Summary

The marauders followed Lena Kotani outside the castle to whiteness the amazing power she possessed. Curious about the events outside the castle Remus Lupin decided to do a little research, but to his displeasure nothing turned up about winged people. Meanwhile Lena sulked as she walked through the Hogwarts halls to the Gryffindor common room. Her mind stuck on her failed attempt at flying. Once inside the common room Sirius called Lena over. Making up any excuse to get the female to talk he asked for her help with his Transfiguration work. Agreeing, she grabbed hold of Remus' textbook only to find one of her pure white feathers tucked into the old musty pages of the book…

Maiden of Song

Chapter Three: Whispers, Dogs, and Songs



You are lost in nightmare
deep in blue illusion
one more kiss to wake you up
come be mine, you are mine…

Sirius bent down and picked up the pearly white feather. The air was thick and everyone was silent. Lena's mouth hung a little open. The only thing that kept the room from growing completely silent was a pack of first-year girls giggling about boys.

"W-whoa. I don't think I have ever seen a feather so white! Heh Heh." Peter gulped as he spoke.

"…W-well now, Remus." Sirius' words started slow. James could tell he was trying to come up with some sort of cover up. "What was it you just told me moments ago? When I asked you to help me with my transfiguration work?"

Remus caught on. Lips curling into a smile. "Uh, well I said I wasn't able to transfigure my ink bottle into a feather."

A huge wave of relief washed over Lena as some color returned to her face. Sirius jumped to his feet. "You are an awful liar!" His index finger inches from the werewolf's nose. Remus let out a small chuckle. "You should have known I was lying the moment the words feel from my mouth, Sirius."

"I guess you really aren't smart!" Peter blurted out laughing.

Sirius' head snapped to his left. "What did you say, you worm?"

"You are stupid." The pudgy boy said getting to her feet.

Their act was going over very well. James looked to Remus both giving each other a slight nod. Then they eyed Lena. She giggled as she watched Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew break out into one of their infamous childlike fights.

Remus wristwatch went off just as he noticed the common room go empty. It was dinnertime. Taking to his feet, he walked to Lena's side and offered her a hand to help her up from the couch. "If you would like, you can walk with us to the dining hall with us." He let his voice grow a little louder. "If the two 5-year-olds keep bickering, but they will miss their dinner."

Remus' words had grabbed both boy's attention. "Oh no mummy! I don't want to miss dinner!" Sirius chucked widely as he referred his friend to a mother.

Lena giggled as she wiped some water out of her eyes. Her previous fears completely disappeared. She dusted off skirt as she felt an arm snake its way around her shoulders. Jumping slightly, she looked to her left to see Sirius Black. "Ok transfiguration buddy, you can spend the walk to lunch explaining what exactly our homework is!" He laughed as he led Lena out of the portrait hole.

Remus, Peter, and James followed close behind as they watched Sirius make a "thumbs up" sign behind his back with his free hand. "Wait, you mean to say you don't even know what we had for homework?" Lena's voice called out.

"Hey! You heard me snoring!"

"Thought you said you didn't snore." James said quickly.

The group continued to laugh and make jokes the whole way to the dinner hall. Once there Lena was ordered to sit next to Sirius. Remus to her left and James and Peter across from them. She was very relieved to find that she didn't have to talk about Transfiguration class all though dinner. Sirius seemed too given up on the subject on the walk to the hall.

Sitting with a group of people was different for Lena. At dinner she usually sat alone, and if she was sitting with a group of people she was not usually welcome to talk. This was a change, and a pleasant change. It wasn't like Lena didn't want friends. It wasn't like she was a loner. Everything all weighed down to the heavy ring still in Lena's pocket.

Slipping a food filled spoon into her mouth, Lena eyed Sirius then Remus, sitting next to her. Why had they suddenly found an interest in her? Hadn't she once over heard Sirius Black commenting about how weird she was? Remus Lupin had been kind enough to chat with her every now and again, but what about James Potter and Peter Pettigrew? She placed her spoon into the bowl of soup she had been eating.

