Thank you, cassibo, desigirl557, starshine44, alltheunicorns. And I'm A Witch Really, too. She happens to be the best reader ever!
Now, I'm ba-ack! How've you guys been? This chapter might suck a bit. I don't really know how to do this right, so please forgive me? And thank you so much for every review and every like. I love you all! So very much!
Now, playlist:
Hungry Like The Wolf – Duran Duran
Tame The Beast – Gentlemen Hall
Legend Of Wolves – Celtic Version.
"He turned towards me, baring sharp, kind-of-human teeth, protruding grotesquely out of a twisted snout like mouth."
"Let's see how fast we can go on this thing, yeah?" James suggested.
"Prongs, it's full-moon night tonight. We'll be a little busy." I sighed. I so badly wanted to ride the shiny bike.
"We could." Remus said, uncharacteristically mischievous. "Dumbledore wants to try out a new potion."
"Wolfsbane?" I asked, interested.
"No, no. Granger's still working on it. Dumbledore's friend, the alchemist, has something he'd like to try. I'll most probably stay normal." He grinned triumphantly.
"That's what Dumbledore called you for? This morning?" Peter checked.
"Yep." Moony was over the moon. Over the moon.
"Excellent!" I exclaimed.
"What's excellent?" Bianca slid into place next to me, brushing her lips across mine quickly. James whistled. Lily quickly grabbed his face, though, to kiss him. And about six years worth of tension showed in their embrace. I cleared my throat.
"You were saying, Mr. Potter?" I smirked.
"Oh shut up, Black."
"What's excellent?" Bianca pressed.
"Arithmancy test's canceled. Again." Remus lied smoothly.
"Are you kidding me? Why?" Bianca asked, accepting his version of the truth. And who wouldn't? Remus was as good a liar as any James and myself.
"Schaeffer's gone to Massachusetts. Her sister's having a baby." I informed her.
This much was actually true. We did have a miniscule celebration when we heard about the test cancellation, so it wasn't lying so much as hiding the truth.
We spent all of breakfast relishing our free schedules. Professor Flitwick was extremely busy. He'd won some award, and he was preparing for a speech and working on the fine tuning of the charm he'd created. So though he tried very hard to concentrate on teaching, it was fairly easy to distract him. That was double charms down the drain. There was no way McGonagall was going to let us off, but that was made up for by the fact that we had difficult assignments both in Potions and Charms, which meant a lot of time to finish them, but as it was, James and I were almost through in Herbology, and Lily was the only one ahead of us in Potions. Bianca, Remus and Peter weren't far behind us, either, so we'd all spend a lot of time scheming and goofing around. We still had Astronomy, of course, but that was easy enough.
Also, I loved taking pictures on my new muggle camera, and stars were easy enough to capture. Lily and Bianca, being the absolute prissies they were, got very, very excited about some of the nicer pictures; the ones of the forbidden forest, the ones of sunrise. I had been told that these were generic things to take pictures of, and I'd wanted to go with something simple the first few times, but clicking the thing was so addictive. I'd believed Lily when she told me the pictures were good, because she obviously knew more about muggle pictures than all of us.
"Sirius?" Bianca was nuzzled under my chin on the couch. It was the free period before double Charms, and neither of us really had anything to do.
"Sirius?" She said again. There was definitely something off about her tone. It was far too casual.
"Hmm?"
"Last night—" She started.
"Was truly wonderful. You're extremely talented, love." I remarked, smirking.
"Shut up! Nothing happened, I know nothing happened." She exclaimed, blushing like a bride.
For a moment, we were both quiet, lost in the memory of a brilliant day.
We'd had a sudden change of schedule. James had called for a practice immediately after school.
"Can't you do this on a day that's not my birthday, James?"
"Uh, oh." He said, mock-worried. "You just first named me. I'm in deep trouble, aren't I?" He laughed, pulling his robes over his head.
