In the Tower
Chapter Twenty-two: Obliviate
Summary: Sirius, Remus and Peter lock James and Lily in a tower over Christmas Break. They don't have anything, except a little bit of food and the passion within themselves. And right now, they're just letting it out.
Disclaimer: Phh, yeah right, like I would own Harry Potter.
Author's Note: I am so pissed off right now it's not even funny. I had to dig through the trash to find this floppy disk, and it's sticky. And the story has gotten, shall we say, twisted now. I mean, people who've read my story before know what I mean, but for those of you haven't, they're both dead.
Previously: He swept away from them quickly, breathing heavily and stormed off to the Gryffindor tower. He suddenly grasped that he took James' advice without even realizing it. Well, half of it anyway.
Brom finally said, "It's a difficult question and not one you can answer until you've faced it. Keep in mind that many people have died for their beliefs; it's actually quite common. The real courage is in living and suffering for what you believe." Brom, Eragon.
Sirius grumbled for the sake of grumbling as he walked to his classes for the first time in a long time, alone. He pulled the strap of his book-bag higher onto his shoulder as he took a different path to Transfiguration. He stopped suddenly as he heard a whisper of voices close by and slunk against the wall, trying to be flat against it. "…I promise it will never happen again… the girl, her best friend… she'll never be safe… I know for a fact that she's… he'll never know… she'll be with that other girl soon enough…" Sirius, nauseated, ran away, but not before catching a glimpse of two of the people concealed between the narrow archways. Peter Pettigrew, of course, and the other Sirius could only assume had to be Snape.
He hurried away to class and barley slipped in on time. Professor McGonagall gave him a reprimanding look but shut the door behind him and stalked to the front. Sirius slid into his seat next to Remus, who gave him a funny look. Sirius returned the favor with a blank look and gazed toward the front of the class, looking alert and ready to learn.
Professor McGonagall called roll, and looked at the Marauders for a moment. "Have any of you boys seen Mister Pettigrew lately?" Sirius felt that a glacier just went down his throat and settled heavily onto his stomach. He managed to squeak out no Professor, I haven't seen him in a while, before he realized how his voice was sounding.
He blushed furiously under the concerned gazes of Remus, James, Lily and McGonagall. "Mister Black, do you feel well?"
"Not particularly, ma'am, but I'm well enough to pay attention to this lesson." She frowned at him.
"Very well," she said to him haltingly, and then proceeded on with the class. At the end of class, he silently packed away his things and then flew out of the room when the bell rang.
"What's up with him?" James asked, looking over at Remus, who just shrugged his shoulders and watched Sirius until he moved around a corner and could no longer be seen.
"I don't know," Remus said slowly, with a bubble of suspicion growing in the pit of his stomach. "I have to go though, sorry." Remus walked briskly toward the direction of the kitchens, and James watched him go with worried eyes. James walked over to Lily, who was conversing uncomfortably with Guinevere, and they both looked up as they heard him approach. Guinevere gave him a small smile and with a good bye to Lily, she walked toward the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Lily," James said, and she turned around to face him. "Walk with me?"
She reached out and grasped his hand, which he squeezed gratefully. "Sure," she said with an air of happiness around her. He led her off and looked back at her with his finger to his lips. He led her down another long hall, where no one was walking on. After a few long moments, she asked, "where are we going?"
"You'll see," he said to her plainly.
"Okay," she said slowly, and watched helplessly as she was dragged through a series of long, elaborate and looking quite unused, corridors. Dust covered all of it, and every portrait was empty, their occupants seemingly long gone. A dusty set of footprints were in the corridor with them, their only companions. James stopped at a door, and opened it slowly, revealing a long, low ceiling tunnel that seemed to stretch on for ages before it wrapped around a corner and disappeared in the darkness. "James?" She said, questioningly.
"Trust me," he said, and pulled her in, and she shrieked as the door slammed shut behind them and they were enveloped in the darkness.
"James, there's no light!"
"Are you a witch or not?" He said, brought out his wand, and giving her a reproachful look, whispered, "Lumos,"
"Oh," she said sheepishly as he looked at her in the wand light. "Right," she lit her own wand. "We're going to be missing classes, aren't we?"
"Lily, we're the best Head students this school has ever seen. I don't think they'll mind if we miss one class."
"But-"
"It's just one class."
"What about the N.E.W.T's? They're coming up in less than two months, they will probably-!"
"It's one class, Lily." She grudgingly acknowledged that and they set along the path.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked, around an hour later, struggling to think of a conversation starter. "What Dumbledore told us?"
