Decima was very nervous about Hogsmeade. She was worried James would screw it all up. She was worried James would do everything perfectly but that Lily would still be too afraid to be honest with herself. She was afraid that she would hate Tien Vo. She was afraid that she would absolutely love Tien Vo and that Tien Vo would hate her. She was afraid something would happen between her and Sirius again, as somethings seemed to do with them, and that the weekend would just be a complete and utter disaster.
Breakfast was quite the affair, as James was too nervous to eat, Decima was too anxious to eat, Remus ate every piece of meat in sight (the full moon was nearing), and Sirius and Gwen just rolled their eyes at their companions. When they had eaten, or not, they all got up and headed for the entrance hall. Lily Evans was waiting for James, Peter went off to a detention he had earned with Professor Sprout for stealing Tentacula leaves (for a prank they were planning on Snape), and Decima held tight to Sirius's arm.
"Nervous, love?" he cooed.
"Maybe a little," she admitted. "But it'll be okay."
"And why's that?"
"Because I'm with you, Sirius," she said. "Everything's going to be okay."
"Aww," he said, taking her hand and leading the way for everyone down to the gates, toward Hogsmeade village.
The air was crisp and cool, but not as cold as it had been on the trip they had made before Christmas. She gripped his hand tightly, allowing him to lead her off down the path after some of the younger students, who were incredibly eager for Hogsmeade, as young students often were.
"We're meeting Tien in Honeydukes," said Sirius. "She likes candy almost as much as you two."
She knew he was trying to soothe her, trying to take away some of her anxiety by finding common ground for her to bring up with this new girl. It was working. Her nails were no longer digging into his hand, which he surely appreciated.
Remus, Sirius, Decima and Gwen made their way to Honeydukes, and James and Lily went off to Scrivenshaft's. It was Lily's second-favorite store at Hogsmeade, and Gwen and Decima hadn't wanted their Honeydukes time to overlap, knowing that James would latch on to the Marauders for comfort first thing on the date. They cut the cord quickly, scheduling him elsewhere. Honeydukes would be their stop after lunch.
Once inside Honeydukes, Sirius and Remus let the girls run wild, gathering all of their favorite treats, and told them they'd be over by the special flavors section when they were finished. When the girls had their arms loaded with sweets which were begging to be bought, they headed over to the special flavors section, where Sirius and Remus were standing with a beautiful Vietnamese girl, examining the blood-flavored lollypops.
"Hi!" said the Vietnamese beauty. "You must be Decima," she said to Decima, extending her hand with a smile. "The girl crazy enough to date Sirius. And you must be Gwen," she said, extending her hand then to Gwen, "the girl crazy enough to date Remus. And I'm Tien, the girl crazy enough to not want a Marauder in my bed."
The boys laughed.
"It's nice to meet you, Tien," said Decima as sincerely as she could muster. For everything the Asian beauty had said, she and Sirius were standing awfully close.
As if realizing her trepidation, Sirius moved to stand behind Decima, wrapping his arms around her waist lovingly.
"Um, who's buying blood-flavored lollypops?" said Gwen nervously.
"Me," said Tien with a smirk, "but they're not for me. I'm not a vampire or anything, I just want to see if I can trick this stupid little first year to eat one."
Decima blinked. That sounded exactly like something Sirius and James would do. No wonder they liked this girl. Sirius paid for all the sweets and they headed down to Zonko's Joke Shop to see what was new in the world of items of mayhem.
Decima soon understood why the Marauders had wanted them to meet Tien. She fit into the dynamic between Gwen and Decima perfectly, almost simultaneously replacing Christa and Philomela, and Decima thought to herself that what she couldn't replace, Lily made up for in spades, like Philomela's neurotic behavior. By the time they went to meet up with Lily and James for lunch, they were already chattering away like old friends.
"Hey, Lily!" said Tien, sliding into the seat next to the redhead, who jumped slightly at the sound of her name. She and James had been gazing into each other's eyes, and hadn't seemed to have noticed that the others had arrived.
"Hi, Tien," said Lily breathily, not taking her eyes from James. "How was Honeydukes and stuff?"
"Really nice," said Tien, an eyebrow raised at the sappy couple. "You know, I don't mind being fifth wheel all day, but seventh wheel is a bit ridiculous and you two are already disgusting me and I haven't even been sitting here two who minutes!"
Lily blushed and broke her eye contact with James, looking down at her hands, but James looked incredibly pleased with himself and draped his arm over her shoulders. His ego visibly swelled when she leaned in to his touch. Sirius and Remus were mildly surprised, but Gwen and Decima exchanged proud looks. They had succeeded. Now Lily needed to hurry up and make daughters so they could have namesakes.
"So I'll take it the date is going well?" said Sirius with a smirk.
Idiot.
James grinned proudly and Lily blushed furiously, hiding her face in her butterbeer tankard. Decima wanted to smack Sirius for his stupidity. Clearly the date had been going well, but there was no need to say it aloud or otherwise acknowledge it! That was like saying, "Hey, Lily, eat crow!"
