Beta: Cloudy

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Harry met me at the library early in the morning the next weekend. We took a seat in the far back so we wouldn't disturb others with our conversation. In hushed tones and whispers we caught each other up with everything that had happened so far.

Harry had (unsurprisingly) made the Quidditch team. He was disappointed he couldn't use his personal broom, but he was such a talented and experienced flyer that he could compensate. He would actually have to attend practice later that day.

Hermione, he had said, was also a Tolkien fan. She wasn't as avid of a reader of fantasy as he was, but she appreciated the classics and since finding out she was a witch she had been going back and comparing the Muggle archetypes against reality. Harry went on to say that she was easy to talk to because she always waited for him to finish speaking even if he started to stutter which he really appreciated.

Neville had ended up in their group after one of the other boys teased him about his stutter. Harry didn't specify who had mocked Neville, and when I asked he pointedly looked away and mumbled for me to not have to worry. It'd be a lie to say that it didn't bother me, but I knew that was only because I was protective of my brother.

"You're not the one being bullied, are you?" I seriously asked, pinning Harry with my stern gaze.

"They haven't said anything bad about me," Harry mumbled, and the emphasis on me told me students were harassing others. At my expectant look he reluctantly added, "Some boys can be gits to Hermione and... you."

"Ignore what they say about me," I told him. "You standing up for your friend?"

"Every time I hear it," affirmed Harry, raising his chin up in pride.

"Good. They ever cross a line..."

"I know."

I smiled, reaching forward and sweetly kissing his cheek. "Love you, Harry."

Harry grinned, abashed. "Love you too, Rosie."

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

"What have we here, Gred?"

"I think it's a lost little snake, Forge!"

Once again I was on my way back from the library when I was greeted by two charming twins. I couldn't hold back my chuckle of amusement as they flanked me.

What oh what could they want now? I wondered.

"Good morning handsome men," I praised as I shifted my grip on the textbook I had checked out. I had to continue my studies in runecrafting. Independent studying was difficult to do, but I had little options. Runecrafting was an essential foundation to crafting rituals and I had a feeling that rituals and potions would play a key element in creating my worgen army.

"Handsome men she calls us!"

"We are pretty handsome."

"Careful though," George joked, "we were just gifted two Nimbus Two Thousands by an anonymous witch who also called us handsome men."

"Called us the most handsome men on the Quidditch team and that's why we deserved proper brooms."

I exaggerated my fake surprise by gasping and placing my free hand on my cheek. "Oh my word! Competition already?"

That made the duo laugh, and I giggled along. There was an undeniable air of charisma and charm that they exuded, although each a bit different. The more times I encountered the twins, the easier I could feel their magic. Fred's magic was a firework; an explosion of power and joy. George's magic was a bonfire; a steady powerhouse of warmth.

"Say," I did a little twirl in my steps, so I could turn around and face them both properly. "Would you two like to join me in a little self-study?"

They made a face.

"Hear me out," I said, holding up my free hand. "It's for wards. Specifically how to sneak past them."

Now they were each raising an eyebrow at me.

"Sounds pretty sneaky," observed Fred.

"Very suspicious," agreed George.

"What makes you think we would be interested in that?" they coyly asked together.

I innocently glanced away. "No reason, of course. I merely thought it was an interesting skill to have."

"And Hogwarts' Library just so happens to have books on how to do that?"

"In the Restricted Section," I said with a devilish smile. I liked to imagine that my own eyes must have been twinkling with dark mirth.

The gleam in their eyes showed their interest. Even with the map, the duo couldn't sneak into the restricted section since there was the magical equivalent of security cameras in place. Only someone with the cloak of invisibility (Deathly Hallow grade, naturally) could hope to do so.

"I find that having a couple of study buddies makes it a lot more bearable," I added, trying to give them a solid reason as to why I was inviting them. In truth, it was only because I wanted to spend more time with them. "And I bet I know the perfect spot to hide the books and study. A spot even you two don't know about."

"A spot we don't know about? Show us this spot—"

"—and you can count us as your study buddies."

"It's called The Room of Requirement," I told them with a pleased smile. "Follow me."

Learning runecrafting was the basics of ritual crafting... and ward breaking.

The ritual crafting was for my future worgen army.

The ward breaking was because I had every intention of turning my thieving ways on the unsuspecting Death Eater supporters. If so many of the opposition found themselves without the wealth and power to oppose me, well... all the easier to destroy them.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Two months slipped by in the blink of an eye.