"Shut the fuck up, Prongs. This isn't funny! Is a little celebration so much to ask for when I become an adult?"
"What's the difference, Pads? It isn't like being underage stopped you from doing anything." He grinned. "What's the big difference?"
"The difference, you schmuck, is that it's legal now. That's the whole point!" I had to grin. He made a point, but then again, celebrations were a big deal to me.
"Did you honestly just use the word, 'schmuck', Padfoot?" He laughed a great, huge, belly laugh.
"Well, Prongs, I was going to use a word that was worse, but then I realized that there are ladies present in this room." I said, smirking.
"Wait, what? Is Lily here?" He asked, a little flustered.
"You retard, I was talking about you." I sniggered, grabbing my broom.
As far as practices went, it was perfectly horrible. Nobody paid attention and almost everyone randomly broke into giggles, despite the horrible weather. The rain was beating against us with a vengeance, and I was really worried for my broom.
"What is it with you twits?" I roared as I landed. "And you, James, you git! You're the captain that's going to win us the Quidditch cup?" My already bad moon was exacerbated by his nonchalance at the terrible practice.
"Oh, shut up, you wanker." He said, pushing me through the doors of the changing room. What was it with him?
When I got through showering and getting all the mud off my boots and out of my hair (I wondered how it got there, anyway), I stepped out to find an empty room. James was the only one that was waiting.
I let out a little grunt of discontentment. I mean, come on! It was my birthday, for Merlin's sake!
We both slung our brooms across our shoulders and set off for the common room. What was unusual was the fact that the walk back was quiet. We were generally very, very chatty on the way back.
"Titillare Draconem." I told the Fat Lady.
"That's right. Happy Birthday, boy. When's the party?" I ignored her and followed James into the common room.
"Surprise!" Came a resounding roar from inside the common room.
Leaning against a wall, I smirked at the lot of them. I saw every seventh year Gryffindor, maybe half the sixth and seventh year Hufflepuffs, and about half the Ravenclaw seventh year population there.
"So what is it?" I asked casually.
"What's what, mate?" Remus asked.
"The surprise? I know it's not the fact that you threw me a party. I saw this one from about a mile away. Because I am just that great."
"Vanity, thy name is Sirius Black. Okay, everyone, since Black here is so very disappointed with his birthday bash, I guess you can all go back now." Lily said.
"No, no. You can stay." I hurried to correct the situation. I'd hate to miss my own party. "The food and booze are here, and you've all come here, so…stay."
I made an utter fool out of myself trying to brush it off.
I saw seventeen shots arranged on a small table. "Oh, yes!"
I know we had an affinity for shots, but we were who we were: hopeless drunks. Of course, that didn't deter our awesomeness one bit.
"You know what to do, mate." Peter patted my back. I brushed him off, stalking towards the table.
"Shot, shot, shot, shot." The low murmur had turned into a loud chant. "Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot."
I picked up the first glass and sniffed it. It was nothing normal – be it muggle, or magical.
"So what's the poison of your choice, Prongs?" I asked, trying to buy time. I wasn't intimidated or anything – I was just trying to prepare myself for the drinks.
'Nothing you've heard of, mate. It's Aberforth's special. He just finished aging it last night. And you're the guinea pig." He finished with a smug smile.
I gulped. Seventeen shots. Five, I could manage, easy. Ten, with considerable effort, but seventeen?
I downed the first one quickly. It tasted wonderful, like nothing I'd had before, but I also instantly recognized it's strength.
"Does someone have a lemon quarter?" I asked.
"Not a chance, Sirius. Drink up. Be a man!" Bianca nudged.
Taking in a huge breath, I downed shot after shot until I reached the eleventh. I'd paused to take another breath. My head was already spinning a bit.
I finished the other six quickly, before conjuring myself a lemon. I really needed a clear head. Well, as clear as it could get.
Everyone sang happy birthday multiple times, and in multiple keys, I might add. The food was fabulous, of course. The house elves must have really taken out time to make all this, because it wasn't on the menu that day.
