Chapter One

The girl with the crystal ball

Peter's point of view

Peter awoke early in the morning, so early that the sun wasn't even up yet. He got out of bed, stretching. He looked in the mirror and smiled. Most people wouldn't smile when they saw this as their reflection. He had a skinny, pointed face, that was about the opposite of the rest of his body, as he was overweight, and watery blue, beady eyes. His nose was small and rat-like, and his hair was a blotchy mix of dusty brown and almost yellow blonde. He didn't really care, however, he had brought this appearance on himself by choosing a rat as his animagus form. He ran his fingers through his thin, untidy hair and shook his head. Peter looked at his clock, it was four thirty exactly. He was always the first one up, but rarely this early. He was only the first one awake, simply because his dreams brought him no comfort. He only ever dreamt of leaving his abusive home for Hogwarts to be with his only friends, the ever admired, brilliant rebels that James and Sirius were, and the genius prefect and, most likely, future head boy, Remus. He looked around the room at his sleeping friends, smiling to himself.

He knew Remus would wake up next, at exactly six, eager to learn and sticking to a self-imposed, strict schedule. Then, it would be Sirius, at around six thirty, who would automatically start working on his hair, which was just fine as it was, and then James, never at the same time, who would've slept in clean robes so he didn't have to change in the morning, and waking simply because he had to, or because he wanted to hop on a broom and play quidditch with Sirius or because he was hungry. Peter changed his clothes and sat on his bed, staring out the window at the snow covered grounds. An ever present grin painted on his face. In reality he was almost always pretending to be cheerful, he often wondered wether it was the same thing for Remus, who had every reason to be glum, but almost never was. He was lost in thought, watching a deer jump over the fence to the pumpkin patch, and begin pawing hopefully at some decaying leaves. His smile turned into a real one, as his thoughts drifted over to the first time he had seen James and Sirius transform, he had been so mesmerized by it.

It was now just after six fifteen. He knew Remus was up already. He picked up his wand and entertained himself for awhile by levitating his belongings and making them soar around the room. He did this for around five minutes, but got bored and let them fall to the ground again. He looked out the window onto the icy grounds again, and thought he saw something moving across the snow. He got up and crossed to the window. By the time he got there what had been moving over toward the castle had stopped right underneath the window. There were no foot prints anywhere what so ever. Peter looked a bit closer at the person standing beneath the window and fear began to slice at the insides of his chest.

Remus's point of view

His eyes snapped open. He looked at the clock by his bed, exactly six. He sat up, and smiled at the sight of Peter grinning to himself. He knew Peter had a hard time at home, he always came to school with bruises, cuts, and burns, but instead of whining about it or using it to seek attention, he focused his attention elsewhere, and could easily find the beauty in almost anything. Remus dressed, combed his hair and began to collect his books from various places in the room, where they had been scattered by Sirius and James the previous night. It had taken him awhile to find his books, it was almost six thirty. He looked up and opened his mouth to say good morning to Peter, but then he closed it again. Peter had crossed over to the window, his face was sheet white, and his small eyes were wide. He walked over, standing shoulder to shoulder with him. Standing in the knee-deep snow was a girl that looked around thirteen.

Her skin was so pale it blended with the snow behind her. Her hair was long and black as the sky at midnight. She was wearing a black, torn up dress and a traveling cloak of the same color and state. She was staring at something that was clutched in her hands. She looked up, straight into the window they were staring out of. They could see her face now. Her eyes were lemon shaped, dark, empty holes and her mouth was also just a black hole, but it was stretched into a demonic grin. They could also now see what she had been staring at, a gleaming crystal ball that looked to be glowing the least bit red. A female child's laugh floated up to them, easily heard even through the closed window. It took Remus a second to realize that the girl was looking directly at them, and it took him even longer to retrieve his senses, which seemed to have been lost.

The second he fully appreciated what was going on, fear coursed through his body. He looked at Peter, at the exact time Peter had looked over to him and both of them yelled loudly. Sirius and James jumped out of bed as Peter and Remus fell backward away from the window. James had actually fallen out of bed.

"Next time you want me to get me up, just make Sirius sit on me again." James said, his voice slightly muffled by the carpet.

"What is with you guys?" Sirius asked with a grin. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Remus and Peter began shouting out their explanations of what they had just seen in unison while James collected himself off the floor.

James point of view

Remus and Peter stood up. Both of them were white as winter.

"What is with you guys, you look like you've seen a ghost." Sirius teased them. They both, simultaneously, shot into their own account of what they had seen. The only words James was able to pick out were; girl, eyes, black, and demon.

