized it." He said and handed it back to her. She put it on the nightstand.
"You're joking." She said and he shook his head.
"Not at all. I have no idea why he sent it to you though. I didn't even know he still had it." He said and Dany shrugged.
"He seems like he has a reason for everything. And his cryptic note probably had some alternative meaning other than a cute little rhyme." She commented and he agreed with that. Alphard had probably taken an educated guess and figured that Sirius would eventually see the book and then the note; it was a jab at his nephew, who was very much in love with the girl who had been sent the book.
"Maybe he's just going senile." He said and Dany laughed.
"Maybe, but I doubt it. He seemed pretty with it when I ran into him in the middle of Diagon Alley." She said and smiled a little. "I really should go get Madam Pomfrey." She said quietly and he suddenly really didn't want her to leave.
"Aw, I think it can wait for a bit. You left me on a cliffhanger with that story." He said and she laughed.
"You've got to be joking. I'm not reading you bedtime stories." She said.
"You just were, you know." He said and she laughed again.
"I was reading to your unconscious body. I'm not reading to you when you're awake, smartass." She said and he rolled his eyes.
"You know you actually can hear when you're knocked out like that? I heard more than what my eyes were open for." He said and she looked embarrassed, which he thought was rather cute. He sternly reminded himself that not only was she definitely not interested, but that he had a girlfriend that definitely wasn't her.
"Oh, that's fantastic." She said and still looked mildly embarrassed.
"Aw, come on Dan. I'm injured and in a hospital bed. I think you can finish up the story." He said teasingly and she rolled her eyes.
"I honestly can't tell if you're joking or not." She said and he was actually surprised to see that he wasn't joking at all.
"Nope. No joke. Come on, please." He said and she started to waver. He pulled out the puppy-dog eyes.
"Okay, the puppy-eyes are unfair, you can literally turn into a puppy." She protested and finally caved. "Okay, okay. You win. I'll read it." She said and she picked the book up and started to flip through it again until she found her spot.
"Thank you." He said smugly and she flipped him off.
"Shut up. I have to find my spot again, you ass. Hold on…okay I think this is close." She said and he waited for her to start talking. He was surprised by how calming her reading voice was, when she did start reading. "'Then he went on still farther, and all was so still that he could hear every breath he drew; till at last he came to the old tower, and opened the door of the little room in which Briar Rose was; and there she lay, fast asleep on a couch by the window. She looked so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her, so he stooped down and gave her a kiss. But the moment he kissed her she opened her eyes and awoke."
Sirius definitely didn't remember this story the way she was telling it. He figured that was because Alphard probably told it with much less of a romantic feel and more of a joking attitude.
"She smiled upon him; and they went out together; and soon the king and queen also awoke, and all the court, and gazed on each other with great wonder. And the horses shook themselves, and the dogs jumped up and barked; the pigeons took their heads from under their wings, and looked about and flew into the fields; the flies on the walls buzzed again; the fire in the kitchen blazed up; round went the jack, and round went the spit, with the goose for the king's dinner upon it; the butler finished his draught of ale; and the maid went on plucking the fowl.
"And then the prince and Briar Rose were married, and the wedding feast was given; and they lived happily together all their lives long.'" She said quietly and closed the book. "I think this belongs to you." She said and handed it to him with a smile. "Tell your uncle that I enjoyed it." She said and then stood up. "I'm going to go get Madam Pomfrey." She said and Sirius flipped through it again. He always recalled this being one of the more joking and sarcastic stories that his uncle told. Who actually fell in love with a girl? It was downright lovely when someone that could be categorized as a romantic and not a jaded, middle-aged man was telling it. It was almost as if she half-believed that things like that happened; it was as if she wanted to believe in it.
"Sirius Black, you about scared your friends half to death!" Poppy Pomfrey said, as she rushed out of her room, Dany in tow, as she turned on lights and brought the room to a comfortable brightness. "You should have heard James Potter when I tried to kick him out. Your generation needs to learn some respect for authority." She said and started to inspect his head. Dany watched on, looking amused.
