(AUTHORS NOTE: Since I took so long to post the crappy last chapter, I decided to write a gigantic-double-cream-in-your-pants chapter to make up for it. Hope you all forgive me :3 )

Ginny, who was taking the loss remarkably well, was the reason I had to wait an extra day to go to a DA meeting. She claimed that I couldn't fully reveal in my formidable win unless I was subjected to immense praise and compliments. That, she said, couldn't be accomplished if I had to fling my wand around later.

Convincing Harry to prolong the meeting was disgustingly easily; especially when Ginny batted her eyes and did a thing with her "-ness" that I proudly dubbed, a Ginny. To perform a Ginny, you 1) have to be Ginny, 2) be influencing the famous Harry Potter, and 3) be Ginny.

Said red-head then dragged me upstairs to the girls' dormitories where she, Hermione, and I spent the rest of the day giggling and whispering. It was nice to just hang out with girls, an experience I had yet to know.

By the time I fell asleep, my fingernails had been painted a fantastic shade of blue, my toenails the same, my hair had been braided (to look fantastic tomorrow as I was told), and I was in the confidence of both Ginny and Hermione by way of saucy secrets. To be in the confidence of anyone, made my chest give little bubbles of happiness, which sounded incredibly cheesy, but that's the only way I could really describe it.

The morning of Thursday was one of those days where you swear the clock moved backwards just to spite you. The classes, while interesting, were unable to keep my mind from wandering. Since I sat by a window, my eyesight was drawn to the outside more than normal which only tended to happen as the full moon got closer and my more... animalistic side came apparent.

That thought alone was able to drag me back to myself and the lesson being taught.

After lunch (which included both Fred and George transfiguring my food into sprinkles, which I promptly ate, much to their delight), Divination and Herbology weren't too exciting. I mean Neville did have to save me from this evil plant that tried to suck me into its blossom thingy.

Note: Neville is a [i]fantastic [/i] knight in shining armor.

After classes, I could barely stand counting the minutes to the session. I was excited to finally be using defensive spells, figuratively spitting in Umbridge's face, and get a well-earned work-out. My wand felt a bit rusty.

I smiled all through dinner and even, despite the pain building from my hand, had a small smile on my face during my detention. I kept it hidden behind my bangs so Umbridge didn't suspect anything; I didn't want her ruining this for me.

Needless to say, I was excited for the meeting. I could barely sit straight as Hermione bandaged up my hand from the detention session.

"Hold still!" she barked again, giving me her 'Hermione-Stare' which had lost its intended effect ages ago. My reaction was to role my eyes and try to find something to hold my attention until she was finished.

Harry said that as soon as she was done bandaging it, we'd head off to practice. Only Hermione was taking flipping-forever.

My eyes landed on Fred, who was playing a game of Exploding Snap with George, his ever-constant companion.

His oh-so blue eyes were trained carefully on the growing, combustors pile of cards. A small, secret, unconscious smile played at the corners of his mouth; not a full out adorkably crooked smile that did funny things to my insides, but one that wasn't all there physically but you knew was jumping around in his brain.

His hand, long and gracefully thin, stretched out to his intended card, making the sleeve of his shirt (which sadly, wasn't rolled up) pull back enough to give a glimpse of wrist. His eyes sparkled at the build up of tension, his shoulders and back tensing microscopically, the slightest and single twitch of anticipation in his ring finger; all of it, I saw. And all of it, I knew had me in danger.

Dear lord, I was staring. Not just that, I was staring [i]hard-core[/i]. I was, irrevocably, irrationally, and fabulously, nursing a crush to this red-headed boy.

I didn't know whether to be scared or excited or what. And frankly, I was too nervous to think much about it at all. So, like the tough, strong, teenage girl I am, I didn't. Shoved that thought right out of my head and made sure I turned my thoughts and my eyes to safer subjects.

Picking a test on tropical plants for Herbology that I was supposed to be studying for, I mentally picked through the majority of the plants and their uses, locations, and quantities.

It helped; a little bit at least. It wasn't until Hermione had given the last tug on my bandages that I perked up and had completely (for the most part) forgotten about Fred. I had convinced myself that it would blow over, and if it didn't, well, I've dealt with worse...

