A/N Thanks to Eira aka phoenix_anamagus for her beta and help on this! Once again, Shinedown lyrics for the chapter title and everything else belongs to JK Rowling
It all happened so fast that it did not have time to register with Alexia that her boyfriend was a dog. Within a few seconds of James screaming it at her, he was knocking her to the ground as a werewolf came tearing out of the Whomping Willow and lunged at her.
“Petrificus Totalus!” Lily yelled from her spot on the ground beside James and Alexia.
The werewolf instantly went rigid and fell to the ground in a full body bind. As soon as it did, the three of them jumped to their feet all talking at once. Within a minute or two, Sirius was also there trying to find out what was going on.
“How did you find us?” James asked the girls.
“James, what is going on? What do you mean Sirius is that dog? And you’re a stag? Wait…what?” Lily asked at the same time.
“Did you follow us? How? And why?!” Sirius demanded.
“You’re an Animagi? You had me tutoring you in transfiguration!” Alexia asked Sirius, her voice shrill.
“Wait…wait…everyone calm down. We need to get you two back to the dorms before the spell wears off of him,” James said, gesturing to the werewolf.
Lily studied the wolf for a moment before exclaiming, “Is that Peter?!”
“No! It’s…” James looked at Sirius.
“It’s Remus,” Alexia whispered in shock. “If it’s not Peter, it must be Remus which explains his monthly disappearances. But it certainly doesn’t explain you two being Animagi. Does Dumbledore know about Remus? Does he know about the two of you?”
“Yes and no,” Sirius answered. “But James is right. We need to get you back to the castle now. James, give them your cloak. You two go back to the castle. We have the map so we’ll just have to risk getting nabbed. We have to take Remus back to the Shrieking Shack. We’ll meet you back in the common room and explain all of this then.”
~*~
When they reached the castle, they snuck back in through the window and went to the room behind the Gfyffindor’s Common Room. Everyone sat silently for a long time. Finally, Lily said, “So…you’re sneaking out every month to hang with Lupin…who is a werewolf. And…”
“You’re a dog,” Alexia blurted out, still looking at Sirius with shock. “A dog?”
“James, don’t you think you could have mentioned at some point in our relationship that you were a deer? I mean…it’s not like it’s a small matter. Any other animals you want to confess to being able to transform into?”
Before James could answer, Alexia muttered, “Like a dog?”
Rolling her eyes, Lily snapped, “Yes, Alexia. Sirius is a dog. Way to beat a dead horse. Would you prefer him to be a stag? I’m sure they could switch.”
“No, we can’t. It’s not that simple,” Sirius replied running his hands through his hair. “Look, we wanted to tell you but we couldn’t...”
“Why? Didn’t you trust us?” Lily asked. “James?”
“Yes we did…I mean we do, or at least I do…” James stammered.
“Oh, you don’t trust me Sirius?” Lily crossed her arms over her chest and shot Sirius a dirty look.
“No! That’s not what I meant,” James exclaimed. “What I meant is we both trust both of you, but…Lupin doesn’t want anyone to know about him. Even though he doesn’t bite people, it’s still not something he wants everyone to know.”
Lily’s expression changed from anger to tenderness. “But I wouldn’t judge him. He’s one of the sweetest blokes at the school. Much nicer than you two by far!”
“But if you’re different and people have treated you badly because of it, you naturally assume that everyone will act that way toward you. Trust me, I know,” Alexia commented. “I guess that Remus didn’t want to risk losing our friendship.”
James nodded. “The fact that you two treat him so nicely and were his friends made him that much more concerned that you would think less of him, or perhaps, not even want him around. And if the truth slipped out…”
“…he’d have to leave Hogwarts once everyone told their parents,” Sirius completed his sentence.
Alexia looked at Lily and shrugged. “They’re right. As much as I hate to admit it, I wouldn’t have told them if the situation was reversed.”
“Now,” Sirius began. “You two can explain why you felt you should spy on us, and how you found us when we were under James’ invisibility cloak.”
Alexia could tell he was very irritated by the fact that they spied on them, or perhaps because they outsmarted them. Either way, she felt a storm brewing between them again. Since it wasn’t her idea and she didn’t want to speak for Lily, she looked over at her friend, waiting for her to explain.
“You disappear every month. Of course I was curious and worried.” Lily gave James a look of exasperation. “You knew you had a great reason for lying, but I didn’t know. I thought you guys were just off breaking the rules for fun.”
“And how did you find us?” James asked.
“The map. We bewitched it to show us on a plain piece of parchment what you were seeing. When you stopped at the Whomping Willow, we came there,” Lily explained.
“When I told you earlier it wasn’t my secret to share, couldn’t you have trusted me and not spied on us?” Sirius asked Alexia. She could tell by his eyes he was really angry, and she felt guilty.
“We just…I had already promised…I’m sorry,” Alexia replied, lowering her eyes. “Please understand we were worried and didn’t understand.”
“Now Lupin is going to have to worry about one more person keeping his secret. And it’s our fault. How do you think he’s going to feel about that? How do you think we feel that you felt you had to spy on us?” Sirius stood up suddenly and sat beside Alexia. “How can I trust you to believe me when I say I cannot tell you something because of someone else?”
Alexia shrugged. As upset as she was at him, she knew he had a right to feel just as betrayed.
“Look, it’s very late and I’m knackered. Let’s just talk this over tomorrow when everyone has a good night’s sleep. We didn’t sleep last night and I could use a few hours before classes and practice tomorrow,” James said, stifling a yawn.
Alexia nodded and without saying anything to Sirius, she stood to follow Lily to the Common Room. Sirius grabbed her hand, and when she turned around, he was watching her. He pulled her to him and kissed her gently before letting her go to into the dorm rooms.
