The Templar Girl

by Comfortably Grey

When two new students arrive at Hogwarts in the Marauders' 5th year everyone wants to know more about them. There's more to the Templar twins than meets the eye, that much is obvious especially with the mystery and power that surrounds them. SB/OC JP/LE

17. Meet ATOMOS Finally

A/N: I know, I know, I've been horrible. Please don't hate me. Life's been busy. Voting is still open for Brenna's love intrest please leave a review, PM, or use the poll on my profile. Standings are as follows:
-Sirius: 9
-Regulus: 3
-Remus: 3
-A member of Atomos (thus far unspecified): 1

Chapter 17: Meet ATOMOS (Finally)

Sirius woke up ridiculously early the morning of the Hogsmeade trip. He was excited and anxious to meet Brenna. He had managed to get some alone time with her, which was no small task since she didn't quite seem to get his gentle hints. In fact, she was pretty oblivious to blokes flirting with her for whatever reason. Sirius recalled a conversation he'd overheard between a few sixth year Ravenclaws talking about the newest Gryffindor and how one of them tried flirting with her in an effort to get a snog from her but she had blindly disregarded him. It had been comical for Sirius to listen to the story of the Ravenclaw being shot down because at the time he had figured that Brenna knew perfectly well what that boy was suggesting and she simply didn't want a part of it but now he wasn't so sure. She'd been pretty oblivious when he had tried subtly suggesting that they spend some time alone together.

But that didn't matter now because he had a few hours to walk around with her, just the two of them. Unfortunately, he was feeling uncharacteristically nervous. He wasn't sure what he would say or do with her or even what he should wear. Sighing Sirius got up and trudged over to the bathroom to take a shower, not really paying attention to where he was going as he thought about where he should take Brenna first as a result he walked straight into Remus who was just exiting the bathroom.

"Sorry, mate." He muttered after recovering from the initial shock.

"Sirius? What the bloody hell are you doing up so early on a Saturday? It's not even half seven yet!" Remus exclaimed – albeit quietly – as he consulted his watch for a time check.

Sirius shrugged, "Couldn't sleep." Remus quirked an eyebrow at his friend's response. Although Sirius woke up fairly early during the week, he was almost never up before 9 on weekends and considering their lengthy detention last night it was a wonder that either of them were standing so early.

"James said you spoke to Brenna last night. How'd that go?" Remus asked, walking over to his trunk and fishing around for a pair of socks.

"Good, I'm going to show her around Hogsmeade today." That got Remus' attention, as he stopped rifling through his trunk to look at him with raised eyebrows. It was almost like Remus didn't approve of this, like he didn't want Sirius and Brenna to go together.

"Like on a date?" Remus queried trying, but failing, to sound like he didn't care.

"Er, no, just as mates, I'm just showing her around before she meets up with some friends. Why?"

"No reason," Remus shrugged turning back to his trunk.

"No really, tell me, Moony, why?" Sirius prompted moving a bit closer to his friend. Remus sighed before turning back to Sirius.

"I just – you'll hurt her Sirius and she doesn't deserve that." Well, I can't say I saw that one coming. Sirius just stared at Remus with raised eyebrows. "Look mate, I know how you treat girls, and I've never really said anything about it, but not with Brenna. She's different and I don't want to see her hurt. Mate, I love you like a brother, but I won't let you do that to her." Remus' voice rose toward the end of his speech and James stirred in his sleep.

"I'm not going to hurt her!" Sirius declared feeling an anger rise within him at Remus' assumption.

"Come on Sirius, you're not exactly gentle with the girls you 'date'!"

"First of all, I'm notdating Brenna so you've got nothing to worry about. And second, how can you think so low of me, I'm you're bloody best mate!" Sirius exploded. How could one of his best friends thinks so little of him? How could he say 'Sirius don't date that girl, I don't want her hurt'? How dare he say that!

