Where I Stood
Chapter 5
Time was passing quickly—especially after celebrating Sirius' birthday only two weeks prior—and before anyone knew it, it was a couple of days before Christmas break. It was a Friday night and Sileni dragged her feet into the Gryffindor common room tiredly. It was ten but the Muggle restaurant was fairly busy for a typical Friday. Charlie had sent her home early due to the tiredness he saw in her eyes (apparently he wasn't a total asshole as Sileni thought).
"Why you here so early, Sileni?" Luke yelled at his sister when he looked up from the wizard chess he was playing with Remus.
"Charlie sent me early, saying I'm no good use for him dead tired." she flopped down on the couch with her feet hanging over the arm and her head on her brother's lap.
"Well, you do look dead to the world!" James added.
"That's cause I am," Sileni mumbled, not wanting to argue.
It was silent for a while, only the occasional breaking of the chess pieces and the people in charge ordering them to move. Sileni was starting to drift off to sleep, memories of the last couple of months in this world making her even more tired.
"Oh, James invited us to come stay with him and his family for Christmas." Luke suddenly said, waking his sister.
"Yeah, my mom was strongly against you guy's staying here for Christmas all alone."
"What have you been telling her about us, James?" Sileni accused suspiciously, her eyes still closed.
"Nothing, just that you can't go home for the holidays." he said innocently.
Sileni sighed, cracking her eyes open. "Well Luke, you have fun. I have to stay because I'll be working all Christmas break."
"Aw, come on Eni!" Sirius whined. "You're always working!"
Sileni twitched at the nickname, the boy's knowing that she loathed that name. "Only way to pay our school things next year." she told them as she sat up, ignoring the name for now. "I'll tell McGonagall to take your name off then, Luke. Now, goodnight; I have to work in the morning."
And she walked away, not listening to the protests. However, she did sent the Potoculus charm at Sirius for calling her Eni once more. After laughing, Remus undid the charm on Sirius, who shook his head and sat back on the arm chair were he fell off. Despite all the lack of doing magic, Sileni was definitely good at sending curses.
"Your sister is so damn stubborn!" James grumbled suddenly.
"Yeah, but work and school keeps her mind off the troubles." Luke mumbled, staring intently at the chess pieces.
"What troubles?" the three Marauder's asked confused.
Luke sent his knight to take Remus' bishop, but the werewolf had somehow checkmate him right after.
"Damn it to hell!" Luke yelled angrily, "Again, two out of three! Troubles that don't concern you guys." he told them seriously.
The Marauder's looked at one another, communicating silently as to what they were going to do with the siblings. Despite being friends with them, there was still an air of mystery surrounding them, especially Sileni. This was one challenge they didn't want to back out of.
The weekend passed quickly and Sileni was bidding goodbye to her brother and the Marauder's—minus Peter. Despite trying to avoid them, the group had become her friends, though they barely saw each other as Sileni was always at work after classes and came back late. The only one who really stood up late for her was Remus, who had a knack for keeping her safe.
"Be good and behave yourself!" Sileni warned her brother.
Luke nodded, rolling his eyes. "I know, I know. You be careful too, understand?" he said seriously.
Sileni nods before she yelped in surprise as Sirius hugged her from behind and taken her off the ground just a few inches, making the girl chuckle.
"Try not to work to death!" Sirius told her seriously, putting her down.
Before Sileni could answer, she gave another a small scream that turned into a laugh as James hugged her and spun around. Sileni tightened her hold around his neck and closed her eyes, wanting to keep her breakfast in her stomach.
"Damn it James, put me down, I'm getting dizzy!" Sileni cried but smiled nonetheless.
"Just so you know my mom might be coming to Hogwarts and drag you to our home." he told her, not letting go.
"That is if I'm there when she comes." she teased, "And if you really want Lily to start liking you, be more mature." she whispered.
James nodded in confusion, letting her go. Sileni placed a hand on his cheek with a small smile before turning around at Remus, smiling shyly at him. He nodded in return, smiling back. Since that day she was confronted by the older Slytherin's, they both were avoiding each other, only speaking when they had to.
"Have a good break, Remus." Sileni said with a nod.
Remus nodded back, "you too. Don't work too hard."
"I'll try."
They both smiled, chuckling lightly. The other three boys rolled their eyes, obvious to their discomfort and attraction. Clearing her throat, Sileni looked to her left and smiled. She excused herself and jogged over to Lily and Severus.
"Lily!"
The two turned, the girl smiling sweetly. Sileni smiled and hugged the surprise teenager. Just like the Marauder's, they weren't close but she has come to be friends with the popular red head. The least she can do was help her brother in match making Lily and James. And not let Severus turn to the person he becomes during Harry's life.
"Have a good break."
"You too," Lily said a bit unsure but smiled.
"And just try to give James a chance, please." she whispered to the girl.
