Author's Note: I know. Trust me, I know. This is so terribly long awaited. Seriously almost 3 years, and it's so abysmally short. But I promise, new chapters and content are coming very soon! I won't make you wait so long again. Let me know how you're feeling about this turn of events and the story in general, and if you're still interested in more! Thanks for giving it a read! Again, new chapters are coming soon!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, as per usual.

Caught a Ghost -

Chapter 8

James let out a choked laugh, waving his hand in front of him in a 'shut up' motion. "Be serious, Pads. This has got to be some stupid prank. You've been putting on about the map for the past few weeks. How long have you been planning this?" He coughed out another laugh, rolling onto his front to lazily flip through the Quidditch magazine again.

Remus and I exchanged a look while Sirius's face went from excited to exasperated. "I'm with Prongs on this one. Why in Merlin's name did you think we'd believed you'd discovered a new ghost, Padfoot? And why of all things would you name it Gwen?" Peter rolled his eyes, making himself comfortable on his bed while Sirius watched on. I frowned, realizing that he was making fun of my name. As if that wasn't interesting.

Sirius looked towards Remus for help, but before he could say anything, I took matters into my own hands. Concentrating hard to become corporal enough, I snatched James's magazine off the bed, much to his surprise, and then tossed it across the room onto Peter, who let out a squeak of surprise. He looked to James accusingly, who was looking at Sirius with a look of shock on his face.

"What the hell? I didn't think you'd take a spoiled joke that far," He said, hurt coloring his voice as Sirius raised his hands in a show of innocence.

"It wasn't Sirius, James. It was Gwen." I looked to Remus in thanks, as James's perplexed look colored his be-speckled face. "She's here; and she really is a ghost. Sirius is telling the truth." Remus shrugged his shoulders, looking over to Sirius, who was staring at the spot where I was supposed to be on the map.

"I have an idea," Sirius said quickly, before he put his map on the bed, and disappeared. Suddenly, in his place, was a shaggy looking dog-wolf hybrid. I let out a startled gasp, feeling myself shrink away as it came forward. It walked with purpose towards me, it's nose twitching on its massive face. I tried to remain in place as the dog, or Sirius I realized with another startled noise, stopped directly in front of me.

Remus was sitting at the end of his bed now, watching with rapt attention as dog-Sirius pushed his wet nose into my leg. "Did you just feel that?" Remus asked, as the dog didn't move but stayed in place. There was no sinking feeling as it moved through my body, only a slight pressure against my form.

"I think I did." I reached out cautiously, placing my hand on the soft fur of the animal. It jerked back as I touched it, and then in its place was a full-grown human Sirius.

"Change right now," He said in a surprised voice that tinged with excitement. "I can see her outline if I'm Padfoot." He turned to Remus quickly, his eyes filled with wonder. "We need a photo of her. The only way to see a ghost for its first time is to believe in them. I can't believe in her if I don't know what she looks like."

I wanted to focus on why Sirius knew so much about ghosts but didn't have time as suddenly there was a pop and a giant stag was standing in the dorm room. Near its feet, a tiny little rat scampered closer to Sirius's leg. It latched on, and Sirius rolled his eyes before picking the animal up and placing him on the stag's antlers. Four sets of eyes rested on my general form, as the animals walked closer to where Sirius was standing a hairsbreadth away from me.

"The last person that knew me alive was Riley," I said to Remus, turning to face him as I tried to ignore the two strange animals looking at me. I figured they were James and Peter, but it was still disconcerting to be watched by them. "She might have a picture of me, but I don't know that she'd give it to you lot."

"We'll have to try." Remus said, and then he was off his bed, snagging the map from Sirius's bed and rummaging through the pages with care. "She's in the library. I'll head there now."

"Where are you going?" James was suddenly back, looking like he'd seen, for lack of a better word, a ghost, and looking towards Remus who had started towards the door. Peter was standing near me, shaking slightly at the revelation that I was in fact real and in their presence.

"I'm coming too," Sirius said, looking excited by the prospect. He turned to grab his wand off the table, and followed Remus towards the door. They were almost there when Peter piped up.

"I can see her." He said, his voice small, shaking as he sat back on his bed while looking faint.

"What?" I asked, and Peter let out a whimper when I spoke. I realized now that he could hear me. His cheeks went faint as I rounded on him, staring directly at him and he at me. "How?" Sirius and I spoke at the same time, but Peter turned to address his friend rather than me.

"There were a few times last year, when Moony was with the Ravenclaw girl in the library studying?" Remus's cheeks were slightly pink, thinking of the brief time that he and Riley had been study partners last year. "Uhm, Gwen," He blushed at my name, almost like he was unsure of it, "Would come by to see if they were finished, and I saw her there."

James let out a chuckle, rolling his eyes as he looked at his friend. "The girl you had a crush on that you would never tell us about?" I felt my cheeks darken, though I was unsure if I could even blush anymore, as I had just been a slight gray color since dying.

"And you can see me because?" I trailed off, turning towards Peter again to try and figure this whole thing out.

"Because once I saw your outline when I was in rat form, I knew who you were immediately. And it was like suddenly you were real." Peter whispered, avoiding looking at me.