I didn't have the way to the Room of Requirement memorized yet, so I couldn't pull them along faster, despite many furious, whispered pleas. Since Harry had this kick-ass map that showed where everyone was in the castle at any given time, it was a fairly leisurely stroll to the Room which everybody in the DA should be congregating to soon.

Harry had activated the Galleons so I figured we'd have about fifteen minutes before everybody showed up. The room they practiced in was full of mirrors and closets that held dummies; I'm guessing were used for target practice from the numerous dents that showered them.

The floor was a metal grate type thing and the ceiling vaulted, and marble. There was a cork-board posted along the back wall with photos and newspaper clippings referring to "strange murders" and "freak storms". It was in connection to Voldemort.

At fifteen minutes and three seconds, Hermione had checked the list and concluded that everyone was there. I noticed Collin Creevey, a kid a year below me, who stared. A lot. Cho Chang, who, I heard from Ginny, was crushing hard core on Harry, much to Ginny's displeasure. Her friend, what's-her-face. Neville was also there along with the Patil Twins, Lee Thomas (a friend of Forge), and LunaLovegood. There were a few others who I've seen but never talked to.

Coughing, to get our attention I'm guessing, Harry stood on a step leading to the door and looked at us, waiting for us to quiet down. Remarkably, everyone did suprisingly fast, and I was happy to just go with the flow.

Once we were all quiet and paying attention, Harry started the meeting, "Ah, hello everyone. First things first, we've been at this for a few months now and I just wanted to say that you've all grown and improved so much."

"Cause we're fantastic, that's why." George chorused in the back, eliciting a few laughs and smiles.

Harry rolled his eyes but continued nonetheless, "Like I was saying, you've all gotten so much better and there's really only one thing I have left to teach you from my personal experience. That's the Patronus which is the hardest spell I've ever learned. It's gonna take a lot of time and effort but I know you guys can get it down."

He paused for a moment, looking for something to say, "Uh-," he glanced around, eyes landing on me. Crap.

"Somebody new joined us today! I'm sure you all know Ariel, as she was the girl who knocked Malfoy flat her first day here." A round of cheers went up and I laughed, ducking my face which was in danger of turning a charming shade of vermillion.

Harry walked forward and tugged me to my feet, making me stand up in front of the crowd with him. Smiling widely, I leaned in close, "I'm going to kill you, you know that?"

Harry, grinning also, replied, "I hate being out here alone."

My smile dropped a fraction.

"Making me feel sorry for you isn't going to help. Make them start practicing or something."

"I can't. I don't know how far you are along yet and if they start practicing, I have to help them then consequently, I can't help you. Duel me."

My smile? Gone. What it was replaced with? Eyebrow cock.

"And that would benefit me how?"

"By showing me what you can do, so I know what I need to work with you on." Damn him and his good arguments.

"Fine," I scowled. Harry grinned, vaguely impishly. He turned towards the crowd of students who had watched the whole debacle with amused faces.

"Since I don't know how much help Ariel needs, and I can't help her if I'm helping you guys, we're going to duel." There was a murmur of excitement from the crowd but one person apparently objected that idea completely and utterly. Can you guess who it was?

"Duel?" Hermione gasped, "Are you sure, Harry? You could hurt Ariel, especially when her hand is injured."

"Hey!" I cried out indignantly. Harry tried to conceal a smile. Fred and George on the other hand didn't even try and their laughter was heard very clearly. I glared at them.

"I can handle myself just fine, thanks." I muttered, Hermione didn't even glance my way.

Harry, sensing my peeve-ness, intervened, "I'll be easy with her. I don't have time to go through all the spells I've taught one by one and we need to get started on Patronus. This will be faster and easier; if she can keep up with me in a duel, then she's obviously gonna be able to produce a Patronus like all of you." Harry reasoned. Hermione still unsure started to rebuke before Ginny cut in,

"Oh c'mon Hermione. She played Quidditch brilliantly and her hand was mangled then. And you know Harry, he won't hurt her. Even if she does, Ariel can take it."

"Thank you!" I cried, happy that someone wasn't babying me finally. Hermione, out numbered, conceded defeat- though none-too-happy about it saying that this was all gonna end badly.