"What the bloody hell is going on?" James said grabbing his glasses from the side table. "Bloody hell, its 7:30! What the bloody hell are you guys yelling about?" James looked between his two friends with wide, confused eyes. The overuse of the term 'bloody hell' was typical of James so early in the morning when he couldn't think of any other interjection to use and was extremely annoyed.

"Nothing, I'm going to get ready." Sirius muttered sending a spiteful glare at Remus before stalking off into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

Sirius turned on the shower and climbed in, scrubbing furiously at his toned body and roughly lathering his hair. That just shows you how mad he truly was, Sirius was neverrough with his hair, it was his pride and glory. He kept thinking over what Remus had said and each time the words echoed in his head he rage grew and grew.

Sure, maybe he wasn't the gentlest when it came to girls, but they knew that going in and he never cheated on any of them. He just didn't have long term relationships. But that shouldn't have mattered to Remus. Why the hell did he care? Brenna can't be that good of a friend to him, there's just no way, they've barely known each other, barely spoken to each other...unless…unless Remus got close to her when she wasn't talking to Sirius. Maybe he figured that with Sirius out of the way for being such a prick, Brenna would want him, and now that she's going to Hogsmeade with Sirius – albeit as friends – he doesn't want anything to happen between them.

That sneaky bastard! He just wants Brenna for himself and he's making it seem so righteous by saying that Sirius would hurt her! Well, if Remus thought Sirius would just back down, he's got another thing coming. After all, the girls in this school loved Sirius not Remus and Brenna surely wouldn't be any different. Sirius would have Brenna, not Remus. But wait; did Sirius want Brenna to be his girlfriend? Did he want to be with her, for real? Maybe Remus was right. But Sirius wouldn't hurt her. He would never hurt her, not Brenna, not anymore, not like that. He wouldn't break her heart, not if she chose him.

But I don't even know Brenna. Sirius thought as he conditioned his ebony hair. Not that's ever stopped me, but still…Why is everything so different with her?Why don't I know what to do? This should all be easy for me, Merlin knows girls love me and I always know exactly what to say and do and when to make a move. So why is every thing so confusing and foreign with Brenna? Why is she completely unfazed by everything I do? And an even better question, why the hell do I care?

Because she's special, she's different. She doesn't throw herself at you; she treats you like you're someone to talk to, just another guy, and you like that.The thought came unsolicited – and in second person, which was odd – but immediately, Sirius recognized it as true. Brenna didn't worship the ground he walked on, she was intelligent, could keep up a conversation and she didn't look at him like he was just a hot piece of arse. She was funny and a bit odd, but Sirius realised that he liked that too. Brenna didn't follow normal social conventions; as far as he knew she didn't have a boyfriend and showed absolutely no interest in getting one. She didn't think about going on a date with Sirius, most girls would have fainted at the implications of "I'll show you around Hogsmeade tomorrow, just the two of us" from Sirius Black, but she didn't. She didn't think anything of it. Sirius realised that he actually liked Brenna, maybe as a friend and maybe as more, but he also realised that he didn't want to rush into anything with her. For now he would be content with spending time with her, even if it's not alone, and getting to know her.

Sirius stepped out of the shower, quickly drying himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist. He was excited for Hogsmeade for the first time in years because he'd get to talk to Brenna, find out more about her and meet her friends, her real friends. Sighing Sirius wrenched open the bathroom door, he'd have to apologize to Remus for snapping at him even Remus started it. Walking into the dorm he found that Remus had already left and James was sitting on his bed staring at him. Peter was still snoring softly – that kid could sleep through anything. Sirius ignored his best mate and walked over to his trunk to get his clothes.

"So…you and Brenna, huh?"

"Don't start," Sirius muttered, so much for apologizing.

"Just talk to me, what's going on? I've never seen Moony get like that over any of the girls you've dated."

"I'm not dating her!" Sirius yelled turning to face him. "Why does everyone assume I'm dating her? Can't I just show her around Hogsmeade? For the love of Merlin! I'm just showing her around!"

"Okay, you're not dating her, got it…so what's going on? You're going to show her around Hogsmeade and then what? Do you want to date her?" James asked careful to keep his voice calm and low with only genuine curiosity in it.

