Trouble (The Marauders Era» Sirius Black Fanfiction) *Editing*

19» Dancing With Skeletons

Chapter Nineteen

Dancing With Skeletons

<A blessing in disguise>

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Thea had woken up in the hospital wing the next day. Madam Pomfrey said she had had a panic attack and that all she needed was rest. When she woke, all the Marauders and Lily were there for Thea, even Remus, though he was unconscious in the bed next to her. James had simply said that Remus had gotten a fever during the night and was sleeping it off. She didn't believe that, especially since he was deathly pale and had scratch marks all over his body, but she didn't question it. She had more personal issues to deal with, and she knew the boys wouldn't tell her the truth anyway.

She decided to tell her friends the truth about why she had the panic attack. She told them about how her birthday was the anniversary of her mothers death, that her father had stolen and sent Thea her mothers ring as a twisted birthday gift. She wasn't as panicked about it anymore. Her shock and panic had been replaced with fear and rage. Mostly rage.

"I can't remember if my aunt had the ring or if it was on my mother," she said, voicing her thoughts to her friends.

"You mean," Peter squeaked. "That ring might've been... on her corpse?"

All eyes drifted down to the glinting ring in Thea's palm.

"We should probably clean it," James muttered. Lily rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder.

As expected, Thea's friends didn't know how to respond to all of this. They tried to be helpful by consoling her, but when that didn't work, they mostly worried about her and gave her pitying stares from afar. James became obsessed with cheering her up, now forcing her to participate in whatever 'double birthday' mischief he had planned. Sirius was the only one who treated her somewhat normally.

Remus slowly got better. As the days went on, his skin got pinker and the scratches turned into small scars which would fade with time. After he was filled in on the events that occurred on Thea's birthday, he gave her a pitying look, but then scolded her for not reaching out to someone.

"That isn't something you should deal with on your own," he had said, his hand covering hers comfortingly. "We're all here for you, Thea. Don't do that again."

Thea had planned to send a letter to her Aunt Ali to make sure she wasn't hurt, but she received a letter before she could even write one.

Dearest Theodora, it read.

I write to you with dreadful news. I visited your late mothers grave to find it destroyed. The perpetrator dug down to her coffin and the headstone is cracked in two.

I have alerted the local authorities. They have set the grave in order, but there's been no luck in finding the criminal.

I am deeply troubled. Bird is protecting me.

Your guardian,

Aunt Ali

The letter only made Thea more furious with her father. Not only did he steal the ring from her mothers grave, but he also destroyed her headstone. At least Aunt Ali wasn't hurt.