Disclaimer: I, the procrastinating, NomadicRoamer, do not own Harry Potter and his Wizarding World or any of its components. I do own, kind of, on the internet and in my limited imagination, the character of Virginia Langston and her tale with the loping Marauders. The Lullaby in this chapter does not belong to me either, but to Dane Larsen and Christina Larsen (at least the version I found) and it is entitled "Lullaby for a Princess." All credit goes to J.K. Rowling. And all apologies for my slow posting go to you. Enjoy.
Sirius' barking laughter filled the messy dormitory. Remus' face was scrunched in an honorable attempt to keep from laughing. Peter - with the trite amount of dignity he possessed – managed to stay poised by releasing only three snorts of glee at his role model's predicament. James Potter was not entertained by the display.
"What is so bloody funny?" he demanded, folding his arms crossly over the maroon velvet that cloaked his body. The pale blue stockings on his legs stretched at the seams as he tapped his foot in agitation. In his fluster, the oversized poofy hat that topped his dark head fell messily over his face. He flipped it back up angrily, causing the tall white feather to snap in half.
"Perhaps, we could ask Tybalt." Sirius smirked, gesturing to Remus.
"I am not Tybalt, Padfoot. We've been over this."
"You do have the tights for it." Peter snickered, giving in to the laughter that had been clawing its way out.
"Truly, you are the pinnacle of manliness tonight, boys!" Sirius roared, slapping Remus on the back.
"Says the bloke in the skirt." James grumbled.
"It's a traditional Greek toga, Prongs. It accentuates my muscular calves!" Sirius had been trying to come up with the perfect costume to match V's, but it had proved difficult given her elusive nature. She had been dropping hints all week, but her laughter at each of his own costumes proved that he hadn't been at all close to being right. But he had it now, he just knew it. He was going as his namesake Orion. Hopefully, she would find the toga appealing. He was looking forward to the thought of seeing her in a toga anyway...
"You're so desperate, Padfoot. What are the chances that you've even guessed right?" Prongs jabbed, pulling at the bunching fabric between his legs. Peter grimaced.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Prongs. I'm just a strapping bloke hoping to make all the ladies faint these 'eve." Sirius folded his long body in half, his hair touching the ground with his low bow.
Peter Pan, Romeo, a mouse and what can only be described as a Greek god strode into the Gryffindor Common Room loudly. The mouse was blustering nervously, his eyes scouring every corner of the cozy room.
XX
The entire girls' dormitory of the Gryffindor Tower was filled with eager chattering as the witches tried on and discarded any and all accessories within their reach. One particular girl from one peculiar group rushed about the room in a large white towel with her dark curls piled haphazardly atop her head. She spun in a circle before pacing the floor again. A fair skinned with a ring of braids circling her own head and hanging down her back sighed exasperatedly.
"Calm down, V, I'm positive we'll find it." Alice offered, flipping up a ruffled bed skirt. Virginia paused long enough to blink slowly at her roommate.
"Only because I don't believe in violence will I ignore that statement, which I find cringe-worthy in its optimism." V snorted, half joking. "I can't be -" she mentally patted herself on the back for still not giving away her costume choice. It was a lot of work withholding such precious and valuable information from her friends, but she was proud to say she'd made it to the day of the party without making so much as a peep.
"If you told us your costume, we could replace them with our own jewelry." Cassie offered, gracefully catching the incoming pillow and preventing a facial catastrophe.
"It's not just about the costume. I always wear those bracelets. I feel so silent without them. And light." V pouted shaking her bare arms for emphasis. Lily sighed again rather loudly. Usually she wasn't so impatient, but she was actually excited for the festivities of the evening. The Marauders had been extra secretive in their planning, which when it wasn't making her worry – actually encouraged Lily to put a little extra effort into her make up and hair. Waiting for V was making her feel very much like V – like if she didn't keep moving or get moving soon she would surely go crazy or float away or some nonsense like that. She stood abruptly, causing the excess hair and make up products on her lap to fall to the ground with a clang.