"I don't know, mate, I really don't. I just want to get to know her for now, be her friend, spend time with her, that sort of thing." James nodded in acknowledgement as Sirius turned back to his trunk feeling sufficiently awkward standing in only a towel.

"You know, I never thought I'd see this day."

"What day?" Sirius asked almost hesitantly at the tone of James' voice.

"You'll figure it out. Have fun in Hogsmeade, and try not to fall too fast." James said walking toward the bathroom door with a pleased smile on his face.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Sirius demanded as James shut the door, his only response a chuckle. "Nutter," Sirius muttered under his breath as he finally got around to pulling out clothes for the day.

The trouble between Remus and Sirius had not been forgotten, if they both fancied the same girl things were going to get ugly, but Remus hadn't said anything about fancying Brenna, just that he didn't want her hurt. And that made sense, right? She had said she liked werewolves before Remus had even told her about him so it made sense that he wanted to look out for her. Let's just hope it's nothing more than that.

Sirius dressed casually, in a pair of dark jeans that were the right balance of fitted and baggy with only a couple, carefully accented rips, a navy blue v-neck and a dark grey hooded sweater. Checking himself once more in the mirror to ensure that everything was just right, not too overdressed where she'd think he was expecting something to come of the time together, and not too casual where she'd think he simply didn't care, Sirius took a deep breath and walked to the common room wondering if Brenna would be already in the Hall or still in her dorm…perhaps in her pyjamas. Sirius shook himself mentally, his mind had wondered too far thinking of her in short shorts and a thin tank top.

Arriving in the Common Room Sirius decided to wait for a couple minutes in a chair with a direct view of the stairs leading to the dorms. He had just sat down and began to plan where he would take her in Hogsmeade…Honeydukes for sure, and Zonko's since she apparently enjoys practical jokes, and perhaps the Shrieking Shack, she might like that. Glancing up toward the stairs at chance, Sirius found himself stunned as Brenna walked down the stairs of the dormitory into the Common Room. It struck him how amazing she could look in such a simple and casual outfit.

She wore a round neck, three-quarter sleeved striped light grey and white shirt, skinny jeans with stressing that highlighted her faint curves. A navy v-neck cable knit cardigan hung over one of her arms as she shoved a piece of parchment unceremoniously into her black duffle-style tote bag which had a leather label sewn on the front broadcasting something indiscernible from where Sirius sat.

Brenna smiled when she saw him, her entire countenance becoming lighter, less burdened, somehow. Her smile, it seemed, was infectious, for Sirius found himself giving her an exceedingly rare genuine smile. One that was neither smirk nor grin nor requiring conscious thought. One of these smiles had never been given to a girl before, only to the other Marauders at times instrumental in the founding of their friendship and "family", especially James and Mr and Mrs Potter.

"Good morning, Sirius." Brenna said sounding much livelier than she usually did in the morning, even to her own ears.

"Morning, Brenna, you sound happy this morning."

"Yeah, well it'll be nice to see the guys." And I'm finally doing something more than "learning" magic that I've known since I was 8.Brenna thought as her mind once again ran through the map of Hogsmeade she had studied for the occasion. In reality, Brenna did not need to be "shown around Hogsmeade". Not only had she memorized the town layout, she had walked it with her brother before term started and again just three nights ago as part of the defensive planning for trips such as this.

Sirius nodded in response, part of him wishing he was one of the reasons for her happiness, not that he fancied her or anything that would be ridiculous. "Ready for breakfast?"

"Yes, I'm starving." The two began walking down to the Great Hall for breakfast in amicable silence; Brenna more relaxed now knowing that the boys of Atomos – minus Cyrus – were already in Hogsmeade getting the lay of the land and setting the defences that had been decided upon in the preceding days.

"So, you're meeting your friends at 10:30?" Sirius asked as they neared the final staircase before the Great Hall.

