Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.
XxXxX
Third year started with a bang, literally.
The sorting had just finished and everyone was settling down at their tables when a loud explosion went off. What looked like confetti filled the air and began to float down onto the students. It wasn't until it landed on the table that Aly realized what it actually was. They were slips of paper with ancient ruins symbols on them. She wrinkled her brow as she wondered what they meant.
Lily, however, gasped.
"What?" Aly asked, looking at the reddening Lily. She just curled her nose and huffed before slamming down the slip onto the table top.
Realizing that she wasn't going to get an answer, Aly sighed and turned back to her meal. She flicked off the pieces of paper that had landed on her plate with her fork and continued in silence. Lily did the same.
As dessert showed up on all the tables, Aly suddenly realized the absence of the Marauders in her close proximity. She saw them, way down the table, Peter and James looking rather angry, the latter especially.
Their absence the rest of the summer had not gone unnoticed. As quickly as they had shown up was as quickly as they had left. She wondered why after all that happened, (she wouldn't admit it but between her and Sirius especially) why they would leave without a word and not be seen again til now. She hated to admit it but the train ride had been rather boring without some of their antics.
And now, they weren't even here to save her from Lily's angry silence. She sighed again. Lily paid attention to her this time. "What?"
"Nothing," Aly said quickly. She straightened up and shook her shoulders as if shaking off her whole train of thoughts.
They made their way to the Gryffindor tower in a rather uneventful fashion. When they climbed into their beds, it was Lily who finally voiced what Aly had been thinking, "What happened to the boys?"
Aly pretended to fluff her pillow as she asked, "What do you mean?"
Lily pulled her legs up under her covers. "I dunno. I just anticipated some sort of grand stunt." She added rather bitterly, in a low tone, "Besides the offensive one, anyways."
Aly decided to overstep the reference to dinner knowing it was Lily's way of trying to get Aly to ask her what all the symbols had meant, sending her, Lily, into an angry rant. "Yeah. I wonder if something happened between them over the summer."
"I'll tell you what did happen. They destroyed my couch and killed the batteries in my remote," Lily snorted.
Aly rolled her eyes. The batteries had been replaced, no problem. The couch, however, did fall victim to a jumping attack from Sirius. He had never seen a couch like Lily's in an actual home. Aly imagined what kind of furniture he had been exposed to at his parent's house or even at Potter Manor. She imagined stiff, all wood, upright chairs with dark upholstery and deep carvings of snakes and griffins. She had seen him enjoy himself jumping up and down on the Gryffindor couches but they were protected by spells to prevent wear and tear. Lily's couch wasn't so lucky. However, Aly managed to make it seem like Petunia had been the one who broke it. So at least she had gotten something out of it.
Aly laid down and closed her eyes. Lily was still talking to her. By the tone of her voice, Aly could tell she was ranting about something. She breathed in deep. It was raining outside and the soft pitter patter of raindrops against the window was soothing. The smell of summer had been trapped in the unused room. The shuffling of one of the other girls made the floor creek. Mary was reading on her bed. Melanie was brushing her hair. Aly smiled and whispered, "Home."
XxXxX
Breakfast was uneventful. So were the first day classes. Aly wondered what happened to the boys. They were unusually quiet all through the day, and, once dinner was over and they had settled into their usual round table in the corner of the common room, their behavior was even odder. Remus sat down and opened his book, which wasn't odd at all, but then the other three followed suit. James still looked rather angry from behind his book. Aly could tell that Sirius wasn't really reading but rather just trying to have something to do while he leaned on the back two legs of his chair and bounced. Peter was writing furiously as he kept quickly looking down into the book on his lap.
Aly looked back at the fire and twisted her nose. She was bored and Lily was off at the library or somewhere. She wasn't sure. Melanie had learned that Mary had moved onto the same street as her over the summer and had befriended her and so they sat at a table not far from the Marauders. They kept giggling about something. Aly suddenly felt very alone. She went back to watching the fire and let an extremely low rumble in her chest. It may have been a cry if it would've made it all the way out of her body. She felt so empty and the rumble made her feel like she had a coin in her metal tin of a chest. If she shook herself, she was sure she would've been able to hear it.
Suddenly, a burst emitted from the hearth of the fire and shot across the room in the form of a ball of fire.
