Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Or his world. Or magic. And I'm not about to steal magic from wizards because you can't steal magic, TAKE THAT MINISTRY!
A/N: Look! An update in less than the two weeks we promised in the last chapter! Thanks for all the reviews. They mean a lot to us! Enjoy reading!
Chapter 9: Turning Point
And it's a sad picture, the final blow hits you
Somebody else gets what you wanted again and
You know it's all the same, another time and place
-Taylor Swift; Change
Scratch, scratch, sniffle, cough, rustle. Scratch, scratch, sniffle, cough, rustle. Scratch, scratch, sniffle, cough, rustle.
"What on earth are you doing?" Maia exclaimed as the sound of rustling parchment woke her up three hours after Kate and Lily had left the girls' dormitory.
"Homework," Allie croaked, "Since I couldn't go into Hogsmeade, I thought I may as well be productive." Maia sat up and looked at her friend unbelievingly. Even after six years of knowing Allie, Maia still couldn't understand her sometimes.
"Als, you sound like death!" Maia exclaimed. She rubbed her eyes and squinted at her friend, "and you look like death too! Why on earth are you doing school work instead of resting?"
"Between you and Lily, I'm going to become insecure about my appearance," she giggled, but her laughs quickly turned to coughs. Maia shook her head. When Allie's coughs had subsided, she continued, "I know I should rest. I really do feel awful. I just have so much work to do! I really don't have time…"
"If you don't rest now, you'll just end up getting sicker and having to miss class," Maia reasoned.
"I know," Allie answered, "I just can't help myself. Maybe I'll just do some reading. Is that relaxing enough?"
"Not really," Maia smirked, "Because I know the type of reading you do, and it's definitely not so much relaxing as confusion."
"I just do the assigned readings for class!" Allie argued.
"As I said, too confusing and too much work to be relaxing. But I guess I'll have to settle."
"Okay," Allie smiled, "I just have to run to the library to get a copy of the text I have to read to do my potions essay." She started to get up, but Maia pushed her back down.
"No," she glared at her friend, "I'll get it for you. Give me the title you need. You stay here and take a nap. And I'm getting a potion for you from Madam Pomfrey." Maia gathered up Allie's books and parchment with great difficulty, as the short girl was fighting back. "I expect you to be asleep when I get back, not working on some assignment, or I'll hex you and force sleeping potion down your protesting throat."
Allie rolled her eyes, but sighed in resignation. As Maia changed into a school sweater and jeans, Allie wrote the name of the book she needed on a scrap of parchment, got into her four poster bed and pulled the blankets over herself. Maia smiled in satisfaction and she quietly opened the door and left the room.
***
"Applications of Potions Making in Healer Careers," Maia muttered to herself under her breath as she searched for the book amongst the tall library shelves, "Honestly, I think Allie is insane. She's practically dying and she's reading a book that could not sound more dull!"After what seemed like ages, Maia found a copy of the thick book. She sighed with relief and hurried to Madam Pince's desk to check out the book. The librarian gave Maia a peculiar look, which the young girl ignored, before handing her the text. She muttered a quick thanks and practically ran out the library, more than eager to escape the stuffy atmosphere and Madam Pince's sharp gaze. As she approached the doors leading out of the room, Maia ran into something solid that was most definitely not a door.
"Sorry!" Maia exclaimed as she knelt down to pick up the books the person had been carrying, "I'm really sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." The young, spunky witch stood, books in hand and looked into the dark eyes of Kingsley Shacklebolt. She felt her knees tremble slightly at the sight of the boy she'd had her eyes on since the start of term.
"Don't worry about it," Kingsley said with a smile, "I wasn't looking where I was going either. I'm sorry, but what's your name?"
"I'm Maia. Maia Regarne," Maia said confidently, "And I believe you're Kingsley Shacklebolt."
"Yeah, that's me," He helped sort out his books from hers and looked at the thick book that Maia had been holding. "Applications of Potions Making in Healer Careers? You're into healing?"
"Uh… yeah. I mean… no. It's for my friend Allie. She's sick so I'm hanging out here with her and missing Hogsmeade. What are you doing in the castle, anyways? It's beautiful out and surely you have a girlfriend who should be dragging you to Hogsmeade today, right?"
