Ch. 3 Close Calls

"Let the rain fall down, let it fall to the ground,

Let the rain fall down to the ground.

And the birds don't sing, no they don't make a sound,

When you're six feet underground."

The following days passed well, certainly not uneventfully but in relatively the same manner the first few had. The situation with the Maruaders, if anything, was getting worse although Remus was excluded from the war for Astronomy classes. Darci was becoming fast friends with him; she felt an odd kinship to Remus that she couldn't put her finger on.

The Brigands had discovered a hangout spot, a secluded courtyard. It was around 7 or 8 metres squared and hidden between the entrance to the Astronomy Tower and the North West Wing, although it had four walls there was no roof (although they checked to make sure it wasn't just an illusion).

There are a few stone benches covered in ivy and the courtyard was filled with serveral ivy covered trees. In the future they intended to furnish, clean and dewed it but it was still a pleasant, private place to procrastinate and plan. They'd named it the Shadow Grove.

Lily had stumbled upon it when she'd noticed ivy poking from between two bricks in a corridor. She'd tried revealing spells with no luck and eventually stumbled upon it by accident when she'd been trying to think of a strong lighting spell, thinking maybe the ivy was some form of devilsnare. As she'd tapped her wand against the brick and absently talked to herself she'd muttered 'shadows' and the bricks had become momentarily insubstantial, the way the nine and three quarters' platforms' bricks did.

They'd eventually pinned it down to four taps against the ivy, saying 'shadows on the last tap.

Darci had made a discovery of her own although she wasn't sure she wanted to share it with the group quite yet (Tat had decided that mapping Hogwarts should be one of their groups' goals). It was a locked door at the end of the Southwest Corridor leading out to the greenhouses. When Darci had inquired about it Ami had shrugged and told her it had always been locked. During her free periods towards the end of her first Friday Darci had gone back to it, determined to try every spell she could think of on it only to find it unlocked.

Inside was what had once been a beautiful dance studio although its' hardwood floors were covered in dust. One entire wall was mirrored and a barre was affixed to that wall. One side of the room was dedicated to gymnastics with a vault, pommel horse, uneven bars and a balance beam. The rest of the room was clear of any equipment so dancers could move freely. As far as she could work out the room opened at midday on Friday for several hours (She wasn't sure precisely how long as she had classes) and at 7 till 9 pm on Fridays, Sundays and Wednesdays. She supposed that perhaps once this might have been when the classes were taken back when the studio was still in use.

Darci had taken ballet lessons since she could walk, although she'd split off and explored other forms of dance and even acrobatics in the last few years dance held a special place in her heart. For her it had been an attempt to find that weightless freedom she felt when she swam and transfer it onto land. She was almost unnaturally flexible, she suspected this was another selkie thing as it was a large part of the reason she could swim so well, and double jointed in many parts of her body.

Darci had spent most of the first day cleaning it from top to bottom, returning it to it's former glory. Privately she also used this as an excuse to put off dancing, she really didn't want to know how rusty she had gotten. On Sunday she worked the nerve after a couple of stretching exercises to try out some basic ballet steps. She had felt clumsy and awkward for the first hour but had eventually found her rhythm again.

She had started improvising, playing her ipod as she danced. She chose odd songs to dance to, at the moment she was trying to recreate different scenes from 'Strictly Ballroom' and so was playing 'Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" by Doris Day as she went over the movie in her head and danced rumba.

It was now Friday again and her friends were beginning to get suspicious about her absences. Zee joked that Darci was cheating on them with other groups but atleast Darci was managing to regain her lost ground in dancing.

The party was coming along brilliantly, Tat was in charge with Zee dictating her demands for her birthday. They had decided on an Ancient Gods and Goddesses theme. To stop all the guests from dressing up as the same characters Tat had Zee had composed a list of gods and goddesses and mailed it with invitations, the names on the list disappeared as different people claimed the different gods and goddesses. Zee had given the Brigands first dibs on their favourites. Zee had chosen Kali, the hindu goddess of death and destruction (Zee had explained this with an evil grin the size of Texas) Ami was going as the Greek goddess Demeter, Lena was going as Athena, Vi was going as Bast, an Egyptian cat goddess, Tat was going as Aphrodite, Lily was going as Freya, a Norse warrior goddess and Darci had grabbed Persephone, a Greek goddess who, along with her husband Hades, ruled the underworld.

Tat was going to make them all costumes that she claimed would be both accurate to their characters and their personalities. Darci had to take her word at this because none of them were allowed to see the costumes yet, despite the fact that the party was tomorrow night.

Darci checked her watch, it was 7:55pm. She sighed, she'd probably missed dinner again, she'd sneak down to the kitchens to grab a snack and then head up to the Gryffindor dorms to see if her friends were there, it was stormy and late so they wouldn't be in the shadow grove. Tonight was a full moon so she'd really only have enough time to figure out an excuse to sneak off, already she felt itchy, irritable, her skin seemed dried out and hot. She tried not to think about it, the kitchens were always fun to visit, the house elves always seemed to have everything she liked on hand. In fact once she told them her favourites and preferences she began to notice them appearing around where her group sat. Lily and Tat had both known how to get to the kitchens so Darci had learned that secret from them.

She was about to make her way upstairs when something caught her eye. In the light spilling from the ground floor window Sirius Black knelt. He didn't seem to notice that the wet grass had soaked straight through the knees of his pants or that a chill wind had picked up, his attention was fixed solely on the creature infront of him. The red fox was a scrawny little thing, it's lustrous coat seemed to cling to it's bones as it carefully stepped foreward, it's eyes glued to Sirius as it quickly snatched the pellet of food he'd laid down. Sirius slowly stretched out his hand, careful not to startle the fox as he laid down another pellet slightly closer then the last.

Darci watched, entranced as Sirius slowly convinced the fox to edge closer, laying pellet after pellet out. His patience never seemed to waver, his determination to gain the fox's trust was warming, Darci found it hard to hate anyone who could take so much care with an animal in need.

Eventually he convinced the fox to take the pellets from his hand and before long it was eagerly licking them off his palm. Sirius layed a hand in the soft fur at the back of it's neck and gently stroked it. Darci was thinking that maybe she should make her presence known and let him know it wasn't a good idea to let wild animals get too used to human contact when Sirius produced a syringe, before she could even open her mouth he had injected it into the fox's neck.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Darci shouted opening the window.

Sirius looked up, his eyes drifting slowly over her face, not looking overly concerned to be caught stabbing harmless animals with syringes.

"Tranqing a fox, what does it look like?"

Darci opened her mouth to reply but was stopped short as Sirius gently gathered the fox up in a warm blanket and tucked it carefully under his jacket as he made his way inside. Darci closed her mouth with a click and then trotted to follow him.

"I mean WHY are you tranquilising a fox?"

"Her leg's damaged, I don't think it's broken just a bad sprain but she won't live through the winter unless she get's it fixed, as Madam Pomfrey's unlikely to treat a fox and Hagrid's in the Forbidden Forest looking into who's been setting traps I'm her best bet for the moment."

Darci couldn't really recall ever having a conversation like this with Sirius, for once he didn't seem his usual sarcastic and witty self, his voice was low and serious, his brow furrowed as he thought.

"I'm taking a Mystic Remedies course, it's not much but maybe I could help."

Sirius turned, his face surprised as he caught her eyes, a slow smile turned up the corners of his lips. As warm and delicious as hot chocolate it spread all the way up to his eyes and melted straight through Darci. She swallowed as her heart made a wild leap for her throat.

"You know you're not half bad Roane."

Darci blushed and looked away. By god, when had she become so awkward?

"Ah you're not bad either."

Sirius' grin turned wicked.

"Don't believe that for an instant. I'm plenty bad." He chuckled.

There was the Sirius she knew; she slapped him playfully on the arm.

"Since when do bad boys go around saving injured animals?"

"Careful don't make me reconsider this." But the playful grin he threw her said otherwise.

'By god am I actually flirting with Sirius Black?'

Darci tried to sober up.

