"𝒜 ℳ𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾ℴ𝓃 𝒟𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓂𝓈" － 𝒯𝒽ℯ 𝒢𝓇ℯ𝒶𝓉ℯ𝓈𝓉 𝒮𝒽ℴ𝓌𝓂𝒶𝓃

January 5th, 1977

     James slammed the door to the sixth year Gryffindor boy's dormitory open, striding forwards and flopping down face-first onto his bed.

     Sirius' eyebrows rose almost into his hairline, utterly perplexed by what caused James to fall onto his bed and bury his face into the pillow.

     "What the bloody hell happened?"

     James mumbled into the pillowcase in a volume quiet enough where Sirius could barely hear him, even with the magnified hearing being a canine Animagus gave him. "Mum and Dad know."

     "...Know what?"

     "That I'm a deer."

     Sirius broke into a fit of laughter, falling backwards on the bed. "Of course they know, you twat, you've been eating nothing but salad and fruit for weeks. Did they send you a letter or something?"

     James rolled over, moving off of the pillow and snorting. "And here I thought my parents would be happy I'm eating healthier! No letter, they confronted me about it while you and Nic were out in Muggle London finding that tattoo place for you."

     "Did you tell them why?" Sirius asked, propping himself up on his elbows to look at his best friend.

     The mention of his first tattoo made his left hand subconsciously trace the words tattooed around his right wrist in a simplistic black ink.

     The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.

     "You mean Moony's furry little problem?" James' lips slanted downwards. "They know I'm not that much of an idiot to do the whole process for no bloody reason... but they don't know why."

     He let out a soft sigh. "I hate keeping secrets from them."

     "I can tell, you're practically suffocating me with your guilt," Sirius replied dryly as he flipped through a book filled with Muggle crosswords Lily had gotten him that Christmas. "It's sickly sweet."

     Sirius definitely did not lord the fact that Lily Evans had given him a Christmas present that year over James.

     That would have been cruel.

     Nikki, Remus, and Peter also definitely didn't join in on the teasing.

     "Ready for the moon today?" He asked his brother in all but blood, sobering from the humorous memories he was thinking of.

     James frowned. "As ready as I'll ever be. Nic's going to be waiting to patch us up, right?"

     Sirius nodded, lips curving into a grin at the mere sound of her name. "She'll be waiting here."

     "Convenient that we have an aspiring Healer as a friend," the Potter heir mused as he ran his fingers through his hair that resembled a bird's nest at best.

     Sirius rolled over, flinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. "I'm going to go find her, let her know that we're planning on heading out to the Willow soon."

     He flashed a smirk at James. "Maybe I could thank Lily for her Christmas present..."

     Sirius dodged the pillow James had chucked at him with a snicker, strolling out of the Gryffindor common room and towards the library.

     Nikki had been studying for their Charms exam, the first since the spring term had begun.

     He frowned slightly. NEWT work had piled up on them, mountains of essays and star charts — he could complete those in his sleep — assigned over break.

     Nikki had to study for homework and exams, he knew that, but sue him. He missed his girlfriend!

     In the Hogwarts library, Nikki threw her quill down, burying her head in her hands and rubbed at her temples, circling her fingertips around and trying to quell the headache that arose from hours of NEWT work.

     "Fuck this," she huffed to herself, pushing her chair back as she stood up from the desk. Nikki ducked down one of the many aisles in the Hogwarts library, trailing her fingers down the row of book spines as she meandered through the aisle.

     She stopped at a random section, pulling the book that her fingertips had landed on out of its slot. Leaning her back against the bookshelf, she cracked the book open and began to read.

     It was a children's book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, but she needed to just shut her brain off and read any book that had absolutely nothing to do with the bloody Blackboard Writing Spell.

     For the love of Merlin, she was planning to be a Healer, not a professor! When would she ever need to be able to write on a blackboard?

     The Wizard and the Hopping Pot

     There was once a kindly old wizard who used his magic generously and wisely for the benefit of his neighbours. Rather than reveal the true source of his power, he pretended-

     "You're Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett's daughter, aren't you?" Regulus Black said shrewdly, arms loaded down with thick tomes displaying the ancient pureblood lineages.

     The book slid out of Nikki's hands as she jumped at the sudden noise, falling to the floor with a thump.

     She swore under her breath, head snapping up to meet the eyes of the younger man.

     Wait — was she technically older than him? She was sixteen, he was fourteen... but she also was a baby that year. 'Bloody hell,' Nikki grumbled silently to herself, 'time travel's confusing.'

     Regulus shifted the books in his hands, dryly stating, "A simple yes would have sufficed, but I'm assuming that's answer enough?"

     The only response Nikki could muster was a strangled sound that seemed to build in the back of her throat.

     Regulus waited patiently, almost as if it were just a pleasant social call and he was waiting to hear if she wanted a lump of sugar in her tea.

