Consciousness. I woke up again but kept my eyes shut, still drowsy. My head felt amazing…well amazing compared to the last time I was conscious…
AND PATTED KINGESLY!
Insert Heart Attack.
AND TOUCHED THE MAGIC BEARD!
Lungs failing.
AND HUGGED SNAPE.
Congestive failure of all major organs. So tragic.
I could hear people talking…I was really starting to get used to waking up to voices… Remus was still under me, and my legs were slung across Padfoot who was drumming absently on my knees.
The talking was low but happy, and I was content to just lay back and listen. My phone, however, had other plans. It began buzzing and singing "I'm too Sexy." Damon's ringtone. I programmed it just to make him mad. Hehe.
The talking stopped, everyone looking at my pocket. I really didn't want to move to answer it…
"I'm too sexy for my shirt. Too sexy for my shir.t So sexy it hurts"
Dooon't waaant tooo annnssswwwweeeerrrr.
" And I'm too sexy for your party. Too sexy for your party."
Noooooooooooooooooooo
"I'm a model you know what I mean And I do my little turn on the catwalk. Yeah on the catwalk on the catwalk."
Aw Dang it.
Without opening my eyes, I dug around for my phone, hopefully not hitting Sirius anywhere inappropriate, and answered. "Ellloo?"
"You sound like shit."
"Well thanks hon. Love you too."
"What did you get into this time?"
"Why do you always assume that I've gotten into something?"
"Because you always do."
"….True…I'm okay, really. Hit my head, got high off of potions, the usual."
"Ah. Well that's not nearly as bad as I was expecting."
"Yeah, Siri and Remmie have been keeping me out of trouble."
"They're doing a better job of it than Kayla and I ever did."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You guys tried your best, but I'm a beast. We're kinda hard to manage ya know."
"So I've learned…Rika, I don't want to upset you, but I've got some bad news."
My eyes finally opened. Bad news was never good. Mentally steeling myself to act calmly as possible, I shifted my hand to cover the ear piece of the phone. This would muffle the sound enough to ensure Remus's wolf hearing wouldn't pick up on whatever Damon said, but I would.
"And that would be?"
"Some guy was spotted sniffing around your old apartment. I think it might have been you father."
Oh shit. This was bad news; very bad news indeed. Why the hell would Greyback be looking for me now after all these years? I bit down on the inside of my cheek, vaguely tasting blood.
"You and Kayla stay away from that place. And avoid our old hangouts."
"We know Rika. Don't worry about us, worry about yourself."
I nodded even though he couldn't see me. I was glad I'd covered the phone. I didn't want people knowing who my father was, not even Remus. When he had stayed with my dad's pack years ago, I had simply told him that my father was a mean werewolf I didn't like to talk about. Greyback never publicly acknowledged me as his spawn, or treated me like his child, so Remus never learned the truth.
There was no way I was letting Remus know I was the offspring of the man who turned him into a werewolf.
I sighed. "Okay Dames. Anything else?"
"Nope."
"Kay. I'll talk to you later. Love you."
"Bye."
"No."
"No what?"
"I said I loved you."
"And I said bye."
"You can't just do that! You're supposed to say 'love you too!'"
"No."
"But Daaaammooooonnn!"
"No."
"Geeze we've been friends since we were twelve! You're my family, my pack, and you can't even say you love me?"
"Nope."
"…I will never understand the mysterious of the male sex."
"And I'll never understand why you feel the need for me to say I love you when I feel I've already proved it. My actions have already done the talking for me—there's no need for further clarification."
"…Wow….. …that was deep…"
"Yup."
"..Um..so bye?"
"Bye."
I hung up and noticed everyone staring. Again. Dang I sure am fascinating.
"George?"—Fred
"Yes dear brother?"—George
"I think we've just found our new theme song."—Fred
They hopped up, and began singing "I'm too sexy" and shacking their tooshies. I laughed, playing the music for them, glad the attention was off of me for once.
That is, until the twins grabbed me, forcing me to dance with them.
"Aw come on guys, I just recovered from a head injury!"
They pushed my arms up and down.
"Really now, this is highly inappropriate!"
And they rocked my shoulders back and forth.