"We'll find them. Just maybe not right now. Why don't you go get dressed while we look. At this rate we'll be the last ones to the party." Virginia looked skeptical.
"Which also means less firewhiskey for us." Cassie interjected, causing Virginia to move rather quickly toward the showers. The three costumed girls sighed, dropping onto their beds.
"Knowing her, they're not even in the castle at all. Probably out on the grounds in a tree somewhere." Alice giggled, remembering the many times Virginia had returned to the Tower scraped up and a bit bloody not to mention with more than a few leaves tangled into her hair.
XX
"Virginia Langston, you get out here right this second." Lily banged on the large wooden door of the lavatory.
"I'm almost ready!" came the rushed reply.
"You've been saying that for forty minutes. I'm going without you!"
"You'd abandon me just like that, Lil? Where for art thy loyalty?" Lily could almost see Virginia flopping about dramatically as she spoke.
"But what if Rosaline gets there first?" she teased, indulging in V's fantasy that Lily wanted Potter almost as much as he wanted her. Definitely not true. Definitely not. At least not true if she didn't say it out loud.
"Romeo never winds up with Rosaline. It's always with Juliet. Now be patient. I'm old and tired and my bones don't work like they used to." Lily rolled her eyes, contemplating sitting on the floor. Cass and Alice had left twenty minutes ago. She thought she had put up the good fight so far. A loud crashing sound came from beyond the door.
"Are you alive at least?"
"I'm fully functional." V's voice sounded joyful, but the moment of hesitation that preceded her answer left Lily wondering if she'd arrive with all the limbs she had entered with.
"I'm serious, Virginia. You have thirty seconds before I abandon you." As the words left her mouth, V swung the door open. She padded softly into the room adjusting the gold band that encompassed her cascading curls. It was odd to hear silence when she walked, but she had replaced her usual bracelets with a golden snake arm band around her bicep. She was wearing one of the smallest togas that Lily had ever seen, but managed to pull it together somehow. The white fabric draped over one shoulder, leaving the other bare except for the brown cord of a leather quiver and the strong wood of its matching bow.
"I introduce to the lovely Juliet, Artemis Agrotera, goddess of the wilderness." The brunette projected in a short curtsy.
"Perfect, now let's go!" Lily all but dragged the goddess to the stairs.
The Common Room was packed with gyrating bodies as music pumped loudly through the air. You could almost smell the raging hormones. The Marauders had truly gone all out with the decorations. Clusters of fifth years dressed as woodland creatures and muggle heroes stood around the dark room. Glowing skeletons were bewitched to dance recklessly, floating above the windowsills, while black and orange jack-o-lanterns flickered ominously drifting upwards into the heights of the rafters. V's favorite part was the long table filled with pastries shaped like organs and steaming shot glasses the shade of blood.
"Drinks!" Virginia yelled, pantomiming chugging a glass. Lily nodded, already looking a bit lost in the crowd. V should have known she was all bark and no bite, when it came to actually partying tonight. Not that V minded. She loved Lily in all her rule-following, perfectionist glory. She was entirely reliable and relentlessly herself even when it wasn't necessarily the most popular person to be. V shoved her playfully toward the dance floor, where she could make out the shapes of their two roommates dancing with limbs flying in all directions.
"Romeo, Romeo, where fore art thou Romeo?"
"Hanging upon the cheek of night, my dear Cleopatra!" James generously filled two chipped mugs with brown liquor.
"Artemis, James!" V scolded, pulling on the strap of her bow. "I don't recall Cleopatra being an archer." James shrugged, noncommittally.
"I'm not good at Roman history."
"Greek and Egyptian! Merlin, Potter, you'd be lost without us." V shook her and head and turned with the drinks in hand.
"Wow, there ma'am." Strong hands grabbed V's sides softly, steadying her as she reclaimed her balance.
"Sorry! You'd think I'd already had some of these." She laughed, looking at the Elvis impersonator who she had stumbled into.
