Chapter 2

"Birdie!" the girl turned at the sound of her name, unable to stop her eyes from rolling at the sight of Remus hurrying towards her, and if that didn't annoy her - even though it did - he allowed his friends to join him as they trailed behind, "Birdie, where are you going?!"

"You are not my baby sitter, Remus, I don't need to tell you my location every second of the day," Birdie huffed, running a hand through her short hair as she steadied herself from slipping down the large hill.

"How many times do I need to tell you Birdie, that I'm not doing this for you!" Remus exclaimed, reaching out to clasp his hand around her wrist.

"Remus, let go of me," she spoke through gritted teeth, but his grip just tightened as he turned her around, "I said let go!"

"No, Birdie, because I need to guide you in the right direction, or whatever, and y'know you're not making it very easy!"

"Good, maybe you'll stop trying!" she grumbled, pulling her arm from his grip, "I'm not a child, I'm not an idiot, and I do not need your help, so please take my advice and leave me alone before I make you!"

"Before you make me?" Remus scoffed, "Birdie, come on, just come back to the castle!"

"No, I have plans!" she muttered, stomping away from him. He shared a look with his friends, groaning as he ran after her.

"Fine, then we have plans," Remus spoke, walking right beside her and watching as she turned her head to look at him.

"No we don't," she shook her head, "I have plans, you're not part of them."

"Well, you can take that up with McGonagall," Remus shrugged, smirking as he done so, she growled a few words under her breath, shaking her head as she did so.

"When did you get so annoying," she huffed, thinking back to the start of last year when the boy was nothing but kind.

"When did you start hating everyone?"

"When everyone became hateable," she mumbled, climbing up the two steps leading to the small hut, and knocking the door politely.

"Bridgette!" the half giant beamed, clapping his hands happily at the sight of the young Ravenclaw, "come in, come in, I see you've brought a friend!"

"Remus isn't my friend," Birdie spoke simply, pushing herself into the house with a small smile on her lips at the sight of Fang, "hello, Fang!"

"So, you're nice to the dog but not me?!" Remus huffed, shaking his head whilst sharing a look with Hagrid.

"Now, if it's not a bother to ask, Birdie, if you're not friends with Remus then why is he here?" asked Hagrid, his oven mitts over his hands as he pulled out the cookies he had baked for the afternoon tea.

"He has a knack for following me around," Birdie huffed, glaring at Remus, "Dumbledore thinks I need a baby sitter, and who better than the completely random Gryffindor prefect, Remus Lupin!"

"Ah," Hagrid nodded, "y'know, Birdie, someone who understands what you're going through may be helpful."

"How in the name of Merlin would Remus know what I'm going through?!" Birdie exclaimed, her arms flailing around as she almost whacked Fang.

"Oh, well, you know," Hagrid stumbled over his words, realising then and there that neither students realised just how much in common they had, "you're both rather smart, so I'm sure Remus here has some knowledge of your pain!"

"I doubt it."

"Don't doubt me, Birdie," Remus piped in, "you'll learn to love me at some point."

"Oh please," Birdie scoffed, "I'd love divination before I love you, and trust me, Remus, that will never happen!"

"Very true," Hagrid piped in, reliving the countless times that he had to ask the divination teacher for an extension on the girls work.

"Well, like I said, I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it because I was asked, so suck it up," Remus grumbled, earning a look from Hagrid as he done so.

"May not be that bad, eh Bridgette? Some company!" Hagrid grinned, patting the girl's shoulder as gentle as he could.

"I have company, I have Asa and Nolan!"

"Yeah well, where are they?" asked Remus, his eyebrow raised as he turned to her.

"Don't you have some overdone prank to play?" Birdie sneered, her eyes narrowed as she done so.

"Now, now, Bridgette," Hagrid spoke sternly, "what av' I told you about that?"

"That it's mean," Birdie grumbled, rolling her eyes as she done so, "I'm only speaking the truth, Hagrid."

"Exactly, now apologise," Hagrid gestured to Remus who sat with a wide smirk plastered across his lips, his eyebrow raised at Birdie whose eyes widened.

"Wha- no!"

"Bridgette," Hagrid repeated, his eyes narrowed slightly whilst Birdie puffed out some air.

"Fine," she huffed, turning to Remus, "sorry."

"What was that I couldn't hear you?" Remus spoke, clearly amused by the situation, and if looks could kill then he'd be six foot under.

"I'm sorry," she spoke through gritted teeth, earning a nod from the taller boy.

"Apology accepted."

"Happy?!" Birdie shrieked, earning a satisfied smirk from Hagrid.

"I didn't bring you up to be rude, Bridgette, you know that," Hagrid tutted, shaking his head whilst Remus watched curiously as Birdie's shoulders slumped.

"I know, Hagrid," she sighed, "Sorry."

"Bring you up?" Remus repeated, "what?"

"Well seeing as my dad is the spawn of Satan-"

"Bridgette-"

"I decided that Hagrid is my substitute parent," she shrugged, sending a look to Hagrid, "he is the spawn of Satan, Hagrid, even you can't deny it."

"I'm just ain't allowed to say it out loud," Hagrid grumbled, earning a soft laugh from Birdie.

"What's your mum like?" Remus asked.

"Not as bad, but still annoying 'we can just move past this, Bridgette, it'll all be fine'" Birdie rolled her eyes, scoffing as she done so, "as if trying to kill myself wasn't bad enough, now I need to put up with them acting as if I'm suddenly fine because it didn't work."