"Yeah, so we've got a few hours, it's nearing 8 now." Sirius nodded, after breakfast they'd probably have an hour and a half together before she met up with her 'friends from back home'.

"Is there anywhere you want to go in particular? I'm sure the girls have told you about some of the shops."

"Yeah, they've told me pretty much everything there is to know about Hogsmeade. I definitely want to go to Honeydukes and then just look around some of the other shops. Oh and the Shrieking Shack, though I'll probably end up there with the boys. I'm not really picky, but if you try to take me anywhere near Madam Puddifoot's I am liable to inflict permanent injury. That place is horrid, and I've only seen pictures." Sirius laughed at her very obvious distaste.

"A girl that doesn't want to go to Madam Puddifoot's, you really are strange."

"I've been trying to tell you."

Once reaching the Gryffindor table, the two fifth years sat in their usual place. The Great Hall was almost empty, few other students willing to wake so early on a weekend. They, of course, didn't have the motivation that Sirius did nor the responsibility of Brenna and so for them, they saw no problem with sleeping in. In fact, while the students paid attention to the happenings of the outside world, few truly understood the danger, and even fewer recognized the danger posed to them within Hogwarts' walls. Of those few it would be safe to generalize that none knew of the great measures and precautions taken to ensure that the Hogsmeade trip was a safe one, one without death or injury for student and staff alike.

It would probably be fairly accurate to say that even the staff did not know of the amplified risk in allowing students a trip to the town, excepting Dumbledore and McGonagall; the staff did not fully comprehend the threat posed to their safety and that of their students. None of them knew that Hogwarts was currently being protected by the prestigious Order of the Dragon and none of them found it troubling that Hogwarts did not have extra protection.

Indeed, the entire population of Hogwarts seemed to live in an imperturbable bubble of safety where nothing truly bad or dangerous or scary could happen. After all, Hogwarts had Dumbledore and Dumbledore could surely keep them safe. Surely not even a powerful dark wizard would dare attack within the walls of Hogwarts. Brenna, Cyrus, McGonagall and Dumbledore made up the fully aware and understanding group of Hogwarts. That was it. Four people who knew of Death Eater attacks and strategy. Two of whom, were willing to lay down their lives to defend that ridiculous notion of imperturbable safety, to keep the students inside from "buying the farm" so young. The irony being that they too were young. They were younger than some of the teens that they would protect, of course, that was only true biologically.

Mentally, Brenna and Cyrus and long surpassed the seventh years and even some of the professors. Their explicit knowledge of the war and events surrounding them aged them, robbed them of their childhood. That is to be expected, though, when children grow up because of war. They evolved into people that understood the horrors of humanity and yet still managed to believe that there is something worth fighting for, that there is hope and good amongst the despair and evil. Brenna and Cyrus and indeed all the Knights of the Order of the Dragon, believed in the morality and justness of people so much that they were willing to give up their lives that others might live in a world without fear and violence. They were willing to die knowing that good will always triumph over evil so long as there are people who have faith in goodness.

It is this thought that prompted Brenna's question, and though it was probably not appropriate for breakfast, it was something that she needed to know. It was a question that was difficult to answer, even for her as a Knight of the Dragon, who truly believed there was good in the world; it was hard for her to answer.

"Sirius, do you think people are good?" For Sirius, who had not been privy to Brenna's long thought process; this question was undoubtedly random…and deep.

"What?"

"Do you think that all people have goodness in them or are some just evil?" Sirius met her eyes, they were contemplative, troubled, this question had been something she was trying to answer for a long time and it would appear that she didn't have an answer.

"I don't know, Brenna…do you think that anyone truly has goodness in them, that humans can be good?" Sirius wasn't really sure how he would answer his own question. Part of him said that yes humans can be good, just look at the Potters, they were loving and caring. But then he thought of his own parents, of all the Death Eaters, the people who abused their kids and just all the crap that people do and suddenly he wasn't so sure.

Brenna, on the other hand, had spent years looking for an answer to the question of humanity, read books from preachers of every world religion she could find, and in pursuit of answering her first question, also answered Sirius', for herself anyway.