She flushed deeply underneath her collar as she said it, but James didn't notice. "Are you really pregnant?" He asked her, and she flushed deeper, squeaking.
"I- I don't know." She lied pitifully.
"You do know," he said, leading her through the left fork and heading once again straight.
She finally gave in. "I'm not." His tenseness lessened much more after that. "Are you thinking about the other half of what he said?" She asked him quickly, meekly.
"I wasn't," he said, looking at her with a grin that didn't quite meet his eyes. "But it appears that you were."
With a fathomless effort, she looked him straight in the eye and told him steely, "I'm not getting married when I'm seventeen."
"I'm not getting married when I'm eighteen." He said, mocking her with an intimate smile.
"How about when I'm eighteen and you're nineteen?"
"Deal," They shook on it. "We're coming up on it now," he said, a few hours later.
"Does anybody know where we are?"
"I left a note on Remus' bed telling him that we wouldn't be back for a while."
"Why didn't you tell Sirius?"
"He wasn't there. And besides, he gave me the idea."
"Did he now? I cannot say if that's sweet or depressing." She paused a moment. "Do you hear that?"
"You get distracted easily," he told her, musing. "That might not be good later on."
"Shush up, James." She listened closely again. "Where are we?"
"One moment," he said, placing a hand over her eyes and leading her forward slowly. He opened a door and Lily heard it groan open. The roar was louder now, and James pushed Lily in as he removed his hand from her eyes.
"This was Sirius' idea. I can't believe you remembered about it?"
James looked sadly around the cave and sat down against the wall, sighing. Lily, to make sure no one would be able to hear or see them, shut the door and walked over to him, kneeling in front of him. "I heard him talking to her in his sleep last night. Apparently the one-sided conversation he was having he had with her while they were here."
She pulled off her shoes and stockings, peeled off her robes and unbuttoned her shirt, shrugging it off, revealing a cami beneath it. "Come on James, you took me here for a reason, have fun with it!" And then she took a deep breath and jumped into the hot bath. The warmth of it instantly encased her and let her flow through the tranquil waters. She emerged from the water and promptly shivered. The air was far too cold to stay in it for long.
James watched her swimming for a while, just thinking, before shrugging off all the depressing thoughts. He stripped down to his boxers and dive-bombed into the water, feeling it hug him so warmly it felt like he was a little kid again, crying over losing a lolly-pop and his mother holding him.
He exploded up from the depths of the water and saw Lily resting on the side of the bath, smirking at him. "Feels good, doesn't it?"
"Yes," he said, trying to scowl, but it came out as a delirious smile.
"It feels brilliant, the water. It makes me feel happy just being in it." She jumped out and wrung out her hair. "I assume I cannot do magic because we're outside the grounds."
"Lily," he said, rolling his eyes, "you're already seventeen. It's the legal age. They can't do anything to you, because it isn't against the law."
She smiled dimly. "I knew that."
"Feeling blonde, today, isn't we?"
"Feeling red, actually," she said, feeling her red hair. "My hair is red James."
He grinned smugly. He proved his point, and he told her so. "I prove my point."
She got it; glared at him, and then dived in so deep he couldn't see her and started worrying. A quick tug on his leg sending him under let him know exactly where she was.
"Ha, ha, ha," He said sarcastically when he reappeared at the surface, seeing Lily lounging on the other side of the pool.
"I completely agree, Jamie." She said wryly, slipping in his nickname.
"You suck," he said, lifting himself out of the water so he was standing right over her, the water that clung to him dripping on her.
She smiled lazily. "Only lolly-pops,"
He blanched and she laughed easily at the look on his face. "Course," he said smoothly. His stomach growled loudly and he looked down at it. He turned sideways and in a high falsetto, asked her, "Do I look fatter from the side or the front?"
She stands up and hits him solidly on his behind. "Definitely from the back,"
He pressed his palm flat against her stomach and she shivers at the closeness. "Deja vu," she whimpers moving so her back is to his chest with her head cradled in the crook of his neck.
"Are you saying we've done this before or we will do this in time to come?"
"I don't know it just feels familiar."
He leaned down so he could see her watch. It was three o'clock, and with any luck, if they left now they could make it before curfew. He kissed her gently on the cheek. "C'mon, we should go now."
She looked sadly at the hot bath, and it seemed to beckon her towards it. "Okay, fine," she said, pulling herself out of his embrace and threw her clothes back on. James did the same, and with one last look at the hot bath, they opened the door, and once again, walked up the tunnel to their lives. They were only carefree for so long.