"James is, well, he's James." He said and winced as she prodded his head.
"Well, that's certainly one way to put it. Now, how are you feeling? Dizzy? Nauseous? Weak?" She asked and he shrugged.
"A bit weak, I suppose. Nothing really feels bad unless I move my head too much." He said and she nodded. "I was a bit dizzy when I first woke up but it went away." He said and she inspected his eyes. He had never noticed that Madam Pomfrey had brown eyes. He definitely noticed as she stuck her face right up in his to get a look at his face. Dany made a kissy face at him from behind the matron's back and he fought the urge to react. "Are you going to kiss her too?" She mouthed at him and puckered her lips again, trying not to laugh as Madam Pomfrey did her job.
"There's nothing wrong with you, Black." She said as she tapped his head with her wand before walking back to her office.
"So you're seriously just going to sit there all night?" He asked Dany.
"Probably. I'm on duty until 10 and I don't really think Madam Pomfrey would smile upon me screwing up one of her beds. I won't stare at you, I swear." She said and hid her face behind her hands. He laughed.
"I'll take your word for it. Now go to sleep, Dany." He said and she nodded and shifted her weight around in the chair. It took her a little while but she eventually fell asleep, her breathing deepening and evening out. She shifted around uncomfortably and it reminded Sirius of when she had been in the hospital with Daniel. She had slept the same way; she had been restless and slept sporadically at best. Except then she had slept on his lap and not next to his hospital bed like she was now. Sirius closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep. It worked after about ten minutes.
The nightmares woke him up suddenly. His waking was apparently loud enough to wake up Dany too. By the time he was completely coherent, she was leaning over him, and looking very concerned.
"Sirius?" She asked. She looked around and saw nothing wrong apparently because her gaze turned back to him. "Are you okay?" She asked gently and he nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep, Dan." He said, trying to blow off the fact that his hands were shaking and clammy. She sat down again.
"I wasn't sleeping. I couldn't. I was reading and you started talking…you're okay and you're safe here." She said quietly and he felt his stomach sink. He had no idea that he talked in his sleep. He had no way of knowing; he had never shared a bed with someone and the guys all kept silencing charms up because of snoring and, apparently, sleep talking.
"Yeah, I know. It was just a bad dream." He said again, trying to downplay what she had obviously heard.
"What did they do to you? What have they done?" She asked and leaned forward to look at him, not cruelly or like an experiment, but like she genuinely had no idea and wanted to know.
"Nothing you need to know about. Nothing worth talking about." He said and she looked sympathetic, not that she could know about the kind of things he had lived. She had a good childhood to look back on and a privileged life ahead of her.
"Is there anything I can do?" She asked quietly. Even though they were both quiet, it sounded really loud in the deathly silent wing of the castle.
"I think this is something I have to handle on my own." He said and she nodded, not pressing the topic further.
Raid last night 45 miles to the north of London. 4 Death Eaters in custody, 7 Death Eaters killed, 57 civilian injuries, 32 civilian casualties, 5 Aurors injured, 2 Aurors dead. A. Malfoy, P. Black, W. Crabbe, and H. Goyle are in the custody of the Aurors. Unknown numbers of Death Eaters escaped the site of the raid and are at large. Civilian and Auror casualties and severe injuries include…
A list of names of the injured and dead Aurors and civilians followed, the dead first and then the injured. Dany put the paper down on the coffee table she was sitting cross-legged in front of in the common room. She put her head in her hands and sighed. She wasn't worried about anyone reading it; not only was it 5 in the morning, the letter was anagrammed German. She hated these letters and reading the list of the dead and wounded made her almost physically ill. She'd write letters to the families of the Aurors that had died or been injured, like she always did; she'd say that they fought bravely and that they gave their lives for the life and liberty of others and that their sacrifices wouldn't be forgotten, she'd say that she had known the dead and that she always found them inspirational. She knew nothing she did could make their loss better but it was her duty. The families would receive one from her, her brother, and both of her parents.
