Well hi there :) Good to see you back here at my story! I hope you all are enjoying it cos I sure am! Right, I don't think I have anything to say right now, but will probably think of something later and kick myself for forgetting! (yeh, I'm in a weird mood cos I'm all happy after eating some yummy Chinese food mmmm)

I will let you get on with it now, so enough rambling from me!

I don't care what the people may say
What the people may say bout me - Pack Up, Eliza Doolittle

Chapter 4

"So you taught yourself all those spells?" Lily asked Tabbi as they sat in the common room that evening. Tabbi shrugged.

"I told you Lily, they were easy to learn."

"Fine. So where did you go to practice?"

"Just empty classrooms usually." Lily nodded, while doing the finishing touches on her History of Magic essay which Tabbi hadn't even thought about yet.

"You should have seen Sirius' face when you beat him. It looked like you just slapped him! I don't think he's used to someone being better than him." Tabbi smirked.

"She wasn't better than me Evans, that was just a lucky shot." The Marauders had finally entered the common room, probably from some detention. Tabbi scoffed.

"Got something to say Thorne?" Sirius asked in an unusually harsh tone. Tabbi reacted to it by throwing up all her guards and lashing out. She was fed up with him already and it was only the second day.

"I can say what the bloody hell I want to say Black. And when I do it's none of your business."

"Really?" He said, his eyes boring into hers. She stood up and stuck out her chin defiantly.

"Yes." She said.

"You know when you stand like that you look just like the stuck up princess you really are. I can't believe I never saw it before." His words hurt her. They never had before, but those did. The common room had gone silent. All of her friends watched as she went deadly still. It was like everyone was holding their breath, waiting for the explosion. Tabbi pushed all her feeling to the darkest corners of her mind and kept the emotionless mask plastered on her face.

"Good to know." She said quietly then walked calmly out the portrait hole.

It was all such a big shock that no one thought about following her out. Sirius watched her leave with a mix of emotions flicking across his face. James, Remus and Lily were all too shocked that Tabbi hadn't done anything to think about where she was going. Finally the rest of the common room snapped out of the silence and went back to what they had been doing before. Lily then turned to Sirius and glared at him. "How dare you say something like that to her. Just because you're angry that she beat you does not give you the right to call her that." Lily spat at him, her voice full of venom. Sirius looked to his best mates for support but they both shook their heads.

"That was over the line mate." James said and Remus frowned. Sirius growled in frustration and stormed up to the dorms. No one said anything after that. Lily left the boys soon and went up to her dorm to wait for Tabbi to come back, but she never did.

The next morning Lily dashed down to breakfast hoping to see Tabbi sitting there laughing along with the Marauders but she didn't. Instead she sat down and was instantly aware of the tense atmosphere around her. She saw James and Remus frowning at Sirius who was pointedly ignoring everyone. Lily poured some cereal and listened to Alice who was chatting to her about her new boyfriend, Frank. Lily listened but didn't really take much of it in. The sudden whiff of perfume meant that some of Sirius' fan club had finally arrived. Rachel and Natalie were sitting either side of him, giggling and flicking their hair every two minutes. Remus and James just rolled their eyes at them and Peter was too busy paying attention to his girlfriend to notice anything. Lily studied the girl. She was short, with dull blonde hair and a round face. Her green eyes were glued to Peter as he spoke to her and she nodded every now and then. Although the girl seemed nice enough, Lily got a feeling that something wasn't quite right. She would have said something if it was someone else, but Peter seemed too happy just at the fact he had a girlfriend that she didn't want to ruin it.

Sirius soon left the table, closely followed by Natalie and Rachel. James looked after his best mate and sighed. There was something off with him. James looked to Remus and saw he was thinking the same thing. He then glanced at Lily who was listening to Alice but kept her eyes darting around the hall incase Tabbi decided to show up. James continued to look at Lily. He watched as the way her long red hair caught the early morning sun and admired the way her eyes gleamed with fiery determination at finding her best friend. A sharp elbow in his ribs made James stop and look round at Remus. "What?" he mouthed and Remus just smirked.

"We should go, maybe Tabbi will be waiting outside the classroom?" Remus said with little hope. So they all got up and made their way to History of Magic, hoping that Tabbi would be there waiting for them.

Surprisingly Tabbi was stood outside the class room when they got there, chatting with Harvey Michaels, the Gryffindor keeper who was waiting with the 6th years for some reason unbeknown to James. She laughed at something he said and flicked her hair over her shoulder. Oh dear. James thought. This was her flirty face, which meant nothing good could happen. James groaned quietly and shook his head. Lily looked up at him and frowned. "What?" She asked him and he sighed.

"She's flirting with him. This will mess up the team if it goes badly." Lily then got why James was making such a big deal out of Tabbi's behavior.

"Why don't you just go say something to her?" James laughed.

"Have you ever tried telling Tabbi what to do with her life?" Lily smiled.