Between classes, homework, tutoring the Slytherins in insults and compliments, studying runecrafting and wards with the twins, and keeping up with morning exercises with Harry (Hermione and Neville had joined us per Harry's request) my time was delightfully devoured. October well and truly snuck up on me and it forced me to reassess my plans.

October meant a few things.

One: Halloween was coming up.

Two: It was starting to get too chilly to go for morning runs with the new golden trio.

And three: I needed to start thinking about what the heck I was gonna do with the Philosopher's Stone.

The only thing I knew for certain was that I had to keep it out of Professor Quirrel's hands. I had hoped to let bygones be bygones and watch over Harry as he had a heck of an adventure his first year but damn it. Remus raised him too sensibly. Harry hadn't gone to the third corridor at all, and he had no desire to do so.

"Why would I want to go there when Professor Dumbledore specifically said not to?" Harry had asked me during our morning run around the lake when I brought it up.

It was important that we both remained in shape to continue our mixed martial arts training. We had packed matching black tracksuits that we slipped on before dawn to start our morning runs. We had even packed a few extra per Sirius's suggestion in case any of our Housemates wanted to join us.

A good thing, too. Harry gave Hermione a spare lilac purple one, and Neville an extra dark red one.

"Because adventure?"

"Uncle Moony would kill me."

"But adventure."

"Uncle Moony would kill me."

"But... adventure?"

"You shouldn't... be encouraging... Harry to... break... the rules," Hermione lightly scolded me as she tried to catch her breath while jogging with us. Her frizzy hair only grew frizzier as she exercised. She had it pulled into a ponytail but the frizz had grown so powerful it looked like a puffball at the back of her head.

Poor Neville was so out of shape he had collapsed earlier on in the run. He got farther than his first week, but he had a ways to go.

Well shit, I thought to myself.

"Why don't you do it?" Harry asked me. "You're supposed to be the queen of chaos, right?"

"I guess," I bemoaned. "Someone's gotta."

"No one has to!" Hermione said shrilly.

"It's our destiny. I'll fulfill it on your behalf, Harry."

"Rosie!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Thanks, Rosie," Harry cheerfully thanked me. "Let me know if it's worth dying over. I'll die with you."

"Harry!" Hermione looked so betrayed.

"Hermione you're too adorable," I said. "Can I hug you?"

"Only if you promise not to go into the third corridor!"

"Damn it."

"Language!" Her voice was a new level octave. She could have shattered glass, I bet.

Honestly, October was quite a dilemma. I wasn't even confident I could complete the puzzles to get to the stone because my chess skills were barely above average. Yeah, I could beat Sirius and Remus but that wasn't saying a lot. Ron was a budding chess prodigy who bested Professor McGonagall. I couldn't lay claim to that skill. Everything else I could probably handle, but the chess?

Ehhhhh.

I knew Voldemort wouldn't be able to get the gem out of the mirror, but, like... what was stopping him from running off with the entire mirror and hunting down someone who could get the gem out?

He had to be stopped. The world wasn't ready for his resurgence. All my plans would have to be tossed out the window if he showed back up. My worgen army might never come to fruition and that was simply unacceptable.

Gilneas. Will. Happen. Nothing will stop me from getting my fluffy cuddle buddies.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

The first weekend of October I had to spend it in the library. Well, first, I had to sneak away from my loyal subjects. It was cute how they followed me, but they needed to be able to independently act.

They were doing good. Very good. Insult night was a big success and last week I didn't have to reprimand anyone for using blood purity as an insult. There was no gossip of Slytherins bullying the other Houses, and the overall atmosphere of the House was, dare I say it, optimistic. From what I could gather the Slytherins were enjoying improving their insults and flattery skills.

Oh, sure, there were a couple of those sadists who were itching for an attempt to hurt someone, but they feared me too much to act out. They were too old for me to properly help them, so I could only wait for them to graduate and focus my attention on those that could be adjusted.

In the library I tracked down what books I could find about Wizarding Chess. Maybe I could finagle a way to practice against Ron, or trick him into coming with me—

"And what might our favorite snake be plotting now?" George asked as he took a seat beside me at the library. I had chosen a table in the furthest back corner specifically to avoid drawing attention to myself.

How the heckity heck did they fi—did they use the map to find me or do I stick out?

Fred peered over my shoulder. "Is that... chess strategies?"

"You both have been to the third corridor, right?" I asked, keeping my voice low in case there were others around I couldn't see.