The crowd took their positions then, lining the side of the room and casting Protigo charms to protect them from any fly-away spells. I walked between the split crowd and to the cork board at the end of the room; Harry stayed by the steps. There was about twenty to twenty-five feet between us, plenty of room for a duel.

We bowed then, keeping our faces up. Harry smiled comfortingly at me and I returned the smile, adrenaline kicking into my system. I was getting ready for a fight and my body knew it. I shifted into a defensive stance and saw Harry tense up also.

I waited for him to make the first move. As if sensing this, Harry didn't leave me waiting for long.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted, casting the spell in a blur. I swatted it away silently, heart thundering as the full consciousness of a duel settled over my brain.

I sent a hex back at him, less for beating him and more for testing his attributes. He was just about perfect in dueling in every way possible. He struck fast, insanely fast actually, and had great blocking skills. He was agile and, consulting the bright flash of magic streaking towards me, I concluded that he also was supremely powerful and could cast damn near any hex or jinx with pull potency.

"Confundo!" I slashed my wand, retaliations getting faster and faster as I concluded my assessment of what I was up against. Harry, side-stepped and spat a hex back at me.

"Protigo!" The spell bounced off my shield and smashed into one of the side shields protecting the crowd.

Harry sent another spell spinning my way before I had the chance to retaliate and it took a burst of hybrid talents to be able to drop to the ground in time for the spell to pass over my head harmlessly.

Alright, play time was over. I pushed to my feet in the same motion as I spit the Bat-Boogy Hex to Harry's face. He glanced it away and my second spell, the Freezing Charm, at him in hopes of quickly ending this duel.

"Iter!" Harry sent the Tripping Jinx towards me and I rolled to the side, catching my breath behind a pillar. I heard him breathing harshly and I noticed my heart was pounding. Mentally shifting through my list of jinxes and hexes, I brought a few forward to use next.

I risked a glance around the corner and had just enough time to whip my head back around before the jinx smashed into the stone next to me. Taking a deep breath, I ran out from the pillar at the same time I sent Tarantallegra towards Harry.

He dodged and thus we went back to sending hex after jinx after spell at each other before it happened.

Harry had sent a silent spell, one that I instantly blocked. But, the spell exploded on contact with my shield, causing an enormous eruption of smoke to obstruct my view. Instantly disoriented, my animal instincts kicked into over-drive, disorienting me even more.

I couldn't see my hand in front of my face so it was a bit obvious that I didn't see the spell that Harry had cast until it hit me straight to the chest and I was hanging upside down from my ankle, clutching my skirt to keep it from flashing my Iron Man undies.

When the smoke cleared, I saw Harry, wand upraised at the end of the dueling platform, a smirk on his face. Ginny started busting up at my appearance, most of the crowd following in suit. Some of the boys (Neville) were bashful enough to blush at my holding up my skirt.

I started laughing along with them, knowing that I indeed looked a bit funny. Soon enough, Harry floated me down to the floor and I was right-side up again. He walked over as the crowd, amongst its giggling, took down their shields.

"I think you're ready for the Patronus." He smirked, obviously satisfied with his win.

I stuck my tongue out at him, enticing a laugh from the Boy-Who-Lived. I grinned also, happy that I had kept up that long with the Dueling Master. After that, Harry got us working on the Patronus.

It was hard work. Finding a happy memory alone was a bit tough. Surprisingly, it was a really recent one. It was the time right before my first detention with Umbridge. I was content and happy and peaceful. I was able to grasp the bearings of the spell a bit better after focusing on that memory.

While I was working, I even got to know a girl whom was apart of the group of people that I had never talked to. Her name was Zoe and she was in Gryffindor like me. Only she was a 7th year. She was pretty chill.

No body got it on the first meeting but Harry said that was normal. The most that happened was one or two wisps that Hermione or I was able to conjure.

After that, the month passed quickly. I got my first Patronus two meetings later. It was a lion. Neville said it was fitting. Have I told you how much I love him?

Classes were the same, and I finally finished my detentions with Umbridge, the pain in my hand boarding unbearable by the end. My hand stayed bandaged for long time after that though I healed a few days later.

The first quizzes I took in my classes, I passed with flying colors and Umbridge had yet to entice a verbal explosion from me again though I itched to smash her through a window.

