To put it bluntly, I own nothing to do with HP.
HAVE YOU GUYS HEARD THAT BOOK 6 HAS AN OFFICIAL TITLE NOW? HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE!!!!! WOOT WOOT!!!
Yeah, I'm done now. On to the thank yous to my fantastic reviewers.
Insaneiac the Maniac: Thanks for the review. Oi, you have a dirty mind…if I wanted you to think that Remus and Orion had some werewolf "fun", I make is seem dirty, but just to placate yourself… they were playing tug-of-war with a table leg. And as to your comment about Orion crushing Potter's balls…HEHEHE. Yeah, that little scene with the Marauders didn't turn out quite how I wanted it…I blame it on writers block. And you know I'll keep it insane Obaka wa baka : P
Star123: Thanks for the reviews. I'd glad that you like it. So Dallas is a …what did you call it again? "Dirty little stop out?" ROTFL. And yes…he is…wouldn't you like to know why? HEHEHE. Everyone seems to like Dallas, but that's what I wanted…Not every Malfoy is evil. And I just loved the idea of Lucius having a brother who had fallen so bloody far from the tree that he might not even be on the same planet. Lol. And as to the sticky end bit…considering that you'll see Dallas in my other fic as well, you can find out what he did with himself after Hogwarts. I've only mentioned his so far though…not to ruin anything for you, but…lets just say that things between him and Lucius have only gotten worse over the years. Yeah, I love humiliating my characters, it's so fun. Yeah, I wanted Remus' story to be sad. Actually ::chuckles:: one of my best friend's names is Danielle (the friends that read your response about falling off the bed lol…tell Ben I say hi), and when I got her to read the chapter, she was all like "OMG, you killed me, you bloody killed me." It was the only thing that she could say for a while. HEHEHE. Yeah, Orion is very loyal to her friends…she would die for them. And as Severus is her best friend. Lets just say that James learns quickly not to bully Severus in front of her…he never comes out of it very well. ::Phew:: long response for a lot of reviews, ne?
Silver Moon Megami: Thanks for the review. ME a review-a-holic…never. Lol. Yeah I'm lying. You talking to yourself…they could probably make a comedy out of that. : P "Would the Master be liking some Brandy?" ::snorts:: Yeah, at the exact same time…then people stare at us, what fun? You always want chocolate Pocky…you always want something to do with chocolate.
Joe Blow: Thanks for the review. The reason I'm probably better at writing comedy is because it's so bloody fun. I almost cried during the Remus flashback part. And as to Yaoi…probably because I have a dirty mind : P
Atiannala: Thanks for another great review girl. Yeah, the five year old logic was really fun to write…I just let my imagination go crazy. Cause things don't have to make sense when you're that young. As to the more werewolf bit…you'll have to read to find out. And as to his friends…rather bluntly ::grumbles about stupid Gryffindor's having no tact:: lol. Congratulations at getting into Boston U. I'm really happy for you. I still have one more year in the halls of torture before I'm free. Don't worry, Dallas will be in this one a bit…and he's back to normal. AKA, being a typical guy. And as to Severus' reaction to Orion's friendship with Remus…not in this chapter : P
Well, sorry for the wait. Enjoy…
Moonlight Sonata
Chapter Seven: Friends Ask Too Many Questions
By: dragonsprincess
All around Hogwarts it was a fine Early-Autumn morning; a ghostly mist hung around the ground, and a soft breeze was rustling the leaves on the trees. The leaves themselves would take hours to describe properly, as there is nothing more beautiful than the tops of trees in early fall. The brilliant gold's, and the fiery red's are abundant, their phosphorescence tickling the retina.
However, this beautiful scene was to go mostly unnoticed, as the majority of the members of this school were still happily sleeping it their beds. Most to intent on ignoring their homework and other responsibilities to care what could possibly be happening outside. To them, ten O'clock on a Sunday morning simply didn't exist, for that would be obliterating the true meaning of the weekend: sleeping in.
But across the grounds, down a path, and through the quaint little village of Hogsmeade, there existed an old-looking house. A Haunted House. A house that the villagers had been too afraid to approach since the home had been built some five years ago. It alluded many as too just how the house, which was now fondly, or not so fondly called the "Shrieking Shack" had become haunted so soon after its founding. The fact that it was only ever noisy a few times a month had never occurred to any of the villagers; and you'd think that it would, considering that Hogsmeade was the only entirely magical settlement in the British Isles, so strange happenings were the norm around this place. Then again, perhaps it was because it was so normal, that it didn't attract as much attention as it should have.
