Title: A Time For Change
Author Name: DarkForest214
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: "Transforming Thoughts"
Summery: Sequel to "Transforming Thoughts." Follow Lily and James in their new relationship while keeping an eye on their mischievous friends Remus Lupin and Sirius Black.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or Hogwarts School. I did not write this to try and make money. I am not stealing from JKR and the publishing companies and whatnot… I own nothing!
Author's Note: I'm so sorry you guys, I had no idea it's been so long since I last updated...I apologize for the wait, and here's the next chapter.
Chapter Twenty-Two
"Did not."
"Did too."
"I did not."
"Yes, you did."
"No, I didn't."
"Yup… you did."
"Did not!"
"Did too."
"Sirius Black, I did not throw my silverware at your head," Lily said sternly.
"Face it, Miss Evans, you're storing some pent up resentment and anger towards me," said Sirius, pointing a fork at her.
"Well if James hadn't startled me, my silverware wouldn't have slipped out of my hand. Now, can I have my fork back?" said Lily.
"Not until you admit that you threw your—"
"I didn't throw anything at you!"
"Just apologize, Lils," said Sirius.
"No."
"C'mon."
"No."
"Lily…"
"NO!"
"Here," said James, handing her his fork. "It's clean, and I don't need it."
"Thank you," she said, smiling sweetly at James before turning to glare across the table at Sirius.
"Do you want to try and visit Remus again?" James asked, changing the subject and breaking the ice between Lily and Sirius.
"I have notes to give him," said Lily. "But it can wait."
"He should be out soon anyways," added Sirius.
"Even with that nasty cut?" asked James and Sirius shrugged. "You know that Pomfrey doesn't like to let him out with unexplainable cuts on his face…It draws too much attention and makes students question him."
"We've been here for six years, James," said Sirius. "People already speculate and gossip about what's wrong with him."
"True…Just think, only one more year and we're out of here! We'll be able to do something with our lives. To do some good in the Wizarding World," said James.
"Yeah, being here at school, isolated from the rest of England…we tend to forget about what's going on in the real world," said Sirius. "We forget about the rising interest in the Dark Arts."
"Don't remind me," said James, rolling his eyes. "The Dark Arts are full of bullocks…"
"All right, change of topic now…" said Lily, feeling slightly uncomfortable. She disliked the Dark Arts too, but she didn't share James' outright hatred towards it.
A silence fell over the group as they ate their lunch. At one point Lily looked over at her other friends to see them laughing and talking animatedly. Maybe she needed some girl time..
James caught her looking at her friends and gently nudged her, "Why don't you sit with them at dinner," said James. "You've been spending an awful lot of time with me lately…"
"That's because I like spending time with you. Are you sure?" she asked after a slight pause.
"Positive…I know how tiring hanging around Sirius can be," said James.
"Hey!" but Sirius went unnoticed.
"Thank you," said Lily. Sirius glared at his friends for ignoring him, but his angry moment passed once he noticed that a fresh plate of sweet rolls had appeared on the platter in front of him.
Meanwhile at the Ravenclaw table Riley was finishing off her meal she had just wrapped up a sweet roll for Remus when her best friend—and one of many of Sirius's ex-girlfriends—stopped her.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Ry?" her friend Jessica asked.
"Um, I have homework to do…I'll see you around," she replied quickly. She wasn't quite ready to tell her best friend that she was interested in one of his best friends…
"And you're taking a sweet roll?" she asked, Riley nodded. "But you rarely eat dessert…"
"It's for later…you know how studying makes me hungry," said Riley with a shrug.
"If you wait I'll come with you," said Jessica.
"Jess, please. I really need to get this done…I'll see you later in Potions," said Riley as she stood to leave.
Jessica looked a bit peeved, but Riley knew she'd get over it. After all, she was going to visit Remus!
Remus Lupin, tall, dirty blond, mysterious. So quiet and shy…and so sickly. She briefly wondered what was wrong with him that sent him to the Hospital Wing on a monthly basis. She also wondered how someone so sweet could be such good friends with that tosser Sirius Black.
As she walked through the corridors she began to get nervous. She couldn't recall if he had had any girlfriends before. And if he had, she seemed to remember that they didn't last long… Something was strange about that boy, but that just made her like him more.
All too soon she found herself at the double doors to the Hospital Wing. With slight hesitation she knocked on the door. She was convinced that Madame Pomfrey couldn't hear her knock over the sound of her pounding heart, and was about to give up on her wait when Pomfrey answered the door.
"Sorry about the wait, dear. I was tending to a patient. May I ask who you're here to see?" said Madame Pomfrey, standing protectively in the doorway.
There was a charm on the doors that allowed only the sick and injured to enter. Any visitors had to get the approval of Madame Pomfrey to gain entry. Unless, of course, you were a Marauder.
"Remus Lupin," she said shyly.
"Is he expecting you?" Pomfrey asked skeptically. She didn't recognize the young girl, she must be a new friend of his…
"Yes, Ma'am," said Riley.
"One moment," said Madame Pomfrey before disappearing within the wing.
Riley nervously shifted her weight from one leg to another as she waited and hoped for the best.
"All right, Miss…?" Pomfrey said when she returned.
"Wolfe," she said. "Riley Wolfe." Pomfrey looked as if she didn't believe what she was hearing.
"Miss Wolfe…" she said slowly. "Come on in, Remus can handle a visitor today, just keep it down. I have other very sick patients." Madame Pomfrey stepped aside and held the door open for Riley. She eyed the girl carefully, unsure of what to make of her. As she headed back to her office she decided to check her records to see if she had ever treated a 'Riley Wolfe' in her infirmary.
"Remus?" Riley asked quietly as she stuck her head around the curtain.
"Riley?" Remus responded with a smile. "It's good to see you," he said as he sat up in bed, wincing slightly at the strain. He was still slightly sore from his transformation.
The sunlight filtered in through the window behind him, making him appear to glow. He looked almost angelic in his white hospital nightshirt, the only flaw in his features being the gash on his cheek and chin. And even then he looked perfect. Riley was struck speechless.
"You have no idea how boring it can get in here," said Remus, drawing her attention back to the world around her. 'Oh Merlin she's a sight for sore eyes…' he thought. "You can only count the ceiling tiles so many times," he added sarcastically.
Riley laughed and came closer. "Do you mind if I sit?" she asked, indicating the foot of his bed.
"Be my guest," he replied.
She sat down and pulled her book bag onto her lap, opened the flap and took out the wrapped up sweet roll. "Here, I brought you something," she said with a smile.
He accepted the bundle with a gracious smile and unwrapped it. His smile broadened as the smell wafted up to his nose. "My favorite…How did you know?"
She shrugged and smiled. "I guess I'm just that good…wait, can you eat it? I thought you were sick, and couldn't stomach anything."
"I was…turned out I had the flu," said Remus.
"Oh!"
"Don't worry, I'm feeling much better now. Pomfrey's remedies always work wonders on me…" said Remus. "Hey, it's still warm!" he said, indicating the pastry.
Riley smiled, "I hope you enjoy it."
"Oh I will…" said Remus earnestly. "Pomfrey has had me eating nothing but bland, healthy food the last few days."
A somewhat awkward silence fell over them as Remus bit into the roll. When he finished, Remus noticed that Riley was looking anywhere but at him. "Thank you," he said, breaking the silence and drawing her attention toward him.
"It was no problem," she said quietly.
The conversation that had flowed so freely on paper was lost when in each other's company. "Is something bothering you?" he asked, trying to read the look in her eyes.
"No…not really…but…um… What happened?" she asked, pointing to her own cheek.
With some quick thinking Remus told her, "It's not pleasant, but I had to…er…lose my lunch in the middle of the night. I was slightly dizzy and ended up tripping on my way back to bed."
"Oh!"
"Eh, I'm all right…" he said with a shrug. "I guess that's what I get for leaving my shoes out…"
"Are you very accident prone?" she asked, thinking about his frequent stays in the Hospital Wing.
"Clumsy, yes. Plus I was a sickly child," said Remus, using the line he always used with acquaintances. He wasn't trying to make them pity him, but it always ended up happening that way. He had to hide his 'condition' somehow…
"That's awful," said Riley.
Remus shrugged it off and added, "Also take into account who I hang out with…Although James and Sirius haven't tampered with my food for a good while."
Riley stiffened at the mention of Sirius. She really did not like him. Remus picked up on her reaction but didn't say anything. He figured he'd find out eventually…
Changing the subject, Remus asked, "So how is the world of Hogwarts outside of the Hospital Wing?"
"Totally drab and boring as usual," said Riley. "What's the latest gossip here in the Hospital Wing?"
"McGonagall and Flitwick brought in Severus Snape last night. Some kind of potion ingestion," said Remus. "Pomfrey had to induce vomiting to figure out the ingredients in the potion…she and Slughorn were up all night working on him."
"Really?" asked Riley. She didn't like Snape, but she didn't share the Marauders' hatred of him.
"Yeah, and for once we didn't have anything to do with it," Remus mused. Sirius and James would have told him if they had planted a potion of any kind on him. Not to mention that they were with him when Snivelly was brought in, and shared in his surprise.
"What?!" she asked, looking surprised, shocked and confused all at once.
"Usually Sirius and James do something to put him in here, but I know for a fact it wasn't them this time," he said. She gave him a quizzical look so he explained. "They snuck in to visit me last night and were here when they brought him in."
"Oh…" she said.
Once more silence fell over them. Remus watched as Riley stared at her hands in her lap and played with the hem of her skirt. He smiled, at first glance she was plain, almost average looking, but the more he got to know her, the more beautiful she became.
Dark brown eyes, slightly frizzy, curly brown hair, narrow face, petite nose, shorter than he and very thin. She was a no-nonsense type of girl with no need for make-up or short, skimpy skirts or useless gossip. She was the type of girl that guys like Sirius ignored. The type of girl Remus always fell for.
Remus was about to break the silence but she beat him to it. Looking up she asked him, "Do you find me attractive?"
Caught unawares Remus reddened and turned away.
"Oh…" she said, sounding disappointed. "I...I only ask, because I noticed you staring at me."
Hearing the tone of her voice he quickly recovered and said, "No, no, no…I think you're beautiful…you just caught me by surprise, that's all…"
It was her turn to blush. "You're just saying that because I pressured you into an answer," she said shyly, all of a sudden feeling very self conscious.
Remus moved stiffly to the foot of his bed so that he was sitting right next to her and took her slender hand in his. "I'm also attracted to your mind and personality," he said gently in her ear. "From what I've seen so far, there's so much more to you than meets the eye."
Riley turned to look at him, their faces close; her shy smile became a mischievous grin. The sparkle in her eyes brought a smile to his lips, and at that moment, with her insecurities gone, she was the most amazing, incredible, out of this world girl he'd ever seen.
"And what do you think about me?" he asked, their faces still close.
He thought her mischievous grin would be replaced by that shy smile once more, but he was wrong. Her smile broadened as she pretended to be thinking things over. "I think you're very smart, very handsome and slightly mysterious," she said.
"Mysterious?" he asked, eyebrow raised.
"Yes. Mysterious." She said with a laugh. "You've always got that nose of yours buried in a book…"
"Sirius likes to say I'm just hiding my big nose from view, but I just like to read," he said defensively. "Besides, it's not like you're one to talk, Miss Nose Buried in a Journal."
"I can't help it if I like to write," she teased. They sat and laughed at each other.
"You have a cute laugh," Remus said as their laughter died. Shy Riley returned as she blushed.
"And you're just too cute," she teased. "And as much as I'd like to stick around and chat with you all day long, I'm not doing so well in Astronomy and can't risk missing a class."
Remus surprised her—and himself—by wrapping his arms around her, pinning her to himself. "No, you're not allowed to leave me," he pleaded.
She laughed and buried her head into his chest. "I don't want to go, but I have to," she said, making no effort to move.
"Nope, you're staying right here," he said.
"Remus…" she said, raising her head.
"Not going anywhere."
"Remus!" she laughed.
"Nope…won't let go."
"C'mon Remus," she pleaded. "I promise I'll come visit you again soon…"
"Nuh-uh, not good enough!"
"Fine," she said with determination. She twisted in his arms and planted a kiss on his cheek.
So surprised by this action he loosened his grip. Riley jumped up and laughed at his shocked expression. "I'm sorry Remus, really I am, but I've really got to go," she said as she grabbed her book bag off the floor and headed toward the curtain.
"Wait, let me give you a proper goodbye," said Remus, climbing out of bed and coming to her side. "I promise, I'll let you go this time," he said, his grey-blue eyes looking deep into her dark brown ones. She nodded and gave him a hug, stepping back slightly he leaned in and met his lips with hers for a brief, gentle kiss. "Goodbye, Riley," he said softly.
"Goodbye," she said with a slight grin. She turned to go and he let her leave—much to her contempt.
When she was out of sight, Remus released the air in his lungs. He hadn't even noticed he was holding his breath! He gently touched the spot on his cheek where she had kissed him. It was directly opposite the gash on his other cheek. Still a bit dazed at what she—and he—had done he returned to bed and slipped under the covers. Staring at the ceiling with a smile on his face he let himself drift off into a peaceful sleep.
Once Riley was safely out of the Hospital Wing she paused outside the doors and leaned against the wall. A broad smile lit up her face as she thought, "I can't believe I just kissed him. And he kissed me! I bloody kissed him…!" Letting out a—suppressed—squeal she took off down the hall, headed towards the Astronomy Tower, with an unusual spring in her step.
A/N: Let me know I'm forgiven for the terribly long wait by reviewing please!