Anger, Loneliness, and Laughs
Chapter 3: Anger, Loneliness, and Laughs
September 9, 1993
Lily and James sat in their private quarters, facing each other with impassive faces.
"Well?" Lily asked. "Why did you call me here?" James had sent Lily a Patronus earlier that day, and his voice had sounded almost angry as it told Lily that they needed to talk that night.
"It's about Liana," he growled.
Lily nodded. It made sense. She was really worried about Liana. Of course, Slytherin was just a House, but Liana had been hanging out with Draco Malfoy and a few other Slytherins whom she didn't exactly trust. "What about her?"
"She's in Slytherin!" cried James, standing up and pacing. "Should I talk to Dumbledore and ask for a re-Sorting?"
Lily stood up as well. She was concerned for her daughter, of course, but having a re-Sort was going a bit too far. "Why?"
"What do you mean why?" demanded James. "Our daughter… a Slytherin!"
"What's wrong with Slytherin?" Lily asked. "It's just the way her personality works. We can't force her into a different house. She belongs in Slytherin."
"Slytherin stinks!" James said loudly.
"Keep your voice down," Lily implored. "People could hear you."
"So let them hear me!" James seized a fistful of his hair. Lily was used to this behavior from him, and she knew how to calm him down when he got in moods like this.
"Look, James, it's okay," Lily soothed. "It's all right if she's in Slytherin. We'll just tell her to stop hanging out with Draco Malfoy. Who else is she befriending?"
James snarled. "Two idiots named Crabbe and Goyle. I talked to them last night, and they seemed insistent that their names were Grabbe and Coyle."
Lily sniggered. "Liana's making friends with them?"
James scowled. "Yeah. We need to stop her."
"Have you… talked to Liana lately?" Lily questioned. Whenever she got near Liana, Liana seemed to keep avoiding her. She didn't know why. Maybe Liana would talk to James, though.
"I haven't gotten the time," said James. "I'm not even supposed to be in the castle."
"Good point." Lily frowned. "Then what do we do?"
"We should talk to her… have you tried talking to her?" James asked her.
"No," sighed Lily. "She's ignoring me. I was going towards her the other day and she ducked into the portrait."
"And you didn't… follow her?"
"Of course not," Lily said. "I'm a professor, James, I can't just spend my time tracking down a student."
"But I mean, I can't go and talk to her!" James cried. "I don't come here often, I just do my paperwork here! You need to talk to her!"
"But I can't find her," Lily grumbled.
"Have you tried in the night, after all classes are finished?"
"Of course I have. I'm not stupid."
"Did it work?" pressed James.
"No, I couldn't find her. Plus, I'm so busy. I've got so many rosters to check, students to test, paperwork to sign, teachers to meet, it's just a really busy schedule."
There was a silence as James looked deflated.
"Let's try talking to her at some point, okay?" Lily asked, to pacify him. "Together."
James sighed. "Okay. We'll talk to Liana tonight. I have a relatively light schedule for the day. And we'll make sure she stops hanging out with that stupid Malfoy bloke. He's Lucius Malfoy's son! And he is a Death Eater. Do we want Liana following in their footsteps?"
"No, we don't," Lily said. "And she's not. We've raised her well enough. Are you doubting our parenting?"
James shook his head, but Lily saw in his eyes that the worry had not gone away.
Sometimes Remus saw Lily and James, and he felt sad.
He felt sad about the miserable life that he was confined to, a life without being able to love. Because friends were fine, but a werewolf couldn't afford to fall in love.
But that didn't mean that werewolves didn't fall in love.
It would've been easier if they didn't.
So much easier.
Remus was any ordinary boy, any ordinary man. Just because he was a werewolf didn't mean that he didn't have a heart, that he didn't love.
It just meant he couldn't love.
There were plenty of reasons as to why. Werewolves were dangerous. Werewolves didn't have jobs. It was hard for werewolves to adapt to human life. And it was hard for werewolves to breed.
Still, it didn't stop Remus from wishing, from longing, from hoping that one day, his life could be different. He knew it wouldn't change anything, but he hoped anyway.
He wished that one day, he could love someone who loved him back.
