CHAPTER EIGHT
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THE QUILL SCRATCHED ACROSS THE PAGE absentmindedly, Winnie unable to focus on the Potions homework in front of her.

"What did you get for the third one?" she questioned Lily, who was already almost finished with her own copy of the work. She pushed the parchment further towards Winnie, who read it and nodded before Lily pulled it back in front of her.

"What's got your wand in a knot?" she asked as Winnie scribbled out an answer of her own.

"What do you mean?" It seemed best to act like she didn't know what on earth she was talking about in order to avoid any discussion that wasn't study related.

"I mean, what's got you so bothered? You seem distracted," Lily clarified. Winnie simply shrugged in response and stared at her parchment without writing anything down.

"Oh, I know. It's Sirius Black that's got her wand all twisted up," Marlene smirked, not even pretending to do her own work while she leaned forward and looked between Lily and Winnie.

"Oh no, is he bothering you? It's so typical of him and that whole group that he hangs out with — well namely James," she rambled on in response and Winnie simply raised her eyebrows as she went on. Lily caught sight of this and ceased her rant.

"He's the reason I've got a detention today, but it's not that bad I suppose." Winnie shrugged and turned back to her homework. Dorcas giggled and shook her head without looking up from her own parchment.

"It seems as though he's taken quite the liking to sweet little Winnie here," Marlene commented, now looking down at her paper as if she wanted to create some sort of suspense in that statement.

Lily scoffed and shook her head, presumably thinking of her own experiences with James.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Winnie inquired, setting her quill back into her ink and turning her full attention to Marlene.

"It means that he likes you, stupid," she replied a matter of factly, like it was inherently obvious and always had been.

"Now that's stupid. I barely know him," Winnie brushed off. Marlene just looked at her like she was lying and continued to smile as if she knew something that she wasn't letting on. Though Winnie suspected that she was letting all of it on.

"Whatever you say," Marlene played along, obviously not believing what Winnie had just told her. She sighed and looked at the nearest clock, finding that she was almost very nearly late for her detention. She gasped slightly and started to pack away her stuff.

"Oh, come on, Winn. I'm only joking," Marlene deterred.

"No, I'm late!" she managed to get out in response before shouldering her bag and trying to get out of the library as fast as she could without technically running since she knew Madam Pince had a particular grievance about it.

__________

In the entirety of her hour that she had spent with Sirius Black in the detention that she still affirmed that he had very much caused, quite a few things happened.

She insisted that she was absolutely done talking to him, but he did not have the same desire. He had talked so much, she thought that she had no other choice other than to speak with him and attempt at being friends since she was very tired of the back and forth on whether or not to like him in her mind.

Of course, he had some clever words to exchange after she had shown up late and apologized to McGonagall about a million times. Winnie sometimes thought when teachers gave detention, they really didn't have much in mind.

They both ended up scrubbing at the trophies until they were a shiny, picturesque clean that one could see their reflection perfectly in. Now, Winnie seemed to remember that Louise had done this exact same thing in her last five or so detentions at the very least.

She had made sure that she got away from the trophy room quickly because she was afraid she would change her mind about Sirius yet again.

Entering the common room tiredly, she hoped that Donna might be away a bit longer and that Connie would be less angry when she got up to the dormitory. Everyone had retired for the night, except for one person who sat near the fire. He glanced over at her when she entered and she recognized his face almost immediately.

"Amias? It's been so long!" she exclaimed with a smile as she moved to sit next to the boy. He, however, did not seem as enthused by her presence there as she was by his.

"Yes, a while," he responded quietly with a small nod, seeming to take an interest in the glowing fire. The crackle that came from the fireplace filled the silence and even though they sat near a source of heat, Winnie could practically feel the coldness in his words hitting her directly.

"Erm — so how have you been? Last time we actually talked would've been fifth year," she continued, hoping that he wouldn't stop talking if she kept speaking to him.

"Fifth year. Yes. I've been well," he answered politely, still looking into the fire and not at her. "And you've been?"

She felt puzzled by his odd behavior. This was not the Amias she had once known, not the boy whom she had met in her second year Charms with a particular gift for Transfiguration.

Winnie paused before continuing, "I've been very well, thank you for asking," she replied just as politely.

"Cleansed any auras lately?" Amias questioned with the ghost of a grin. Her face suddenly turned bright red and she shook her head.

"No, no I haven't. Though, maybe I should get back into the practice," she pondered, actually considering it for a moment. During her fourth year, she had volunteered to 'cleanse auras' for her fellow students, claiming that it would lead to overall happiness.

That was the year of her more spiritual fascination, the year of many of her mother's tarot cards and trying to fix problems with a good attitude and crystals rather than with magic. She would admit, she still loved some of those things, but felt sheepish talking about how intense she had become that year.

A deep frown settled on his face again and he stood up abruptly. "I really must go up to bed. Goodbye, then," he said before making his exit. It was all so quick he didn't even allow her the opportunity to say her own goodbye.

After looking at the spot where he had disappeared out of her life once again, she stood up herself and sighed. In their fifth year, he had started hanging out with a new crowd of people. A new crowd that she certainly didn't like herself. That was what had driven a wedge between the two friends that she believed would never fully go away.

But maybe, since he seemed to be around people who were doing things ever so dangerous, that was something that was in her own best interest.