Chapter 7: Absolute Nightmare

September 10, 1976 Thursday, 9:15 AM

"Hey, Captain! Look at this," Diana said excitedly as she ran over to Sirius, who was sitting in his armchair by the fire.
Sirius had been selected as the new Gryffindor Quidditch Captain and Diana, who was now in 2nd year, was the team's newest player. As a Seeker, she had filled in for the position of Emmeline who had been Captain and Seeker the previous year.

She isn't as skilled as Emmeline yet but she definitely has the talent and potential, which isn't really surprising since she is related to me, after all, Sirius thought with satisfaction.

"What is it, Diana?" said Sirius with a smile.
He carefully scrutinized her, once again getting the feeling that Diana was a lot like someone he knew, though he couldn't figure out who it was. Of course she was the spitting image of their mother but he was sure it was somebody else that she reminded him of.
But then, who?

"Isn't he so adorable? Mum and Dad just send it to me," Diana said proudly, waving a picture in front of him.

The picture was of a baby with brown hair and eyes. The baby brandished his tiny fists at him and Sirius laughed.
"Yes, he is," he said sincerely. "Who is he? Your cousin?"

"No, he's my little brother, Oliver," Diana replied.

"What? I thought your parents couldn't have kids," Sirius blurted out.

"Huh?" said Diana with confusion.

"Uh, I mean, I got confused with somebody else," Sirius said hastily.
"So when was the baby born?" he asked.

"He was born in May but Mum and Dad didn't even tell me until I got home this summer. No wonder they told me not to come home for Easter vacation. Imagine my surprise when I came home to find a new baby brother!" Diana laughed.

So the Woods had their own child now, Sirius thought worriedly.
What would happen to his Diana now? Before now, she had been beloved since they hadn't had their own child but now that they did, would Diana be pushed back into second place?
Would all their love for Diana go to this new baby?

Wait a minute-did she say..?
"They wouldn't let you come home for Easter vacation?" Sirius demanded.

"Yeah, they wanted to surprise me," Diana giggled. "And you have to admit, it would ruin the surprise if I saw my mother a month before the baby was born."

"Aren't you worried?" Sirius asked cautiously. "Aren't you afraid that your parents might love this baby more than they do you?"

"Of course not," Diana laughed.
"I know how much Mum and Dad love me," she said warmly.

Sirius nodded and Diana continued to speak.

"Anyway, I'm so glad I'm not a only child anymore. It was so lonesome being an only child, even if Mum and Dad do spoil me a bit." Diana grinned.
"Anyhow, I'm glad he's a boy. I've always wanted a brother, though Iwould have preferred an older one."

Sirius smiled. "I'll be your older brother if you want," he offered.

"Really? Thanks," Diana beamed. "I've always felt that you're sort of like an older brother to me anyway."

You have no idea, thought Sirius as he watched Diana skip off to join her friends.

September 13, 1976 Monday, 4:27 PM

"Oi, Snivellus, have a nice day?" James sneered.

"Would you be able to have a nice day if you had to see that face staring back at you in the mirror every day, Prongs?" Sirius said nastily.

Peter laughed and nodded fervently in agreement.

Instead of sneering or retorting back, Severus merely smiled as he looked at the three Gryffindors.
"I see that Lupin is…missing," he said silkily. "I wonder if has something to do with the, what do you call it? Oh yes, the Whomping Willow."

"What do you know about the Whomping Willow?" Sirius demanded.

"Nothing, just that Lupin seems to enjoy visiting it," said Severus.

Sirius reddened with anger as Severus sneered at them, recalling his recent recollection of his encounter with the Muggle man. At that moment, Sirius wanted more than anything to hurt him as much as rationally possible.

James quickly jumped up before Sirius could attack him, seeing his murderous expression. "Do us a favor and keep your abnormally large nose out of our business, Snivellus."
"Come on, Padfoot, Wormtail, let's go," he said, beckoning to them.