Somailia jumped as one of her roommates threw back the curtains to her bed where she was doing her homework. "There's someone here to see you," she said, her lip curled.
"Ah, uh yes, thank you." The girl stalks off, and Somailia shut her charms book and leaves the dormitory, out of the Common Room and into the corridor. Remus stared at her alighting from the hole behind the portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw. As soon as she stood in front of him, he grabbed her arm and began to pull her along.
"What have you been doing with Sirius so much lately?" He snarled at her as he pulled her through a tapestry and pushed her against the wall.
"Nothing," she said with her teeth clenched. "All we do is talk." He increased pressure on her shoulders.
"You're lying."
"No I'm not!" She exclaimed loudly.
"What were you doing this morning? Who were you doing it with?"
"Eating breakfast," She snapped at him, "With only my books to keep me company."
"What were you doing with Sirius this morning?"
"I wasn't doing anything! I haven't spoken with Sirius in at least a week. Not that you would know, you never talk to me anymore. You're supposed to be my secret keeper, my loving and trusting boyfriend." She growled at them. "He's shown more friendship to me than you have."
He pulled back from her, seemingly just noticing what he was doing. He looked at her with wide eyes and then looked at his hands, and then clenched them until she saw a drop of blood drip from them. Her anger immediately abated and she started breathing quickly, watching. "I'm sorry," he whispered to her, and fled.
She watched him go and sniffed, wiping her nose with the side of her hand. Someone burst into the tapestry next to her, seeming unawares of her. She stuck out her foot and they fell backward over it. "Oh it's you." She sneered sarcastically. "Now my day is really perfect."
Peter grinned up at her. "Well hello there, have you missed me?"
"In your dreams," she said, removing her foot from underneath him and cleaning it off on the side of the wall. She looked at him suspiciously. "Have you lost weight?"
"Only for you," She glared and kicked him in the side, but he didn't even look like he felt it.
"How'd you do that?" She asked, her eyebrows rising. He sprung up faster that she could blink and lifted her by her throat with one hand.
"The Dark Lord gives his most loyal Death Eaters their greatest desires."
She coughed and sputtered, losing the air in her lungs. She wrapped her legs around his waist and shoved herself forward, making him over balance and fall. She landed on her feet and ran out of the tapestry. Her roommate, Jenna is her name, was standing outside the tapestry, glaring at her. She pushed up her sleeve until Somailia could see her Dark Mark. Her eyes widened as Jenna stalked her. "It feels good to be bad," she said nastily.
"Good luck with that," Somailia said to her smirking before Peter cracked her head against the wall. Everything faded, and she knew no more.
Sirius sulked as he ate in the Great Hall, Lily's annoying former friends buzzing around him. Miranda flattened herself against his side, and whispered seductively in his ear, "you can have me."
"I already have," he told her dully, and she beamed. "You weren't that great. You weren't even good."
She reached out to slap him, but he grabbed her wrist out of thin air and dug his fingers into it. "Don't. Never try to do that to me again. Both of the things you were trying to do. It won't work." He released her wrist and stood from the table, and walked quickly away. As soon as Sirius threw open the door, Remus came speeding down the hall looking severely shaken. He spotted Sirius, and ran full-tilt toward him.
"I just did something terrible." He exclaimed grabbing Sirius by the arm and pulling him back the same way he came. Sirius looked down at his arm with an eyebrow raised, and bit his lip in shock. A bloody handprint was drying on his skin, and it felt sticky and foreign.
"What'd you do?" Sirius asked, walking quicker along so they were jogging down the corridor.
"Somailia," Remus said incoherently, and Sirius' eyes widened and he threw Remus against a wall, knocking the breath out of him.
"What did you do?" He roared, looking at Remus darkly.
"I didn't mean to! It was completely uncontrollable. I just, I just got violent."
"You hit her?" Sirius asked ferociously, his eyes getting darker until they were like steel with the violence he wanted to inflict.
"No, I didn't! It was like somebody cast a spell on me, all I remember before was saying hello to Peter, and then the next time I'm myself again I have Somailia pinned against the wall and she's telling me that you've been a better friend than I've been a boyfriend."
"You past Peter," Sirius asked, his eyes glinting maliciously.
Remus nodded, and Sirius pulled Remus off the wall and said in a trying to be calm tone, "Where'd you leave her?"
"She was right outside the Ravenclaw Common Room. There's a tapestry not three yards from the entrance, and there's a little narrow corridor in there."
Sirius swore loudly and sprinted toward it. Remus galloped to keep up with him. "What's wrong with passing Peter?"
