The rest of the morning was spent with chores. Mrs. Weasley had no intention of letting the teenagers slack off during their holidays. As soon as everyone had finished their breakfast, she had ordered the plates to clean themselves by saying a simple spell before rushing up the stairs to wake up Fred and George Weasley. Before she came back downstairs to order Harry and Ron to clean up the attic, Remus had hurried out the door.
Remus did not return to the house before an hour after lunch. Sirius came down from the first floor just as Remus entered the house. "You're not leaving me behind in dire times, are you Remus?"
"Are you talking about continuing the story about Reilly or Molly's chores?" Remus asked with raised eyebrows.
Sirius seemed to think about it for a second before replying, "The second one."
"In that case yes."
"You owe me, Moony," Sirius said and put an arm around his old friend's thin shoulders. "You get to continue the story then." Sirius led him into the sitting room, where they found Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all sitting on the floor. Ginny and Hermione were both reading the Daily Prophet, while Harry and Ron were busy playing wizard's chess. It didn't take long, though, before Ron had crushed Harry's king. The red haired boy leaned back against the couch, folded his hands behind his head and smiled satisfied.
Hermione and Ginny noticed Remus and Sirius entering and quickly forgot all about the magazine. "Fine," Remus said. "Where were we?"
"2 months before Reilly's birthday," Hermione answered.
"Right," Remus said. "Since I'm in charge of the story now, I'm going to skip ahead a few months. All that really happened from November –May were Sirius and Reilly fighting and making up." Sirius opened his mouth to object but Remus came ahead of him, "be quiet, dear friend. You told me it was my turn… besides, you know it's the truth." Sirius closed his mouth again and scowled at Remus, making Ron laugh.
A younger version of Remus Lupin took off his graduation cap and loosened his tie slightly. He bumped into several people as he tried to get out of the Great Hall. A band had started playing, officially starting the graduation party that had been arranged for all seventh year students. He felt someone follow him but didn't bother turning around to see who it was. He didn't stop before he was out in the great Entrance Hall of Hogwarts. With a sigh he made his way over to the big stair case and sat down.
"These robes are so hot," a familiar, squeaky voice said. Remus looked up and noticed his friends Peter and Sirius were the ones, who had followed him.
"Please don't undress here," Sirius teased. "Besides, I'm pretty sure a certain Cathy Hayes was giving you the eye earlier." Peter looked at him in disbelief. "I'm serious, Wormtail! Your happiness means the world to me, so I would not lie."
The doors to the Great Hall had opened again and two girls came out. They were both wearing a red and gold dress under their graduation robes. One girl had her blonde hair tied behind head and the other's brown curls were hanging loosely on her shoulders. "Stop," Reilly said softly and wrapped her arms around Sirius' waist.
"However," the blonde girl said with a smile and rested her arm on Peter's shoulder. "For once in seven years Mr. Black is actually right. Mary McDonald told me that Eliza Miller was told by Karen Sawyer that she overheard Hayes in the girl's bathroom telling Elizabeth McKenzie that she is thinks you are very sweet, Peter."
"That doesn't really sound like a reliable source, Maya" Peter said unconvinced.
"Which is why I checked it out for you," Reilly said. "As I was questioning Elizabeth McKenzie in Potions yesterday, when Cathy overheard everything and confronted me at breakfast this morning. She confirmed our little theory, but she seems shy."
Peter stared at her. "You did that?"
"Don't underestimate us," Maya said proudly. "It's our last night at school, Pete, so I honestly have no idea why you are still standing around and talking to a bunch nobodies… and Ray and I." Reilly did her best to hold back a laugh. Remus shook his head with a smile wondering if he would ever understand Maya's humour.
Peter nodded slowly before hurrying back into the Great Hall.
"So have you cooked up something for me as well?" Sirius asked with a grin.
Maya took a seat next to Remus. "Sorry Sirius, we did all we could but you're just not handsome enough. Reilly may have a bit of pity left, but between you and me," Maya's voice turned to a loud whisper, "I think she's running low after 8 months." She turned her head and smiled at Remus. "Lupin here has so much potential though."
"You just had to include that!" Sirius said angrily as Harry and Ron both laughed. Hermione and Ginny did their best not to laugh as well.
Remus smiled and said, "It's an important part of the story! Stop interrupting me, the best part is coming up."
"Whatever," Sirius said and ran a hand through his dark hair.
Reilly let out a giggle and gave Sirius a quick kiss on the lips. "She's kidding, silly." She turned to Remus and Maya and changed the subject, "Our last night at Hogwarts, huh? I just can't get used to the thought."
