Hey you guys! Sorry its taken me so long to get this out. I had to go to New Hampshire last weekend for a wedding, and then this week was spirit week at school so my friends and I made shirts and everything. But anyway, here it is! A rather long one too, sorry if it's too long! And Thank you for all the support:D AMAZING BANNER BY ELISA AT TDA!!
“Padfoot, Padfoot, come on get up. Sirius,” someone whispered, shaking him roughly. Sirius opened his eyes, and saw that Maddison was still sleeping. He turned over and saw James standing there.
“What do you want Prongs?” Sirius said, his voice dry.
“Get your arse out of bed and into the common room. I’ll fill you in down there.”
Sirius sighed, took his arm away from Maddison and followed James out of the room and into the common room. “Now why did we need to come down here?”
“The reason is because your brother is going mad about Maddison.” James said his voice edgy.
“Come again?”
“He saw you take Maddison from the table Sirius. And he was already mad, but now he’s gone overboard, and I’ve never seen him like it.” Remus replied.
“Well now what’s got him so mad?” Sirius asked.
“You see, we were talking about it, and one of us brought up about your room, and I don’t know how, but one of his friends must’ve heard and-,” Remus began to say.
“And, what?” Sirius questioned.
“And he’s more pissed about the fact that she’s up in your room, and that you were with her the whole time, which would be about two hours.” James finished.
“Oh well,” Sirius said, turning back to the staircase.
“Oh well? Padfoot, he’s been right here at the entrance ever since he found out, shouting and everything! McGonagall finally came and got him after about fifteen minutes.”
Sirius looked at the two and sighed. “We’ll just have to wait until tomorrow. There’s no way in hell I’m going to wake her up now, just to please him.” He walked over to the couch and sprawled out on it. “You know, you interrupted a rather good sleep Prongsie.”
James walked over and sat down in the armchair across from Remus. He looked at Sirius and smirked, “Did I now Padfoot?”
“Indeed,” Sirius sighed, putting his hands behind his head.
“Now tell me about earlier,” James said, leaning one arm on the armrest, his head inclined towards the couch.
“As I said before Prongs, there’s nothing to tell,” Sirius said, looking at James with an exasperated look.
“So you were just getting that close to examine her mouth?” Remus questioned, his book closed shut, a spark of interest in his eyes.
Sirius didn’t say anything; he just turned his head up to the ceiling. “So there is something to tell.” James said, amusement in his voice.
“It was absolutely nothing.”
“Why don’t you just start from the moment you left the Great Hall with the beautiful Miss Cantril?” James asked in a reporter type voice.
Sirius laughed and sat up. “Ok, ok, ok, seeing as you won’t get off my back if I don’t tell you anything.” Sirius stopped and looked at them. “Well, I just carried her up the stairs, and I was going to put her on the couch, but I decided against it so she wouldn’t be bothered. So then I took her up to our room, seeing as we can’t get into the girls dormitories. I laid her on the bed and we just talked. I made her laugh, and she just kept staring at me.”
James laughed and shook his head. “No different then any other girl.”
“No, it wasn’t like that Prongs. It was like she was analyzing me, as if to remember everything about me. Like it was the last time she would ever see me again. So I asked her what’s her deal, not like that Moony don’t worry, and she told me about this kind of dream she had when she blacked out.” Sirius stopped again and looked at them.
“Well are we going to hear it?” Remus asked, truly curious.
“She said I was in a cell, in Azkaban and that I was looking at this picture of a family. Apparently they were a family of red heads and I threw the picture and started mumbling about you, Prongs, and Lily and someone named Harry. Then I guess I said ‘Just you wait Peter…your time is coming.’” Sirius finished with her vision and looked at James and Remus.
“That’s one heck of a thing to dream about. Now go on with the rest of the story,” James said, as if he was getting cut short like a little kid who wanted more treats.
“Well, then I checked to see if she had a temperature, like it was a hallucination or something. She didn’t find that very amusing I don’t think. I told her it was just a dream and whatever, and I started to leave, but then she grabbed my arm and told me not to go. So then I told her I wouldn’t and walked on the other side of my bed and laid down. And I was just laying there and she put her hand on my cheek, and then started to play with my hair. I tried to get her to calm down, because I knew the dream still had her shaken up, and so I was rubbing her arm, and then I started to lean in, and then you guys came in.”
