February 9, 1977
11:45 am
Hogwarts Library

Remus was on the brink of saying I told you so the instant James and Sirius came back to the section of the Hogwarts library they had been in before they decided to sneak off under the cloak and eavesdrop against his advice.

Both of the boys had uncharacteristic, sallow expressions on their faces as they rounded the corner slowly, showing Peter and Lupin that things had most certainly not been a light session of fun spying as the two in front of them had anticipated and hoped for in their boredom.

"I'm not going to say I told you so only because both of you already look so damn depressed," Remus said with graciousness and sarcasm. "Now, what the hell did you hear? James, you look like you saw a dragon or something."

"Might as well have," Potter grumbled in response, sitting down heavily in an oak chair. "A is- actually, I don't think A would have wanted me to know in the first place, so I probably shouldn't be telling you."

"I mean, she definitely would have wanted you to know less than Remus and Peter," Sirius pointed out sourly. "You're worst case scenario, mate."

"And you?" Peter prompted. "I thought the worst case scenario would have been you, Pads. No offense."

"No, she already told me months ago," Black said with an air of pride. "Willingly."

James ruffled his spiky hair uncomfortably at the pointed comment directed at him even without a turn of a neck or eye contact.

"So just tell me already," Remus said, starting to get a bit irritated at their crypticness. "And stop dancing around what it actually is and competing over who knew first and spit it out."

"Anneliese doesn't have.. she doesn't have parents," James said slowly, seeing that Sirius wasn't going to say it from his miserable expression. "She's an orphan."

"That's not entirely true," Sirius cut in before Remus and Peter could react fully. "Her parents, as you know, were muggles. They didn't like that she had magic, or that she was more important than them in their eyes. So I guess they thought disowning her was the next best step for their happiness."

"So they're still alive?" Remus asked dubiously. "And they're fine?"

"I assume so," Black said with a frown. "Callaway's never mentioned them attempting to contact her or showing any signs of regret whatsoever. And with her little sister, I guess that they're well off."

"That's disgusting," James sneered, a repulsed look crossing his face. "Like, disgusting. I'm trying to imagine a thought like that even crossing mum or dad's mind, and I just can't. How inhuman do you have to be?"

"If there is some very unfortunate circumstance where I ever run into those people and know who they are, then I might actually kill them," Sirius spat. "No one should have to go through that."

The four boys spilled into a very aggressive bashing session of all the Callaways besides Anneliese, one that got a little bit too loud.

On their first week attending the school when they were only eleven, Madam Pince had automatically made sure that the library was as quiet of a place as possible and stayed that way. This rule had been enforced severely, meaning that if someone was having a loud conversation, half of the enormous wing could hear it travelling through the shelves.

By their sixth year of Hogwarts, the Marauders really should have learned this.

"There's no way that's true," a sixth year Hufflepuff told her friends. "You know the Marauders, they love drama."

"Yea, but Black also seems to love Callaway," a Gryffindor replied. "He wouldn't spread a lie like that to his friends about her, so it's true."

"Okay, let's say it is true," the Hufflepuff said back, starting to get an uneasy feeling in her stomach about the rumor. "First of all, it's none of our business. Second, that was meant to stay among the Marauders. Third, that poor girl has already been through enough. The last thing she needs is another secret of hers being passed around the school."

"I see where you're coming from," a Ravenclaw said. "But drama is drama, and it's been a bit dry here since he gave her the broom. You can't tell me you aren't getting bored."

"I can, actually," the Hufflepuff snapped, starting to get aggressive. "And don't you dare say anything! I see that look on your face, it means you're about to go gossip."

There was no sign of acknowledgement besides a disturbing silence.

February 10, 1977
6:57 am
Gryffindor Girls Dormitories

When Anneliese had become closer to Sirius, the nightmares of the Wings of Love orphanage had slowly started to fade, and then disappeared completely after the night when they had run away from Filch together and unintentionally locked hands.

Now, the longer her torment from other students and retreats into alcohol and dark magic continued, the more and more the nightmares were starting to occur until they happened nearly every night.

Her discussion with Dumbledore only made the nightmare for that mid February night more severe, and Anneliese woke up with a panicked start, a tear running down her face that she quickly wiped away.

Nobody knows here besides Sirius, she reminded herself. Nobody knows. That's how you got part of a fresh start here. Just calm down, you trust him. He wouldn't tell anyone.

A loud crack of thunder sounded outside, making Lily wake up next to her as well.

"Lord, it's blowin up a storm out there," Anneliese muttered, and the redhead nodded in agreement. "You can barely tell it's morning."

"Hopefully there's some hot chocolate this morning," Lily replied, rubbing her light green eyes as her expression turned from sleepy to a teasing mood. "Because someone left the window open last night."

"I'm sorry!" Dorcas shouted, her head still buried in her pillow. "I was getting hot! We all know that doing makeup is the only thing I'm good at, not temperature regulation!"