A door closing up the staircase to the boys' rooms made her look up. She quickly flipped over the papers and wondered who the hell was insane enough to be up at this time on a Tuesday morning, other than her. She heard the stairs creak and she saw Sirius walk down from the stairs. She relaxed, knowing that it wasn't some Second Year that was going to look at her weird and spread rumors. He looked surprised to see her.
"Dan? Not to be rude or anything but what are you doing up? Last time I checked, you don't particularly like missing sleep." He said and Dany noticed that he was in shorts and a t-shirt and had running shoes on. It was almost two weeks after his accident and he was back to being perfectly healthy.
"Yeah, I just got a letter from my dad…I couldn't go back to sleep, is all. You going somewhere?" She asked and he shrugged before sitting down next to her on the floor.
"Yeah, I was going to go running. You know, Quidditch season and all…helps me think too. What'd your dad have to say? Not to pry." He said and she handed him the letter. "I can't read this. Is this gibberish?" Dany shook her head.
"It's not gibberish, it's anagrammed German. It's to make sure no one who intercepts the owl can read it. Secrecy is key in a war, you know." She said tiredly and he looked intrigued, revolted yet intrigued.
"Oh, well I was going to ask what it said but I don't think that's appropriate considering that it's apparently confidential." He said and she stopped for a second. She looked at him critically and bit her lip, thinking about it. Her dad would bloody kill her if she told someone what was in that letter. But she still hesitated; she knew Sirius and she was very sure, deep in her bones, that he wouldn't say anything.
"No, it's fine. I can translate it, give it here." She said and he handed it to her. "It says 'raid last night 45 miles to the north of London. 4 Death Eaters captured, 7 Death Eaters killed, 57 civilian injuries, 32 civilian casualties, 5 Aurors injured, 2 Aurors dead. A. Malfoy, P. Black, W. Crabbe, and H. Goyle are in the custody of the Aurors. Unknown numbers of Death Eaters escaped the site of the raid and are at large.' Then there's a list of civilian and Auror injuries and casualties." She said and he looked horrified.
"I'm assuming that would be Abraxas, Pollux, Wyla, and Hannah." He said and she nodded in confirmation.
"Yeah…do you know them personally?" She asked and he nodded.
"Abraxas' son is engaged to my cousin, Pollux is my Uncle Alphard's father, and Wyla and Hannah are just a couple of people that have always just…been around, I guess."
"Alphard's dad's a Death Eater?" She asked and he nodded.
"Yeah, it was quite the scandal when Alphard went rogue and denounced the family…but it's no wonder you couldn't sleep. How long's the list?"
"96 people long." She said and rubbed her hands over her face. "96 people were killed or injured last night; good, innocent people that died for nothing but the ravings of a madman." She muttered and Sirius rubbed her back and she leaned into his shoulder heavily.
"Oh Dan…I'm sorry." He said and she nodded.
"I'm scared." She whispered and he hugged her.
"I am too. Now why don't you put that away and come with me? Exercise will help, I promise. Besides, there's a pretty killer view at the end." He baited and she looked at him like he was mad.
"You know I'm not exactly a marathoner right?" She laughed and he nodded.
"If you're anything like your Godbrother, I don't doubt it. It's only a couple of miles; come on, I won't even make fun when you have to stop." He said and she finally relented.
"Alright, now that you've promised not to make fun of me, I'll go. I think I'll put real clothes on though and put these away." She said with a smile and picked up the papers. Before walking upstairs to change, he laughed.
"Don't forget decent shoes and a sports bra." He said with a laugh and she threw a crumpled up piece of paper at his head.
"Stop thinking about my bras, Sirius Black. You have a girlfriend." She said as she went back to her room. He has a girlfriend, she reminded herself sternly.