"Where should we take her?"

"I know a place we can go."

"I should get my things; I'll need something to make a splint with if it's fractured or broken."

"It's alright there'll be plenty there."

"You don't even know what I need."

"Trust me you'll have everything."

They ascended staircase after staircase, working their way up to the seventh floor.

"Alright genius where's this room that will have everything I need?" Darci asked as she watched a troll in a tutu tackle another to the ground in the tapestry opposite.

"Walk up and down that hallway three times thinking about everything you need."

He sighed at the sceptical look Darci threw him.

"Just do it."

"Don't order me."

"Fine, please."

"You need to work on your attitude."

"I'll work on it while you walk."

Darci turned and strode up the corridor, concentrating on everything she could think of that her books had mentioned. On her third turn through the empty corridor an innocuous, grey door appeared, Darci blinked at it in surprise.

"Come on." Sirius grabbed her arm with his free hand and pulled her through the door. Inside was a large room decked out like a magical veterinary clinic. A bookcase against one wall was full of magical veterinary reference books, a surgical table was set up on one side with the wall behind it covered in glass cabinets containing all kinds of medical equipments, salves, potions and remedies.

"See, didn't I tell you?" Darci didn't even have to turn her head to know that Sirius was smirking.

"What's this place? How did you find it?"

"It's called the Room of Requirement and a house elf told me about it, those little buggers know everything."

"It's brilliant."

Sirius nodded as he hurried over to the surgical table and laid the fox down on it.

Darci followed him over, her mind back on the job at hand.

Sirius stepped back and let Darci give the fox a quick examination. Darci could immediately tell where the trap had clamped down on the fox's right hind leg. Dried blood covered the wound but Darci was fairly sure the bone had been shattered where the trap had clamped down. Darci picked through a couple of books before finding a good few spells. She needed one that would work like an X-ray then another to set the bones and a final one to heal them.

The whole process took just over an hour. By the time she was done Darci was sweating, her hands trembling from both the pressure and stress and also the added tension of the full moon.

"She'll be okay now?" Sirius asked as she finished her splint. She was fairly sure she'd pulled the spells off well but the leg would still be delicate for a few days and she didn't want the fox to reinjure herself.

"Yeah but I don't think we should release her for a few days just until she's recovered also she's severely undernourished."

"Where should we keep her?"

"Hagrid's I guess but can you take her up to your dorm for the night, she should sleep through it anyway." Darci would take her to her own dorm but she imagined she wouldn't be returning to it for quite a few hours, not until she'd had a swim anyway.

"Yeah that's no problem, the guys won't mind."

Sirius traced his fingers through the fox's warm fur. His attitude towards Darci had changed through the last couple of weeks, what had started as burgeoning hatred and resentment had swelled into something else entirely. He hated to even think it but it was close to James' obsession with Lily but where James wore his infatuation openly Sirius preferred to keep his fixation quiet, that way no one could work out how deep his obsession ran. God forbid Darci ever figure out he knew that she had a tiny silver scar running parallel to her hairline or that she adored tirimisu. He had sketched her a few times but had never been able to capture her just right when she wasn't there and he never dared whilst she was.

Only Remus had some inkling of his obsession and then only because Sirius hammered him for details after their shared Astronomy class. Lately though, Sirius had become resentful, it was unfair and ridiculous but it was hard to kill the dark tendrils of envy that crept in every time he saw the two of them laughing as they ran down the astronomy tower staircase.

"What's her name?"

"She has to have a name?" Sirius avoided the question and her eyes, his fox had a name but it wasn't one he cared to share. When he'd seen the fox, so brilliant against its' dull background, it had looked him straight in the eye with clever eyes that cut straight to the soul and then dismissed him to sniff a tree hollow. He'd named it Darci.

"Ofcourse she has to have a name! Let me think, something strong but beautiful like she is."

She looked at him for a couple of minutes but then closed her eyes like she had a headache.

Sirius frowned, realising she had a sheen of sweat gathering on her brow.

"Darci are you okay? You don't look well, do you feel alright?" He stood and crossed to her side of the table.

"Ah yeah I'm just tired."

He brushed his hand across her forehead.

"You're burning up, come on we have to get you into bed."

"Mercy." Darci murmured as she stared up at him with an incomprehensible look.

"What?" Sirius frowned at her, maybe she was even worse off then she looked. Darci blushed and cleared her throat.

"Ah Mercy, we should name her Mercy you know because you showed her mercy."

"It's a fine name, now come on love we need to get you into bed." He said using a soft, warm tone as he gathered the fox up in one arm and steered Darci with the other.

Did Sirius just call me love? Darci wondered dazedly as she let Sirius lead her out of the Room of Requirement.

"Let's get you up to your room you look like your about to pass out."

Her mind immediately jolted back into action, she couldn't go up to bed she needed the ocean, she felt like she was being baked alive, her throat was so dry she felt like she hadn't had anything to drink in a week. If she went back to the Gryffindor common room this late it could be hours before she could get away, on a Friday night there would be students up in the common room till midnight and in all likeliness an older student irritating enough to either follow or report her.

"No, it's fine you know I can make my own way up, I was going to check something out first." Darci said as she backed out from under his arm.

"Darci you're burning up and feverish. Actually I should probably take you to the hospital wing."

"No!" She tried to tone her voice down, "I mean it's fine, I'll go there in a bit there's just something I need to check out first." She was getting desperate, her thoughts on that one time she'd been caught far from the sea - pure torture and that had been so many years ago, the symptoms had increased tenfold as she'd hit adolescence.

"Nothing can be that important and if it is I'll come with you, you shouldn't be alone."

"No, for christ's sakes just leave me alone okay?"

Sirius withdrew at her sharp tone, his expression briefly showing something close to hurt before dropping to a blank one. Darci stumbled trying to find someway to retract her words.

"It's fine, I'll see you tomorrow." He spoke curtly then turned and left.

Darci paused regret heavy even against the pull of the moon but eventually she succumbed fleeing down staircases and eventually to the rocky stairs that led down the cliff-face to the ocean. She shed her clothes as she reached a private cove and then dived into the water. The relief was immediate, pleasure wound its' way through her veins like a drug, she came up gasping in relief. Her skin tingled and Darci lifted up a hand to watch it fade to near translucency and a thin layer of skin grow between her knuckles. The heavy weight of her hair was returning to her head as she drew it out of the water. She sighed as she closed her eyes, Sirius was branded on the inside of them, his face concerned as he leant down to feel her forehead. She winced, god he'd been so nice to her and she'd acted like a stuck up bitch. She tried to banish it from her thoughts, she'd deal with it tomorrow, now that she knew that Sirius wasn't really a dick she'd figure out a way to get along with him.

The moon hung above her, its' light felt glorious on her skin as she dived beneath the water. Her new webbed fingers helped her plough her way far into the ocean until she had left Hogwarts far behind then she dived deep beneath the water leaving her problems behind on the surface. Deeper and deeper she pushed into the dark murky depths where even her crazy good night vision could barely pierce her surroundings.

Darci froze as she spotted a Black Seadevil. The deep-sea fish looked like something out of a horror film, most of its' body was taken up by a huge mouth filled with razor sharp teeth of varying size, a little bioluminous bulb dangled in front of it, like a morbid little fishing line. Darci stayed perfectly still as it swam straight past her waist and closed her eyes in relief when it was gone. Until she realised something was moving below her, she could tell only by the shifting and churning of the water, she didn't dare open her eyes. God she'd thought swimming in the UK would be smooth sailing compared to Russia's freezing water and hidden jagged ice caps. She finally gathered the courage to pry her eyes open. Several feet below her on the ocean floor a giant sea serpent drove through the dark water. Bioluminous lights lined its' body and it's horrific head. It's body was almost as thick as Darci was tall, it's head twice that size and like the Seadevil, all jaw. Large, vacant and milky eyes stared straight ahead as it forged on, giant saber-like teeth protruded up infront of its' nostrils. Darci was running out of air but didn't move a muscle for the fifteen agonising minutes it took the serpent to fully pass her, and then she shot towards the surface. As soon as she broke the surface she began swimming full force, on the other side of the bay and considerably closer to the shore she was at last sure she hadn't been followed by the deep sea monster. Feeling a little shaky she floated around a kelp reef, she saw a flash of movement in the depths below her and just stopped herself from yelping, it was just a fish. Wait, she paused peering deeper into the water, it couldn't be she thought as she dived back under, it was! Hippocampi! A herd of them were gathered inbetween the kelp, grazing on it and lazily grooming each other. They were magnificent, half horse half fish they varied in colour from dappled dark brown to sea green and aqua. Huge fins protruded from their elbows and the back of their tale like gossamer wings catching the moonlight filtering through the water.

