A Circle of Flame- Sirius Black x OC

Chapter 22

"WAKE UP!"

Sirius groaned, a pillow over his face as James rocked the edge of his mattress. The grey light of dawn was just beginning to peek through the curtains of their bedroom.

"Prongs, I don't bloody care if it's Christmas." Sirius rolled over, tucking the blanket over his shoulders. "I'm not getting up before the sun."

A shower of cold water crashed over his head in response. Sirius sprung up with a curse, flinging the now-sodden sheets from his body. He glared at a laughing James through his dripping locks. "You're not even of age!"

"You know dad's an auror." James shrugged, running his hand through his hair. Today, it was particularly spiky. "Plus, the Ministry only monitors houses, not individuals. They'll just assume it's our parents."

Despite his soaked state, Sirius had to bite back a grin. Our parents. He still had to marvel at the fact that he had a family. One that didn't tie him to the stairs or leave him to spend the holidays with Kreacher.

"MOO—"

"I'm already up." Remus's sour voice echoed from a blanketed form on the floor. James always insisted that the Marauders share his room. It felt weird to be without each other after sharing a dormitory all year. "Sirius screams worse than Moaning Myrtle."

Sirius tossed a pillow in his friend's direction, mistakenly hitting Peter instead. The boy winced and the sound of his snoring broke. "Sorry, Wormy." He made a note to give Peter an extra bit of chocolate. Always seemed to cheer the lad up.

Limb by limb, Remus slowly emerged from his fort, looking none too pleased at the interruption. James and Sirius exchanged a glance, and he knew they were both feeling guilty for disturbing his sleep. Remus slept little as it was.

Remus grimaced as he stretched his back, the joints giving a series of pops. "I'll have to ask Madame Pomfrey what she used last moon." Remus blinked at himself in the mirror beside James's wardrobe, running a finger over the scars on his cheek. "These look way better than the older ones."

Sirius and James stared at one another again. Peter simply blinked and rolled back over slowly. He would be of no help.

They had not told Remus of Liza's interference, not wanting to make the boy panic. If it was anything like Remus's reaction when James and Sirius had first discovered his lycanthropy, it would take a dragon-sized sedative to subdue him.

"What?"

Remus's tone was sharp. Sirius looked at James. James looked at Sirius. Sirius pointed at James. James pointed at Sirius.

"If one of you doesn't just spit it out—"

"LizaPrewettsawyourtransformationlastmoon and she was the one who healed you." James's words were blurted so fast that they nearly blurred together.

Remus just stared at him blankly. His hazel eyes were still tinged red with sleep.

"She knows you're a werewolf," Sirius summarized helpfully.

Remus sank to the ground into a slow kneel, his face growing pale. It was nearly as white as his pillow. "How?" His whisper was barely intelligible.

"We don't really know, mate." James rubbed the back of his neck. "Reckon she put it together from what she overhead in the hospital wing. Don't know why it took her this long—"

"What did she say?"

Peter stumbled over to Remus's mattress, handing the Gryffindor a bit of chocolate from Honeydukes. Remus bit into it gratefully.

Sirius and James exchanged another look, silently daring each other to spill the rest of the news.

"Would you stop doing that!" Remus sounded more annoyed than Sirius had ever heard him. His friend turned over to Peter. "Since those pair are absolute morons, tell me what happened."

"Well," Peter squeaked, shooting Sirius and James a terrified look. Sirius felt like smacking his forehead. This was going to turn out well. "We haven't exactly talked to Liza. Madame Pom..Pomfrey yelled at.. at her. She just sort of r..ran away?"

He turned to James and Sirius with a hopeful glance. James sighed.

"You haven't spoken to her?" Remus's eyes were wide with fear. "She probably has told the whole castle by now. Merlin," he grabbed at his scalp, pulling on the roots of his hair as he buried his face into his knees.

"Moony, I don't think she's told anyone." Sirius kneeled next to his friend, rubbing his back for good measure. "That's why we didn't want to make you worry. Had to see what she was going to do first."

That and he couldn't seem to be around the girl without feeling extremely uncomfortable. It was most un-Siriuslike of him. But he never knew how Liza was going to respond to any given situation. And after the uncertainty of Grimmauld Place, Sirius liked to feel in control.

James sat on Remus's other side, encouraging him to take another bite of chocolate. "I wouldn't say this if I wasn't sure, mate, but I don't think she's going to talk."

Letting out a shaky sigh, Remus buried his head further into his hands. His knuckles were tight and stretched the scars littering his fingers. "I don't think she will either. But what if the Slytherins get to her? Regulus seems to be getting in deeper with Rosier and Lestrange." He shot an apologetic look at Sirius.

Sirius remained unbothered. Any emotion associated with his brother was firmly shoved behind a mental wall. Burgers would be most displeased to know that her eldest had finally learned a bit of Occlumency. Enough to shut out thoughts of his family anyways.

"Then we make sure that doesn't happen." There was a gleam in James's gaze that made them all listen carefully. It was the same sort that appeared whenever they planned their best pranks.

"Lads, it's time we expanded the group, don't you think?"