"I do. I think humans can be good." She said, and while her answer was certain she spoke softly, understanding that this was a question Sirius would need to answer on his own but it wouldn't hurt to debate the possibilities with a friend.

"Really? Even with this war going on? Even with people killing others because of their blood?" Sirius asked, he wasn't questioning her sanity or calling her stupid, he just wanted to understand her reasoning.

"Yes. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean, if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. – Mahatma Gandhi. Just because a few people do horrible, evil things does not mean that all of humanity is horrible and evil, right?" Sirius nodded and silence hung between as the meaning sunk in for a few moments.

"That's really deep. You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Sirius looked into her eyes hoping for some kind of insight. In the short time that he'd known Brenna he figured out that if you wanted a straight answer from her, or at least a hint at why she says the things she does, you look into her eyes. Some mixture of emotion was always swirling in the depths; deciphering which those were was a completely different issue.

Right now, it wasn't hard to see, sadness clouded her eyes as she looked at him, her eyes seeming glassier than usual, perhaps with tears that would never fall. But in a flash, any trace of emotion was erased from her face; she offered him an indifferent, impersonal half-smile.

"I've had a lot to think about." Even her voice was different. Clear, distant, almost cold. The rapid transition hurt Sirius in a way, as he realised just how much about Brenna he didn't understand and how little she truly trusted him.

She could have opened up to him, even just a little, hell, she could've said the exact same thing but with some trace of emotion, something that would tell him a little about her, even if it was just how she was feeling, but instead, she pushed him away. Far away. She severed any form of emotional and mental attachment and connection that had been forming, replacing it with a cold barrier.

Obviously, Brenna's past wasn't rainbows and unicorns, and that was something he could at least understand and respect the fact that she didn't want to talk about it with someone she'd known for a few weeks. Still though, she didn't have to completely block him out. Sirius didn't even do that when he was in first year and was a disappointment to his family who hated him. He didn't ever fully close a connection between him and James, so why the hell did she?

"Brenna, you know if there was ever anything you wanted to talk about, you could talk to me, right?" She studied him for a moment, her entire face void of any trace of emotion or thoughts.

"Sure." The corner of her mouth pulled upward and her face was no longer a mask. Brenna's half smile bordered on a smirk and combined with the tone of her voice told Sirius that she thought he didn't understand anything that she was or had gone through, and beyond that, that she wouldn't really come to talk to him. "So where are we going after this?" Her cheerful demeanour had returned which further confused Sirius. She had just been upset, that much he could extrapolate, and now she was happy again as though nothing had ever happened?

"Uh, I figure we'll just walk along the main street and checks out shops as they come up, are you good with that?" He asked deciding it would be best to just go with the mood swings, maybe it was her time of the month or something, though as soon as he thought that he knew it was wrong.

"That sounds great." The two finished their breakfast talking amicably about much lighter topics; they stayed away from anything that could remotely upset either one.

"Are you ready to get going?" Sirius asked as he saw that both of them had finished their plates of food.

"Yeah, it's almost nine so by the time we get down there we won't have that long." The two exited the Great Hall that was only just beginning to fill up, though none of the other fifth year Gryffindors had entered yet, and as they walked out the doors, Brenna caught her brother's eye nodding to him which he returned with the slightest inclination of his head and raised eyebrows in Sirius' direction.

"Shut up." She muttered at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking and that he would be able to hear her.

"I didn't say anything." Sirius said looking at her confused as they joined the growing queue of students waiting to be checked off the list by Filch. It would seem that only a handful of students had decided to get an early start to the Hogsmeade Weekend, probably a good idea considering it was taking longer to sign students out as they were being searched with dark-detectors, one of the many new precautions taken for the trip.

"Wasn't talking to you." Brenna replied and following her gaze to Cyrus he understood.

"Your brother doesn't approve of the company you keep? He'd probably prefer a proper pureblood." Sirius muttered bitterly, bringing Brenna's attention back to him.