“Ah, so it was her that made the first move,” James said, another smirk on his face.
“Prongs it was nothing like that,” Remus said, looking towards James now.
“And what’s that suppose to mean?” James asked back.
“She was truly scared about that dream. She thought Sirius was going to change and become the Sirius she saw in her dream. She thought that that’s how she was going to remember Sirius. You must’ve looked terrible in that dream,” Remus explained.
Sirius shrugged and looked back up at the ceiling. All of a sudden the portrait opened and there walked in Lily. “Good to see you Evans.”
“Sirius, McGonagall wants to see you in her office…along with Potter and Remus,” Lily said.
“What about?” Sirius asked, sitting up and letting out a sigh.
“About Maddison.”
Sirius got up and walked towards the portrait hole with James and Remus following behind. They walked down the staircases, taking a few shortcuts here and there, finally getting to the first floor. Before they got close the McGonagall’s office, they stopped and started talking.
“Do we tell her the truth about Maddison?” Remus asked.
“I think we should,” James said, looking at Sirius. “And I think we should tell her about those letters too, Padfoot. Especially if it’s got her worked up like that.”
“That could be the reason why she had that blackout earlier,” Remus continued, going off of what James was trying to say.
“Let’s just see what happens. If she asks if we have anything else to tell her, then we’ll tell her. If not, we won’t bring it up.” Sirius said. They all agreed and finally got to McGonagall’s office.
“Professor,” they each said.
McGonagall looked at them, her lips thin, “Can you three tell me what’s going on?” Her eyes plainly set on Sirius.
“What do you mean Professor?” He asked.
“What I mean Mr. Black, is what’s going on with Maddison Cantril. From what I hear, she did not attend History of Magic, along with you Mr. Black. And she’s been gone ever since then.”
“She’s up in our room Professor,” Sirius said, looking at McGonagall.
“Dare I ask why?”
“You see Professor,” Remus said, “earlier today at lunch, Maddison blacked out.”
“We tried waking her up the whole time. She was probably out for about three minutes,” James added.
“Then she woke up, and didn’t know where she was. So I thought it best that I take her up to the common room, but it was rather crowded and I figured she should get some peace and quiet, so I took her up to our room.”
“Then, James, Lily and I went up after we finished our lunch to go check on her. She still seemed a little bit out of it. We were there until the bell rang. She got up and took two steps and practically collapsed.” Remus said, and then continued, “So I told her that she couldn’t go to class, especially if she couldn’t walk and how she was spaced out.”
“She didn’t like that much, so I asked Remus if he could get her a sleeping potion from Madame Pomfrey, figured I’d save her the embarrassment of having to go to the Hospital Wing on her first day.” Sirius explained.
“But then Remus got some from his trunk. He had some for his furry little problem, if you catch my drift Professor,” James said.
“Yes Potter, I do. And now?”
“She’s out. Been sleeping since History of Magic, probably will be the rest of the night.”
“I must admit you three, you guys are really good friends,” she said, giving them one of her rare smiles, but then it vanished just about as quickly as it came. “But, you should have brought her straight to Madame Pomfrey Mr. Black. I will not deduct any house points tonight, but do not think you will be so lucky the next time. You may go.”
The trio left McGonagall’s office and went into the Great Hall for some dinner. As they ate, they sat and talked, and laughed. Peter joined them a little bit later. As they were finishing their last bites of food, Sirius felt extra weight on the bench and someone sitting next to him at his right. He looked over and saw Maddison.
“What are you doing up?” He asked, looking at her.
“Just woke up, and you weren’t there.” She said, giving him a look.
“What’s that for?”
“You said you wouldn’t leave.”
“McGonagall wanted to see me, sorry.” He said, and went back to his plate.
She turned away from him and started piling food onto her plate. “So how are you two?”
“We’re fine. A bit worried about you, how are you feeling?” Remus asked.