"It's a'right. I thought Cupid was s'posed to be graceful though – having wings and all that." Elvis' green eyes twinkled when the comely brunette before him blushed, stepping slowly toward the dance floor.
"I'm not Cupid, actually." Virginia teased, smiling lightly. Her neighbor, Beatrice, had been a huge fan of the muggle musician when V had lived at home. She'd seen countless pictures, but had never really found the crooner attractive. Then again, Elvis had never looked like a professional Quidditch player and smelled like sin. She leaned in a bit closer to breathe him in again.
"You sure look like the goddess of love to me." He oozed, stepping closer to her. He placed a warm hand on her hip, pulling her gently toward his own body and both of them toward the music. She recoiled inwardly, but followed him. She was surprised to find looking down at her hand that she had already finished her drink. She reasoned with herself, convincing her inner self it was just nerves before setting the mug on the nearest surface and beginning to drink Lily's.
"I'm Graham by the way." The tall dark haired boy cracked a grin that was obviously intended to bring girls to their knees from the sheer power of the imminent swoon. V glanced away, momentarily distracted by the tearing of a power chord by the guitarist of the band on the makeshift stage. Lily caught her eyes, raising her brows suspiciously at her. V rolled her in reply, sticking her tongue out.
"Look, I've got to get over there..." She started, gesturing toward the red head only to be cut off by Graham's mouth crashing into hers. She was suffocating. She tore her body away from his, attempting to separate their mouths. His teeth bumped into hers awkwardly. She jerked away harder, wide eyed and wiping her mouth.
"Sorry. I don't know why I did that.." he looked genuinely apologetic, but all V could think about was the toxic taste of his mouth.
"Me either." She spat, uncharacteristically offended by the behavior. She shoved her way back through the crowd with eyes only for James and his magic pouring powers.
"I need somebody to loooove, I need somebody to loooove – I" James sang loudly, tossing a bottle back and forth between his hands. Sirius grabbed the cool glass from his hands, adding a much louder cry to finish the chorus.
"Boys, boys, boys, help a girl out?" V asked, turning her empty mug upside down with a pout. Sirius' eyes widened, appreciating the way the light fabric of the toga hugged the curves of his friend's body. James reached forward, refilling the mug.
"And are we Aphrodite this evening?" Sirius asked, smirking, "Or Artemis." He took her hand, twirling her in a circle. "Ah, yes, definitely Artemis. I was right, wasn't I, Prongs? I knew our lovely little Langston couldn't turn down the opportunity to dress to accompany me." V rolled her eyes, noticing Sirius' own Greek ensemble. Her breathing hitched in her throat at the outline of his muscles under the fabric.
"I do believe I chose my costume first, Mr. Black. If anything you'd been dying to accompany me." She winked good-naturedly, swallowing the burning liquid that had only just been replenished. Sirius raised an eyebrow. He had noticed the small altercation between V and Graham. He'd known the Ravenclaw chaser since second year, kind of a know it all, really. It didn't surprise Sirius at all, that he'd tried to make a pass on V. She was gorgeous and he was cocky. It did make his blood boil a bit though, not that he'd ever admit it. The wizarding cover band played the first chord of an Aerosmith song and V could barely keep herself from falling over with excitement.
"Dance with me!" Sirius grinned, weaving and apologizing to all of the people V trampled into as she pulled him through the room. When they were close enough to the stage for V to feel comfortable, she turned pulling Sirius to her by the toga.
"Careful, V, the clothes securing methods of the Greeks were not as good as those of wizards."
"We do value authenticity." She smiled, her eyes lighting up as she did. His heart ached in a painfully familiar way that had become routine lately. Watching her face light up and knowing that he had caused it, made him all the more painfully aware of her – something he did not want to happen while wearing a skirt. Luckily for him, V had delved into a tirade of what could be loosely described as dance moves, but mostly resembled a haphazard flinging of limbs.
