A.N – There's really no excuse for why this chapter took so long. I have about a thousand excuses, including a broken laptop, but you don't want to hear them. I will hopefully have chapters up much quicker in future! Also, the chapters may seem to be shorter than usually for the next few chapters. After some feedback, I'm thinking straight to the point with shorter but more chapters will be better than long and dull chapters. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Never owned HP, never will.
Over the next week, Audrey and Lily did not mention their conversation in the library. They did, however, eye one another furtively whenever James or Sirius was around. They seemed to be determined to convince one another about their true feelings of the two boys, and were carefully gathering evidence.
Audrey avoided Sirius at all costs. She refused to give Lily any satisfaction by showing how much she missed having him around, and how much she wished he would talk to her. No matter how much she tried to avoid Sirius, however, Audrey sometimes caught herself staring at him. Whenever she shook herself out of this, she could swear Lily was smiling slightly from beside her, avoiding eye contact.
Audrey also took it upon herself to examine the relationship between James and Lily. She noticed Lily was more polite to James, in a formal kind of way. She was careful to call him "Potter" and never James, and interacted with him as little as possible.
Audrey knew they were both being overly-stubborn but she didn't care. Lily would see soon enough that James isn't at all as bad as she made him out to be. As for Sirius, Audrey could only hope he would get over whatever was bothering him and be himself around her again.
Even with Lily constantly scrutinizing her every move, and her doing the same to Lily, Audrey had more pressing matters. It was one week before Halloween and it was the full moon.
Being best friends with the Marauders meant Audrey had noticed Remus' constant absences, and weak excuses. The Marauders, of course, had taken it upon themselves to find out exactly what was going on with him.
One day in their second year, James had rushed up to Audrey and explained everything; how Remus was a werewolf and Sirius, Peter and he were going to become Animagi so they could be with him every month.
Although Audrey had thought they were very brave and loyal to do this for their friend, she hadn't wanted to become an Animagus illegally. Therefore, every month while the Marauders were running around the school grounds, Audrey was sitting in the common room, anxiously waiting for their return. She was always worried something would happen, and they chided her every month for being so worrisome.
Even though they had been doing this once a month for almost two years, Audrey still waited up all night for them to return. Tonight wouldn't be any different; she couldn't possibly sleep while they were out there.
The day rushed by far too quickly, and all too soon James was kissing her on the cheek, telling her to get some rest and not be so foolish, and Sirius was bounding around, excited for the night to start. Remus was already being led to the Shrieking Shack by Madam Pomfrey, and the other boys were preparing to leave under cover of James' Invisibility Cloak.
"We'll see you soon!" James assured her, as he, Sirius and Peter threw the cloak over themselves. "And go to sleep this time, yeah? Nothing ever happens, Aud."
Audrey could practically hear James rolling his eyes from under the cloak. "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?" she whispered, curling up in the armchair by the window, preparing for a night of pure worry.
"Yeah, yeah," the boys chorused, and Audrey saw the portrait hole open and then close. She sighed and rubbed her head, already beginning to worry about the trouble those boys could get themselves into.
Audrey jumped, glancing around the dark common room blearily. She must have dozed off, but she could have sworn she heard a thumping noise from the corner. Glancing at her watch she thought it must be too early for the boys to be back, so she whipped out her wand and walked cautiously over to the portrait hole.
She heard a moan and instantly raised her wand. Letting out a shaky breath she demanded, "Who's there?"
"Audrey? You're still up?" The voice asked, and it sounded as though they were talking through clenched teeth.
Audrey ignited the end of her wand, and shone the beam of light towards the voice. Sirius was hunched against the wall by the portrait hole, holding his leg and grimacing in pain. Audrey gasped and dropped to her knees hastily.
"Of course I'm still up! I sit up every month in complete fear. And you boys always wonder why – well look! What the hell happened?" She asked shakily, shining the light on his leg. It was bent at an odd angle and Audrey realized it was broken.