“Much better,” Maddison said, taking a bite of her meatloaf.
“That’s good. I have the notes for you up in the room; I’ll give them to you when we go
back up.”
“Alrighty, sounds good,” she said.
There was an awkward silence until James finally broke it, “So Maddison, I see you know what you want and when.”
Maddison looked up at him curiously, and saw him give her a wink. “What’s that
supposed to mean?”
James laughed, “I’m just kidding with you sweet cheeks.”
She laughed at this, “Sweet cheeks?”
“Yeah, you have the yummiest lookin’ cheeks I’ve ever seen!” James said, leaning over and pinching one quickly.
Remus, Sirius, Peter, and himself started to laugh, and it got louder after they saw the look Maddison was giving James. After a couple seconds, Maddison couldn’t help it any longer and started laughing along with them. The dinner things went away, and dessert replaced it. Maddison took a plate of trifle and started eating it, and moaned at the deliciousness.
“Are you okay over there Maddison?” Sirius said, smirking.
“Quite. This is the most delicious trifle I’ve tasted in my life!” She exclaimed, taking another bite.
Sirius laughed, and continued eating his meal. After they finished eating, they left the Great Hall and started towards the staircases. Before they reached them though, someone had turned Maddison around and pulled her towards them.
“Maddison! I’ve been so worried about you!” Regulus said, wrapping his arms around her, giving her a hug. “Go with Cissy and Bella, I’ll be right there.”
“It’s nice to see you too Regulus,” Maddison said laughing. She turned back towards the marauders and said, “I’ll see you guys later alright?” At that note, Bellatrix and Narcissa linked arms with Maddison, and they went towards the Slytherin common room.
Regulus watched them leave and then nodded his head to Lucius, Snape, Rodolphus, and Rabastan, and then turned to his brother. “What do you think you’re doing Sirius? What did you do?”
“I didn’t do a thing, just took her up to my room is all.” Sirius said, smirking, knowing full well what his brother would think next.
Regulus’ features turned dark, his eyes turning cloudy and darker then usual. “You better watch what you say little brother.”
“Or what, you’re going to tell Mummy and Daddy what I’ve done? Or better yet, tell the scum bag that you call the Dark Lord? Oh wait, you wouldn’t do that, you have something up your sleeve don’t you?” Sirius said, taking out his wand after his brother did.
Regulus gritted his teeth, “Don’t talk about that. I want to know what went on with you and Maddison.”
“And what do you think happened my dear brother?” Sirius said in an amused voice, but yet a disgusted one.
“I think you did something, especially to have her go so easily with you, having her arms around her neck. You guys looked a little bit cozier then two people that hate each other.” He said darkly.
“Well, times have changed, I suppose. And let me tell you, I have no objections to that,” Sirius said, egging his brother on. Regulus growled, his teeth gritting. Sirius smirked, knowing full well this was eating his brother alive, “You’ve got yourself a lucky one there. Why someone with such great legs would ever agree to stay with you is beyond my measure. Oh wait…that’s right, she did say something about not wanting to be with you after I-.”
“Petrificus totalus!” Regulus said, rage clearly written on his face.
“Protego!” Sirius exclaimed, in just enough time.
“Langlock!” Severus said, having Sirius’ tongue glued to the roof of his mouth.
“Is that all you got little Sevie? Diffindo!” James said, having it cut Snape’s cheek.
“Avad-,” Regulus started, pointing his wand at his brother, but was interrupted by Professor Dumbledore.
Dumbledore put a shielding charm in between Regulus and his group and three out of the four marauders. He looked at the two groups with a stern look, his mouth holding a frown instead of his usual smile. He looked at the marauders, James, Remus, Sirius, but where was Peter?
Dumbledore walked closer to the group, “What is going on here?”
“Just practicing Professor,” said Regulus, looking at Dumbledore with innocence.