Kingsley chuckled and Maia thanked the gods that she wasn't inclined to blushing.
"Uh no," Kingsley answered in a low comforting voice that made Maia want to squeal. "I don't have a girlfriend, actually."
"Oh, that's good." Maia nearly smacked herself with such an idiotic reply. Instead she decided that she had totally meant to sound suggestive. She smiled up at Kingsley through her eyelashes and said the first thing she could think of.
"We are so going to kick Ravenclaw's ass in Quidditch this upcoming match!" Maia made a mental note to yell at Kate and James for causing Quidditch to be at the forefront of her mind.
"Is that so?" Kingsley asked raising his eyebrows.
"Yes sir, we are going to do some serious booty-kicking!" Maia grinned. "Poor Sirius Black with his beaten up booty…"
"What?"
"Oh! Nevermind! I have a friend named Sirius and we're gonna kick some serious ass and… uh… yeah. Sometimes I should really just not talk. Sorry. I'll just go now…" Maia internally slapped herself a few more times and prayed that Shacklebolt would tell her it was ok.
"It's fine, Maia Regarne! It's cute." Kingsley was laughing.
"Really?" Maia beamed. "Cute? Cool! Thanks!"
"You are so weird!" he said with that charming smile. "I like it. But you're also very mistaken."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yes indeed. We'll be the ones winning this upcoming match."
"Would you put your money where your mouth is?"
"I would. 20 galleons." Maia gaped at him before stupidly nodding and shaking his hand.
"Cool. Well then, Kingsley Shacklebolt, I'm off to help my poor dying friend. See you later!" Maia turned around and walked out of the library. As she turned the corner she heard the attractive Ravenclaw shout after her.
"Pleasure to meet you, Maia Regarne! You are going down!"
***
"I'm back, sick one, with your book and a lovely potion from the hospital wing," Maia called cheerfully as she entered the dormitory, "And you'll never guess who I met coming out of the…" She trailed off as the sight of Allie, huddled in a ball at the end of her four poster bed, tears streaming down her face.
"Oh my god! Allie, what's wrong?" Allie didn't answer, but just shook her head. Maia set down the potion and book she held and crossed over to sit down next to her friend and took her in her arms. "Allie, really, you have to tell me what's wrong. What happened? Is everyone okay?"
"Remus," Allie sobbed.
"What about Remus? Is he okay?"
"He… He broke up with me," she cried, leaning into her friend's embrace.
"That bastard!" Maia exclaimed, "I'll kill him! Why did he break up with you?"
"I can't tell you," Allie said, avoiding her friend's angry eyes, "I promised him I wouldn't tell you."
"He didn't…" Maia started, her face paling, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
"No," Allie answered, struggling to stop the sobs that were shaking her small body, "I just promised not to tell anyone."
"That bastard!" Maia yelled again, "I'm going to go tell him exactly what he is." She stood up and started towards the door, but Allie grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
"No! Don't! You can't! And he's not a bastard. It's complicated. But I can't tell you"
"Give me one good reason to not go and put him in a full body bind, castrate him and throw him to the giant squid."
"Because I love him! And he can't help it that he doesn't love me back."
"Are you sure?" Allie nodded miserably. Maia looked at her for a couple moments before sitting back down beside her on the bed, "Alright. But all you have to do is say the word and he'll wish he were Snape, wandless and facing James and Sirius." Allie gave her friend a watery smile, but didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She'd promised Remus she wouldn't tell why he'd ended things with her and it wasn't her place to tell, but it hurt so much. She loved him and she needed him and now it felt as though she was breaking into a million pieces. She couldn't breathe.
"It will be okay," Maia comforted as she held her crying friend, "I promise, it will be okay."
***
Remus sat in an armchair in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room, his head in his hands. His last conversation with Allie kept replaying itself over and over in his head. He felt horrible for hurting her. But he really hadn't had a choice. As Sirius had said, there was something undeniable between them and they both felt it. And he couldn't keep lying to Allie. She had deserved to know the truth and she deserved to be with somebody who could love her.