“Next time I come up with a brilliant idea like that, clobber me over the head,” Lily whispered to Alexia, walking up the stairs. “I’m not sure who has the most right to be put out, but I feel horrible about this, especially about Lupin.”
“We’ll just have to convince him he can trust us, and we don’t hold it against him…”
“Well, it is about time you two decided to sneak back in,” Professor McGonagall said. She had been waiting in a chair near Alexia’s room. “When I was alerted of your absence, I was very worried. Surely, our Head Girl would not sneak out of the castle at night. So, I checked the library and did not find either of you there . Would you like to tell me where you were?”
“Professor, it’s my fault. I was upset about my parents, so I went to the Astronomy Tower. Lily came up there to get me. I’m sorry I worried you,” Alexia replied apologetically.
Professor McGonagall sighed. “Ms. Morgan, I’m very sorry you’re worried about your family, but that does not give you the right to roam about the castle at night.”
“Yes Professor.”
“You will meet me in my classroom for the rest of the week after your last class. Lily, you should know better. Next time, you will report a missing student to me. You will join Ms. Morgan in detention for three days.”
“Yes, Professor McGonagall,” Lily and Alexia said together.
“Now, no talking and go straight to your rooms,” Professor McGonagall ordered, and the two girls went straight to their rooms without another word.
~*~
At breakfast the next morning, Lily sat beside Alexia and whispered, “I cannot believe you took all the blame last night.”
“I have less to lose than you do. Besides, it’s no big deal, but I really want to know who ratted us out,” Alexia whispered back. “It seems strange that no one knew you were gone until Professor McGonagall came to look for me. I think Heather decided to get a little payback for Sirius and I making up.”
The two girls looked down the table where Heather and her friends were giggling together. Heather’s triumphant smile confirmed Alexia’s suspicions, and she began to rise from her seat, intent on teaching Heather a lesson for being a narc.
“No! You’re in enough trouble plus McGonagall might do more investigating and find out about Sirius and James,” Lily exclaimed, grabbing her arm. Reluctantly, Alexia sat back down but couldn’t help smiling at the expression of fear on Heather’s face when she had stood up. She loved knowing she could still make Heather fear her from a distance.
“What a berk,” Alexia replied.
Before Lily could reply, Sirius and James slid in beside them, followed by Peter. Sirius grabbed a slice of apple off Alexia plate and asked, “Is it true then? You got busted by McGonagall?”
“Yes, I did, and no, I didn’t rat you out. Lily and I got detention, but at least Lily is still Head Girl.”
“Yes but only because you took all the blame with that story of yours,” Lily pointed out. “She told McGonagall we were in the Astronomy Tower, talking about her worries about her family. I think the professor felt sorry for her, so she let us both off pretty light.”
“Are you going to miss any games?” James asked Alexia with a look of annoyance.
“No. I’ll just miss practices, but you’re welcome for not blowing your cover. I’m sure you mean to say ‘thank you’,” Alexia answered with a smirk. She slapped Sirius’ hand as he tried stealing more food from her plate. “Get your own plate you bum.”
No one said anything about last night but Alexia couldn’t help noticing Peter kept looking at her strangely. She realized that Lily and her didn’t know what had happened to Peter last night. Is he an Animagus as well? If so, what animal was he, and why didn’t they see him last night?
~*~
Friday night Alexia and Sirius snuck off to the Room of Requirement to be alone again. As they lay in each other’s arms, he kissed her deeply. It seemed like things got very intense very quickly between them, and Alexia finally pulled away, gasping.
“Sirius, we need to slow down. I’m not ready for…I mean, it’s too soon…”
“I know I just cannot help myself. You feel and taste so good it just makes me feel like I’ve just knocked back a love potion. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to rush you, but each time I kiss you, I want more,” he whispered as he kissed down her neck.
“I feel the same way, but I don’t think I’m ready for the next step,” she whispered in reply as she ran her hands through his hair.
Sighing, he pulled away and smiled slightly. “You’re right.” He pulled her closer, and she rested her head on his chest.
“You know the holidays are coming up soon. I’d like to see you,” he said, trailing his fingers down her arm slowly. “Would you come to dinner at the Potters? Mrs. Potter already invited you and Lily both to dinner.”
“I’ve never been asked to meet someone’s parents before.”
“You don’t need to worry about feeling uncomfortable. They’re good people and treat everyone like they’re part of the family. Mrs. Potter will love you,” Sirius replied. “Just because I do.”
Alexia sat up quickly, her back to him. “You…what?”
“Are you so surprised?” he laughed as he sat beside her. “Look at me.”
When she looked at him nervously, he put his finger under her chin, and with a smile said, “Alexia, I love you. I wasn’t sure at first, but when we broke up, then you found out about me being an Animagus and didn’t break up with me over that, I realized I was completely besotted by you.”
Tears burned her eyes, and she couldn’t answer him. Her emotions felt like they had been tossed into the air and were rapidly falling down around her.
Losing his smile, he said, “Oh. I see. You don’t…”
“No! I might, I mean I think I do…I’m not sure because I’ve never felt this way before. I’ve never been in love,” Alexia exclaimed. “How do you know for certain?”
Sirius kissed her tenderly for a long time. When he finally pulled away, he said, “You’ll know for sure when you feel it in your heart. There is no rush. I’m willing to wait until you’re sure.”
Story Summary:
Before Lord Voldomort ruined his life, Sirius Black enjoyed his best years at Hogwarts. In his final year, a fellow student manages to turn things up side down for him but he has no complaints.
PG13 for now - might rate higher later
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