It just wasn't very tactful.
Somehow, they managed to get over it, though, and Remus was successful in turning the topic of conversation to something else. That something else happened to be summer, which is nearly everyone's favorite topic.
"I'm going to spend the summer visiting family in Vietnam, mostly," said Tien, swirling her gillywater. "But the end of August I'm going to the Marauder summer bash, naturally."
Decima raised an eyebrow.
"Summer bash?"
"Ah, I hadn't mentioned that?" said Sirius sheepishly. "Well, you and Gwen were never invited before because you were, well, Slytherins. You'll be invited now, obviously, and it'll be a bit tough for you not to be there, CiCi, seeing as you live in the house it'll be held in this year."
"Oh, how kind of you to invite me, then, Sirius, darling," she said, with just a hint of bite in her voice, making everyone else at the table laugh appreciatively.
"You're lucky I love you, you silly girl," he said with a laugh, but Decima's expression hardened.
"Really, Sirius?" she said softly. "I'm the lucky one here?"
He winced.
The light mood in the group froze over instantly as Decima and Sirius met each other's eyes. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to fight with Sirius, she didn't want to ruin Lily's first date with James, and she knew she was so incredibly lucky to have Sirius in her life, but something in her snapped when she heard him call her a silly girl, something he hadn't done since their first night together, and she just realized how much had changed between them. They were no longer desperate teenagers, looking for company on his best friend's couch after they had both lost everything together. They were scarred teenagers, who had picked each other's scabs open ruthlessly and expertly so many times that it didn't even hurt in the same way anymore… it hurt deeper. She could picture clearly his fist meeting her face in the air, his body melding with some other girl's, that twisted smirk on his face when he was putting James through hell for her mistake… there was a Black in him, despite his wonderful Gryffindor qualities. He was still a Black, and sometimes she had to step back and remember that.
But she didn't want to do this, not here, not now. She stood up, asked softly to be excused, and rushed out to the street, praying Sirius wouldn't follow her. She had already made enough of a scene, and she didn't want him to see her furious, anxious tears.
Her worries about Sirius seeing her cry quickly evaporated as she saw someone approaching who made her wish instantly that Sirius was at her side to protect her. Lucius Malfoy was walking toward the Three Broomsticks, and when he saw her, he smirked almost triumphantly.
"Well, well, what have we here?" he drawled, stopping just in front of her so that he towered over her. "Little Decima Zimmerman, all alone with no one to tell off everyone who looks at her. Tell, me, darling, where's your little blood traitor?"
"He's c-coming," she stuttered, but Lucius saw right through her lie, running his thumb along her cheek, catching one of her tears on it and licking the tear off his finger.
"Lies," he hissed.
"What are you doing here?" she said, attempting to sound more confident. It was easier when she wasn't lying.
"That's none of your concern, pet, and you'll find I'm well within my rights to be here. It is, after all, a very public street."
"Yes, well," she hissed back, "considering what happened the last time a Death Eater was on this very public street on a Hogsmeade weekend, you'll forgive me for not believing your intentions innocuous."
He smirked. He probably thought she was referring to the attack on Hogsmeade, in which Sirius had fought with Bellatrix. In a way she was, but her thoughts lingered more on the aftermath of the attack, on the personal pain and confusion she was still going through as a result of that catalyst. She would rather not have another issue, what with things going so well between everyone at the moment. Just then, she saw Snape, Regulus, Austin, and Christa's brother Evan coming out into the street and walking up to Lucius. Great. His whole Death Eater gang was approaching.
"Decima?" said Regulus incredulously, and perhaps with a tinge of embarrassment on his cheeks.
"Regulus," she said coldly. "Had a little Death Eater gathering, did we?"
He flinched slightly, but Lucius just laughed softly, backing her closer to the side of the building.
"You are a clever little girl, aren't you, Zimmerman?" he hissed. "It's too bad cleverness won't save you if you're on the wrong side of things. Too bad you've given up all your chances. Or have you?"
"What are you talking about, Lucius," she said softly, truly curious.
"It might interest you to know, pet, that I know of a way or two you would be allowed to reenter society," he said with a sneer, clearly thinking he had her. "It won't be easy or without conditions, of course, but you understand how these things must work."
"Yeah, I do," she said, more softly still, thinking in horror of Orion Black's face as she entered that room, submitting herself to being raped by the father of the very boy who saved her. She would regret that attempt to reenter society for the rest of her life.
"What do you say we go and discuss these plans alone?" he whispered in her ear, and she wanted to throw him off of her, but she knew she wasn't strong enough. Regulus was looking on with a stony face, and Austin and Evan looked mildly amused, to say the least.
"Does your wife know you're trying to screw a sixteen-year-old, Malfoy?" said a voice from the doorway of the Three Broomsticks.
Malfoy whirled around, his eyes filling with rage as they fell on Sirius Black and James Potter, glaring at him, wands raised.
"Excuse me Black," he snarled, "but I'm having a private conversation that doesn't concern you."
"Yeah, I'd say it does, Malfoy," said Sirius loudly, moving toward the smug blond, "considering as that's my girlfriend you've got pressed against a wall."