That reminded me, we were missing dinner. When I asked James about it, he replied nonchalantly. "Let them draw their own conclusions. They're bound to remember the occasion sometime."
It was well past midnight when everyone sidled out. There was a huge heap of presents in one corner, a pink bra lay discarder in one corner of the room, and a bottle lay on its side, the only proof of the numerous games we'd played.
"James!" Lily sang and threw herself into his arms. Remus and Sierra had already gone up to the dorm. I only hoped they remembered to draw the curtains on the four-poster, and use all the right charms. I'd hate to walk in on something. Peter was nowhere to be seen.
The atmosphere was thick with tension. Would she? Wouldn't she? Should I? Shouldn't I?
The doubts were cleared, though, for me, when Bianca walked up to me to kiss me soundly. Again, it was no movie kiss. It was filled with something animalistic. It was no girl's fantasy, especially not when the first time I'd kissed her had been equally free of earth-shaking-ness.
The force with which she had pushed me had knocked me into a chair that was very close to the food table. A whole array of dark chocolate was within arm's reach for me. Grabbing a piece that was about the size of my little finger, I nudged Bianca into a position that was more comfortable for both of us. She took the chocolate from between my fingers. "You don't know what to do with good chocolate, Sirius." She said, putting it between her teeth.
I really didn't need that image in my head.
She leaned forward, urging me to open up. I did, quite enjoying how aggressive petite little Bianca could be. I tasted the strong essence of alcohol in both the chocolate and on her tongue.
When we'd woken up that morning, Bianca had been in my bed, sans shirt, and I only wore my boxers. Neither of us was entirely sure what had happened.
"I'm sure you'd remember it if you'd shagged me, love. I knowI'm a memorable lay." I'd told Bianca. Actually, I was fairly certain nothing had happened, but teasing Bianca about it was so much fun.
"Nothing happened, Sirius." She told me firmly. She was trying to convince herself. "And I didn't mean last night, last night, anyway. I meant, you know, midnight of your birthday, last night."
"What about it, love?" I asked, snickering in my head still.
"You said something about a full moon. Why? Something about having fun? What did it mean?"
"Nothing of relevance, Bianca. You know I say random things sometimes." Suave, I thought to myself. She'd really believe that.
She raised her eyebrows in incredulity. "Fine, fine. Don't believe me. It's not my secret to tell, though. So please don't ask." I implored.
"You know it's not fair, Sirius. The puppy eyes just aren't fair." She complained.
"I'd tell you if I could, Branwen. You know I would."
And just like that, the subject was closed. I was really glad of her faith in me sometimes. I wished she didn't though. I wished she'd question me sometimes. Was it really healthy for her to trust me so blindly?
"So what do we do with this thing?" James asked, staring at a little plastic tube with a needle poking out of it, full of sinister-looking red liquid.
"It's called a syringe, idiot. I know how to use it." Remus said, plucking it out of James' hand. When he plunged it into his own arm, though, we were a little worried. Especially me. I hated needles. I didn't know why, but I did. They made me sick.
"Do you feel any different?" James asked him when the tube was empty.
"A little. I feel stronger, I guess, than I usually do on full-moon nights."
"I guess that's good, then." James said, a little trepidation still evident on his face.
"Would Dumbledore ever mean us harm?" Moony asked.
"No, I guess no." We all relaxed a little. I checked my pocket. Shrunken bike? Check. Marauder's Map? Check. Wand? Check. We were all set.
"Get off, you great oaf. I want to ride now." Remus said, nearly pushing me off the bike. He was considerably shorter sitting in the side car. It really was snigger-worthy. The rain went up my nose, causing my nose to block up painfully. This really made my next comment not as cool as it could have been.
"I don't think they let kids ride these things, Moony." I told him.
"Shut up, McCough-A-Lot. And get off before I rip you into chunks with my tamed werewolf genes." He said.
