Many thanks to nacho5, the only - I repeat, only - reviewer. Because I'm nice, I shall gift my followers with a new chapter, but please, please review! How do I know if anybody likes this if you don't review? I would welcome any questions you have, and I even have a question of my own. Should I do a prequel, or simply reveal any changes Farren made during the course of this story? of course, I won't force you to review, but updates come indubitably faster when I get praise and/or criticism. I can't make my work better if you don't tell me what's wrong with it! Well anyway, here's chapter two, and because I only got one -one - review, I'm still hoping for five reviews before chapter three. Come on, guys! Reviews are like a good hot chocolate - with squirty cream and mini marshmallows and - going off topic. ANYWAY, on with the chapter!
"So… Nargles are real, then?" Lily managed to decipher the topic of conversation through all the small good-natured arguments erupting between Hermione and Farren. Although they were obviously inseparable, they had very different beliefs concerning the existence of certain magical creatures.
"Yes, they are!" Farren exclaimed.
"No! there is no proof that they are!" Hermione protested.
"Just because you haven't seen something, doesn't mean it's not real!"
"You need to see the logic behind it!"
"This is Hogwarts, a magic school! This entire castle isn't logical!" Farren declared. Hermione struggled to find a counter argument. "Humph." Farren said smugly, and they launched into academics, with Luna being the peacemaker in their spats. Lily watched the dynamics of their friendship in amusement; they were… unique to say the least.
"I can't deny that you've done a lot of good, but you're very reckless!"
"What? Name three things I've done that are reckless!"
"Okay!" Hermione said smugly. "First, you took the purple curse for me and spent a month in the hospital wing. Second, you distracted Greyback and he went for you instead of Bill. Third, you went into a fight with Voldemort's biggest supporters wearing a shirt that made fun of his nose less state! Admit it! You are reckless!"
"Fine!" Farren harrumphed petulantly, before grinning. "I knew there was a reason you were the thinker!"
Hermione grinned as they reached the portrait hole.
"Demiguise." Lily told the portrait, and the fat lady smiled warmly and opened.
"Evans!" there was a call, and Lily groaned.
"That's James Potter. He's an arrogant prat, by the way. And watch out for Black, he's even worse."
"Why? What's he done?" Farren couldn't help but ask.
"Well, it could be the fact that he's a massive player, or it could be the fact that he has no respect for authority. Either way, he's such an egotistical git that it's almost painful." Lily finished defiantly, valiantly trying to ignore the continued catcalls from across the common room.
"Wow, Lils, you must have the patience of a saint!" Hermione exclaimed as a boy who was heartbreakingly similar to Harry came up to them.
"Hey Evans," He said, obviously struggling not to run a hand through his hair. "Want to go to Hogsmeade with me?"
Lily huffed. "Honestly Potter, do I have to spell this out for you? The. Answer. Is. No!" she took the three girls over to the fireplace. "Come on, Bell, Beth, Ran."
Luna raised a pale brow. "Bell, Beth, Ran?"
"Hey, I was just trying it out!" she went over to talk to a tired looking boy, who Farren realised with a lurch was Remus Lupin. Hermione, however, had more pressing problems.
"Guys, we need new last names!"
"Simple! Farren can be Farren Hempton, you can be Hermione Font, and I will be Luna Songeur. It's French for dreamy!" Luna said… well… dreamily.
"Why Font? I get Hempton, that's my birthplace, but Font?" Farren wondered.
"Well, Hermione's the Font of all Knowledge!" they all giggled, Hermione blushing coyly.
Lily came over with Remus.
"Hey girls, this is Remus Lupin. What are your names again? Not the nicknames, though I suppose you can tell him those too if you want." Lily was rambling, a habit that Harry had too.
"Lils cut your rambling. Hi, Remus, I am Farren Hempton. My friends call me Kibeth."
"I'm Hermione Font, but Farren and Luna insist on calling me Belgaer."
"I'm Luna Songeur, but call me Ranna if you wish. Your head is filled with Wrack Spurts, did you know?" Remus looked at her weirdly, but said nothing.
"Hi, I'm Remus Lupin." He said, slightly shy, but soon regained his confidence, in true marauder style. "Well, ladies, I'd love to stay and chat, but I must away to my bedchamber, for homework doth call to me." He said, giving a flourishing bow. Hermione laughed, but Farren and Luna stayed deadly serious.
