"What is that?" whispered Decima, staring at the skull with a snake for a tongue.
"You know what it is, love," said Sirius, staring at his brother with a look of distaste that almost frightened her.
"But why…" she looked up at Regulus's face and could have sworn that he was ashamed. "You're not seventeen. You can't have."
"My parents really wanted me to, and Bella worked it out so that I could do it early. He promised me…" Regulus dropped his eyes and turned away from Decima slightly.
The fact that they were having this discussion stark naked would have been hilarious, if it wasn't for the horrific seriousness of the discussion they were having.
"Promised you Decima, didn't he?" whispered Sirius dangerously. "He promised you her as a prize for faithful service."
Regulus's lack of answer was all the answer Decima needed, and it made her stomach churn. It seemed to be all the answer Sirius needed as well, because the next moment he was delivering a heavy blow to Regulus's jaw, knocking him back into the stone wall. Decima surprised herself by not screaming as her ex-boyfriend's body sank to the floor after a horrible crunch, blood seeping visibly to his hair. Sirius looked down on his brother darkly and Decima was suddenly reminded of him hitting her when she looked at his eyes.
"Sirius," she said, terrified, "why did you hit him?"
"Because he joined them," said Sirius, breathing slowly and deep to cool his anger. "Because he bargained for you as if you were a common whore. Because he thought he could take you from me."
"He could never have me again, love," Decima whispered. "That's all in the past."
"And yet it keeps coming back to us," said Sirius in a low growl. "He can't just let me have you."
Decima couldn't stop the grin from spreading across her face.
"Now love," she said in her cheekiest voice, "if I was easy to hold onto, would you still want me?"
His eyes flashed with surprise now, the anger completely melted away.
"Don't think that I take you for granted, love," he said softly when he had recovered from his shock. He walked over to the edge of the tub and claimed her lips in a sweet but fiery kiss. "I know I don't deserve you, and I still can't believe that you're still mine after my stupidity yesterday."
"Which stupidity?" she said, caressing his face lightly.
"All of it," he muttered. "Now let's get dressed and go back to my bed, love, there's absolutely no romance in this room with my brother bleeding on the floor."
If it hadn't been so gross, she probably would have laughed, but instead, she climbed out, allowed Sirius to dry her off and dress her, kissing her bare skin randomly as he went before dressing himself quickly and yanking her by the hand into the hallway and dashing along the corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. They didn't resurface until James came timidly back to the dormitory and told them dinner was in ten minutes. It was then that they realized how truly hungry they were and they dressed and walked down to dinner.
James was, surprisingly, not there. Decima frowned as they sat down with Remus.
"What's up with James?"
Remus gave her a dark look.
"Sirius didn't keep his mouth shut. That's what's wrong. While you two have been doing Merlin knows what all day, the rumor mill has been churning, and it's not been pretty. Everyone in the school knows you slept with James."
"Ugh, I distracted you from the promise I made you make," said Decima, frustrated. "Shit. Poor James."
"He deserves it," grumbled Sirius, but the second she glared at him he said, "I mean, I've forgiven him completely and it's awful what I did to him this morning."
"Damn right it is," said Decima, waving her fork at him.
Sirius winced.
"Darling, I love you," he said, "but considering our past twenty-four hours, I'd really prefer if you not brandish your fork at me, no matter how innocent your intentions."
"At least I'm not brandishing my fists," she muttered and his eyes hardened momentarily, but he nodded sharply and turned to his food, not eating it. Decima felt instantly horrible and set down her fork, giving him a worried look and ignoring Remus's raised eyebrow.
"I'm going to apologize to James," Sirius muttered, getting up and walking off, throwing his own fork down on the table.
"What happened?" said Gwen knowingly.
"Nothing important," said Decima loftily. "We've worked it out."
"That's not what it looked like," muttered Remus, and Gwen nodded.
"Well, that's what it is," snapped Decima. "Stop interrogating me. If you want to know why Sirius is so moody, why the hell don't you ask him?"
"CiCi," said Gwen in a warning tone and Decima winced.
"Regulus is a Death Eater," she whispered. "He has the Mark."