However, this morning the village was abuzz with chatter and wonderment. After over three months of nothing but peace and quiet from the old house, last night the phantoms had returned with a vengeance. It had been louder than ever, many villagers had been unable to sleep and had been up all night listening to the deafening yells and crashes. The earsplitting howls.
However, contrary to the belief of the villagers, the Shrieking Shack was not haunted, at least not by overly emotional specters. In fact, this small house only hosted people once a month, and that was on the full moon. Only the full moon. When the Shrieking Shack was built five years ago it had been built for the use of a student from the school up the road. For this student was a werewolf.
Remus Lupin lay on his back on the cold wooden floor of the Shrieking Shack, feeling how he usually did after one of his transformations, like a train had run him over…or he'd fought a few rounds with a wild re'em, and lost horribly. But Remus had grown used to feeling like this. Just like he'd grown used to the fact that he never remembered what he did on these nights. Clenching his eyes tighter because of the light coming through a hole in one of the boarded windows, Remus tried to go back to sleep.
It was then that Remus realized that there was a great weight on his chest! Panicking, he opened his eyes…opened his eyes to see something that made him blush so red hot that you could have fried bacon on his face.
There was Orion, half laying on his chest, arm draping across him, her breathing deep and long. It suddenly occurred to Remus what everyone had forgotten to think about…that every morning after a wolf moon; a werewolf would wake up in the nude.
Remus quickly tried to occupy his mind with other thoughts, attempting not to focus on the naked reality using his chest for a pillow. But as hard as he tried, he just could not chase from his mind the feeling of Orion's soft breasts pressing against his abdomen every time either of them breathed.
Gods, they're soft, Remus thought for a second. NO! BAD! Something cold…ice is cold. I'm having a glass of ice water; I'm chewing on some ice cubes…naked Orion rubbing ice cubes over her – NO! Bad mind! Bad! BAD MIND!!!
Suddenly Remus felt his body start to react to his not-so-innocent thoughts. NO! BAD BODY! VERY BAD BODY!!! Remus mentally chastened himself. Cold shower! Cold shower! COLD SHOWER!!! Orion in a – OH GODS NO!!!
Remus banged his head on the floor with a resounding THUD.
The next thing that happened - pending on how one would look at it - was either a good thing, or the worst thing that could have happened to Remus in his current situation.
Stirred from both the motion and the noise caused by Remus' little self-struggle, Orion let out a soft, early-morning moan, then snuggled in even deeper into her "pillow", wrapping one of her legs around his, brushing up against one of Remus' rather sensitive areas.
Now, Remus' situation was just wonderful. His body (the lower regions anyway), seemed to have grown a mind of its own, refusing to take orders from the mind…well, at least the part of Remus' mind that hadn't gone completely rampant and was currently sliding down a dirty gutter.
Remus started to silently whimper. He wanted this situation to end, but he didn't want to wake Orion up. However, Remus wouldn't be forced to make that decision as Orion, awoken by the irregularity of Remus' breathing moaned again, then turned her head to face Remus.
Bronze eyes met blue, and it didn't take Orion long to note the panicked blush on Remus' face. It was then that Orion realized that she'd practically been laying on top of him…why was there something hard against her leg? Orion didn't even want to think about it…but curiosity killed the wolf.
Keeping her eyes fixed on Remus' Orion slowly slid her hand down towards what was touching her leg. When her hand brushed against it, the electrified look on Remus' face told her that her guess had been correct.
"AHHHHHHHHH!" she screamed, removing herself from Remus and turning her back on him faster than the wave of a wand.
Oh my gods! OH MY GODS!!! I just touched his…NO!!! Don't think about it! Orion mentally screeched.
Remus to had gotten into a sitting position with his back turned to Orion, trying to make his body listen to the head that was on top of his shoulders.
Soon Remus had gotten his body and mind under control. He then turned his attention to see what kind of damage he'd managed to give himself the previous night. Remus had long resented his wolf side's self-mutilating tendencies. But…there were hardly any. There were no bite marks or gashes on his arms or legs. In fact, the only ones that he could find were on his chest, a place that he'd never damaged himself. Looking at them again, they looked like claw marks, and ones that we're smaller than any he'd caused himself in the past. Could they have been from Orion? Was having a companion solving his inner wolf's boredom? Was he finally done with hurting himself?
Looking up to find out which room he and Orion had woken up in, Remus chuckled seeing that it had been the big bedroom upstairs. How convenient. Getting shakily to his feet, Remus walked over to the bed, grabbed one of the pillows and pulled off the quilt.