"Moony got a little out of hand," Sirius said, breathing heavily. "Mind fixing this up for me? I'm not so sure I could manage a decent healing spell right now," he laughed softly, but immediately gritted his teeth in pain again and gripped his leg tighter.
"I'm not sure Sirius," she hesitated, biting her lower lip. "Shouldn't you just go see Madam Pomfrey? What if I make it worse?"
Sirius groaned. "Audrey, you can do it. I can't walk like this and it's three in the morning. It looks rather suspicious. Plus," Sirius turned slightly, wincing, so Audrey could see the gash in his shoulder. "She's going to know that's from an animal. I can't risk getting Moony into trouble."
Audrey was still unconvinced. She knew the incantation but it was always better to see the matron rather than risk healing someone yourself.
"Please, Audrey, just do it," Sirius panted, closing his eyes. She saw the pain on his face and nodded, even though he couldn't see her.
Rolling up her sleeves, Audrey whispered, "If I make this worse I'm going to kill you." Sirius chuckled softly and kept his eyes tightly shut as she raised her wand.
"Episkey," she said clearly, pointing to his leg. Sirius grimaced as his leg mended immediately, looking completely normal.
"Is it okay?" Audrey asked, shaking slightly. Sirius moved his leg slowly and nodded.
"Just like Pomfrey always does. Brilliant," he said, opening his eyes and grinning at her. "Now, mind fixing up this gash?" He turned to the left so she had full view of his right shoulder.
Muttering the incantation, Audrey watched anxiously as Sirius' shoulder instantly healed itself, leaving the skin just slightly red. She let out the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding, and brushed her fingers across his shoulder.
"Does that hurt?" She asked, still trembling slightly. Sirius shook his head and she smiled.
"Good," she sighed. Then she smacked him on the head angrily.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head.
"For being a bloody prat! Every full moon I sit up all night, worried sick about you four. Every full moon you all criticize me for it, telling me to stop being such a wimp. Well look what happened! If I hadn't been down here, what would you have done? Have you absolutely lost your mind? Why cant you boys just be reasonable and take the necessary precautions? Merlin, you're so immature and I have to worry about you all and I'm right for worrying because look what hap-" Audrey was cut off by Sirius' lips pressing softly against hers.
She gasped, hardly daring to believe this was actually happening. She carefully kissed him back, closing her eyes and moving her hands to wrap around his neck. He brushed his tongue lightly along her bottom lip and she opened her mouth eagerly, melting into the kiss.
After a few minutes, the two broke apart, breathing heavily. Audrey stared into Sirius' eyes for a moment, then looked down and pinched her arm hard.
"Ow," she muttered as Sirius looked at her strangely.
"Why the bloody hell did you do that?" He asked. She shrugged.
"I thought I might be dreaming," she mumbled. Sirius let out a bark of laughter and put his hand under her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"You dream about me?" He asked quietly. Audrey held his gaze, her heart thudding loudly.
"Maybe," she practically whispered. Sirius smiled crookedly at her and bent down to kiss her gently once more.
The two broke apart quickly as they heard voices on the other side of the portrait hole. Hearing James' voice, Audrey bounded towards an armchair and fell into it as Sirius threw himself onto the couch beside her.
James and Peter stumbled into the common room, looking worried.
"Padfoot!" James cried, racing to Sirius' side. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine," Sirius' said easily. "Aud fixed me up."
James sighed in relief and flopped down beside Sirius. "Thank Merlin. You scared us have to death when you yelped and then hobbled away!"
"Well, Moony was a little crazy tonight," Sirius said anxiously. "How did you manage with him when I left?"
"We were fine, he's in the Shrieking Shack now. He will be transforming any minute now."
Sirius nodded and, getting to his feet, said, "Well I'm off to bed then. Long night, you know. I'll get a few hours in before breakfast."
"Yes, I'm going to bed too," Audrey said, speaking for the first time since James and Peter had shown up, and prancing to the staircase. "Goodnight boys."
The boys murmured their goodnights, and Audrey leapt up the stairs, pushed open the door to her dormitory and collapsed on her bed, grinning madly.