Change of Heart
By Tempest Break
Disclaimer: I think I oughta make a list of all the characters I own. So I will. Later.
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Chapter Twenty-Eight: Spat Out Like a Curse
"What? No adoring fans to greet me?" asked James as he stepped outside and found only Sirius waiting for him. "What a magnificent washout – I mean, turnout."
Sirius crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, lovely thanks I get for waiting for you," he muttered indignantly. "Everyone else went up to the Infirmary to see my girlfriend, but I, like a good friend, waited for you so you wouldn't be alone. You could at least promise me vast amounts of money or something."
James rolled his eyes at his friend. "Well, let's get going up to see Colleen, then," he said, turning toward the castle. Sirius followed him, grumbling about ungratefulness.
"If that kid Sayers hurt Colleen," James heard Sirius mumble as Sirius caught up to him, "he's gonna wish he had never been born."
"She looked okay," said James, "just a little, you know… throwy-uppy." At the dangerous flash in Sirius's eyes, James quickly said, "But she'd been saying she felt sick that morning, so I'm sure it wasn't entirely Sayers's fault."
"He would hope not," growled Sirius.
When James and Sirius finally reached the Infirmary, Sirius tentatively pushed the door open and peered inside. He found Colleen chatting and smiling with the short, scrawny third year Ravenclaw who had crashed into her.
"…And I turned and ran into the wall," Sayers was laughing embarrassedly.
Colleen laughed. "Why didn't you just open your eyes?"
Sayers abruptly stopped laughing and stared at her with his eyes, in this case, wide open. "I don't know," he said as though the idea had just occurred to him.
Colleen chuckled and then seemed to notice the new presences in the room. She turned toward James and Sirius. Was it just Sirius, or did the smile fall for a second from Colleen's face?
"Nice o' you to finally show up," she drawled, rolling her eyes at the two boys. Then she grinned.
Just me, I guess. Sirius smiled back. "The hell are you talking about? We came here as fast as we could!" he said, crossing to her stiff Infirmary bed. He mussed up her hair affectionately.
She batted his hand away. "Yeah, well, practically the entire world got here before you guys did," she said. "You're a horrible person, Sirius Black. Just horrible."
"Will you punish me later?" he asked goofily, sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth.
Colleen laughed lightly. "Oh, by the way, guys," she said, gesturing to the third year in the bed beside hers, "this is Michael Sayers. Michael, these are Sirius Black and James Potter."
"I know who they are!" protested Sayers, reddening.
"Yeah, now you do," muttered Colleen jokingly.
"It's nice to meet you both," Sayers said to James and Sirius.
"Likewise," said Sirius. James nodded.
"It was also nice to meet your mom last night," he continued seriously.
Colleen burst out laughing at Sirius and James's astounded expressions. "He did that to me just a few minutes ago, too," she snorted.
"I think I may have underestimated you, Sayers," said Sirius, looking at the third year in a new light.
"That's weird," said Sayers, "because that's exactly what your mom said!"
- - - - -
"I liked your friends," Sayers remarked to Colleen when Madam Pomfrey had exasperatedly ushered Sirius and James out of the Infirmary and asked in annoyance why Colleen's friends just had to visit her.
"Yeah, they're great," said Colleen, smiling.
"It's…" began Sayers haltingly, "it's his, right? Sirius's?"
She nodded slowly. "Don't tell him. Please."
"I won't. I promise."
- - - - -
"Has Colleen been acting a little – weird – lately?" asked Lily abruptly one night next to James on the crimson couch in their common room a week after the Quidditch incident.
James looked up from his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework quizzically. "No, not that I've noticed," he said, shaking his head.
She sighed. "Maybe it's just me."
"What do you mean by 'weird'? She certainly is as cheerful as ever."
"I know, I know," said Lily, her brow furrowed. "To all appearances, she's exactly the same as usual. But I can't shake this feeling that it's not real, you know? It's a façade or something… like she's got something weighing on her mind…"
"I don't know, Lily," said James, shrugging. "But you know her better than I do. You ought to ask her."
Lily chewed her lip in consternation, staring at the book in her hands. "It's probably groundless, but… I'm worried about her…"
James looked at her for a moment. Then he shouted, "You're so cute!!" and threw his arms around her. Lily laughed as she fell on the couch under him, thoughts of Colleen momentarily forgotten as James's mouth sealed over hers.
- - - - -
"Not here!" Colleen elbowed Sirius away from her as she bent over her homework in the Gryffindor common room.
"Why the hell not!?" Sirius demanded hotly.
She looked at him sharply. "There are people."
Sirius crossed his arms over his chest huffily and settled back into the couch. "A buncha bloody first years aren't gonna care…" he muttered grumpily.
Colleen ignored him. "Shouldn't you be doing your homework, anyway?" she asked.