The occupants of the common room either scrambled out or under furniture for shelter. Aly just merely watched it swoosh around. For some reason, it hadn't startled or scared her. When it landed, she knew why. Fawkes almost glided onto the back of a chair. He gracefully spread his wings to shake off the ash that he had acquired by coming out the Gryffindor hearth and tilted his head to look at Aly. She smiled at him.
He let out a gentle coo and raised his left leg and left wing. He lowered them and raised his right leg and wing. He seemed to be doing a sort of dance. Aly recognized it. He used to do it for her when she was a very, very small child to stop her crying.
Aly clicked her tongue to her teeth and raised her arm, and Fawkes swooshed and landed on it. Aly petted the soft-feathered head and let him jump onto her knee to perch.
The students who had hidden from the intrusion had reappeared. Most seemed slightly intrigued by the big, red firebird but went back to what they had been doing after a few moments of observation.
Aly sat with her bird and felt the coin inside her chest disappear. She knew when worse came to worse she always had Fawkes. And so they sat. Aly had no need to move and Fawkes had no where to go, being a bird and all. Lily came in long after the common room had begun to empty for the night looking rather ruffled. She said nothing to anyone and rushed up the stairs. Aly had sent her a small wave as she came in and lowered her hand awkwardly as Lily brushed past her.
The Marauders were all still sitting quietly, ignoring each other. Sirius' eyes weren't on his book though. He focused his chocolate browns on Aly. He hesitated a moment before flinging down his chair. The crash of wood on wood caused the other three boys to jump. Sirius stood and, after brushing his legs off, he made his way over to Aly.
"Uh, hey," he started waving goofily, but, as suddenly as he entered the room, Fawkes was up and at Sirius' head.
"Dude," Sirius called, arms over his head as he ducked from the bird.
"Fawkes," Aly said alarmed trying to call him off. Over in the corner, she saw Remus stopping Peter from moving forward to help with his arm and James smiling almost triumphantly.
Anger burst inside her and she snapped loudly, "FAWKES! COME HERE NOW!"
The bird paused midair, looking oddly hurt, never hearing Aly raise her voice at him before, and swooped over to her shoulder. He clicked at her ear gently as if to say "I'm sorry." And after Aly stroked his neck as if to say, "It's okay," he sent an angry look at Sirius, who was still standing where he was and looking rather confused.
"Go to bed," Aly commanded sharply.
"What?" Sirius said startled.
"Not you," she said at him lightly, as if to not cause more damage to him.
She petted Fawkes head and repeated, "Go." She nudged him with her shoulder and he cooed once more before disappearing into the fireplace.
Aly scratched her head and turned to Sirius, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what got into him. He's never done anything like that before."
He still looked perplexed but said with a simple shoulder shrug, "It's ok."
"WHAT?!"
James was standing up now. He looked furious. "After you got attacked by that damned bird, you're all just 'It's ok'? What the—"
Remus hurriedly cut him off because some second years were sitting in earshot, "James."
"Don't you 'James' me."
"I'll do as I please, thank you."
"This is none of your business."
"Yeah."
"Shut up, Peter," James snapped. Peter muttered, "Sorry," and sat down and scrunched up in his chair.
"Don't talk to him like that," Sirius snapped.
"I'll talk to him however I like."
"Peter, don't let him talk to you like that. Stand up."
Peter started up out of the chair, but James snapped, "Sit down and stay out of this."
Sirius barked, "Get up."
"Sit down."
"Stand up."
"Sit Dow—"
"ENOUGH!" Aly bellowed. She looked on at the scene, eyes bulging slightly. Peter had been bouncing up and down, in and out of his chair and was red in the face. Aly may not have liked him, but she still felt bad for him.
"Peter, go on upstairs," Aly said kindly to him.
"Don't tell him what to do," James said, not as loudly as before but with more venom then he had shot at any of the boys.
"You shut up," Sirius replied still angry, but also quieter. James looked like his head might just pop off with rage, but before he could reply Aly cut in.
"Peter, you have your chance. Either take it and run or sit there til they're done yelling."
Peter looked at James then at Sirius, perplexed, unmoving. Remus nodded and said gently, "Go." And then he got up and scurried up the stairs with one reproachful look back.
