Where I Stood
Chapter 8
As students returned to Hogwarts, everyone was at the feast, swamping tales of their Christmas and what happened over the break. All except Sileni that is. A furious Lily and Severus demanded to know where she was as they ranted of the present she sent them—although grateful, it was uncalled for. Both James and Sirius asked Luke angrily why Sileni sent Severus a present. The fourteen year old just told them to ask her when she got off of work.
However the boy's didn't have to wait long as the doors of the Great Hall opened to reveal a tired looking Sileni. All anger disappearing; James grinned and got up from his seat with his arms open wide.
"Rouge!" he yelled loudly, gaining everyone's attention.
Sileni laughed at both his childness and the name. She ran to him, jumped, and bent her feet up so as not to hit anyone as James spun her around. Feeling both dizzy and nausea, she told James to put her down. Not to mention that McGonagall yelled at them to stop portraying such affection in front of everyone. Once on the ground, Sileni groaned in pain, closed her eyes, and leaned against James, burying her face into his left shoulder.
"You okay?" James asked protectively.
"No, I think I ate something bad at work." she mumbled.
She sighed and sat down next to Remus, who immediately placed an arm around her shoulders, James sitting next to her. Whispers started to rise, everyone (mostly the girls) wondering who Sileni was going out with. Wanting no part in a rumor that concerned James Potter, Sileni turned to Remus, who looked at her questioningly, and kissed him (something they both have been waiting for a long while) before placing her head on his shoulder.
Immediately everyone start whispering furiously to one another, Sileni and Remus not caring. The other three boys only grinned in amusement before eating like there was no tomorrow. Once they finished eating (a miracle for both James and Sirius), the group walked back to Gryffindor Tower to sleep or just talk. Remus moved his arm down to Sileni's waist and held her close, glaring back to the jealous boys glaring at him. Luke, Sirius, and James formed a sort of shield around the couple, acting as their bodyguards.
"We want to share something with you guys." Sirius told them once they reached the Changing Staircase.
James immediately looked excited while Remus looked indifferent. At Luke's okay and Sileni's nod, the three Marauder's took them up several floors, through two secret passages, and down a corridor on the seventh floor. As they neared a wall, a door suddenly appeared, the three Marauder's frowning in suspicion. When they entered the room, the Marauder's were surprised to see all the things they need to show the brother and sister.
Noting both their surprise and shock, Sileni chuckled softly. "Gentlemen, Hogwarts is alive. That's why the door to the Room of Requirements revealed itself so quickly, and had all the things you needed to show us whatever is you want us to see. Hogwarts read your thoughts before you can even finish thinking it," she told them tiredly.
She moved away from Remus and sat—or more like flopping—down on the couch nearby. She was sitting sideways, placing her head on the back rest, closing her eyes. Remus frowned in concern, sitting next to her.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
Sileni smiled and laid down, placing her head on his lap. "Since you're here, yeah, I am."
The couple laughed as the other boy's groan in disgust, rolling their eyes, and pretending to be throwing up; though both James and Sirius were smiling widely for their best friend's happiness, while Luke was really indifferent about the whole situation.
"That is the cheesiest line ever, sis!" Luke said with a roll of his eyes.
Sileni smirked, closing her eyes as Remus brushed his hand through her hair. "Well, I got it from you."
The others laughed as Luke chuckled good heartily. Sobering, both James and Sirius went to work on—as the siblings figured out due to the cauldron—a potion. Obviously it was what they wanted to show them. It was nearing an hour, Luke playing with a tennis ball that appeared five minutes after James and Sirius started the potion, while Sileni was lightly sleeping in the same position she laid nearly an hour ago.
"Okay it's almost ready, just give it five more minutes!" Sirius suddenly said.
Sileni inhaled, opening her eyes to slits, Remus smiling down at her, still brushing his hands through her hair. Sileni smiled back, but she still felt a bit queasy and just plain ill. Sitting up, Sileni leaned against Remus' left shoulder, the werewolf wrapping his arms around her waist protectively.
"What exactly are you two doing?" Luke asked confused, still throwing the tennis ball at a nearby wall.
James grinned up at him. "Oh, you'll see Silver tongue."
Luke rolled his eyes as Sileni chuckled softly. "What the hell is up with the nicknames, James?"