Sirius grumbled something inappropriate about homework under his breath and stood up from the couch. He stomped off up the stairs to the boys' dormitory, but before he left, Colleen thought she caught a mumble of something coherent:
"You never used to care that there were people around…"
She pretended she hadn't heard. Instead she hunkered over her homework and chanced a small, nearly silent sniffle before she pushed what he'd said out of her mind.
- - - - -
"Hey, Colleen!"
Colleen turned with a smile toward the familiar, still-high voice of Michael Sayers. It had been a while since she'd seen the scrawny third year, and it was somewhat of a comfort to know that her one confidant hadn't forgotten about her.
"Hiya, Michael," she greeted as her friends sitting around her at the table looked at the boy curiously. "What's up?"
Michael shrugged. "Not much. I was just wondering how you were feeling," he said, blinking subtly yet meaningfully at her. "I'm really sorry about running into you that day."
She smiled at him, grateful for his discreetness. "I'm doing good," she reassured him. "Don't worry. If there are any bad repercussions, I'll come and kill you. You'll know."
He laughed. "Okay, but I should warn you, I have illegal ninja moves. Sayounara, Colleen-san." He bowed to her and walked away in the direction of the Ravenclaw table.
"You're awfully chummy with him," observed Sirius darkly when Colleen turned back toward the others around the table.
She nodded. Upon noticing Sirius's bleak stare at his eggs, she chided, "Oh, come on, Sirius. You can't be jealous of Michael. He's a third year. He's even smaller than I am!"
At that moment, James spilled syrup over his entire plate, and Colleen laughingly offered to lick it clean for him. Then to everyone's astonishment, she grabbed the dish from in front of James, tilted it up, and let the syrup ooze into her mouth. The sounds of "ewww" and surprised laughter drowned out Sirius's answer to Colleen.
"But you smiled at him in five minutes more than you had in my presence for days."
Only one person heard it: Lily Evans.
- - - - -
"Oh, if only I could do that," said Colleen, good-naturedly rolling her eyes as Bergen flipped his wand as they walked along the Defense Against the Dark Arts corridor.
"You want me to teach you?" he asked seriously, looking at her questioningly.
"Sure."
"Okay!" He seemed pleased that someone finally wanted to follow the Bergen way of life. "So, you hold it like this – "
"Colleen."
Colleen's head jerked up at the serious tone in her best friend's voice. Lily stood in the hallway, her arms crossed over her chest. Her red mane of hair bushed around her head, and her green eyes blazed furiously. "Colleen," she said tersely, "we need to talk."
Colleen looked hesitantly at her friend before nodding. "See you later, Bergen," she said.
"All right," he replied. "Later." He strolled off down the hallway, flipping his wand unnecessarily.
Lily eyed Colleen. "Okay, Colleen," she began hotly, her green eyes blazing with the heat of the confrontation. "Excuse my French, but what the fuck is wrong with you lately?"
Colleen broke Lily's gaze and looked out the window down at the empty Quidditch pitch, longing to be down there at this moment. "What are you talking about, Lily? I'm fine."
"Yeah, see, no, you're not," Lily answered quickly, her breathing fast and angry. "You're obviously not fine when you're completely ignoring Sirius, who is moping around like a lovesick puppy, and talking to Dennis Bergen, of all people."
"What's wrong with Bergen?" Colleen asked defensively.
Lily gave her a sharp look. "Is it absolutely necessary for me to answer that?" she inquired.
Colleen looked away again.
"Exactly." Lily took a deep breath, which seemed to do wonders for her temperament at the moment. "I'm worried about you, Colleen. I wish you'd tell me what was wrong."
"N-nothing's wrong…"
"COLLEEN!" cried Lily, startling the other girl. "Laugh in my face! Tell me to sod off! But don't stutter and tell me 'N-nothing's wrong'. Something absolutely is wrong. Tell me."
Colleen said nothing. She only stared at the stone floors.
"Tell me. Tell me. Don't make me keep saying it. Tell m – "
"FINE!" Colleen exploded, jerking her head up from the floor, her eyes nearly burning holes in Lily's. "You really want to know? It's because I'm – pregnant." She spat out the last word like a curse.
Lily stared at her seething friend. The hallway was mercifully empty. Only the two girls stood there, staring at each other.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
The bell tolled for their next class. Both of them looked in the direction of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Then their gazes turned back to each other.
"Well," said Colleen, losing her defensive stance and seeming to smooth herself back into normality. "Shall we?"
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Tempest: Long time in coming, no? I dislike this chapter, but that's okay. And I'm really sorry, but I'm too lazy to do responses to reviews right now. But I will do it in the next chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and will review. Thanks, you guys. Hearts.
8-28-07: This chapter has been revamped! Hope you enjoy it more than before.