But he still felt guilty. Guilty about lying to Allie and hurting her, guilty about having these feelings for his best friend when he'd so recently resolved to end them, guilty about feeling guilty. His head was swimming with thoughts of Allie, Sirius, the kiss, the breakup and what seemed like an all-you-can-eat buffet of confusion. He sighed and, much to his dismay, the scene that had just occurred with Allie played itself once more in his memory.
Remus walked slowly across the common room. He knew what he had to do. He had to talk to Allie, to figure out this mess he had gotten himself into. He didn't particularly want to do it now, not when Allie was already feeling horrible from being sick, but he knew that, if he put it off, the situation would spiral out of control. With a heavy sigh he started up the staircase to the girls' dormitory, making sure to skip the step that turned the staircase into a slide to unsuspecting boys. Despite everything, he grinned at the knowledge that he and his friends were perhaps some of the only wizard students at Hogwarts to figure out how to get to the girls' dormitory. But the smile slid from his face when he reached the door to the room that Allie, Kate, Maia and Lily shared.
Summoning all of the courage that had caused him to be sorted into Gryffindor House, he knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked again, still no answer. Slowly he opened the door and peeked inside. Allie lay asleep on her bed, bits of what appeared to be homework scattered around her. He shook his head; Allie was one of the only teenagers he knew who would attempt to do homework while sick.
"Allie?" Remus called softly, hating himself for waking her up to have the conversation he knew they must have.
"Remus?" She asked in a hoarse voice and she sat up and squinted at him, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in Hogsmeade?"
"We have to talk."
"What about?"
"Us."
"What about us? We're okay, right?" She pushed herself up out of bed and crossed the room so that she stood next to Remus. Taking his hand in hers she asked, "Is everything okay? You look upset."
"I'm fine. No, that's a lie. I'm confused. And I need you to know right now that this is not about you. You are amazing. You are a wonderful, sweet, intelligent, loyal, caring person. But I… we need… There's this… I'm not… I…" He drifted off. Allie looked into his caramel eyes for a moment, trying to read him, but he looked away. And she understood.
"You are going to break up with me," she stated simply. He nodded and she closed her eyes, trying to steady herself. "Why? Is there… Is there someone else?"
"Kind of," Remus answered slowly. Allie let his hand drop and stepped back a few paces.
"What do you mean 'kind of'?" she asked, an angry edge in her voice, "How can there 'kind of' be someone else?"
"Because I'm confused about how I feel."
"Well, now I'm pretty confused as well, Remus. Because I wasn't aware that there was something wrong with us to begin with! And now you're saying there's 'kind of' someone else? I don't understand. I love you. I thought you loved me too!"
"I do love you. Just not the way you need me to. I really care about you Allie, I really do. And I can't lie to you anymore."
"You've been lying to me?" Her voice rose a bit higher, "Are you saying you've been cheating on me?"
"I didn't mean to Allie, honestly. I didn't want to cheat on you. I never wanted anything to happen this way."
"You didn't want things to happen this way?" she said incredulously, a rare fury building behind her words. "Well I sure as hell didn't want things to happen this way. Who is the other girl?" Tears threatened to spill from behind her eyes but she ignored them, staring at the young man across the room from her, "Who have you been cheating on me with? How long has this been going on?"
"Peter's party. It's only happened twice. But the first time was at Peter's party," Remus admitted.
"But… but… that's over a month ago," Allie breathed, "You've been lying to me for over a month? Who is it Remus? Who is the lucky girl I get to hex into oblivion? Oh god--"
"There isn't another girl, Allie."
"What do you mean there isn't another girl? You just said…" Allie drifted off as realization of what Remus' words meant overcame her. She staggered back and fell onto her bed, "Oh God. Oh my God… Who, Remus?"
"Sirius."
"Sirius? Sirius Black?" Allie squeaked. Remus nodded and looked away. They stayed like that, Allie staring at Remus and Remus staring out the window, for a long time. Then the silence broke as Allie began to cry and, then, shout.
"How could you do that to me, Remus?" she yelled through her tears, "How could you not have told me? For over a month you've been lying to me about one of our friends! Who is a guy! Why didn't you tell me? Didn't you think I deserved to know?"
"I didn't want hurt you," Remus answered, his voice pleading, "I thought I could make what I was feeling go away. I knew that I should be with you, that I should want to love you. I really didn't mean to hurt you."
