{Disclaimer:  The Harry Potter World was created by J.K. Rowling and rights are owned by, but not limited to Scholastic Books and Warner Brothers.  I, therefore, own no parts of this save for Andromeda McGee and Wyvern who are parts of my twisted imagination.}

Chapter 2

Calm Before the Storm

**When you're down and troubled/ And you need some loving care/ And nothing, nothing is going right/ Close your eyes and think of me/ And soon I will be there/ To brighten up even your darkest nights  "You've Got A Friend" Carole King**

Exams finished quickly, though all professors agreed that they were a living hell to grade.  Andy sat at her desk, hunched over the final essay that was there.  It was simple enough.  All she had the students do was brew a potion of her choosing from memory and then write an essay about the uses of the potion.  She gave the last paper an eight out of ten, marked it in her grade book, and set it on top of the pile.  Placing her feet on the cleared desk top, she leaned back, closing her eyes.  She was free at last!  It was a sigh of relief.  There were a few months of freedom before she would be back here teaching once more.  Not that she minded it, mind you.  She was actually very thankful that Dumbledore had agreed to let her stay on the Hogwarts staff.  She was not certain about the reactions of the rest of the professors, especially McGonagall, but she knew she was thrilled.  At least Sev was there with her.  Having someone, even though it wasn't Sirius or Remus, would make life more bearable.

"Hey, Andy, are you done yet?"

Her eyes flashed open, seeing Sirius's head in the doorway.  "I just finished, why do you ask?"

He entered, glad she wasn't snapping at him any more.  They weren't on the best terms yet, but it was getting better than Arctic cold.  "I was wondering if you had any plans for the summer."

"Let me see," she thought for a moment, the question coming unexpected.  "There's a potion convention at the end of August and I wanted to go visit Ben sometime, but that's about it."

"Remus and I were planning on going up to his cabin with Harry.  I was wondering if you wanted to join us."

Andy grinned.  "You want me to spend how long in a cabin with three males?"

"Only a few weeks.  After July, we have to…" he didn't want to say it.  "You know."

"You just want me to cook and clean for you, don't you?"

Sirius looked shocked as if he had never thought of the idea though it had run through his head briefly.  "Of course not!  We aren't that dense!"

"Are you sure?"

"Andy, I'm offended you would have thought that."

"That's encouraging."

"So do you want to go?"

"Maybe.  Is anyone else coming?"  She had a feeling that Sirius was not telling her everything.

"Harry wants to bring along Ron and Hermione.  We're getting Ginny as well.  Arthur and Molly want to take a holiday without the kids."

"That's seven people."

"I know.  You don't mind, do you?  Molly was afraid that the girls weren't going to have another female figure and would be tormented by us males."

Andy stood up, slowly removing her feet from the desk top.  She sauntered up to him until her face was only inches away looking up to his.  "Is that all I am to you, Sirius Black: another female figure in your life?"  Her voice dropped lower and deadly.

"No.  There can never be another one of you.  One is enough as it is."

Her eyes softened into dark pools of laughter.  "Good.  So when are we leaving?"

"As soon as school's out.  We have a day to fix up the place.  Harry's with the Weasleys until then."

"One day, eh?  We can do it."

Hogwarts was out for the summer, none worse for the wear.  Harry had already been sent to the Weasleys when Sirius and Remus brought Andy to the small lakeside cabin.

"What the hell is this place?" her voice held a mix of awe and confusion.  The cabin was shabby, like its owner, but held a sense of familiar homeliness.  All around were tall pines, oaks, maples, poplars, hemlocks, and any other forest plants that could be thought of.  Through a gap in the thick green branches cut a path to a clear crystal lake.

"Home," Remus answered simply, not offended by her comment.  "It's about as far from civilization that a person can get and still be civil."

She nodded as Sirius opened the door, leading them in.  The inside was worn around the edges, obviously lived in and still functioning.  Faded red checkered curtains hung from a few of the windows.  The floor was completely hard wood with only a few deep maroon throw rugs spontaneously placed.  A stone fireplace sat unlit between a mismatched pair of a sofa and loveseat with various chairs in the corners around them.  Remus and Sirius disappeared for a moment to drop their bags off into separate rooms.

A flash of memory exploded in her mind, giving her an idea.  "Hey, Remus," she called out to what ever corner he ended up in.  "Can I have the basement again?"

"Go right a head, Andy," his voice drifted down from an upstairs room.

Andy took a moment to figure out where the basement door had been, only realizing that she had lived down there before, but not knowing where exactly it was.  After finding a pantry cupboard and a linen closet, she located the basement door.