"Now," she said turning towards the boys, "What is going on?"
When neither of them spoke, Aly sighed. She scrunched her mouth up and twisted it to the side crossing her arms over her chest.
"I'd like to know too," Remus finally said as the silence proceeded on. "This has to be more than what happened on the train."
"What happened on the train?" Aly asked dropping her arms.
"Uh—" Remus trailed off. James was shooting him a very angry look.
"Nope," Aly threw up her hands, "Never mind. I don't want to know." She didn't want to be the start of anymore drama. And with that, she turned and went upstairs.
She heard James start whispering angrily at Remus, and as she turned the first bend in the winding staircase she looked back over her shoulder. Sirius, who was still standing in eyesight, sent her a small smile.
She climbed into bed not feeling remotely tired. Lily's curtains were drawn back. Aly normally would've taken notice, but tonight her mind was else where. Sirius had come over to talk to her. What was he going to say? What would've happened if Fawkes hadn't been there? Would James have still have thrown a fit? And why did she even care? Why was she acting like a silly, giggling girl lying in bed wondering about a boy? She shook her head and rolled over, but she fell asleep with a smile on her face.
XxXxX
The next day things did not seem any better between the Marauders. Lily seemed remote and drawn back too.
"Lils, what's going on?" Aly asked at lunch.
When Lily didn't respond, Aly poked her in the arm with her fork.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Lily asked angrily, rubbing the red spot left by the fork.
"Oh, I didn't poke you that hard."
"What do you want?" Lily snapped.
Aly was taken aback and it showed on her face. She actually felt tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, which made her even more upset.
Lily sent a look over her shoulder towards the Slytherin table before she turned and her normal motherly nature took over. "Oh, I'm sorry, Als. I've just got a lot on my mind."
"I can tell," Aly remarked wiping the tears with her sleeve before they could escape from her eyes. "What's going on with you?"
Lily hesitated. "Well," she glanced at the Slytherin table again, but, before she could turn back and answer, Sirius sat down next to her.
Lily jumped as Sirius slide his arm around her shoulders. She looked at him skeptically, but he just smiled a big toothy grin back.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked coldly, obviously still not over her couch being destroyed.
"I'm having lunch," Sirius replied, ignoring Lily's tone. "Mmm, breeeaadd." He grabbed the basket and pulled it towards himself.
Aly almost chuckled as he tried to push three slices of bread into his mouth at once. Lily looked over at him in grotesque.
"Why aren't you with your brain dead friends?" Lily said glaring as he attempted to chew the bread with half it still outside of his mouth.
"What friends?" Sirius asked, spraying Lily with bread bits.
She took a deep breath in before apparently making the decision to stay calm and wipe the bits off of herself. Lily eventually returned to her quiet, drawn off state while Aly covered her mouth with her hand and tried to keep from laughing as Sirius continued to eat, shoving potato into his already filled mouth. Aly knew this wasn't how he ate and that he was merely doing it to annoy Lily and, part of her hoped that he was doing it, to amuse her.
Towards the end of lunch, a group of Slytherins walked by. The oldest, or at least bulkiest boy, muttered "Mudblood," as he passed the three of them.
All three of them shot up in attention. The group continued on towards the door. The last and smallest boy in the group turned and Aly recognized the resemblance at once. Regulus Black had his brother's good looks but did nothing to enhance them. He had almost steely black eyes as apposed to Sirius' warm brown. He had an air of arrogance that the rest of the Slytherins also held. His eyes were narrowed. Sirius stood up immediately and walked over to his younger brother. The rest of the Slytherins stopped and turned as well.
Sirius, who towered over Regulus by about four or so inches, walked up to him and stared down. Regulus returned the same look of contempt.
"Go away," Regulus said through clenched teeth.
Sirius replied by first spitting his mouthful of chewed bread and potato into the face of the boy who spoke and then said to his brother, "See I would, really I would. I wouldn't want anyone to see me associating myself with such," he pretended to struggle for the word, bouncing his fingers, and pursing his lips before continuing, "Let's just say 'riff-raff.' But here's my problem: you spoke unkindly to my friends."
"We only spoke to the mudblood," a blonde haired boy pointed out.