Sirius stayed back as James and Peter headed to the castle then turned to Severus and lowered his voice so that only he could hear.
"You really want to know where Remus goes?" he sneered. "Just press the knot at the bottom with a stick and follow him in."
He walked away laughing as he pictured Severus meeting up with a werewolf. Though Severus would never actually take his advice, it was satisfying, nevertheless, to simply imagine him being attacked by the werewolf.

"What did you say to Snivellus?" asked James.

Sirius snickered. "Just told him how to follow him in if he wants to know so much."

"WHAT?" Peter squeaked.

"Are you out of your mind, Sirius?" James bellowed.

"Calm down, Prongs. If there's anything I know about Slytherins, it's that they're overly suspicious. Snivellus is never going to think that I'm telling the truth, only that I'm trying to bait him again. Besides, even if it weren't so, what reason does he have to think that I'm not merely baiting him?" Sirius said calmly.

"But-" James still looked unconvinced.

"Remember second year and the giant squid? Fourth year and the Hog's Head? You know the motto 'Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.'? He's not going to fall for our tricks again."

"I suppose so." James nodded.

"Padfoot is right. Snivellus would never take anything we have to say seriously," Peter said in agreement.

October 10, 1976 Sunday, 5: 44 PM

"It's almost that time of the month, Sirius," said Gwen.

Several girls nearby giggled as they overheard, looking scandalized.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Not that 'that time of the month'," he growled at them.

"Let's go visit Moony's 'furry little friend' later at say, seven o'clock, shall we?" said James quietly.

---

Several hours later, the three of them, accompanied by Peter, were sneaking out of Hogwarts towards the Whomping Willow under James' invisibility cloak.

James suddenly stopped. "Who's that?" He pointed at the figure in the distance that was approaching the Whomping Willow.

"That IDIOT!" Sirius burst out.

"SNAPE?" said James with horror, as the figure began to search the ground near the tree.

"Snape?" Gwen repeated with confusion.

"Yes," said James tensely.
"This idiot over here," he motioned towards Sirius, "told Snape, for a joke, that he should try pressing the knot in the willow, and you know the rest…"

"What were you thinking, Sirius?" Gwen said with disbelief.

"I don't know; I was just angry about the Daily Prophet issue and then I heard him boasting to the other Slytherins," Sirius explained dejectedly.

Comprehension dawned Gwen's face and she groaned. Regulus had told her about his confrontation with Snape so she knew what Sirius was referring to.
"Sirius, that Muggle man was Severus' father! He was just trying to stop his father from abusing his mother," Gwen said indignantly.

"I didn't know," Sirius said slowly with sudden remorse, as if just realizing what he had done.

The Whomping Willow had already frozen in the distance and Snape had already gone in through the entrance.

"Well, what are we waiting for? We can't just stay here and let Severus meet a werewolf!" Gwen yelled, snapping the others into attention.

"What can we do though," Peter said weakly, "If we go in there after him, we might be…you know."
"Maybe Snape will be able to run away," he added hopefully.

"We can't just let him be attacked; we have to do something! Besides, don't you realize that Severus isn't the only one is danger? If something happens to him, Remus will be the one in trouble," said Gwen, a note of panic in her voice.

"You're right, what have I done?" said Sirius, paling. He began to run towards the Whomping Willow.

The others immediately chased after him.

"Padfoot! Padfoot!" James yelled after him. "Calm down, get your head together. You can't go in there like this."

"I have to go. It's all my fault. It's all my fault," Sirius muttered frantically.

"Sirius, you can't go in this condition. I'll go," said Gwen.

"NO!" Sirius yelled, attempting to break free.

"Gwen, calm Padfoot down. I'll go," said James.

James and Peter transformed into their Animagus forms and James sprinted toward the Whomping Willow with Peter on his back.

Peter pressed the knot, causing the tree to freeze.

"You stay here," said James as he transformed back.

James crawled through the entrance and ran through the tunnel until he turned the corner and saw a dark figure.
"Snape!" he called out with relief. Thank heavens he was still okay.