There was an awkward, uncomfortable silence amongst the remaining of the group. It seemed to go on for at least ten minutes before Remus said awkwardly, "Are you certain?"
Decima nodded.
"We saw it. And then Sirius got angry at him when he said… Well, that doesn't matter, but anyway, he hit him, and we left him unconscious."
Gwen choked.
"Excuse me, you did what?"
Wincing even harder, Decima muttered, "We left him."
"What did he say?" demanded Remus.
"I said it doesn't matter."
"What did he say, Decima? Tell me so I know whether to go track down Regulus or leave him wherever you left him to bleed out and die."
Gwen's eyes were wide with shock at the vicious growl her boyfriend was speaking in. She must have never seen this side of him.
"He – he said he was promised… me. He said I was promised as a reward for faithful service," Decima spat. "And Sirius lost it and knocked him back into the wall. He's probably still out."
Remus nodded and said, "Okay, I'll leave him."
"WHAT?" cried Gwen. "You're prefects you idiots, he could be dying!"
"One less of that scum in this world doesn't hurt anything," muttered Remus, his voice laced with pure venom.
Gwen was looking at Remus as though scared of him. She looked over at Decima, whose face was equally venomous with the thought of what Regulus had said about her. At least he had had the decency to look ashamed of himself. Gwen shook her head in wonder and muttered, "I don't believe it. It thought I knew you guys, but I guess I was wrong."
She got up and threw down her fork.
"Where is he?"
Decima glared definitely up at her best friend, who just shook her head in disgust.
"Fine, I'll find him myself."
Gwen stormed off and Decima, Peter and Remus sat in uneasy silence, all holding their forks, but no one eating a thing.
"I should probably go and check on Sirius," Decima mumbled finally, and the boys nodded.
"Be careful with him," said Remus. "I don't think he'd hurt you on purpose, but if he's as angry as I think he is, with all this stuff pent up in him…"
Decima gave a short ironic laugh and said, "I'll keep that in mind. I'll find another, more productive way to outlet his frustration."
"Ew," said Peter. "I hope you don't mean reproductive."
"Oh what d'you care, Peter?" she snapped. "We're not doing it on your bed!"
Peter scrunched up his nose in disgust and moaned, "I totally understand what James was saying now. You two are gross."
"Oh, thanks," said Decima sarcastically. "Take a shower, Peter, or I'll start talking about your grossness."
And with that she headed hurriedly up to the Gryffindor Tower. Sirius was sitting dejectedly on the couch, flexing his hand subconsciously, the hand he had used both to hit Decima and Regulus. She wondered if it actually hurt, or if he was just feeling guilty.
"Sirius?" she whispered, sliding into the spot next to him, causing him to jump and give her a shocked look. "Sorry."
"No, no, don't worry about it, CiCi," he muttered, wrapping an arm around her waist and burying his face into her hair. "You just startled me."
"Thinking?"
He nodded into her neck, breathing in deeply, presumably smelling her hair.
"Did you make up with James?"
He nodded again, using his free hand to play with her hair.
"Then what's wrong, love?"
He growled against her skin, clenching the hand that was in her hair, digging his nails into her side with the other, his teeth pressed against her neck.
"Decima what the hell is wrong with me?" he said, with a sigh, relaxing his muscles and pulling back from her neck looking into her eyes sadly. "I'm such a monster. I don't even know how you can look at me, how you can stand being near me, how you can…"
She pressed her finger to his lips gently.
"Enough of that," she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. "Nothing is wrong with you. You're stressed, you're tired, and you're scared because you know that there are things going on out there we have no control over, things we won't be safe from very long, if at all. You're upset that your brother followed the path laid out for him by his parents. You feel hurt and betrayed and that's okay, because you were hurt and betrayed, not just by him." She swallowed hard, thinking about how awful it was of her to use James against him like that. "You're not a monster. Everything you did, other than hitting me, was done out of your love for me, twisted as it turned out when morphed by your stress, frustration, and confusion, but the intentions were good. And as far as hitting me, well, love, I deserved that, after what I did to you. Your behavior toward James was perfectly natural, even if it wasn't exactly fair. I look at you because I love you. I am near you because I can't be without you. And I don't see a monster. I see my savior. You saved my life, Sirius. Don't ever forget that."