"See, again, with that word. Can't you all come up with something more original? I mean, come'on, that word is older than, well, McGonagall."
"What's your point, Siry?" Regulus snapped.
"Well, Reg," he replied, obviously annoyed by the use of his nickname, "I want you all to apologize."
There was a "ha" from inside the group followed by a general agreement of amusement.
"Fine, have it your way." He turned and went back to the table and grabbed another piece of bread as he sat down.
"What are you going to do?" Aly asked in fake whisper, trying but failing to hide her laughter.
"Hell if I know yet," he replied with a shrug.
Lily just stared at him. Aly, however, continued to watch the Slytherins as they left the hall. She made it a point to strain her neck so that it would call attention to them. As they reached the door, a whole pile of dirt just fell from no where onto them.
Most of the people in the hall laughed. Regulus sent an angry look at Sirius before following the rest of his group out the door in a rush.
Sirius could not contain himself. "That—was—awesome!" he choked out between laughs. "You?" he pointed at Aly as he continued to laugh.
She just shrugged and smiled. "Better than anything I could've thought of off the top of my head," he told her, still laughing hysterically.
"Doubtful," she replied skeptically. Sirius was the king of random pranks, but she took the compliment with pride. "They talked bad about my Lily. Someone needed to teach them who really has the muddy blood."
"Mud?" Sirius asked confused.
"What? It was a quick spell and I missed the water part."
Lily sat still, looking at the dirt on the floor that McGonagall and Filch had started to attempt to clean up.
"I guess dirt is dry mud. Doesn't matter though. Definitely taught them a lesson." Sirius had settled down. He was still holding his side, but he had controlled his laughing enough to be able to take a drink of water.
"Well, they needed to learn the true meaning of mudblood. It's all the damned inbreeding. Messes up the brain cell transmitters, I think." Aly, realizing as soon as she had said it that Sirius had been related to one of those boys, and therefore inbreed as well, stuttered quickly, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean, I just … oh boy."
"It's ok," he said. "I know what you meant," he patted her hand as he smiled at her kindly.
Lily seemed to come back into focus as this happened. "Thanks," she muttered.
"Oh, your welcome," Aly said cheekily. "Anything for my bestest."
"Yeah, anything for our Lilyflower," Sirius added pinching her cheek. She pulled back looking dumbstruck and hurt. With that she got up and stormed off, inching around the dirt in the doorway as she fled.
"What'd I do?" Sirius asked concerned.
"Lilyflower is what her parents call her," Aly told him, looking slight perturbed as well. "It must've spooked her to hear it come out of your normally foul mouth."
His mouth formed an "O" as he looked towards the door she had just left out of. "Should I go say sorry?"
"Nah. Just let her be. She's been acting really weird lately, anyways," Aly said stabbing what was left of her now cold potato.
The hall begun to fill with the sounds of feet shuffling and books thudding. "Time for class," Aly said standing up drearily.
"Finally! Nap time!" Sirius said yawning. They were off to history so Sirius probably would get a good nap in.
Aly was just hoping to find out what was up with Lily as she grabbed her own books and let Sirius walk her to class.
XxXxX
It was almost as if the school had started to feel the absence as well as the students who dwelled in it. It seemed to be a lot less tense when one would walk through the halls. Doors opened more easily, doors that were pretending to be walls were more compliant, the ghosts were much happier to give directions. The only person who seemed not happy with the change was Peeves. And this would've been fine had he not taken to throwing chairs at students in whichever hallway he was in.
And well, maybe one other person was a little bit sad by the absence of the Marauders: Aly. She found the school far too quiet for her taste. She had grown used to the pranks and fun that came along with the constant disobedience of the four boys. She got detention for the dirt dumping and was very miserable at the thought of having to spend it alone.
She felt even worse for Remus. He seemed stuck in the middle of whatever feud it was James and Sirius were having. In the beginning, he had tried to spend most of his time moving back and forth between the two: having lunch with one and dinner with the other. However, Aly could tell this was a strain on him. Lily asked him about it during lunch with the two of them and Sirius one day, why he didn't just give up the back and forth and sit with Peter. Peter had clung to James' side, but it was obvious that he too was miserable.