---

Severus had just entered the tunnel and was walking through it when he heard a voice calling his name.

"Snape!" James called.

"Potter," Severus spat as James came up behind him.

"Snape, you have to get out of here," said James, grabbing his arm.

Severus snatched his arm away with disgust. "I came here for a reason and I don't plan to leave until I find it."

"You don't understand! Remus, he's-he's," James hesitated.

"Yes?"

"We have to leave, it's dangerous in here!"

Severus sneered and had turned to go further into the tunnel when a large figure came around the corner.

Severus froze as he saw the figure coming towards them.

"Come on!" James yelled and dragged him towards the entrance, pulling him out of his trance.

They ran back through the tunnel as Remus started towards them. James stopped in horror as Severus stumbled and fell, with Remus the werewolf quickly advancing on him.

"Snape!" James ran back towards Snape who had frozen in terror once again.

James quickly helped him up and they ran towards the end of the tunnel until they finally reached the entrance and fell through.

---

"It's alright, Sirius. James went to stop him," Gwen muttered soothingly.

Sirius slumped against her. "What if he's not alright? What if Remus has already attacked Snape? Or what if something happens to James? It would be all my fault…"

Gwen gently brushed his hair to the side and soothingly kissed his forehead.
"Shh, it's okay. It's not your fault; you didn't think something like this would happen. And if worse comes to worst, James is an Animagus," Gwen said assuringly.

After several minutes which felt like a lifetime to the pair, they finally saw the Whomping Willow still and two figures come out of it.

"It's okay now, Sirius," said Gwen with relief. "Everything's fine now."

November 26, 1976 Friday, 10:36 PM

It was nearing the end of November and the sixth year Slytherin trio, Gwen, Narcissa, and Aquila, sat in their common room discussing their plans for the upcoming Christmas break.
There would be the usual pure-blood event, a ball held at Malfoy Manor this time, around Christmas. However, this ball was different because they were finally of age to attend the ball this year.

"Our first ball! I can't wait 'til break!"

The trio began to giggle as they talked about the ball and possible escorts.

"Of course Evan and I are going together," said Aquila, referring to a fellow sixth year Slytherin whom she had been dating since fifth year.

"You and my cousin make such a cute couple," Narcissa said with delight.

"Yes, and of course Evan resembles your ideal," Gwen added slyly.

When they were younger, before they had started at Hogwarts, the trio had discussed the 'ideal man' they would marry when they were 'grown up'.

[Flashback

"I like tall, dark, and handsome. With dark eyes and black hair," Narcissa said with a giggle.
"I wish I had black hair," she said wistfully as she eyed Gwen's raven hair and distastefully looked down at her own golden locks, "I'm the only Black with blond hair."

"My ideal has black hair too but with grey-ish eyes," Gwen said dreamily, "Grey eyes are so alluring."
"He'll be lots of fun to spend time with and he would be very brave. Even if he was afraid of something, he wouldn't let it stop him from doing what he wants to do," she added, unconsciously describing Sirius to the very detail.

"My ideal is brave too," Aquila said and added disdainfully, "I don't like boys who cry. My father said that boys should never cry, under any circumstances."
"My ideal would have blond or light brown hair and pale eyes. I don't like dark hair and eyes," she said defiantly.

"Why not?" Gwen demanded in a slightly hurt tone.

"Oh, dark hair is pretty on girls," Aquila assured her, "but I think men with dark hair and eyes look a bit frightening."

[End of flashback

Aquila smiled, also recalling the memory.
"Yes, he does, doesn't he? Evan matches my ideal perfectly," Aquila said blissfully. "In fact, he couldn't have resembled it more perfectly if he had been made to order.
"Wemust be a match made in Heaven," she added dreamily.

"Who are you going with, Narcissa?" asked Gwen.

"Everett asked me," she replied with a blush, referring to Everett Wilkes, the Slytherin Quidditch team Captain.