"Okay, goodbye then sir Remus." Farren said seriously, before bursting out laughing when he had gone, staring at her with a slight frown. Luna joined her, sniggering wildly.
"So… funny!" Farren gasped out.
"Did you… see his… face?" Hermione wheezed.
"See? I just… act mental… to see… reactions!" Luna said between giggles. Hermione sat up.
"So you don't believe in Nargles?" she said hopefully.
"Oh, no, Nargles are real. But half the things I say are just to see the reactions people give! Farren does it too!" Hermione's head snapped over to Farren.
"What?"
"Insanity gives you a lot of freedom, Hermione. I'd invite you to join us, but three insane people would be too much!" Farren said sadly.
"So I take it people think Luna is mental?" Lily asked.
"Yup. They think that she is totally loony, because she believes in Wrack Spurts and things. But she gets away with loads of stuff because of it!" Farren explained.
"It is rather amusing." Hermione admitted, albeit grudgingly.
"Awesome! How – oh boy, it's Black and Potter. This should be good." Lily sighed.
"Well hello my Lily Flower, how do you fare this day?" A boy that looked just like Harry crossed the room and tried to sling an arm around Lily's shoulder. She shrugged him off, glaring at him warily.
"For the last time, Potter, the answer is no. I'm going to bed now, Bell, Beth, Ran. Come up when you're ready." She swept away, waving at the three girls.
James potter slumped back on the sofa, sighing dramatically. "Foiled again." He moaned despondently. The other boy with him, with long silky black locks and stormy grey eyes looked over at the three on the couch, dismissing two but focusing on the last, and the tallest.
She wasn't exactly skinny, more curvy, with hazel eyes that were more green than brown. Her hair was copper coloured, with a fringe that sat on her brows before morphing into layers that framed her face. She had soft features, and slender fingers. Her eyes held kindness, and they sparkled with knowledge and wit. She looked restless, twitching and tapping her feet anxiously. His eyes were drawn to the many scars that she had on her slender hands, and she fidgeted, tucking her hands away out of sight. Her eyes darted everywhere, as if looking for an escape route. She had a curious looking scar that began at the corner of her lips and slashed upwards diagonally, barely missing her left eye. She looked, in some ways, dangerous.
And he wanted her.
James caught the look in his eye and sighed exasperatedly. "Really, Pads?" Sirius Black didn't answer; he had wooing to do.
"Well hello, ladies." He practically purred. He didn't see the flash of pain in each of the girls' eyes.
"Hello… Black, isn't it?" Farren pretended not to know his name; in truth, her heart was beating a heavy tattoo against her ribs. How could she face him, knowing that he was to die at the hands of the very same person who had carved a hated word into each of their hands? Forced through a veil by the same person who had tortured the three girls in hope of getting some answers? Bile rose in her throat as she realised that Belgaer, Ranna and she had narrowly avoided the same fate as the Longbottoms. She swallowed thickly, realising that Alice and Frank were in their year, now.
Excellent.
More corpses to plague her thoughts.
But no. She could change things; she would change things. She would save Harry's parents, introduce Remus and Tonks to each other; uncover the treacherous rat, save Alice and Frank from their grizzly fate. Hope rose within her, and she vowed to discuss this idea later, in secret, with Belgaer. Oh, Sirius was speaking.
"Yes, I am Sirius Black, and who might you be, beautiful?" he aimed this at Farren, and she shot a vaguely panicked glance at her friends, who were struggling not to crack up.
"I'm Farren Hempton; I'm new here. My old school was destroyed, along with my family. We were fighting Voldemort." Farren told him, avoiding his gaze. She heard a few sharp intakes of breath; James and Sirius didn't expect her to say the name.
"What?" she demanded irritated. "It's not even his real name! And besides, fear of the name increases fear of the thing itself." She chanted out the mantra that she had forced into her brain through endless nights of reading, and then that Harry had practically force-fed her when trying to convince Ron and the rest of the Weasleys. Hermione and Luna rolled their eyes, but Sirius eyed her, impressed.
"You're a very philosophical bird, aren't you?" Hermione and Luna stifled sniggers. This was going to be hilarious.