"Your brother, my dear Rouge, has somehow talked his way into my cold cousin's heart. Without using magic whatsoever! Not even Sirius could've charmed into my cousin's heart!"
Sirius rolled his eyes in annoyance to his friend's laughing. "And your name, my lady, has to deal with the mysterious and secretive you have around you."
Sileni laughs, looking over to the two boys, "I suppose it's only right."
Sirius rolled his eyes as James only grinned. Suddenly there was an explosion, follow by hissing purple smoke lifting up from the cauldron.
"Potions done!" both James and Sirius yelled in joy.
Everyone laughed at the childness both James and Sirius portrayed. Luke goes over to them in curiosity while Sileni only stayed put, not really wanting to get up. Remus only encouraged the girl to stay put, not wanting to let her go. He tightened his grip around her when she sighed and snuggled even further back into him, pulling up her knees closer to her chest. Sileni placed her hands on top of his, closing her eyes once more. She had a feeling what the potion was, but why did they want to show it to them, was the real question.
"It's a damn potion, whoo-ho!" Luke said sarcastically, Sileni chuckling softly.
Both James and Sirius rolled their eyes, James scooping up some potion into a goblet and handing it to the fourteen year old with a pointed look.
"Just drink it!"
Luke took the goblet and smelled it before grimacing in disgust. He was turning towards his sister without taking his eyes from the liquid in mock fear.
"Sileni, I think they're trying to murder us!"
The said girl laughs as James told Luke sternly to drink the damn thing. With a combination of a sigh and a groan, Sileni fell back across Remus's lap, who laughed quietly, looking down at the girl strangely. She opens her eyes and smile, seeing the confusion in his amber eyes, despite the smile he was wearing. Neither of them could help the stifle chuckling as it seemed like Remus was holding a large baby as his arms held Sileni slightly upright.
The couple then looked over to the three other boy's when Luke cried out and groaning. He doubled over before his body started to shift and change. He started to grow light brown hair all over his body, than large pointed ears started to grow as he begin to shrink. Suddenly, Sileni started to laugh as her brother become a very large cat, though he was smaller than a mountain lion. His fur was sleek and short, the tips of ears having black tufts, the only distinct coloring on him.
"Aww, you look so cute! Who would have thought you would become a lynx!" Sileni cried teasingly.
Luke growled at her, though he looked to be amused at the same time. Both James and Sirius grinned to one another, circling around Luke to make sure that there was no mistake or deforms. Even though they have perfected the Animagus potion in their third year, there can still be some problems.
"Okay, to return to your human form all you have to do is think of being human once more." Sirius told him.
It took a few minutes but Luke shifted back, groaning and stretching. Everyone was looking at him in amusement.
"That was awesome! I just hated the craving for mice and rabbits."
The group laughed, Sileni rolling her eyes. Sirius refilled the goblet and walked over to the couch, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
"Your turn,"
Sileni groaned, not even moving to get up from her spot, eyeing the goblet. "Well, I know it's not poison since my brother is still alive,"
Sileni sighed and stood up, closing her eyes from the nausea that hit her. Calming down, she opens her eyes to concern gray eyes looking her over. With a wave of her hand, Sileni takes the goblet and quickly downs it, handing the empty goblet back. Nothing happened for the first few minutes, but then she cried out, doubling over in pain. She felt her body start to shift in odd places before she started shrink, everything and everyone getting bigger.
Once the pain and shifting stopped, Sileni opened her eyes and stood up, stretching her back. She looked at the faces and grinned, seeing their shock faces and their open jaws in surprise. Thinking of a mirror, Sileni turned to the left and admired herself as one appeared. She thank Andi (which she'll be calling Hogwarts from now on), and stood to look at herself from all sides.
"An arctic fox, who ever thought?" James mumbled.
"Yeah, I always thought you'd be something vicious!" Sirius teased, "A lion, tiger, or even a jaguar."
Sileni glared at them before growling in disapproval, smirking when both boys jumped back. Satisfied, Sileni ran over to an amused Remus and jumped onto his lap, curling up in a comfortable position. Remus pet Sileni, grinning at the other two boys. Out of all of them, Sileni was the only one to have all white fur.
"I think you should be called Stealth instead of Rouge, from how fast you ran!" James said with his eyebrows up.