"Don't worry, I'm not mad at you," Marlene said, springing over to her girlfriend's bed. "I just definitely could have used you last night to stay warm, and-"

"No dirty talking at seven in the morning!" Alice exclaimed from her end of the room. "My ears can't take it before Lily and I have tea, they just can't!"

"Yes, because you and Frank are completely innocent," Anneliese joked. "Sure, Alice."

The laughter among the girls provided the dorm as a sanctuary from all of the drama that almost always awaited Callaway in the common room below, making her even more thankful for the girls in her house and year.

They had remained consistent throughout the whole year, which she couldn't say for many other things.

"Are you excited for the quidditch match tomorrow?" Dorcas asked Anneliese. "It's against Hufflepuff, and they're the only team who hasn't lost."

"It's just their Keeper that's amazing," Callaway said matter-of-factly as she pulled on a sweatshirt. "If we can get our Beaters to focus on them and not the actual quaffle, then I think we can win."

"Damn, the strategy is there, I see you," Marlene teased. "Rivaling James for captain who?"

"Lord, I think he would kill me," Anneliese grinned as they walked down into the common room together. "Can you imagine?"

"I think in your seventh year things are going to be a lot better," Lily said soothingly as Anneliese already received several glares. "People will forget about everything over the summer."

"See, that's where I'm worried," the blonde replied. "Most people have already forgotten about why they're mad at me, it's just a routine at this point."

"A routine of finding the worst in you and pushing you away from Sirius?" Marlene asked, and they all glared at her. "Sorry, just needed the clarification."

"Hey, how well do you guys remember the amortentia lesson?" Anneliese asked slowly.

She wanted to think of something pushing her towards Sirius, not away from him.

"Very vividly," Dorcas said with a knowing grin at her girlfriend. "Why?"

"Because I finally figured out who I smelled," Callaway replied, narrowing her eyes. "Or at least part of it, I'm not sure of the other half, or why the hell he would smell like a wet dog."

Alice, Dorcas, Marlene, and Lily exchanged a four way glance before squealing one phrase in exact, unplanned synchrony.

"IT WAS SIRIUS!"

Half the common room turned towards the pod of five girls in confusion and amusement.

Including Sirius.

"What the hell?" he muttered in confusion from the couch by the fire, turning to James for answers. "What did I do?"

Potter was completely stumped, so then in turn looked to their next line of defense, Remus, for answers on what was going on in the girls heads.

"I don't think you did anything wrong," Lupin said, accepting his role with exasperation. "Their tones would sound much more angry if you had, and Marlene would have beat you up already. I think they just figured something out."

"What did they figure out?" Peter asked eagerly, wanting his friend to be happy. "Something good for you guys?"

Remus thought for a few moments while James and Sirius pretended to think while looking over at Lupin for answers every few seconds and then quickly turning away like they hadn't.

"Sirius, when she slept in your bed, had you smoked much earlier?" the pale boy asked, an idea dawning on him.

"Uhm, yes, why?" questioned Sirius, confused on what that was relevant. "Now is not the time to scold me about that, Moony-"

"No, not that," Remus cut him off, leaving in closer to the boys. "Did you guys see their expressions?"

"Yes," Sirius said firmly. "But I have no idea what they meant."

Remus sighed at their cluelessness, not knowing what he had been expecting.

"They all looked at each other and turned to A after she said something," he reminded them. "Which means she said something that made them figure out that something was Sirius.. after she slept in your bed.. which means.."

James, Peter, and Sirius were still looking at him cluelessly.

"Amortentia, you slow shits!" Remus exclaimed finally. "It's not that hard!"

"Wait, you think she smelled me?" Sirius asked with confusion. "But-"

"If she smelled you on your sheets or something it probably reminded her of the amortentia," James said, starting to catch on. "It all makes sense, mate."

A small, mischievous grin was tugging at the corners of Remus's mouth as he watched his friends freak out over the latest discovery.

"And she told me the day we brewed it."

Lupin said this part incredibly quietly, but they all still heard him as clearly as if he had shouted it.

"She did what?" Sirius asked, his grey eyes wide. "AND YOU'RE JUST NOW TELLING ME THIS?!"

"Well she technically just said 'I never want to meet anyone that smells like cigarettes and wet dog' but-"

"Merlin, but she doesn't know about Remus's furry situation so she probably just thinks that you don't bathe well enough," James giggled as Sirius's cheeks flushed. "You're fucked."

"But she does know about the patronus," Peter pointed out, trying to make Black feel better. "Maybe she'll put those dots together?"

"Hopefully," Sirius grumbled, but a smile was on his face. "Well, that's one thing that makes today better."

The Marauders walked out of the common room to breakfast with very happy moods, all of them more content then they had been in a long time.

Little did they know, Anneliese was about to put far more dots together than Sirius had hoped for.

well that break didnt last long

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