"I didn't know you had any secrets."
"I hate to tell you but, everyone has secrets. It's just a matter of whether or not they are willing to share them with you."
"Oh."
"I'm not who everyone thinks I am, I'm not smart, not even somewhat clever, and I didn't even know there was such thing as magic until Professor McGonagall told me about it."
"No, you're modest. You are amazingly smart."
"No, I have layers, trust me, I'm not as smart as James, Sirius, or even Lily think I am, I don't want to be either."
"I hope you think differently soon."
"I can't. I won't."
"We should go back."
"Probably." I say, we go back inside, we are greeted with an empty common room, I sigh and James, Sirius and Peter appear out of nowhere. I jump, Remus looks unfazed.
"I should've known." Remus mutters.
"Where were you?" James asks.
"Did it ever occur to you he wanted to study with an intellectual equal?" I ask, I see Remus wince, I pretend not to notice.
"No."
"See, all settled, now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." I say, walking upstairs. Everyone is asleep and I fall asleep almost as soon as I lay down.
I wake up to Lily jumping on my bed. I groan and get up, leaving my friend jumping on my bed. I go to the bathroom and scream. My hair was replaced with black feathers. I have never been so happy it was a Saturday. I put on a grey sweatshirt and put the hood up. I try to ignore the fact that the feathers itch. I am stopped by Sirius and James on my way to talk to Professor McGonagall.
"What are you wearing?" They ask, Remus is watching the whole thing, shaking his head.
"A hoodie?"
"Yeah why?" Sirius asks, Peter comes up behind me and tries to take my hood off. He succeeds, luckily, I have two sweatshirts on. I laugh and walk out. I knock on the door to Professor McGonagall's office and she opened the door. I looked around and took off my hood. She gasped and we walked inside.
"This happened, overnight, correct?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you know what animal you will be?"
"I don't know, I think I'm a raven or some sort of black bird.
"I don't doubt a raven."
"Okay, how do I get rid of these feathers?"
"You cannot. They will resolve themselves eventually."
"Good." I say, pulling the sweatshirt over my head. I walk back to the common room where James, Sirius and Peter are all waiting to pull my hood down, James does as soon as I walk in. They all saw my feathered head. I ran upstairs before anyone could figure it out. I stayed in my room all day, doing homework and attempting to use concealing charms. They usually worked. By the time I finished everything, I ate some of the junk food I stashed under my bed and I went to sleep.
I woke up completely normal. I was very happy about that. I pull my hair into a ponytail and walk downstairs.
"What the heck was going on with your hair yesterday?"
"A spell went wrong, the result wasn't pretty."
"So, why didn't you just say that?"
"Because everyone has secrets, okay? That just happened to be one of mine."
"That you were working on spells?"
"Yeah."
"Gemma, can I talk to you?" Remus asks, grabbing my wrist, we go outside of the common room.
"I'm not telling you."
"You're bloody brilliant! Who's teaching you?"
"Oh-umm, McGonagall?"
"When did you start?"
"A few months ago actually, before I knew anything, I wanted to try it because, because I nevermind."
"And knowing helped you want to be able to transform more?"
"A little."
"What animal are you, or what do you think you will be?"
"I'm thinking a Raven or some other animal with black feathers."
"Definitely a Raven. It matches your last name."
"That means nothing."
"I'll bet it does."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then what? Nothing happens."
"I guess not."
"What are you two doing?" James and Sirius ask, turning the corner. I had never been so happy not to mention Remus' 'furry little problem'.
"Talking about my hair." I say
"Sure."
"Whether or not you believe me, that's what happened, and if you don't mind, I have to rant to Lily about how pathetically stupid and ignorant you lot are." I say, leaving them alone. I walk into the common room to talk to Lily.
"What's up with Remus?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"Actually, I did, I just don't understand the question."
"Well, it was a straightforward question. With Remus being gone during the full moons, and all of his scars? You hang out with him, you must be able to at least confirm my suspicions."
"Able, probably, willing, definitely not."
"Is he a werewolf?" Lily asks, my cool, unfazed appearance is nothing to as panicked as I felt.