The anti-dust spells hadn't worn off in the sixteen long years she had been away.  A four post bed covered with a worn comforter sat morosely in the far corner.  Next to it was an old functional desk that refused to neither match the bed nor the armoire, which did not match the bed either..  She reminded herself to talk to Remus about his decorating skills.  The man was a bachelor and he probably didn't spend enough time there to have anything important at the house.  It didn't need to match, like it's owner.  The werewolf was know for being eclectic.  If it worked, it was fine for him.  Color, pattern, shape, and size did not matter, except for the dining room table.  That was another story.  She laid her bags on top of the bed.  They would be unpacked later.

A small door on the opposite wall caught her eye.  She laid her palm on it, feeling the smooth dark wood.  There were obvious charms on it.  The knob was tried, and found to be strangely unlocked.  Andy pushed open the door unable to recall what was beyond it.  Two long tables had been shoved end to end against a wall.  Another desk, less ornate than the first was positioned in the corner.  Under the tables were an array of boxes, cauldrons, bags, and satchels.  She closed her eyes feeling the déjà vu of having been there before.

A younger Andy stood over a steaming cauldron and poured a vial of thick blue liquid into the mixture.  She stirred it exactly three time counterclockwise followed by seven time clockwise.  It swirled a psychedelic tie-dye before settling to an orangey purple.  She stared at it for a moment, hoping it would change to something else.  It was most definitely not supposed to be that shade.  It was honestly supposed to be green.  She shrugged and poured a bit of the solution into three vials.  They would be tested later to see what she had created.  The rest was disposed of.

"Hey, Andy, are you still down there?"

"Of course," she yelled back.  "Where else would I be?"

The pattering of footsteps could be heard from the other room as he came down the stairs.  A few moments later, a Remus who had yet to go gray strolled into the back room.  "Did you find anything yet?" he attempted not to sound too frustrated with her.

"Nah," Andy held up the bottle.  "I don't know what it is.  I have to run a few tests yet, but it's definitely not the Merlin's Potion."

"So are you free for the afternoon?"

"Yeah, just let me get cleaned up.  Where are we going?"

The werewolf shrugged.  "Probably into town, then maybe stop at the diner to get a bite to eat or something."

"Alright."

Yes, she had been there before.  Remus had allowed her to live with him after they had graduated, since Sirius lived in the dorms at the Auror college and she didn't have a job yet.  He hadn't minded letting her stay there as long as she cleaned up any disasters she created.  The house had been his father's, but after the man had died had been passed to him. 

On a whim, she pulled out a drawer from the desk.  It slid out smoothly, reveling a contents of a pile of papers.  She took a few of them out, reading over the notes.  They had been hers, she was certain of that much.  It was her handwriting.  Somehow they had stayed here for all the years she had been in Azkaban.  Obviously Remus hadn't known of them or maybe had merely forgotten.  She ruffled through the papers, finding brief notes of how to brew various things, including some that she had invented herself.  Andy felt a tear drip down her cheek.  These were the first things that had been truly been hers.  They were the only link she had to how she had been before the entire ordeal had occurred.  It was a part of her.

"What's wrong?"

Andy's head snapped up with a start.  She had been so absorbed in what she had found, she had not heard anyone coming.  "Nothing."

Sirius wiped the droplet off her cheek.  "There has to be something."

"Look at these," she passed him the leaflets.  "They were mine."

He recognized her writing, but not the topics she was attempting to explain.  "Yes, they most certainly are."

"The whole desk was mine.  This was mine, Sirius!  All of it was mine!"

He looked confused, not completely understanding what her problem was.  "Yes."

"I finally have a part of my past I can look back to and say 'hey! That was me!  I did that!'  I never had anything like that before."

The man chuckled at her exuberance.  She reminded him of a young child at Christmas who had gotten what she had pined for all year.  "Alright.  Could you at least take a few minutes to come up to the land of the living?  Remus wants to know what you want to do about the kids."

"Yeah, sure," she set the papers on the cleared desk top, intent on reading every word later, and followed him back up stairs.

"I thought the dust bunnies had gotten you," Remus was at the kitchen table jotting down a few notes on what needed to be done in the next few days.

"Not yet.  The anti-dust spells are still working down there."

"Good.  I suppose you found everything?"

"Yeah.  That was my lab, wasn't it?"

"It was definitely yours.  I forget how many times I was woken up over that summer to an explosion at two in the morning."

Andy grinned.  That probably would have happened with her luck.  "It made a good alarm clock."  She turned more serious.  "So what needs to get done?"

The werewolf glanced at his list.  "We need food and we need to set up the two other rooms for our charges.  I figure that the girls share one and Harry and Ron get the other."