"This morning I heard him conversing with Snape and I heard bits of their talk. I know they were either talking about Somailia or Lily, but either way they were going to do serious harm to them."
Remus choked and with a new sense of urgency sped down the hall and out of sight, Sirius could hear his pounding footfalls, and he followed them.
When he arrived to where Remus was, Remus was already on his knees, staring at a liquid on the floor. Sirius clutching a stitch in his side, hobbled over to him. "What is it?"
Remus looked up at him, his face drawn. "Blood,"
Sirius fell to his knees and swept his finger through it, and Remus blanched. "It's still warm."
"Not that long ago then," he said faintly, looking around the rest of the hall. "Do you see anymore?" Sirius moved shakily on his knees, crawling all around the corridor.
"There's none around here."
Remus moved the tapestry, lit his wand, and squinted into it. "There's blood on the ground, but I can't tell which direction it leads.
Sirius said calmly, "It wouldn't be this way, because there's no blood. It's the other way." But then he hesitated. "Is there a chance that the blood in there could be your blood?"
Remus looked down at his hands, looking at the crescent moon shapes in them that still oozed. "Oh, right."
"So it's a dead end." Sirius stated faintly, pushing the palms of his hands into his temples. "There has to be another hint of where he's taking her.
"Where's Snape?" Remus asked promptly.
"How the fuck should I know?" Sirius cried out, frustrated. Remus gave him a look that said, `you should figure out what I'm trying to tell you.' "Well I don't know what you're telling me!" He snapped. "Oh, wait, Snape is most likely a Death Eater, so if we find him, he'll tell us where Somailia is."
"Took you long enough," Remus said looking at him with a half-smile. "Where's the Marauder's Map?"
"In the dormitory," Remus turned paler. "Do you think Peter has it?"
"He would pretty much know that it was in there. But we still have to see!" Sirius got up and ran, Remus trailing after.
"What's today?" Sirius asked as they ran.
Remus told him weakly, "April 24th. It's a full moon."
Sirius swore loudly and ran faster to the common room. In the hysteria of trying to find Somailia and the map, they forgot all about the day.
When they finally did reach the common room, Sirius ran up the stairs and tore through the room, and Remus just stared at the mess he was making. Shaking from anxiety and fear, he walked over to his bed and threw back the curtains. A slip of parchment was on his bed, and he lifted it. Remus, Lily and I are going to the underground lake that Katie told us about months ago when we sat there in the bathroom. So, don't worry if we don't show up all day. Oh, and by the way, I took the map, because the hallways we have to go through are forbidden to the students. James.
"Well, I know where the map is." Sirius jumped up from inspecting under his bed, and bounded over to him.
"Where," Remus handed him the note, and he read it quickly. "They went to the lake? Oh dear lord, the place takes ages to get to. For all we know, they could have already killed Somailia by then!" He screamed throwing up his hands.
Remus, not looking up from watching his hands, told him quietly, "Please, don't say that."
"Sorry," he said, and then straightened up, looking at Remus. "I guess we have to search on our own then?" Remus nodded sadly. "She won't die; I was just being over zealous. We'll get her in time, not like…" he said, trailing off, his face falling. Remus knew what he was going to say. `Not like what happened to Katie.'
"Let's go." Remus said seriously, and they both ran out of the room, and out of the castle, into the fading day.
Somailia awoke and found herself tied to a tree. Torpidly, she raised her head, and stared right into Peter Pettigrew's face. "I see I finally have you under my spell." He laughed at his neat little joke.
"Oh yeah," she told him sarcastically swooning, "completely."
He made macho moves in front of her, and she wished that she could die. Right then, if you please. "You're utterly despicable. I don't even know why the other Marauder's hung around with you for so long."
He slapped her hard across the cheek and her head slammed to the side, hitting painfully against the solid tree bark.
Ooh, she made that insult to the wrong person, she did.
"Poor pathetic Pettigrew," He spat out, loathing the words. "How could stupid, bumbling Pettigrew ever be friends with the infamous James Head-Boy-Quidditch-Captain-best-Chaser-ever Potter? Or, how could he ever be with Sirius he'll-have-you-by-the-first-night Black and Remus he's-the-smartest-boy-to-ever-grace-these-halls-even-though-he's-a-werewolf Lupin. Because he's the only one that will look, up to each and every one of them and wet his pants when they do something dangerous. He's the only one that will worship them day and night, even though they don't care anything about them. I'm a Marauder; I'm an animagus, because they trust me with their lives." He grinned manically. "Oh no, they never will again, they'll never believe in me now!"