"You assume too many things." Sirius regarded her sceptically with a raised eyebrow. "You judge prematurely, that can be dangerous. You don't know him." Brenna's voice was casual, at ease, not portraying any sense of anger and so Sirius decided that he would push the conversation further, justifying mentally that it could give him information about the very elusive Templars.

"I know enough."

"You know nothing of him, Sirius." Brenna replied, ever calm and shaking her head, her hair bouncing softly where it hung around her shoulders.

"Brenna, I get that you're close with him, but you must have noticed his choice of company, you have to know what their like, and if he's hanging around them then…Don't pretend, don't be naïve." Brenna smiled at his choice of words.

"Sirius, if there's one thing I'm not, its naïve." She whispered to him as they reached the front of the line.

"Names," Filch sneered at them, particularly when he saw Sirius. After supplying their first and last names, Filch checked them off and Sirius moved for the door only to be stopped by Filch blocking his path. "Not so fast, you have to be searched, new rules."

"What new rules?" Sirius demanded looking at Filch sceptically.

"There was a notice on the board in the Common Room; Dumbledore's taking some extra precautions what with everything that's been going on." Brenna supplied, and it was true, there had been a notice posted last night, the fact that he hadn't seen or heard about it wasn't surprising as he and the other Marauders had served yet another detention.

Filch smirked, though on his face it was just plain creepy, as he began prodding them with the various dark-object detectors. It was an uncomfortable but necessary process of checking for contraband items. Brenna, of course, was carrying more than one thing that would be considered against the rules, considering the majority were weapons – a pocket knife, a dagger, a pen that wasn't really a pen at all but contained a highly useful sedative (just in case magic wasn't an option), and a few other things – but she was also very talented at disillusionment charms and hiding stuff in general and so all went unnoticed. This was, admittedly, a bit worrying. If Brenna could get away with bringing so much then surely other students could as well, but dark objects were more the concern and the detectors would sense most of them should they be present, however, there was always room for error, something could always go wrong, hence the multitude of other defences in place.

After that ordeal, they walked down to Hogsmeade with the few other students that had made it out already in light conversation, having dropped the previous topic of Cyrus and his Death Eaternessor lack thereof. Reaching the town, Sirius spun around to face Brenna threw his arms out wide, grinning.

"Welcome to Hogsmeade!"

Brenna smiled and rolled her eyes at him, laughing. "You do remember that I've actually been here before, right?" She had told him last night when they were discussing Hogsmeade, after all truths are easier to remember than lies.

"Yeah, but you haven't been in a long time, so it's pretty much like you've never been, things change." He said returning to Brenna's side.

"Some things, but others stay the same." Brenna smiled fondly at a sign hanging from a building down the street. TheThreeBroomsticks. The words weren't legible from that distance but Brenna knew without a doubt what the sign said.

"Right well, shall we?" Sirius asked gesturing grandly to the rest of High Street. For the rest of the morning they walked in and out of the different stores, both buying some sweets from Honeydukes and other unimportant items, talking about nothing in particular while they whittled away the time until Brenna met with her friends. Eventually, around 10 when they had ventured into Zonko's, James, Remus and Peter joined them and after making a few purchases began making their way toward the Three Broomsticks.

"I don't believe it!" An indignant male voice said behind them making sure that the five Gryffindors could hear. "We've been replaced!"

"The injustice!" Another boy's voice said. Brenna had immediately recognised the first and second voice but didn't say anything, knowing that her friends would want to have their fun with sarcasm first.

"And we could definitely take them, too! Dare, you get the short, mousy one and the tortured one; Lee, take Alf-Alfa; I got the model. Break!" A third boys' voice instructed. The Marauders exchanged confused looks and Brenna, who had been struggling to control her shaking shoulders, burst out laughing as she turned around to face the boys she knew so well.

"Merlin, I've not replaced you!" Brenna gave the boys a dazzling smile as the Marauders turned in confusion to face them as well. "And honestly, dividing them up amongst yourselves? Really?"