Wormy's rat form sneezed on the handlebars. I recognized it as a laugh. Prongs threw his great antlers back and hacked out a great, stag laugh.
"Fine, traitors. Don't support me. Golden boy here can have my keys." I stopped the bike and exchanged places with Moony quickly. Peter hopped off the handlebars and returned to human state, only to hop onto Prongs' antlers in rat form again.
"Is that the moon?" I looked up at the clouds that had just cleared. I was still a little apprehensive about the whole situation, but that was all quickly brushed under the rug.
"All that'll happen is, apparently, I'll only turn into a kind of wolf – almost like an animagus, Dumbledore says."
"Well, if Dumbledore says it." I shrugged. Moony kicked the bike into gear and tore down the non-path as if he was in a race for his life.
I screamed just a little bit when the bike lurched, bucking both of us almost off the bike.
"What're you playing at, mate?"I choked out. Moony didn't respond. The bike screeched, raging forward only to crash directly into a tree. My face hit the front of the sidecar.
I roared in pain. "I told you, Remus, if you don't know how to ride the goddamn bike, you bloody well should have let me do it!" I felt some blood trickle down my mouth and past my chin. My nose was probably broken.
Remus roared back at me. The sound just wasn't human. I looked up, a little afraid for him now. Was he hurt? What I saw terrified me.
His back was stretching out and the skin was cracking horribly, blood oozing down his back, where a tail had erupted. His face had contorted into something gruesome, not quite human, not quite animal. There was so much blood it looked like Moony'd been impaled on a sword. His groaned, in what could only be pain.
"I'm right here, man. What do you need?" I asked desperately. James appeared in his human form beside me.
"No, no, no! Prongs, turn into a stag again! He might attack!" I exclaimed. "And where the fuck is Peter?" I almost screamed. He could have climbed up onto Lupin and hit this one spot which instantly calmed him down. Where was he?
"You change, Sirius!" James said, panic clear in his voice.
"I can't! He's too close. If I change now, it'll be too sudden. I'm really not in a mood to be bitten." I told him. "Look, he's not gone through it completely. He's in pain, but he still seems mostly human. We can talk. Stay. Animal. Just in case."
"Careful, brother." He told me before stepping away to change forms. It was a good thing Remus was baying at the moon at the time. It seemed to be a scream of pain, though.
I tried to climb out of the sidecar when he looked away, but my legs were stuck. I'd have to take some time to extricate them from the side car.
"Moony, my man!" I said cheerfully. "Calm down, mate. It's not so bad." I didn't dare touch him. Somewhere inside me, my survival instinct roared to life.
He turned towards me, baring sharp, kind-of-human teeth, protruding grotesquely out of a twisted snout like mouth. His eyes were bloodshot and wary, and in a lot of pain. His shoulders hunched forward while his hands changed into claws. A halfway conversion. In my head, I'd decided to give Dumbledore a piece of my mind when (if?) I got back.
Moony's eyes rolled up, and he screamed in pain, lashing out against the closest thing available. Me. I lunged out of the way of his bloody paws, all the while trying my best to disentangle my legs from the side car. I swore to dismember the damn thing when things were okay.
"Damn it, Peter, where are you?" I gritted my teeth as Remus dragged a set of nails down my right shoulder. Ouch…that would leave a mark.
"Lupin, calm down. Please!" I exclaimed; I had no idea what else to say to him.
"Oi, Padfoot! Out of the way!" James shouted when the situation was getting dire. His spell was nonverbal and it had an instant effect on Moony. He stopped writhing straight away. Unfortunately, I was fairly certain what spell it was, and I knew the side-effect. Intense heat wave. As soon as I realized what it would do to the sidecar, my fears came true. The front melted all over my legs. I let out an almighty roar, and then everything went black.
I know that Sirius wasn't on the Quidditch team. It's plot convenience, though. And I also know Sirius is starting to sound like Edward, but I'm not that great a writer – it's recreation.
R&R?
Love, from,
R