"Yep. Three-headed dog—"

"—very interesting."

"Well, I know how to get past it and a few of the other ones. But I'm trying to get through one of the trials further in," I explained with a shrug. It didn't matter if the boys knew. Mischief makers never tattled on other mischief makers. "You need to beat a chessboard that's been transfigured by Professor McGonagall."

"Is that all?" they asked in surprise.

"We beat her in our second year," George said.

"It's how we got out of detention for the whole—

"—exploding meat pie."

I shut the book quickly and looked up at the twins with wide eyes. "Are you telling me you can get past it?"

"Shows us how to get past the dog?" they offered.

"How about you two come along an adventure with me, oh, say... the start of winter break?"

"Well, we would be staying behind this year," George said carefully.

"Give us a moment," Fred said.

The two quickly turned away and started whispering quietly to one another. They talked it over for a few minutes before they faced me again.

"We'd be interested," they said.

"Why do I feel like there's an unsaid but at the end of that?" I questioned with a wary smile.

"There might be," George breezily responded.

"For example: we'd be interested but we can't help to wonder why a snake is interested?"

"The hat mentioned I'd do well in Gryffindor, too," I chuckled, trying to keep the reasoning light and easily excusable. "Might as well see what I'm missing out on."

Fred nodded, giving me a pitying look. "A proper tragedy to be a snake."

"No. A proper tragedy would be to never meet the Marauders," I mocked.

Their eyes comically widened as their mouths dropped.

"You know—?"

"You've met—?"

"I'm afraid the answer to that only belongs to those I consider adventure buddies," I dismissed. "If you're up for a night of daring risk with a snake then be sure to meet me outside the third corridor the second night of winter break."

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

With a half-haphazard plan set, I put the books up and decided to pen a note to Sirius. Better to give him an early heads up that I would definitely be staying behind. I wrote to him and Remus every week, and I had already sent my letter that week and didn't want to wait for the usual time.

Harry had no issues lending Hedwig to me, just as I had no issues lending Iris to him to keep him company on bad nights. Hedwig couldn't exactly sleep in his bed, now could she? Iris was a much better cuddler and my twin magic sense always told me when Harry needed a good Iris cuddle. Iris could expand her body to match a body pillow and her wings were softer than any stuffed toy we had ever been given.

There was also the added bonus that occamies were rat hunters.

I had hoped that if I sent her into Harry's room she would eat Peter, but she's yet to smell a rat in their room.

It was possible Peter was good at hiding, but it was equally possible that he hadn't chosen to hide out with the Weasley family due to Sirius being alive and free. Officially he was declared a traitor and missing.

Who the heck knew where he was.

At the owerly I quickly wrote out a note to Sirius. Hedwig must have sensed I needed her majestic presence because she delicately flew down beside me. She held out her claw expectantly as if to say: Are you done yet?

"You're a proper lady," I praised her, tying my note to her claw.

If she could roll her eyes at me, I bet she would have.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Dear Paddy,

You know I love you and I miss you, but I need to stay at Hogwarts over winter break. There's a chaotic adventure calling for my name and I could never live up to the Marauder's legacy if I turned it down.

If you're okay, I'd love to sneak out to Hogsmeade and be with you all Christmas day though. Some dashing twins have the map and are more than willing to show me a few of its escape routes.

With adoration,

Rosie

P.S. If you get me another unicorn plush for Christmas I will never forgive you. I have enough. I will run out of space in my bed if you give me anymore. >:(

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Dear Rosie,

What do you mean no more unicorn plushies? :(

Paddy

P.S. Don't get caught. If Moony asks, I never knew what you were planning.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

The morning of Halloween Harry and I met up for our run like usual. It was chilly enough outside that I had to wear a jacket with my Muggle running clothes. Although that time I was joined by Draco and Theodore Nott who were dressed in casual workout clothes that looked very similar to what professional Quidditch players used when they exercised (according to Quidditch Weekly).

Harry nodded at both boys. "Hello. Are you two going to be joining us now?"

"The Slytherin Queen shouldn't only run with lions," Draco sniffed, doing his best to act arrogant and superior. Due to the baby fat on his cheeks and the fact that he kept looking over at me as if he expected to praise me just made me think of a puppy who did a neat command for its owner. Hecka becka cute.

Must. Resist. Hugging.

"Draco here will be Slytherin's Seeker next year, and Theodore's expressed wanting to be a duelist," I explained. "Getting into shape and staying physically fit will be important for both of them."

