Chapter 38: They Know.

"Meadow, we know your secret. We know about your visions." James announced a serious look within his hazel eyes.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Sirius added.

"Are we your friends or not?" Peter chirped in.

"Meadow?" Remus asked worriedly.

"Meadow... Meadow... Meadow!" A familiar voice called over and over again.

"Meadow answer us!" Sirius said loudly.

"We need answers Meadow" Naomi tried.

"Meadow... Meadow... Meadow!"

"Meadow wake up!"

I jolted awake with a start and almost bumped heads with a worried-looking Lily staring down at me. I could feel a layer of sweat over my entire body and I just felt disgusting. I didn't know if I just had another vision or just a normal nightmare but either way I didn't like it one bit.

"Are you okay?" she asked, squeezing my shoulder lightly. I nodded frantically still trying to catch my breath.

"It was just a nightmare, I'll be fine. Go back to bed Lily" I whisper laying back down on my back. She didn't seem to believe me at first but reluctantly left my side and climbed back into her bed drawing the curtains afterward. I lay there for a while trying to go back to sleep for a while but no luck found me. I had tossed and turned countless times to try and get comfortable but my vision/nightmare seemed to have disturbed me much more than I had thought it would. It was a while before I finally gave up on sleeping and instead climbed out of my four-poster.

Trying not to wake the girls, I slip on a pair of slippers which were right beside my bed and I stood up and crossed the room. Some of the floorboards creaked when I put weight upon them yet somehow, none of them were loud enough to wake anyone up. I leave the room with quiet footsteps and walk down the stone steps with the only noise coming from the quiet pitter-patter of my feet and the rain. The rain was calming, to say the least, but not calming enough to take my nightmare out of my thoughts.

I enter the large but very empty common room after walking down many steps and to my surprise someone was seated on an armchair with their back to the stairs. I recognized the person immediately without even seeing their face and I seat myself on the arm of the chair. "What are you doing up this time of night?" Sirius asked sounding very concerned.

"Nightmare" I responded simply with a shrug.

"Want to talk about it?" I shook my head and turned my attention to the small embers dying out in the fireplace. I felt a connection with them and it sounds weird I know but I just did... It's hard to explain but it was like I belonged with them, or like they were the real me... It's probably just my imagination. It was late after all.

"Sirius, if I were keeping a secret -not that I am or anything- would you be mad?" I asked curiously. I wanted to tell him and the others about my visions but there was no good time. I also didn't want them to be mad that I was hiding it so I decided it was better that I ask to make sure.

Sirius just looked up at me with a soft smile. "Of course not. Everyone has secrets so I couldn't be mad if you were hiding any. I hide a lot about my life at home and you all know that so I can't force you to tell anyone and I can't be angry about it either. As long as you know that you can tell me anything even if you don't want the others to know. I would never tell them anything if you didn't want me to."

"I know" I confirmed quietly. "What are you doing up anyway?" I asked without even meaning to. I was only wondering in my head but it seemed like my actions beat me to it.

"Studying..." was all he said.

We made eye contact and I immediately gave him a joking look. "The Sirius Black studying?! Bullshit!"

"Don't let Remus hear you saying that" Sirius laughed.

"What Remus doesn't know won't hurt him".

* * *

It turns out that my late-night talk with Sirius did end up distracting me from my nightmare, vision thing and it helped me fall asleep after all. I honestly expected to just be sitting there talking with him all night but after a while, he managed to get me to go and sleep. I did refuse to go back up into the dormitory and leave him to 'study' on his own however and instead I curled up on another armchair close to him and fell asleep rather quickly.

It was early when I woke up the next morning although it was a Saturday and therefore there were no classes to attend. I did have a pounding headache however but I put it down to my vision last night and just being tired. So far it seemed like I was the only one up at this time but I knew it wouldn't be long for some people to wake up. Especially since there was a Quidditch match today. Maybe I would go watch it if I didn't have much homework.