He was openly crying now as she moved her finger to his cheek and pressed her lips chastely to his. There was none of their usual fire, passion, or intensity. It was a sweet, comforting kiss that both of them needed. Things weren't good. Things might not get better. In fact, things would probably get worse. But there was no way in the name of Merlin that Decima was letting go of Sirius. He was the best thing that had ever happened to her, as Gwen had said, and he needed her nearly as much as she needed him. They were probably the most screwed up couple in existence, but that didn't make them want and need each other any less.
They curled up on the couch and feel asleep there together, forgetting the world for just a few short hours.
The following few days went by painfully slow. Sirius worked very hard for her, attempting to break down the plethora of rumors that had sprouted from his vindictive actions against James, though not altogether successfully. Decima couldn't fault him for that, though, as he really was trying. James and Sirius seemed to have worked out some sort of truce of forgiveness, although there was still much awkwardness between them, and Regulus was in the hospital wing. After hours of searching for him, Gwen had failed to find him and simply informed Lily Evans that he was missing, and Lily searched ever corner of the castle, finding him in the prefects' bath in the early hours of the morning, still unconscious, but very much alive. When Lily asked Gwen what had happened to him, however, Gwen did what any good friend out to do and lied through her teeth, saying she had no idea. She had done her duty by him, making sure he wasn't dead. After that, her loyalties were with Decima, and Gwen didn't stand for that sort of treatment of her best friend.
All of their friends, even James, seemed to sense that Decima and Sirius needed some extra alone time and space to sort through the rough patch they were going to, and gave it to them without being asked. They spent their days going to most of their classes (they weren't really missed in things like History of Magic, anyway, and Sirius could always talk her out of skipping that while he was willing to skip anything but Transfiguration, not because he needed to go to class, but because even he was a little frightened of Professor McGonagall), spending their breaks in broom cupboards, occasionally making it to a meal or two, and spending all free time tangled in Sirius's sheets.
Time had flown faster than they could have imagined, and the weather warmed quickly, melting all traces of snow and bringing in gentle, but warmer rains. Before anyone realized it, it was time for Easter holidays, and James and Sirius asked Decima if she wanted to stay at the Potter Manor with her. She accepted, of course. So Sirius and Decima packed their things together in his trunk on his insistence so that she wouldn't have to carry anything, and he carried the trunk down to Hogsmeade Station, making sarcastic remarks about how she really hadn't needed that much in the way of clothes, but she just smirked back.
In all honesty, she hadn't packed much in the way of actual clothing. She did, however, pack a wide array of underwear and lingerie, and she seemed to recall him not complaining when she had been packing it. In fact, if she had remembered correctly, he had jumped her the second she had placed the pile of his favorite temptations in the trunk and packing had been delayed.
So Decima merely smirked at him and he smirked back. She could hardly believe that it hadn't been long ago at all that they had been reduced to frustrated, angry, broken people, sleeping around and physically lashing out at each other. It felt like a lifetime ago now, now that everything was all right between them. When they got on the train and occupied the usual Marauder compartment, Decima curled up on Sirius's lap happily, which was a good thing, because that left a seat open when Lily Evans knocked on the compartment door.
"C-can I join you guys?" she said uncertainly. "Mary stayed at Hogwarts and I don't really have any friends on the train or anything."
They all looked over at the empty seat by the door. It was right next to James.
"Sure!" said Decima eagerly. "Come on in!"
Lily sat down and Decima could tell by the look on his face, James was fighting his thinly veiled elation at her being so close to him.
"So, Sirius, have you forgiven James?" said Lily as casually as one could possibly ask such a question. Gwen and Decima exchanged a shocked look, however. She had just called both Sirius and James by their first names, which she never did. She was actually directly addressing a Marauder without taking points off Gryffindor. Surely the universe was going to rip into pieces. This was clearly a sign of the Apocalypse. Decima waited a few moments for the sky to fall, but nothing happened except Sirius responding that he had.
"But why?" said Lily.
"Because it was my fault," said Decima, jumping to James's aid. Well, she had used him for her dirty purposes, it was the least she could do for the poor boy.
