oh my goodness, guys, i am sososososososososososososo sorry i havent updated in forever. originally, it was because our football team was kind of amazing, and just had to keep winning so by the time i got home i was exhausted and completely not thinking about updating as my face crashed into my pillow. and then, we (my family and i) when to disney world over thanksgiving break...it was like heaven. guys, peter pan kissed me on the cheek. im fairly certain i walked around the magic kingdom in a daze for the entire rest of the day. (if you cant tell, we dont go to disney world very often.) AND THEN we went to universal studios and i could have spent alllll day in the harry potter part. it was so real. i really advise all of you to go there.

now that i am done ranting, i want to assure all of you that no, i am not in fact attempting to make you all go to disney world because i work there and i want your money. speaking, of money, i realize that i have never put a disclaimer up. no. i do not own harry potter. i am not j.k. rowling. if i was j.k. rowling, i really dont think i would be spending my time posting stories on fanfiction when i could probably hand said story to any publisher and make even more millions of dollars.

so, even though most of you completely skipped over my bold letters of useless blabbering, i would like to thank you for reading this story, even though its probably not as amazing as i hope it comes across as.

Aurèlie floated sleepily into the Great Hall, joining her friends at one of the long tables. "Good morning," she murmured.

"Happy-" Lily started, only to be cut off by Sirius Black throwing open the large wooden doors. Everyone, even the teachers, looked up to see him storm down one of the aisles and yank Aurèlie up by the collar.

"Where were you?" he demanded.

"Excuse me?" she snapped, not liking the experience of being manhandled so early in the morning.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" he growled.

Her hair became an angry chocolate cherry color, her eyes flashing dangerously. "What, am I not allowed to wake up early? Do you need a babysitter on the way to the Great Hall?" She knocked his hands off her robes.

"Why are you up early?" he yelled, grabbing her arm. "I didn't know where you were, you could have gotten hurt! You're supposed to be in the Prefect's Bathroom when I get there, and then take even longer when you hear me outside!"

"You're not even supposed to use the Prefect's Bathroom!" She pushed him away, making him stumble. "Why do you even care?"

Sirius took a threatening step forward but hands closed around his arms. Aurèlie looked up to see a panting James and Peter. Remus stood behind them, lookingill. Lily had grabbed Aurèlie's arm somewhere during their dispute.

"Ten points from Gryffindor and Slytherin," Professor McGonagall clipped, too used to morning arguments between Aurèlie and Sirius to bother caring what it was about.

"Professor!" Aurèlie protested. The boys paused in sitting down. Aurèlie never complained about losing points for her house, in fact, she seemed to enjoy that her efforts to disobey rules were noticed by the teachers.

Professor McGonagall turned with a small smile. "Just because it's your seventeenth birthday does not make you an exception, Miss Malfoy."

Aurèlie pouted. "No fair."

"It's your birthday?" Sirius asked.

Aurèlie ignored him.

"Here," Lily said, pushing a small blue bag toward her. "Happy Birthday."

Ivory curls fell in her face as Aurèlie opened the bag, tossing the paper at James, who sat across from her. She withdrew a small bottle of ink.

"It's invisible to everyone but you," Lily said. "And it refills itself, so you can't run out."

"Thank you," Aurèlie said, shocking everyone for the third time that day.

"Here," Severus mumbled, clearly still uncomfortable with the Gryffindors sitting so close to him.

Aurèlie accepted the box and opened it to find a small gold pocket watch. She clicked it open to discover that it held much more than the time; it showed the date, the weather, the moon phase, her horoscope, her mood (joyed), and had a small built in notepad. "Thank you so much, Severus!" she hugged the small boy, much to the disgust of the others.

"It's not much," said James, handing her a large basket of assorted candies from Honeydukes. How he had gotten there, Aurèlie wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"It's plenty," she murmured. "Thanks."

"This is for you," said Remus quietly , handing her a brown wrapped object that looked suspiciously like a book. She ripped off the paper, threw it at James and inspected the object that was, in fact, a thick, dark blue covered book. The gold title read "Grimm's Fairy Tales" and the pages were old and worn.