She walked back down after going through her clothes to find something that looked the least hot. Shorts and a t-shirt was as good as it was getting, she figured and quietly slipped out of her room without waking anyone up. She smiled to herself as she walked downstairs; this was a sudden turn. No matter what happened, it was better than writing letters to dead Aurors' families. Sirius looked up with a smirk.
"You're going to die in clothes that heavy." He told her and she shrugged.
"It's all I have." She said and he shrugged as if to say that it was her choice. "And don't worry, I put on a sports bra." She said and they walked out of the common room as he laughed. They walked out the front doors of the castle and before she could say anything else he turned to her and winked.
"Catch me if you can." He said and ran off, laughing. She ran after him yelling that that was completely unfair and she wanted a redo. Eventually he slowed, well around the lake, and she caught up a minute later because she had been unable to catch him.
"You suck." She laughed. She sounded out of breath to even herself. "Like actually you suck. And now you're going to take me to some obscure part of the grounds and I'm going to die or something." She joked and he shook his head.
"I am taking you to an obscure part of the grounds. But I won't let the bears eat you, I swear." He said she laughed.
"That's comforting, thank you." She said and he shrugged a shoulder.
"That's me, I'm the epitome of a comforting presence." He said and then looked around as if to get his bearing. "Alright, now you want to lose to me fair and square?" he asked and she laughed but still had to admit there was no way she could outrun him.
"Sure. And you better not let me win, Sirius Black. I'll kick your ass." She said and they started running again and sure enough, he suddenly stopped about five minutes later and she was losing by a good bit.
"Don't pass out Dan, I don't want to have to carry you back." He said and she flipped him off as she slowed to a walk as she neared him.
"Fuck you. Seriously…oh wow, this is incredible." She said suddenly, looking around for the first time since she'd stopped. "Thanks for not telling me that we were going uphill the entire time." She said and he laughed.
"I didn't want to give it away."
"I knew that was harder than a flat two miles, you ass." She said but continued to look around. He had stopped on top of one of the cliffs that surrounded the Black Lake opposite of the castle. It was gorgeous. She sat down a few feet from the edge, preferring not to take an accidental swan dive. He sat down next to her.
"So tell me, is the view worth it?" He said and she nodded.
"Yeah, it is…you never really realize how beautiful it is here, not until you see it like this." She said absently.
"So, you still feel like you have a giant raincloud over your head?" He asked and she thought about it.
"Not really. It's awfully hard to be upset from up here. Everything just seems so…far away, I guess." She said. "Why? Are you experiencing full-on teenage angst over there?" He chuckled.
"No, no angst. But you're definitely sweating me out. I usually run without a shirt and I didn't realize how much I hate having one on until I didn't really have a choice." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.
"Is that your way of asking me if I'm cool with you taking your shirt off?" She said, mildly amused.
"Um yeah…I think I might pass out I'm sweating so much." He said and she waved a hand.
"Uh, go ahead. I don't care but I think Jessie wouldn't be particularly thrilled with that choice." She said and he raised an eyebrow.
"I'm dating Johanna. I dumped Jessie last week." He said and she rolled her eyes and lay on her back.
"Oh I'm sorry, my mistake that I confused your transient and interchangeable girlfriends. So Johanna's what? Number eight? Nine?" She said and closed her eyes, enjoying the cool grass.
"Number nine. She's number nine." He said quietly. Dany kept her eyes closed but responded.
"What happened with Jessie? Did she finally realize that she wanted a guy who doesn't set off dungbombs with his friends for giggles? I know it was you that did that to the Slytherin common room, just by the way." She said and smiled, even with her eyes closed.
"No…she got pissed at me and set an ultimatum so I walked. It wasn't really that complicated, honestly." He said and she heard him lay down near her. "Then Johanna started dropping hints and now I'm dating her." She opened her eyes and stared at the sky. Sunrise was on the horizon.
