Meeting the Marauders

Meeting Up At Hogsmeade

Chapter 24: meeting up at Hogsmeade
-Bex p.o.v.-

"Let's go James! Hurry up!" I giggled while dragging him with me.

He chuckled and followed, his long legs keeping up with my fast pace easily.

"Permission slips here!" Filch bellowed, glaring at all of the students gathered in the courtyard.

I handed Filch my slip, smiling while doing so as he glared deeply at me. "Hello Argus!"

"Dumbledore," he said, shooting me a dark look while gathering up the rest of the groups slips.

"If you have given Mr. Filch your slip then you may go, have fun, try not to get in trouble!" Professor Spout, the Hufflepuff head of house, said to the students. She also happened to be in charge of the trip this weekend.

"Shall we?" James asked outstretching his arm for me to take.

"We shall." I replied, looping my arm with his. Together we started down the path, following after the three Slytherins: Severus, Regulus, and Lucius. Sirius stood at my other side, talking with us. While Remus and Lily talked behind us about books they were going to get.

All eight of us got on the carriage together, and I looked up confused. "Where's Peter?"

"He's been in the Hospital Wing for two days." Sirius chuckled at my having forgotten Peter.

"Oh! What happened?" I asked, saddened by the news.

"Peeves chased him into a brick wall." James said simply.

"Oh." I mumbled. "How is he?"

"He's fine, not too bummed about not being able to come. He just wants me to get some sweets." Remus said.

"That's good." I shrugged.

"Yeah, he's not that hard to please." Sirius spoke.

I giggled rolling my eyes at him.
"So who is this Ozzy?" Lucius asked.

"And are we allowed to threaten and beat him up?" Regulus added on.

I giggled, "no, you can not hurt him in any way," I sent the two Slytherins a look. "He's an old friend of Lily, myself and Sev."

"How old of a friend?" Remus asked.

"He used to watch us when we were little." Lily smiled at the memories.

"How old is he?" Sirius asked.

"He turns twenty-three in December." I answered. "So technically he's still twenty-two."

"And you said we can't threaten?" James asked.

"No threatening!" I scolded.

"Fine," James grumbled, crossing his arms.

"No promises." Regulus said.

"I have to agree with my little brother on this, no promises on that." Sirius shrugged and leaned back in his seat.

"Yeah, I mean, what if this guy is a tool or something? If he doesn't treat you well then we should get to teach him a lesson." Lucius said simply.

"He's not a tool and he treats me just fine, ask Severus." I gestured to Sev.

They all looked at him expectantly. "He's a nice guy, amazing really." Severus said, "he treats Bex and Lily like princesses." He chuckled at the wording.

Lily and I giggled, confusing the other boys. "You'll understand soon enough." Lily smiled out of the window as we pulled up to the village.

I climbed out after Lily, pulling James with me. "Come on! Let's go!" I bounced on the balls of my feet, excited.

We all went straight to Three Broomsticks, entering the busy pub. "You should go get him, we'll find a table." Sev nudged me towards the bar.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah, go get him." He smiled at me.

James kissed my forehead and gave me a grin, "hurry back, love."

I slowly walked over to bar, a minute later someone came over to serve me, "and what can I get you sweetheart?" The waitress asked.

"Can you tell me where Ozzy Winston is?" I asked her.

"Oh! You must be one of the girls he told me about, he said you would be coming for him sometime today." She said. "He's right over there."

I followed her finger, my eyes landing on a young man. "Thank you," I smiled at the woman before heading to the man. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?" The man turned to face me.
His golden blonde hair shaved on the sides and longer on top, spiked up into a quiff. His eyes a golden brown, almost matching the color of butterbeer. He was tall and strong looking, but his face had a boyish quality, making him look younger than he was and seem nice and soft. His smile was gentle and calm. He was someone I had spent my childhood with.

"Ozzy." I said softly, almost breathing it out.

"Princess!" He cheered and pulled me into a hug. He squeezed me tightly to his chest.

I giggled and tried to return to hug but my arms were trapped to my sides. "Ozzy." My voice was muffled into his chest.

"Yeah?" He pulled back a little so that he could hear what I was saying.
"I can't hug you back if my arms are stuck to my sides." I giggled, "I would really love to hug you."

He let go of me so I could get my hands, once I had my hands free I was wrapped around him in a hug.

"I've missed you so much." He spoke into my hair.

"I've missed you too," I mumbled into his shoulder. "But I have something to tell you, and promise not to freak out?"

"Alright, I promise," he nodded, lifting my chin up with his index finger to look into my eyes.

"I might have a boyfriend," I said softly.

"What?!" He exclaimed. "Who is it? We need to talk," he said sternly.