"Thank you-" Aurèlie noticed that Remus had disappeared. "Where'd he go?"

"He's sick," James explained.

Aurèlie nodded, turning her attention to Sirius. "Where's your present?"

Sirius smirked. "I haven't found the perfect present yet."

She narrowed her eyes. "You forgot about my birthday."

"Yes," said Sirius. "But, I will find a present. Eventually."

"Eventually," Aurèlie muttered. Her pretend-sulky mood improved when the owl post came, many boxes and bags and letters dropping in front of her. "I am loved."

"Loved," Sirius snorted. "Spoiled is more like it."

"Go away," said Aurèlie. "Why are you here? No one. Likes you."

"You love me and you know it," said Sirius.

"Don't spout nonsense," said Aurèlie.

"It's not nonsense," said Sirius. "Don't be such a bitch."

"It's my birthday!" cried Aurèlie. "You can't argue with me!"

"She's right, you know," James said in response to Sirius's 'help me' look.

They all yelped when a house elf apparated into the pudding on the table.

"Dobby?" Aurèlie asked.

"Oh!" Dobby the house elf turned to face her. "Hello, Miss!"

Aurèlie smiled broadly. "Hello, Dobby. What are you doing here?"

"It's your birthday, Miss!" Dobby held out a shabbily wrapped box.

"Oh, Dobby! You know you didn't have to!" cried Aurèlie.

Dobby placed the box in front of her. "But Dobby wanted to Miss Rose! Please, open it!"

Aurèlie unwrapped and opened the small box, drawing out a small silver spoon twisted into a heart and looped over a chain. She held up the necklace and Sirius snorted. Dobby's face dropped and Aurèlie aimed a kick at his leg, missing and hitting James instead. She sent him an apologetic look before holding the necklace out to Dobby.

"Will you put it on me?"

Dobby's face brightened and he nodded, taking the necklace. He clipped it together and Aurèlie held up the spoon-heart.

"Thank you so much, Dobby," she said. She gently picked up the large-eared house elf and hugged him.

"Dobby has to go now, Miss. Happy birthday!" he squeaked.

"Wait. When's your birthday?" she asked.

"House-elves don't have birthdays, Miss," said Dobby with a small sad smile before he apparated back to Malfoy Manor.

"You're too nice to them," said Sirius.

Aurèlie aimed another kick and this time it connected soundly with his shin, drawing a satisfying yelp from the boy.

"Pathetic little Snivellus."

Aurèlie redirected her path towards the sound of the teasing voices and yelps. She was not in the mood for this. She had already had to save a first-year from the Giant Squid, taken away fifty points from her own house when someone had slapped her ass, and caught a Ravenclaw trying to sneak into the restricted section of the library. So far, her birthday failed.

"What's wrong, Snivellus, your little girlfriend hasn't come to save you?" James said.

Aurèlie rounded the corner and spotted James levitating Severus several feet in the air by his ankle. Sirius and Peter stood beside him laughing, Remus still absent.

"Who?"

"Malfoy," James continued.

Aurèlie paused in the middle of the hallway.

"She's not my girlfriend!" Severus shouted.

"No?"

"No! I would never date a slut like her!" Severus yelled.

A sob came from somewhere and Aurèlie realized that it was her. Four heads whipped around to face her. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks and she turned, sprinting away. She heard a thud as Severus hit the floor and feet began to pound on the floor, chasing after her. Depressed, dark grey hair streamed behind her as she ran past the dorms, past the Great Hall and through the entrance of the school. She heard yells behind her but she didn't pause as she ran down the stairs and across the yard, straight into the Forbidden Forest. She stopped eventually when her lungs felt like they were going to explode and she leaned against a tree gasping for breath. She realized it was dark, way beyond lights out.

A branch snapped behind her and she turned, expecting it to be one of the boys following her. Aurèlie covered her mouth and bit her lip hard to trap the scream that was rising when she saw a werewolf on all fours prowling towards her. Thousands of thoughts ran through her head, most of them various ways she was going to die. But her brain slowed and a single thought began looping through her mind.

Run.

