"Right you wait here, I'll grab us some toast and we can go eat back up in the Common Room," Lily articulated as she instructed Bexley to wait near the statue of Godric Gryffindor.
"I can't ignore him forever," Bexley whispered.
"Bex it happened last night! I think you're allowed to ignore him for a day, I don't think you're ready for it." Lily looked concerningly at Bexley whose eyes were sunken, she looked ill as if consumed by a fever, her blue eyes dull and her body limp, maybe seeing him would annihilate her all over again, but the longer she left it, the worse the impact would be. "If you're sure. Come on, he's lucky I don't hex him." Lily had tried to maintain the normalcy between the two of them, reassuring her that nothing would ever change between the two of them. They flowed into the Hall with the rest of the students as Bexley kept her head low, Lily steered her and directed her, constantly looking for Sirius and an exit route.
"He's not here." Lily sighed happily and wrapped some toast in tissue and grabbed a few pumpkin pasties, they had almost completed their mission until James called out to Lily. "Do you mind if I go? I'll only be a few seconds."
"Of course, go on. I'm going to steal a few more pasties." Bexley reassured her she wouldn't do anything radical and Lily hurried off to James. She stood awkwardly at the Gryffindor table and decided to pour herself a quick coffee, she didn't have to hide and she hoped she would see him, I'm sure he doesn't look half as bad as me Bexley thought as she drank her coffee.
"HE SLEPT IN THE FOREST LILY!" James roar had everyone's heads looking at him "WHAT!" he bellowed and dismissed everyone's eyes, Lily's ears turned a bright red as she tried to defuse the situation. This wasn't a good idea and Bexley knew it, as she turned to leave the Hall, everything around her froze. He infact, looked worse than her, I guess he did sleep in the Forest she thought as Sirius noticed her.
"Good morning." Sirius croaked and Bexley's bottom lip wobbled, don't do it, don't you dare cry, not here not in front of these people she repeated this in her head as he walked closer to her and for a moment she thought he would hug her, but instead he walked straight past her. All over again she was drowning in sorrow, everything around her hazy, it was if she was a ghost and he walked right through her, taking her heart with him.
"One foot in front of the other." Bexley looked up to see Remus smiling down at her, and with his support she did so, she managed to walk all the way to the astronomy tower and away from the glaring eyes of the Great Hall.
"When did walking become so hard?" Bexley pondered as she looked out over the grounds of Hogwarts.
"Chocolate?" Remus handed her a bar and she thanked him, unwrapping it slowly and taking a bite, it melted on the tip of her tongue.
"Can always rely on you Remus." Tears ebbed down her face and Remus wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin ontop of her head as Bexley soaked through his shirt.
"He's my world Remus."
"And you're mine, I can't excuse or explain his behaviour, but you two have loved stronger than anything I've seen before, don't give up on him."
"Sirius walked-he walked out of the door." Bexley choked as she envisioned him leaving her all over again.
"He's self destructive, and you, you Bexley Morgan have your own faults. Yet this does not mean it's the end. Far from it." Remus soothed her as she cried a little while longer. As Bexley's tears subsided, they began wandering around the castle looking for an adventure when Bexley realised her selfishness.
"Remus, I completely forgot. It's your transformation tomorrow! How do you feel?" Remus chuckled lightly and slipped his hands in his pocket.
"It's alright, it's nice to feel normal."
"You are, exceedingly! In the kindest way possible." Bexley grinned at him sympathetically.
"Why thank you. It's always an anxious time, I just don't want to hurt anyone anymore." Remus stopped and looked out around the grounds.
"You are the most kind hearted person I've ever met Remus. I love you and so does everyone else, you'd never hurt someone on purpose."
"That's not the point, I still hurt people. I'm still a monster."
"Far from it." A voice called behind them, the two turned and came face to face with Sirius, and for a moment, Sirius saw them as the same person, the inquisitive eyes, the fluffy hair, the rounded nose.
"Try telling that to me when I'm ripping into you at midnight tomorrow." Remus huffed.
"Stop! Stop with this now, yes you are a werewolf, yes you can't control it but Remus you are more than your transformation, it doesn't define you! You define you, accept that it is a fraction of you, please love yourself as much as we love you." Bexley clung to his hands and stared into his eyes as she pleaded with him. His eyes met hers and as blue mirrored blue, Sirius shivered at their uncanny similarities.
"Come on, we don't want to miss Defence." Sirius announced and they all turned towards their classroom. The walk to class was awkward to put it nicely, they spoke of their exams and what they struggled with, steering clear of any personal topics, yet when they entered class, it skipped from their minds that Bexley and Sirius were paired together and had to spend two whole hours firing spells at each other, the Marauders watched on as they drew their wands.
"Ladies first." Sirius tensed his shoulder's as Bexley's mind mulled over using nonverbal spells, knowing Sirius hadn't yet completely mastered them it would give her an advantage, and she used it. Incarcerous . Thin black ropes erupted from the end of her wand and bound around Sirius's legs.
"Locomotor mortis!"
"Woah!" Bexley fell flat on her back and her cheeks flushed red in embarrassment as she laid beside Sirius. "Okay, you can stop now."
"You first." Sirius wriggled beside her.
"So you can hex me whilst I'm defenceless! I don't think so."
"Oh how little you think of me." Sirius grunted as he tried to unwrap the ropes around his legs.