"In the wizarding world, it's considered rude to falsely accuse someone of being a half breed. Trust me, I already asked."
"Than explain."
"His mum has cancer, he can only go home once a month, and if that makes him a werewolf, then I, an orphan, am a vampire."
"Really? Gemma, that's out of line."
"I disagree."
"Does this have anything to do with your hair yesterday?"
"Does nobody here have a filter?" I ask. I storm off to my room and sit in bed all day. I go down for my meals but I don't talk to anybody.
After a month, nobody's any the wiser. I spend almost all of my time reading, working, and attempting an animagus transformation. I can't get any farther. Professor McGonagall says I am not connected with my animal, so I'm trying to be slightly more Raven-like, if that's a thing. I have spent the majority of my time watching Ebony and attempting to copy some of the things she does. I noticed when she flies, she does tricks in midair. I can't do that, so instead I practice spells. I assume it helps because I keep hearing croaking that sounds similar to Ebony's. Every time I hear it though, I spin around to see what makes it and it's gone. It's always annoying and never helpful.
Nearing the end of the year, whatever happened to my hair happened again, except this time, my fingers changed so they were long and slender, resembling a bird's inside the wing. I looked at Ebony's wing and they looked almost like they were meant to be inside a wing. While startling, I was actually pretty excited. Luckily, it resolved itself before I had to take my exams, imagine holding a wand with those hands. Not pretty. At the end of the year, we all get on the train and I decide that I'll sit with Lily and Severus.
"Hi Lily, where's Severus?"
"Sitting with Mulciber and Avery." She grumbles.
"Well, he'll be back. They always come back."
"Are you hiding something from me?"
"Yes."
"Can you tell me?"
"No."
"Does it have anything to do with why your eyes are black instead of their normal blue?"
"Probably. I didn't even realize-" I say. I shut my eyes and focus on being human. I open my eyes again and Lily looks at them,
"Okay, now they're blue."
"Good."
"What was that?"
"That was for me to know, any you to wonder about."
"Actually, that's pretty fair."
"See, it's not like I'm some completely irrational person."
"Hey Lily, do you mind if we borrow Gemma for a second? Great, thanks." James asks, I follow him out of the compartment.
"Look, Remus passed out, I figured you could help."
"You figured correctly, what compartment?"
"Do you know why?"
"I do. Do you?"
"No. Why do you know something I don't about my friend?"
"Because I use my brain." I say, walking into the compartment with Remus, Peter and Sirius in it, both of them are crowded around Remus. "Peter, Sirius out." I command, luckily, they obey.
"I told you to stay at the castle." I mutter. "Accio Chocolate" I say, a chocolate frog flies into my hand. I break the frog's leg off and dangle it in front of his face. He wakes up and grabs it. "Ha! Knew that would work!" I laugh, handing him the rest of the frog.
"What happened?"
"You really need to start listening to me. I told you to let your father come and get you but here we are."
"Okay, fine. You were right."
"What was that?"
"You were right."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me."
"I know but it's only so often you swallow your pride and admit you were wrong, I wanted to hear it again."
"I hate you."
"The feeling, is mutual."
"Very funny."
"Gemma! What are you doing in here? Let's get back to our compartment!" Lily says, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out.
"What's your problem Lily?"
"Why are you hanging out with them? They're bad news."
"So, because you don't like them, I'm not allowed to hang out with them? Okay, good to know that I can't get within twenty feet of them."
"I never said that."
"Lily. They might not look like it, but they are actually good people."
"Which one of them are you dating?"
"So, because I'm defending them, I automatically am dating one of them?"
"No, I just assumed-"
"That's the problem Lily. You assumed. And you assumed wrong." I say, walking back into the compartment with Remus.
"Gemma-"
"I know you heard, don't say you didn't."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm not."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I really am not."
"Don't bother lying, you can't hide it from me and it's pointless to hide it from yourself."
"Okay, I am, what now?"
"You move on."
"I don't think I can."
"Been there." Remus says, I pull out my book and start reading. When the train stops in King's Cross station, I get off and walk over to my aunt who is talking to some other woman. Sirius is walking next to me.
"Your aunt talking to my mum? This won't end well."
"I don't doubt that."