"Gu-uuuuuyyyysss!"
And tried to make me hang bang.
"Aw, what the hell."
Breaking free from them, I started dancing on my own, shaking my toosh on my imaginary catwalk.
Luckily, I'd only been asleep for a couple hours, so I got to eat dinner with everyone.
I apologized to Kingsley, who laughed it off, so I assume I'm still a good girl to him, and Dumbledore who assured me it was quite all right. I tried to apologize to Snape, but every time I so much as looked in his direction, his sent me an eyebrow-singeing glare, and I can't afford to lose my eyebrows…
During my sleep a friendly woman named Tonks and a slightly creepy man named 'Mad eyed' Moody came over. Just in time to see my dance number with the twins.
Don't you just love awkward first impressions?
Tonks didn't seemed bothered by it though and happily chatted with me throughout dinner.
"So," she said just as I'd conveniently took a swig of my juice, "how long have you and this Damon fellow been dating?"
Ville, evil woman. She'd purposely waited till I had liquid in my mouth just so I would choke due to her ridiculous question. Which I did. Sirius reached over and thumped my back several times, looking amused.
Finally I managed to choke out a "Pardon?"
"Damon. That bloke you were on the phone with. You are dating right?"
"What on Earth would give you that idea?"
"Your ringtone for him involves his sexiness, you called him hon, then went on a rant about how he wouldn't say he loved you."
I shook my head. "Oh no, no, no. Damon is my friend. Albeit a very close friend, but still just a friend. Half the time I pretty much just forget that he even has a penis."
Mrs. Weasley gave me a disapproving mom look. Apparently 'penis' was not an acceptable word to say at the dinner table.
Sirius winced. "Sounds like you and Lilly Remus. She was constantly going on to you about her girl problems, and trying to talk about guys and shopping. I'm surprised your bollocks didn't just zap back up into your stomach every time she came around."
"Lilly and I had some very interesting intellectual conversations Sirius," Remus said, calmly eating his food. "And as many times as she tried to set me up on blind dates, I hardly think she forgot that I was a bloke."
"My mom tried to set you up on dates?" Harry asked, his eyes taking on that thirsty look they got whenever his parents were mentioned.
Remus nodded, smiling fondly. "Usually I could get out of them, but sometimes…Lilly was a bright girl and she meant well, but her matchmaking skills were subpar at best."
"Remember the girl with the giant mole on her lip!" Sirius chuckled.
"Melinda was a very nice girl Padfoot."
"Until she tried to snog you." Sirius puckered his lips, making kissy faces.
Remus shuddered a little. "Thank you for bringing that up Pads. Shall we talk about the time you dated a girl who was in to bondage."
"Reeemmmuuss," Sirius warned lowly, but Moony ignored him.
"And she left you tied to a desk in an abandoned classroom. For three days. Until a house elf found you."
In a reverse of the usual, it was Sirius who lunged across the table—knocking food off left and right much to Mrs. Weasely's dismay—and talked Remus. The two got into a quick dog-fight then stopped as quickly as they started, lounging on the ground laughing. Mrs. Weasley began spelling away the ruined food, muttering about how grown men should act their own age.
Most everyone else looked amused, especially Harry. Judging by his wide smile, he was obviously glad to see his godfather had gotten back his playful spirit.
Life was good.
Life sucked.
Today was the day the Moon entered the apogee faze, otherwise known as the day the Moon was farthest from the Earth. The day my werewolf instincts were the farthest from me.
Unlike Remus who felt most energized at this time of the month, I. Felt. Like. Shit.
Being human is probably great and all, but when you're suddenly robbed of your super wolf instincts, it's hard to cope. Balance, sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing, all reduced. Even my appearance was affected.
My normally golden eyes had shifted to a honey-brown color. It wasn't ugly, but it was kind of a shock to look in the mirror and see someone else's eyes. My skin was always pale, but now it took on an ashen, chalky tone, making my scars stand out in an odd, almost grey contrast.
Exactly how every teenage girl wants to look right?
Sighing, I went downstairs, taking the steps niiice and slooow. I would not fall. I would not fall. I would no—
"Hiya." One of the twins said, quite literally popping up out of nowhere, and startling me.