"That's right, we went there." The third replied with a smirk.

"No, you went there, wewere simply indignant." The first corrected smiling at Brenna who laughed softly, almost like music.

"It's good to see you, guys." Brenna said hugging each of the boys in turn, the third one giving her a kiss on the top of her head and their hug lasted for a little longer than was probably necessary. Stepping back and still beaming, Brenna stood between the two groups of boys.

"Right, introductions. Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew meet Levi Thorne, Darren Morgan and Maverick Hawk and vice-versa." Brenna's friends nodded to the Gryffindors and analytical half smiles and smirks, which the Marauders returned a bit tentatively.

Levi had dark brown, on the edge of black, hair, not long but not too short either, with perceptive hazel eyes and an olive complexion; he was only about an inch shy of 6 feet, the shortest of the three boys and was slight, not scrawny but not very built either, though to his credit, Levi was very capable of intimidation if he wanted to be. Darren was slightly taller and had more visible muscle to him; he was pale but not ghostly and had a spattering of freckles on his cheekbones with dirty blonde shaggy hair and mossy green eyes. Maverick was tallest out of the three, maybe two inches taller than Sirius, with a complexion somewhere between the other two, a built frame, chestnut brown hair and cool blue eyes that scrutinized the Gryffindors in front of them.

Maverick was by far the most intimidating, especially considering he seemed to regard the boys as inferior, they weren't in any way threatened by their presence which in itself was reason enough, after all, if they could do anything similar to Brenna and Cyrus, they were potentially dangerous. It seemed Maverick decided to look past their inadequacy as he offered his hand for Sirius to shake, but just before their hands made contact Brenna grabbed Sirius' wrist, her eyes trained on Maverick.

"No Mavey, you're not pulling that again." She released Sirius' wrist, who was now looking confused, shaking her head at her friend. Maverick grinned and dropping his hand, shook it out a couple times, apparently getting rid of whatever spell he had used.

"Oh come on, Brenna, they can handle it."

"Maverick, half of what you pull you couldn't handle." The first, Levi, said.

"Ignore them; they fight like an old married couple." Darren explained as Brenna and Maverick were still looking at each other challengingly. "It's both amusing and annoying."

"Well, er, nice to meet you." James said a little awkwardly.

"Same here," Levi said amicably, Darren nodding in agreement.

"So what school do you guys go to?" Remus asked trying to make conversation, and find out a little more about Brenna as an added bonus.

"It's really small, hardly anyone knows about it." Maverick answered, his little staring match with Brenna evidently finished, ironically giving the same explanation as Brenna had countless times which disappointed the Gryffindor boys who were hoping for some information.

"You really thought they'd tell you?" Brenna smiled at the boys shaking her head. Darren said something to her in what sounded like French, one of the ten languages she spoke, which they apparently all understood. Brenna replied in such rapid French that the individual words were barely discernible.

"Well, we should probably go find Cyrus; I'll see you guys later and thanks again Sirius." Brenna smiled at them, nodding to Sirius as she vaguely thanked him for showing her around Hogsmeade to which Maverick raised his eyebrows, casting scrutinizing eyes over Sirius. Somaybeshedoeshaveaboyfriend…Sirius thought showing no signs of intimidation or fear, a tactic well mastered from his years in Grimmauld Place with his 'family'.

As the four past them Sirius could just hear Levi say, "So you and Black, huh?" which was followed by a humph! likely due to a hit in the abdomen leading to someone (likely Darren) snicker and another comment from Maverick, "Leave her alone, Lee. Black's nothing t-…" and then they were out of range and he couldn't hear what else was said. Worry and curiosity tore through him, he didn't know what they had said or were still saying about him but whatever it was, it didn't seem like any of them really liked the idea of Sirius and Brenna together.

In the Three Broomsticks, the members of Atomos sat together at a table in the back corner, well out of view of the door and many people overlooked it as a result. Their connection with Madam Rosmerta, the owner and barmaid, ensured that they wouldn't be interrupted by any of the staff or anything related to the pub. As an additional measure, they didn't speak English, instead using their base languages, ones they all understood, namely French, Italian and Spanish.