     "...How did you know?" She asked, stooping down to pick up the book and replacing it on the shelf.

     His eyes drifted down to the books in his arms and then back up at her. "Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy is self-updating."

     Juggling the ancient, yellow-paged tomes, he managed to flip the book open and rapidly turn pages until he landed on the pureblooded family tree.

     He tapped the small circle that bore Nikki's face, delicate and intricate silver ink traced flowers and stars framing the oval.

     "You look a little too similar to someone who should, by the birthdate written here, be unable to walk or speak in anything other than screaming and crying."

     Nikki sighed. "So what you're saying is that I should set fire to all copies of that book?"

     "What-no," Regulus immediately rejected, eyebrows knitting together in irritation and confusion. "Where did you even get that idea from? And Mother and Father have around four copies; you're not going to get into 12 Grimmauld Place anytime soon."

     "If I burn the book," Nikki started casually, "nobody would know unless I told them."

     'Or if they had the map and used it in 1977...' Nikki added in an afterthought in the privacy of her own head.

     The younger Black brother huffed out an exasperated laugh. "You sound like Sirius."

     "A good thing, I'm sure?" Sirius said, face drawn into his best imitation of an innocent angel.

     His eyes landed on the book his younger brother was holding. "Come on, Reg, you can't tell me you've already forgotten that family tree Mother and Father forced us to memorize. That book isn't even worthy of Mrs. Norris' litter box."

     "You had to memorize your family tree?" Nikki chimed in, confused. "That sounds bloody awful."

     "It was."

     Two words. But those two words didn't truly depict the horrors that occurred at 12 Grimmauld Place.

     He — selfishly, he knew, — treasured full moon nights, as it was the one night a month that Sirius Black did not dream of his former ancestral house, as he was too knackered to even muster up the energy to dream.

     "Have you forgotten which side of the family Aunt Lucretia hails from?" Sirius asked, a lofty tone to his voice as he craned his neck to look at the book. "Father's sister."

     Nikki wrinkled her nose at the mention of her great-aunt, Lucretia Prewett. She didn't want to think about the pureblood family tree any more than she wanted to think about the Charms exam that she had been studying for.

     Regulus snapped the book shut, eyebrow raised skeptically. "Tu ressembles à de la merde."

     Sirius rolled his eyes. "How kind, Reggie."

     He turned to Nikki, a faint smile on his face. "We're heading out soon. Wait in our dorm until we come back, okay?"

     "Be careful," she warned gently, "and don't do anything stupid."

     Sirius shrugged his shoulders, a teasing smirk stretching across his lips. "I'm Sirius Black, stupid is practically my middle name."

     "That... is not something to brag about," Regulus chimed in, sighing long-sufferingly.

     "Reg, fais-moi savoir si tu dois sortir de cette maison," Sirius rattled off in rapid French, grey eyes imploring his younger brother to listen to him. "S'il te plaît."

     Regulus nodded.

     It hurt that he had to lie to his older brother. But he knew how Orion and Walburga Black would retaliate if Regulus ran away as well.

     The Potters and Sirius would never be safe. And if Regulus had to suffer through a life at 12 Grimmauld Place, then so be it.

     Sirius ruffled Regulus' hair as he left the library, walking briskly down to the Hogwarts grounds. Nikki gathered up her things, shoving them back into her bag, and left the library as well, heading for the Gryffindor common room.

     "For fuck's sake!" Marlene McKinnon groaned, glaring daggers at the portrait hole. "Can't he take a bloody hint?"

     Lily Evans tried to ignore Severus Snape, she really did. But given that he had been camped outside of the Gryffindor common room since classes had ended that day, it was starting to get difficult.

     Nikki leaned against the wall next to the Fat Lady, eyebrow raised challengingly. "You know, nobody's going to let you in. I'd cut my losses — Hogwarts gossip spreads notoriously fast."

     She turned to the portrait and told her the password, slipping into the common room as the portrait closed immediately after her.

     "I swear to Merlin I'm going to give him a Reducto to the face," Marlene snarled. "He fucked up, why is he still trying?"

     Lily sighed. "Can we stop discussing this? Please?"

     She ran her fingers through her red locks, trying to focus on her homework instead of the sixth year Slytherin who had been waiting outside of the common room for hours.

     Marlene rolled her eyes. "When he leaves and stops trying to manipulate you into becoming friends again, I'll drop it."

     Nikki frowned, a sympathetic downwards pull on her lips. "I told him that absolutely nobody is going to let him in, so he should just cut his losses. I don't think he's going to listen to me though."

     She stretched, shifting her neck from side to side and listening to it crack. "I'll see you lot tomorrow, I'm going to go to bed early tonight."

     It was a half-truth. She was technically going to bed, but she wasn't planning on sleeping.

January 6th, 1977

     James, Sirius, and Peter stumbled up the stairs to Gryffindor tower, smothering yawns into the sleeves of their jumpers. It was too damn cold for this.