"That should work.  Do you want me to get the linens out?" Andy asked, knowing she would have to volunteer eventually.

"Andy, can you actually make a bed correctly?"

"Maybe."

"That'll have to do for now.  Go right a head.  There should be two beds in each room as it is.  They were left from storage."

Andy left to locate the linen cupboard, which was not too complicated given that she had found it accidentally before.

"Which leaves us to get food."

"Is your fireplace hooked up to the Floo network?"

"It better be after all the times the Ministry called me on it."

"Can't we just Floo in what we need?"

"Probably."

"Good.  Now that that's solved, what's next?"

Remus shrugged.  "I think that'll do for now."

They heard Andy swear at something, probably her cat.  A large series of thuds resounded through the rickety house as the pile of comforters and quilts rolled down the stairs.

He continued with a slight pause, "Except Andy might require some assistance."

She did not want the help, but took it with a grain of salt.  It did make things so much easier though she was perfectly capable of doing it by herself.  Wyvern did not help at all.  The damn cat had entwined itself between her legs, tripping her.  On top of that, the cursed feline had decided that the beds were hers and everyone should make them around her.

Eventually Andy gave up with the task, having finished what she could.  She wandered outside.  After having seen a glimpse of the lake through the tall pines, she had wanted a closer look as to what was there.  It had been so long since she had been there last.  Not much had changed.  The dock was still held together magically, its planks worn with the hard use from summers gone far away.  She stepped out to the end, leaning against one of the poles that supported it.  It was so peaceful here.  She had missed the peace and quiet of solitude.  Azkaban hadn't been silent.  The prisoners had screamed their death-throws in every hour.  Hogwarts had been filled with hormonal teenagers.  Gods know that place was anything but quiet.  Here, there were only the sounds of the wind and waves.  She closed her eyes, letting the peacefulness flow around her.

Sirius watched her stand quietly on the dock's edge.  He still wanted to hold her, to have her say that she was 'his' again.  She was reluctant to do anything.  He knew that she still hurt, but at least they were on speaking terms.  She had let him kiss her only once, when she was feeling playful.  It had been wonderful to hold her in his arms, if only for a few minutes.  Stiffening his resolve that she would not reject him this time, he walked up behind her and placed his arm around her shoulders.  She let it stay there, knowing he wouldn't try anything else.

"I've missed you, Andy," he whispered softly.

She looked up at him, her dark eyes still haunted with Azkaban and the pain he had caused her.  "I know."

"You're an extremely frustrating person."

Andy smiled mischievously.  "Of course I am, what else could I be?  Come on, could you actually see me as subservient or meek or obedient?"

"No, I don't think I could, though the picture you just gave me was wonderful."

"Why?"

"Never mind," he didn't want to admit to the image of a meek Andy.

"Tell me.  I won't hit you for it."

"I could picture you worshipping me at my feet, wanting to complaisantly perform my every bidding."

She contemplated the idea for a moment and shoved him off the dock.  "No, I don't think so."

Black surfaced, pulling himself back on the dock.  "That was uncalled for."  He gathered her in his arms and flung her into the water that he came from.

Andy looked out to the shore, seeing Remus laughing at them.  She swam strongly to the beach, wrapping her arms around the dry werewolf.  "That's what you get for laughing at me."  He patted her lightly on the back, still chuckling.

"Andy, you've got the wrong man," Sirius shouted as he jogged down the dock to the other two.

She let go, having satisfactorily soaked him.  "No, I don't.  He was dry.  You're sopping wet."

"Well, so are you."

"Captain Obvious strikes again."

"But aren't you supposed to be my girlfriend?"

"No, I've decided to have a torrid affair with your best friend first.  Right, Moony?"

Remus could tell she was joking by the look in her eyes.  "Sure, Andy, sounds like fun."

"But…but…" Sirius sputtered.  "You can't do that!"

"I just did."  She placed her arm around his waist.  "Come on, Moony, let's go back inside.  It's rather nippy out here"

They left Sirius standing there alone like a soggy fish out of water.

Remus put his arm around Andy's shoulders.  "You weren't being serious, were you?"

"Not really," she admitted.  "It was just to irk him.  I thought that you wouldn't mind too much.  You don't, do you?"

"No, I don't mind.  You've done this to me before."

Remus sat in the corner going over an Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment.   The portal slammed open and Andy stomped into the Common Rooms.  She flung herself down on a deserted couch.  He could see that she was crying, probably from Sirius, he guessed.  Feeling sorry for her, he approached the couch.  He placed a hand on her shoulder.  "Andy, what's wrong?"

She pulled herself sitting.  Tear streaks glistened in the light of the fire.  "Sirius is being a moron again."