"They should have never taken you in when they first saw you!" She snarled at him, goading him on. "Tell me, when they first rescue your sad hide? Were bunches of seventh year Slytherins beating you up in a corner, and you couldn't do a damn thing about? Or were a bunch of second year Hufflepuffs taunting you because you had pimples when you were eleven?"
He punched her hard in the jaw, and she still grinned at him her split lip bleeding freely. "When was the first time you were turned down by a girl? Was in that arrogant Miranda girl, who in her fourth year had already been shagged by the fifth year boys and above? Or was in bubbly Sapphire who had, like, no idea what you were like talking about?" He jumped and clawed at her face with his dirty nails.
"I hope you don't have dirt under your nails. If that dirt enters your blood, you could get ring worm."
"All the more to claw you for," he told her, scratching her more until blood ran down freely from her face. "Tell me, would you like to die just as your beloved friend Katie did, after being raped by Tom Riddle and then killed? Hm… Or should I just rape you and know that I got away with you, and not your precious little Remus?"
"Well," Somailia said, trying to get farthest away from him even with the restraints of being tied around a tree, "that's something worth pondering over." Then she looked back at him, sucked on her lower lip, and then spat on his face, blood mixing with saliva. "I'd rather die," she snarled.
He looked over at her, examining all of her body without asking, and she tried moving away from him, but he grabbed her by one of her hips and held her there. "If you would like to know, I'm taller than you."
"That could be rearranged,"
She gave him her last insult. She looked him straight in the eye, and told him, "You'll never be one of them. They'll always pity you because you're not good enough for their clique, for the popularity they gave you, for the girls they sent at you, for the grace, they gave you to walk these halls like a king. You're just a poor, awkward boy with no hopes for anything in your future."
"I've had to ponder that since the first night I got to this bloody school. `Stupid Pettigrew, imprudent Peter, idiot Wormtail, you ruined the whole thing, Wormtail!'" He said, mimicking all the voices so they sounded almost exactly like each Marauder that said them. Somailia noticed with some pride that Remus had said the biggest word. "Never again," he said maliciously, and transformed into Wormtail before her eyes, and hiked up her leg, digging his claws into her leg as he moved upward.
"Don't you dare," She screamed, wriggling around so he couldn't move without slipping. He dug his nails into her leg farther, and she felt one dig through her skin and draw blood, and he still went farther up, until she shivered in horror as she saw his pink tail disappear beneath her skirt. "I have just been violated by a rat."
She screamed loudly, so loudly it bounced between the trees and reverberated into the air, flying toward the sky. "HOLD ON, SOM!" She heard a male voice call to her distantly, and she screamed again, louder.
"Fuck!" She screamed, as she felt Wormtail bite through her, ah, underwear, and she started twisting every which way to remove him. He dug his nails into her inner things, and she yelled even louder. Remus bounded out from the underbrush and stared at her with wide eyes.
"Where is he?" He said hoarsely, rushing over to her.
She looked up at him and screamed, "Up my skirt!" He looked taken aback. "This is not the time for modesty, Remus, just do it!"
"Shouldn't I-?"
"Do it!" He came closer to her cautiously, and closed his eyes, and slowly inched his fingers up into they were in her skirt.
"Sorry," he mumbled, and then he felt the rat tail, and with one swift movement, he tore the rat out and threw him on the ground, and then forced him to change back.
"Sirius," Peter squeaked, as Padfoot bounded out from where Remus had come from. Peter quivered under Sirius' glare as he changed back. Remus stared at him with a look of contempt and Somailia's watery eyes staring past him at a tree with such an intense look of hatred she could burn a hole through it. "I wasn't doing anything, I swear!"
"I just caught you up her skirt!" Remus yelled at him. "And you weren't doing anything," He snorted sarcastically.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sirius yelled, moving closer to him, and Peter shrank away.
"Funny," Sirius heard a sly voice come from behind him, and he whipped around to see Snape standing not a foot away, Jenna, and...
"God dammed Regulus, do you really have to come and attack me with these stupid people?" Sirius stared hard at the girl. "We went out in fourth year for two weeks, didn't we?"
"Yes," she sneered.
Regulus gave Sirius a frosty glare, and from what it looked like was Sirius' twin was staring Sirius down. "The epitome of this was that it was all planned. We knew that you would go rescue your little princess, because you couldn't save the last one."