She hovered behind a thick clump of kelp trying to be as quiet and still as possible, this time so as not to scare the object of her fascination. A light aqua hippocampus dappled in moss green was closest to her; instead of a mane it had a thin, frequently segregated fin. It drew closer and closer as it tugged out bits of kelp, pausing to chew it brought its' head up and looked directly into Darci's eyes. She froze as she stared into those amber eyes but the 'campus just let it's gaze wonder past her as if she'd been an interesting leaf that had briefly caught it's attention.

That wasn't right Darci thought, she'd read dozens of books and according to all of them hippocampi were quick to shy from humans.

Deciding to perhaps test it she moved a little closer, when the campus gave no reaction she tentatively stretched out a hand and patted him behind the ear, the horse flickered its' ear as if it had a fly behind it but didn't so much as raise it's head from the kelp. Fascinating Darci thought as she ran her hand down its' sleek neck. The campus bought its' head up as it finished chewing a mouthful and she stroked gently down it's muzzle and then when he seemed to like that scratched him behind the ears. She worked her way through the rest of the herd, petting and scratching. It was odd the way they treated her, Darci had never had a problem getting along with animals and that was prior to spending hours working out their behaviour and what they did and didn't like but the hippocampi treated her as if she was an established figure in their lives. Maybe they'd been tamed by merpeople she thought and pondered whether she'd be able to ride them. Eventually she decided not to try it tonight, partly because she didn't want to scare them off and partly because without any equipment she'd be for the most part at the mercy of their whim and she didn't particularly want to run into the sea serpent again.

She allowed herself to be swept up and beached on the sand, the cliff-face stretched above her so she wasn't worried about being seen. She lay there for a while letting the water roll over her as she relaxed into the sand, it felt so good, like a hot shower after a long day. She shifted onto her stomach and sifted idly through the sand, after a few minutes her hand dropped to the sand, it was so pleasant lying in the shallow water and her eyes were so heavy she'd just rest them for a couple of minutes.

Darci was dreaming. Of that she was quite positive because her great grandfather Liam, who had been dead for over ten years now, was smoothing his worn-out, calloused hands across her four-year old head. Darci watched her own memory through a spectator's point of view as her four-year old self knelt next to Grandpa Lee and laid her head on his knee as he told her a story that had been repeated to Darci by him and her mother until the day her mother had died. It was the story of Lee and Lana, Darci's great grandmother.

"Once upon a time there lived three wizarding sons of a noble family. Their father, a well-liked but imprudent man had married into wealth and gambled away his fortune after his wife's death. On his death bed the weight of his debt bore hard on his shoulders. He called for his three sons to come forward, so that he may speak to them and beg their forgiveness for leaving them to deal with his mistakes.

The first son had made friends with a duke in England whose cousin was a wealthy widower not adverse to his courtship. The first son begged his father's forgiveness but claimed he dared not leave should the widower choose another in his absence.

The second son had seduced a rich merchant's travelling daughter, thinking she was just a pheasant after she had been accosted by highwaymen and her jewellery, horse and carriage had been stolen and attendants fled. He sent his father a quick missive explaining that even now he raced to meet her father and beg for her hand in marriage fearing he'd gotten her with child.

The third son had neither made friends in high places nor seduced any daughters, rich or otherwise, but had been working doing odd jobs for the local tanner and blacksmith so as to earn a modest income whilst staying by his ailing father's side. When his father asked for him the young man quickly returned to his bedside.

'Forgive me for my sins, my beloved son,' his father asked as he clasped his son's hand in his, 'I have left you with a heavy burden to carry.'"

Both Darcis heard the sadness in his voice as he retold the tale of his father's death and Darci's younger self gave his fingers a tight squeeze.

"The youngest son was overcome with grief at his father's nearing death and answered before he had even finished his sentence.

'There is nothing to forgive for what you haven't given in gold you've given in happy memories.'

His father had patted his head soothingly and smiled down at his son.

'Then please before I die, take into consideration some parting advise.'

The son eagerly agreed.

'Do not follow in mine own and your brothers footsteps, earn your own fortune from the land and take pride in what you do and when you find a lass that steals your heart, tell her everyday. My greatest regret in life is that I never told your mother that I love her and my greatest fear is that she died thinking she was nothing more than a dowry to me.'

The son took great heed in his father's words and after seeing to his father's funeral he set off to earn his fortune.

The young man travelled far across the land and took up work as a farmhand but it was not long after that the farmer and his wife came upon hard times and were forced to turn him out. He travelled further still, taking work wherever he could find it, but luck wasn't on his side, for he was turned out again and again with nary a dime to show for it.

Finally he turned his sights to the open seas and soon enough found a good natured captain to sail with. The man spent many years traversing the seas and eventually became a captain himself. When he'd earned enough to start a life of his own the Captain returned to his homeland eager to contact his long lost brothers and share his good fortune with them but when he returned to his old home discovered naught but two gravestones and two tragedies. His old friend – Black explained that his second eldest' brother had reached the rich merchant who had already heard from his daughter everything that had occurred. In a fit of rage the merchant had shot and killed his brother and then confessed after his daughter had killed herself. The eldest brother on the other hand had gone on to marry the rich widower and then mere months later mysteriously died of the same ailment her first husband had. The widower had died a year later of consumption.

The youngest brother was grief stricken to hear of his brothers' demise and with little else to do fled back to his empty ship docked on the shore of West Ireland. He walked for several days and nights along the beaches, wishing to be alone in his misery. On the fifth night he stopped, exhausted he lay on the shore and loneliness gripped his heart like a vice, for in all the world there was none that he called family.

He wept into the sea for many hours and fell into a deep sleep on its' shore.

He was awoken some hours later by laughter. The Captain stood and searched for a source of the laughter but it had faded away and he could see no others besides himself. He had almost convinced himself that he had imagined the sound as the skies opened up and torrents of rain poured down when, even over the din of the storm, he heard it again. This time it was accompanied by soulful strains of a violin and voices rising in a chorus so sweet that he was struck dumb. He stumbled mindlessly following the sounds he climbed up a mound of jagged rocks and peered over the top. Down below in a tiny, secret cove a group of people danced and sang. They were as strange as they were gloriously beautiful for their skin glinted like white opal, seeming to give off its' own light and their huge dark eyes caught and reflected the moonlight like looking glasses. In the group there were two men and five women all of which were as naked as the day they were born. The women all had thick, dark hair that curled all the way to the backs of their knees but only one caught and held the Captain's gaze. She sat perched on a rock her hair swept to one side, one leg dangling into the water below, the tide rose up and crashed against rock immersing most of one of her sides in water but she didn't seem bothered, her face ecstatic as her bow ran back and forth across the violin she clutched to one shoulder, building to a violent crescendo. The rain and pounding waves seemed to provide rhythm and band, her wild solo wending in and out of the others bewitching melody. In that moment the captain was sure he had spied the huntress goddess Diana gracing mortal realms. That was until his fingers brushed against fur, gazing down he saw that strewn along the rocks he was leaning on were seal skins. The Captain had discovered the secretive selkies. Six skins in varying shades of brown and black littered the rocks and one which was silver and white, the one beneath his fingertips. He would've bet all his fingers and toes that this skin belonged to his beautiful violinist. In that moment he looked up and met eyes with her. The Captain's breath was stolen from his chest for unlike her dark eyed compatriots her eyes were blue-green and as deep and clear as the ocean on a fine day." Her grandfather paused and met her four-year old self's eyes before glancing away, his expression pained. Darci watched herself clench her hands into fists in anguish. She had been told since before she could walk and talk that she was the splitting image of her great grandmother, had it spat and sneered at her in fact. She didn't think her great grandfather had ever been able to look at her without sadness in his eyes, never able to gaze at her without seeing his dead wife.