"Well clearly you failed."
"I'm so sor-"
"Don't say it. Just don't." Allie said, her voice suddenly quite calm, "I don't want to hear it, Remus."
"I understand," he said solemly.
"No, I don't think you do."
"You're probably right. But I hope you can forgive me." Allie just glared at him. He continued, "I know you don't want to hear this, but this is hard for me too. He's my best friend Allie. I'm not supposed to feel this way about him. Please don't tell anybody. You deserve to know. But I can't have everybody know about this when it's still so new and confusing to me."
"So, just let me get this straight. You are breaking up with me because you've been cheating on me with your best friend and you don't want me to tell anybody because you don't think you can handle it?" Remus winced. Yes, that was exactly what he was doing. It wasn't fair and he felt horrible about it, but it was what he needed at the moment. He nodded. Allie looked at him for a moment, considering, before nodding. "I won't tell."
"Are you okay?" He asked tentatively?
"Not really," she mumbled.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"I really think the best thing you can do is to just leave, honestly." He nodded and backed out of the room. Remus shut the door behind him, but not before he heard a soul wrenching sob fill the room.
***
"Who's going to the Quidditch match tomorrow?" Lily asked her friends the following Friday as they got ready for bed.
"Not me!" Kate called from the bathroom, "I hate Quidditch!"
"Oh shut up," Lily said with a chuckle, "I think James would kill you if you missed the first match."
"Oh, so he's 'James' now?" Maia asked, raising her eyebrows.
"I've decided to be mature and quit using surnames," Lily stated, looking away from the suspicious look on Maia's face, "Are you going Allie?"
"I don't know," the short girl said, "I think I might take advantage of the quiet common room to get some studying done."
"C'mon, Als," Maia coaxed, "You've been doing nothing but studying all week!"
"I know," Allie sighed, "But I haven't really been able to concentrate and I have so much work to do!" Lily and Maia exchanged worried looks. Even though the potion from Madam Pomfrey had instantly cured Allie's cold the previous weekend, the young Gryffindor still looked pale and had bags under her eyes. All week Allie had been quiet and withdrawn, picking at meals and choosing to study alone during breaks. And, while the choice wasn't all that peculiar for the girl, she usually invited her friends to study with her. Her friends didn't know what to do to cheer her up. They didn't know why Remus had broken up with her and, when they asked, she refused to tell them. She also refused to let them be mad at him for her sake. 'It's not his fault,' is all she would say, 'He just doesn't love me. But it's not his fault.' Her three friends were all anxious for her to return to some resemblance of her cheery self.
"Am I hearing right?" Kate asked as she walked into the room, "Are you really considering skipping one of my games?"
"Well…" Allie started.
"I'm sorry, but that is not acceptable," Kate said, "You have no choice! You're getting out of the castle and to the Quidditch pitch if the three of us have to hex you."
"We can go together," Lily suggested, "The three of us! We can cheer on Kate and pretend boys don't exist. Just like the good old days."
"Boys existed in the good old days, Lils," Maia corrected, "We just didn't care about them. But Lily is right. You have to help us cheer on Gryffindor! I made a wager with Shacklebolt as to who will win the match and our team needs all the support it can get."
"Excuse me!" Kate said, in fake offense, "There's no chance that Ravenclaw will beat us tomorrow! Our team is damn good!"
"Please come, Allie," Lily encouraged, "You'll have a good time. And we won't even make you come to the after party if we win."
"Why is there doubt about us winning?" Kate teased, throwing a pillow at Lily. She turned to Allie, "But, really Allie, I really want you to come." Allie looked at her three friends, all of whom had been great the entire week. She knew she had no choice.
"Alright," she conceded, "But we're not sitting by the boys."
***
In the boy's dorm, Remus, Sirius, and Peter watched from their line on Peter's bed as James searched to find clean Quidditch gear.
"Prongs, use your wand," Remus suggested, laughing. James slammed his palm to his forehead and summoned what he needed then Scourgified what was dirty. While the messy haired boy tugged on his shirt, a hand wove its long fingers between Remus'. He quickly pulled his hand away and gave Sirius an exasperated expression.