Sirius glared darkly at him. "How tragic, big brother lost his girlie to the person he had always defied. You just weren't quick enough. You never were. Do you know how many Death Eaters are at this school? At least two hundred, maybe ever more, I haven't counted lately. I believe seven from Gryffindor, ten from Ravenclaw, fifteen from Hufflepuff, seventeen from Slytherin. And that's just sixth and seventh year. And none of you are going to remember it." Peter ran and dove so he landed behind the two other boys and that girl. They all raised their hands at once, and in perfect unison, exclaimed, "Obliviate!"
"Merry Christmas," Remus shouted vaguely, spinning around in circles.
"Huh, I'm tied up to a tree." Somailia said, looking down at herself. "I wonder why."
"Baby brother, how are you? Baby brother, I love you!" Sirius sung to Regulus, and danced toward him, grabbed a clenched hand and started to waltz with him.
"How could you be friends with these idiots, Pettigrew?" Snape asked Peter rhetorically, and smirked perfectly as Regulus aimed a punch at Sirius but Sirius caught his hand and twirled him. "Pettigrew," Snape barked, "untie the girl and escort the lunatics back to the castle."
"Sirius," Peter called, bounding over to Sirius, who spun Regulus away so fast, he kept spinning until he hit a tree.
"Yes?" Sirius asked him pleasantly.
"Untie Somailia." Sirius ran toward her, talked to her excitedly, and ushered Remus over, making sure he didn't start shouting out, "April Fools," or "Look, the Easter Bunny!"
Severus, Regulus, a tad off balance, and Jenna stalked back toward the castle. "I'm," Remus started in a suave baritone, "dreaming, of a white, Christmas."
"Just like the ones that I used to know!" Somailia jumped in, Remus' arm around her waist as she sang second soprano.
"Enough!" Peter shouted at them and they smiled at him vaguely. "Let's just go back up to the castle, please?"
"Okay," Sirius said dimly, just like the smile on his face. With Somailia in between the taller boys, and Peter scowling the whole time, they skipped back to the castle.
As soon as they entered the Common Room, Lily ran at them and hugged them close in her embrace. "Hey Lily," they said becoming more normal, and they hugged her back.
"Where have you been?" James said to them, looking over each one of them severely. He had the uncanny ability to sound exactly like Molly Weasley when he put his mind to it.
"In the forest," Somailia told him, grinning.
"Why?" He snapped at her.
"Cause there's pretty trees," she told him, looking at him quiet seriously.
He gave her a look of disbelief, sat down on the closest couch, put a pretend clipboard in his lap, and said in the same voice, "Bachelor number two:" he gave them a look that was supposed to say, I'm sexy look at me, "same question."
"I just remember I was singing Christmas carols." Remus said, scratching his head.
"Bachelor numbers three?"
"Rescue mission," he said crisply. Peter slyly snuck out of the Common Room at this point, disappearing to wherever he disappeared to usually.
"Rescues mission," James said, looking at him doubtfully. "Who were you rescuing?"
"Remus and I were rescuing Somailia."
"Why."
"Because she needed someone to rescue her," Remus told him pleasantly.
"Right… moving on, is that all you did today?"
"Nope, I was knocked out by somebody," Somailia said gleefully. Lily looked at her in surprise. She was happy someone knocked her out.
"Ya huh," Lily said.
"Where were you all day?"
Lily looked at Somailia happily. "We were at the hot bath."
"Oo, how fun was it, you guys didn't do anything I wouldn't did you?" Somailia asked clandestinely.
"What wouldn't you do?" James and Lily asked her at the same time.
She shrugged. "Not that much."
"Right, well, curfew in a few minutes, so I'll take Somailia down to her Common Room," Lily volunteered, helped Somailia to her feet, and then they set out of the common room, chatting easily.
James looked closely at Remus and Sirius, before clapping his hands suddenly, making the others jump. "Boys, bed."
"What-?" Remus said, confused.
"You can't make me!" Sirius said in a whiny voice making him sound exactly like a three year old.
"Do it!" James told them.
"Fine," Remus said, jumping up and stomping up the steps. James heard the door to their dormitory open and then slam shut.
Sirius sat stubbornly on the couch. "You can't make me!" He repeated.
James looked at him over the rim of his glasses. "I'll give you my special stash of dung bombs."
Sirius jumped up and shook his hand. "Done deal, I expect those by tomorrow. Oh, and, how could I forget, good night, Jamie!" And with that, he bounded up the stairs.
James left the common room and headed to the head's room, where he knew Lily would already be. And he was right, for as soon as he walked in she saw her on the couch reading a book. "What are you reading?" She lifted up the book without making a noise. "'A Wrinkle in Time', sounds fun."