"Excuse me? Did you just call me a bird? That is the most sexist thing I have ever heard! It demeans a woman, almost as bad as you calling me beautiful. Who are you to judge me, and my friends? We have faced things you haven't seen in your most vivid nightmare; so don't patronise us." She hissed, before turning and storming up the stairs to the girl's dormitories.
Sirius stared, shocked. Hermione laughed quietly.
"I have to hand it to you, Black. I've never seen her get so angry at a person so quick. Even Mal – Draco didn't make her this angry. You really are something, Mr Black."
"What – how – I was just commenting on –"
"You kind of walked into that, Sirius." Luna told him softly. "If there's one thing Kibeth hates, it's being stereotyped. She's a devout feminist, you know. I'd work on getting into her good books quickly. In fact, I demand you do so, because until you do, we'll be dealing with her rants on sexism and racism and pureblood supremacists; Farren has quite the set of lungs on her, and she tends to ramble. Goodnight, Black." Luna looked amused, if a bit weary, as she ascended to bed. Hermione nodded curtly.
"Night, Black." She said, before following her friends.
Sirius stared in disbelief at the stairs. James simply chuckled.
"Dude, you got owned!"
"Mental, that one, I'm telling you." Was his reply.
"Argh! I hate that! God, how can he – why does – argh!" Farren was finding it hard to say anything coherent in her anger. She paced the room angrily, watched by her two best friends who were part fascinated, part bored.
What had happened to the reckless but caring godfather in her 5th year? What was going on in his mind?
A snide voice in her head that she called 'rationality' spoke up.
He's only 17; he hasn't had enough time to mature, let alone had 12 years of Azkaban to sober him up.
She hated that voice.
But she was 17, and so was Harry. They were never that immature!
You were forced to grow up; they weren't. they feel safe; they haven't had the pressure of torture, have they?
… shut up. She told herself. They're in the middle of a war too; the least they can do is grow up a bit!
They didn't have the problems you have until they left school. They didn't have to save someone from Death Eaters; they didn't have to throw themselves in front of someone else to save them from being mauled across the face, then fail anyway. They didn't have to carve the words 'I will not be irresponsible' into their hand when they were 15 years old. They didn't –
"Shut up!" she yelled, and Lily sat up.
"Nobody said anything, Beth." She told her uncertainly. Farren stood abruptly.
"I'm going for a walk." She said curtly, leaving the room.
Lily turned to Hermione and Luna. "What did I say?"
Luna smiled sadly. "It wasn't your fault, Lily. Farren's always disagreed with her conscience. It's just –"
"She calls it Rationality, Luna." Hermione added in, grinning wickedly. Luna raised her eyebrows, staring at her severely.
"No laughing matter, Belgaer. She struggles with herself, and it brings up memories."
"What memories?" Lily couldn't help but ask.
"Memories that would bring even the strongest person to their knees if they were unsuspecting. We all had to be tough at our old school. You never knew when Death Eaters would attack."
"Or evil defence teachers, Basilisks, Dementors, Voldemort…" Hermione checked them off on her fingers. "But that was just Harry."
Lily was speechless. "You must have had the most reckless headmaster there ever was!"
"Oh no. our headmaster was mad, but never reckless. But he was murdered last year, by our potions teacher." Lily's eyes bugged a bit.
"He wasn't murdered, Luna. It was a mutual agreement between the headmaster and the spy, to prevent a young man's soul being torn in two." Farren corrected, standing in the doorway.
"I stand corrected." Luna smiled. "Back again then, Wanderer?"
"How do you know?" Lily bit her lip, willing herself to shut up. Farren sighed, eyes wistful.
"It's almost as if I read it in a book." Was all she said, before drawing the curtains on her four poster bed and refusing to say any thing else.
Luna and Hermione glanced at each other, shrugged, and went to bed, leaving Lily staring at Farren's curtains.
Exactly how much had this one girl faced at her old school? And how much would she still have to face yet?
Lily didn't want to know. She joined her new friends in bed, but her last thought was this.
What caused the pain in all three girls' eyes?
This is Misty. I always imagined Luna's insane comments to be a sort of test, to determine either trust or intelligence. Trust because Luna wanted to be sure she wasn't made fun of, and intelligence because she wanted to see who could read the true meaning behind her words.
But what do you think? REVIEW, and let me know! REVIEW, I TELL YOU!
Misty xx