"Does the soup not taste good?" Remus asked after a moment. It appeared that Lena Kotani had been having an intense staring contest with the liquid food. "Ah!" She gasped, her fingers rubbing her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just… Uh, thinking." Lena shot Remus a smile. His eyes seemed different, but she wasn't quite sure what made it that way. Something seemed… animal-like about them.

Dessert passed almost as quickly as dinner had. Lena was welcomed to walk with the boys back to their common room. As they walked she listened to James and Sirius laugh something about a Slytherin Student. She minded her own business since she did not know who they were talking about, but had a slight notion they were speaking of Severus Snape. Almost everyone in Hogwarts knew there had been bad blood between The Gryffindor group and Snape. Lena's hands fell into the pockets of her robes. Just as Sirius let out a loud laugh, a crack of thunder could be heard outside the castle walls.

"…We dance for the idiots…"

"What?" Lena asked aloud. The boys stopped to look at her, confusion written over their faces. A song like voice flooded into a Lena's ears. It had caught her so much by surprise, she thought it might have been one of the boys.

"Sirius was just making a joke abou-" Remus was cut off. Thunder again.

"No. Not that. The comment about idiots-" Lena froze, a look of shock falling over her face. "Neh- No. Never mind. Uh, its nothing."

"Ar-are you sure?" Peter's voice came, sounding very confused.

The raven-haired female took a step back. "Yes!" A fake attempt at a cheerful voice fell from Lena's lips. "I just remembered I… forgot something in a classroom. I need to get it." Lena Kotani was a terrible liar.

"We'll go with you if you like?" Sirius blurted when he noticed the female turning to go.

"No!! Ah! I mean, no it's ok. Thank you so much for letting me sit with you at dinner. It was fun! If you still want help with transfiguration…" She trailed off and turned around. "I gotta go." and without another word Lena had started off down the hall in a quick pace leaving the boys staring at her in silence.

"Okkkk…" Sirius dragged out. "That girl… is mental. Pretty girl, but mental"

"You recon we should follow her?" James asked, after nodding in agreement to the "mental" comment.

Lena wandered into the first empty classroom she could find. A thin layer of sweat formed on her forehead. She had no idea what had just happened. She touched her ring and heard…

She pulled the jade ring from her pocket. Nothing. Sighing, Lena eyed the dirty old thing. Eyeing the etched words. "I will sing for crescent moon." She said out loud. 'But then what was that… those words. Who said them? Why did I only hear them?' Her mind racing, she ran a few fingers through her back hair.

"We dance for the idiots…" Lena whispered aloud. "and I will sing for crescent moon." Felling the two sentences had something to do with each other. They sounded so… so familiar.

Familiarity didn't mater, Lena had a poor memory and had a hard time remembering old things. She racked her brain. 'A story? No… A riddle? I don't think so.' Lena was in dire need of fresh air. Thinking was starting to make her head hurt. She left the classroom and headed for a way to the outside. It was just a little after hours, but she was suppose to meet the Headmaster out there later anyways.

The air outside was cool as rain hit the ground. A breeze blew over from the lake by the school, but it didn't mater to Lena. Ring, still in hand, she stepped onto the open grounds, found a bench, and took a seat. Thinking back she realized how odd she must have seemed in front of Remus, Peter, James, and Sirius. Her mind fell back onto the question as to why they started talking to her, of all people, out of the blue.

Thunder overhead cracked. "I'm such a stupid girl. Acting like a weirdo, running off, skipping classes." It was a no wonder why she had no friends. Her head fell down as she hugged her knees to her chest. 'It's cuz your not like them, Lena!' A voice, her voice, reminded her. "Of course…" She closed her eyes.

Crack!