"Ah, I see what you mean." They looked away from each other and Lily couldn't help but smile slightly. They had just had a whole conversation without one flirty comment by him, or an insult by her. Alice nudged her and wiggled her eyebrows in James' direction. Lily elbowed her friend and rolled her eyes. Finally Professor Binns let the class in and they started filing into the room. Lily looked around when someone brushed past her, knocking her slightly. She saw the back of Sirius as he stormed into the classroom. Well something's got him in a foul mood. She thought then forgot about it and took her normal seat beside Tabbi.

Tabbi watched as Sirius stormed past her and took his seat in the classroom. She just shrugged to herself and took the seat in front of him, then greeted Lily when she sat down. "Hey Lils." She said and Lily smiled tentatively.

"Hey Tabbi. You ok?" She asked casually although Tabbi could tell there was a more serious underlying question.

"Yeh, I'm fine Lily. Thanks." The lie was easy, as easy as all the others she had to tell on a regular basis. The truth was, Sirius' words had hurt her more than she would ever let on. Harvey had provided the perfect distraction from it.

"So, erm, where did you stay last night?" Lily gave Tabbi a quick glance then carried on taking notes of the boring lecture Binns was giving them. Tabbi frowned, how could Lily make anything out of his droning?

"Oh, I fell asleep in the kitchens and the house elves thought I needed the rest." Tabbi shrugged and leant back in her chair. That one hadn't been a lie. She really had fallen asleep in front of the large fire down in the kitchens, hot chocolate in hand and everything. Suddenly she felt the legs of her chair slip and she went crashing to the ground. "Shit!" She shouted as she fell. Once she had hit the ground she rubbed her elbow and sat up. Everyone was looking at her, and the Marauders were trying to hide their laughter. She shot them a glare then picked herself up off the floor gracefully and sat back down. Binns had looked up from his boring lecture at her curse.

"Is everything alright?" He asked in a monotone.

"Fine." Tabbi said curtly. Tabbi looked down at her parchment and he floated back to the front of the class. Tabbi missed the questioning glance Lily shot her before the lecture started up again.

"Have a nice trip?" Tabitha looked up as she walked out the classroom and saw a couple of the Slytherins leaning against the wall smirking at her. She gave them all a cold look. "Piss off. I don't want to waste my time kicking your asses." She said then turned to walk away. Luckily, before she had turned all the way, she caught one of them raising their wand out of the corner of her eye. She whipped round and blocked the jinx that they had sent. They were shocked so didn't have time to stop the one she sent at them. The others stepped forward to take her. She recognised these as Lucius Malfoy, Rudolfus Lestrange and Bellatrix Black. She knew they were dangerous and had something to do with Voldemort. Hell, they were probably already Death Eaters. Tabbi sent a few hexes in Rudolfus' direction then blocked Bellatix's curses. Her wand twirled and she span as she attacked and defended at the same time. Fortunately a teacher arrived before the Slytherins could gain on her, unfortunately it was Professor McGonagall.

"What is going on here?" She asked as they all stopped. The Slytherins smirks came back on as they made up some excuse to her. Tabbi just stood silently, letting them come up with a cover story. She glanced down and saw that her robes were torn and she had a shallow cut on her lower arm, but nothing too serious. "You will all have detention tonight. You four will be with Professor Slughorn and you Tabitha will be doing a job for Mr Filtch." Tabbi nodded at her professor then quickly made her away from the scene.

Tabbi decided to skip the rest of her morning classes and go for a long walk around the grounds. Once she got back she hoped her friends wouldn't be in the common room since they should have been at lunch. But as she walked in she saw then all sitting in their favorite seats chatting about something. Tabbi crept silently all the way to the dorm stairs but was spotted before she could get up there. "Tabbi! Where have you been?" Lily pounced on her, making Tabbi turn to face her friends.

"Oh, I just had a walk around the grounds." She said plainly, as if talking about the weather rather than skiving classes. Lily's face blanched as she took in Tabbi's torn robes and messed up hair. Tabbi subtly moved her arm to her side to hide the gash. Sirius caught her motion though and stepped forward.

"What happened to your arm?" He nodded to it and Tabbi shrugged indifferently.

"Nothing, I just slipped." She knew her emotionless face gave her away, but she couldn't lie convincingly whilst looking into Sirius' piercing grey eyes.

"Lier." He stated.

"What actually happened?" James asked, stepping past Sirius and taking Tabbi's hand. He pulled up her sleeve and saw the long cut in her arm. She looked at it again and noticed it was actually deeper than she had originally thought. She couldn't tell them what had happened though, as firstly she could handle those Slytherins. And secondly they would be planning on getting her back and getting the Marauders involved would just make things worse. No, she would stay silent about their encounter.

"I told you, nothing." James frowned and touched the gash. She flinched and pulled her arm back.