“Practicing what Mr. Black? Unforgivable curses?” he questioned, his head inclined
towards Regulus. Regulus didn’t respond, “Up to my office Mr. Black. Mr. Snape, go see Madame Pomfrey. Mr. Malfoy, Messrs. Lestranges, go to your common room.” As they didn’t move, Dumbledore looked at them and raised his voice a little, “I said go. Now!” The five of them went in the direction that Dumbledore had told them to go, and he watched them leave, not speaking until he knew they were gone. “Now you three, what is going on?”
Sirius started to talk, forgetting about the curse, making everything mumbled.
“Professor, he’s been hit with langlock.”
Dumbledore looked at Remus, and then at Sirius and did the opposite of the spell, freeing Sirius’ tongue from the roof of his mouth. “Remus, you may go.”
Remus looked at Sirius and James before leaving, and walked up the staircases up to Gryffindor tower. Sirius and James looked at Dumbledore, and waited. After a minute of knowing that he wasn’t going to talk, Sirius once again started to explain. “You see professor, we were going up to the common room with Maddison when Regulus came and told her to go to the Slytherin common room. My cousins took her and Regulus and his little group of Death Eaters stayed behind.”
“Be careful of what you say Mr. Black,” Dumbledore said, giving him a good look. “It’s not a good thing to accuse of something you do not know for sure.”
“Oh, we both know it’s true professor.”
“Mr. Black, I have already warned you once. Now, you two, follow me.” Dumbledore said, walking towards the stone gargoyle and walking up the stairs and stopped at the door of his office and put his hand on the door handle. “You two wait out here. And don’t think about leaving, Mr. Black.” He said, turning his head slightly.
Dumbledore walked through the door and closed it behind him, and put a sound proof charm on the door. Sirius looked at James and sighed with frustration. They stood there, not speaking, for about fifteen minutes before the door opened and out walked Regulus. He looked at them, giving a sharp look. He mumbled something under his breath and walked away after a couple more seconds. The two watched him descend the spiraling staircase and then headed into Dumbledore’s office.
“Take a seat,” Dumbledore said, conjuring up two chairs. They took a seat and looked at Dumbledore waiting. “Now who wants to explain how it got into that duel?”
“Well it’s like Sirius said before. And then once Maddison was gone, that’s when Regulus got on his mean streak. He started accusing Sirius of different things, and then took out his wand, and started the whole thing,” James said, leaving out certain parts of the story like usual.
“I do not believe Mr. Potter, any person would use an Unforgivable just because of few words,” Dumbledore said, the sparkle in his blue eyes coming back.
“Unless it’s their bunch of people,” James said again, looking straight at Dumbledore.
“I’ve heard your theory boys, and I’ve already told you not to accuse.”
“But we’re not just accusing professor, we know for a fact they are!” Sirius exclaimed, standing up, his voice filled with rage.
“Sit down Mr. Black. I believe there are some things that you would just like to believe, seeing as you and your family don’t have that great of a relationship but that does not mean you go around an-,” before Dumbledore could finish, Sirius stood up again, slamming his fist on the desk.
“I am not just saying this just because of my family! I’m not just saying it to accuse! I know what he is; I know what he’s been doing for the last year! I know what my family is up to, and if you don’t believe me, you will soon enough!” Sirius exclaimed, his breathing becoming rapid.
“Let’s say that what you’re saying is true-,” Dumbledore began, and noticed that Sirius was about to interrupt again, “do not interrupt me again Mr. Black. Now if what you’re saying is true, tell me, what is going on?”
“One day during the summer, I overheard Regulus talking to Kreacher. That’s our house elf sir. He was telling him that Voldemort had a job for him coming up soon, real soon, and that he should be honored. I don’t know what the job was; hell I don’t think Regulus even knows himself. I don’t know if the job’s been done, or if it hasn’t, but I do know that if it didn’t already happen, it will happen. My family would not let Kreacher pass this up. It would be such a great…honor,” Sirius said in a normal tone, but changed at the word honor.
“Thank you Mr. Black…I’ll look into that,” Dumbledore said, seeming a little distracted, his fingertips touching together. He looked over his glasses and looked at Sirius and James inquisitively. “Is there something else you two would like to tell me?”
Sirius looked at James, James at Sirius and then back at Dumbledore. They both shook their head, and Dumbledore looked at them as if he already knew what they thought they should tell him. He sighed and closed his eyes for a minute, “You may go.”
