The Marauders: Padfoot

"I Don't Know What's Happening"

I hadn't seen Snuffles for weeks and was starting to get a little worried about his whereabouts. What if he had been attacked by something in the forbidden forest? Merlin, nobody knew the full extend of what horrid creatures were roaming that forest, looking for their next edible victim!

Lately there had been a lot of talk about dark forces on the move. I was starting to get a little worried, and it was evident that others in the castles were too.

It had been made compulsory for every student to have at least one defense against the dark arts lesson every two weeks, which showed that even the teachers were concerned. Pupils were starting to show signs of worry too, there was more silence in the hallways, people sneaking around, on their best behaviour.

Sirius had insisted on us doing dueling every night. He said that I was going to need it soon, and that he needed the practice. I wondered what for, surely whatever these 'dark forces' were, they wouldn't want to fight me, I hadn't ever done anything to make myself stand out, I stayed to the shadows, out of view, it was best really.

A few times, even Remus joined us, like he had in the beginning. He seemed more tired lately, his eyes sunken back into the dark circles which covered them, his hair unruly from running his hands through it in frustration, and his clothes seemed to hang off his frame even more than usual.

Remus Lupin was a quiet boy, he often seemed ill and would spend days in the hospital each month. I asked Sirius several times what was wrong with him but he swiftly moved onto another subject, as though he did not want to answer.

I was sat under my favourite tree by the black lake, thinking about these dark forces and what it meant, when I heard a soft bark.

There he was.

"Snuffles!" I called, reaching my hand out towards him.

I hadn't seen him in weeks, and was quite starting to miss having a friend to talk to, who I could say anything to and nobody would find out.

He came bounding over, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he ran. He approached me and lay his head across my lap. I ran my hands through his soft fur, it was a coincidence that I had been wondering about him and he had appeared.

"Where have you been boy?" I asked, tickling his ears, to which he gave a low growl of pleasure.

I looked out across the frosty lake in front of me, the cold winter sun was dancing and reflecting upon the cold water. You'd think that I wouldn't want to sit out here with all the memories I have associated with the lake. The mermaids, my first patronus, but it was quite calming.

Talking about my patronus, I still hadn't found the courage to tell Sirius, and there was only a couple of days left before the Christmas break.

"Sometimes I wish you could talk back."

Snuffles lifted his head to look at me.

"Because I really need advice."

I sighed and looked down at Snuffles, he looked back with those familiar molten grey eyes. It felt almost like déjavu when I looked at Snuffles.

The air was dry and cold, with the unwarming sun glowing in the icy blue sky.

I could see my breath in front of me, forming wispy white clouds before disappearing into the air.

"There's this boy..." I began, and Snuffles immediately lifted his head.

I wondered for second whether he could understand me. Maybe he was enchanted?

"And I don't know what's happening." I said, putting my head in my hands.

This was all new to me. I had always been the shy girl, the quiet girl. In some aspects, I still was, but Sirius had really helped me with my confidence. I had come a long way since the start of the year almost four months ago.

Four months seems like a long time, but it had gone so quickly. From the first day of September, seeing him sleeping on the train while we sat in a carriage with James, Remus, Peter and him, to now, so much had changed.

And in only a couple of days, it would be Christmas break. I really needed to tell him, I wasn't sure why I felt the need but something inside me told me that I should. I worried that he would ask what memory triggered it, and that caused pain to well up inside me again just at the thought.

After a little while, I made my way back to the castle, it would be dinner time soon and my stomach was making noises much alike to that of a baby whale so I thought food would be a good idea.

"I've been looking for you!" Lily exclaimed as she almost bumped into me, arms filled with a large stack of dusty old books.

"Hmm?" I asked, a little confused.

"I just figured you were off with Sirius seeing as he was missing too."

"No?" I replied, a little confused. Where would Sirius be, if not with his friends.

"You don't have to lie to me." She said, an insinuating smirk on her face.

"I'm serious. I was just sitting out under the tree."

"Whatever you say." She replied with raised eyebrows, before dropping the large pile of books onto her bed.

"Planning on some light reading?" I teased to change he subject.

She gave me a stern look.

"I need to read all these by the time we come back after Christmas, and anyway, I know what you're trying to do!"

She teased me all the way down to the great hall. When we got there, Sirius was sitting at the table alone.

"There he is!" She exclaimed as we made our way to sit with him. I plonked down onto the old wooden bench opposite him, Lily by my side.

"Here I am?" He asked in confusion.

"You two were both missing so Remus and I were betting you were off..." She wiggled here eyebrows.

I quickly smacked a hand over my face in embarrassment. This was unlike Lily.

Sirius shook his head, a small smile playing on his lips.

Sirius looked up, I followed his gaze and noticed James, Remus and Peter walking through the great wooden doors into the hall.

"Been looking for you mate." James told Sirius, sitting next to him and patting him on the back.

"You two haven't been dogging have you?" He asked, his eyes flickering between me and Sirius.

"James!" I squealed, my cheeks heating up.

Sirius laughed at my embarrassment as I scowled at him.

"I'm teasing Seren." He said, nudging my foot under the table.

We quickly tucked into our food, all of us stuffing our faces with different every kind of food known to man, wizard or muggle.

Soon, it was time for us to head off to transfiguration. We did so as a group, united with smiles on our faces. It almost made it hard to believe that evil was taking hold of the castle at that very moment.