"Fine." Bexley huffed and the ropes began to retreat, Sirius bounced up and stood above her.
"Petrificus-" Sirius began but was abruptly stopped as a blindfold wrapped around his eyes.
"Come on." Narcissa bent over Bexley and helped her up as her legs were given back their autonomy.
"Thank you." Bexley dusted herself off and Narcissa leant into her.
"Meet me in the dungeons after dinner." With a flash of white hair, she returned to her duelling partner and Bexley was left with Sirius.
"Stop moving." She commanded as she began unwrapping the blindfold from him.
"I can do it."
"Yeah sure seems like it. Serpensortia. Have fun." Bexley grinned maliciously as Sirius struggled with the blindfold and waved his wand in the general direction of the snake, she grabbed her bags and left, the Marauders left with their mouths open. At dinner Bexley sat alone, she requested to, Lily watched her fervently throughout as she ate her food quietly, watching Narcissa, she left shortly after her. They walked with some distance between them before Narcissa entered a vacant potions classroom.
"Hey. Are you okay?"
"Yes, but you aren't. Now listen, you're going to the Black's in a days time and you have to be careful. I overheard Lucius and Snape, they're plotting something. I think Bellatrix will be attending Sirius's birthday gala, you have to be vigilant, things are getting stringent and you're unfortunately at the centre of it." Narcissa panted as she blurted this information, Bexley processed this information, completely overlooking that she was arranged to join Sirius the day after tomorrow.
"Narcissa, I-"
"Mrs Black will test you, you have to prove you're accepting of the pure blood superiority if you want to survive there. I'm sure Sirius will do all he can to protect you, but Mrs Black is dangerous. Mr Black is her yes man, but he's in deep with the Dark Lord. Don't stray too far from Sirius, be safe Morgan." Narcissa hugged her quickly and exited the room into the dark hallway. Was she still going with Sirius? Did he still want her to? Did she even want to? What were Lucius and Snape up to and most importantly, was Peter- Bexley's head snapped to the window as a loud howling erupted from the Forbidden Forest.
"Oh no, no, no." Bexley ran from the classroom and straight towards the Entrance of the school.
"OW!" Bexley was knocked backwards and looked at a crumpled Lily.
"Lily Godric, I'm sorry, I heard Remus-"
"I know, it's happening early, they all ran out of the common room and I didn't know what was happening until I heard." Lily took Bexley's outstretched hand and the girls raced to the Forest. As they reached the edge, they saw a pile of clothes bundled in a hole in a tree, their wands too. Yet, as they wandered deeper into the Forest, shreds of white fabric littered the floor, Bexley knelt down and ran the fabric between her fingers.
"Remus." She whispered and fear filled her.
"We shouldn't go too far, we don't know what state they'll be in."
"They calm each other down, we'll be okay." Bexley ventured further as Lily grabbed her arm.
"Bexley, please. James warned me that it might get, well, bloody." Lily's hand trembled and Bexley nodded and they returned to the safety of the the edge of the Forest and huddled together around Lily's small ball of fire. Hours passed and the sky illuminated them with bedazzling stars, Bexley leaned her head back, her eyes drawn to the constellation of Sirius. Lily's head rested on her shoulder and soft snores escaped her. It will all be okay, Bexley reiterated this to herself and she stared into the depths of the Forest, her eyes fluttering closed.
***
"Wake up! Come on, Lily wake up!" Bexley's eyes opened drearily to James frantically shaking Lily's shoulders.
"James! Thank God you're okay." Lily sprung on him and he fell backwards on the cold grass as them embraced, she kissed every inch of his face. Bexley stood and looked towards the edge of the Forest for the others, Peter emerged and Bexley ran to him.
"Peter, are you okay? Where's Sirius and Remus?" Peter's eyes went wide and he looked behind Bexley at James. "What? Where are they!"
"Bexley, you have to calm down-"
"James why aren't they here!" Bexley grabbed his shoulders and shook him.
"Bexley!" Lily cried her name and Bexley followed her eyeline as Sirius came staggering out of the Forbidden Forest. Her feet carried her to him, she watched his glossy eyes intently, he looked down at his hands and Bexley followed looked they were covered in blood, his blood and his torso was assaulted with bloody gashes.
"Sirius." Bexley watched as he fell to the floor, she knelt beside him and pressed her hands over his wounds. "Don't you dare." The Marauders watched as Bexley tried to stem the bleeding "DO SOMETHING! GET HELP!" As her voice trembled, they sprinted to the castle and in the distance she could hear them calling for help. "Please Sirius, stay with me, don't close your eyes, okay. Come on, tell me something. Talk to me!" She demanded, ripping her cloak from her shoulders she pushed against his stomach, but it became immediately soaked with crimson.
"I miss you-" He croaked.
"And I you." Her tears spilt on him and a rustling from behind her gained her attention, Remus stood there watching the scene. Before she could call out to him, he was gone, and her eyes fell back to Sirius. His blood drenched her and she cradled his body as her hand pushed down on his wounds. "They're coming with help, it's alright Sirius. You're fine, everything is okay." The sound of feet thundering towards them eased her but as she looked down at Sirius, his pale face and lifeless eyes reaffirmed her distress.
"It's alright." Dumbledore's soothing voice washed over her. Bexley continued to cling to Sirius, pressing him into her. "Come on now." Dumbledore tore Bexley away from him, she watched on as Madam Pomfrey tended to him.