Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Chapter 3- Blood-traitors and Muggle-borns

Lauren:

"Gryffindor first years, follow me!" James Lupin yelled.

I went to the back of the line, not feeling like trying to bond with my classmates. I followed silently, feeling dreadful. We started going up the famous changing staircases. I barely paid attention and fell once as the stairs changed.

As we passed the third floor corridor, I was jerked into a dark room. I let out a little scream. "You traitor!" I heard a voice yell. I knew that voice.

"Caelum, I-"

"You what? You're going to tell me that you're one of those blood-traitors now?"

I looked at him. "I can't control where the sorting hat puts me!"

He glared. "Then who the hell are you, Lauren? You sure aren't a Malfoy. The sorting hat sorts by what's inside your mind." He taped my head, harder than necessary.

I glared back.

He crossed his arms and looked down at me hatefully. "So now are you going to start hanging around with Potter and all those blood-traitors and mudbloods?"

I tried to steady my fears and thoughts but my brother looked dangerous.

"I'm sorry," I whispered weakly, looking down.

"You're sorry? That's bloody great Lauren." He lifted my face with his finger. "No, you will be sorry…after dad finds out."

I choked on tears. "I didn't ask for this, Caelum!"

He snarled in contempt. I looked away again. I couldn't face my brother. How could he hate me? He's my own family!

He grabbed my robes and drew me close to his face. "Never look away from me, you filthy blood-traitor!"

Tears fell down my face.

"No wonder you're in Gryffindor. You're weak," He spat.

My feet weren't even touching the ground anymore. "Caelum!" I begged.

He tossed me away like a piece of trash. I flew until I hit a rock column. Black and white spots exploded before my eyes. I heard a crash as something hit the ground in front of me.

I saw a faint flickering of fire in my fading vision. I then realized that the torch on the column must have fallen. Before I could be alarmed about this, my vision went black and I lost consciousness.


Sirius:

I talked with Aiden, Ben, and some other Gryffindors on the way to our common room. I already loved Hogwarts. As we neared the fifth floor, I glanced at all of my housemates familiarizing myself with them. I realized someone wasn't there. Malfoy was gone.

I don't know why, but I suddenly remembered that she had a brother. I remembered him from the train station. He looked an awful lot like Draco. The blonde from the Slytherin table was him. I couldn't believe that I didn't realize it before.

I turned my head to Aiden. "Malfoy's gone."

He shrugged his shoulders. "She probably got lost. What was the deal with her anyhow? Everyone was shocked when she was sorted."

I nearly laughed at him, but I remembered that my dad was about as knowledgeable as Aiden in his first year.

"The Malfoy family is full of dark wizards. Almost all evil. Her father tried to kill Dumbledore, one of the best and kind wizards of all time. He and her grandfather spent time in Azkaban, the wizard prison. The Malfoys hate my father.

"The Malfoys are always sorted into Slytherin, known for being tricky and cunning. Slytherin is also known for being dark. Almost every bad wizard ever has come out of that house.

"And now, a Malfoy was just sorted into Gryffindor, the house of courage and loyalty. My dad will flip when he finds out."

Aiden raised his eyebrows. "Do you think she's dark?"

I shrugged. "I have no clue. But she was sorted into Gryffindor, that must count for something." I glanced behind me again, making sure she wasn't there. "But her family is dark. And she has a second year brother who won't be too pleased that she's been sorted here."

Aiden sighed. "Well, what do we do?"

"I have this feeling she's in trouble, Aiden."

He looked up to James Lupin, who was intent on leading to the common room. "Wanna look for her?" Aiden asked.

I grinned. "But we may get in trouble," I warned.

He rolled his eyes. "Time to use our Gryffindor courage I reckon!" He said, conspiratorially.

We inconspicuously walked slower, leaving Ben with his friends without him noticing. Once we were at the end of the group we ran into a corridor until the whole group was out of sight. "Now, where to?" Aiden asked, looking around at the hugeness of the castle.

"Well, I saw her in the second floor corridor watching the other Slytherins. We were just on the fourth floor. So it's either the second, third, or fourth floors."

Aiden leaned against the wall, giving me a disbelieving look. "We'll never find her."

"If someone is going after her, they would choose a floor that they wouldn't get caught. Part of the third floor is off limits, we should check there."

Aiden nodded, starting to go down the nearest staircase. "Sounds like a plan."

I jumped on after him. We both yelped as it shifted beneath our feet. Whoever thought of having staircases that changed all the time?

"I love this place!" Aiden said, grinning.

"Remember why we've sneaked away," I said.

Aiden sobered. "Yeah, of course."

When we reached the third floor (after asking portraits for directions), we cautiously checked all the rooms we came along. I realized the hopelessness of the search soon. Hogwarts was huge. Even one floor was huge, and there was no guarantee that Malfoy was on this floor. We didn't even know if Malfoy was in trouble. She could easily be plotting to be a spy for the Slytherins.

Then why is she in Gryffindor?

"My dad told me that the third floor is a nasty place sometimes. It's where the teachers hide things when they don't want students to find them. They once kept a three headed dog in this corridor," I said grinning.

Aiden was cautious. "Three heads?" He looked at me warily. "Where's it now?"

I shrugged. "Still here for all I know."

His eyes widened. I fought the urge to laugh. Even though the thought of facing a three headed dog scared me terribly.

We stalked through the corridors, completely unsure of where we were going. I heard the click-clack of shoes in the corridors.

"Aiden, you hear that?" I whispered.