"The Captain froze, sure she would grab her skin and flee into the waves but instead she gave him a wicked grin and continued to play.

In that moment, seized by loneliness and desire for the enchanting siren a terrible thought took seed in his mind. He had been told stories about the seal people by his nanny, the recurring factor in all these stories that if you held and kept their skin they would stay with you, but without their skins they were miserable, wasting away without their seal half. The Captain glanced back at the violinist but she had returned to staring into the frothing ocean. He grasped the silver skin and snatched it off the rocks, stowing it under his coat. The music came to a screeching halt and there was a pained gasp from below. He looked down to see the selkies frozen, staring up at him; their faces masks of horror. He hardly dared to raise his eyes to the violinist and when he did the full weight of his rash decision came crashing on him. She stared at him with wounded disbelief, her eyes welling up; the captain was struck with the irrational urge to comfort her, to take that look from her eyes, even as he was the one to put it there. The other selkies scrambled with surprising swiftness up the jagged rocks to retrieve their skins. Both of the men and one of the women lingered on the shore after retrieving their skins, looking as though they wished to help but the violinist gave them a harsh command in a foreign language and they fled into the waves. She stepped down from her rock and waited on the beach as the Captain made his way down the rocks. When he stood in front of her he found he couldn't hold her gaze and let it drop to the sandy ground below him.

'You've severed my wings sailor. Congratulations.' Her voice was strong and cold but wavered on the last word. 'Now what do you want with me?'

The Captain sighed, knowing he would have to return his hold over her, he had never been able to abide caged animals and to take away the freedom of a creature so wild and beautiful was a thing his conscience could not stomach.

He took a deep breath against the terrible ache that had started now he knew he could never keep the selkie.

'You left your…cloak on the rocks, I thought you might be cold.' He clenched his jaw as he held out the silver skin. He didn't look at her whilst he did it; he stared at the skin until she took it with a murmured thankyou, then he stared at his empty hands, willing them to return to his sides. A pale, almost luminous hand slipped into one of his tanned, scarred hands. His gaze shot up to meet the selkie's gaze; he was surprised she was even still there.

'Sailor,' she addressed him, 'what do you want from me?' She repeated, in a softer tone this time.

He stared into her eyes and blurted out, "what's your name?'

'What's yours?' She countered.

'Captain Liam Jacob Roane.' He answered automatically.

'Well sailor, I'm Lana.'

'Lana?'

'Lana Brigid.'

'I'm sorry Lana Brigid, I intended to steal your skin.' He confessed, wincing at his own weak apology. He stared down at their hands, gathering hers between the two of his to feel the soft, warm skin, gently kneeding his fingers into the little muscles to try to take his mind off what he was saying. 'I wanted to take you as a wife, to build a home and keep you in it.' He said hollowly. The soft hand withdrew from his own and in that moment the Captain thought his hardened heart would surely die. He let his hands drop to his sides, his thoughts already on the bleak journey back to his empty ship and his liquor cabinet.

As he went to turn away he resisted the urge to look one last time at the selkie's face. A face that had for a moment held the possibility of a warmth and happiness not meant for him. A hand against his arm stopped him in his tracks and then suddenly the selkie had catapulted into his arms.

'Brave sailor,' she said staring up at him with tears in her eyes and a smile stretching over her face, 'why do you think I waited for you?'

"What?' The Captain gasped out, holding her to him in disbelief.

"I saw you three months ago and knew I had to be with you, I followed your ship through many oceans, then I waited for you here. Three weeks you made me wait."

The Captain suddenly recalled 'his lucky seal', as his crew had called the little silver seal that had been repeatedly been spotted, it's huge eyes had always seemed to stare straight at him but he had dismissed the thought as a childish fancy.

The Captain grasped the back of her neck and stared straight into her eyes.

"I love you Lana Brigid will you marry –"

The Captain was cut off by the selkie pressing her lips to his in a sweet kiss. When she came up for her air she answered.

"Yes yes, ye-"

He took a page from her book and similarly cut her off.

Lana and the Captain were married as fast as the banns could be posted and for just over six years they lived happily in a cottage he built for them on the seashore.

The Captain was no longer sailing but had hired others to run his shipping business, content to fish and manage his family estates and care for his young wife. In the winter of the sixth year the Captain was approached by a dear friend who's cousin had gone missing, his friend implored the Captain to take up the search in his old ship. Bound by the ties of loyalty and friendship the Captain agreed. Now in all this time the couple had born no children which had been a cause of sadness for them but the captain dismissed his concern, he had a good home, loving wife and loyal friends to ask for more would only be asking for trouble. But when the Captain approached his wife to tell her he was leaving she looked at him with fear in her eyes.

"I'm with child," she blurted out to her husband, "and I fear that if you leave something terrible may happen."

The Captain patted her soothingly, overwhelmed with joy at her words.

"Don't fear Lana I will fetch back the young adventurer and be home long before you are due and my friends will be here to protect and look after you whilst I am gone."

Lana implored him again and again not to leave but the Captain was adamant that he would complete this one last mission before retiring to raise his family.

The next week the Captain set out with a heavy heart at having to say goodbye to his beloved wife. As the ship set off he stared down into the water and was shocked to see a little silver seal. He gasped, astonished to recognise his wife.

"Stay there!" He called down into the water as the ship set off. The silver seal stared, unmoving as the ship sailed past until the Captain could only see a silvery dot.

The voyage was arduous and took much longer then the captain had intended when atlast he set his sights homeward, with the lost cousin in tow, six months had past.

The captain raced home feeling strangely anxious the entire return trip.

When the ship finally docked, the Captain was the first off the ship, he was surprised to see that his wife wasn't at the dock and with a sinking feeling the Captain hurried the last leg of the journey.

Several metres from the cottage the Captain dismounted. Inside the cottage he could here a baby crying. The door was open, he noted dully as he took the steps two at a time.

The cottage was empty, in a cradle by the cold fire a baby girl bawled her eyes out. Numb, the captain picked her up and cradled her in his arms as he stared about his home for any sign of his beloved wife.

'She's gone out to get food, or more firewood.' He told himself but in the deepest pits of his miserable heart the Captain knew she was gone. The wooden chest where they had stored her skin stood empty, as abandoned as the Captain and his daughter."

Her grandfather stared out the window to the stormy ocean outside as if still expecting his wife to appear. Darci's four year-old self had her head turned into her grandfather's knee as tears slowly seeped into his pants.

Her grandfather smoothed his hand across her head again and again.

"Sometimes our nature is too hard to resist." The words were a warning as the tale had been intended to be, Darci was the first since her great grandmother to be born with the selkie gene and she knew deep down her great grandfather and her mother had always told her this tale because they feared she would follow in Lana's footsteps, unable to resist the call of the ocean.

When Darci cracked open her salt and sand encrusted eyelashes it was to that early, just before dawn light. God, what was the time? She thought, shame filling her as she picked her way across the beach, picking up her scattered clothing. Her subconscious had clearly recognised this as one step too far. Falling asleep naked on a public beach, good one Darc. Her fingers and toes were back to normal, her hair back to its' usual length, she raked her fingers through it as she gathered up her scattered clothes and slipped into them. She was lucky none of them had been swept away, as it was the sand was chafing and they were filthy. She crept up to the Gryffindor dorms, carrying her shoes in one hand, she silently slipped into her dorm. Her dorm mates were fast asleep so she crept into the shower. She spent a good few minutes getting clean and then dressed in a pink and black wa-lolita dress and took a red overcoat. She packed a bag with a couple of herb gathering items, some books and a sketching pad and pencils. She'd meet the others downstairs for breakfast and take them all on at once, in the meantime she'd finally do her Mystic Remedies course, and she could map out some of the forbidden forest whilst she was at it. She took out her pocket watch and glanced at the time, she had just under three hours before breakfast.