So she did. Panic taking over, she reverted back to her original form: wild gold curls, midnight blue eyes, and sun-kissed skin scrambled away from the werewolf. She sprinted away as fast as possible, stumbling over branches and her face being cut up by wayward twigs. Claws came from nowhere and slashed her back. Her shirt made a loud ripping sound and she screamed in pain as the claws dug into her skin, trying to snap her spine to paralyze it's prey. She jammed her teeth into her bottom lip, tasting the blood. She tried to ignore to pain as she thought back to her D.A.D.A classes.

"Werewolves don't attack animals," she whispered. She closed her eyes and concentrated, trying to block out the terror seeping through her. Her bones shifted and she felt herself growing larger and when she opened her eyes she saw that the werewolf had stopped and was looking at her curiously. She gathered her courage and walked closer to it, sniffing. It smelled familiar. She rubbed her beak on its arm and looked up at it. It was staring at her. She cocked her head.

"Do you have a problem?" she seemed to ask.

The werewolf snorted and turned. It left but Aurèlie stayed in her shape until she reached the boundary of the Forbidden Forest. Pain soon became too much and she shifted back to her human self. Blurry human shapes moved in front of her as she collapsed on the steps of the castle.

Aurèlie's eyes cracked open, blinking at the harsh light.

"Where-" she croaked.

"The Infirmary," a brisk voice said. Aurèlie realized she was lying on her stomach on a bed, her face pressed into the pillow. She looked around, spotting various healing potions on the table next to her and Madam Pomfrey's concerned face beside her.

"When-"

"About three days ago. You've been asleep since."

"How-"

"Black carried you in. Looked awfully scared but considering that gaping hole in your back, it was no surprise."

"Gaping hole-"

"Don't worry, girl, I healed it. And the cuts on your face and legs." Madam Pomfrey turned and poured a glass of something from a black bottle. She handed it to Aurèlie, who wrinkled her nose but drank the mysterious potion anyway. Aurèlie pushed herself up with her arms and sat on the edge of the bed. She set the cup down and stood, swayed for a moment before shuffling over to a mirror. She untied the back of the paper gown and stared at the scars.

"There was a were-" Aurèlie stopped noticing Remus sitting by her bed, napping. "Why is-"

"He came as soon as he heard you were here. The only time he leaves is to eat and sleep, and he only eats because Black or Potter stays instead. He looks very lost and distant when he's awake. I think he blames himself for your injuries, so I let him sleep when he does. He scolds me for it, saying you'll wake and he won't be there but I don't care," Madam Pomfrey said, gently placing her hand on Remus's shoulder. Aurèlie could tell that Madam Pomfrey favored Remus, like most of the teachers in the school.

Remus's eyes fluttered at the contact and he lifted his head. "You're alive," he whispered, before falling back asleep. Aurèlie dressed in the robes someone had brought for her and draped Remus's arm around her shoulders.

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Aurèlie said as she left with the half-asleep Remus.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked, intercepting Aurèlie who was sitting in the middle of the hallway. She had half-walked half-dragged the exhausted Remus back to Gryffindor tower and her back was screaming with all the movement.

"Go away, Black," Aurèlie moaned, too much in pain to bother looking at him.

"Did you reopen your back?" said Sirius, panicking now that he saw the small pool of blood on the ground.

Aurèlie shook her head. "No, I opened my eye." She looked up at him, moving her hand so he could see the bleeding scar. "I'm not sure why, I haven't for almost three years-"

"I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey," said Sirius. When he just stood there, she looked up again. "As soon as I figure out how to carry you."

"Can I have a piggy-back ride?" Aurèlie asked. Her voice was calm and steady, not the voice one would expect from a person with an arson of scars. But Sirius could tell from her appearance being completely natural that she was in too much pain to be able to put thought toward keeping anything different.

He helped her stand and lifted her carefully onto his back. "Did you like my birthday present?" said Sirius.

"What?" Aurèlie mumbled into his hair, beginning to lose consciousness.

"I saved your life," said Sirius smugly. "I think that's a bloody great birthday present."

"Yes. I am eternally thankful," she said sarcastically. Moments later, her eyes slipped shut and she dropped into the black abyss of her mind.