People asked Tonks every day why she worked overtime, why she worked so hard, why she did more than several of the others when she was still an Auror-in-training.
She would shrug it off with a smile, claim that she was just a hard worker, and that would be the end of the story.
But, in all truth, Tonks didn't have anything else to do in her life. She took her commitment seriously, very seriously. She spent all her time working, even when Mad-Eye Moody allowed her to relax.
She had friends, yes. She socialized, yes.
But with the way her life was going, she wasn't going to find a boyfriend anytime soon.
The blokes at the Auror Department were friendly, but also a lot older than her. There was only one other woman, an elderly woman named Edna, who kept to herself and ate a lot of lettuce.
And Qo (that was his nickname; nobody knew or cared what his full name was), the only other person here who wasn't yet thirty, was a real jerk. Complete with the Gryffindor bravado. Tonks really didn't like him.
James, thirty-three, was her best friend here, though Kingsley Shacklebolt and Gawain Robards were really friendly as well. But James was married, and Kingsley was married, and Robards had a girlfriend. She was happy for them all, undoubtedly. But Tonks couldn't help but wonder where she was going to find someone.
She was going to turn twenty-one in November. She was still young. She had plenty of time in her life to get settled. But with the way her life was- work, work, sleep, work- she highly doubted that she was going to be able to meet anyone soon.
Her mother was always on her case, urging her to socialize more, to go to parties, and events, and gatherings, but of course, that was just how Andromeda Tonks was. Because her mother loved gossip.
But Tonks was an optimist. She had time, she had opportunities. And she would be as patient as she was required to be. There was no hurry. She would take her time and find the right person to love.
She knew that one day, she would love someone who loved her back.
Liana sat with Kylie and Candice in the Slytherin Common Room, doing her homework.
"What's the wand motion for turning a matchstick into a needle again?" Candice asked.
"I think you wave it around in a loopy circle and jab the matchstick," Kylie said.
Liana rolled her eyes. "No, you don't. It's two swift flicks."
"Got it." Candice scribbled that down. "When are we actually going to start doing magic, though? It's all been theory and studying."
"We have to do that before we learn how to actually do it," Kylie explained. "You guys have to trust the Hogwarts teachers."
"Of course we do, it's just boring," Liana said. At that moment, Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe descended down the stairs.
"Hi!" gushed Kylie. Liana and Candice smirked at each other.
"Hi," grunted Vincent. "Do you have any food?"
Candice raised her eyebrows. "No."
"Aw, dang," grumbled Gregory. "What good are you, then?"
"What are you guys doing?" Kylie asked.
"Gonna see if we can curse the living daylights out of Harry. He fainted on the train, you know that?" Draco asked.
"Yeah," said Liana, trying her hardest not to remind him that he'd said the same thing over a hundred times. "So silly."
Draco grinned. "He's an idiot."
"You guys are going to get in a lot of trouble for that," Candice pointed out.
"Yeah. And we don't care."
"Vincent and Gregory don't either?" Liana asked, finding that difficult to believe.
"They're in it for the prize," Draco said with a shrug.
"What prize?" Kylie asked.
Draco winked. "Muffins."
The three of them burst out laughing.
"Well, it was just lovely talking to you guys, but we have to go and make sure Harry lands himself in the Hospital Wing. Again. In the first week of school. Isn't that great?"
"Yeah, sure," said Candice.
"It's also so that he misses the Quidditch practices," Draco continued.
"Oh, right, you play for the team, don't you?" asked Liana.
Draco nodded. "That's right. I'll see you around, Liana, maybe tomorrow or something?"
Liana shrugged. "Sure." She didn't know how her parents would take to her being "friends" with Harry's arch-nemesis, but she had her own life! She should be allowed to make friends with who she wanted.
As they left, Liana stood up. "I think I'll take a walk, too."
Kylie nodded, her face a little flushed. "Have fun."
Liana frowned. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," muttered Kylie grumpily.
Liana looked over at Candice, who seemed just as bewildered. "What…?" Liana knew she wouldn't have to wait long, though, Kylie wasn't the type who could keep secrets really well. She was loud and couldn't keep a secret to save her life.
"Draco said he'd see you around," Kylie said.
Liana waited, but Kylie seemed finished. "Yeah, so?"