"Listen, he's not really my boyfriend, everyone just thinks he is. I'm fake dating him because he's in love with Lily and Lily is too stubborn to admit her feelings for him. So by fake dating him, Lily will get jealous and admit that she loves James back." I explained, "so everyone else also thinks that we are dating, and we have to act like we are. Which is pretty awkward, it's like kissing and pretending to love my brother."

"So you don't really like him?" Ozzy asked.

"No, of course I like him, he's one of my best friends. I just don't fancy him. I'm just being a good friend and helping him out." I smiled.

"I still need to talk to him. His name is James, you said?" Ozzy demanded.

"Yeah, and he's here with us, come meet our friends." I grabbed his hand and led him through the crowd, taking him to the table in the back corner.

"Ozzy!" Lily squealed and jumped into his arms as soon as we were within reach of the table.

Ozzy chuckled and caught Lily with ease, clutching her to his chest. "I've missed you, Princess."

"I've missed you too!" She pulled back to look at him, "you still look handsome." She noted.

"Very handsome!" I giggled.

"And you two are as beautiful as ever," he grinned down at me and Lily.

"Ozzy," Severus smiled.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little soldier." Ozzy chuckled.

"Shouldn't we be the ones calling you a soldier?" Severus grinned.

"Eh, I'm fine with just Ozzy." He chuckled and opened his arms to Severus. They shared a brotherly hug before pulling away. "So, where's this James?"

"Ozzy, this is Lucius and Regulus, they're Slytherins. Regulus' brother Sirius, and that's Remus over there. And this is James." I pointed to each of the boys as I said their name. When I got down to James I grabbed his hand.

James pulled me closer to him, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Hello, it's nice to meet you." James smiled kindly at Ozzy.

Ozzy narrowed his eyes at James, losing his boyish charms and looking quite scary. "So, you're the boy that's dating my little Princess, huh?"

"Umm, yes." James nodded and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"And why is that?" Ozzy asked.

"Because she is amazing and beautiful, plus she is kind and smart, and so much more," James trailed off, not knowing what to say. Lily looked away, and that caused Ozzy to perk up slightly.

"Hmmm, you seem like a good lad. You have my blessing. But let me make one thing clear, you break her heart and I will crack your skull with my beaters bat." He smiled sweetly, making the threat even more scary.

I giggled while James nervously ran a hand through his hair. "Alright, that's understandable. Thanks mate."

"No problem, just keep that in mind." Ozzy sat in the seat next to Lily. "So Bex, I heard from your dad that you joined the team," he looked at me questioningly.

"Umm yeah, I did." I looked down at the table.

"And who do I have to thank for that?" He asked.

"James and Sirius." I glared at the two boys. They grinned cheekily at me.

Ozzy looked at the two impressed, "well James, you're doing good in my books, keep it up and I might just give you permission to marry her," he chuckled jokingly.

James and Sirius laughed, Remus giving a chuckle. But Lily looked like she was going to be sick at the thought. The three Slytherins looked rather unimpressed.

"Hey," Ozzy suddenly spoke. "I've got something for you three."

"What is it?" Lily asked.

"For Severus, my family ring." He held out a gold ring with a single Sapphire gem in the middle surrounded my small black diamonds.

"Are you sure?" Sev asked, looking at the ring in wonder.

"Course, you're family, I think it's time I pass it down." Ozzy chuckled.

Sev took the ring gingerly, slipping it on his left ring finger. The finger all wizards put the family ring on.

"To Lily, my lucky bracelet." He undid the clasp and held it up for her to take. The bracelet was silver and the vine-like strips looked to be woven around each other, creating a beautifully crafted band.

"Really?" She gasped, looking at the beautiful piece of jewellery.

"Yes, this got me through a lot of tough time, helped me with problems I couldn't find the answers to, and got me out alive. Now, I think you should have it, it'll help you a lot, I know it did me a lot of help." He chuckled.

She took the bracelet carefully, not wanting to break it. "Can you clip it for me?" She asked.

"Sure," he smiled, clasping the bracelet around Lily's small wrist.
She smiled down at the bracelet and enveloped Ozzy in a hug. "Thank you."

"And for Bex, my dog tags." Ozzy pulled the necklace out from under his shirt and over his head. He held it out, the two tags jingling against each other.

"You can't be serious, your dog tags?" I asked, staring at the two metal pieces.

"I want you to have the last piece of my life away, because I'm not planning on leaving again. I have it all worked out with your dad, I'm not leaving anymore." Ozzy grinned.

"You're staying?" I asked looking at him in shock.

He nodded.

I attacked him in a hug, Lily soon joining, and Severus watching us with a large smile on his face.

"Can you look after my old life? My life as a soldier?" He asked me.

I smiled, looking into his soft golden eyes, "I sure can."