The forbidden forest was still quite dark when she managed to get into the thick of it, it was that quiet time after the crickets had finished chirping but the birds hadn't started singing yet. Darci stopped to gather some birch webcap mushrooms, good for long term sterilisation potions. She was distracted by a spider the size of her fist that was striped blue. It was busy at work beginning to build its' web, in fact now that she looked the forest was teaming with activity. A line of wood ants marched across the tree in front of her face and a moth spread out near her, completely camouflaged against its' bark background.

She wished she had her camera she thought as she worked her way through the thick undergrowth, she came out in a small clearing just in time to see a herd of deer escaping into the trees.

There it was! In a patch of dead grass under a dying tree was the wildflower she'd been looking for. They lay close to the ground in a small patch of black leaves, the vibrant red flowers looked ominous surrounded by so much death. The old duke only flowered at sunrise and was incredibly poisonous when flowering but if dried by a full moon it acted as an antidote to any known curse or disease, provided it was administered before the disease was fully rooted in or the patient was dead.

She pulled out some gloves and carefully snipped free a flower and two leaves deposited it in its' own plastic zip-lock bag.

Then sat down nearby and sketched the flower with coloured pencils, labelling the different properties and uses of different parts of the plant as she went.

She did this for a few other plants and made notes about the area for their map of Hogwarts before she was satisfied and headed back.

When she reached the great hall there weren't many students around but the whole group was there. Lily spotted her first and swore a blue streak.

"Where the hell have you been? We were searching high and low for you all last night!"

"Darci! Oh thank god you're okay!" Ami rushed up and hugged her around the middle; she was followed by Vi, who gave Darci a shaky smile and a quick but tight hug.

'I was so worried.' She signed.

"See I told you she was fine, probably just having some fun, right sexy?" Zee winked at her.

"We rang several times, I'd appreciate you makin' a note that in future your to keep your phone on you in case I have to contact you." Tat chimed in.

"I'm so sorry everyone," Darci spoke over them, "I fell asleep studying in an empty classroom, I guess my mobile died while I was asleep."

"Quite a reasonable explanation, I myself have fallen asleep several times whilst studying but you must be careful, a restful sleep is the key to success." Lena said, sounding very much like she was repeating someone.

"Well thank god you're okay. We were going to go to Dumbledore if you didn't show up for breakfast." Lily was still looking at her with worried speculation.

"I told them you might just be happy havin' some time by yourself, seein' as you've been off wanderin' a few times lately." Tat gave her a piercing look, and then turned back to painting her nails.

"I thought you were kidnapped." Ami said with big eyes.

Darci had to laugh at that and a couple of the others giggled and snickered.

"Well I'm fine so I thought you guys should know about some knew discoveries…"

Darci explained about the Room of Requirement and the parts of the forbidden forest she'd found. She left out how she'd found the Room of Requirement, just saying a house elf had mentioned it to her.

"Those sneaky little bastards know everything." Zee said admiringly.

Tat brought out several huge sheafs of parchment and began making detailed notes and asking very involved questions about room dimensions and landmarks, as if Darci had had time to measure the width of the walls.

'Maybe we could use the Room of Requirement for the party.' Vi signed, Darci translated although the others were picking up sign language surprisingly quickly, Tat was already answering before Darci translated.

"No, Zee and I already decided on the Dead Man's Yard. It has a great feel so close to Halloween, besides we don't want to be giving away all of Hogwarts best secrets."

The Dead Man's Yard was a courtyard with a broken fountain of a man with a severed head; it was a-joint to an unused classroom in the northwest wing.

"Plus Dead Man's Yard is probably easier to find."

"Speaking of the party I've finished all your costumes at last so they'll be all ready for tonight."

"Exccccellent, mine had better be scandalously sexy, I refuse to show up to my own party in anything less."

Darci zoned out, Sirius had just walked in. His eyes found hers immediately. He frowned, his gaze searching her face and Darci wondered if he was angry at how she'd run off last night but he gave her a small smile and sat down closer then usual.

"Hey, are you feeling better?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah much better actually, sorry about running off last night."

"That's alright, I see you have your appetite back." He motioned to her full plate pancakes (full moons always made her starving) with his lips curling back into their usual grin. "I swear you're the only girl I've ever met whose appetite could match mine."

Most of the Brigands and Marauders, except Remus who was oddly missing, seemed unsure of how to react to Darci and Sirius' sudden cordiality except James' who slumped down into the seat on Sirius' other side.

"He's lying. No one can match Sirius' appetite, it's like a circus act or a dozen pregnant women." He claimed whilst eating directly off the serving platters.

Darci laughed and the rest of the group seemed to relax and shrug off the sudden cordiality with the Marauders.

"How's Mercy?" Darci asked when it was clear there would be no epic war over her talking to Sirius.

"Good, very lively. I took her down to Hagrid's before breakfast and she's with the rest of your flock now."

"You met my pets?"

"Yeah, I like your goat alot although he chewed a hole in my jeans."

"Yeah that sounds like Mandy, is Mercy getting along with them all alright?"

"Yeah she was sleeping half on your St Bernard when I left."

Darci chuckled. "So are you coming to the party tonight?"

Zee dropped her fork with a clatter.

"Gee thanks for asking me before you invite our arch enemies to my b-day bash Darc." She said sarcastically.

"Oh, ah, that is, if you-," Darci stumbled over her words.

"It's fine Darci, me and Zee actually already invited them." Tat said from where she reclined on the table eating grapes.

"And yes, we're coming." Sirius interjected quickly.

"Then why…?"

"We were only going to invite them so we could prank their stupid asses; which really isn't going to work if you're draped all over one of them." Zee said pointedly.

Darci realised she was leaning in towards Sirius and quickly straightened up blushing a little.

"Well we all have things to see to, so Darci'll see ya'll at the party tonight." Tat said as she grabbed Darci's arm and started towing her away.

"But I'm not done eating!" Darci complained as she stuffed half a pancake in her mouth and followed. She hated when her breakfast was interrupted.

Tat carted them all to the Shadow Grove.

"Alrighty now young sugar muffins, if ya'll be quiet please." Tat said once they were all settled in the grove.

"Good, now I think it's about time we had a group meeting to examine our objectives."

"And this couldn't wait until I finished my pancakes?"

Tat ignored that. "Also I hope you all brought your homework, I need the answers."

"Why do you need this stuff anyway? I thought you were meant to be all knowing."

"I am but it's important that I get the facts from your perspective."

Once they had handed in their answers, Tat pulled out plans for the party and began to discuss faulty paper lanterns and people's allergies.

Darci zoned out her mind, her mind wondering onto what the coming night would hold.

At lunch Tat suggested a picnic so they snuck down to the kitchens to grab supplies off the house elves. They all piled out into the warm sunlight and spread out their blue and red chequered picnic blanket out next to the lake and near a huge weeping willow. The sun baked down pleasantly on Darci as she spread out atop the blanket and chewed on her salad sandwich.

A shadow spread out over Darci, glancing up Darci couldn't see his face obscured as it was by the glare of sunlight behind him, her heart did a weird little happy dance immediately assuming it was Sirius. It dropped a little when he leaned down and Darci saw that it was Will, she tried not to let it show as he gave her a wide smile with all his teeth.

"So I hear you're coming to Zaresh's party, I can't wait to see you, and what you're wearing…" he trailed off as his gaze swept over her in a way that made her feel very underdressed and a little creeped out.

"Hey! What the fuck! You're not coming to my party you little freak, why the fuck would I invite you?"

"You didn't, I did." Tat announced calmly.

"What?"

Calmly ignoring Zee's sounds of protest Tat explained. "As your only living relative attending the school he should be there and besides I wanted to even up the house numbers and we had a lack of Slytherins."