After countless dances, drinks and awkward discussions in between, the Common Room cleared out. Except for the few people strewn about the overstuffed furniture, the Marauders were the only souls left conscious. Peter had crawled away to bed while James was still going strong. He insisted that he had to make up for serving the rest of the lot all night. Sirius had long given up on his toga, as had V. Sirius was spread along the floor in front of the fire place with his toga tied like a towel around his waist lazily. He had V's bow in his arms and was aiming at various paintings until their inhabitants let out strings of curses, or abandoned the frames. V giggled drunkenly at the activity. Her own toga was wrapped intricately around her body. She'd made a trip to the lavatory with Lily and found herself at a loss for how she had first managed to cloth herself in it. It was now a mess of knots and bunches, resembling nothing close to a toga and more of a bed sheet. She was sprawled across a red footstool with her hair tumbling out of its band. The golden headband was being used as a necklace, draping over the hard planes of Sirius' chest.
"How many portraits d'you think there are in here?" She breathed, motioning grandly to the ceiling. Sirius sighed, dropping the bow to the ground softly.
"1,037, I read somewhere." James offered, stumbling toward the couple with a bottle of Jack Daniels. He took a swig and flopped into the arm chair behind V, lifting her legs and placing them on his lap.
"That's a lot. Don't you reckon?" Sirius glanced around the room before his glance settled on the jeans pocket of a sleeping blonde boy. He reached over, his fingers folding into the pocket and pulling out a case of Camels and a lighter. "Aha!"
"A thousand's not that many. It's less than the stars. And less than the number of cookies I've ever eaten." V slurred. Sirius shifted onto his side, cupping his hands and lighting a cigarette.
"You're really going to do that in here, mate?" James asked, ruffling his hair and considering the possibility of making it up to the boys' dormitory.
"Dying is for the living, Prongsy."
"What is philosophy and why are we doing it now?" James coughed. V laughed, a tinkling sound to Sirius' ears and a jackhammer to James'. "Everything is so loud."
"I'm with Sirius on this one, James, dying is for the living and life is hard." James tilted his head, staring at the window.
"What is that?"
"It's philosophy!"
"No, no, not that. That. On the latch." V followed his eyes and saw what he was looking at. Tied in a bow was a white silk hair ribbon flowing slightly in the breeze from the parted glass. She shuddered softly.
"It's a hair ribbon." She whispered, barely audible even in the silence of the large room. V slid her legs off of James' lap, steadying herself as she stood. She pulled on her sheet, holding it up as she padded across the room. Sirius' eyes followed her, as he released a ring of smoke. She raised a hand as she got closer, running the fabric between her fingers.
XX
"Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
And rest now in moonlight's embrace
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space..."
A young woman with long dark curls stood behind her toddling mirror image, who hummed softly along to her mother's melodic voice.
"Carry the peace and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Virginia, you're loved so much more than you know
Forgive me for being so blind."
She ran the brush gently through her daughter's hair. Her daughter was seated with her small legs crossed, facing a dark oak mirror. She brushed her doll's hair as her mother brushed hers. Her tiny hands combed out the tangles gently, attempting to be all that her mother was.
"Soon did that pony take notice that others
Did not give her sister her due
And neither had she loved her as she deserved
She watched as her sister's unhappiness grew."
"Hera, darling, are you up here? I can't find my pocket watch." A man entered the tiny attic and froze on the spot. He watched in the mirror, as the face of his wife transformed before him. "Darling..."
"But such is the way of the limelight, it sweetly
Takes hold of the mind of its host
And that foolish pony did nothing to stop
The destruction of one who had needed her most."
Her father remained still as Hera continued brushing her daughter's hair. She could not see the potion that the silver brush was being dipped into, but her father could and he felt helpless. Hera slowly pulled the brush back out of the small cauldron, letting any excess potion drip free back into the container.
"Lullay moon princess, goodnight sister mine
And rest now in moonlight's embrace
Bear up my lullaby, winds of the earth
Through cloud, and through sky, and through space."
"Virginia," the man whispered from his spot cowering in the doorway, "come here now. It's time for bed." His face was partially illuminated by the flames of the white waxen candles hanging on either side of the door. The young girl turned slowly, careful not to yank her hair free from her mother's hands.