     "What the fuck?" Sirius cursed, eyebrows furrowing as his eyes landed on the dark shape sitting on the ground below the Fat Lady. "Snivellus, have you got amnesia or something? The Slytherin common room is nowhere near here."

     "And why is it any of your business?" Severus Snape retorted sharply, getting to his feet from his spot on the floor. "I could say something similar about you three dunderheads — why are you out so late?"

     James rolled his eyes. "Nothing that concerns you. Now go back to the dungeons to your common room and stop pestering the Gryffindors."

     "Especially Lily!" Peter chimed in.

     Sirius smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, exasperated. "You're still not trying to get her to forgive you, are you? Lost cause, Lily Evans can hold a grudge. And Marlene would rather go to Azkaban for your murder than watch Lily suffer through your friendship again."

     He strode forwards, telling the Fat Lady the password and ignoring one of their least favorite people at Hogwarts. The three Marauders wearily stepped into the common room, dragging their feet up to the sixth year boys' dormitory.

     Peter yawned. "I think I could sleep for an entire day and still feel tired."

     "Join the club, Pete," Sirius said in an undertone, cracking the door open.

     The three young men filed into their dorm room, flopping onto their respective beds immediately after.

     "You guys can't fall asleep yet," Nikki said, an affectionate smile threatening to peak out from behind her firm demand. "I need to make sure you're not hurt."

     It seemed to take all of their energy to merely flip over on their beds, laying on their backs.

     "What are you going to do to keep us awake?" Sirius posed innocently. "Because I don't think James would like his first kiss to be from anyone but Lily Evans."

     "I would throw a pillow at you if it didn't mean that I would lose my pillow," James mumbled, propping himself up on his elbow and flipping Sirius off.

     Nikki snorted under her breath. "If either you or James fall asleep before I'm done, I'll cut your hair while you sleep. Peter, if you fall asleep, I'll find your secret bread stash and distribute it out to the entirety of Gryffindor."

     Three identical horrorstruck gasps echoed each other as Nikki smirked smugly.

     "You're horrible," Peter whispered.

     Nikki pulled her wand out of her pocket, sitting down next to Sirius on his bed. "Should I be aware of anything that happened tonight?"

     "No," Sirius hummed absently, practically dead on his feet. "We're all fine — one of the better full moons. Peter might have gotten banged up, but that's because he fell off of James' head when we were running through the forest... apparently the antlers are too slippery."

     "It's not my fault!" James exclaimed. "Maybe rats don't have good grip strength!"

     Nikki tapped Sirius on the shoulder with her wand, muttering a diagnostic charm.

     She was trying to be safe, making completely sure that the only injuries he had sustained during the full moon was just mere scratches and scrapes. Even if they said that nothing happened, she was in uncharted territory here. She had never had to heal people who had been gallivanting through the Forbidden Forest with a nearly full-grown werewolf, especially not people who were illegal Animagi.

     Her life was just a bit complicated.

     She stood up, running her hand affectionately through Sirius' dark hair that fell in unruly waves to just above his shoulders. "Episkey. Sleep."

     Sirius subconsciously leaned his head into her touch, similar to how he reacted when someone was scratching behind his ears in his dog form.

     James and Peter were treated in much the same way. They dropped into a deep sleep nearly immediately after she had finished healing their mild wounds.

     Sirius' eyelids grew heavy, blinking slowly as he struggled to keep himself awake. "C'mere," he murmured into the pitch black darkness, stretching his arm out to where he guessed Nikki would be from the sweet smell of coconut that he could sense.

     "You should be asleep," she whispered, hopping on one foot as she struggled to untie her shoes in the dark. Switching feet, she kicked her trainers off, noting to herself to pick them up later.

     "Want you."

     Throughout the months that she had known Sirius, Nikki realized that, as Sirius got more and more tired, his vocabulary would diminish until he sounded like a touch-starved toddler.

     The black blob that she assumed was his hand waved in the air, gesturing for her to join him.

     Nikki dropped onto the bed next to him, his arm automatically wrapping around her waist and pulling her into him.

     Shifting to get comfortable, Nikki rested her cheek against his chest, his heartbeat calm and measured. "I'm glad you're all okay... how's Remus?"

     "Mmm..." Sirius hummed, chest vibrating with the sound. "Better than before we became Animagi. Transformation still a bitch, though."

     "Good," Nikki yawned, burying her head into his shirt. "Now no more talking. Sleep."

     He snorted, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Yes, ma'am."

     James Potter and Peter Pettigrew, when they woke up the next day at one in the afternoon — they already planned their excuses for missing classes — were met with the soft snoring coming from Sirius Black, his head dropped down and resting on Nikki's head.

     "They make me sick," James muttered.

     Peter grinned innocently. "Is it because you've been trying to go out with Evans since first year, and you've still had no luck?"

     The pillow chucked at him from James knocked him off of his bed from the force it was flung at.

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