"I'll see you the first. Until then."
"Bye."
"Come along Gemma." Aunt Penelope says, I follow her. We go home and I get ready to spend another summer in a place that I absolutely hate. I cook dinner and go to bed. I wake up in a forest, I can see the Hogwarts castle in the distance. I fly around, spinning and diving whenever I can. Once, I get too close to the ground and something knocks me out of the air. I wake up screaming, or croaking really. I look at the mirror across from my bed and I see a Raven staring at me.
"Finally. Took you long enough." Ebony says, I glare at her.
"How was I supposed to know?"
"I assume you want to go flying?"
"If you don't mind, yeah."
"Great, turn human and write a note to your Aunt."
"Okay." I say, obeying, after I write a note, I open my window and we fly out.
"Where are we going?" I ask.
"Remus' house. He's the only one who won't be surprised to see you at his house."
"True. I almost forgot about that. Where does he live?"
"On the other side of this forest."
"Cool!"
We fly over the forest, whenever Ebony does midair tricks, I copy her, my moves are sloppy. Ebony has to keep reminding me. It takes a lot longer than I thought it would, we got there about nine, I would guess. We sat in a tree as Remus came outside. It was obvious he wasn't feeling well. He sees us and groans.
"I really don't want to deal with you scavengers today." He mutters. I jump down and walk behind him. He groans and attempts to kick me.
"What does he think he's doing?"
"Shut up Ebony. You know it's the day of the full moon."
"That gives him no right-" She says, I walk a few feet away and transform.
"It isn't polite to kick people you know." I tease.
"You need to go home."
"Not happening. I told them I'm having a sleepover with Lily."
"Then go have a sleepover with Lily."
"Not happening."
"Why not?"
"Umm, because I would rather spend the full moon with you?"
"No you don't. I'm locked in the basement, all I can do is bite and scratch myself."
"Well, now you can talk to me too."
"And if I bite you?"
"You can't, wolves and ravens are at least decent together. Work together, more like."
"And if I bite you anyway?"
"Well, if it's your wolf, you wouldn't. Ravens alert wolves when they find a kill in exchange for some of the meat."
"You are completely ready for all of these questions, aren't you?"
"Of course."
"What if you're wrong?"
"Then what? Nothing will happen."
"What if I kill you?"
"You won't, I'll fly away before that can happen."
"But-"
"Remus, I'm staying. That's that and there's nothing you can do to make me change my mind."
"Remus? What's taking you so long?" His dad asks
"Someone wants to spend the night tonight. I'm trying to convince her otherwise."
"Umm, that's a bad idea for reasons I don't feel comfortable discussing."
"So, other than tonight's a full moon and Remus is a werewolf? Yeah, I know."
"Remus, I told you not to tell anybody."
"Gemma figured it out herself. She ruined a friendship with the only other decent human being at Hogwarts to protect me. If she isn't trustworthy, nobody is."
"Remus, I didn't ruin my friendship with Lily."
"Really? That's where you are taking this?"
"Yes, actually it is."
"You two are friends? You fight like cats and dogs." Mr. Lupin says, we both start laughing.
"More like Wolves and Ravens. It's actually not that bad." I say.
"Oh, well, you still can't stay tonight."
"Yeah. Like that's happening."
"Excuse me?"
"I will find a way. Trust me, I can get in almost anywhere."
"She's not joking. And she can fly when she wants to."
"Fly?"
"Yes, like a bird?"
"Who are you exactly?"
"Finally. I thought you would never ask! My name is Gemma Ravenclaw."
"Ravenclaw, the Ravenclaw?"
"Yeah?"
"Still don't understand why you're here."
"You humans are such stupid creatures, connect the dots already! She's obviously an animagus. Wolves and Ravens, knows about the werewolf yet insists on staying! How much of an idiot do you think she is? A human with a werewolf? Not if they didn't have a death wish which I assure you she does not!" Ebony shouts, I laugh, I can understand her, but it's really funny watching her explode at Mr. Lupin.
"Ebony, we both know he can't understand you. It's best to stop while you can."
"That's what they want you to think!"
"Gold. I swear!"