He placed the dog tags over my head and let them fall around my neck. The cold metal of the dog tags shocked me, lying against my warm skin. The chain of the necklace digging into the skin of my neck, telling me that the necklace found a new home around my neck, the tags wielding Ozzy's name lying over my heart, where he belonged.

We all broke off into conversations of our own, Ozzy and Lily busy talking about books, Severus talking with Lucius and Regulus about what they wanted to do after. Sirius and Remus speaking about the candy and prank things they were going to get.

I turned to James, finding out that he had already been looking at me. "Hey." I smiled.

"Hey." He grinned back. "So Ozzy was in the army?"

"Yeah, he left about four years ago." I smiled sadly. "But he's back."

"That's good. It's always nice to meet someone who fought for our nation." James smiled.

"Yeah, I'm just happy he's back, safe and sound."

"Does he know?" James changed the subject.

I nodded. "I just told him. Right before we came over, actually. He took it better than I thought he would."

"Okay, I thought he was being serious, I thought he was really going to hurt me." James sighed in relief.

"Oh, he will. But you don't have to worry about that. Only when you and Lily get together and you do have a chance of breaking her heart." I shrugged.

James gulped, obviously scared for his life. "Oh. Ummm okay."

"Yeah. No need to worry." I smiled, "you'll be fine."

"If you say so," he ran his hand through his hand. "So what did Ozzy mean by joining the team?"

Hearing his name, Ozzy turned to face us, joining the conversation as Lily turned to Remus about books and Sirius looked at us.

"You don't know?" Ozzy asked James and Sirius questioningly.

"Know what?" Sirius asked.

"Bex is brilliant at quidditch, she has a talent for it. She can play any position and play it perfectly. She can catch a snitch in seconds, never misses a mark as a beater, nothing gets past her when she's a keeper, and she can dodge anyone as a chaser. She's the best I've seen in a long time. She can give any professional player a run for their money." Ozzy boasted and bragged.

I giggled, "I'm not that good. I haven't played in years. This is my first time playing since way before you left." I looked down, finding my hands interesting. "Besides, you're the one that taught me everything I know."

He looked at me, watching me intently, "hey, why don't you come with me for a second. Lets go take a walk, yeah?"

I nodded and followed as he led me outside. We took a seat on the bench, I looked at the ground.

"Look at me," Ozzy pleaded. Once my eyes met his he gave a sigh, "you still aren't over what happened?"

"How can I? I could have killed that boy!" I exclaimed in a hushed whisper. "I don't think I'll ever be the same. I can't enjoy quidditch anymore, I can't play to my fullest." I looked at Ozzy, my eyes showing my true feelings, not bothering to hide them. "I constantly worry about if I'm going to get mad during a game and lose control, or if I might hit a bludger too hard and hurt someone. I don't want it to happen again."

"Listen," Ozzy held me by my shoulders, staring into my eyes. "What happened wasn't your fault. It was an accident, accidents happen. The boy is fine, he doesn't remember a thing, it's all fine, you have nothing to worry about."

"I was mad, I lost control, I hit the bludger too hard. I hit a boy, he was bleeding everywhere, Ozzy. He almost died of blood loss! It could have ended badly."

"But it didn't. He is perfectly fine, alive and well." Ozzy comforted me.

"But none of it would have happened if I wasn't a witch." I sighed, looking down.

"And he wouldn't be alive if you didn't heal him with your witch powers." Ozzy said.

"That doesn't count," I mumbled.

"Of course it counts." Ozzy said and rubbed my shoulder. "I'm just glad that someone finally got you back into quidditch, it used to make you so happy." He chuckled, thinking back. "You would always beg me to teach you new moves, or ask if you could come to my games, or just fly around with me. I've missed it."

I giggled, "we had some good times on the pitch, remember that one time I got to stay with you for a week."
He laughed, "yes, you stayed with me in my dorm, we played quidditch everyday and all of my room mates taught you different things," he grinned.

"That was so fun," I giggled. "Gabriel taught me how to play wizards chess, I ended up beating him, though I think he let me win on purpose. Isaac taught me to play poker," I smirked. "That was fun, now I can gamble. Henry taught me all about picking up girls, I don't know why he did, but it became quite useful. It's getting me to help James quite easily with Lily. And Jeremiah taught me how to use wand-less magic." I grinned, "it was nice, being able to use wand-less magic at seven when some adults can't even do it."

"They were great friends." Ozzy smiled, "and now that you're all happy, how about we go back inside, yeah?"

"Yeah," together we went back inside and to the table with all the others.

---------------
Soooooo, you guys now know why Bex doesn't like quidditch anymore, who Ozzy is and a bit about him. But Ozzy is a very important character, he's going to have a lot to do with Bex's past and her future, so be ready to learn a lot more about him. What do think? Good? Yes? No? Maybe? Comment, vote, share, fan, follow, etc. thanks! :)