Remus took a seat next to her, gently placing his arm around her thin shoulders.  "What did he do now?"  The relationship between Sirius and Andy was well known to be rockier than a cliff.

"He broke up with me just go out with a second year Hufflepuff that looks like a supermodel, and has the brains of a stuffed rabbit."

"Oh.  He told you this?"

"No, of course not!" she snapped.  "I walked in on the two of them snogging.  He said that everything's off and left the library hand in hand with whatever her name is."

Remus winced at his friend's tactlessness.  "Ouch.  That must have been painful."

"You don't even know."

"I don't suppose I do and I probably never will." He was a sworn bachelor from day one.  There was no reason for him to inflict someone else with the pain of his lycanthropy.  It was painful enough for him to transform every full moon without having to explain everything to a girlfriend or maybe eventually a wife.  And then if they had kids, he didn't want to bestow any unborn children with the curse of being a werewolf.  No, he never would.  Women were off limits for him.

"Aw, come on, Moony, you know you'll always have me." Andy hated to see him like this.  Remus went broody on the subject of relationships too often for his own good.  It was unhealthy for him to think such things about himself.  She placed her head on his shoulder, taking his free hand in her own.

"I know, Andy."

She had promised him when she had first found out about his cursed existence that she would always be there for him.  She agreed not to tell anyone else, though she did end up calling him 'Moony,' as a nickname every so often.  It had brought them closer if nothing else.  The other Gryffindors did not comprehend the pain he went through to hide everything about his curse.  Andy had figured it out within a few months.  From all the books she read, it hadn't surprised him too much, though it bothered him that she knew.  He had expected her to turn away from him, like so many others had done before, but she refused to.  She had become almost protective of him.  He supposed that she was one of the few women that he would every be close to, though Sirius had officially claimed her after awhile.  He let her go, knowing she would be happier with someone who could love her back without the fear of making her life miserable.

Every so often in the next few years at Hogwarts, she would come back to him.  Sirius had too many different girl friends to count, but he always ended up going back out with Andy.  She was loyal to him, deciding to stay with Remus every time they broke up.  It was a difficult relationship, but in the end, it worked.  Then the Fates had destroyed it and now she had decided to be his again.

Remus looked down at the tousled blonde head resting by his shoulder.  She knew that he could never have a serious relationship with anyone, yet she loved him for what he was, nothing more and nothing less.  He decided that it wouldn't last for more than a few days, though few hours was probably more applicable.  She would give up teasing Sirius after a while and they would get back together eventually.  Yes, that's exactly what would happen.  He gave them until Christmas.

{Author's Note: This is going to be a bit fluffy for a while until the action starts.  I just need to finish the beginning of the summer first in order to lead into things.  The action, of course, is rather interesting from what I have planned.  And yes, it does include a revisit to Azkaban among other things which I will not mention at this point since they are in the air at the moment, though they are almost certain to cause a good amount of conflict with the characters.  That didn't make any sense at all.  Oh, well.  Hope you enjoyed it! 

Atheis Gainsborough:  Actually, my friend had nightmares about the world being taken over by attack turtles, which we incorporated into our latest art project.  The art teacher is scared of us because we think on the exact same wave length and we'll go back and forth and we all have the same ideas.  It's hilarious!  We freak people out with it.

Sora G. Silverwind:  Thank you.  It's nice to feel loved every once in a while.  It's a much better feeling than hated and tired.  Of course I came out with a sequel!  What else would I have done?  Trust me for now, more happens between Andy and Snape.  I'm not sure if that's the more that you're thinking of, but it will be something more.  Yeah, Snape usually gets pissed at me for trying to kill him, but Andy could care less.  She's the kind of person that enjoys risking her life for the hell of it.  I'm trying to write.  I'm also balancing Marching Band, Karate, and a Drama Production plus school, so I write when I have time.  I have up to Chapter 4 finished.

Angelkas:  Actually, I honestly just read your review for Chaos.  I meant to get back to you, but the computer shut me off before I did.  I believe I did warn everyone that I'm just a tad bit sarcastic.  Probably more than a tad bit.  Oh, well.  Close enough for government work.  If you noticed Snape not only gets slapped, but beaten up a few times in Second Chances by Andy as well.  Fortunately for you, I can do both sarcasm and fight scenes.

Ignominia:  Master of Sarcasm?  Hmmm…I'll have to add that to my other titles, along with Sensei Pit bull and You Stupid Idiot.  Ignore me, I'm tired.

Dy:  I plan to, but that would require me to have time to update.

Peace, Love, and Ice Cream, Nataly Ravenlock}