Remus tossed the quilt to Orion, then sat down on the floor, using the old pillow to cover himself. "So," he said, "can we talk now?"
Orion gratefully accepted the blanket, wrapping herself in it; then turned to face Remus. "Sure," she nodded.
"Gods," Orion said, "I can't believe that it never occurred to either of us that we'd wake up naked. I mean, what a thing to forget?"
Remus laughed. "I know. But I do have a theory as to why. Neither of us has ever worried about this. You've only been through a wolf moon once, and it's just never been an issue for me. Before I came to Hogwarts my mum or dad would just come downstairs in the morning and give me some clothes, when I came here Madam Pomfrey would just come down here and give me one of my uniforms. And since I learned the Summoning Charm last year, I've just summoned some robes from my dorm-"
"Hold on," Orion said. "From your dorm? Are you telling me that your friends have never once noticed that a pair of your robes just flies out of the room once every month?"
Laughing again, Remus looked at her, grinning. "Guess I never told you that James, Sirius, and Peter figured out what my monthly disappearances meant in our second year. If they'd seen some of my robes flying out of the room, they wouldn't give it a second thought."
"Are you serious? They figured it out within two years?"
"Yep," Remus replied.
Orion suddenly got a sinking feeling in her stomach. If it had taken twelve year olds only two years to figure Remus out, how long would it take her dorm mates to guess her secret?
"Well," said Remus, interrupting Orion's thoughts. "I think it's about time we got dressed and headed up to the castle. Madam Pomfrey will want to see us soon; and believe me when I say that if she thinks it's taking us too long, she will come down here."
Remus got back to his feet and started to head out the door to go downstairs and get his wand. Orion followed quickly after him, all the while keeping her eyes focused on his head and shoulders…Remus had only grabbed one pillow.
When Remus got downstairs, he immediately went over to the brick fireplace, and started to remove one of the bricks on the mantle.
Dumbledore had shown Remus this brick when he'd taken Remus down here before Remus' first transformation of his first year, telling him that the hole was for him to put his wand in. Which Remus had done every transformation since. Reaching into the niche, Remus pulled out his wand, then tossed Orion her Maple one.
"Accio robes," Remus chimed. Orion quickly following suit.
James Sirius and Peter had been up all night, none of them able to believe what they had seen the previous night. How could there be another werewolf at Hogwarts? If there had been, Remus would have told them…right?
Sirius lay on his bed, pondering these very questions, though another one had recently started running around in his mind. Who were they? Sirius wanted to know just who had joined their friend in the Shrieking Shack. Sirius had started trying to figure out who they were. Knowing that Remus would have been told about another wolf at the school…knowing Remus like he did, Sirius was sure that he would have made friends with them. But Sirius just couldn't think of anybody that his friend had started hanging around with lately. Sure, Remus hadn't been with his fellow Marauders as much this last month, but he, James, and Peter had put down his absences to "Prefect things", and had never asked. Seemed like Remus had also been making a new friend.
Sirius looked up as he heard a whooshing sound; he quickly pinpointed the sound of the noise. "Looks like Remus is up, guys."
At the opposite end of the school, and down in the dungeons, a certain Andromeda Black had been up all night, wondering where Orion had gone. Melody and Jaclyn had stayed up rather late as well, waiting from their dorm mate to return, but the both of them had fallen asleep at around half three in the morning.
But Andromeda was worried about her friend. Many times she had debated going to get Dallas and Severus, and going out to look for her.
Suddenly Andromeda heard a sound like wind, this being the dungeons, there were no windows, therefore no breeze. Pointing her wand in the direction of the sound Andromeda let out a startled screech when she saw a pair of Orion's robes levitating and flying out of the dorm.
Awoken by Andromeda's scream, Melody and Jaclyn turned and looked at their fellow Slytherin.
"What the hell was that for, Andromeda?" asked Jaclyn, obviously not happy that her beauty sleep had been interrupted.
"One of Orion's uniforms just flew out of the room." She responded.
The blonde exchanged a meaningful look with her best friend, then returned her attention to Andromeda. 'Well," Jaclyn said, a smirk plastered all over her face, "we obviously know where our dear Orion was last night."
"What do you mean?"
"Don't tell me that you're that naïve, Black? Use your head. In what situation would a girl be gone all night, and then need some fresh cloths in the morning? Obviously Kamaria has a boyfriend that she never told us about."
Orion and Remus walked back up to the castle. Remus was glad that it was still early on a Sunday morning. Not many students were in the halls to see the two of them walk in, looking like they'd been up all night (which they probably hadn't…who knows?)