"Johanna's nice enough. She's a big gossiper though, I hear her talk in the bathroom; she can be pretty brutal. Lils said that she heard her talking about getting her period in like Third Year at the top of her lungs. At least I think that was Johanna and not someone else." She said and he laughed.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. The gossiping part, not the bit about her period; I don't really care about her period." He said and she grinned.
"Oh, trust me you'll care a lot about her period when it doesn't come." She said with a laugh and looked over at him for the first time since lying down. He looked mortified. "What? Not ready to be a daddy, Sirius?" She continued to tease and laugh. He continued to look horrified.
"Ugh, I'd be a horrible parent. Please don't ever say that." He said and she sat up to watch the sun rise over the castle.
"Aw, I don't know…I mean you couldn't be that bad. Actually I take that back, you could be that bad." She laughed and he pushed her shoulder as he sat up too.
"Please don't ever talk about accidental pregnancies again. I'm careful; I don't want to be a father." He said and she smiled.
"You don't see some shithead kids in your future?" He shook his head. "No wife or kids or pretty house to raise a family in?" She asked with an amused smile.
"No way. Besides, it's not like I'll live past twenty with the way things are right now…what about you?"
"What about me? How old do I think I'm going to live to?" She asked, looking over at him.
"No, I meant the other part. You want kids and a husband that's home for dinner every night?" He asked and she didn't really consider whether he was joking.
"Yeah, I do actually…I'd love to have handprints all over the windows and give Mom and Dad grandkids one day." She said and leaned forward with her elbows on her knees. She paused. "I've never actually told anyone that except for James. Please don't repeat it." She said as the sun started to peek out from above the castle.
"Hey, I promise I won't tell anyone that you're the marriage and kids type—Marauder's honor." He said and she smiled a little. "We should probably go back…we have class at nine." Dany checked her watch and sure enough, it was seven. That left her with barely enough time to get ready comfortably and eat breakfast by the time they got back to the castle.
The return trip was much easier, probably because it was downhill, but both of them were both sweating and gross by the time they reached the castle. Sirius had long ago ditched his shirt and Dany was pretty sure that something was broken from the running and the laughing and the general exertion her lungs had just experienced. Sirius pulled his shirt back on and they walked into the castle. Dany kicked her shoes off in the Entrance Hall and wiggled her toes on the cold stone floors.
"You're going to get a disease."
"Shut up, it feels good." She said and they kept walking up the stairs to Gryffindor tower. Dany checked the time and thought that Lily was probably the only one awake her room. "Alright, I'm going to go explain myself to Lily Evans as to where I was so wish me luck." She said and he grinned.
"Good luck; I think you'll need it too." She started to walk up the stairs. "Oh and Dan, I fully expect to beat your ass again tomorrow morning too." He said and she laughed.
"Did you just ask me to go running with you? That's an awful lot of commitment for a guy that's dodging marriage." She said and he laughed.
"I know, this is a big step for me. And it's more fun when it's not just my thoughts and me. See you at 5 tomorrow." He said and she smiled and walked upstairs. She opened the door to her room and almost immediately ran into Lily.
"Danilynn Masters. Where have you—are you sweating?" She asked suddenly and Dany nodded.
"Yeah…it's kind of a long story Lils. I'll tell you later." She said and proceeded to go into the bathroom to get a shower before the other girls woke up. She couldn't help but smile a little.
Lily had just rolled out of bed and glanced at Dany's bed. Empty. She looked at her nightstand and sure enough, there were letters from her father on them. More news that no one could know. She had been just about to wake up Alice when Dany walked into the room. Except she wasn't in pajamas, she was in a t-shirt, some shorts and had running shoes in her hand.
"Danilynn Masters. Where have you—are you sweating?" Lily asked as she noticed her friend's hair was partially plastered to her forehead. That was unlike Dany, to willingly go exercise bright and early in the morning.
"Yeah…it's kind of a long story Lils. I'll tell you later." She said and dropped her shoes before going in the shower. Lily looked at the shoes hard before waking up Alice and Marlene.