"Me neither," Remus agreed and looked around. "It will be strange not to return this autumn."
"Depressing thought," Maya said. "We should talk more about all the fun that is to come. What are your plans?"
Remus shrugged, he still hadn't decided what to do with his life after Hogwarts. The thought worried him and some times kept him up at night, but he had decided not to think too much about it for now. He would find something, he was sure of it. If not, then he could always do some travelling. "Well," Reilly said slowly. She looked slightly nervous and glanced at Sirius before continuing. "I applied for healer training a month ago." Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise. Not even he had heard this news. "I got my acceptance letter today – I start in October."
Sirius picked her up by the waist, held her tight and spun around. "That's amazing, Ray!" He grinned. He put her down and kissed her on the lips. "Congratulations."
"Congratulations," both Remus and Maya said with a smile. Reilly beamed at all of them.
"Since we are sharing news," Sirius said. He looked into Reilly's eyes and continued, "I inherited some money from my uncle – yes, it came as a surprise to me too," he said when Remus raised his eyebrows in shock, "so I put a deposit down on a little house on the country side."
Before anyone could say anything, the great wooden entrance doors opened and a grinning redhead walked in hand in hand with a tall boy with glasses. "Hey guys," James Potter said with a smile and led his girlfriend over to the crowd. "What are you doing?"
"We were sharing plans for the future," Sirius said with a grin. "I just told them about Sirius-Ville."
"You bought a house, not a village, Padfoot," Remus pointed out.
Maya laughed but couldn't take her eyes off Lily, who came in with James. "Geez, Lils either you stole a Felix potion from Slughorn or James just -"
"NO WAY!" Reilly and Maya cried at the same time and stared with open mouths at Lily.
"What?" Remus asked as Lily slowly nodded, tears forming in her eyes and her smile grew wider.
Both Reilly and Maya screamed with joy and hugged their friend.
"What?" Sirius joined in on the confusion. James shrugged and smiled knowingly while laughing at the three girls who laughed, screamed and hugged each other, while communicating in a language none of the guys could understand.
"Let's see it!" Maya said with a smile and tugged on Lily's arm. She extended her hand and a gold ring with a small diamond sparkled on her ring finger. Tears started forming in her eyes as Maya and Reilly adored it.
"NO WAY!" Sirius and Remus cried in parody of the girls and attacked James with a hug. They both laughed and padded their friend on the back. "I can't believe your best friend wasn't told about this," Sirius said when the laughter died down.
"I didn't want to say anything in case she declined – you would have made a mockery of me forever," James replied.
"Moi?" Sirius said innocently. "no, no, no never."
"I wouldn't dream of declining," Lily said with a smile. She let herself loose of Reilly and Maya and walked over and kissed James on the lips. "We have to tell Peter." The two of them looked around, but before they could say anything Reilly and Maya were hurrying towards the Great Hall. Sirius and Remus quickly followed.
Inside the Great Hall the four graduates looked around the brightly decorated Hall. A lot of couples were dancing and singing along with the band, whose sound filled the entire room. Even professor Flitwick had found his way to the dance floor. At a table not far from the door were Peter and Cathy Hayes lip-locking and not paying attention to anyone around them.
"Nice!" James grinned and high-fived Sirius. Lily and Reilly rolled their eyes but smiled widely. "Looks like another couple could be moving in with us in that house of yours, Padfoot."
Sirius opened his mouth but Lily was ahead of him, "We are not moving in with Sirius."
Again Sirius opened his mouth but this time James was spoke up before he could say anything, "You're right, babe. I would never do that to you."
"Remind me never to let you start the story again!" Sirius said angrily, while Ron and Harry once again roared with laughter once again. "You could have cut it off a lot sooner."
"Sorry," Remus said with a grin, "Sometimes memories just carry you away." He straightened himself up and stared into the fire. "Well we left school after that and went separate ways for a while. Sirius and James joined a course in Auror training, I decided to take a tour of the country, Lily got a job in Flourish and Blotts, Peter changed jobs in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade quite often, and Reilly started her Healer training."
Remus glanced at Sirius wondering if he would continue the story or not. "Every relationship would suffer through something like that," Sirius said. "My parents died about 6 months later and shortly after, the Order of the Phoenix was established. Remus, James, Lily and I all joined and signed up for a number of short and long missions, while Reilly continued her Healer training. Because of it, we spent quite a lot of time apart. Whenever we were finally together… we would fight a lot."
"But you were so good together!" Hermione said.
