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Chapter I... Nowhere Man by John Butler Trio.
MASS DEATH: SUICIDE OR PRANK GONE WRONG?
Mary and Joesph Cowen, 45, and their three children, Claire, 16, Blaine, 17, and Marrianne, 15, were found in their Wiltshire home around three o'clock this morning. Neighbours say that the family were celebrating the eldest daughters sixteenth birthday, when they heard a loud bang. After notifying the Aurors, the Cowen family were all discovered dead in the main room of their house. Details are yet to be revealed, and Aurors are calling for any information. We will keep you posted...
"Ahhh..." Sighed Sirius, smirking at James across the seat. "The joys of school." The messy haired boy just glared back.
"You mean exams?"
Sirius frowned. "No, I most certainly do not. When did you become such a downer?"
James growled. "Since Lily Evans has decided that she won't talk to me."
Sirius let out a laugh. "Really, James? You two haven't had a civil conversation in over three years."
"Yeah, that was around the time I started fancying her." Blatently truthful.
"That's probably why then." Sirius responded, straightfaced. At James' annoyed and sorrowful expression, Sirius broke. "Don't worry man. She'll come around."
"And if she doesn't?" The silver eyed boy just smiled smuggly.
"Oh, don't worry. She will. And even if she doesn't straight away, she will when when you spend this entire year bothering her." Glaring, James lunged across the seats at the boy that was closer to him than a brother.
Within seconds the fight had turned, and James was in a head lock, unable to move.
"Surender Jamie?" Sirius asked, laughing.
"No way." James protested, kicking out at his best friend again.
"Ahh, then Jamie, you'll stay put then." Both boys knew that was true. Despite the fact that James was a skilled and powerful wizard, he'd never be able to match Sirius in a hand to hand fight. The fact of the matter was that James had never been in a position that required physically defending himself. Sirius had been in that position since he was young, without magic or allies. But since attaining his magic, and leaving the Black residence, he'd continued to keep up such practices. James knew of Sirius' past, but neither boy enjoyed talking about it, and Sirius prefered hiding the pain behind a mask of humour. The boys remained awkwardly interlocked on the floor of their compartment until they were finally interupted.
"You'd think that after six years they'd grow out of silly things like this, wouldn't you?"
"Moony! Save me!" James yelped from the floor.
"No don't. That'll save his pride." Remus looked down upon the two in mock shame.
"Fine." With a well aimed kick at James, Remus made him yelp in surprise.
"You're meant to be helping me!" Remus gave a false sigh.
"Whoops, my mistake." He told the two, before plopping down onto the seat. Sirius, tired of holding onto his bestfriend, finally gave in.
"Okay. We'll call a truce. On the count of three we'll both let go." From what Sirius could tell, James nodded. "One... Two... Three..."
Neither boy let go.
"Oh for Merlin's sake! You to are pathetic." Remus sighed. Struck by sudden brilliantness, Sirius jerked his head up as if he'd seen someone through the half open door.
"Oh hi Lily, didn't notice you there." He said in a loud voice. James, predicably, was shocked into stillness for a moment, before struggling to escape.
"So sorry you had to see that Evans. Boys these days, won't ever let up." James muttered loudly, not even looking at the enpty entrance way, but trying to find a release from Sirius. Upon his release, James found himself facing the wrong way, while Sirius lay on the floor, trying not to laugh as the shorter boy brushed himself off to make himself presentable.
"-ever so sorry. He just jumped me. You know how it is, teenage boys and their hormones. Black can't even decide whether or not he's gay-" James' nervous rant was ended by Peter entering the carriage. He stood in the ajar doorway and stared oddly at James, who had yet to turn around.
"Anybody want to tell me why James is talking to Lily Evans?" James whirled around, just in time to see Sirius crack up and Remus chuckle from the book he was reading. Peter just looked bewildered. The rest of the carriage ride continued on in this way, and Sirius couldn't have thought of anything better.
Violenta Demeter Layfarette stalked through the country side. It was near dust, and that help disguise her a bit. Quickly, before they could catch up, Violenta unrolled the envolope that she had gone so far to recover. Then again, it was worth it. The fact that theyhad gotten ahold of in the first place was horrible. But to Violenta's credit, it was the first time anybody had intercepted he corospondence with Albus Dumbledore. Walking quickly across the moor, Violenta read.
Fox
Come here. You are compromised. It has escalated here, we need you. Immediately. Brief you when you come. Leave NOW.
Socks.
"Compromised, ai? Wouldn't have known from being attack or anything." Biting back her ire, Violenta re-read it, realising the awful truth of it. Dumbledore was calling in the troups. Shit.
Glancing around the barren moor, she realised that she would probably never see it again. Not the moor, but France in general. It was where she'd been born, where her parents had been born. Turing back to the letter, Violenta took in the logistics of it. Cross-contiental apparation would be the easiest way. If by chance they had followed her, then they wouldn't be able to track her apparation that way, but it also took up a lot of energy. Sighing, but seeing no choice, Violenta readied herself. Cross-contiental apparating was something that most adult wizards struggled with. Her father had been peeved when his little girl had managed it when she was sixteen. With another sigh for the life she could never have, Violenta hugged herself, clinging to the bag of possensions which were her life, and concentrated. Visualising the a place that she'd been to too many times. The castle of tall stone, surounded by lakes. Forests and woods surounding it to the lee side. Narrowing her thinking, she concentrated Dumbledore's office. The spines of old books, the colourful collection of sweets sitting on the desk, beside the magnificent Pheonix. With a final breath, she disapparated. Hogwarts.