The two of them walked out of the doors and down the spiral staircases, talking quietly amongst themselves.
“Do you think we did the right thing about not telling him about the letters?” James asked Sirius, taking a couple of the stairs at a time.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea if we tell anyone Prongs. I think we should just keep it to ourselves….” Sirius said, going through a passageway. “Wonder if Maddison’s back yet.”
“We can always find out,” James said, taking out the marauders map. “I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good,” he said, putting his wand to the parchment. “Lumos,” he said, lighting his wand. He opened the map to the dungeons and looked for her dot. He couldn’t find it so he looked at Gryffindor tower, and sure enough there she
was, “Yep, she’s there. Nox.”
They both kept walking up the passageway and started talking about Quidditch tryouts and how this year’s going to be, how they were going to win the cup and everything. They walked through the portrait of the Gryffindor common room and walked through it. They walked over towards the fire when Maddison came up to Sirius and stopped him dead in his tracks.
“What the hell were you thinking Black?” Maddison said, prodding her finger at his chest, navy blue over taking her eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“You know very well what I mean! About to use the killing curse on Regulus!? If I knew any better I would say-,” Maddison started to say before Sirius interrupted her.
“You think I was going to use that? I mean I hate the guy, but I’m going to go down to his level!” Sirius exclaimed, looking at Maddison in shock. The whole common room was now looking at the two, Lily and Remus walking over.
“Of course that’s what you’re going to say! You’re going to defend yourself, saying that you never even tried! Anyone would!”
“Yeah including your fiancé!” Sirius yelled back.
“He would never do something like that! Never! That’s more then I can say for you!”
“Maddison calm down will you? Sirius really wasn’t going to use it, it was Regulus.”
“Stay out of this James! No one asked you. And as for you Black, I can’t believe you! After all you said, after the promise you made to me, you just can’t keep it can you?! A house elf has more worth then you!” Maddison yelled, as a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and started pulling her away from Sirius.
“Would you just shut up?! Listen to what your saying would you!? And it wasn’t that long ago when you didn’t want me to leave your side! What’s changed, huh?! You’re going to believe that arse after everything he’s done?” Sirius exclaimed, not taking his eyes off of her.
“I was scared! That’s the only reason why I asked you to stay! I didn’t want to see what I saw again! But that has nothing to do with what you did! You attempted to murder Regulus! And of course I’m going to believe him over you. Ever since you met me, you’ve made my life a living hell! And I know exactly what I’m saying. I want you to stay away from me, I don’t want to hear you or see you!” Maddison yelled, tears brimming at her eyes. Her eyes had changed from the navy blue to black, and the windows suddenly blew open, and the fire started to shoot up.
“Maddison, calm down…,” Sirius started to say in a calm voice. He edged towards her and held a hand out to her.
“Stay away from me!” She felt more pulls on her shoulders and finally gave up against the pull. The person took her towards the couch and sat her down, sitting with her, keeping their hands on her shoulders. She turned around and saw Remus, he looked at her with his golden brown eyes.
“Maddison…Maddison look at me,” Remus said, taking his finger and forcing her head to move to look at him.
“What are you all looking at?! Go back to what you were doing, there’s nothing to see!” James exclaimed at everyone who was just staring at Maddison or Sirius. Whispers started to fill the room and James and Sirius walked a little closer to the couch.
“Now listen to me…Sirius never even started to use the killing curse. I was there, I remember everything that happened.” Remus stated calmly.
Lily moved closer to Maddison, “And even I know Sirius has more dignity then that Maddison….”
“Regulus lied to you, whatever he told you…,” Remus said, wiping away a tear from her cheek.
Maddison looked at Remus one last time and got up suddenly and headed for the girls staircase. She didn’t look back at them, didn’t say good night, just went up stairs, down the hall and to hers and Lily’ room. As soon as she left, the wind settled down and the fire calmed down. They watched her leave, and then settled back down. Remus turned around and looked at Sirius.
“Well we know one thing for sure, you get under her skin. And rather quickly I must add.”
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