Darci zoned out there argument as Will crouched down, lazily drawing a finger over her cheek he murmured "I can barely wait for tonight."

"Pratt-boy I'm telling you this once and once only and then I'm going to start cursing, get the fuck out of my sunlight."

Will gave her a rueful smile, "well I'll see you later then Darci."

"Well then look at that our little Darci's only been here for barely two weeks and she's already got two admiring gentlemen, you'll have your own little fan club before you can say Jack Robinson." Tat gave her a wide smile over her lemonade.

"They're not admiring gentlemen." Darci mumbled, blushing hard.

"Oh please the only way him and Black could be any more obvious was if they fought over you like a piece of meat." Lena remarked.

Darci grabbed a cup of chocolate as she mused over what they had said.

At six o'clock they were gathered in Tat's Hufflepuff dormitory. Darci looked around wonderingly, she loved exploring Hogwarts. The Hufflepuff common room and dormitories reminded Darci a little of a burrow with all of their perfectly round doors and tunnels and windows. The common room had been smaller then the Gryffindor common room and had had a carpet of gold and black stripes pinwheeling out from the centre point. Fat square armchairs had been haphazardly strewn everywhere and a large projector had been set up for movies in one corner.

The dormitories seemed larger although that could merely be Darci's imagination as she was fairly sure Tat's section took up about 80% of the dormitories full space. Tat's section of the room was squadroned off from the rest of the room by different pieces of gold and black fabric, all different textures, designs and sizes from gold silk scarves to sheets of black velvet and lace of the palest lemon.

Her bed was decorated similarly with tiny cushions of every fabric strewn over the gold and black beaded bedspread. Gold silk curtains made a canopy against the wall above the headboard.

Everywhere in Tats' sectioned room fabrics exploded out of overstuffed trunks and lay strewn across the floor, a huge bookshelf stood next to her bed, covered in and stuffed with materials. A dressmakers' manikin on the opposite side sported a half made hat and the beginnings of a skirt.

It amused Darci that Tat, who came across as so prim and orderly had such a horrendously messy room.

Tat was pulling two piles of boxes out from under her bed.

"Here you go munchkins," she said as she set the boxes on the bed in front of them, "your costumes at last."

Darci had already managed to get the accessories for her costume, a long twisting scimitar made out of a dark metal and cool enough that she was seriously considering starting her own collection of weapons, it attached to a belt made of metal brooches linked together. She had found her crown on a lucky bid on ebay, it was a tiara made of a similar metal as her scimitar with metal roses embedded with garnets on the sides and a then a series of sharp prongs getting higher until the middle, she liked the two sides to it, it matched Persephone perfectly.

"Go on sugars, you can change behind my other dorm-mates curtains they're with the other Huffs in the other dorm.

Darci slipped behind a curtain and opened the box with her name written on it. Darci took a full several minutes to absorb the full beauty of the dress. The top was a darker-than-blood red and had off the shoulder whisps of silk, tiny white embroidered flowers decorated the top larger at the top and fading at the waistline, their delicate strands looking like a dusting of snow and at odds with the dark sensuality of the rest of the dress. The dress had a low back that reached only a few inches over her butt when she put it on and was held together by a few crisscrossing strands. At the waist the dress changed to black layer upon layer of rippling silk that reached about an inch above her knee at the front and all the way to the floor at the back. The black was interspersed by strings of lace that gathered in the swirls of black silk.

"I love it! Darci shouted as she emerged from behind the curtain and did a twirl, the fabric flowed and whipped up around her with the movement.

"Oh good I had fun with that one." Tat said as she emerged from her own curtain dresses in a white chiffon spaghetti strap dress with gold strings wrapped around the torso, a dangerously low bodice line and a slit up one side of the skirt.

She was curling her hair with one hand and attempting to fasten a intricate gold earring into the other.

"Wow, Tat you look amazing."

"Not as amazing as I!" Zee yelled as she yanked back her curtain triumphantly. She wore a long black dress. The top was made of a sheaf of black fabric that started just under her navel covered one breast, wrapped around the back of her neck and came back down over the other to finish in the same place. The skirt was a simple column of black silk with a slit up one leg that almost reached her hip. A red cape with bold embroidered shoulders and a draping back that for some reason brought to Darci's mind roman empires completed the outfit. It was daring to say the least but with Zee's perfectly toned, and round in all the right places body she could pull it off.

Lena and Ami emerged at around about the same time, took one look at each other's dresses and started yelling at Tat. Darci could see why, although gorgeous both dresses were matching in style. They both had the traditional greek style tops with twisted fabric cotton straps and empire waist dresses. Lena's top was cornflower blue and the skirt was made of thousands of strips of different curling fabric in every shade of blue imaginable. Ami's top was baby pink and the strips of fabric red pink and creams.

"Will both of you shut up and thank Tat, she made you a lovely present and you should be grateful." Darci shouted over the top of their whining.

They looked rightfully chastened and muttered thankyous in Tat's direction.

Tat threw a grateful smile in Darci's direction.

Lily emerged in a corset dress, with celtic patterns on the faux leather corset top and a spray of brown and cream chiffon emerging from the waist and reaching about mid thigh. It had a thin silver-blue cape that draped mostly over one shoulder.

"How kick-ass do I look?"

Darci gave her a grin and a thumbs up.

Tat called out to the remaining curtain.

"Hey Vi, you done? Come out and show us honey I need to see if any adjustments need to be made."

Tat didn't wait for an answer just strode over and slipped behind the curtain.

"What are you talking about? It fits perfectly." Darci heard from behind the curtain. Tat drew it back to reveal a blushing Vi. The dress was a floor length, deep purple and silk strapless and had a sweetheart neckline. It was embroidered with black decals on the bodice and torso and did indeed fit her perfectly. It was completed with a long sleeve black lace bolero.

"It's gorgeous I've just never really had-" Vi signed.

"Clothes that fit, I've noticed." Tat interrupted dryly.

"You look great Vi," Darci said encouragingly, Vi smiled but still blushed.

The next hour was hectic as they helped each other put on make-up, squeeze into shoes and don accessories. Darci had put on her sword, belt and tiara, and dyed her hair black with dark red tips, she also put on dark red beaded heels. Tat had put her hair up fastening it with more gold strands with just a few curls lingering on her shoulders, put on stiletto gold roman sandals and bangles.

Zee had put on six inch, silver, spike heels, a belt of metal, bejewelled skulls and a tiara that was similar to Darci's but all waving spikes and much taller.

Lena had but on a gold circlet and put her hair up whilst Ami had donned a wreath of flowers and left her hair down and curling around her shoulders. They both put on kitten heels of matching colours to their dresses.

Lily had put on a shield over her left arm, had a spear in the other, brown thigh high boots and little fingerless gauntlets over her hands. She had braided her hair in wild war plaits.

Vi had put on adorable, metal, styled cat ears and strappy black heels, she had put half of her hair up in an intricate design and left the other half curling over her shoulder. She had finished the whole look with a double string of black pearls around her neck.

"Right well I think we're finally ready to go munchkins!" Tat announced.

An hour into the party and Darci was sulking. Oh the party was amazing, Zee had loved the present Darci had gotten her, a thorn collar similar to Darci's, dog tags with her name engraved and a full year's subscription to the vampire fiction collection, a collection that sent out a vampire book every month. The layout was fantastic, a fully decked out empty classroom, a three tiered birthday cake, paper lanterns strong up over a moonlit courtyard but there was one thing missing – the Marauders. In addition to this Darci had had to put up with Will all night he kept on fetching her drinks and trying to get her alone Darci had no clue how to get rid of him.

"Are you sure you should be drinking that?"

Darci's heart leaped into her throat and she leaped on him.

"Sirius, you're here!" She gasped and then remembered that a. she was angry at him and b. it was probably impolite to be so interested in Sirius whilst Will was there. God what was wrong with her tonight.

Zee snorted from behind her, "so much for group loyalties."