"He didn't say that to me."
"Why would he say that to you, though?" pointed out Candice.
"Why do you care?" corrected Liana. That was the more important question.
Kylie flushed. "I don't really, but he acted like we weren't there."
"No he didn't," argued Candice. "He talked to you. And me."
"What's the big deal?" Liana asked, though she thought she knew why. Kylie always seemed a little dreamy when the topic of Draco came near. Like Lily acted, when they talked about James. Or her cousin, Millie, when a boy named Buster came around to play.
"Nothing," sighed Kylie.
"Kylie," started Candice, "do you have some sort of feeling about Draco that we need to know about?"
"No," said Kylie, a pink hue overtaking her cheeks. Liana smirked. "Just… he's kinda nice, and I'd like to be friends with him." The grumpy look faded. "Hey!" she cried, her eyes lighting up. "Can you get me to meet him? Like… when you two meet?"
Liana snorted. "Sure," she said. "Now, can I go on my walk?"
Candice and Kylie grinned and nodded. Liana walked out of the Common Room and aimlessly wandered around the place when she heard footsteps behind her. She stopped, and they stopped too. Turning around, she saw that nobody was there.
"Who is it?" Liana called, her voice dangerous. "Show yourself right now."
Out of mid-air, James shimmered into place.
"Dad?" Liana asked. "Are you kidding me? You're not supposed to be at Hogwarts!"
"I know what I'm doing, Liana," James replied. "And besides, I'm here to talk to you."
"I don't want you to talk to me," Liana said in an annoyed tone. "Why are you stalking me?"
"He's not stalking you," came a voice, and Liana turned around.
"Mum? You too?" Liana smacked her forehead, but now she was a little nervous. She'd been avoiding her mum for a while now… and it was painstakingly obvious. Now here she was: trapped. "What the heck are you two doing? You're following me more than my shadow does!"
"Why are you avoiding me?" Lily asked briskly, ignoring what Liana had just said.
Liana crossed her arms over her chest. "I am not avoiding you. I have a busy life. Just because you have all the free time in the world to follow me around the place doesn't mean I do."
"You're avoiding me," said Lily. "And there's no point lying about it. Why?"
"How about you tell me why you're here, and then I'll tell you why I've been avoiding you."
James looked at Liana. "We have to talk."
Oh no, thought Liana. Here it comes. "Sure."
"You're in Slytherin," said James.
"I know."
"And… are you upset about it?"
"Why would I be?" Liana asked. "It's a great house. I've made friends. Kylie and Candice."
"There's nothing wrong with being in Slytherin, dear," said Lily, cutting off James, "but you've been hanging out with Draco Malfoy. A lot."
Liana pushed her chin up defiantly. "So?"
"You know he's Harry's biggest enemy," James said. "You know the bad things he's done."
"Really? From what I can tell, Harry picked the fight first!" cried Liana. "He puts his nose into everything!"
"No he doesn't," Lily said calmly. "Draco's corrupting your mind. Don't bring your brother into this."
"But it's all about him!" Liana cried, finally breaking free. She was done with it. Her brother was not always the hero. "It's all Harry, Harry, Harry. Harry defeated Quirrell and Voldemort. Harry saved the Sorcerer's Stone. Harry killed the basilisk. Harry closed the Chamber of Secrets. And what's Liana? The disappointing Slytherin who can't do anything to save her life."
Silence.
"You know that's not true. You have a lot of talents."
"Yeah, but Harry's are much more important, right?" seethed Liana. "I have to go. Bye." And she turned without a word and disappeared into her Common Room, safe from her parents.
"Wow," whispered Hermione.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all in Charms class, the best place for conversation.
"Yeah, well, apparently Liana thinks I'm the perfect child or whatever," Harry said. "You guys know I don't go asking for this! I don't stick my nose into all this stuff, it comes to me!"
"We know," said Ron and Hermione together.
"But she doesn't, and so she's hanging out with Malfoy. Malfoy!" Harry spat. "Why him?"
"I don't know," Ron said. "But mate, you need to calm down."
Harry took a deep breath. "Yeah. I do. It's just annoying. My own sister thinks this of me."