"Tab you should get that cleaned up by Madam Pomfry." he suggested, looking worried.

"No." She said it more harshly that first intended but turned and went up the stairs to her dorm before any of them could say anything.

Lily hadn't questioned her when she came upstairs a few minutes later. After Tabitha had finished healing her cut the best she could, she got up off her bed, changed into some different robes and headed down stairs to meet the Marauders like any other day. James looked her over as she got there then smiled when he saw she had healed her arm. "Where's Lily?" He asked and Tabitha rolled her eyes.

"She's got Muggle Studies with Alice. That's the other side of the castle from Charms James." She pointed out and he sighed.

"Yeh I know. Well should we go then?" He asked and they all followed him out the portrait hole. As James, Remus and Peter started up a conversation about the new DADA teacher Tabitha was slowed down by Sirius who had her wrist. She looked up at him and slipped further behind her mask.

"Yes?" He frowned.

"I know they try to believe your lies but I don't." He said and Tabitha's heart accelerated. What did he know?

"Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"There's something about you. Something you're not telling us." True. She thought.

"Just because there are some things I don't wish to tell you Black doesn't mean I'm keeping secrets."

"So you have something to tell?"He was clever, more clever than Tabbi gave him credit for sometimes.

"Maybe. But doesn't everyone? I bet you have some secrets you wouldn't tell anyone."

"Yes. I did. But I got out." These words made Tabitha stop in the middle of the corridor and stared at him.

"What did you just say?" She asked even though she had heard him clearly.

"I said, I got out." Her face whitened just slightly. Did he know? No, how could he? Unless James had said something. "What?" He asked and she shook herself mentally. 'A sign of weakness.' Her father's voice echoed in her head and she straightened up and carried on walking.

"Nothing." She said coolly and caught up with the others just before entering the classroom.

"Right, so after watching your duels last time, I decided that today we should practice the Patronuss Charm." Tabitha groaned silently. It was one of the only spells she couldn't master. They were in the last lesson of the day, and Sirius hadn't tried talking to her again. Though he kept giving her interested looks when he knew she couldn't see him. "Right, so pair off and start working on it." James sauntered over to her and shrugged his arm around her shoulders before she was able to even think about choosing a partner.

"I saw you and Sirius having a little chat." He whispered to her and she shrugged.

"It was nothing, just about earlier." James nodded and left it there, leading her over to an emptier part of the classroom to work on it. James swished his wand and produced a full body patronuss on his first go. Tabitha watched the large stag walk majestically around their area. Everyone had stopped trying to watch it as it dipped it's head. Suddenly a large boisterous dog joined the stag and started jumping around it playfully. Tabitha looked around and saw Sirius with Remus next to them grinning at James. Surprisingly, Peter's rat was the next to join the others. Tabitha saw him beaming at his girlfriend who watched the animal in awe.

"Excellent!" Professor Trent said from the other side of the classroom. "Continue everyone! I don't expect you all to have a full body one for at least a few lessons." He then turned back to helping one of the Ravenclaws.

Tabitha turned to James and he smiled at her. "Go on then." he said and she shook my head.

"I can't do them." He frowned.

"Sure you can, you just need to try." She shook her head again.

"Nope, already have and it just doesn't work."

"But you never give up on spells. In fact, you never have to work on them in the first place." She shrugged.

"This one just doesn't work. You know how I am with spells James, and this one doesn't feel right." Remus, who was standing nearby stepped closer in curiosity, which brought Sirius over as well.

"Oh, finally found something Thorne couldn't do eh?" Sirius asked and she glared at him.

"Piss off Black."

"Look, just find a really happy memory and try it now. Maybe you are more advanced now than when you last tried?" Remus suggested and Tabitha sighed. But she pulled out her wand anyway and closed her eyes. A happy memory. A happy memory. Well there was no point in one before I came to Hogwarts. She thought. Maybe the first time I played quidditch? She opened her eyes again then thought about that happy feeling and did the spell. Nothing happened. She didn't look at the Marauders as she lowered her wand.

"See?"

"Try another memory, maybe the one you were using wasn't strong enough?" She tried a couple more times, but to no avail. Tabitha had always assumed the problem had something to do with her past. She never let anything in, be it people or emotions, so she didn't have anything happy enough to fill her up. The class was finally called to a close and she packed up all her stuff quickly then followed Lily out the room.

Hope you guys enjoyed that. I introduced the Slytherins, part of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, the boys' animagus forms and Tabbi's inability to think positively all in one chapter! Talk about skills ;)

Sooo.. if you all are in a very good mood then maybe I could be expecting some lovely reviews..? Actually any reviews would be nice, I would like to think I'm not desperate but I think I am. I will get down on my knees and beg you all if you want! *on knees* PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Ok, so enough strangeness from me. Just let me know what you think and if you have any constructive criticism. Also if any of you want to have an input on what happens to Tabbi or any of the characters then let me know!

-ellie xox