"Almost, papa. We have to wait." her small voice carried sweetly. Hera reached into the wicker basket that held the potion, a small glass case, a rosy compact and a white ribbon.
"Carry the peace and the coolness of night
And carry my sorrow in kind
Virginia, you're loved so much more than you know
May troubles be far from your mind
And forgive me for being so blind."
Hera's hands deftly tied the ribbon, securing the long silken curls of her daughter's hair. The white fabric brushed softly against the young girl's shoulders, causing her to shudder. At this prompting her mother adjusted the lace gown she was wearing, covering her shoulders. She pulled her daughter toward her, planting a kiss on her forehead before the girl ran to her father with her doll in tow.
XX
"Lullay moon princess." V whispered.
"Are y'a'right there?" James asked, he'd managed to make his way toward her in a stumble. Crashing loudly into one of the tables, he brought Virginia's focus back to the room. At least someone else could see it, too.
"Of course. Just sad for the girl who lost her ribbon." She abandoned the tie, letting it fall to the cold pane. "Speaking of girls, when did Lily sneak out of here?"
"Oi, she's never really been here." James muttered, he scratched his knee, tearing a rather large hole in his tights. "I mean, she was here, but not here where it mattered."
"So dramatic tonight, Prongs. You'll see her tomorrow, y'know." came the low grumble of a sleepy Sirius' voice. V's stomach tightened at the sound. James shrugged, defeated.
"Well, if I can't find my Juliet, I s'pose I ought to find Tybalt." He bowed graciously, scooping up his bottle before exiting the room. V watched after him for a moment, shaking her head at his antics. She joined a now sitting Sirius on the ground.
"Those will kill you, though."
"Slowly from the inside. The only way it matters." he replied, winking. "You want one, then?"
"I'm a'right." V replied, flexing her toes toward the fire. "We always meet here, d'you know that?" She leaned her head onto his shoulder. He nodded.
"Only once before."
"More than that. Remember, when Remus lost his Charms text and thought he was going to fail out of school? Spent all night looking for it and we just sat here pretending." Sirius smiled at the thought of Moony acting unreasonable for once in his life. Poor bloke.
"I remember the other night more." he whispered, laying his head on top of hers. She took a breath.
"And why's that?" She examined the room, admiring the sleeping forms and settling her eyes onto the window again. The ribbon hung unceremoniously like a wet torn rag.
"Because you almost let me kiss you." Sirius' voice was low and dangerous. V fought the urge to comment on it.
"Since when does anyone let you do anything?" She teased, pulling her head away from his shoulder and tugging on the gold band around his neck, letting her fingers brush his warm flushed skin.
She felt him tighten under her touch and withdrew her hand. Looking up at his face, all gray eyes and hollow cheekbones she blushed slightly.
"I s'pose you're right." His hand came up and wrapped hers in its fingers, dragging it back down to his chest. He laid her small soft hand on it, and flattened her palm, uncurling her fingers. His heart beat mercilessly against it and she felt it in her soul. He met her eyes earnestly in a way so raw and so honest that it made V wonder if it was real.
"Are going to take it then?" She asked, her voice betraying her as it cracked under the words. His lips curled up in a lopsided grin. He brought his hands to her cheeks, cupping her face. He leaned close to her, licking his lips.
"For you, I need permission." He whispered, his breath was warm against her mouth and V found herself wanting nothing more than for him to remove the taste of Graham, and whiskey and everything sour in her life with his own taste. She reached her other hand forward, bringing it to the back of his neck. Her fingers laced into her hair, tugging on it playfully.
"You have it." And Sirius Black brought his mouth to hers with a force that could have split the earth. He was unforgiving and entirely vulnerable in a way that Virginia had never expected. He moved his lips against hers in a torturous dance, nipping softly on her bottom lip. She parted her lips for their tongues to collide, and his hands held her face as if she would disappear without their grounding.
"You taste like cigarettes and fire whiskey."
"You like it." Sirius replied, smiling against her mouth and pulling her body tightly against his.
XX