LEAH

The only good thing about half term break was that it was one week with no lessons. We still got a mountain load of work though, because somehow the teachers' logic told them if we had more time on our hands we'd do more work, and we'd do it more efficiently and so on.

It was never like that.

Everyone I knew always struggled to guess the answers to the most boring subjects the night before lessons resumed. And you'd think because we had already done our O. W. L. S we'd have a bit of a break, but oh no; N. E. W. T. S were only one year away and we were obligated to pass.

The day before classes resumed, I was still battling with Arithmancy. Mollie was still trying to do Eolas with her little chrysanthemum. Her eyes were closed in concentration, and she had her hand over the plant again.

As much as I struggled I really couldn't be bothered to start adding cardinal and lucky numbers to cursed numbers and so I resorted to asking Mollie – she had already finished.

"Sorry," I said, "but what did you write for number twenty-three?"

"Number twenty-three," she mumbled. Tiny droplets of rain were descending in sporadic showers, but the wind howled the most, shaking the windows in their frames.

"Number twenty-three," Mollie repeated. Her eyebrows drew closer as she furrowed them in even more concentration. Then she gasped, and her eyes flew open. They were bright yellow for just a second before returning to their usual grey-blue.

"What's wrong?" I asked, sliding off my bed. "You did it."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah! Your eyes – they flashed for a second or two. What did you see–"

But before Mollie could answer the dorm room door opened.

"Whose eyes flashed?" a voice asked. We were in trouble now. A head poked itself through the doorway; it was our roommate, Marylin something.

"Uh..." my brain went blank.

"Gripshawk the Great," Mollie interceded. I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

"Goblin ruler in the thirteenth century," continued Mollie. "His eyes used to flash all sorts of colour whenever he was..."

"Making a proclamation." I finished. "Yes, we were just finishing some... History of Magic homework."

Marylin eyed us skeptically then decided to let it drop. "Anyways," she said, "there's someone at the door who wants to see you, Leah. Says he's serious but I'm not sure about what."

Mollie and I looked at each other. Whatever could Sirius want?

"OK. Thank you," I told Marylin. I pulled a coat over my sweater and left. Sirius was standing outside the Hufflepuff common room entrance, nervously wringing his hands. 

 "Well?" I asked. 

 "I-I guess I owe you an explanation about Regulus," he said. The spark in his eyes was gone so I guessed he had really thought this through. 

 We began walking, the echoes from our shoes bouncing off the cold stone walls. The warm air from the common room was replaced by a wet, billowing breeze. The rain had reduced, but droplets of water still fell from the sky, so tiny you'd think it was raining mist. 

  "Would it be OK if we walked outside?" Sirius asked. 

 "It would be fine," I replied. Outside it was even cooler than inside, but the fresh air would do me good. Tiny beads of rainwater settled in our hairs like snow. I wasn't sure if Sirius was actually going to talk, but he did eventually. 

 "So, as you can remember, Regulus and I had an encounter some time ago," he began. We were walking in the direction of the Forest. 

 "I remember," I said.

 "And he didn't exactly seem like the nicest person," continued Sirius. I suppressed a snort. 

 "No."

 We walked on, climbing and sliding on a few rocks here and there.

 "And you've noticed I'm in Gryffindor."

 "But he's in Slytherin." 

 I hadn't realized we had been ascending until we were atop some sort of slope – or hill – overlooking the Hogwarts grounds, freezing water being blown into our faces by the wind. 

 Sirius dug his hands into his pockets. "My whole family's been in Slytherin. I'm the odd one out." 

 "The black sheep," I said.

He gave me an annoyed nudge but sighed. "Yeah, I guess." 

 "So Regulus, your own brother, despises you that much because you're in a different house than him" I asked.

Sirius kicked at a pebble, sending it rolling down the slope.

"Despise is a pretty strong word," he said, "but even so, I really don't know. I think maybe it's my parents who've influenced him or something."

 "Your parents are against you too?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even. 

 Sirius nodded. "Whole family's in or was in Slytherin. Like you said, I'm the black sheep."

 We were silent for some time. The drizzling turned into a heavier shower so we began to move. 

 "Shouldn't you be proud?" I asked. "Proud that you're different and not like everybody else?" 

 "I am," Sirius faltered. "It's just not that easy when you've got a set of rules governing your every move, and if you don't live according to them you become an outcast." 

 Wow. How strongly-worded and emotional. 

 "Social expectations suck," I said. 

 We came to the outer edge of the Forest where the trees grew high and thick enough to cover and shield us from the wind and rain.

 "Everyone in my family was raised to hate Muggles and Muggle-borns and pretty much anything that doesn't scream 'I'm a pureblood so don't forget to pay me because I'm saving your arses from filthy Muggle-borns!'" said Sirius, an edge of bitterness to his voice.