Sirius bit his lip, in what Remus was sorry to see as a confused and hurt expression. Remus was glad of the other boys' presence in the room that allowed him to ignore his friend and store his confusion deep in the back of his brain.
"First game of the season! I'm not one to be nervous, but I have to admit," James was pulling on his flying boots now, "I feel like I'm about to pee my pants!"
"Don't do that, you just cleaned those," Peter reasoned calmly. "And don't worry. Our team is great and I'm sure that if you lose you can just schedule more practices. Kristi would like that, I'm sure."
"Not helping, Wormtail!"
"Right, sorry."
"But he's right. You'll do wonderfully. You always pull through," Remus said standing up away from a Sirius that was just too close. Remus had broken up with Allie a week ago, but things with Sirius where still up in the air. Every time they got close to each other zaps of energy sizzled between them. It wasn't that Remus didn't want to be around Sirius, and it definitely wasn't that he didn't want to touch and kiss Sirius, it was just that…. He was confused. What would James and Peter think? Was he really into guys? Was it just Sirius? Maybe he was just too sexually driven? Why had he liked Allie, if he was really gay? Sirius is his best friend and best friends don't date! He shook his head, trying to clear it.
"You alright there, Moony?" Peter asked, "You look kind of upset."
"No, I'm fine," Remus lied, "Just hungry. And excited for the game. Let's go get breakfast so our star chaser can win this match!"
***
"GO GO GRYFFINDOR! MAKE THE RAVENCLAWS ALL SORE!"
Peter, Sirius and Remus led in loud obnoxious cheers with Maia, Lily and even Allie, all shouting at the top of their lungs along with everyone else. The sky was a translucent blue, and completely empty of all clouds on this warmer than average October afternoon.
"GO GO GRYFFINDOR! WE ARE LIONS, HEAR US ROAR!"
Finally, after a difficult brain-melting week, Allie was starting to breath normally and she squeezed Lily's and Maia's hands; silent thanks for making her come to the game.
"The score is 50/30, Gryffindor in the lead! Ravenclaw in possession! Greggor passes swiftly between two diving bludgers sent his way by Miller and Ericson! Potter and new chaser Kristi Alith fly beneath him as Jade Verden swerves in front in a clear effort to block the play, but NO! Greggor keeps flying into the scoring zone and he shoots! Lovely save by Kate Brown and it's Gryffindor in possession again!"
Hollering from the Gryffindor stands nearly blocked out after Kate's brilliant save. She smiled broadly and squinted at the stands knowing full well she wouldn't be able to find her friends' faces.
"GO GO GRYFFINDOR! RAVENCLAWS ARE ALL DUMB WHORES!"
"Sirius Black! Detention!"
"But Professor!"
The entire stand burst into laughter and only a few brave guys actually repeated the cheer Sirius had bellowed.
"I don't get it!" Allie whispered annoyed to Maia. "What's so special about Black anyways?"
"Hmm? Did somebody say he was special?" Maia asked bewildered and still giggling at her idiot friend, Sirius.
"No… nevermind. Sirius is funny, is all."
"Yeah… he is." Maia looked at her best friend and then across the stands at the Marauders. Again, she wondered what Allie couldn't explain to her and wondered why there where new hard feelings between Allie and Sirius. Gryffindor scored again and Maia quickly put this twisted drama out of her head and reserved for later ponderings.
"GO GO GRYFFINDOR!"
Suddenly, on the far end of the pitch near the Ravenclaw goalposts, the Ravenclaw seeker, Josh Mason, went into a dive. Silence overtook the crowd and all eyes locked onto the 7th year as he flew faster and faster towards the ground where the small golden snitch fluttered. Angela Miller, the Gryffindor seeker, accelerated in an attempt to reach the snitch first, but she was on the opposite side of the field.
"C'MON ANGELA!" Sirius yelled at the top of his lungs. Now both the seekers were closing in on the snitch. Two hands reached out in an attempt to grasp the tiny ball and it was caught. Josh Mason raised his hand into the air in triumph. Sirius cussed loudly. Ravenclaw had won.
A/N: So... what did you think? What did you like? What didn't you like? What do you think of our portrayal of Kingsley? How long do you all think that Kristi and James will last? Let us know!