She shrugged. "It's okay."
He sat down on the couch adjacent from her, and started fumbling nervously with his hands while watching her. "Can I have a book?" He finally asked, and she smiled lazily.
"There's one in my room you might like,"
"I can't go up the stairs." He said to her sadly.
"That stupid charm is in here too? Ugh." She marked her page and stood. "I'll go get it."
It seemed that she was gone for an infinitive long time, when she finally came down the stairs trying to do a two step of some kind. She danced around the room to him and then with an imaginary curtsy, sat the book down in his lap. He looked at it and snorted. "Lily, this book is older than me." As she twirled around, she smacked him in the head. "Ow! Fine, I'll read it." And so, blowing dust off the cover, he opened to the first page of Pride and Prejudice.
He read the first line and snorted, looking up at Lily, who was sacked out on the couch again, getting comfortable with her book. He recited to her, "'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.' What is this rubbish?"
"Shut your trap, James, I'm trying to read."
He pouted, and moved uncomfortably against the back of the couch. "So am I," he muttered. "When's the full moon?" He asked her, out of the blue.
She looked out the window. "Tonight, why,"
James jumped up and screamed, "Shit!"
"Oh no, Remus, where is he?" She asked him, jumping up and trying to find her wand.
"He's in their dormitory with Sirius!" His voice rang feverishly in the air, and he flew out of the room with his wand in hand with Lily rushing after him.
"Lily, you cannot come." He told her flatly, as they ran to Gryffindor Tower.
"I can't? Why not! What are you going to that can possibly control a fully grown werewolf?"
He skidded and turned around and looked at her, his facial expression maniacal. She took a step back from him in fright. "Magic," he told her, "hold my wand, please." She took it, looking at him questioningly, and he closed his eyes and turned into a stag for a moment, and then turned back into him.
"What- you're an- illegal?" She asked rushing out her words and not finishing or starting sentences.
"Yes, we all are, except for Remus. Haven't you noticed that he looks better lately after the full moon? It's because we're helping him. He's not hurting himself."
"We have to get him outside some how, or else he'll terrorize all the students in the Gryffindor tower."
"Duh, Lily," He told her, running again, and they stopped quickly as they got to the Fat Lady. She wasn't there. "What the hell!" He cried, and ran back to the Head's room, Lily sprinting after him. "The one night we need her most she isn't there!" He swore loudly and ran farther ahead; darting around a corner and through a passage she didn't even know was there.
She followed him and they ended up at their rooms again, he threw himself in and ran up the stairs. She followed him to his room, where he was tearing it apart trying to find his broom. "I think it's on the balcony," she told him quietly, and he rushed out onto the balcony and almost tripped over it.
"Stay here," he told her with such authority she could only nod. He flew off into the night, and she looked up at the sky. There were thick clouds in front of the moon, but they won't be there in two minutes are so. And then Remus will become what he always had.
Sirius rolled over in his bed and stared at Remus surprised, who was standing over his bed, his eyes dull and dead looking. "Remus?" he asked him, surprised. "What's wrong?"
"Full moon," he whispered dully, "tonight."
"Oh fuck," Sirius whispered, pushing past Remus to look out the window. There were clouds over the moon, but some of the rays were showing through. He looked behind him and saw Remus fidgeting oddly. "We have to get you out," Sirius threw open the window and James zoomed in, making Sirius fall over in surprise.
"Remus, get on the broom," he said steely.
"I won't, I'll hurt you."
"I don't care!" James roared at him. "You can't stay here; you'll frighten everyone and maul this room to bits. You have to get out of the castle." He looked at the sky, and the clouds were moving. "We're wasting time; get on the broom, NOW!"
Remus quivered as he walked over to James broom and got on behind him, wrapped his arms weakly around James' stomach. "Meet us at the tree," he told Sirius, and then dived out the window.
The clouds passed over the moon and then all the moon beams streamed on them when they were ten yards from the ground. Remus seized up and went rigid. James dropped the level of his broom until they were two yards from the ground, and then he jerked himself and Remus over the broom and fell to the ground. Remus' limbs started shaking uncontrollably. James jumped up and backed away from him staring. Remus was on his knees, and he snarled, his head lengthening and his body as well.
His shoulders were hunching and hair was sprouting everywhere, and his hands were turning into claws, and then he roared, leaping up, and charged at James. James stood stock still, frozen in fear. He did the first thing his instincts told him to do, run. While he ran, he closed his eyes and squeezed them hard, trying to turn into Prongs. Almost immediately, his body hunched over so he was running on his hands and his knees, but they were now his hooves. He felt the rippling on his skin as the hair took over and felt his face lengthening. His eyesight became blurred and he sensed his eyes moving farther apart. His antlers grew as he ran through the trees into the forest.