The two parted ways after seeing Madam Pomfrey, and having her heal any wounds.
"See you," Remus said heading up a flight of stairs as Orion was pushing a tapestry aside.
"Yeah, see you later," Orion replied.
After going up a few flights of stairs and through a secret passageway or two, Remus found himself in front of the Fat Lady's Portrait. "Flibberty Gibbit," he said, walking through the portrait hole, beelining for his dormitory…he could definitely do with another hour or two or five of sleep.
Upon entering his dorm, Remus was surprised to see that all of his friends were up and at'em; usually they would still be in bed when he returned after full moons on weekends. And why were they all staring at him so expectantly.
"Had a little company last night, Remus?" Peter asked.
Remus was suddenly on guard. Why of all the questions to ask after one of his transformations did they ask that one.
"Don't think I ate anything last night, Peter," Remus replied. Why had the three of them suddenly exchanged conspiratorial glances? Remus didn't like this at all.
"Are you sure that you didn't have any company last night, Remus?" James asked, his hazel eye twinkling mischievously.
"Pretty sure, James."
"Really," Sirius said, "Cause when we checked last night, there was another werewolf in the Shrieking Shack."
Remus was completely taken off stride by this remark. He was angry. "W…what we're the three of you doing at the Shrieking shack last night!!! We could have killed you!!!"
"Oh, so there was a "we" then, Remus?" James said, ignoring Remus' anger.
"So what if there was a "we", James?" Remus yelled. "You guys COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!!"
Sirius, however, decided to placate his friend before trying to get anymore information out of him. "Like this," Sirius said, changing into a black dog that was roughly about the size of a bear, then walking over to his friend and licking his hand.
Remus just stared at Sirius, stunned, as he watched his friend turn back to normal. "How the bloody hell," he said in shock, "did you manage to become an Animagus, Sirius?"
"Hey," James said indignantly, "not just Sirius. Peter and I have as well."
"You're not serious, are you?"
"Of course I'm not Sirius, he is," James said, point at Sirius. "But, no. I'm not kidding.
"C'mon, Peter, lets show him?"
Remus watched in stunned awe as James transformed into a stag, and Peter a rat. Then watch again as they changed back.
"Remus," Sirius said, placing a hand on Remus' shoulder. "I think you should site down."
Remus nodded vaguely as he sat down on James' bed. The other three sat down on the bed as well.
"When did you…how did you?" Remus managed to stammer.
"Well," James said, "After we found out about you in second year, you were always telling us how lonely it was, and how you would chew on yourself because you were bored-"
"Then, in third year," Peter continued, "when Professor McGonagall told us about Animagi, we realized that if we could become animals, we could keep you company on the full moons-"
"So," Sirius pick up, "We started to research everything we could. You know, learn which Potions and Spells would help us along. We didn't actually start trying any transforming until the end of last term. Then we perfected it this summer.
Sorry we kept it from you Remus, but we thought we'd make it a surprise."
"Now," James grinned, "we told you our story, now you tell us yours. Who's the other werewolf?"
Remus opened his mouth to answer, but quickly caught himself. "James, you know I can't tell you that."
"Why not?"
"Because, it's not my secret to tell you who it is. That's her secret and hers alone."
"So it's a her," Sirius said in absolute glee.
Opps.
Orion, on the other hand was being hassled by her peers in much a different way.
"Common," Andromeda begged, "who is he? Who's your lover?"
"Was he any good?" Jaclyn asked.
"I keep telling you guys, I DON'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND, AND I DIDN'T SLEEP WITH A GUY!!!"
At least not in the way that you're thinking, Orion thought to herself. And we'll just keep it that way.
"Then where the hell were you last night?" Melody asked. "And why did you need a new pair of robes?"
"I can't tell you!" Orion stated.
"Why not?"
"Just because."
"Who is he?"
Now, this discussion had been going on for a while, and needless to say, Orion's patience was wearing thin…very thin.
"Errrg," Orion growled. She had quite enough of the third degree…especially since she hadn't done anything. Orion now knew how Remus had felt before his dorm mates had figured it out. He'd told her about it on their way back through the tunnel.
Orion quickly grabbed her school bag and slung it over her shoulder; she was going to go to the library to do a Potions essay that was due on Tuesday. And if her dorm mates followed her, she'd be sure to get a table close to Madam Pince's desk, that way they'd have to be quiet.
She stormed down the girls corridor and out through the cobra and into the common room. Not surprised at all that Andi, Mulciber, and Goyle followed her, never once stemming their flow of questions.