You couldn't feel pain when you appareated, not as strongly as you did in real life. If you did, it conflicted with the apparation and you'd become spliced. Violenta knew the feeling well, and that was the feeling she felt upon her apparetion. A dulled but somehow still burning sensation of cutting, at her left elbow and jumping onto her ribs and stomach. Despite how she felt, the apparation continued. Pushing passed the pain, Violenta ignored it until a later date, and concentrated on her destination. Dumbledore's office. Just when she was nearly safe there, Violenta rebounded of something. Mentally, and metaphysically, she hit a wall. The added pain of the splinching, and the powerful rebounding, sent her tumbling in the wrong direction.
Violenta blacked out for a moment, and when she came-to, was lying on a stone floor, in an awkward position. Glancing down at her arm, Violenta accessed the damage. It would have been minor, had she not been aparating. It was a native French Charm, one she'd learnt early in her schooling, but had never used again, and as such, had forgotten. It caused spidery cuts to form over the point of impact, which bled profusly until they were tended to. Usually the charm didn't cause enough harm to be useful, but with the added splinching, it was now double in size.
There was nothing she could do for the moment, but sit. Stupidly, Violenta hadn't accounted for the wards keeping her out of the castle. But the exersion of simply apparating had taken a lot out of her. This, added with the constant running, and lack of sleep, she was exhausted. Lying back, Violenta went against her instincts, and waited.
It wasn't long before she heard footsteps.
Sirius, still buzzing from the high of planting the dungbombs in the Slytherin Commonrooms, didn't notice the girl at first. He'd split up with Prongs, Moony and Wormtail straight away, to avoid suspicision. He was almost passed her, when she made a small noise. It was probably unconcious, but still, it made him pause.
Short white hair, pale skin, and wide eyes, she was pretty in the impish way. If she hadn't have been bleeding so readily that half her body was covered in blood, he would have tried to make a move. She lifted her chin a little, as if to get a better look at him, and spoke.
"You're not Dumbledore." She seemed amazed by this fact alone. Bloodloss, a small voice echoed in the back of Sirius' mind. Slowly, he bend down, to not scare her. She didn't jerk away immediately, so he took the iniciative, and pulled back her sleave gently an peeked at the wound. It was an obvious splinching, but what amazed Sirius was that she'd gotten into the castle in the first place.
"You're not Dumbledore." She repeated slowly. "Who are you?"
"Padfoot." Sirius told her absently, trying to reach his wand without brushing the fabric of her sleave over the open wound.
"Hmm..." She sighed thoughtfully. "That's an odd name." Sirius didn't answer, and instead finally reached his wand and begun cleaning up the blood. There was more than he'd first thought, explaining why she seemed so out of it. Once he'd stopped the bleeding, he ripped off her shirt sleeve, and used it as a bandage.
"What's your name?" He asked. She seemed to contemplate that for a moment. Whoever she was, Sirius had never see her around the castle or anywhere else before.
"I have many names. But you can call me Fox." She bit her lip, straightening, and looking back down at Sirius' finished handiwork.
"Where did you learn to do that?" She asked. Much like with the brawling with James earlier, Sirius had learnt Muggle first-aid when he'd been younger.
"Around." He needed a new course of action. He couldn't leave her here, but if he walked into the Great Hall, where nearly everybody was already seated, he'd have to explain why he was in the coridor in the first place. "Why are you here?" He asked, not unkindly. She paused.
"I don't know... I was trying to get to Dumbledore..." She trailed off. At a closer look, Sirius realised she was exhausted. Rings around her eyes, pale skin that couldn't all be attributed to blood loss. Her eyes wided for a moment. "Where's Dumbledore?" She asked, panic obvious in her tired eyes. Sirius went to answer, but was interupted by a voice.
"I am here child. Do not worry." Jerking back from the girl - Fox -, Sirius glanced back and saw the ancient head master standing behind him, eyes twincling. He stood, and turned back to the girl. To his surprise, she didn't look greatful or relieved in any way. She sneered.
"I am no child Albus. Do not call me one." Despite the blood loss, she looked neither lost nor confused now. Dumbledore sighed, the turned to Sirius. The silver eyed boy was just confused. Why would she want Dumbledore, despite obviously hating him?
"Mr Black. I suggest you return to the Great Hall. Minerva will be taking my place for tonight, and you don't want to miss the sorting." Eyes narrowed, he glanced back down at the girl. Sirius had never trusted adults on principal, and Dumbledore was no exception. But he could see not other course of action.
Before he could ask, Dumbledore had levitated the girl to his side and was walking away. Beweildered, Sirius didn't even respond when Dumbledore called over his shoulder.
"And really Mr Black. I believe that you have mastered dungbombs. Maybe it is time to move onto something else."
They disappeared from sight, and Sirius started numbly walking toward the Great Hall. He was met up with by Prongs, Moony and Wormtail half way there.
"SIRIUS! What are you doing? I thought we agreed to meet up at the Great Hall ten mintues ago. Did you get caught?" James yelled when the two met up.
"No." Sirius muttered. "I met a girl."
When he didn't say anything else for a full minute, Remus spoke.
"Must've been some girl." Sirius just nodded. When the other three saw they weren't going to get a better response, they started moving toward the Great Hall.
"Seriously, Sirius." James started, using the over-used joke. "What's with this girl that's got you all dumbstruck. That's never, ever happend before." Sirius had unconciously made the decision to not tell the other Marauders about Fox. Seeing an opening, he went for it.
"Yes, and James, you've always been struck dumb." The delivary was poor, but the joke worked in distracting the other three, as James stared to defend his honour.
"I am not struck dumb!"
"No. You're just mentally deficient." Remus replied cheerfully. The banter continued on in this way, until they entered the Great Hall, just intime to sit before the First Years came in.
McGonagall's voice spoke where Dumbledore's usually did.
"Welcome to another year at..."