"Get up you two! Dany's out of bed before you and that says a lot, you lazy asses!" Lily said and pushed them both out of bed. Both girls groaned and swore at Lily. She brushed it off, used to it. A few minutes later Dany walked out of the bathroom and started looking for her uniform, wrapped in a towel. Marlene and Alice both ran into the bathroom, fighting for the shower first, and the door closed behind them. Dany had already showered and Lily showered at night so she decided that it was pretty safe to pin Dany down about why she had come in here looking like she had just run a marathon.
"Lily, before you ask, there's a perfectly good explanation to that." Dany said and Lily raised an eyebrow as she started to get dressed.
"I'm interested to hear it." Lily said and Dany told her a story about her being downstairs and her and Sirius talking and then he had coaxed her into go out to, of all things, run.
"That's seriously it, Lils. That's it." She said and Lily nodded as she buttoned up her shirt.
"Alright, I believe you. So how was it?"
"What? Running? It's exercise, I hope you know what that's like by now." Dany joked as she dried her hair. Lily shook her head.
"No, I wasn't talking about the run; I want details. That's awfully vague. Did he ask you on a date?" Lily prodded and Dany's face turned red. She was so in love it had stopped being funny sometime between when Kenzie had dumped Sirius and when Brady was put in St. Mungo's. Brady was still in St. Mungo's, actually.
"No, he didn't ask me on a date." Dany said as she put her tie on loosely.
"What aren't you telling me?" Lily said
"Nothing, nothing. Really, Lils that's all that happened."
"Did he ask you to go again tomorrow?" She said and Dany's face turned red again and she said nothing. "He did. Is this a thing now? Daily runs with Sirius?" Lily teased and Dany's face turned an even brighter shade of red.
"Maybe. Okay shut up Lillian, I didn't ask for it to happen." She said as she was obviously trying to get her blushing cheeks under control. Lily started laughing; it seemed like Sirius really had a thing for her friend too. "Are we done now? I'd really like to put my skirt on in peace." Dany said and Lily laughed.
"You know, that's getting a little short, Dan." Lily observed and Dany looked down at the skirt that fell to a little more than halfway down her thighs. Just then Marlene walked out of the bathroom.
"No it's not, Lils. Her legs look great." Marlene said as she toweled her hair. "You should really wear heels more. A pair of wedges would go well." Lily disagreed with that, but that was probably the Prefect side of her talking; objectively, Marlene was right.
"Yeah…I don't know, I just get so sick of heels when I'm at home, you know? Maybe one day when I'm feeling daring." She said lightly.
"Alright, the day Brady comes back, you're wearing heels and you're going to look fabulous and he can go die in a hole." Marlene said and even Lily had to agree with that.
"As your best friend, I endorse this." Lily said and Dany rolled her eyes.
"I don't have anything to prove to him, you guys. I'm not going to make myself into something I'm not for a guy that clearly doesn't care about me. The people worth being around don't care whether or not I'm in heels." Dany said and Lily had to admit that she had a valid point too.
"So what you're saying is that Sirius doesn't care if you're in heels." Alice said as she walked out of the bathroom. Dany threw a pillow at her.
"I said no such thing. I just said that I don't care enough about Brady to change how I look." She argued.
"You have to admit that it'd feel a little good to do the 'I look better without you' thing. You know it would be fun. Come on, admit it." Lily said. Dany consented.
"Alright, it would be fun but still…and I think we're all forgetting that we don't even know when he's coming back from St. Mungo's." Dany pointed out as she put a pair of black flats on.
"If he comes back at all." Lily observed. "His parents might want to homeschool him from here on out."
"Quarter past eight you guys; we better get down to breakfast." Marlene said and the girls started finishing up and getting ready to walk out the door. Bags were double-checked for the right books and wands were accounted for and they all walked downstairs to the common room, headed to the Great Hall and to food. They got there relatively early, before the hall became packed and getting the good food became near impossible. They took seats, talking about less secret topics, like the Transfiguration paper due that day and Gryffindor's Quidditch prospects.
