Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Gryffindorlioness81088 – Awm glad you like it! You are my very lovely, one reviewer for this chappie! Cookies for you! (

Hello hello!

Haven't written for a while again (sorry OO)

Anyway! Apologies aside...

A new chappie claps

Here we gooooooooooooooooooo!

Chapter 7 – Christmas is coming, and all isn't well...

One month after the eventful Halloween Ball, the Marauders and the girls were looking forward to the end of term. James and Sirius, completely over excited as usual, had packed their trunks already, 5 days in advance.

Pan had arrived at the library to find a very disgruntled looking Maddi. Her glossy curls were rumpled and tangled from the amount of times that she had run her hand through it, and her face was quite pale.

"Who invented essays?" she asked Pan snappishly, as she entered.

"I dunno!" said a confused Pan, "Why?"

"'Cause I want to find them and shoot them"

"Oh..." Pan shuffled her feet. An unhappy Maddi was a very dangerous thing indeed.

"What subject is it?" she asked eventually, shaking her blonde tresses out of her face and fixing her dark blue eyes on Maddi's chocolate brown ones.

"Potions" came the sullen reply.

"Give it here," Pan took the essay and started to skim through it for mistakes.

"I broke up with Benny last night" said Maddi quietly, "I'm glad I did it, because I didn't feel the same anymore, but he was a good friend, he's not speaking to me now..."

Pan looked up, surprised

"Oh, Maddi..." she tried to think of consoling words, but none came to mind, "I thought you still liked him?" she mentally slapped herself 'that wasn't tactful'

Maddi looked at her,

"No... I like someone else..."

"Who?" Pan was now baffled as to why Maddi was in such a state over a boy who she didn't like.

"Alistair McFarlane, he's in 7th year"

"Who? Sorry, I'm still a bit of a social crisis, I don't know many people outside 6th year!" Pan grinned

"He's erm... I'll show you... I can't explain" muttered Maddi.

Pan scrutinised her friend closely. Maddi seemed edgy and kept going to roll up the left sleeve of her jumper, and then stopping. She was also sitting awkwardly, her right leg completely hidden underneath the left. Suddenly Pan was vividly reminded... of herself. Sdhe suddenly realised that all this had nothing to do with who Maddi happened to fancy at the moment.

"Maddi" she said sharply. Maddi looked up

"Yes?"

"Who's been hurting you?"

Maddi looked surprised, then tried to feign a lack of knowledge.

"What!" she laughed in a very false voice, in an attempt to sound casual. "No-one's been hurting me!"

Pan was unconvinced.

"Then show me your left arm and your right leg."

"No!" Maddi snapped, "I'm not hurt"

"Do you think I don't know how a person acts when they are keeping that kind of thing secret? I did it for 5 years, when anyone here asked questions... no-one at home asked... All that time I denied the fact that Lucius was hurting me,"

Maddi stayed silent, but her glassy eyes locked with Pan's midnight blue ones. She slowly began to roll up the sleeve of her school jumper. Then she bent and rolled down her long school socks. Then she turned to face Pan. Pan winced.

Maddi's left arm was swollen and bruised terribly. Her knee was obviously not supporting her weight, and her whole leg was a mass of bruises.

"Oh, Maddi... who did this to you?"

"Me" she whispered

"What?" Pan gasped.

"Half my family died last week, I didn't want to tell you guys... It's my fault they died, Pan, Voldemort attacked my house, because I'm a half-blood. It's my fault they died like that, I had to, to punish myself somehow... It's my fault"

"Maddi." Pan whispered "Why have you been keeping this to yourself?" she stared at her friend "C'mon, we're going to the hospital wing, and you are going to tell Madam Pomfrey everything. She'll be able to help."

Maddi looked at her friend meekly, and started to limp out of the library, Pan at her elbow to steady her.

"It wasn't your fault that they died. Almost all witches and wizards are half-blood. Voldemort attacks randomly, you had nothing to do with it."

A solitary, crystal tear slid down Maddi's pretty face. There was no sparkle in her chocolate eyes today.

"If you don't mind me asking," Pan hesitated "How did you do this?"

"Stairs" Maddi muttered.

"You threw yourself down stairs?" Pan paled "You could have killed yourself..."

"That was half the idea." Maddi stated, strangely calm.

"Maddi, NO! Do you think that your family would want you to die because they did?"

Maddi did not reply.

In the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey repaired Maddi's leg and arm. She then took her into her office for a talk. Pan trudged back to the common room. Suddenly, the whole of her past came rolling back on her. Her face did not go red, she made no noise, her eyes stayed normal. But the tears that rolled down her face were more terrible than those accompanied by the usual sniffing, or wailing, made when someone cries. She leant against the wall, her face shining wet with tears, still coming fast.

Sirius rounded the corner, humming a waltz, and chuckling to himself about the state that McGonogall would be in when she realised that her office was full of pixies. His face took on a worried expression when he saw Pan, leant against the wall, silently sobbing. He ran to her, and hugged her tight. He kissed her forehead,

"Pan, what's wrong?"

"I – I just... remembered"

Sirius immediately knew what she meant. After all, his predicament was the same as hers.

He just held her, close. They stayed like that until Pan had wept her sorrows away. She gazed up into his silver eyes, they comforted her silently, telling her not to cry.

"I'm sorry" she muttered, "but something Maddi did just reminded me so, so clearly, I remembered all the hurt... all the helplessness."

She went on to explain about Maddi throwing herself down the stairs.

"I'm so scared for her Siri... I'm worried that she'll hurt herself again"

"Don't worry Pan, if she's with Poppy then she'll be fine!"

Pan smiled, trust Sirius to be on first name terms with the school nurse.

"That's it! Smile!" grinned Sirius, "There's no point worrying, Maddi's strong, she'll pull through!"

Pan smiled again, and turned to say the password to the Fat Lady, then said

"Oh no!"

"What?" asked Sirius standing behind her, with his arms around her waist.

"She's gone! She's not in her portrait, we can't get in!" Pan laughed

"Well," murmured Sirius in her ear, "There's no point in standing around here doing nothing is there?"

Pan turned in his arms, "Well what do you suggest we do?"

Sirius lowered his face, so it was only a couple of centimetres from her own,

"I have an idea..." he whispered. He backed her up against the wall, and kissed her hard. Pan responded with the same amount of passion, crashing her tongue against his. Sirius slid his hand under her shirt, tracing smooth circles with his fingers. Pan shivered with pleasure and leant back against the wall, pulling him closer, closer. She audibly gasped as Sirius slid both his hands right up her shirt, and massaged her sides, back and front. Sirius groaned with pleasure. They finally unlocked lips, when they heard someone cough behind them.

The Fat Lady was back in her portrait.

So!

Another chapter, wahoo!

Plx review, I hope you enjoyed it, I enjoyed writing it!

I'll update soon, if you review!

Love ya

.xXBlackfishyXx.