"…In the land of…"

Lena's eyes popped open. Someone or something was there. Watching her. She could feel it. Taking to her feet, she looked around. "Dumbledore? Headmaster? He-hello?" Lena's voice tumbled.

The sound of twigs crushing behind her made the female jump. She turned around. "Oh!" She gasped when she met the eyes of a large black dog staring straight at her. The dog froze for a minute or so, and then started to pant. Lena immediately calmed. She felt that the dog would not hurt her, so she sat back on the bench.

"What are you doing here? I have never seen you around before." She gave the big animal a warm smile. She held her hand out for him to sniff, and he did so. Lena figured the god felt comfortable because the dog sat down before her, and let her pat his head.

"I wish I had some food for you. I'm afraid I don't got any." She said aloud, to the great black dog. He made a little whimpering noise. "Ohh, don't do that. I really don't have any food."

Suddenly. Lena laughed very loudly. "Oh goodness, look at me! I run off and act like a weirdo in front of classmates, and now… now I am sitting her talking to some big dog!" Lena scratched behind his ears. "Good thing you aren't a bad dog. If you were I am sure I would have already gotten bitten."

'It's ok. I only think you are a little mental.' The dog, Sirius, thought as she scratched, making his foot hop a little as she hit a good spot.

"Like that doggie?" She hummed, her voice almost sing song like. Lena closed her eyes, calmly, focusing on scratching the mysterious dog. There was another crack of thunder. As each one sounded it seemed to remind her of the ring weighing her pocket. The female caught herself thinking again. 'A nursery rhyme? A- A song…."

She seemed to hit something in her brain. For a fragment of a second, Lena thought she was about to remember something very important. She opened her eyes, looked stare into the dogs pretty grey eyes. And like that, all in a second, She forgot what she was thinking of. "Craaaaapp" Lena growled letting go of the dog and burying her head into her hands. There was a wall there, in her mind. Something did not want her to remember about her past. The female felt a wave of ridiculousness rush over her.

Crack!
'Wait!'
Lena's mind went off. Her head popped up from her hands. She did recall something. A song, a melody. She didn't know how it got into her head, but she knew it was a song she had her before, long ago. She parted her lips, took a deep breath, and sang aloud.

"In the land… of twilight." She paused. Sirius' head popping up to look at Lena. Moony, Prongs, and Wormtail also watching close by. 'Under the moon. We dance for the idiots' She took another breathe. 'Ring-around-the-roses. Jump to the moon….We sing with the castanets.'

The night again fell silent besides the sound of the rain. Lena closed her mouth. The dog laid his head on her lap, eyes closed. "Di-Did you like that?" She asked quietly when the dog opened his eyes. He did. Lena's voice, some how, made Sirius become extremely relaxed, in the cold rain. Scratching behind his ears, made Sirius again close his dog eyes. Again his head was lying on her lap. "I'm glad." She nearly whispered, smiling a warm smile.

Suddenly, the night was disturbed. A sound of large flapping wings filled the air. It reminded Lena of her own wings. She jumped up as did Sirius, growling while doing so.

"Who is ther-AH!" Lena was cut short when she felt her entire body fall limp. Suddenly she was face first against the grass. The dog was now tugging at her robes. She couldn't move, no matter how hard she tired, her limbs could not be moved.

The flapping stopped, and a loud voice filled the air. "E'Shikiel Rehlehm Lena'cel Kotani!"

Lena thought she recognized her name, but nothing more. The words were a different language, and spoken in a male's voice. She could feel someone standing over her. Someone strong, and powerful. Lena was scared, and it seemed the dog had decided to run off. Lena was alone next to this strange person. Completely alone, laying face down in the wet grass. Defenseless against harm.


Yunalesca: Like I said! Another chapter!!! I hope it is alright! ^-^; I have been feeling like I have been in quite the writing mood, soo hopefully another chapter will be posted soon!! Please be easy, no flames. Thank you for the comments on the last chapter! Im glad you like my story!! Thank you!! I will get to the next chapter soon!!