"WOULD YOU THREE JUST STOP IT?" Orion yelled.
"Stop what?" came a familiar voice from one of the leather couches, Orion turned to look, it was Severus. Orion smiled, Severus would believe her, and help to knock some sense into her room mate's heads.
"Severus," she chimed, taking the free chunk of couch beside him. "Good morning."
"I've had a good morning…are you feeling alright? You look a little pale, not to mention stressed."
Orion noted with a bit of dismay that the rest of the fifth year boys were hear as well. Dallas seemed to be giving her an odd look. Orion brushed it off, she would deal with the matter at hand first.
"Well, I'm feeling a bit under the weather at the moment, and the stress? Well, these three seem to have the notion that I was out all night with my secret boyfriend, and that we had sex."
Severus cocked one of his dark eyebrows, and looked at the other girls. "Is that true?"
Jaclyn nodded.
"Hmmm, and you reasoning behind these accusations are…?" Orion mentally cheered, she'd known that Severus would take her side.
"Well," Melody said. "She was gone all night, and this morning she summoned a clean uniform from our dorms. Then she comes back looking all tired, as if she's been up all night."
"I was in the hospital wing, like I told Severus, I'm feeling a tad under the weather." Orion said. Putting as much indignity into her voice as she possibly could. (Well technically it wasn't a lie; she had been to see Madam Pomfrey this morning).
"That is an out and out lie, Kamaria," Mulciber said. "And you know it."
Orion opened her mouth to say something, but Severus cut her off. "It doesn't matter, Jaclyn. What Orion decides to do with her nights is none of your business, especially since the two of you aren't exactly friends."
Orion noticed that Dallas had come to stand behind her. "He's right you know. It's not any of your business. If she has a boyfriend, so what? It's not like none have never dated before…how many boyfriends have you had now, Jaclyn? And, so what if she may not be a virgin, not like all of us are," he said this with a pointed look at Even Rosier, who looked like he was about to burst out laughing.
"Hey," Even said. "What was that look for?"
"What," Dallas said in shock. "Are you about to deny your own promiscuity, Evan? Cause I've probably heard more stories from you than every other guy I know put together."
"I'll second that," said Rabastan Lestrange, Rosier's best friend.
"Of course not," Evan said looking outraged. "I worked hard to get my reputation."
"Look," Severus said. "Bottom line, this is nobodies business."
Jaclyn and Goyle looked outraged, and stormed out of the common room.
Andromeda, however, approached Orion. "Forgive me?" she asked.
"Of course," Orion said.
"Right, thanks" Andromeda said. "I…I'm gonna head off to the library then." With that Andromeda practically ran from the common room.
"Severus, Dallas," Orion said after Evan and Rabastan had headed off to breakfast. "Thank you for supporting me back there. I was about ready to freak out."
"Don't worry about it," Dallas said sitting down in the comfy chair that Evan had vacated earlier.
Severus nodded his agreement. "I may think that you're lying about the whole hospital thing. But it's none of their business."
Orion laughed. "Yeah, and you obviously don't think that I have a boyfriend either, or you'd be first in line to torture it out of me, Sev."
Severus and Dallas laughed. "Severus," Dallas said, "she's known you for a month, and already it's like she known you for years."
Severus simply laughed some more. "So, you guys wanna go and get some breakfast."
Well, here it is. Done. What did you guys think of it? I rather like this chapter. The beginning was SOOOOOOOOO fun to write ::cackles like the witch I am::.
IMPORTANT: For those of you who have been following this for a while. I've been thinking about writing a fic to follow up this one. But it won't be a sequel. Everyone who's in this story is going to appear in my other story as well (with the exception of James and Lily of course, their dead).
But in between this story and FaaD, there's like what twenty years, a lot can happen in twenty years. This story, if I decided to write it will be a series of short stories, telling about what happens to them in sixth and seventh years…the post Hogwarts years…the College years. Can't you lot just picture Dallas as a frat boy ::laughs at thought::? And what happens when Orion finds out that her nearest and dearest friend became a Death Eater. And what about the witch who gets Dallas to stop playing around and get in a serious relationship…AKA, his wife. Sound interesting? Tell me what you guys think about this idea of mine…and I'd love a suggestion from you, this one would basically be for you guys, the readers. Do you want it after I'm finished with Moonlight Sonata?
dragonsprincess
Please review. And for any of you who don't know, I updated my other fic…it hasn't gotten many review yet though, guess that's what I get fro updating the same day that the title for book six is announced : P
Please please review, as my friend SMM is always so fond of telling me, I am a review-a-holic. lol