"Why shouldn't I be drinking this?" She looked at her plastic glass of punch Will had fetched her and was fascinated by how the light hit her cup, her eyes couldn't quite concentrate on it though, they kept drifting away and sliding off when she was trying to focus. God she felt so dizzy and hot.

"It's usually spiked at these types of parties, here swap you."

He held out his cup, "it's pumpkin juice."

"Hey I saw you put something in-" Zee started.

"Just a touch of rum to make it taste better, see?" He pulled out a bottle of small bottle of rum from his pants pocket. "It's sure to be better then whatever's in the punch judging from how soused you are, how many of those have you had?" He asked Darci.

"I've had five and I don't feel a thing." Zee slurred a little. Darci was preoccupied with Sirius' pants. They were good pants, black jeans that fit snugly just below his hips. He wore no shirt instead a swath of black cloth was affixed by a metal clasp at one shoulder, the other arm was concealed by metal vambraces and a large plate over his shoulder. In that arm he clutched a menacing two pronged trident, hey she knew that.

"You're Hades! I'm Persephone!" She exclaimed as he took her cup from her and replaced it with his own.

"That's right, have I told you, lovely wife, that you look amazing tonight?" His voice was deep and throaty, so good, like hot chocolate. She caught his eye, she'd never known grey could be so warm like heated metal it seemed to be the only thing that could hold her gaze.

Will cleared his throat and she looked away blushing.

"Oh hey Pratt," Zee said suddenly, "did I tell you I got a letter from your mommy last week, turns out she sent you a letter a while back and as you haven't replied she's decided to cut off your allowance."

"What! I didn't get any letter."

Zee laughed, "Oh that was so the reaction I was going for, here's the letter she sent me." She passed it to Will, he scanned through it quickly and then swore and gave Sirius a foul look.

"Why don't you go slink back into the marauders' little rat hole over there Black? Darci my dear I apologise but I have to leave momentarily."

He turned, fishing his mobile out.

"Oh and I wouldn't call her if I was you, you know how she loathes muggle technology, but it's not that far to the owlery."

"It's nine floors." Will snapped.

"I know," said a beaming Zee, clearly enjoying every ounce of his anger.

He gave her a black look and stalked off.

"Thanks for that." Sirius said giving Zee a grin.

"Yeah no problem but I think I'd better go and save Vi over there, I don't think she knows the punch is spiked."

"I'm sorry I'm late you wouldn't believe how long James takes to do his hair."

Darci giggled at the thought of James preening for hours in front of the mirror, wow she giggled now? She glanced over his shoulder to see James' dressed as Dionysus already flirting with him. Nearby Remus dressed as Anubis examined a tray piled with balls of chocolate and Peter stuffed his face dressed as a really terrible cupid.

Sirius gave her a warm grin, "to make up for my unforgivable lateness I brought you something." He produced from behind his back a pomegranate.

She chuckled, "how did you know I was coming as Persephone?"

"I didn't, it was fate, kismet. Walk with me?"

Darci nodded taking the arm he offered although she was beginning to feel quite ill.

"Here," Sirius took the pomegranate back off her and peeled away the skin pricking out a few seeds and offering them to her on the blunt side of his knife. Darci glanced at him shyly and nibbled the seeds off his knife. Sirius gave her another grin before his gaze slid to her lips and his expression became more heated.

They walked in comfortable silence for a while as darci tried to concentrate on walking straight until they had reached the South West courtyard. Sirius led her over to sit down on one of the marble benches. Darci reached out to touch one of the roses, in her clumsiness she missed the rose and got pricked by one of the thorns.

"Ow" she murmured as she stared at the blood welling although she was feeling so oddly numb at the moment she hadn't even felt the thorn cut her.

"Let me see that, daft lass." Sirius muttered with a tinge of Irish accent that she'd never heard in his voice before.

In a weird movement he wrapped his lips around it and sucked on it like she might have done if she'd been able to feel it.

The moment felt heavy as her gaze wondered from those heated grey eyes staring so intently into hers to that warm, soft looking mouth. God she wished he would kiss ker. Her mouth slid open and a little sound of pleasure slid out at the thought. Sirius groaned, sounding defeated and then he was kissing her. His lips were warm and searching making her heart pound and little sparks go off in her gut. His tongue swept lightly over the inside of her bottom lip making her weak with pleasure. She opened her mouth automatically her hand clenching in his hair as a little whimper escaped her and was swallowed in his kiss as his tongue pushed hotly into her mouth. He clenched her to him for one long, searing moment before he pushed himself gently. They were both panting slightly, Sirius had his head bowed, seeming to be in some inner turmoil. Darci's hand was still clenched in his hair she observed dreamily as she unclenched it and dreamily sifted her fingers through the silk-like strands. Sirius looked up at that, straight into her eyes although her gaze quickly drifted away. He made a noise of frustration.

"God I am an asshole, you are completely pissed and I practically attack you."

"I am not and you didn't attack me." Darci tried to say but her tongue felt too heavy and it came out sounding barely like English. Sirius looked worried now.

"Alright princess lets get you back to your castle."

Darci stood up and immediately knew she'd made a mistake, her head swam and spots danced before her eyes, just before the world turned black she felt the ground give out from underneath her feet.

Sirius reacted just in time to catch Darci as she fell.

"Bloody hell you must have drunk like a frat pledge before I showed up."

He cradled her against his chest as he tried to think where to put her. He didn't think it was such a good idea now to take her up to the Gryffindor dormitories, even if he managed to get her up the seven flights of stairs, work the anti-jinx for the girls staircase and get her into bed, there might be other girls in there who would get Darci into trouble for having a boy in her room and for being off her face drunk. No definitely not a good idea. He was thinking of maybe trying to get up to the room of requiremnent when his gaze landed on old Professor Helix's office. It had been empty for going on four years now since old Helix had retired and like many of the professors' offices it had a bedroom attached.

Once Sirius had wrangled his way through the cramped office and into the tiny bedroom he examined it, it wasn't too bad, tiny and worn but clean at least. He pulled back the blankets, set her in and pulled them back up, tucking her in. On a last thought he went outside and plucked the rose she had tried to get, going back inside he lay it on the bed stand next to her head. She looked so peaceful and warm he was tempted to stay, just sit beside her, if he'd had his sketching pad this would have been the perfect opportunity. One more glance at her swollen, red lips and the blanket slipping down to reveal the cleavage shown off by that damned dress and he knew staying was a very bad idea.

Will was in a very bad mood despite having just had a quickie with that stupid sixth year tart Matilda. The powdered Beriswood he'd slipped into Darci's drink would have started effecting well over half an hour ago and he'd returned to the party to discover she'd gone off with that fuckwit Black. He turned the corner just in time to see the devil himself emerge from old Helix's office looking dazed and vaguely awed. Will waited until he'd heard Black heading off in the opposite direction before he rounded the corner, a suspicion taking hold. He didn't know whether to be pleased or even more pissed to find Darci in old Helix's bed. Black must have fucked her he concluded eyeing her mussed hair and bruised lips and remembering the expression on Black's face as he left, weirdly her clothes were on but Will figured Black must've dressed her again, although God knows why. Will should've been pleased to find her such an easy target, like a rabbit already snared but the idea of taking that mudblood sympathiser's sloppy seconds made him see red. Another idea was forming in his mind though as he yanked her up just long enough to unzip and yank off the dress. He'd drive a wedge between them, turn her against him and watch Black's face as she ran into his arms. The branding spell was relatively painless not that it would matter, the Beriswood would make her so numb he could probably saw off one of her fingers. He was almost distracted from his mission by the pink tipped round little breasts that had been nude beneath the dress; he was tempted to have a feel until he thought of Black touching them. Gritting his teeth he went to work. Five minutes later, his work finished, his gaze wondered down to the little white boyleg panties she wore, his hand wondered up to clasp her breast and he decided one little fuck wouldn't do him any harm. He had just reached over to yank her up so he could pull off her panties when a he felt a sharp stab of pain in his side. When he looked down he was shocked to see the sword he hadn't even noticed her wearing partially imbedded in his side.