I sat up groggily and I see a sleeping Sirius sprawled out across an armchair, his arm dangling off of the chair and it just hung there limply. On his watch, I managed to read the time which said 11:50 meaning it was much later than I thought it was and it also explained why there weren't a lot of people around. Then the realization hit me. There were only ten minutes until the match started!

I jump up quickly and shake Sirius' shoulder harshly. "Get up your going to be late for the Quidditch finals!" I shout pulling him from the chair. At first, he fought back groggily until he realized what I had said. He glanced at his watch with eyes and cursed loudly before disappearing out of the room through the portrait hole. I watch him go and leave the room myself to head back up to the dormitory to study. I mean if we won this match I wouldn't get time to tonight and with exams in only a couple of weeks, I needed to study. Besides, I don't think a Quidditch match would help my headache anyway.

* * *

"Meadow can you come back to the dorm? We um need to talk about something?" Peter asked me when I was sitting alone in the Library the next day. I had once more decided to study but it seemed like my friends wanted me to talk with them about something but I had no idea what. What I did know however was that James and Sirius were still playing their stupid game of last one in the Library hence why Peter was probably the one asking me.

I give the boy a smile and nod packing up my books and following him out into the maze of corridors. I had to admit that James and Sirius were smart in using Peter to come to fetch me considering I was hiding in the Library where they couldn't go so I could study in peace. I had done the same last night after the Quidditch match ended except I had left before the swarms of students came in and I didn't go back until the party was long over. Thankfully neither Mrs. Norris nor Filch found me so I was detention-free, unlike James and Sirius who had one tomorrow for not doing their potions essays.

After walking for a little while, Peter led me into the boy's dorm where everyone was gathered beside Naomi but I gathered she was probably on her way from whatever part of the castle she was in. In a corner, James and Sirius were arguing about something whilst Remus was just reading on his bed and Peter sat on his own. I quickly join Remus and bumped his shoulder.

"Do you know what this is about?" I asked. He looked up from his book and marked the page, placing it to one side.

"Honestly no clue, they just kind of asked me to meet them in here. I think we'll probably find out when Naomi gets here". I nodded and rested against his shoulder waiting for Naomi to arrive. No one said anything besides James and Sirius who argued in the corner but I just tuned them out and flicked through my potions textbook with Remus reading it over my shoulder. It was about ten minutes before Naomi arrived and she immediately began to apologize for being late over and over again.

"It's okay Naomi, just sit down so we can talk about the thing," Sirius told her and she did as he said.

"Okay so first thing, Meadow why wasn't you at the Quidditch game yesterday!?" James said loudly but Sirius just cut him off.

"James wrong topic. We can discuss that later but we kind of have a more important situation to be discussing". He just rolled his eyes.

"Meadow, we know your secret. We know about your visions." James announced a serious look within his hazel eyes.

I froze against Remus' shoulder and looked between everyone with wide eyes. Remus had gone tense and I could feel everyone's eyes on me.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Sirius added.

"Are we your friends or not?" Peter chirped in.

"Meadow?" Remus asked worriedly.

"Meadow answer us!" Sirius said loudly.

"We need answers Meadow" Naomi tried.

"Just shut up!" I screamed, my hands over my ears as I began to pace. Everyone fell silent immediately and all that could be heard was my footsteps and heavy breathing. Remus had got up and stopped in front of me gently taking my hands off of my ears.

"You've seen this before haven't you?" he asked softly. Avoiding his gaze, I nod. "When?"

I responded with a shaky voice, "Friday night. But I heard the person again. The mystery one."

Remus nodded and hugged me tightly and I don't say anything and instead just relaxed into his chest. Why out of all the time had it got to be then I was asked? It would have been nice if I had at least gathered some answers first or had gotten past all the exams before they asked me. Why is it when I'm stressed that everything has to happen?

"How about I explain everything to them while you go back to the girl's dorm and get some rest?" Remus asked although it was more like an order. I just nod and leave his embrace, walking past everyone and leaving the room. No one said anything to me as I left and thankfully the girl's dorm was empty too so I avoided even more questions. I hop into bed and instead of thinking about everything that happened in less than ten minutes, I fall asleep as soon as my head touches the pillow.