"Let me guess…" Remus starts, I hold up my hand and cut him off,
"I wouldn't."
"Point."
"So, you can talk to birds too?"
"I give up. I'm an animagus." I say, resigned.
"Prove it."
"Your wish is my command." I say, I turn into my Raven and fly around I turn back and laugh, "You were saying?" I notice that it's closer to noon now.
"Can we go inside, please?" Remus asks, his Dad shakes his head and the four of us go inside.
"Remus, how many times do I have to tell you not to bring birds inside?" Mrs. Lupin asks, seeing Ebony my jaw drops and I glare at her.
"She didn't mean that." Remus says, looking at Ebony. "Don't you dare."
"I find that offensive." I say, staring at her, if looks could kill, she would be six feet under.
"Actually, I did mean that. Birds are filthy creatures who-"
"For your own safety, I'm going to restrain Gem and stop you right there." Remus says, grabbing my wrist.
"If I wanted to, I already would have done so." I hiss.
"Say the word. She's dead." Ebony says,
"I told you no, no matter how much I agree with you." I remind her.
"Right. Forgot."
"Sure you did."
"What are you doing?" Mrs. Lupin asks, rather rudely.
"Well, if you must know, Ebony here would absolutely love to make you pay for saying that, I was simply, talking her off the cliff."
"Oh?"
"I told you not to mess with anyone who came over mum, you knew Gemma has a connection with birds, yet you annoyed her anyway. Never a good idea."
"Aww, you knew I was going to finish transforming. So cute."
"Go find roadkill. Scavenger."
"Go kill a human. Cannibal."
"Raven."
"Werewolf."
"Squirrel."
"Deer."
"So, is this some sort of insult competition?" She asks,
"And it was just getting good." I mutter.
"Do you want some mac and cheese?"
"No thanks. I was going to get some roadkill. Want me to kidnap someone for you Remus?"
"Very funny. What are you really eating?" Remus asks.
"Whatever Ebony finds for us. I'm down for whatever."
"Even bugs?" Ebony asks.
"Yes, even bugs." I say.
"I'll see you later. Birdbrain."
"Shut up." I say, I walk outside and turn into a bird.
"I saw a blueberry bush on the way over, you want some?" Ebony asks
"Sure." I agree
"I'm bringing some back with us."
"Okay."
We fly around for awhile until we find some bushes.
"Blackberries it is."
"Okay, but we should get back soon, the sun's going to be setting pretty soon."
"You want to see your boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend, yes boy space friend. Friend who is a boy."
"I'm not teasing you or anything. Just pointing out the obvious."
"Let's not bring anything home, it seems kinda pointless."
"Fair enough." She says, we eat a bunch of blackberries. Then we start flying and attempting fancy dives and aerobatics. By the time the sun was almost to the horizon, I wasn't as sloppy as I was earlier. We flew quickly back to Remus' house, as the first rays of moonlight were starting to appear, we got into the basement and transformed, mere seconds before Remus started.
"Ravens? What are you doing? I have no kill to share with you." The wolf asks.
"We are well aware, we don't want your kill. We already ate." I say.
"I'm here because she made me." Ebony says. The wolf starts biting and scratching itself,
"What are you doing?"
"I want blood! I need blood!"
"So you take your own?"
"Well, yeah, what do you expect?"
"Gemma, keep him busy. I'm going to get some food." Ebony says flying towards the door.
"Humans! Meat!"
"NO! You can't eat them!"
"Why?"
"They are your parents."
"Gemma?"
"Remus?"
"So, it is you?"
"Yes. I see you are winning?"
"Yeah, for now. Where's Ebony?"
"She went upstairs. To get meat."
"What if she doesn't come back?"
"Nothing. Ebony will come back. She knows how important this is."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OUT OF MY REFRIGERATOR!" Mrs. Lupin says. I hear the Raven croak and scratching at the door knob. Ebony appears holding a large piece of raw meat.
"You like it raw, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Now I'm going to sleep."
"I want to sleep too, but I can't."
"Just try, the worst thing to happen is you stay up all night." I say. Perching on the edge of the couch. I fall asleep. Probably not the best idea, seeing as there was a werewolf in the room.