And so it seemed that the Marauders were kaput. James had his flock of Quidditch girls that surrounded him at meals, Sirius had settled in with the Gryffindor girls, and Remus and Peter sat somewhere in the middle. Melanie and Mary had suddenly decided to start eating with Aly and Lily after the third straight day of Sirius having lunch with them. They mostly just sat and starred at him the whole time and, after having Mary scream and throw some napkins at him when he had attempted to talk to them, Sirius had learned to just ignore them.
XxXxX
"This sucks," Aly grumbled packing up her books in the common room one night.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked, leaning back on his chair like usual, his feet propped up on the coffee table in front of the fire. One night, he had grabbed his usual chair and brought it over by the couch Lily and Aly had been studying on. James had put up a protest. It ended quite tamely though, Sirius keeping his chair where it was and James sitting back down at the Marauders' table. And thus it became Sirius' spot. Aly was quite happy about it because with his chair there no one dared to take their couch.
"Nothing is wrong. She's just bellying aching," Lily mumbled as she fiercely scanned her transfiguration book.
"You'd be belly aching too if you had to spend an evening of detention with James and Snape," Aly griped back.
"Yes," Lily said putting down her book and looking at Aly smugly, "But I wouldn't start a fight in front of a teacher's office either."
Aly sighed. She wasn't going to argue. She had just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. James and Snape were going at it in front of McGonagall's office door and Aly had come in to stop them. So she got detention too when McGonagall found them.
She turned to Sirius and said, "It should be a refreshing break from all the love that's in the air here."
He smiled and just rocked back. He had become a quiet figure around them. Aly wondered if it was out reverence for Lily. She had been reluctant to let Sirius hang around them, seeing that he was always loud and obnoxious when with the Marauders. But he had, thus far, won Lily over by just sitting back and observing. He didn't even butt into any of their conversations. He was cool and collected, but Aly could tell that he missed the Marauders.
At quarter til seven, Aly headed off towards McGonagall's office. Lily left with her but headed right outside of the portrait hole towards the library. Aly hadn't gotten very far when she heard the portrait door swing open and squeak shut. She paid it no attention to it until she heard the rubber of gym shoes running towards her. She glanced over her shoulder before stopping and turning around. Sirius came running up to her looking rather gloomy.
"Can I come with?" he asked.
"Why?" asked Aly skeptically.
"I just … please?" Sirius looked at her so helplessly.
"Ugh, fine. Just come on."
They walked silently towards McGonagall's office. Sirius had his hands balled up in his pockets and his head down. Aly could tell something was wrong but chose to ignore him. When they reached the room, Aly paused and felt her impatience rise as Sirius still seemed to examine his feet.
"Okay," she snapped, "I'm going."
When he didn't reply, she awkwardly said, "Cya."
She had already turned the door knob, but before she could push into the room, Sirius' head snapped back, and, with a forced smile, said, "I'll wait for you here."
Aly let go of the door, and, with her hand on her hip, snapped, "Why?"
He just merely shrugged and sank down onto the floor.
"Seriously?" she asked incredulously. "Seriously?"
He just stuck out his lower lip and nodded. "Look," he looked at her sheepishly, "I have a bad feeling about this."
"About what?" she snapped.
"Don't go," he said simply.
"You want me to skip detention?" She was confused. Not because he wanted her to avoid spending a few hours with two boys who not only hated each other but her as well, but because of the way he really looked upset about her going. He was looking down at his feet as she asked, "What's going on?"
She tried to look at his face, but all she got from him was a "Please." She was taken aback by his tone.
"Okay," she agreed.
His head shot up and he looked hopeful as he said, "Really?"
"Sure," she shrugged. She didn't really care, and he really seemed to not want her to go. They both stood awkwardly for a few silent moments before Aly asked carefully, "So, what do you want to do?"
"I dunno" he mumbled.
"Well," Aly snapped, "I can't go back to the common room cause eventually Lily will be back and I can't let her see that I skipped."
"Let's go see Hagrid," he suggested, still looking tense.
Aly took a second to pull herself from her reeling mind, but when she said, "Okay," she had obviously perked up at the idea. Sirius' mood seemed to change a bit too.