"I knew you guys liked each other!" Gwen and Aquila exclaimed with glee.

"What about you, Gwen?" Narcissa abruptly inquired, turning to her.

"I don't have a date yet," Gwen replied.

Both Narcissa and Aquila looked at her disbelievingly.

"How did that happen? You're the Slytherin princess," Aquila said matter-of-factly and continued suspiciously, "Somebody'sbound to ask you."

"Well, Rabastan and some other guys did ask me," she admitted, "but I think I'll just go with Sirius."

"You can't go with Sirius," Narcissa said scandalously, "he's yourbrother. You can't go to these sorts of events with your brother."

"You should know better, we aren't children anymore, Gwen," Aquila reprimanded, "People might get the wrong idea. I wouldn't dream of going with Lucius."

"I guess I'll just go with Rabastan then," Gwen said dejectedly.

"I knew Rabastan was going to ask you; he's liked you for ages," said Narcissa with a beam, mollified by her decision.

"Yes," Gwen replied nonchalantly.

"Along with ninety percent of the school's male population. How come you get all the popularity?" Aquila demanded with mock jealousy.

"And you always turn them down. Is it because you're secretly in love with somebody else? Perhaps a forbidden love?" Narcissa inquired with a mischievous grin.

"Oh yes, I'm secretly in love with Professor Dumbledore. Oh the scandal! What will Mother and Dad say!" Gwen said dramatically, with a laugh, as she sighed inwardly.

Yes, what would Mother and Dad say if they found out about her 'secret love'?
Of course it wasn't Dumbledore, though they would be just as angry and scandalized as if it were him if they found out who she was in love with.

Why out of all the guys, had she fallen in love with Sirius who was supposedly her 'twin brother'? Why Sirius, the only one she would never be able to have, the one to whom she could never confess her feelings?

She couldn't help but think that that was the way fate was for her. Harsh and cruel…

December 9, 1976 Friday, 8:20 AM

Sirius had just sat down to breakfast when he saw his mother's owl, Storm, flying towards him.
"Great. Another bloody letter from dear old Mother, telling me how much of a disgrace I am," he said sarcastically.

Sirius opened the letter which informed him that there would be another pure-blood gathering which he was expected to attend with a 'proper', meaning pure-blood, escort.

"Great. Even better; another bloody gathering where I get to enjoy hours of hearing how 'pure-bloods are superior to the rest'," Sirius said with false enthusiasm.

"You'll live. I'm sure it won't be that bad," James said sympathetically.

"Thatbad?" he scoffed.
"You should know better, Prongs. It'll be horrible. Fancy spending a few hours in the Slytherin Common Room? This is ten times worse. Absolute nightmare I tell you." Sirius shuddered, causing the others to laugh.

Sirius continued to moan for a few more minutes before he suddenly cast a sharp glance at James.
"Wait a minute. What do you mean 'you're sure it won't be that bad?' You're not going?" he said with disbelief.

"Erm-" James quickly shoved a large pile of bacon and eggs into his mouth.

"Prongs!" Sirius whined. He quickly turned to Remus.
"Moony?" he asked hopefully.

"Full moon," Remus said quickly.

Sirius sighed then turned to Peter, who had been watching the exchange with amusement, with a gleam in his dark eyes.

"No."

"Aw, come on, Wormtail," Sirius whined. "Please?"

"Sirius, I'm Muggleborn," Peter said slowly as if speaking to a child.

"I'm sure the others won't mind…too much," said Sirius.

"Uh huh. And I'm sure they won't hex me into oblivion as soon as I dare to set foot in their presence?" Peter said dryly.

"Of course not," Sirius said enthusiastically.

"No."

Sirius sighed then rounded on James who had finished his bacon and eggs.

"Why aren't you coming, Prongs?" he demanded.

"We're going to visit Chris in Norway," James said happily.

"Bastard," Sirius muttered sullenly.

"Ahh! My virgin ears!" Peter yelped jokingly.