Sileni swished her tail to let him know she heard, leaning her head into Remus hand, loving the feeling. Sirius and Luke laughed as James rolled his eyes, seeing the girl had fallen asleep in Remus' arms. They noted that everything got cleaned up and vanished, the boy's grateful as they needed to return to Gryffindor Tower to sleep in.
"Pick up your girlfriend, Remus; we got to go." Sirius said with a smirk.
Blushing, Remus does so, Sileni lazily sleeping comfortably, her tail swishing once in a while. Once in the common room, Remus took Sileni up to the boy's room since they couldn't go up the girl's staircase. None of the boy's minded as she had slept in there before. Placing her on his pillow, Remus quickly changed and went to sleep, glad to have Sileni close to him.
4545454545
—Morning—
Sileni woke up feeling worse than yesterday. She changed back to her human form and sat at the edge of the bed, light headed and even more nauseas. As she tried to stand up slowly and did not move for a full minute did Sileni panic as she fell to her knees and vomited. Remus quickly sat up and was by Sileni's side, holding back her hair and rubbing her back as she was now dry heaving. Once that stopped, Sileni fell to the side in tiredness and pain from the dry heave.
Remus quickly held her from around the waist, cleaning up the vomit. Sileni wiped her mouth and nose, slightly crying from both the pain and embarrassment. Remus conjured up a glass of water, handing it to the girl, who took it greatly. She swished the water in her mouth before spitting it out into the bucket Remus had also conjured up. With his help Sileni was lying on her side, curled up in hopes to ease the nauseas and sleep another hour before she had to go to work.
She was blushing but Remus did not notice the difference as her whole face was flushed from the beginning. With growing concern, the werewolf placed a hand on Sileni's forehead, eyes widening in fear, quickly pulling his hand away.
"Luv, you're burning up!" he said in pure fear.
"I'll be fine in an hour," she mumbled, closing her eyes tiredly.
Remus frowned, shaking his head. "Luv, you are not going to work! You're sick!"
Sileni sighed, opening her eyes slowly. However, her words were cut off as she leaned over and dry heaved into the bucket once more.
"Come on," Remus muttered, picking up the small girl.
Well, small compared to him. Sileni moaned in pain, not liking the bouncing feeling from Remus' hurry steps. She must have fallen asleep as the next moment she opened her eyes, Sileni was now lying on her back in the Hospital Wing.
"How long have I been here? I have to go to work at nine!" Sileni mumbled in hopes someone was nearby.
"It's after two o'clock and your brother spoke with both of your managers. Charlie said to call him when you're better and Tom said wait a month to return to work." Remus told her, coming into her line of vision. "Madam Pomfrey said you needed to rest before giving you this potion for your stomach flu you constructed from working so much."
He looked at her pointedly. He helped her sit up, before placing the vile full of blue liquid to her mouth and let her drink the whole thing. Sileni coughed, grimacing at the taste of the potion, Remus chuckling as he sat behind her. She sighed, leaning back against Remus, who wrapped his arms around her waist and placing his chin on her left shoulder.
"I told you not to work too hard, luv."
Sileni rolled her eyes, keeping quite instead. Smirking, the werewolf kissed the side of her neck, holding her closer to him. She sighed at this, nausea, but comfortable.
"Stay with me, please?" Sileni asked in a whisper, "Even when I start to vomit again?"
Remus chuckled, kissing her neck once more, "Even when you start to vomit again."
Sileni smiled, looking back at the werewolf. "How did I ever get such a good guy to be with me?"
Remus kissed her cheek softly. "I ask myself that with you too."
"You wonder how you ever got a good guy?" Sileni laughed at his mistake.
"Wait, what? No! That's not what I meant!"
Sileni laughed and kissed his cheek before setting back and going back to sleep. Throughout the whole day they spoke of many things, getting to know each other a little more, played chess (Sileni only wining once by pure luck), and took a nap. Despite Madam Pomfrey's threats, concerns, and yelling, Remus slept with Sileni, neither willingly to part from each other.
Remus, because this was the second time feeling like this for a girl and didn't want to let go—especially when she knew his darkest secret and accepted him for it. Sileni wanted to be close to the werewolf until the day she died, which was a few years, but she wanted to keep this feeling until she broke both of their hearts.