Sirius smiled slightly, "I like to think so."
"It's my job!" Sirius said loudly and walked across the kitchen and took a seat at the dinning table in Reilly's flat.
"You're not getting paid!" Reilly yelled back. "I understand something bad is going on and you're trying to prevent it, but I don't get why you have to be away so long."
"I came here last Thursday and you weren't here."
"The first time in a month, Sirius! I had my first shift at St. Mungo's that day."
"And I happen to have an important trip that month – just as important as your first shift."
Reilly sighed, leaned against the kitchen table, and rubbed her head with her hands. "That's not my point."
Sirius stood up and yelled, "I don't understand what you want from me!"
Silence hung in the air for a short while before Reilly whispered, "I think you should leave."
"Ray…"
She shook her head. "Don't. Just leave."
He was shocked. He had never been in a situation like this before. Reilly turned and stared out of the window while rubbing her eye with one hand. His body ached to put his arms around her and let her know how much he truly cared for her. His mind and selfishness, however, made him turn around and walk out the door. Once he was outside he turned and looked up to the window, where she had been standing a few seconds earlier. She was already gone. He turned left and started walking. He had no idea where or how long he walked – he just kept on going.
It was dark when he finally came home. He threw himself on the couch and closed his eyes. He slept, but not well at all. He woke up five hours later with an aching back. He glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was four o'clock at night. He sighed, got up, and walked into the kitchen. He found a piece of bread, but couldn't finish it after the first two bites.
He buried himself in work the rest of the week. When he couldn't study anymore, he found work with the ministry or the Order. Frank Longbottom confronted him the following Monday to show his concern, but Sirius assured him everything was fine and carried on working. James, Remus and Peter sat him down after two weeks and said the same things, but none of this worked either.
Three weeks later Sirius found himself exhausted. As usual he came home late and immediately fell asleep. The familiar nightmares came back to haunt him and forced him to wake up only a few hours later. A long shower and a few fire whiskeys later Sirius was on his way out yet again. When he opened the door two women were waiting for him outside.
"Just a second, Workaholic," Maya Cunningham said and pushed Sirius back inside. "We want a word with you."
Lily Evans followed the two of them inside. "What is that smell?" she asked and immediately drew back the curtains and opened a window. "It's like something died in here."
"Look, I know why you're here," Sirius said furiously. "I told the guys already that everything is fine!"
"Don't snap at us – we didn't break up with you." Maya yelled back.
For the first time in three weeks Sirius was lost for words. He let himself drop into a blue armchair and buried his face in his hands.
Lily sat down on the arm of the chair and put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I'm sorry Sirius," she said softly. "James was really worried and asked me to stop by to check on you. I told Maya about it and she wanted to come as well." Sirius looked up but remained silent. He did his best to avoid Lily's worried look. "You're obviously troubled, so it might be good for you to talk to someone."
He remained silent. Maya took a seat on the other arm of the chair. "Ray kept her place clean," she said. Sirius had a feeling she knew it would tick him off.
Sirius jumped out of the chair and walked over to the window Lily had just opened. He reached out to closed it, but regretted just before reaching it. He sighed and looked down. "Have you seen her?"
"Who?" Maya asked stupidly.
Sirius sighed again and turned angrily. "Reilly."
Maya smiled satisfied and Lily took over. "Yes," Lily said. "She's quite devoted to her studies. She's working full time at St. Mungo's and doing really well." Sirius nodded slowly and turned back to the window again. Two children ran across a field in the horizon, but apart from that everything was quiet outside. "Sirius, she's miserable." He spun around quickly this time and stared at Lily wide-eyed. "She's been my best friend for years but I have never seen her as sad as this. You know Reilly she won't shed a tear or let anyone know about her troubles. She has only ever confided in you and her nearest family. Now that I've seen how you are doing, I'm convinced that the two of you must talk soon."
He thought about it for a while. "She threw me out. If she has anything to say to me, my door is open."
"Bloody hell," Maya said angrily. "You two are the most stubborn people I have ever met! We're not telling you to get back together, but if that's not the solution then you have to talk and end it properly!"
"Like I said," Sirius said unmoved. "She can come to me."
"Don't make me hurt you."
"What?"
"Go to her or I will have to hurt you enough to be admitted to St. Mungo's and then you can talk. Save me the guilt please."
Sirius narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't Maya."
"Oh yeah?" Maya drew her wand. Lily took a step back, which made Sirius nervous.
"Fine," Sirius said quietly. "Can I go now?"