And then the week of the full moon, I got them. The nightmares. They always happen a few days before the change. It was flashes of my parent's murder and my attack. Always the same dream but somehow more horrifying every night. For the week before the change, I had bags under my eyes from lack of sleep and I woke up sweating and boarding screaming.

It even got to bad that I had to cast a Silencing charm around my bed so the others didn't hear. Hermione was freaking out, asking if I was okay, if I was getting sick and what-not. I went with the getting sick one. Even carried around tissues with me and sneezed to keep up the act.

Snape, wasn't helping with my low-key strategy either. He'd blatantly walk up to me during lunch and hand me the wolfsbane in front of everyone; like he wanted me to get found out. The douche. The potion steamed and I saw Harry eye it with a confused look; it paranoid me enough that I had to make up the lie saying that Dumbledore wanted to see how certain potions effected me since I was part-veela. He still seemed skeptical so I made a mental note to ask Dumbledore if he could tell Snape to give me my potions in a less obvious place.

And don't even get my started on the wolfsbane. Nastiest potion you will ever take. In your life. To describe it would be an unnecessary evil so I'll spare you the details. But, like the good girl I was, I took it every night preceding the change and when the dreaded night finally came, I was ready, standing outside the portrait with my school supplies for the next day.

Professor McGonagall arrived at the portrait exactly at six; two hours, nineteen minutes, and fifty-seven seconds before the moon rose. She lead me through the castle, out the front gate, and around to Hagrid's Hut.

Nobody questioned me leaving; all I said was that McGonagall needed me for something involving my transfer and that was that. Tomorrow, when I came late to class, I'd tell them I was just too sick to go back to the common room last night and headed to the Hospital Wing instead.

It'd only be half a lie...

Anyway, the Professor lead me to the Whomping Willow, a tree I had heard a story or two about from the trio about their escapades there with a few Animagus. McGonagall cast a quick spell at it, and then lead me to a hole near the roots. We walked along a long, tunneled out corridor until we ended up in the basement of an old house.

I could tell that the house had been recently fixed up, as dust permeated the air more than if it would have if the house had been undisturbed. My animalistic senses had been heightened ten-fold by the oncoming moon, so every creak of wood sounded like a gun-shot to my ears.

She then led me to the top of the house and to a room with a medieval looking table. There were cuffs at the bottom and middle and even a longer one at the top, presumably for my neck.

"The bands and table have been reinforced a dozen times so they should be able to withstand your change. There's a stash of extra uniforms, undergarments, toletries, and towels in the closet and a tub for washing in the next room. Just slip into the bands and they should tighten automatically. They loosen precisely as the moon goes down as to stop any unwanted mishaps." She glanced around the room, looking for something else to tell me. Finding none, she glanced at me then, presumably taking in my eye bags, pale skin, and sheen of sweat.

Her gaze softened and she reached a hand out to touch my shoulder, "Good luck, Ariel." And then she was gone. This was the part I always dreaded from my change. The ache of loneliness.

No one would help me through the next few hours. I was all alone and had only myself to keep me company. It was like a foreboding, hollow pit in the center of my stomach.

Nonetheless, I got ready for the imminent pain. Quickly, I shed my clothing and folded it into a neat pile by the table. I then situated myself on it, anxiously slipping my wrists, ankles, and neck through the loops. The bands tightened considerably around my ankles and wrists, but were less constricting around my neck.

Most people would be uncomfortable when stark naked and strapped to a table, but not me; I've been doing since I was ten years old and had gone through enough changes and ruined enough clothes to realize that it was just better to be naked.

A charm kept my hands flat to the table as to keep myself from stabbing myself later. When I changed, my nails extended an inch or two and I have, on several rushed occasions, stabbed through my hands when I clenched them while I changed.

Apparently, there was another charm on the table to keep it warm and not icy as it should have been in the cold room. The chill bothered me a bit now, but I knew that in a few short minutes, the chill would be the last thing on my mind.

I tried to keep calm; panicking never helped. I took deep breaths and shut my eyes, thinking happier thoughts. Though being strapped to a table in an icy room sucks the fun out of everything.

A few minutes later, I felt it. I felt the clouds move from the moon as if broke over the hillside. I knew what it looked like, because I watched it happen every night, knowing that soon, it would bring not only the light of the moon, but the pain of the change.