"I'm just saying that we have a chance purely because Hufflepuff physically can't get any worse unless they start sabotaging their own players." Marlene was saying and the other three girls nodded in agreement.
"Not like Ravenclaw has been doing terribly spectacular either, now that you mention it. Seeing that their captain is in the hospital." Alice chimed in. Lily had never been very fascinated with Quidditch so she started to zone out while Dany watched the conversation go back and forth as she drank her coffee.
"Are you ladies talking about Quidditch?" James said suddenly from behind Dany and Lily. They both turned around to see James, Sirius, and Frank. The full moon had been two nights ago and Remus was still laid up in the hospital wing.
"Yeah James, you heard right. Marlene and Alice would be more than happy to hear your input on the topic." Dany said with a quick grin at Lily; Alice and Marlene didn't know what they were in for. James looked excited and sat down next to them, avidly talking about plays and points and strategy. Lily idly wondered where Jessie was. Sirius' girlfriend had been noticeably absent in the past week and as if the universe wanted to answer he question, suddenly Johanna Braden appeared and sat down next to Sirius. Of course he had a new one, that's what sudden absences of girlfriends meant. Dany pointedly turned her back to them and brought her food with her, terminally afraid of spit landing in something that she ate.
"So, Lils have you started the essay for Potions?" She asked casually, trying her best to ignore the couple next to her; annoyance was all over her face. A blind man could have seen that she wasn't happy with what was happening next to her.
"Yeah, I started it. Slughorn wants it to be so long that I don't know what else to add. We should work on it after school today." Lily answered and Dany nodded.
"Please. I haven't got a clue what's happening and I need to do well on the OWL because he only takes an E and above for NEWT level classes." Dany said.
"I might be able to help you a bit…I think a lot of it at this point is just trying to muddle through and do well on the OWLs—well enough to get into the NEWT program and then the real work starts." Lily commented and Dany jumped as Johanna's arm bumped her in the back as Sirius and his new girlfriend continued to make out. Lily felt for her; that couldn't be easy, watching a guy that you liked—loved—snog countless girls for years right in front of you.
Almost a month passed in that way. Dany would come in sweating at about 7:30, the girls would get ready and they would go down to breakfast where Sirius would snog Johanna and Dany would continue to look annoyed all the way up until they went to class and Johanna had to leave with her own house, Ravenclaw. The only thing that changed was Dany's waistline. Running every day was catching up with her and she was noticeably thinner and she looked better than she ever had.
Lily had no idea what kind of running they did but whatever it was, it was brutal; there were some nights where Dany would become so sore that she could barely move and would just lie in bed and complain about her calves. Lily would go swipe some pain-relieving potions from the hospital wing. Stealing was something that she was normally highly opposed to but she had a really hard time seeing her friend in that kind of pain. But even so, Dany continued to get up early and run. She looked healthy, really healthy. It was like everything was really sliding into place for her and Lily didn't think anyone deserved it more.
The strangest part of it was that Dany refused to talk about what exactly was said or done every morning outside of 'jogging' and 'seriously I thought my legs were going to fall off at one point'. Even when Lily would ask about any kind of conversation, Dany would shut down and mumble something unhelpful and vague.
It was a morning like the rest of them that a Fourth Year knocked on their room's door at about 7 to tell them that Brady had decided to come back after all.
I know I said that Brady's gone and he is. His presence is just a push for another event! He doesn't even talk. I swear.
I'm also going to address something else you might have noticed: Dany's dad is playing a larger role. It might seem weird that I'm working her father in, but one of the themes for Dany and her brother in Feel Again is living up to their father and mother respectively and I wanted to directly address their relationship. The main function of his presence is to show their relationship and the loving and special dynamic they share instead of you just hearing about it secondhand in Feel Again.
By the way, we're about two or three chapters away from *the moment* (you know what I mean)!