"Woah, guys, hold your hippogriffs, one at a time please." James said holding up his hands. They fell silent. "Peter, what happened?"

"I thought I saw something moving outside, so I went to the window to go look. There was this girl standing in the snow, but there weren't any footprints. Her skin was so pale I almost thought she was just a really good snow man and her hair went down to her feet. She was staring at like a crystal ball. Then Remus came over an the girl looked up at us." Peter began in a rushed alarmed fashion.

"Her eyes were like huge holes." Remus said.

"And so was her mouth." Peter added "And she was smiling, and it just looked so unnatural. "

"And when she laughed we could hear it through the window, and it sounded like a little girl." Remus finished. James felt a fleeting stab of fear, but then he laughed and so did Sirius.

"Good one, mates." Sirius said laughing.

"You almost had me there, who came up with that?" James asked.

"It's not a joke." Peter whimpered. "L-look out the window, and you'll see her." James laughed, shook his head, and looked out the window. For a second he thought he saw the girl that Peter and Remus had described, but he blinked and nothing was there. He shook his head again. You should've done this just before Halloween, you actually had me tricking myself out right there." Sirius gasped and the three of them looked at him. He was shaking slightly with a horrified look.

"L-look, th-there she is." He whispered pointing at the opposite end of the room. James whipped around, fear coursing through his body once more. Peter and Remus had also spun around to face the opposing wall. There was nobody there. Sirius let out a joyful, barking laugh that split through the tensed silence that had materialized at his announcement.

James joined in with the laughter.

"Were you in on this, mate?" He asked.

"No." Sirius chortled. "I just decided to jump on the band wagon." At this pronouncement, however, James suddenly felt worried. Why had they looked if they knew the girl didn't exist?

"Why did you turn around if that wasn't part of the prank?" He asked, but even as he said this an idea sprung up.

"Because it's true." Remus said. James laughed again, right along with Sirius.

"No, no, I see it. Great acting, guys, got me going that time too." Said Sirius.

"Brilliant." James agreed.

Sirius's point of view

Sirius checked his watch.

"Hey," He began, still chuckling. "We should go down to breakfast soon, James and I have something to do." A different type of grin spread across James's face and Sirius knew the same was happening to his own. They had planned quite the extravagant prank, in which Peeves had already agreed to help. Remus and Peter looked at each-other exasperatedly.

"How could you be planning a prank when there's a demon loose on Hogwarts grounds?" Remus asked.

"Mates, really joke's over. We didn't fall for it, just let it go, try again with something else when we're not expecting it." Sirius said, disbelievingly.

"But... but..." Peter squeaked.

"Really, Peter you'd make a wicked actor, you look like you're about to pass out." James smirked. "C'mon guys, lets head down to breakfast." He cast a significant look at Sirius.

"Step only where we step." Sirius said mischievously. He and James laughed as they walked toward the door. Sirius ran his fingers through his hair, feeling very self conscious, but knowing he didn't have time if they wanted to be eating breakfast when the prank was set off, which was important so they could establish an alibi. The smile was wiped off his face when he looked back over his shoulder and saw Peter and Remus still standing with their backs against the wall, mouths slightly open, pale, and wide-eyed.

"Come off it, guys, lets go." He urged, but the only response he got was for them to blink and shake their heads.

"If you really saw what you think you saw, it was somebody pranking you." James said reasonably. He was still walking toward the door but stopped mid-stride. "Oh, Merlin, I'm starting to sound like Remus."

"That," Remus began slowly and darkly, "was no prank. No human could ever look like that. We aren't leaving this room, until you admit what we saw was true." His voice became stubborn.

"You don't want to stay up here alone, do you?" James asked slyly as he and Sirius, who picked up the idea, made for the door.

"No, thank you." Peter squeaked. He and Remus bolted toward the door and were halfway down the stairs by the time Sirius's foot touched the first step. He shook his head, smilingly and slid down the railing.

He, Remus, and Peter walked out the portrait hole. His two friends were acting rather jumpy.

"Where's James?" Remus asked after a second.

"He was right behind me." Sirius said, confused.

"Did, did you see him come down?" Peter asked in an even squeakier voice than usual. Sirius shook his head.

"Hey, maybe your guys' demon got them." Sirius said jokingly.

Peter paled a bit further.

"What if it did?"

"We should go back and check for him." Remus said uncomfortably.

"It was a joke, there is no demon." Just as the words left his mouth there was an angry female shriek from behind them and something seized him from behind. A a yell escaped his own mouth and turned around to face the demon.