"How is home?" Cyrus asked taking a swig of pumpkin juice conveniently in a Butterbeer bottle so as not to raise suspicion from their lack of alcoholic drink. Like I said, they knew Rosmerta pretty well; their parents' friends liked to help them out in any way possible and giving them liquor-free drinks in a Butterbeer bottle was hardly asking a lot.

"Good, it's different without you two and the climate's a bit tense, but that is to be expected with the war's progression and our increased involvement." Darren answered, the joking and fun of the walk to the pub and encounter with the Marauders was replaced with a grave, business-like seriousness. Their voices were low, but they were careful to keep their body language casual and light lest anyone see them and become suspicious.

"I trust you've been keeping up on training?"

"Ah Brenna, always the Team Leader, huh?" Levi asked with a smile.

"Of course, now answer the question."

"Bren, obviously we've been training, what else could we possibly be doing with ourselves for the past weeks? We've got no TL with you here, there's nothing else to do!" Darren, frustrated, took a drink grimacing when he tasted the pumpkin rather than the brew he was expecting.

"I thought you've been helping the Watchers with recon and mapping." Cyrus said drily.

"Yeah and I hear you've been babysitting British brats." Maverick countered.

"Touché," Cyrus conceded.

"And none of us know how long it'll last either." Levi added glumly. Brenna looked down at her bottle of the table. This was her team, her family, and none of them were happy doing what they were doing.

"It is necessary." Brenna said quietly raising her eyes. "The Council agreed that this is necessary. I know it is not us; it is not what we would want to do, but sometimes we have to do the grunt work, the stuff we really don't want to do. We've got to do the mapping and babysitting, because someone has to. Sometimes, everyone has to do things they don't want to. And the – quote – 'best unit in the Order' is no exception. We have to bear this, guys, I know it really sucks but we need to do this. Honour is everything and I could not stand up before you if we did not do what was asked of us. We are protecting innocents, tracking and learning about the enemy, this will give us victory, boys, and I don't know about you but I much prefer victory to death."

"Well, I'll drink to that," Cyrus nodded raising his bottle. The remaining teens raised their bottles as well, the necks meeting in the center of the table.

"Victory over death," Levi repeated, their bottles still held together.

"For Atomos," Darren began.

"For Hogwarts and Britain," Cyrus added.

"For Arcadia and the Order," Maverick continued.

"For honour, freedom and everything we stand for," Brenna smiled.

"Here, here," They all spoke together, clinking their bottles and taking a long sip. Putting their bottles back on the table, they felt their spirits lighter and more motivated to continue with their jobs for victory. Maverick put his arm around Brenna, squeezing her shoulder in approval of her speech and her role as Team Leader.

"Alright, now who spiked my juice?" Maverick asked to which they all began laughing, just like when they were at home.

At that moment, the Marauders had entered the pub. Normally none of them would have given much thought to all the other students sitting, eating and drinking. But today was not "normally", today Sirius' eyes searched the pub for the raven-haired girl so endeared to him, and seeing her in the back corner sitting with her friends, with another bloke's arm around her shoulders as they all laughed together, he realised that that's what he wanted. He wanted to sit at a table with his arm around her, laughing happily with their mutual friends and he wanted it now. He wanted Brenna and he couldn't have her, at the very least not yet. He didn't know a lot about her, but he wanted to, he didn't know if she had a boyfriend, but he wanted to be it, he didn't know her opinion on things that he should, but he would find out. Sirius would talk to James, he at least had experience with this romantic crap, dealing with rejection and seeing the girl he wanted with someone else. James was right, he had been all along. Damn, this really isn't going to help his ego…

A/N: Voting is still open for Brenna's love intrest please leave a review, PM, or use the poll on my profile. Standings are as follows:
-Sirius: 9
-Regulus: 3
-Remus: 3
-A member of Atomos (thus far unspecified): 1

VOTE IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU