Title: Girl of His Dreams
Disclaimer: I don't own the Marauders, but I sure wouldn't mind if I did. ;P They belong to J.K. Rowling. I do, however, own Leah Matthews and the other OCs. Don't steal, please!
Summary: Everyone knew that Sirius needed a steady girl to keep him in line. It was also common knowledge that only one woman could handle a man like Sirius Black, and Sirius couldn't agree with his fellow students more. OC STORY, PLEASE READ
Girl of His Dreams
Chapter Four: Meeting the Slytherins
"Leah, we have Charms and Transfiguration together," Sirius said excitedly. "Moony and Prongs are in that class, too!"
"Really? Awesome," Leah said, skimming over her supplies list. "I'm sure I ordered everything, right?"
"You can borrow my stuff if you're missing something," Sirius assured her. "I don't use half of it."
"I'm sure you don't use the other half, either," Leah said, rolling her eyes. Remus smiled and said,
"You'd be correct, Leah."
"Okay," Sirius huffed. "That's fine. Let's all gang up on the handsome popular guy. I hope your jealousy devours your souls." The three of them were sitting at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. There weren't many people there, and Leah had suggested they wait for James while they checked their schedules for matching classes. It was already three days into the school year and Leah had only just gotten her schedule from Professor McGonagall.
"I'm going to look forward to Potions," Leah said suddenly. "That was always one of my strong points."
"Oh great," Sirius groaned randomly. "An unpleasant surprise visit from my dear cousin Bellatrix."
Leah and Remus looked up to see a group of students dressed in black and green clothing, all trying to look as important as they could muster. A young woman in the front spoke first. She had dark eyes and greasy-looking, black hair that reached her shoulders. She folded her arms across her chest with a superior look on her face.
"Look," her haughty, high-pitched voice leered. "It's my cousin, the blood traitor, and the Gryffindor trash he calls 'friends.'"
"Look, guys, it's my overrated cousin Bella and her greasy-haired, Slytherin posse," Sirius shot back. "Get lost, Bella."
"I just stopped by to greet the new wolf-lover," Bella sneered. Leah's eyes widened in shock, and the black-haired girl laughed. "I heard all about you, Matthews. You didn't transfer, you were expelled for running around with a werewolf." Remus paled considerably, but Sirius shook his head. Remus clenched his hands to stop them from shaking, and Sirius grinned, motioning to Leah, who was glaring at the Slytherins.
"That's none of your business," Leah said angrily. "Go bug someone who can actually stand the sound of your voice. If you can find someone, that is."
"Quite the mouth on you, isn't there, wolf-lover. I suppose I can't be surprised, you are hanging out with my miserable cousin and his friends." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and the group of Slytherins behind her all laughed at them.
"If you were my cousin, I'd be miserable, too," Leah snapped. Sirius snorted into the pumpkin juice he'd been drinking, and Remus fought back his laughter.
"You little wretch! You think you can talk to me like that?" Sirius began to reach for his wand in case Bella tried to hex Leah, but he was too late. Bella whipped out her wand. Before she could form the words, but Leah jumped to her feet.
"Stupefy!" Bella and three of her friends were tossed unceremoniously into a heap across the floor, and Leah pointed her wand at them threateningly. "Remember, Bella, that if I can handle werewolves, the likes of you won't be a problem at all."
The Slytherins who remained standing helped Bella stand, and she spat at Leah's feet, disgust in her tone as she replied,
"Just you wait, you foul wretch. You'll get what you deserve for daring to cross me!" Her eyes flashed with promise, and the Slytherins strode out of the hall, talking lowly amongst themselves. Sirius turned to Leah, a grin on his face, but it soon faded when he saw the angry tears in her eyes.
"Don't let her get to you," he said quietly, wrapping his arm around her. "She'll do anything to get the last word."
"She said she knows all about me," Leah said into his shoulder. "She doesn't know anything."
"Were you really running around with werewolves?" Leah pulled away, a glint of anger in her eyes.
"You guys have to understand! She was my best friend, and…she…Just because she's a werewolf doesn't make her a monster!"
"We understand," Sirius said, trying to calm her down. "Don't worry, Leah, you can trust us."
"In America, werewolves are seen as monsters," she started. "My best friend Heather is a werewolf."
"How did you find out?"
"She was always sick around the full moon," Leah answered, laughing humorlessly. "It wasn't hard to figure out." She sighed. "Once, she slipped up and said she didn't like the feeling she got when she transformed. I asked her what she meant, and she told me she was an animagus, and had learned how to transform into a wolf."
"What did you do?" Remus asked quietly. Sirius smiled encouragingly at Remus, as if to say, 'See, Remus? We aren't the only ones crazy enough to be friends with werewolves.'
"Well, we were both really competitive, so, of course, I taught myself how to transform into an animal. A fox." She lowered her head sadly. "You guys think I'm a freak, don't you…?"
"We'd be serious hypocrites if we thought you were a freak," a voice said. Leah turned to see James leaning against the table behind her. He smiled at her. "Don't worry, Leah. We're not going to judge you for something so trivial."
Leah buried her face into Sirius' chest, laughing softly as her tears soaked through his shirt. "Thank you so much…"
"What are friends for?" Remus' quiet question directed her attention to him, and she smiled at him warmly. His own lips tugged upward in response and he glanced at his pocket watch. "It's about time for Transfiguration to start," he said. James yelped and jumped to his feet, while Leah scrabbled to grab her things and put them into her bag. Just as she had everything put away, Sirius had snatched her bag ad taken off down the hall, Leah's hand in his own as he led her there. Leah laughed loudly at the turn of events, and Sirius frowned.
"You're laughing now, just wait until McGonagall gets a hold of us!" Once they were at the door of the classroom, Sirius shoved her inside. "Go sit down and look anxious, I'll be there in a second."
Hastily, Leah followed his instructions and sat at the empty table behind Remus and James, and seconds after she sat down, the Professor walked into the classroom.
"Okay, class, take out your books and -"
"Leah!" Sirius burst into the classroom, looking worn out and relieved at the same time. "I found your bag in the common room!" Leah looked confused, but caught on quickly.
"Oh, Sirius! Thanks so much, I was afraid I'd lost it!" Sirius sat down beside her and handed it to her, smiling kindly at her. McGonagall cleared her throat, and Sirius laughed nervously.
"Sorry, Professor! Leah accidentally left her bag in the common room and I didn't want her to get in trouble on her first day in class."
"Oh, how very nice of you. However, Mr. Black, I'll expect you to be on time for my class. And you, Miss Matthews, try to keep better track of your things."
"Yes, Professor," they said together. Behind them, a boy whispered,
"I bet they were out snogging in a closet somewhere." Sirius, hearing this, turned and flashed them a thumbs-up. Leah smacked his shoulder, glaring daggers at him, and he laughed silently as the boys behind them started snickering.
"In your dreams," Leah hissed. Sirius just winked.
"Thanks for the idea."
McGonagall started her class immediately, filling the class in on the rules of her classroom, as all teachers do. Suddenly, a piece of parchment fluttered onto her desk, twirling frantically in front of her until she finally caught it and opened it.
You and Padfoot were really snogging? How inappropriate! - J
Leah looked up incredulously to see James smirking back at her. He looked away quickly, and Leah crushed the note into a tiny ball and flicked it at the back of his head. He turned around again and blinked in surprise as the ball of parchment hit him right on the nose.
"Idiot! You were there," Leah hissed lowly. James snickered. Sirius looked over at his best friend, who just shook his head and turned back around, twirling his quill boredly.
"Very well, since no one will volunteer, I'll call on someone. Miss Matthews, would you like to tell me why witches in the past were always connected, by muggles, with black cats?"
"Witches were often animagi, and transformed into black cats due to their agility, darkness, and normality among human villages," she said. McGonagall nodded briefly.
"Very good. 5 points to Gryffindor for actually paying attention," she said, staring pointedly at a group of girls on the other side of the room. They were wearing yellow and black clothing, which meant they were Hufflepuffs. Leah smiled, nudging Sirius.
"Wait, I was paying attention?"
"Apparently," he said back. Leah frowned.
"I'll have to try harder to tune out the teacher." Remus shook his head, frowning back at them.
"I'm severely slacking in my duty of trying to keep you in line," he said. Leah stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
"You're not supposed to keep me in line…And you didn't answer the question either, Lupin."
"Out of pre-existing knowledge," he mumbled. He turned back to face his notes, and Sirius slumped.
"My friends are all bookworms," he said sadly.
"Oh! You said you'd take me to the library," Leah remembered. "Let's go after lunch, we have an hour long break afterwards."
"I'm not going near the library," Sirius said. "Get Moony to take you. I'll bet he knows where everything is, too, the bloody -"
"Mr. Black, would you like to tell everyone what's so important that it can't wait until after class to tell Miss Matthews?"
"I wouldn't mind, but I'm sure you would much rather not hear it, Professor." Sirius leaned back in his chair. "I was just telling Leah that I couldn't wait until after class…"
Cat-calls rang out among the students and Leah smiled at the surprised look on Sirius' face, kicking the leg of his chair and sending him toppling to the ground. McGonagall got everyone's attention once more and after they settled down, said,
"Perhaps that will teach you a lesson, Mr. Black." Sirius climbed back into his seat and sent Leah an apologetic glance, but she merely rolled her eyes and started placing her books in her bag as the class was dismissed.
"Better luck next time, Padfoot, ole pal." James gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "I'm off to Potions. See you at lunch."
"Bye James. Have fun with Lily," Leah called. Remus waited for them patiently by the door, and when she and Sirius caught up to him, he looked sicker than usual. The sight reminded her of Heather, and she reached out to feel his forehead. Remus looked more than surprised, but smiled tiredly at her concern. "I'll be fine in a couple days," he said.
"Yes…" Leah sighed, her eyes narrowing with worry. "I hope so. You look so frail…"
Sirius patted her head comfortingly. "Don't worry so much, you'll age faster."
"I'll see you guys later," Leah said. "I'm off to History."
"Oh have fun," Sirius said, making a face. "Binns is boring as hell."
"You just don't like history," Leah called. "I'll enjoy the class, I'm sure of it!" Sirius watched her turn the corner and disappear, and Remus stared after her as well.
"She's amazing," Sirius said. "Think she likes me?" Remus sighed and walked away, and Sirius jogged to catch up with him. "Oi, is that a yes?"
--
A/N: So? How was it? Next chapter will be better, I promise, sorry for the crappy writing in this one. I had a serious headache. Stay tuned, readers! Thanks, and please review!