B/A/N- I’m terribly
sorry to all my wonderful reviewers for the wait. I know you guys have been anticipating this
for awhile…this is mainly just a chapter to help everyone figure out what’s
going on. I hope you all can forgive me
for the long wait, but on a brighter note, I will now be updating more often,
because as of yesterday, I’m on summer vacation!
Chappie 45- Adjusting
to Life
Emia stretched out her legs on the window seat in her dorm. Her friends from her dorm had all gone to
study in the Beauxbatons library, so Emia was content to sit by the window, to
think, and to write out a letter. Three
months had passed since Emia was admitted to the French institution, leaving
behind her friends, family…everyone she cared about. Ironically, though her parents had insisted
that the girls move to
Dear Siri-
I’ve been thinking about you so
much…
I miss you.
I can’t wait for the next couple
months to hurry and be over, because I don’t care what my parents say, I’m
coming to visit you all over summer. I
have to see Avie; I’ve never been separated from my sister for more than a
couple days before! She’s staying with our eccentric Aunt Brunhilda now that
she’s…well…what she is. I can’t wait to
see her though. Make sure to tell Lily
happy birthday…I feel horrible that I’m not there to coordinate a surprise
party or something for her. I miss you
all…but you one of the most.
I love you-
Emia
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sirius smiled to himself as he read the last line of Emia’s letter for
the third time. She loves me…hehe…I love her, too, he
thought to himself. I can’t wait to see
her…these next few months will seem like forever…
James saw Sirius thinking by the window, and immediately knew something
was amiss. James approached Sirius with a caring
expression, and asked, “Padfoot, what’s wrong, buddy?”
Sirius looked at James with a slightly vacant expression and replied,
“Nothing…nothing, why would anything be wrong?”
“Well, you scared me, man.”
“Why?” Sirius asked.
“You actually looked like you were thinking!”
James quickly ran out of the dorms to hide
from an angry Sirius. Well, at least I got his mind off whatever
was bothering him, James thought to himself as he ran frantically out of
the boys’ dorms.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Lily, meanwhile, was trying to talk to Avia, who was lost in her own
little world. “Avie!
Earth to Avie!”
Avia looked at Lily rather vacantly, and replied, “What is it?”
“Did you read Emie’s letter?”
“Yeah…it was just another generic one though, Lils. She’s having a lot
of trouble adjusting at Beauxbatons, things like that. God, I miss her, Lils.”
“I know, sweetheart, I know.
Listen,” Lily began with a roguish smile, “how about we have the
Marauders take us down to the kitchens, then we’ll thank them, ask them to leave,
and have lunch with the house-elves…just you and me. We can finally talk and be
silly…act like second-years! Come on, Avie…it’ll be fun.”
Avia smiled. “Thanks, Lily…you’re the best friend a girl could ask
for.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Later, in the kitchens-
“James, honey, thanks for showing us down here and all, but we really
do need a girls’ lunch today,” Lily pleaded.
Lily had been trying to get the Marauders to leave for the past half
hour. Obedient as Remus was, Remus had
just given Avie a small kiss, and then left immediately. Peter, with his unbelievable fear of girl
talk, had run for the kitchen door after they arrived. Sirius and James, however, was not quite as
easy to get rid of. Sirius had given up
fifteen minutes in, and walked up to the Gryffindor boys’ dorms, muttering
about writing a letter. James, on the
other hand, was showing no signs of relenting.
Lily sighed. “James, I didn’t
want to have to resort to this, but Avie, my cramps have just been terrible
lately. How are yours?”
With a disgusted expression, James turned and ran for dear life.
Satisfied, Lily sat opposite Avie with a smug expression. “So, Avie, how have you been, doll? I don’t
even get to see you much anymore. We’re
always with James and Remus; we only see each other when we go to bed!”
Avia sighed. “I know, Lils. I almost missed your birthday because we’re
apart so much. It’s really depressing,
hon. Maybe we should spend the next
Hogsmeade trip, just you and me, shopping till we drop. We always used to love shopping trips!”
Lily smiled, “Yes that sounds like fun!”
Lily looked at her watch. “Oh,
Avie, I’m sorry…I’m going to have to cut our visit short, I haven’t written
that Potions essay yet. I’m going to go
to the library to work on it for a couple hours, okay?”