"She's enjoying herself, aren't you pet," said Malfoy, stroking her hair, and Sirius's wand was on Lucius's neck in seconds. "Calm down, Black, I was just informing dear Decima of her options, and she was curious, weren't you pet?"
"Not entirely, Lucius, dear," she drawled in her best pureblood voice, which made Sirius do a double-take, and Remus to flinch. She only donned that voice on specific occasions. "You see, I'd rather not be mercilessly raped again, and I suspect there aren't any options that don't include that. In which case, I'd rather not return. Sorry to disappoint you, Lucius."
The irony dripping off her words was more than apparent to Lucius, who snarled, pushing her harder against the wall.
"Hey, guys, wha – oh, it's you, rat filth."
Decima blinked. Tien Vo was standing behind James, her wand now out, sneering at Lucius with a sneer that would have rivaled that of even Orion Black.
"Miss Vo," snarled Lucius, his eyes flashing.
"So tell me, Lucius, when will you learn to stop harassing Gryffindor women?"
"Decima's a Slytherin, Vo," he said with a smirk.
"Maybe by Sorting," said Tien, "but she's with the Marauder's which makes her a Gryffindor in my book."
Decima's jaw dropped. Her first instinct was that that was probably the sweetest thing anyone had ever said about her, although she had only known Tien for several hours. This girl was fast gaining respect, Sirius had been right about her. Her secondary instinct, and one that was almost immediately squashed was that she had just been insulted, that she was a Slytherin through and through, thank you very much.
But did she want to be a Slytherin anymore? What did that even mean? Was that who she was?
The Slytherins she knew other than herself and Decima were less concerned with and more obsessed with blood purity and status. She knew it well, as she had not very long ago been swept up in that world herself. Lucius Malfoy, in fact, was the quintessential Slytherin, and she certainly didn't think herself anything like him, nor did she aspire to fit into his world any longer. Tien was right, whether she wanted to or not, Decima wasn't a Slytherin anymore… she was a… Gryffindor?
"Anyway, Malfoy," said James, "I think you ought to leave her alone. She obviously doesn't want to be with you."
"And why should I care what she wants?" snarled Lucius. "She doesn't have any control over me!"
"Lucius, please," said Regulus softly. "It's not worth it."
Lucius sneered.
"And who are you to tell me what I ought to do, Black? You're not top dog among us, remember? There are more important things now than what family gave birth to you."
Sirius's eyes flashed.
"If your family doesn't matter, Lucius, then perhaps you'll have to explain to me why Lily Evans wouldn't be welcome in your little club," he spat. Lucius flinched.
"Yeah, Lucius, you're lying through your teeth, and you know it. A bunch of ruddy purebloods like you, can't help but revert to the old power structure whenever you get together. In which case, you might notice, Regulus outranks you, and he said to leave the girl alone."
"You know nothing, Black," snarled Snape. "But in any event, Lucius, it might be best if we left now. You're starting to draw the attention of the general public, and after the last Hogsmeade weekend, it's probably best not to do so."
Lucius looked around and saw that there were people actually stopping in their shopping to shamelessly stare at them, and he growled, but he backed off of Decima.
"This isn't over, little one," he snarled. "You need to watch your step, because I will have you."
"Over my dead body," spat Sirius.
"If that's what it takes, Black," said Lucius, a humorless smile on his cold lips. "And since you've so obviously asked for it…"
"Let's go inside, guys," said Tien loudly, "before the Death Eaters decide to give us all another show."
Lucius's eyes flashed, and he looked down at Tien with pure hatred in his face and said, "Be careful, little lion. We haven't forgotten."
"Well, that's good," she said, rather bravely, Decima thought, "because I aim to be unforgettable. Good to know it's working."
For a moment, Decima thought Lucius was going to attack her, but they must have known something she didn't, because some sort of fear flashed in his eyes and Lucius backed away, allowing Decima to go back into the Three Broomsticks with the Gryffindors. When Tien blew a kiss at Lucius, the pace of his retreat quickened and she gave a low, humorless laugh.
"Why did you do that, CiCi?" whispered Sirius. "Why do you always have to do that? And don't you dare say it's because we're broken, because that's becoming your signature excuse and we can't just use it forever because it's convenient. Sooner or later, you and I are going to have to own up to our mistakes."
"I don't say it because it's convenient," she countered. "I say it because it's true."
Sirius just shook his head.
"Come on, guys, we need to rejoin the others," said James.
When they had all returned to their seats, the rest of the group gave them curious glances, but no explanations were given. It was a shame, really, because Decima was secretly dying to know what Tien had on Lucius Malfoy. Perhaps Sirius would know. She would have to remember to ask him later. She didn't think that she and Tien were yet on such good terms that she could ask those sorts of things of her.
Decima's eyes wandered to the back wall, where Mary MacDonald was sitting with Christa Rosier, and Decima frowned. Something was wrong with this picture. She nudged Sirius, pointed, and watched his face carefully as his features rearranged into a matching frown.