"It's okay," said Hermione. "She'll come around. Personally, I think she's a bit jealous."
"Probably," said Harry. "Sorry for yelling at you guys."
"It's okay," they replied.
"I just… you guys are amazing," Harry said, grinning. "Thanks."
"So… any new news on Sirius Black?" Ron asked in a hushed tone.
Harry shrugged. "Other than the fact he's after me? No."
"Do you know why he's after you?" Hermione whispered.
"I don't know," sighed Harry. "If he works with Voldemort," - shudder - "then of course he will be."
"Why's You-Know-Who after you anyway?" Ron asked. "He tried to kill your parents, didn't he?"
Harry scowled. "Yeah. Good thing they figured out, though, otherwise we'd all be dead."
"How the heck did he survive that?" Hermione asked in a hushed voice. "I mean… he came back in first-year!"
"As a head," snorted Ron. "He was a head in Quirrell's turban."
"Which was creepy," added Harry.
"Did you kill him that time, though?" Hermione asked.
"No," Harry said. "He disappeared. Quirrell like… burned up when I touched him, remember?"
"Okay, that was weird," chortled Ron. "You said he started cracking?"
"It was so creepy," muttered Harry with a shudder. "Stop laughing about it."
"I- sorry, sorry, it just sounds so unreal!"
"There was a time I thought magic was unreal," pointed out Harry.
"You've got more magic abilities than the rest of us do," Ron said.
Harry frowned. "Like what?"
"Blimey, you're a Parselmouth!" Ron cried, as Hermione gave him a disapproving look for being so loud. "You could hear the basilisk talking-"
"D'ya think I like that ability?" snapped Harry. "I don't like it! It's part of Voldemort! When he gave me that scar…"
Ron and Hermione's gazes wafted to the lightning shaped scar on Harry's forehead.
"I hear it," murmured Harry. "Whenever the dementors come near."
"What do you hear?" Hermione asked nervously.
"My mum… screaming. And a cold cackle. It's Voldemort, I know it is."
"Would you stop saying the dang name?" Ron begged.
"It's a name, Ron," Hermione reminded.
"Yeah, but it gives me the chills," Ron mumbled.
"Dumbledore says-"
"Dumbledore is a brave, weird bloke! He's batty!" Ron cried. "Don't you remember when he said that death is the next great adventure?"
"You're straying off the topic, Ron," Harry said.
"What were we talking about again?" asked Hermione.
"Sirius Black?" asked Harry, as Ron asked,
"Liana?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
"Black."
"Liana."
"How to do the correct wand movement, I'm sure," said Flitwick, coming up to them, making the three of them jump. Hermione looked absolutely fearful as she grabbed her wand and flourished it at the pillow. "More work, please, Finnigan's already successfully moved one pillow!"
They looked over at Seamus, who had singed hair and two burnt pillows sitting next to him. He looked positively thrilled.
"Yeah," snorted Ron. "Real good."
"Oh, shut up," said Hermione, waving her wand and murmuring the incantation. The pillow shot forward into the basket.
"Very good!" Flitwick exclaimed. "Potter, Wealsey, action?"
"It's Weasley," grumbled Ron. He attempted the spell, and the pillow whacked Flitwick in the face.
"Remember your aim, please," Flitwick advised, setting the pillow back on Ron's desk and patting it. "Potter?"
Harry waved his wand casually, and the pillow missed the basket by a few feet.
"Not bad," mused Flitwick. "Just practice."
Once Flitwick was out of earshot, Ron mumbled, "Close one, eh?"
"That was not funny!" snapped Hermione. "Imagine if he'd heard what we were saying about Sirius!"
"Don't worry, I think everyone already knows," grumbled Harry. "I swear I saw Percy follow me to the bathroom the other day."
Ron snorted. "You're kidding!"
"No, I'm serious," said Harry. "I was going to the bathroom on the third floor, and Percy was literally right there behind me!"
"Did you ask him what he was doing?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah."
"What did he say?"
"He didn't look like he expected me to see him," sniggered Harry. "And he looked like a deer in headlights. And then he said he was just going to a prefects' meeting."
Ron and Hermione burst out in laughter.
They all knew that the prefects' meeting never took place in the bathroom.