"That Maya sounds a bit scary," Hermione said when Sirius paused the story.
"She was brilliant," Remus said. "We had all tried at that point but notice how she was the only one, who actually got through to Sirius. Lily was very sweet but I doubt she would ever have made him walk out the door." He stopped and wondered if Sirius disagreed. He didn't, he knew Remus was right. "It's very brave to stand up to your friends like that."
Sirius ran a hand nervously through his hair as he hurried down across London Bridge. He didn't care if people were staring at him, his goal would soon be right in front of him: St. Mungo's Hospital.
A few minutes later he found himself in a great lobby. Wizards in lime green robes were hurrying up and down the different corridors. Patients from near and far came in with a lot of different injuries. A young boy with a hand twice it's normal size hurried past him. Sirius gathered himself and walked up to the reception asking for Reilly Roberts.
The receptionist adjusted her glasses and looked Sirius up and down. "Sorry," she said in a squeaky voice. "Unless you're family I can't give out that kind of information."
"Listen lady," Sirius said angrily. He suddenly realized this probably wasn't the correct way to approach this if he wanted her to help him. "Sorry, I mean… I have something very important to tell her." He receptionist stood unmoved. "You see… I'm sure she is the love of my life and I simply don't function without her. I've made a huge mistake and I need to tell her that. Will you please tell me where she is?"
The receptionist seemed to think about it for a while and finally said, "No. Next!"
Sirius shoulders sank as he stepped out of the queue and let the people behind him get to the reception. "Excuse me," a male voice said behind him. "Did you say you were looking for Reilly Roberts?" Sirius spun around quickly and saw a tall, dark haired young man in front of him. He nodded slowly. The young man seemed to look him up and down the same way the receptionist had. "I'm William Roberts."
"Reilly's brother," Sirius said recognizing the name. William nodded. "Sirius Black," Sirius said and extended his hand for William to shake.
"Yeah I figured," William said without shaking his hand. "I just talked to Reilly. She seems quite upset."
"Where is she?"
William hesitated again. "I shouldn't tell you." Whatever little hope was left in Sirius seemed to vanish immediately after that. "However, if what you just said to the receptionist is true, then I guess you deserve a chance."
"Thank you," Sirius said honestly.
"I'm doing this for Reilly though, so you better not mess this up!" Sirius shook his head. "She's on the fourth floor, ward two."
Sirius thanked him again and headed for the elevator. He made it just in time as it was going up. It seemed like the longest elevator ride ever as it passed level two and three. Finally a small bell rang and the doors opened to level four. Sirius stepped out and took a look around. Several witches and wizards in lime green robes were hurrying up and down the corridor, just like in the reception. Shouts for potions and lights from spells filled the atmosphere. "Excuse me!" A small old wizard said and pushed past Sirius.
Sirius followed the little wizard and soon spotted the number '2' on one of the doors. He was just about to enter when the door opened and a familiar curly haired girl opened it and bumped into him. She took a step back and realized who was standing in front of her. She turned her head but didn't move or say anything.
"Hey," Sirius said quietly. He didn't wait for her to answer because he was quite certain she wouldn't say anything. "I met your brother downstairs – he told where you were." Again she didn't say anything. "I had a visit from Lily and Maya this morning and I guess… they finally managed to knock some sense into me." He waited for her to say something this time, but not a sound escaped her lips. "I don't function without you, Reilly. I've been burying myself in work for weeks to avoid confrontation with you and the nightmares that haunt me at night." He paused before continuing, "I love you… and I hope there's something I can do to win you back. Anything."
She looked up and met his eyes. They were wet and sparkling but not a tear fell. "Lily and Maya did that?" she asked.
Sirius smiled, "Yeah. Maya can be quite intimidating when she wants to."
Reilly nodded as well and smiled. She took a step closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. Sirius did the same and squeezed her close. "You're an idiot," she whispered into his chest. "But I've missed you so much."
Sirius laughed, pulled back slightly, leaned down and kissed her on the lips. As she kissed him back he felt a recognizable happiness bubble in his stomach. He felt renewed with energy and could stay like this forever if the world would allow it.
A tall witch in similar lime green robes as Reilly's came up to them and asked for Reilly to return to the ward to help her. "Go," Sirius said and kissed her forehead. "I'll be waiting for you when you get home."
Reilly smiled and opened the door again. Before walking through it she turned and said, "Hey idiot – I love you." She smiled widely, which Sirius returned happily.
A/N; Done done done. Thanks for all the reviews! Keep them coming . Chapter 5/6 coming soon.