He looked up at her face just in time to see her fall back into unconsciousness and in a surge of anger slapped her hard around the face. The hit barely roused her.

He pulled himself off the sword and, clutching his wound, staggered out of the room and toward the hospital wing, already explanations forming in his head.

Darci woke up with a feeling of deep seated dread, it weighed on her heavily in her gut like a stone, for the first few moments she kept her eyes clamped shut trying to shut out the outside world and that feeling of dread. When she opened them her eyes fixed on an unfamiliar dresser table and sitting atop it a wilting red rose. She frowned disorientation setting in as she glanced around the tiny unfamiliar room. She sat up quickly and it felt like a cord that had disconnected her had just been plugged in. Fierce pain ripped through the bottom of her stomach, the left side of her face felt hot and bruised, she had a fierce headache, she felt vaguely nauseated and her arms ached and neck ached from having slept in a weird position. As she automatically reached to cover the fierce pain in her stomach she realised something else. Except for her panties she was naked. Her stomach dropped straight to her feet with a lurch of dark foreboding, like missing the last step on a staircase. She clenched her eyes shut again as she searched back, clawing for something she remembered. She was Darci Roane, she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she had been looking foreward to Zee's birthday. Zee's birthday! She remembered she had been there, she'd been bored and Sirius had been late, but then he'd shown up. She struggled at that point her memory coming in pieces like a slideshow, walking with Sirius, Sirius kissing her finger better, kissing Sirius and then…nothing. Panic well and truly setting in now she struggled to stand, the scimitar she hadn't even realised she'd been holding fell to the ground with a thud and she realised she had blood on that hand. She was distracted from the blood by the sight of her exposed stomach. All at once another memory came rushing back, a dark room and a man leaning over her stomach, his hand fondling her breast his other creeping down past her navel… Darci barely made it to the tiny cramped bathroom before violently throwing up in the toilet. Branded bold letters over her stomach was the word WHORE. She knelt there on the cold tiled floor for a few moments, dry heaving and letting the cool blanket of shock settle over her.

When she went back into the room she was numb, she gathered up the dress and put it back on, gingerly fingering a tear down the side. What a shame it had been such a pretty dress. She picked up the rest of her things and held them close to her chest as she made her way up to the Gryffindor common room eventlessly and was relieved to find it empty. When she opened the door to her dorm she was greeted with the six drawn and pale faces of her friends.

"Darci!" Darci was silent as she was enveloped by all her friends one by one.

When they finally fell silent and drew back, Darci dropped down to sit on her bed. They were all silent as they stared at her questioningly. Darci noted with a distant feeling of surprise, Lena and Ami sitting together, holding hands and wearing matching pastel sundresses.

Darci drew in a breath, "I need," she swallowed and cleared her throat surprised by the sound of her own raw voice, "I need to see a healer, someone outside the school. I think I've been sexually assaulted." Darci was a virgin and fairly sure she'd know if she'd been raped.

There was an awful silence at her words. It was like a bucket of water had been dumped on their little circle of friends and some dark factor which had never been a part of it previously had been suddenly introduced.

Four hours later Darci sat across from a Ms Dallas in a private clinic in Hogsmeade. After Darci had taken an hour long shower they had all crept through one of the secret passageways Tat had known about and Zee had taken them here explaining she'd heard about it from another Slytherin girl.

The examination had been fairly quick, Darci liked Ms Dallas she was efficient yet had a warmth about her that was sometimes hard to find in healers and best of all she was completely confidential and had agreed not to contact Darci's legal guardian.

"Well Miss Roane, you seem fine except for the markings on your stomach and the bruises all of which should be healed within the hour with the salve I've put on them. The loss of memory you described is likely the result of an infusion of powdered Beriswood into something you drank or ate, it's the magical equivalent of a date rape drug. You're very lucky this could've been a lot worse. Although I won't report this to either the authorities or your parents I must strongly advise you, Ms Roane to take this to the ministry."

Darci stared down at the floor silently, she could think of nothing worse right now then to have to repeat this to aurors and judges and officials. She just wanted to forget it ever happened and let it fade into the past like her bruises.

Ms Dallas made a disappointed noise but let her go. In the waiting room Vi and Lily were the first to drag her into hugs. Zee was fuming, Darci had told them bits and pieces on the way, leaving out what had been on her stomach and Zee had had enough time to stew over the clues and come to a conclusion.

"It has to have been Sirius, I mean he switched your drinks and then he was the last person you remember being around. God I hope Dumbledore makes sure he rots in Azkaban."

"I'm not telling Dumbledore." Darci received the same amount of expressions of shock and confusion that she had expected.

"I don't know that whoever was in the room with me was the same person who slipped me the drug or that they didn't think I was willing. Telling will mean he'll have to ask students questions, everyone in the school will know what's happened before tomorrow afternoon."

"Fine we'll deal with it ourselves then, we all know who did it. Trust me I can make it so that he won't even be able to look a girl in the eye."

"No! Look I don't know that it was Sirius."

"What more proof do you need? He switched your drink, we know he's had a thing for you, he was gone for the rest of the night and he was the last person you remember being with."

"I know! I know, it's just that it doesn't feel right, and until I'm absolutely positive he did it no revenge schemes."

It took Darci a while but she finally managed to wrangle out of Zee an agreement not to neuter Sirius.

Back at the castle Darci parted ways with her friends just saying she needed some time alone, they looked worried but let her go.

Darci walked aimlessly through the forbidden forest for a few hours finally finding a clearing she sat down under a large oak tree and put her head on her knees.

She wasn't sure how much time passed, the sky darkened and it eventually started to rain. She got soaked quickly but still sat there, feeling frozen and alone.

Sometimes she heard the distant patter of hooves or scurrying animals in the undergrowth but she ignored them.

Sirius had no idea what was going on. He had woken up in the morning excited at the prospect of seeing Darci but when he'd gone downstairs for breakfast none of the Brigands were at the Gryffindor table. At lunch he'd finally seen them lounging around the end of the table, looking unnaturally withdrawn. When Zee had spotted him she'd given him a look so foul he'd stopped short.

"Oh you've got a lot of nerve coming anywhere near us right now."

He frowned, unsure how to deal with that.

"I don't understand, why? Where's Darci?"

"Stay the fuck away from Darci asshole." Zee replied.

"Darci is doesn't wish to see you right now or ever in fact. I must have really misjudged you." Tatiana said as she gave him a piercing stare as if she was trying to see inside him.

He backed off and went to return to his friends, completely mystified as to what he'd done to offend the Brigands so much when he heard a chuckle.

He turned to see that Slytherin dick Will leaning against the Hufflepuff table.

"Wow you must have really fucked up huh? Well I'll be sure not to make the same mistake with our mutual friend."

Sirius only just restrained himself from punching the asshole by leaving, he wondered out into the rain, heading towards the Forbidden Forest, feeling in need of a run.

Darci was roused from her weird dreamlike state by the sight of a dark shadow on the other side of the clearing. She raised her head and met eyes with what she was sure was a huge black wolf, after a moment of examining it she realised with a jolt of foreign-feeling pleasure that it was a Grimm, her favourite animal outside of seals.

It seemed to be frowning at her with its' odd, intelligent, grey eyes. Darci moved to a crouch, her body protesting the movement after so long staying still and edged across the clearing towards it, being careful not to startle it but the grimm growled at her with a sulky look. She settle back to sitting down, disappointed she was about to go back to under the tree when she felt a wet nose nudge her cheek. The grimm plunked itself down across from her and watched her warily as she carefully reached out and brushed it's wet fur. The little rush off happiness seemed to have a snowball effect on her emotions and before she knew it tears were pouring down her face.

The grimm gave a soft "wuf" and licked a few of them away before settling across her lap. Darci wrapped her arms around the big animal, buried her face in his fur and let down all her walls.


AN: Okay so bit of a different tune at the end of this one, if you want to read more you know what the magic word is - review! :)