"How?" said Lily, with an eyebrow raised. "I was under the impression that sex was an act that assumed mutual consent."
"Well, I didn't exactly rape the poor boy, no," said Decima good-naturedly, ruffling James's already messy hair. "But I did take advantage of him. I was out for revenge on Sirius, and I knew James would be an easy target because he had been trying to be good for so long. He was shocked at first, and then reluctant, but let's face it, he's a male. He can only say no to hormones for so long in that frustrated of a state."
Lily pursed her lips as though wanting to say that was no excuse, but to everyone's surprise, she didn't. Decima was beginning to see a glimmer of hope on the horizon of James's future. He might be able to win over the illustrious Lily Evans. Granted, it would take a lot of hard work, but she owed him all the help she could give, and if Decima had anything to say about it, they'd be dating by Christmas.
The talk was vibrant as they made their way to King's Cross, especially as Decima and Sirius had been keeping to themselves quite a bit for a while and they were in need of being brought back into the loop on things. Lily even seemed to be enjoying the company of the Marauders, but then, who didn't? They were full of infectious energy, and within ten minutes they could have a whole room full of people smiling and laughing, should they wish it.
When the train pulled in at King's Cross, Sirius grabbed their things, and Decima followed him and James onto the platform and into the queue waiting to go through the archway back into the Muggle world. The last time she had been here, she was going to Sirius's house for the first time. She tensed at the thought, and Sirius must have realized what she was thinking because he wrapped his free arm around her as the waited and whispered, "It's okay, CiCi, we're going home" in her ear. Home was, of course, the Potter Manor, the only place either of them was welcome to call home anymore.
As they stepped out into King's Cross station, Sirius led Decima toward the Potters, who waved at them from the fringe of the crowd. Someone passing Decima bumped shoulders with her forcefully and she fell, loosing Sirius's hand. He looked back at her with concern, moving to help her and she looked up at the person who hit her. It was Orion Black. He was wearing the famous Black Smirk and said with no true feeling in his voice, "Sorry."
Sirius glared at his father as he helped Decima to her feet.
"I see the Potters are taking in all the riff-raff these days," drawled a voice nearby. It was Lucius Malfoy, who was there for some unknown reason. Perhaps he was picking up a relative.
"Watch who you're calling names, Lucius," said Sirius with a frown. "You might give people the impression that you're biased. That wouldn't do if you want a fancy job in the Ministry over a cell in Azkaban when it all goes down."
"I think you're a little mistaken as to who's coming out of this war with honor and who will end up in Azkaban, Sirius," said Lucius with a sneer. "It's too bad you've muddied yourself up with this whore. They might have taken you back if you repented."
"You mean too bad you didn't get a taste of her when she tried to come back?" snarled Malfoy, and Narcissa blushed. She must have some idea of what had happened to Decima at the engagement party.
Lucius didn't answer, but the way his eyes hungrily grazed Decima's body confirmed that Sirius was right. Decima clutched Sirius's arm tightly, knowing they wouldn't try anything in the middle of King's Cross, but still very afraid.
"Come on, love," he muttered. "Let's go to the Potters."
"Watch your back, lovely," called Orion Black. "You never know who's around the corner."
Decima sank her nails into Sirius's arm, horrified, but she didn't turn around. She kept walking with Sirius until they had reached the Potters and she was safely on her way to the Potter Manor, out of the grasp of Orion Black.
A/N: So I'm thinking up ideas for new stories. Here's a snippet from one I'm thinking of. If you like it, let me know and I'll write it! Also, if you have any ideas for it, please, let me know!
"I'll bet you can't conquer every girl years four through six, currently, before we graduate. I'll bet you're not as desirable as you think you are, Sirius."
"He'll take that bet," said James.
"Okay, if he does, he can humiliate me any way he sees fit," said Fabian. "If he doesn't, same rule applies, but reverse."
"Deal," said Sirius, relishing at the thought of humiliating Fabian Prewett.
"This includes Slytherins."
The boys all winced.
"Fine."
"It also includes… Lily Evans."
Sirius looked at James with fear in his eyes. The bargain was now not only impossible, it was completely morally wrong.