Throughout the night, Sileni woke to vomit in the bucket Madam Pomfrey left at the side of the bed for her. Despite the potion, Sileni didn't feel like she was getting any better. In fact, she felt worse. Come mid-morning Sileni was curled up into a very tight ball, vomiting every five minutes. Remus was nearby, pacing while Madam Pomfrey checked her over multiple times.
"I do not understand, the potion should have worked!" she muttered to herself a couple of times.
Sileni then cried out as a pain shot through her lower stomach. "I think I know what it is. But I need to go to a Muggle hospital." she told them hoarsely.
"That is absurd! You had a stomach flu!" Madam Pomfrey went to go on but Sileni cut her off.
"No, my appendix burst! I need surgery now!" Sileni cried.
"Very well, I will make sure an Auror is with you to make false documents."
Everyone turned to see Dumbledore walking over to them. He was holding out to Sileni what looked to be a plain quill.
"It is a Portkey that should take you to a Muggle hospital in London."
Taking a deep breath, Sileni took hold of the Portkey, feeling a fish hook behind her navel. Before the scenery changed she heard Remus cry something out that she did not hear clearly. She landed on the bathroom floor, but quickly stood and made her way out. She called for help before collapsing in pain. A couple of nurses and a doctor rushed over to her, checking her over.
"I think my appendix burst!" Sileni said through clenched teeth.
The doctor quickly ordered a rolling bed and a call to a surgeon once he checked around her stomach. Sileni was grateful that she still wore her work uniform instead that of the school, that way she wouldn't have to answer awkward questions of the school she goes to.
"Where are your parents, girl?" one of the nurses asked.
"I'm her father. I told you to let me ask a nurse to escort you!"
A man in his thirties Sileni has seen only once scolded at her. Sileni went to reply but cried out instead, curling up into a tight ball again. She was quickly rushed off, another nurse taking her 'father' to the desk to do some paperwork. Once they put the anesthesia, Sileni fell into the wonderful world of black abyss.
It was only a couple of hours later did Sileni wake to the man that was her 'father' sitting on a chair nearby. He was staring out of the window, a frown on his face, deep thought.
"Please tell me you're taking me back to school now?" Sileni's hoarse voice brought the Auror to face her.
He smiled apologetic at her. "Sorry, but the doctors want to keep you one more night for observation." Sileni sighed, looking over to the door that opened.
"Oh, good, you're awake. How are you feeling?" the doctor asked her with a wide smile.
"Good. Can I go home now?" she asked, trying to sit up.
Both the doctor and the Auror quickly rushed to her side, pushing her back down on the bed.
"No, you will be spending one more night for observation. Mr. Davis, you must let your daughter rest; meaning no school activities such as sports or work for a couple of days."
"But—!" Sileni started in a panic, but the Auror cut her off.
"Now, honey, listen to your doctor; it's for the best."
Sileni groaned, covering her face with her hands. She heard the doctor leave and closing the door behind him with a soft click.
"I cannot waste anymore time from work, sir." Sileni started, looking over to the Auror. "I need money not only for school supplies for me and my brother, but to find an apartment for us to live in!"
The Auror nodded. "Yes, Dumbledore told me of your unique situation, Phoenix." Sileni raised an eyebrow at the smiling man. "The name's George Mitchell, ma'am."
"I'm not old enough to be called 'ma'am' Mr. Mitchell."
George smirked, his eyes sparkling a bit in amusement, "Fair enough. Now, Dumbledore wanted me to inform you of the progress seeing as you were indisposed last night. He was able to retrieve nearly all of the Horcruxes except the diary, Nagini, and the Hufflepuff's cup. We were able to search the Lestranges vault after their arrest, however we came up short." George sighed, rubbing his face than pushing back his hair. "Dumbledore believes either Voldemort moved it because of all the arrests to his Death Eaters or the disappearance of his Horcruxes."
"It could be both," Sileni muttered in thought. "Which could only mean a couple of things; either Voldemort believes he has a rat or he believes someone on the light side is or has a seer that is very powerful to be able to see all that he is doing." George nodded, regarding the teenager carefully. "Either way my knowledge and unique situation is going to pique his interest. And he will do anything to retrieve me."
George kept quiet, continuing to study her. 'Oh trust me, Lord Voldemort will stop at nothing to retrieve you!'
A/N: All right you guys, PLEASE review and give me your thoughts on the story thus far; thanks!