Avie smiled. “Yeah, that’s
fine. I’ll get around to the essay some
other time; I don’t feel like worrying about it just yet. But it was great visiting with you again,
Lil!”
“It totally was, Avie…even if we spent most of the time just kicking
the Marauders out.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Avia sat quietly on her bed, staring at the sky. The moon was ¾ full, she noticed
immediately. These past months had been
hell for Avia. She was almost in denial
about her lycanthropy. It didn’t seem possible or real until those nights,
those fateful nights when the nurse would usher she and Remus across the lawn
and under the Whomping Willow. Then the
Marauders would all come out to visit, but lately it had been difficult for
Sirius and Peter, who were constantly in pain…it was very difficult for a dog
and a rat to control two fully grown werewolves, you see. James, the stag, was really the only Marauder
to hold his own against the two.
If only I hadn’t been bitten,
Avia wished for what seemed the billionth time in months. She missed Emia so much. Avia now found herself saying half a
sentence, expecting the second half to come from the blonde bombshell always at
her side…only to hear silence, and only to turn and see nobody there but cruel
stares and laughter from everyone else.
Sure, Lily and the Marauders were trying to help. Heaven knows that Remus must have apologized
thirty times per day since Christmas.
Avia wasn’t even angry with Remus…he was a werewolf…a frothy beast who
could not control himself. It wasn’t his
fault. But Lily and the Marauders could
not fill the gap Avia had for her twin.
Avia supposed it was even more difficult for Emia to go through this,
simply because Emia didn’t even have Lily or Sirius to talk to. Avia had at least gotten her boyfriend and
other best friend. And she still felt
alone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The weather cleared, the flowers bloomed, as spring grew into
summer. Soon all the Marauders, Lily,
and Avia were saying their goodbyes, to the graduating seventh years, to the
sixth years, to everyone, and saying goodbye to each other.
James was now rather confused as to where he should go. The Blacks were his guardians, but Charisse
and Hayden had also been kind enough to offer James a place to stay for the
summer as well. Lily was going home this
summer, mainly because she had not seen her parents in over a year, what with
last year’s summer fiasco.
James eventually decided to stay with Char and Hayden, at least for a
month or so, simply because he had not seen them in awhile either.
Sirius decided to stay with Remus and Peter at Remus’ home, if nothing
else but to help Remus transform when they could.
Avia was staying with her Aunt Brunhilda, like Emia said, but Emia
surprised everyone by deciding to stay with her. During “that time of the month”, their aunt
had come up with a plan- the three would always say they were “vacationing in
Majorca” during the troubled couple of days, and Avia would simply run loose in
the forest behind their aunt’s home during the transformations. Aunt Brunhilda was quite intelligent and had
created a tracking system, so during the days of the full moon, Emia and
Brunhilda would be able to find Avia, feed her, and keep her healthy, before
leaving her alone again at night. It was
quite an interesting plan, and Emia and Avia approved.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Peter!” Sirius hissed. It was
now July 2nd, and the full moon as well. It was also about two in the morning.
Peter woke with a start. “Huh? What? Siri, it’s two in the morning. Go
back to bed!”
“It’s a full moon, Pete!”
“Oh! Where’s Remmy?”
“He’s already out in the forest behind the house. You and I have to
transform quickly and follow him because we lose him in the dark!”
“Okay, coming!”
Remus howled again as the moon invaded his soul, stealing his body from
him. Tearing away his humanity, and
leaving him a monster…a monster lost in the woods.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Avia screamed as the familiar pain ripped through her body again. Soon the human scream became a howl, a howl
of a beast, a hungry one.
She felt so alone, so unloved as she tore through the forest. Nobody here wanted to be around her, because
she became this…thing.
Life was not as wonderful as she would have hoped.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“James, stop hogging the blanket!” Lily protested angrily the next
morning as the famous duo watched cartoons.
Petunia, thankfully, was gone.
She had decided to spend the summer with
Charisse and Hayden had been gone for about a week on business in
America, leaving James and Lily to man the house…and make sure nothing burned.
It was been a fun week, Lily was amused at how well James seemed to
adjust to Muggle life.
Flashback-
Just two days before, Lily had
been peacefully making breakfast for her and James in the kitchen. Lily was frying the omelet when James decided
to help by making toast.