Sirius let out a dramatic sigh and looked at James with a roll of his eyes. "This is getting really annoying only hearing one side of the story." He said, and I felt myself laugh at how irritated he was getting, the jealousy in his voice real at not being able to see the ghostly form of myself first.

"I'm going to see if Riley will let me borrow a picture of Gwen so that you can see her," Remus said, drawing the focus of the group back to the matter at hand. "I think it's best if I go on my own; we don't want her to be too suspicious." He looked over at me, and I nodded, my heart racing at the prospect of Riley knowing I was a ghost. A part of me that I didn't want to acknowledge yearned for her to know that I was still here, but another, bigger part of me didn't want her to know, because with her knowing, unwanted questions came too. I wasn't ready to face my death and its details quite yet.

"I'll follow you there." I said, already sinking through the floor and finding myself at the entrance of the Library. Taking a look around, I walked towards the center of the room, where Riley was bent over a book, her glasses sliding down her nose as she scribbled on a parchment piece and glanced between both items quickly every few minutes.

Almost as if she had felt me staring, she looked up and around the library, glancing to see who was looking at her. When she found no one, she brushed it off, going back to her parchment. I only waited a few moments more before Remus came careening into the library. Madame Pince turned her bird-like face to the Marauder, a glare adamant in her eyes, and Remus reached into his pocket sneakily, grabbing something and covertly placing it on her desk. She settled almost immediately, and I was genuinely curious as to what he could have given her. She was notoriously strict, and yet, here she was, preening under Remus' attention.

I quirked my eyebrow at him as he strolled casually into the library, and he sent me an uncharacteristic wink at his cleverness. He slowed to a stop in front of Riley's table, and let out a slight cough. She looked up, a slight blush coloring her dark cheeks. "Riley?" He asked, and she gave him a smile, while sitting up a little straighter.

"Hi Remus." She motioned towards the seat across from her, and Remus took the seat graciously. I moved to sit next to him, forcing myself to remain slightly solid as I did so. Remus cautiously kept his eyes from me, so not to seem shifty. Out of my peripheral vision, I caught sight of a small rat, scurrying out of sight, eavesdropping, and realized it was Peter.

How convenient for spying his form would be, I thought, as it became clear how the Marauder's knew so much about the happenings around the castle.

"Uhm, I had a kind of weird question, I guess. And feel free to say no, but I thought I'd ask anyway." Remus started, before Riley could go back to her schoolwork. She closed her book, and turned her full attention on him, her dark eyes curious.

"Sure, go ahead." Her voice was soft, and she glanced over to Pince to see if they were going to get in trouble for conversing, but she was distracted by a first year, trying to get a book off a shelf that was way too high for them to reach.

"I know that you were friends with the girl that passed this summer. Gwen?" He asked, almost as if to confirm the information he already knew. Riley's cheeks burned bright in the darkness of the library.

She cleared her throat before talking, sounding slightly hoarse in her whisper. "I was." She spoke quickly, seemingly trying to get out of the conversation but Remus pressed on, soothingly.

"I'm sorry to bring this up, I know it's not a pleasant conversation to have, but I was wondering if you had a picture of her?" She gave him a strange look, and he backpedaled quickly. "James and Lily are thinking of doing a memorial, for those that we've lost over the years, and those that are missing because of what's going on outside of school, and I said I'd ask you since you were her friend."

My heart was pounding quickly, and I had to tamp down on my emotions as Riley's eyes filled with tears. "No one has really talked much about it, since the beginning of school, I was just surprised." She sighed and wiped at her eyes quickly. Then with a quick nod, she rummaged in her school bag for a green planner I knew well. It was where we had kept all of our notes on boys, on life, and the general mischief we got up to on a daily basis. I was surprised she still had it, and I had to stifle a sob as she pulled out a well worn picture.

It had been taken last year, right before school had ended. We were in muggle-clothes, wearing band t-shirts and bell-bottom jeans, our arms thrown around each other as we made silly faces and laughed at the camera. I remembered setting it on the mantle of the fire-place in the Ravenclaw Common Room, and we'd been laughing at nothing and everything, planning outrageous summer getaways, and which boys we'd end up with at the end of the next year. It felt like a life-time ago, and yet, it had only been a few months.

"It's a lovely photo." Remus said, his voice gentle, and I got up from my seat, trying to distance myself from the strong emotions I felt at seeing the photo. A tugging around my mid-section kept me from drifting, but the sensation wasn't pleasant. With no one holding onto me, however, I brushed it off, unsure of where it was coming from.

"Thanks. I miss her everyday, and it sounds crazy, but sometimes it's like I can still feel her here with me." She smiled sadly, and I wanted to reach out to her, to hug her, to tell her I was still here. "Make sure I get that back when they're done?"

Remus stood, smiling at her, and pocketed the picture into his robes. "Absolutely." He patted her on the shoulder, a slight awkwardness in his motions, before moving to leave. "Riley? Hold onto the feeling. I'm sure she's keeping an eye on you."

She smiled, and he walked a little bit away, glancing back at me before I disappeared back into the Gryffindor boy's dorms, eager to get away from the bubbling sadness taking hold of me.