Sirius continued to glare as the others laughed then gave in.

"Tell Chris 'Happy Christmas' from me," Sirius told James grudgingly.

"Yeah, sure. So what are you going to do about the escort part?" James asked slyly.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll just ask Gwen or something. Mother can't say anything since all she said was that the girl had to be a pure-blood," Sirius replied smugly.

"But what if Gwen actually wants to go with a date? And anyways, she's so popular with the Slytherins. Somebody's bound to have asked her already," Peter commented, unconsciously echoing Aquila's previous words.

"Thanks for the encouragement, Wormtail," Sirius said sarcastically, "but yes I agree."
"That girl is too bloody popular for her own good. It takes so much time to keep the guys away from her," he complained.

Considered the prettiest girl in their year or perhaps even their school, and rightfully so with her doe-shaped violet eyes, milky fair complexion, and sleek raven hair, Gwen was one of the most sought after girls in the school.
Being a pure-blooded Slytherin of a good lineage, she also had many admirers amongst the many Slytherins who refused to even look at girls who weren't pure-blood.

"Do I sense jealousy?" James teased.

"Yes, I'm so jealous that Gwen has more bloody annoying fans than I do," Sirius said sarcastically.

"I think Prongs meant that you were jealous of the guys themselves," Remus said dryly, rolling his eyes, "not the attention she's getting from them, Padfoot."

"What's to be jealous of?" Sirius snorted.
"Besides, it's not like as if anyone dares to bother her anymore," Sirius added with a slight grin.

He amusedly thought of what had happened last year, when some prat had begun to stalk her. To make a long story short, both the Marauders and Snape's gang, the nickname he had dubbed the sixth year Slytherins boys, had gone after him and now that they were done with him, he was probably traumatized for life. Of course that was nothing compared to what Gwen had done to him.
For all that she seemed so sweet and kind, Gwen could be very dangerous if provoked. Not that she used violent means or anything of the sort.

Anyhow, no guy, or girl for that matter, was likely to risk getting on the wrong side of Gwen anytime soon after that incident.

That git deserved it. Acting like some crazy stalker, Sirius thought, growing angry at the thought of him.

It was probably the only thing he and Snape had ever agreed on.

"Well, I better go ask her before some Slytherin asks her," Sirius said as he saw Gwen getting up from the Slytherin table.

To his annoyance, some Slytherin seventh year approached her, before he could, and asked her.

NO! I'll kill him if he takes her!! Sirius thought indignantly when to his great relief, she rejected him. But then as she turned away she said, "I already have a date."

Sirius stood rooted to the spot as he watched Gwen walk out of the Great Hall with Aquila and Narcissa.
Peter was right. Of course she would want a date. And he couldn't be that for her since she only knew him as her brother. Somehow, that thought depressed him.

If only… he thought sadly before he headed over to the Marauders and told them about Gwen and her unknown escort.

"I wonder who she's going with," Sirius said angrily.

"Prongs was right. You do sound jealous," Peter said while James and Remus, who knew better than to provoke Sirius when he got angry, remained silent.

"What are you trying to imply?" Sirius snapped, before storming off to their Potions class.

December 9, 1976 Friday, 9:30 AM

Gwen watched Sirius with concern and wondered what had provoked him. He had been looking extremely annoyed and he hadn't spoken much, just glaring into the potion they were making.

"Stop it, Sirius! The potion isn't our dear mother for Merlin's sake," Gwen teased then said indignantly, "It's because of Mother, isn't it?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Sirius assured her then asked abruptly, "So who are you going to the ball with?"

"No one so far," said Gwen.

"Then how come you told that seventh year that you already have a date?" Sirius demanded.

"Oh, you mean after breakfast? I just said that to keep him away." She snorted. "I have better taste than that."

"Great! Why don't we go together?" Sirius said excitedly.

Gwen paused for a long moment before she said, "Oh, Sirius, I can't go to these sorts of events with you. I talked to Aquila and Narcissa about it and they think it would be totally inappropriate, and I agree."