 I couldn't help but laugh a little. Still, it reminded me of where I came from; where humans were nothing but evil destroyers who only cared about themselves. The cruelty of the words made it sting even more, because I knew some humans were the complete opposite; kind and caring. 

 "But you're different," I said, cutting my trail of thoughts short. "You don't hate Muggles or Muggle-borns, do you?" 

 "No," said Sirius, leaning against the trunk of a tree. "I actually have some really amazing Muggle-born friends."

 "Well, in my opinion, that makes you a better person," I said. "You're able to accept and follow a better truth." 

 "A better truth?" asked Sirius.

 "You believe that Muggle-borns aren't thieves or nasty people, or any other sort of thing." I said. "That's better than them because you have no ill feelings towards Muggle-borns. A truth that leads to hatred isn't worth following."

 "Wise words from a wise wolfblood," Sirius teased. "Better hold onto them until I die." 

 I shook my head, but it was impossible not to smile. The rain turned back to a drizzle.

 "When did you guys find out about Remus?" I asked. 

 Sirius looked up, trying to remember as though it had happened a lifetime ago.

  "Round second year," he said finally. "He kept having to 'go home to his sick mother' once every month. Eventually we confronted him about it, but I always had a bit of a hunch since the beginning." 

 "Two years," I said. "That's long."

 "Yeah but not long enough," he said.

 "Not long enough for what?" 

 "It wasn't long enough to keep us in the dark."

 I opened my mouth to speak but my brain was still having trouble understanding what he had just said. I decided to move on, lest I lose my sanity.

"So how did he react when you guys found out?" I asked. 

"He got this funny look– like he was going to faint or something," said Sirius, "and then he started smiling but then he had balancing tears so maybe he could have been crying...I dunno really."

 "Why would he be crying?" I asked.

 "James was really open to the idea, so I guess he felt like this massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders," explained Sirius. I nodded. Somehow it was easier to talk to Sirius (not that I found anything wrong with talking with Remus.)

"How did you figure out that Mollie and Zach are..." he trailed off.

 "Wolfbloods?"

"Yeah."

 "I suppose I always knew about Zach," I began, "but there was this one time in third year when Mollie went mad, like raging mad, and I just came to the conclusion that no normal human being could get that mad without–"

 "Are wolfbloods even normal human beings?" Sirius interrupted. 

 "Are you even a normal human being?" I retorted. Sirius smirked, but something about it was so contagious that I soon found myself smiling as well. 

 "What?" he asked. 

 "Nothing." I said. The drizzling stopped completely so that now a frosty breeze nipped at our faces.

 "Anyways, James seems like a nice person," I said.

 "Of course he does," said Sirius in agreement. "Even he himself agrees he's a nice guy, which completely ruins his chances of getting together with Lily."

 A hardly suppressed laugh escaped me. "So he likes her then?" I asked.

 "Like is an extreme understatement, he's obsessed with her!" said Sirius. I laughed even harder. 

 "No seriously," continued Sirius, "he's been after her ever since first year, begging her to go on a date with him."

 "And she says no?" I asked through laughter.

 "Every single time," Sirius was laughing too, as though he was letting out all the stifled snickers he had to keep it whenever this happened. Our laughter, however, was cut off rather abruptly by something jumping out of a tree.

 It landed on all fours, then slowly raised its head. At this point I should stop referring to it as 'it' because in truth I knew who it was.

 "Niall!" I hugged the twelve year old standing before me.

 "Leah!" Niall cried in excitement. He was from my pack back at home, and was generally a helpful, sweet boy/wolf.

 "You know him?" Sirius asked, perplexed. 

 "We're in the same pack," I said, ruffling Niall's hair. "What're you doing all the way here?" I asked him.

 "It's the pack elders... They say you have to come back." Niall explained.

 "Did father say so?" I asked.

 "No, he didn't say anything about you." 

 I began pacing back and forth, my mind becoming cluttered with multiple thoughts. 

 "So he's been watching us this whole time?" asked Sirius. I shushed him but Niall nodded.

 "You've got some serious stealth skills," said Sirius in awe.

 "And you're sure father didn't say anything at all?" I asked Niall.

 "Nothing. He's been..." he hesitated, "busy."

 I paced some more. I thought Sirius was going to ask if Niall could 'do the eye thing' as well. Thankfully he didn't.

 "I won't." I said finally.

Niall blinked. "What?"

 "I won't go back." I said, firmer this time.

 "Why not?" he asked. "The pack is going to ask questions. They're going to start questioning your father's authority–"

 "–I thought you just said he didn't give the order." I said, trying to keep my tone as un-snappish as possible.