Lily showed James how to properly
butter the toast and push it into the toaster, when James watched in awe a
couple minutes later as the toast popped right up, all on its own.
“It’s like magic!” he exclaimed
with delight.
“It’s called an appliance,
James. They’re quite useful to Muggles,
you know. Have you even glanced at your Muggle Studies textbook?”
End Flashback-
Just remembering that day brought a smile to Lily’s careworn face. School had been difficult this year; there
was no doubt about that. The gang had
been owling each other since school ended, and from Avia’s letters, Lily knew
that Emia was staying with her twin for the summer. That’s good, thought Lily,
Avie was getting very lonely there for a minute.
Lily had been planning an elaborate summer party for the whole gang for
about two weeks now with James. James
occasionally pitched in ideas, but he knew from experience that it was
generally better to let Lily do whatever she wanted to do.
It’s going to be magnificent, Lily
thought with a smile.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When July 26th rolled
around, Emia and Avia did each other’s make-up, and they each put on their
cutest swimsuit with shorts and tank tops layered over them. It was the day of Lily’s party, and the theme
was luau. Emia and Avia were both very
excited, but especially Emia. “I’m going
to see Siri again, Avie! What am I going to do? Why am I this nervous?”
Soon Emia and Avia were both ready, and they had their aunt drive them
to Lily’s house. Aunt Brunhilda owned an
old Volkswagen, because she believed that driving was useful, Muggle or
wizard. Well, that, and she hated
flying.
Emia and Avia stopped in front of Lily’s house with a clunk. “I think your fender just fell off, Aunt
Brunhilda,” Emia said with a giggle.
“Don’t worry about it, dears,” their aunt said absentmindedly. “Have a good time. Owl me if you stay the night, alright,
dears?”
“Of course, Auntie! Have a nice time without us!” Avia said
politely. Avia and Emia loved their
aunt. She was an eccentric person, but
she was always very nice, caring, and hospitable to the twins.
“Mm hmm!” Aunt Brunhilda said loudly as she clunked her way down the
street. Avia and Emia turned and knocked
on Lily’s decorated door. The house was
very decked out. There were leis hanging
on doors, tiki torches in the yard, and bright
flowers everywhere you turned. And that
was even before they got into the house.
Lily opened the door quickly, and gave her two best friends a humongous
hug. “I’ve really missed you guys!” Lily
told the twins.
“We missed you two,” they said in unison. Emia and Avia looked at each other and then
had a big hug. How those two had missed
talking in unison and having someone to finish off their sentences. Emia and
Avia walked into the house to discover that they were actually the last to
arrive. Sirius, Peter
and Remus were all standing in the living room chatting with James while James
continued whipping up some Onion Dip, the Muggle way.
Emia felt her heartbeat quicken as her eyes skirted over Sirius’
familiar features, his prominent cheekbones, his dark hair, sparkling eyes…what
was she supposed to say? Why was this
awkward? She had been waiting seven months to see him…and now that the moment
was finally here, she didn’t know what to say!
Sirius felt eyes upon him and turned towards the front door. His breath caught. There in the hallway was the petite blonde
that had invaded his dreams for as long as he could remember. Her skin gleamed,
her eyes sparkled as she maintained their eye contact. Her fair locks crawled down her back,
untamed…Sirius felt nothing but yearning for her. This was it.
THE moment, the moment he had waited for…for about
seven months. But what was he
supposed to say?
Avia noticed the awkwardness between Emia and Sirius, and went over to
say hello to Remus. Lily looked between
Emia and Sirius, who seemed to be having some sort of staring contest, shrugged
and went to go help James in the kitchen.
“Hey Pete,” Lily said, stopping by Peter on the way to the kitchen.
“Why don’t you come help James and I get the food
ready?”
“But I can’t cook-”
“Now!” Lily said, her green eyes flashing with importance.
“Oh! I mean, uh, sure!”
Avia and Remus got Lily’s hint and decided to go for a walk in the
backyard, leaving Sirius and Emia in the front room…alone.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
B/A/N-Dun-Dun-Duuunnnn! What will Emia say?
How will things go? Find out by tuning in next time to ‘Bad Company’! Don’t
forget to review. Thank You.