I did not get startled often. My senses usually picked up on a person's approach, even if it was only on a subconscious level. So I didn't handle being startled well. My lack of handling skills combined with my sudden decrease in balance, led me to scream, thus attracting everyone's attention, and preceded to tumble down nearly an entire flight of stairs.
I was in a room full of bloody wizards and none of them thought to whip out a wand and at the very least slow my decent? Prats.
As everyone watched me with mouths gaping open—I assume that it's very uncommon to see a beast such as myself nearly kill herself on something as mundane as stairs because of a simple hello—only Remus was nice enough to kneel by my side and help me up.
His monthly pains might be the reverse of mine, but he still understood them.
Eyes flickered to the scars on my neck and arms. They were so thin people usually didn't see them unless they caught the light just right, but now…
"Bloody hell, what happened to you?"
Thank you Ron for having the guts to ask what the many eyes were wondering.
"Well, I was born several years ago on my birthday, then I lived life for a while, ended up with a couple of crazy people in a grimmie old house—"
"Your eyes." Harry cut in. "They're really brown.." he trailed off, frowning.
"And human like?" He looked sheepish at my question. I shook my head. "It's okay, you can say it. I'm not human, and I'm cool with that. I'm not cool with how I'm treated because of it..but that's another story." And so, I launched into a short explanation about how today once a month I lost touch with my wolf side and became almost human. By the end of my story, Hermione was chuckling. Several heads, including mine, swiveled to stare at her.
"Sorry," she said blushing. "It's just..well..People try to say that werewolves are inferior, but look at you." She made a sweeping gesture to include my whole body which I tried not to interpret as offensive. "You lose you werewolf senses and become more human, and you're a wreak! It's like one of those muggle novels were the supernatural creatures are perfect and far above anything humans could ever achieve, and the humans are dazzled by them."
I cracked an amused smile. "Are you saying you dazzled by me?"
She laughed, obviously relieved she hadn't offended me. "You know what I mean."
I nodded. "Yeah, but I'm probably just so crappie right now because I'm not used to the humanish senses. I'm sure they're fine for you guys, but not a beast like me."
"Oh so we've found a challenge the beast can't tackle?" one of the twins asked.
I frowned. Without my heightened senses, they looked like exactly the same person…I sniffed one of them, not bothering to be subtle. Nope. Couldn't tell which one he was.
"Did you just ostentatiously sniff me for no apparent reason? Not that I mind, it's just that usually you only do that if I've touched something odd."
"…..Promise not to get mad," I said, eyeing both of them warily.
"Prankster's honor."—both
"…Without my beast senses I have no idea which one of you is which. I don't know how you poor mother does it! You're like…identical!"
The twins burst out laughing.
"Very astute observation there! Did you have any idea that we were identical Fred?"
"Why no I didn't George, but it sure explains why people keep mixing us up!"
"Wait a minute…Bloody hell! I'm George and you're Fred! We've gone and mixed ourselves up!"
"Are you sure?"
"Well no…I can never really tell you know. What with us being identical and all."
I mock glared at them, sitting down and pouting.
The rest of the day went like that. The twins constantly sneaking up behind me and trying to confuse me as to who was who. Me falling down a lot. The usual.
Till about half way through dinner…
"Rika," Mr. Weasley said in a tired voice, "when we take Harry to the Ministry for his trial, you're coming too…If that's alright.."
I stared at him, then glanced sideways at Remus; he didn't look surprised.
"…Why?"
"Fudge is asking after you. I suspect it has something to do with Lucious, but I'm not certain."
"You'll be staying by my side at all times," Remus said. "Don't wander off no matter what."
I nodded. I wasn't crazy about being told what to do, but I trusted that it was for my own good. Besides, mentally I kinda viewed Remus as my Alpha, so it was instinct to obey him. I didn't bother trying to refuse to go. Remus and Arthur were both constantly on the line of being fired. It was better to try and avoid any battles possible. Remus in particular was on thin ice for saving me. Fudge probably would have fired him right away, except it would have been bad for his image.
The rest of dinner was passed solemnly. No one liked to think about the possibility that Harry could be expelled for something that wasn't his fault.
I went to bed that night feeling more uneasy than I had in a long time.