He nodded. We were flat against the wall. We peered around the corridor. I saw Professor Lupin. He was reading and walking at the same time, a habit of his. As a result, he had a few bumps and bruises from running into things.

I was happy and nervous to see Remus. Happy because I would rather be caught by him than any other teacher. Nervous because I knew he would be extremely disappointed in me if he caught me sneaking around on the first day.

I decided I couldn't quite take a disappointed Remus. I grabbed Aiden's arm and dragged him into the nearest room. The room was mostly dark. We couldn't see much of anything. But we could see that this was exactly what we were looking for.

There were two Slytherin boys. One of which was shocked still. One of which was in a panic.

"Do something, you idiot!" The bleach blond yelled.

The other one looked to a fallen torch and then back at his leader.

"I-" He stuttered.

I looked to the fallen torch and realized that the fire was spreading. How? Then I saw the crumpled form of Lauren Malfoy. She was obviously unconscious. Her robes were flaming from a fallen torch. The older Malfoy was panicking. I glared at him.

"Help your sister, you fool!" I yelled at him.

Malfoy rounded on me, staring daggers.

"We don't need your help, you filthy half-blood!"

"Obviously you do," I said. I turned to Lauren, whom I knew would need a healer. I brandished my new wand, feeling secure with it in my hand. "Aguamenti!" I yelled pointing the wand at Lauren.

Water spouted out, dampening the flames. As the flames went out, more and more damage to Lauren was revealed. I looked away from her once they were out. Her legs had horrible burns that looked raw and angry. I turned back to the older Malfoy.

"How could you do that to your sister?" I yelled at him.

I saw a glimmer of relief in Malfoy's eyes that was quickly squelched.

"She's spat upon her family name, Potter. She's in Gryffindor, fraternizing with all of the blood-traitors and mudbloods!" Malfoy glanced over to Aiden for a flash, then back at me.

"She needs the hospital wing," I said.

Malfoy shook his head. "I'm not getting in trouble for this. We aren't-"

"That doesn't matter!" Aiden yelled. "She's your sister and she's hurt!"

Malfoy snarled at Aiden, wrinkling his nose as if Aiden was yesterday's trash. "Don't even talk to me, you mudblood!"

Aiden flinched.

Malfoy and his friend laughed. "Lets get out of here, Nott."

They left quickly. They probably wouldn't even get caught.

Aiden turned to me. "They didn't even care," he said, scandalized.

"Hate runs deep in Malfoys," I said.

"She does look terribly hurt, Sirius. Maybe we should hurry," Aiden nodded to Lauren.

"Right," I said, nodding.

I walked over to her. She was unconscious. But she looked aware of her injuries because her face was in a horrid frown. I carefully put my arm under her neck to support her head. Then I winced as I placed my left arm under her burnt legs.

"I won't be able to carry her the whole way. Professor Lupin was walking this way; he shouldn't be too far gone," I said. I honestly wasn't even thinking about consequences to myself at this point.

Aiden didn't seem to be either. He opened the door for me. She was only a little smaller than me, and I was beginning to feel the strain.

As soon as we started off in the direction I saw Remus go, I yelled, "Professor Lupin!"

We continued walking. I was acutely aware of warm sensations running down my left and right arms. Blood. We turned the corner. Remus was at the end of the hall, his face still in a book. "Professor Lupin!" I yelled.

He looked up.

"Professor Lupin!" I yelled again.

He saw Aiden and me, then his eyes focused on Lauren. Remus dropped his book and ran toward us. I honestly couldn't hold her any longer.

"Aiden," I said, strained. "I'm going to drop her."

He picked her up out of my arms. Blood streaked my arms. I looked at them open mouthed, as if they weren't my own.

Remus reached us. There was something in his eyes. It was dark and shadow-like. It seemed as if he had gone to a different place in his mind. I saw this happen to my father and mother loads of times. They all were still haunted by the war of years past. I did not need telling twice to know the war had been bad. I could see it in their eyes.

"What happened?" Remus asked, looking at Lauren.

"Sir?" Aiden asked, his voice high with strain.

Remus seemed to notice Aiden's struggle. "Oh!" He said. He scooped up the young girl with ease. "Let's get her to Madam Patil," he said, walking toward the staircases. "Then you can tell me what's happened."

We followed Remus. Aiden looked ill. I wasn't really bothered by the sight of blood, but I was worried about Lauren.

"Where did you learn to use magic?" Aiden asked me.

I shrugged, aware that Remus was listening. "I've watched my dad loads of times. I just copied him."

Aiden nodded.

"It would've been easier to grow up in magic," he commented.

"Perhaps. But my dad was raised a muggle, and he is one of the greatest wizards I've ever met," I said, smiling. I switched to a more serious voice. "Remu-I mean Professor Lupin, will she be alright?" I asked.

Remus looked at her. "In a few days, I'm sure," he said, nodding. "I've seen worse," he added, in a low voice.

We walked into the sterile and clean hospital wing. Madam Patil was a beautiful Indian woman who had a sing-song voice. However, the sight of Lauren flattened her cheerful demeanor.

"On the first day!" she exclaimed running toward Remus. "Put her on a bed, Professor!"

Remus laid the girl down gently. She looked pale and sick. She seemed too small for such bad injuries. Madam Patil closed the curtains around the girl and began to work on her.

"Remus," I said, not catching myself, "she'll be okay, right?" I had hoped the healer would tell us.

Remus nodded and looked at me.

"I need to know what happened, Sirius," he said, seriously.

I nodded.

"Let's go to my office," Remus said.