Sileni pulled back before Lily could respond and turned to Severus, holding out her hand. Severus suspiciously took hold of her hand and shook it. Lily looked on in even more confusion, but was glad that Sileni didn't hate Severus just because he was in Slytherin.
"Have a good break too, Severus. And make sure Lily stays out of trouble; I know you guy's live in the same neighborhood."
Both friends frowned. "How?" they started but Sileni just shook her head with a smile.
"I just know." the whistle from the conductor was then heard, "See you guy's when you come back."
Sileni ran back and jumped into James' arms with a laugh as he pushed Luke aside and opened his arms for her. Luke had stumbled from the force and turned to glare at James, but couldn't help but to smile. He was just happy that his sister was starting to get along with them and trying to make friends while in this... world.
"You guy's try to behave and not cause any trouble!" Sileni warned them all one more time.
"Yes mother." they all cried in unison, hopping onto the train.
Sileni rolled her eyes but smiled, knowing they were going to wreck havoc on poor James' parents. As the train left the station, the fifteen year old walked down the streets of Hogsmeade towards the ThreeBroomsticks to floo to the Leaky Cauldron for a day's work.
4545454545
Luke laughed at Sirius and James wrestling on the floor, while Remus rolled his eyes, reading his book. Peter was nowhere to be seen, which suited the four boy's well. Ever since Sileni confronted Peter the night in the common room, the Marauder's have noticed Peter walking and speaking to the Slytherin's—especially to Sirius' cousins. They had confronted Peter but he both denied and played stupid. All in all they slowly started to drift apart, but the Marauder's were still four people as James, Sirius, and Remus adopted Luke as their fourth best friend, though they haven't noticed yet.
Luke looked over to Remus and smirked. Despite the book, the werewolf was clearly distracted and looked to be thoughtful. His mind was anywhere but there.
"My sister mostly likes Muggle romantic books or fantasy." Luke told Remus, who snapped his head up at him with wide eyes. "Or a necklace she was admiring at Diagon Alley when we had to retrieve our school things."
Remus blushed lightly, stuttering to respond back. Putting James on a headlock and sitting on his back, Sirius looked up at Remus, faking to be surprised.
"You like Sileni? Whoa!"
James had rolled over so that he was now sitting on top of Sirius, pulling back his arms. He, too, looked up at Remus in mock surprise; though the werewolf had a feeling that they knew all along, just like Luke.
"I knew you had a thing for her the first time we saw her in the library! What?"
This time both James and Sirius had locked the other's head between their legs, pulling at one arm. Both Remus and Luke laughed at this, glad that they weren't wrestling with them as it seemed no one was going to win. However, just their faces alone were hilarious enough.
Sobering up a bit, Luke looked over to Remus once more. "The only thing I'm gonna say is be careful with Sileni because she is very hard headed and sensitive."
Remus nodded, grateful that Luke wasn't mad or overprotective about him liking his sister. Unlike the other guy's at Hogwarts, that Luke beat them to the Hospital Wing because they either wolf whistled, made some sort of comment, or merely looking at her back side when Sileni passed by. Madam Pomfrey had never seen so many students at once before.
"I'll keep that in mind."
As soon as they got off the train, James went right to his parents and hugged his mom as Luke looked on sadly; missing his parents dearly. However, Luke noticed that both of James' parents were fairly old, grandparents almost. He wondered how it became for them to have a child at their age. He then shuddered, not wanting to get into that mental picture.
"Oh, behaving yourself, I hope?" his mother asked strictly.
"I try," James said honestly.
Mrs. Potter scoffed and hit her son upside the head. "Honestly, you are just like your father."
"Really?" James said brightly as his father said at the same time, "Thank you, honey."
"It's not a compliment!" she yelled at them before sighing and smiling to Sirius, opening her arms, "My other son!"
Sirius smiled and hugged Mrs. Potter, mumbling a shy hello. Mrs. Potter then looked to the two remaining boys, smiling sweetly at them. Despite their elderly appearance, both Mr. and Mrs. Potter had the energy of younger parents, and were very outgoing, especially with their son and his friends.
"Hello Remus, good to see you once again. Your mother said to return before the New Year."
"Mrs. Potter," Remus nodded politely. "My mother told me the same thing in a letter."
"And you must be Luke I heard so much about." she raised an eyebrow, looking around them. "Now, I thought you had a sister?"
Luke tried to hide his smirk. "She stayed behind because she was going to work all break."
"Is that so? Honey, take the boy's home, I have something to settle." she said before Apparating.
Mr. Potter looked at Luke. "Your sister is in trouble now, son."
Luke burst out laughing. "And I wish I was there to see it!"
Mr. Potter grinned, slapping his back. "That's the spirit!"
This only made the boy's laugh harder, walking out of the hidden platform. Oh, how they all wanted to be back at Hogwarts to see what Mrs. Potter does to Sileni. This was one Christmas that wasn't going to be too boring.