"Dueling? What kind?" Hermione politely asked.

Theodore's face reflexively soured, but he did a good job clearing it up. I was still working on dismantling prejudice in the House. It would be several years before I expected proper results. The children coming in were conditioned at such a young age and I only had so much time with them. I couldn't demand them to change their viewpoints—they would simply pretend to do so in my company.

No. Instead, I had to go about it differently.

Starting off small like taking away the ability to insult one another using blood purity. I had argued it was unimaginative, but in truth I wanted them to stop associating blood purity as an insult altogether. It wouldn't be an instantaneous thing, but over time they'd start using it less and less, and then stop entirely. It wouldn't be a worthy insult for them.

Consequently, it'd stop being associated with a powerful negative. Apathy would take its place when brought up.

And then... disdain. Disdain for those "unimaginative" and "simple-minded" witches and wizards who kept using that insult.

Have you no wit? They would think. Is that the only thing you can come up with?

It was one of the many paths I was setting up for the Slytherin House.

Baby steps that would lead to a proper change.

The second foundation I was laying out was logic. Callous and apathetic logic. Slytherin was the House of ambition and cunning, after all. It would be disgraceful if a snake were to not take advantage of every opportunity. Including befriending an extremely talented and brilliant young witch who just so happened to be Muggle-born.

You would ignore a powerful potential ally over something so silly as blood? You could always betray her later. Why ignore such a useful tool?

Morally ambiguous, definitely, but I had to compromise. I had to acknowledge that some of my babeh snakes would never care to give up their viewpoint. All I needed to do was to prepare the groundwork for the following generations.

Big change should be gradual and consistent, otherwise, it could spark violence. Bullying them into immediate acceptance of my views would only garner resentment and make them more stubborn about their beliefs. I couldn't think for the "now" only the "later."

"International," Theodore answered Hermione. He raised a hand to fix his neatly combed dark hair. "Are yo—I mean—are you interested in dueling, Miss Granger?"

Hermione smiled softly. If she noticed his initially rude tone, she didn't show it. "What I've read about it makes it sound fascinating. Featherdust's techniques used in the previous tournament sparked a lot of controversies."

Theodore's surprise was apparent. "You—You read about that?"

"Naturally. It was in the library."

There was a glimmer of excitement in his eyes, the kind of childish glee someone had when they found someone who shared a common interest. "And? What do you think about Featherdust?"

"He's brilliant," Hermione gushed.

"Yes! Thank you."

I cleared my throat. I knew Theodore was as fanatic about dueling as Harry was at Quidditch, if Hermione kept indulging him he would prattle on all day. "We should get started on our run. Since it's starting to get too cold even with warming charms on our clothes, let's move this inside next week."

"I-Is there a place to run inside?" Neville nervously asked.

"Oh yes," I said, thinking of the Room of Requirement. "Don't worry. It'll be grand."

Now, some might be wondering why Harry and I weren't bringing up our parents. Halloween was the night they were murdered, after all.

We didn't dwell on their murders in our home. We celebrated their life. We visited their graves on their birthdays. Remus and Sirius did not want us to think of Halloween as anything other than Halloween. It was a healthy thing to do. Remus and Sirius couldn't adhere to it since they always got mopey around Halloween, but Harry and I could.

Or, well, Harry definitely could.

I... I always had trouble sleeping around that time. Thoughts of What could I have done better? and Why didn't I prepare better? would circle around my head like an off-tune carousel. If I dared to close my eyes I'd be back in that crib watching Lily scream as she toppled forward.

Her face was always so beautiful, and in her last moments it had been twisted into despair.

She died not knowing if her children would be safe.

There was bitter pain, chilling fear, sharp guilt, and a jumbled mess of emotions that always reared its head back around Halloween. I had lifetimes to practice compartmentalizing negative emotions, but on that anniversary I found that my experience did not measure up to the weight of—of that trauma.

Harry did not have a clear memory of that night. Even when I broached the subject he could not remember anything at all.

I was happy for him. I hoped he wouldn't have to remember her screams. I hoped that when the whole mess of Voldemort and Death Eaters was done and taken care of I could share with him the memories I had saved of Lily and James. I wanted to show him how much they loved him. He should know that Lily loved to play with his hair, and James adored listening to his giggles.

Those were things, I felt, that Harry ought to know.

But I did not dare bring those memories forth and share, because they were always closely followed by the screams and I would—I could never, ever risk Harry listening to those screams.