They set off in silence. The night wind was harsh. Aly pulled her cloak around herself, muttering angrily since it had been warm enough for shorts the day before. They hurried quickly across the vast lawns of the school, both keeping an obvious distance from the other.
Sirius banged on the hut's door sharply as Aly tried to pull her cloak as tightly around her as possible. After a few seconds, Sirius knocked even harder on the door.
"He's not here," Aly said through her clattering teeth. She didn't have enough layers on to protecter her from the sharp bite of the wind. She began to violently shiver as Sirius disappeared around the side of the hut. She sank down onto the slight step that was in the front of the large wood door she leaned back against. She pulled her legs up and buried her face into her knees.
Sirius reappeared.
"He's not here," Aly repeated, muffled as she spoke into her knees. "We would've heard Fang bark."
She felt something fall over her, and realized that it was his cloak. "You're gonna freeze," she yelled after him as he disappeared from her sight again.
She was so cold that after a moment she didn't worry about him and, instead, took in the warmth and smell of his cloak. Behind her, she heard him yell something.
"What?!" she yelled in response but toppled backwards as the door behind her opened.
"I said 'Watch out,'" he said standing over her, light streaming down around him, a grin on his face.
"I didn't hear you," she mumbled pulling herself up. He sighed, grabbed her under the elbow, and drug her into the center of the room. She glared at him from her back as he stepped over her to shut the door. A fire was lit and she could tell it was just built by the way the flames flickered.
"How'd you get in here?" she asked she pushed herself up, his cloak falling to the floor.
"Simple," he said motioning towards the window. It was barely big enough for Aly to get through.
"How'd y--"
He cut her off, "We'll wait a little bit to see if Hagrid comes back soon." He put the big, black pot Aly had come to associate with visits to Hagrid (mostly because tea was the only thing edible that Hagrid had to offer during visits) on the flames.
She took off her cloak and settled into Hagrid's oversized arm chair and pulled a quilt down around her. Sirius took a seat in one of Hagrid's wooden table chairs and smiled at the fire.
"This is nice," Aly ventured, not wanting to break the tranquility of the room. Sirius nodded but didn't look at her.
Aly leaned back against the worn down chair and closed her eyes. The crackle of the fire was nice as she felt herself warm in its glow.
She dozed off and was awoken to a loud banging and yelling.
"Get'cha outta here, ya dirty--" Hagrid's roar was deafening in the small hut.
Sirius had jumped up and was trying to calm him down.
"Hagrid! It's just us!" Sirius tried to yell at him, but Hagrid didn't seem to hear him.
He was still yelling as he waved his crossbow around. Aly jumped and ran in front of Sirius, pushing him back out of harms way.
"HAGRID!" she screamed.
Through his wet, tangled hair, Hagrid caught sight of a head with bouncing brown curls.
"Aly?" he questioned.
"Yes," she gasped, breathless.
"What'cha doin in here?"
"Can you please lower your bow?"
"Oh, sorry bout that," Hagrid mumbled as he moved around the room. He sank into a chair across from where Sirius had previously been sitting. Sirius' hair was disheveled as Aly turned to make sure he was alright. She put his collar flat and he suddenly stiffened and moved away from her. Aly turned back to Hagrid, choosing to ignore Sirius' reaction.
"What was that all about?"
"Sorry," Hagrid said roughly. Fang, who had collapsed onto the rug in front of the fire, let out a whine as Sirius ignored him and laid the two discarded cloaks in front of the fire. He seemed to busy himself with trying to flatten out the wrinkles.
"I jus wasn't expectin anyone to be in here," Hagrid explained.
"What was with the bow?" Aly asked taking Sirius' seat.
"Oh, that. Noticed that, did ya? Yea, well, see bout that--"
Aly rolled her eyes at the oversized man in front of her. He had to be the worse liar on the face of the planet.
"Hagrid, come'on. Just tell me."
"Fine," he caved easily. "BUT," he boomed sending Aly and Sirius into the air, "Ya two aint hear it from me. Alright?"
Both students nodded. Sirius came back over and sat down at the table. Aly couldn't help but notice that he sat on the very edge of his chair, as far away from her as possible.
"I was in the forest. Dumbledore give me a special mission. I'm suppos'd to be the lookout." Hagrid's chest puffed out in pride.