 "He didn't but--"

 "If he didn't, then I will not go." I said. I got this squirming feeling in my stomach; my gut telling me it was a bad idea.

 Niall didn't argue any more. He bowed and took off, running for some distance before changing into his wolf form and disappearing into the woods.

 * * *

 I had to borrow some medicine from Mollie; that's how sick I was. Wolfblood isn't like human medicine – it's always ground fresh from the wild, which explains why I didn't carry any. If I'd need to make any, I'd look for the herbs myself in the Forest. But this time around I was feeling far too sluggish to go trooping for wild flowers. City wolfbloods make some sort of mixture that works just in the same way, and just by my good luck Mollie had a few vials left.

 "Thanks," I said as I brought the vial to my lips and took a sip. It tasted and smelled horrible – like the smell of sweaty socks and rotting flesh – but it was the best option I had. All this annoying nausea and feverishness had started right after I refused to go back to the pack. I still wasn't going to.

 "Oh Leah," sighed Mollie. "Why didn't you just go?" 

 "Wasn't going to just disappear like that," I said. "Come one, we're late for breakfast." 

 The cacophony of sounds in the Great Hall made my head ache with a passion. As I sat down at the Hufflepuff table I tried not to lose my temper, but it was proving almost impossible. Bits of food would occasionally sail over our heads as first and second years had miniature food fights.

 "Thought you said wild wolfbloods didn't get sick," said Zach, taking a seat next to me and reaching for an apple. 

 "They don't" –sneeze– "and I'm not s-" –another sneeze– "sick." I said. 

 "Hmm," Zach hummed in mock agreement. 

 "Go back to your table, Thomas," said Mollie. "You're giving Leah a harder time." 

 "I'll leave gladly," said Zach, before daring to shoot Mollie a glare. "Not." 

I pushed my scrambled eggs around on my plate, feeling less than willing to eat them.

 "You've got to eat something," said Mollie. Zach waved a sausage in front of me.

 "I know you want some meat," he said. He flicked it sideways and instinctively I reached out. It fell perfectly into my hand.

 "What d'you think you're doing wasting perfectly good meat?" I asked him. His face broke into a grin. I shook my head disapprovingly while taking a bite.

 Mollie sighed. "You and your witty Ravenclaw tactics."

 Just then there was a deafening bang as something exploded. Probably someone messing up a spell. The bacon dish was sent flying, as well as a few plates already laden with food. Pity I didn't catch any of the bacon.

 Mollie saw it first. "Fire!" she yelped before diving underneath the table. In less than a second Zach and I were half-crouching beneath the table as well. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping nobody saw them flash, and that Mollie and Zach were doing the same. Wolfbloods and fire do not go well together.

 My hands, neck, arms were tingling before I knew it. I didn't know how I was going to stop myself from veining out or even turning right then and there. We probably looked like a bunch of cowards, too petrified to cast a simple distinguishing spell.

 I have no fear of fire. I have no fear of fire. I repeated it to myself over and over, hoping I'd eventually believe it. 

 As quickly as it started, it was over. Mollie, Zach and I pulled ourselves out from under the table, feeling more than abashed. People gave us pitying looks as they formed their own conclusions as to why we were so shaken by fire – maybe we'd lost loved ones in some horrid fire tragedy; maybe we'd been injured in a fire accident. Either way, I was glad they were coming up with their own stories so we wouldn't be questioned – I hoped.

 James tucked his wand away, looking at us quizzically. "You'd think it was the end of the world," he said before taking the seat next to Mollie. 

 "What d'you want, Potter?" Mollie asked. 

 "Erm..." James seemed hesitant. "I uh..."

 "I haven't all day," said Mollie, impatience laced in her tone. 

 "Will you be my girlfriend?" 

 Zach choked on a bit of apple. My hand flew to my mouth as I patted his back with my other one. Mollie, being her ever composed self, merely blinked. 

 "What?" she asked.

 "Well, fake girlfriend." said James. Realization dawned on me and I began laughing like I'd been given fifty shots of laughing gas.

 "What's so funny?" asked James and Mollie in unison. I leaned over and whispered about the Lily dilemma to Mollie. Once I was done Mollie began to smirk this familiar smirk she got when she was piecing together a thousand different bits of an embarrassing story or something. 

 "You poor, desperate thing," said Mollie. James still looked at her expectantly. "But, it's cunning. I like that."

 "So you'll do it?" James asked.

 "Yeah OK, Potter, I'll be your fake girlfriend." said Mollie. 

 "Great," said James, satisfied. "But from now on it's James."

 Mollie just rolled her eyes.