4545454545
—Midnight—
Sileni dragged her feet into Leaky Cauldron, nodding to Tom in a tired greeting. She had worked there first before going to work at the Muggle restaurant. And how it was packed at both places!
"Tough night at the Muggle restaurant, Sileni?" Tom called.
"You have no idea," she replied tiredly.
Tom chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh, by the way, Dumbledore told me to tell you to floo to his office; something about someone wanting to speak with you."
Sileni sighed, "Yay!" she said sarcastically, walking inside the fireplace.
Tom chuckled, watching the green flames enveloping the teenager. "Poor girl, having to work two jobs on one day again." he mumbled to himself, going back to cleaning.
Sileni stumbled out of the fireplace, stumbling to her knees once more. She mocked cried before sighing in irritation.
"Oh, fuck it." she mumbled.
She laid on the floor, then turned on to her back. She placed her arm over her eyes with a sigh, wanting to sleep forever and never wake up.
"All right, who wants to speak with me? I want to sleep." she whispered the last part to herself.
There are a few chuckles; Sileni lifting her arm to see the Order all looking down at her in amusement—except the older witch and wizards who looked on in disapproving. Sileni clears her throat, feeling herself start to blush.
"Damn," she muttered to herself.
She stood up, fixing her uniform and hair, knowing her blush wasn't going to go anywhere any time soon. She will also need a word with Dumbledore for not telling her about the meeting that night, which irritated her greatly. Despite her age, she was still a member whether he liked it or not; besides it was he who wanted her to be in it.
"Nice outfit," one of the Prewett twins said with a grin. "Too bad you're too young."
Sileni rolled her eyes. "Too bad you don't have a brain." this earned a couple of chuckles, "And you're only five year's older, ass."
The group all laughed at this, the other twin hitting his brother on the back with a large grin on his face.
"Looks like your charm doesn't work on her, brother." he looked over to Sileni and bowed at her, continuing to smile. "My lady, Fabian Prewett is at your service for embarrassing my dear brother in front of everyone."
Sileni rolled her eyes, "Yeah, will, you ain't getting on my favor either."
The group laughs once more, Gideon slapping his twin on the back, whose smile faltered. The fifteen year old, however, just rubbed her eyes and took out a piece of paper from her front pocket of her uniform. At least she now knew which twin is who. Gideon had long hair and pulled back in a pony tail, while his twin had short, chin-length, hair with a light scar on his cheek.
"Here, it took a while, but I was able to remember who joined Voldemort." Sileni told Dumbledore, handing him the piece of paper. "It took a lot of research—and for some odd reason I was still able to get the future information on my phone, seeing as the internet isn't invited here yet—but I was finally able to track down the Death Eater's name and surnames, and who they're married to either now or in the future; not all of them, however, as not many were important during Harry's life, but it's a start."
Dumbledore nodded, looking over the very long list that had to be written down on three sheets of Muggle paper, back and front.
"Very good, we will have to keep a watchful eye on them. I will go to the Ministry first thing tomorrow morning to let the Minister know." Dumbledore looked up at Sileni with a smile. "By the way, someone here wants to speak with you."
Sileni looked to the right to see a very stern, elderly, woman come from the back of the Order, hands on hips and a raised eyebrow. She looked strangely familiar, but Sileni couldn't place where she has seen this woman before. But something about her aurora just gave the teenager to want to go and hide from the older woman.
"Are you mad, girl?" Sileni was taken aback by her motherly tone, "Working both of your jobs all throughout Christmas break? You will tire yourself out if you don't stop and take a breather!"
Sileni blushed lightly, figuring out exactly who she was. "Mrs. Potter, I assumed?"
"Damn straight I am!"
The fifteen year old took a deep breath. "Mrs. Potter, I am sure Dumbledore had told you my brother and I situation. We need the money to be able to pay for our school things next year, as well as a place to live! I would rather work then let my brother help out. I want him to focus on his schooling only—among other teenager things."
Mrs. Potter shook her head, sadly. "And what do you want? Don't you want to focus on your schooling too?"
Sileni blushed, hating all the attention she was getting from the Order. "It's not about what I want anymore. It's about what's best for my brother." she told her honestly, "Besides, I'm going to be the one to sacrifice my life to Voldemort, not my brother. It's best to just cut my life now and help my brother build up to live his."
The Order spoke amongst themselves as Mrs. Potter looked sympathetically at her. Sileni only shook her head, praying that she will not start to break down in front of them. She has stayed strong for so long and she didn't want to bring down her facade just yet. Not until the end.
"Now, if we're all done here, I must go and rest. I work in seven hours."
With that said, she walked out of the office, everyone too stun as they were still taking in the information they have just learned. Apparently this fifteen year old wasn't as hopeless as some of them had previously thought her to be; their admiration her for her strength and pride moving up a notch.
A/N: All right you guys, PLEASE review and give me your thoughts on the story thus far; thanks!