Damn it, he thought, how could the teachers forget!
He forced the werewolf; he wasn't Remus now, to double back so they were running back to the school. The werewolf skidded to a halt, raised his muzzle into the air, and sniffed. And then he charged toward the school, toward the tree, where Sirius stood, waiting for them. As soon as James burst through the trees and saw Sirius, he changed instantly into the great big black dog of his, wagged his tail in greeting, and bounded away from them, playfully leading them on a chase that zigzagged in and out of the forest.
Lily grumbled as she watched the three of them having a delightful romp on the grounds, going in and out of the forest. She yawned and looked at her watch. It was around eleven o'clock, and she was usually asleep before ten. She shrugged and exited James' room and went into her own. She took a cold shower, she always preferred those when she took showers at night, changed into her pajamas, and was asleep not a minute after her head hit the pillow.
She tossed and turned in her sleep, muttering to herself, listening half asleep for Remus' howl, and Sirius' accompanying bark. She felt someone put their hand on her cheek, cupping her head in their hands and talking to her in a soothing manner. She smiled as she went into a dreamless deep sleep.
Somailia jumped from her sleep for a reason unknown to her and threw open her curtains. "Oh, you again, Hello," she said to that boy pleasantly. He blinked his luminous green eyes at her again. "I have been watching him."
"And Potters,"
"I've been watching Lily and James as well. They're perfectly fine."
The boy mumbled out, "And Sirius."
She gave him a miserable half-smile. "He's still very hurt about what happened, but he's getting happier, he knows he'll see her later on."
"Pettigrew will die," He spat looking at her with narrowed eyes.
"I'll kill him I promise," she swore to him. He nodded, she blinked, and when she opened her eyes again, he was gone. She looked at her clock, and it blinked one forty-seven at her sleepily. "Ghost hour sucks." She ripped closed her curtains, and her pillow gave a healthy whump as her head fell upon it. She went into an uneasy sleep.
She sat waiting for him as he came back. "So," she said grinning at him lopsidedly. "How's it like?"
"She was sleeping," he whispered to her. "She told me she would kill him, she's watching Remus, Potters are pretty much good to go, and he still misses you."
Katie still smiled, watching him. "So, you didn't get to see your dad or mum?"
"I can only visit the people who can sense it." Harry mumbled to her sadly. "But I got to see my mum, she was sleeping restlessly, and I held her head in my hand and she went right to sleep." She got up and hugged him tightly.
"It's okay, baby boy," she said to him like she would talk to a toddler, "you'll get to meet them soon enough."
"What's today?" He asked her, looking at her with those luminous eyes.
"April 29th, 1978. Sorry."
"Almost a year and half until I'm actually conceived,"
"At least you live until you're what, twenty-three? I died when I was sixteen. I have to wait about seventeen more years until he's here with me again."
"You'll have my parents in three years."
"Yeah, yeah," she waved the apologetic remark away with a flick of her wrist. "I still have you for half a year." She patted him on the cheek and kissed him on the lips, bold as you please. "God, how long have I been here?"
"Three or for months, give or take."
"That sucks. Are they still out there, running around?"
"Only for another half an hour," he mumbled his head in the crook of her neck.
"Well, let them have their fun while they can. That stupid Pettigrew is gallivanting off with the Slytherins somewhere."
"He's a royal ba-"
"Bacon," She cried, and ran over to the tray that just appeared. "I missed bacon," she said, closing her eyes and savoring the taste.
"Right, bacon," He said, walking over to the tray and sat in an overstuffed chair that appeared out of no where. He slumped over and put his head in his hands.
"You know," she said looking at him as she chewed on her bacon, "I've seen your dad do that exact same thing before. I know you'll be fed up with this, but you look just like him."
"I know, I know. Even he's told me."
"You should go to sleep, buddy boy." He nodded, stood and kissed her cheek, and disappeared. He came back a few seconds later.
"Can I have some bacon?" He said, tears welling up in his eyes. She gave him the tray. "Bye,"
"Bye," he disappeared again, and she swallowed her mouthful, and watched the three true Marauders run around until the moon disappeared and they were themselves.
"The sad thing is," she whispered to herself, "he won't remember anything about this once he's born." With a soggy smile on her face, she turned from the sky, and disappeared, going off to her dream room.
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