So on Halloween I followed Harry's lead and feigned ignorance in front of Sirius and Remus. He had no memories of that night, and I shouldn't either. He had nothing to mourn, as he could only recall receiving love and adoration from his current family. By extension, I should be in the same position.

Perhaps Remus and Sirius would be understanding if I expressed sorrow, but I did not yet feel comfortable risking it. And besides... the two men were hopeless around Halloween, especially Sirius.

I genuinely did not think Sirius had the emotional capability of supporting himself and me. Remus could handle his own grief with Sirius, but if I added my own on top of it?

I felt like that would be too much.

For now, I was fine. I was functioning, and with enough time I would find a chance to properly mourn and eventually find closure.

I could wait.

We started our run, Harry and I taking the lead.

When we got a good bit of distance between us and the rest of our companions Harry leaned toward me.

"Paddy's very sad he can't get you another unicorn," Harry whispered to me. "Just one more?"

"No! You guys said that two years ago," I bemoaned. "I don't have the room here."

"Please? For me?"

"Traitor! Fine. But it better be a tiny one."

"It'll be so small you'll barely be able to see it," Harry promised me.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

I sat in the Great Hall on Halloween. Around me the Slytherins chattered amongst each other about unimportant things. Millicent was telling a story about how she wrestled with a baby dragon once—a story everyone believed since her cousin was a dragon keeper in Romania and Millicent had lots of pictures of her sneaking out into the reserve to find dragons.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

I was serving myself up some lovely roast beef when Professor Quirrell sprinted into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll—in the dungeons—thought you ought to know."

He proceeded to faint. Complete with the back of the hand over his forehead.

I bet a hundred galleons he practiced that. Gosh, I wonder if he accidentally fell on Voldemort's face while doing it.

There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Prefects, smrefects. I whistled sharply and loudly to draw their attention. "Come along, snakes. Let the lions run into danger while we stay safe and sound."

"Hear, hear!" joked a Slytherin in the back I couldn't see.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Back in my room I found a letter on my desk.

Kreacher must have dropped it off, I thought. If he went to such trouble to keep me receiving it a secret that must have meant it was for Enáretos. With extra care, I double locked my door and instructed Iris to keep watch. I opened it up and read:

Friend,

Lunar Orchid is doing well. You were right about it catching attention. Someone named Enyo came sniffing.

I told him about you like you said to do.

Attached is his note to you.

Fenris

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

I felt a flutter in the pit of my stomach. Enyo wasn't a name I recognized, but if Fenrir was giving me this information that meant only one thing.

Enyo was a vampire.

Vampires in the Potterverse weren't discussed much in the story. I had read up about them as soon as I could and found a lot of different and contradicting information. The only thing I could say for certain was that the vampire community was entirely separate from the Wizarding World. They had their own government and system to adhere to. They were secluded and preferred to hide among the Muggle population.

Specifically, they wanted to stay as far away from wizards as they could. Apparently wizard blood tasted terrible and the stench of it made them nauseous.

The desire for distance was mutual. According to most sources, wizards felt disturbed when around vampires. Like vampires were low-leveled dementors.

It was in both communities' best interest to remain separate.

But...

My passion for biology and magic wouldn't be easily sated. I was fully determined to perfect the werewolf "curse" into something manageable. A transformation without pain, and only by choice.

I was equally interested in vampire biology. I couldn't even begin to properly study it without obtaining a reputable source, and the only way to do that would be to contact a vampire. Finding a vampire was tricky, though. The second they smelled a wizard they disappeared from sight.

Werewolves, though?

Vampires liked werewolves. Not in the you smell yummy let me eat you kind of way, but in the oh you smell like flowers let me be near you kind of way.

A sanctuary for werewolves? Naturally it'd grab their attention.

Eagerly, I pulled out the second note.

Enáretos,

The wolf insists you are sincere in wanting to learn about us. If you are serious, let us meet in person and discuss what it is you desire. I will be remaining at Lunar's Orchid for the foreseeable future.

Awaiting your response,

Enyo

I sucked in a breath.

Welp. Time to speed things up a bit.

(≖‿‿≖)ノ⌒●~*

Fenris,

I think it's time we met in person. How does Christmas Eve sound?

Enáretos

ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ

For my fellow Americans, today the results either made you jump for joy or brimmed with anger.

Whatever your opinion, I hope this double update will either make your day all the better, or ease your anxiety.

Answer: The grey lady.

Question: Vampires or werewolves?

Reviews are love!