"Oh, okay," said Sirius, crestfallen.
Why was he feeling so disappointed? He knew it was the truth; it was totally natural that it would be inappropriate. But somehow, it hurt to think of it in those terms.
He wished that it wasn't inappropriate. He wished that he could take her to the ball. He wished…what did he wish?

"Besides, I did tell you I have good taste," Gwen teased.

"So who's the lucky guy?" Sirius asked sullenly.

"I guess I'll go with Rabastan if he doesn't have a date yet," Gwen replied.

"Really? He better not try anything—" Sirius said, with a passion that arose from more than just protectiveness and worry.

"Sirius, you know that Rabastan has always been nothing but good to me. Almost like you, though no one can compare to you of course," she added sadly, then with false enthusiasm said, "Who do you plan to ask?"

"I don't really know anyone," Sirius replied gloomily.
"Well, there's this new girl in my House named Morgan Dolohov. Why don't I set you up with her?" Gwen said with a forced cheery smile.

"Alright, since nobody else would take me," Sirius said with a slightly bitter tone.

Luckily for Gwen, Sirius was too deep in his own misery to notice her cringe visibly.
Sirius was always so oblivious to her. Sometimes when it became too hard, she would tell her how she felt; that she loved him. But he never seemed to grasp the double meaning in her confession and would simply reply that he loved her too, teasingly adding that she was his favorite twin.

Of course it was better that he did not know since he would discover that they weren't really twins.

Yet it pained and frustrated her to no end.

'

"Sirius, don't you know that at least half the girls in Hogwarts are in love with you?" Gwen asked half amused and half saddened, mistaking his bitterness.

"Yes, but at home every pure-blood hates me," he said with a hint of sadness.

"Sirius, I love you," she said putting a hand on his shoulder.
"In fact, if you weren't my brother, I would be in love with you too," she grinned, skillfully masking her sadness.

"Would you really?" he said with a slightly wistful smile though why he felt that way, he wouldn't be able to explain if his life depended on it.
Somehow, the 'if you weren't my brother' made him feel more depressed than anything.

"So who are you going to ask?" Peter asked as they headed towards Gryffindor Tower, oblivious to the warning looks that James and Remus were sending him.

"Gwen said she'll set me up with one of her new Housemate Morgan something or another," Sirius said glumly.

"Wow, that pretty new girl in Slytherin? How did you get so lucky?" Peter said, his eyes widening with envy.

"I don't really care," Sirius said with a shrug.

"Younever care about girls," Peter complained jealously then said bluntly, "You must be gay."

"What? You guys always tease him about that too," Peter whined when both James and Remus glared at him.

"Padfoot just hasn't found the right girl yet. Who knows? She might be right under his nose," James said casually.
Only James knew the whole truth, or what they thought was the whole truth, and understood what Sirius himself did not know or perhaps, did not allow himself to acknowledge.

Peter is right; I never do care about girls, Sirius thought worriedly.
For several years now, Sirius had his own 'fan club' as the other Marauders had dubbed. Though Sirius had dated many girls and many of the 'fan girls' were very attractive and were very popular themselves, he had never been truly interested in any of them.

Recently the Marauders, including even Gwen, had taken to teasingly imply that he was gay and though he didn't let on, he was starting to worry that there might be truth to their statement.
James had been after Lily Evans for several years now and Remus had confessed that he liked Adrianne. As for Peter, well he liked anyone female; there was no doubt about his preference. Sirius however had dozens of girls practically throwing themselves at his feet but he had yet to have an interest in any of them nor care for any of them in any way.

In fact, the only girl he had ever cared for in any way was Gwen which, of course, didn't count.

(A/N: Please don't send me any flames calling me a idiot for not knowing that Peter couldn't be Muggle-born. Yes, I am in fact aware that Peter is a Death Eater :D I just thought it would be interesting if he was. On that note...)