"Why did you try and kill yourself?" asked Remus, as though it was a completely appropriate question to ask, but when Birdie didn't talk for a few minutes after that, ignoring the question he asked with a pained look in her eye that he was sure she had been shielding, she simply shrugged.

"Attention."

-

"So, I heard you have a baby sitter," Asa scoffed, his eyebrow raised as he sat with Birdie in his dorm room, Nolan lay in some random Ravenclaw's bed across from them, his hands propped up behind his head and a smirk on his lips.

"Oh, I know, I forgot I was five, not fifteen," Birdie rolled her eyes, "I think it's punishment."

"Punishment?" Nolan repeated, sitting up, "for killing yourself?"

"Attempting to," Birdie corrected, sighing as she leaned on Asa's arm, "you guys know that I didn't do it to hurt you, right?"

"I thought that for a while, I thought that you were selfish to do it," Nolan mumbled quietly, pushing himself up and making his way over to the bed, "so I read up on werewolves over summer, everything that they go through, what you go through, and as bad as it sounds, I finally understood why you did it."

"I feel so alone," Birdie finally whispered after a few moments, tears that she begged not to spill welling in her eyes as she pulled the two boys closer, "I-I have so many people around me and yet I feel like I'm trapped in some, in a sort of, um-"

"Bubble?" Nolan suggested, "as though you can't get out, and people can't hear you."

"Exactly."

"People think you did it for attention," Asa mumbled, his head resting on her shoulder as she nodded.

"I know, I told Dumbledore I did," she rolled her eyes, taking Asa's hand as she done so, "if anyone asks why I did it, that's what I'll say."

"Because if you did it for attention, then people need to pay attention," Nolan nodded, "makes sense."

"At least you two understand," Birdie chuckled, "I missed you both, I missed how it used to be."

"We just want our Birdie back," Asa mumbled, "we'll help you, we can help you more than that prefect can."

"We're your best friends!"

"I know," Birdie sighed, "Dumbledore's idea, as well as McGonagall, but maybe I can go to Flitwick with it."

"We know you better than anyone, I don't understand why they would pick him of all people!" Asa exclaimed, "he's nothing but trouble."

"Remus Lupin?" Nolan scoffed, "no, his friends are nothing but trouble, he's actually the only tolerable one of the lot."

"Not to me," Birdie muttered, "I'm hungry who wants food?"

"I do," Nolan agreed, pushing himself up from Asa's bed, "should we go to the kitchens or do you actually want to face the great hall?"

"I suppose it won't be too bad, he might leave me alone with you two here," Birdie shrugged, slipping into her boots as she stood.

"What table is it tonight?" asked Asa as he grabbed his wand, putting it into the back pocket of the trousers he wore as the three headed out of his dorm.

"Slytherin," Nolan smirked, "the best house."

"Oh please, Nolan, Ravenclaw is obviously the best house!" Birdie exclaimed, nudging Asa who nodded in agreement.

"That's not fair, though, because that's two against one!" Nolan grumbled.

"Hey, you're the one that made friends with the Ravenclaw's, Noly!" Birdie scoffed.

"No, I believe you two wouldn't leave me alone until I became friends with you!" Nolan exclaimed, throwing his arm around Birdie who protested.

"That is so far from the truth that I can't even see it anymore," Birdie shook her head furiously, stumbling slightly at the height difference between the two and the fact that Nolan was walking far too fast.

"Keep up, Asa," Nolan scoffed, turning to look at the boy sending him a glare, "there won't be any food left by the time we get there."

"Oh, funny," Asa nodded, his voice dry of emotion, "haven't used that one in a while."

"I swear you two can't help but argue," Birdie chuckled, shaking her head as she entered the great hall, purposely making her way to the Ravenclaw table and pulling Nolan along as she done so.

"How long before your baby sitter notices that you're here?" Asa asked as he sat across from the two, his eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips as he reached into the middle of the table.

"Hopefully when we're leaving," Birdie grumbled, rolling her eyes whilst the two boys laughed.

"Not to defend the Gryffindor but why not give him a chance, if Dumbledore thinks he can help then why not take it?" Nolan asked, his eyebrow raised whilst Birdie's head fell onto the desk.

"Because I want things to go back to normal, I don't want someone having to watch over me because 'oh Birdie might just kill herself again!' it's annoying, it's irritating and if i did it again just bloody let me!" Birdie huffed, rolling her eyes as she done so.

"That's no way to live, Birdie," Asa trailed off, earning a look from Birdie as she sat herself up.

"Maybe that's why I tried to-"

"Still going on about killing yourself?" a voice piped in, attracting the three's attention to the smirking Remus taking the seat beside Birdie, "doesn't it get boring? Like you've done it, leave it at that."

"Does it get boring being as annoying as you?" asked Birdie, her eyebrow raised as she turned to him.

"Not as much as you'd think," Remus replied simply, shrugging his shoulders whilst purposely ignoring the glare sent to him by the girl just beside him.

"You know you don't have to babysit her every second of the day, right? We're here," Nolan said, looking at Remus who nodded.

"Look, as much as this sounds heartless, I'm doing this because McGonagall said it'd be best for both of us for some reason, and I'm curious to find out why," Remus shrugged, grabbing a few grapes from the middle of the table.

"Best for the both of you?" Asa repeated, his eyebrow raised as he shared a look with Nolan, "weird."

"More like stupid."