"Lookout for what?" Sirius asked.
"Dunno. But its very import'nt. He's very worry'd bout whatev'r it is. Somethin may be tryin to get into Hogwarts throu the forest. Nothin to worry bout, Als. I'm best person for the job. Ain't no guard dog bett'r. 'Cept for maybe Fang there." Hagrid turned a happy smile towards her as he tried to reassure her.
Her face had lost all its color and she felt dizzy. She tried to breathe in deep, but it felt like her lungs had swelled and could no longer take in air. The room started to turn black, but a very different type of black than she was used. Instead of disappearing into the black, panic swelled around her trying to pull her back to the real world.
Sirius had sprung from his chair and had her around the shoulders trying to keep her up. "Aly? Can you hear me?" He sounded far away.
"What's goin on?" Hagrid was caught in the distance too.
"It's okay," she heard Sirius tell him. "This has happened before. She'll come to."
"Wha can I do?"
"Just get a wet clothe or something to put on her head."
Aly felt the ground come up around her and the wet clothe hit her head. She struggled to pull her mind back into the light. Everything still felt like it was being squeezed through a tiny black tunnel. She saw Hagrid leaning over her and Sirius suddenly came right up in her line of vision.
"You okay?" he asked, concern on every part of his face.
She tried to answer, but only managed a groan. He smiled at the sound.
"I'll take her back to the school." He disappeared and Aly heard him reassure Hagrid, "She'll be fine."
She felt a cloak, warm from the fire, fall over her. Sirius pulled her up into the sitting position. Things became a little clearer as her head became up right. She heard to door and realized that Hagrid had gone outside.
"I'll carry her," Hagrid said. She looked at Sirius and said, to him, "I think I can walk." Her voice cracked slightly.
He smiled and helped her onto her feet. "I got'cha, Aly." Hagrid had come over to scope her up.
Aly glanced at Sirius, desperate.
"I've got her, Hagrid," Sirius said stepping in. "I'm going back to the castle anyway. You don't need to go out of your way."
Hagrid looked startled as Sirius threw the other cloak around Aly's back and tucked the one on the front of her so she was completely covered. He swooped her up causing her to grab his neck to regain herself.
He was out the door before Hagrid could protest. He followed them however.
"Hagrid, you don't have to worry. I've got her," Sirius called over his shoulder.
"I ain't lettin ya two walk back alone. No, sir."
As the castle came more in focus, Aly noticed three figures in the doorway of the Great Hall. "Put me down," she hissed.
Sirius did so and Aly moved forward. His arm slipped around her waist as she walked.
"Seriously?" she snapped.
"Don't push my buttons. I'll pick you back up." She could here the smile in his voice.
They had almost reached the stairs when Aly recognized the tall outline of the headmaster and the stiff stance of McGonagall. She couldn't tell who the third shape was.
"Aly?" her father called out.
She didn't answer. Sirius' grip on her waist became tighter and then she realized it was because he was literally lifting her up the stairs. She barely had time to be mesmerized by his strength before her dad, McGonagall, and the nurse pounced on them.
"Are you alright?" McGonagall questioned.
Aly whispered, "I'm fine," weakly.
Dumbledore's eyes seemed to be on the hand on her hip. Aly felt a twinge in her chest.
"Dad?"
His eyes looked up and met hers. "Yes?"
There was no concern for her health or safety in them. Instead, Aly saw disgust.
"Mr. Black," Dumbledore said moving his eyes over to him, "I think you can go upstairs."
He hesitantly let go of Aly's waist. She swayed and he caught her around with his arm.
"I think I'm fine here, sir."
"No," Aly snapped. "I think we should go upstairs." Her swaying had nothing to do with her fainting. A burst of anger had rippled through her unexpectedly and she wasn't going to give her father the upper hand in the situation.
Sirius looked at her and studied her face. "Okay," he said slowly.
Aly slipped the hand he had placed on her hip into her own and smiled wickedly as they moved past.
There was no argument from below. Aly heard a sudden rush of whispers, but ignored it.
They reached the common room and Sirius took her right to the stairway. "Can you make it, alright?"
"I'm sure I can."
"Do you wanna talk about--"
With a sigh, Aly told him, "Tomorrow. We'll talk about it tomorrow."