A feeling similar to having an ice-cube run down your spine erupted across my skin, bringing up goose-bumps and another curl of dread in my stomach. My scalp tickled and I saw white streak through the black before over taking it and consuming it completely. I felt my eyes sting and knew that blue had vanished all traces of the topaz that was there before.

Once the facial changes had finished, I knew I had only minutes before the werewolf blood of mine kicked in and the real torture began. Umbridge's detentions would be kids play to this. I really hoped the wolfbane did its job.

Approximately eleven minutes later, the moon fully cleared the hill and I felt the full influence of it hit my chest, making me gasp for air at the sudden sensations.

It always started the same. A crushing shadow weight settled on my chest, making it hard to breathe, until everything clicked into place and the weight lifted. Only to be replaced by the change.

Now normally when people change, their bones shift, grow, or shrink depending on where the bone is. Their skin thickens and stretches. Their jaws shift out of place and narrow outwards, their vocal cords elongate and thin out becoming capable of howling and making a variety of wolf noises. All this happens in the course of a minute or two, and then everything settles into the new form and they're go for the night until they revert back.

With me, however, I was stuck in the changing process. My bones did all the shifting and changing, my skin grew thicker, and I went through the multiple changes that every other werewolf went through, only my body didn't settle. It's like my veela blood was fighting the change and wouldn't let me become a monster.

My bones were constantly moving and shrinking and rubbing against each other, tearing at the sensitive nerves that covered them. My skin stretched and taunted and was pulled around by my shifting bones in a continuous motion so it's like I had all my skin grated off, before being put into a bath of acid and being the recipiant of multiple Indian burns in said bath.

The bones of my jaw and skull were constantly in motion; breaking and popping to fit into a wolf-esk form. The muscles in my throat were being pulled and stretched the whole night too, stopping all sounds except for quiet whimpers or blood-curdling screams.

The sad part is that I have kind of gotten used to the pain. After living for five years with this condition I had learned a number of things. Like, that thrashing didn't help. Neither did screaming- though they were both hard to stop. No matter how I twisted and curled, it never reduced the pain I felt. I had to be strong in my weakest moment.

God, I felt so alone. The crushing weight dissipated and I felt the start of the cursed transformation. My bones started moving, my skin tightening, my jaw unhinging.

At the first crack of my jaw unhinging, pain exploded in my mind. My jaw moving was only the first of many bones to be disjointed and crushed and shifted tonight. It set off a chain-reaction to all my other bones that were caught up in the change, moving and bending to the transformations will.

The pain now built up even further, yet surprisingly not as much as it would a normal night so I guessed, with as much as my pain-destroyed mind could comprehend, that the wolfsbane was doing its job.

I usually go through several Pain-Stages as I changed. First, the initial pain. Huge, and dulled. Second, the acute pain. Smaller shaper stabs of pain. Like needles compaired to the baseball bats earlier. Third, the Crucio pain. Think of it as the two beginner pains mixed together. Finally, about an hour or two before the change was over, there was the numbness. A dull ache would surround me, still painful but like my nerves were tired from sending signals to my brain.

I usually have the hardest time not screaming during the third stage- the first and second I could handle with less effort than the third. Normally, a good clenching of my teeth were able to keep me from screaming during the first two but the third required me to tense my body, curl my hands, grind my teeth together, and arch my back a few times which added a small dose of relief for just a few seconds.

There was nothing really I could do to keep my mind off the pain. It clouded over my conscious mind and made it extremely difficult to concentrate on anything. I could get by with counting for a while but when it got so far into the change, nothing helped.

But I couldn't just focus on the sensation of being ripped apart; otherwise I would've gone crazy a long time ago. The pain ate me up a chewed me out but I still was sane. If I broke and thought of the pain and the pain alone, it would not only eat me up, but would chew and chew and chew, until there was nothing left of me, before spitting me out.

I furrowed my eyebrows, clenching my eyes shut, and concentrated with all my might to focus and not panic at the sensations threatening to drown me. Lights sparkled behind my eye-lids and I watched them, fighting it all.

My muscles twitched and spasm, clenched and unclenched, my will not controling any of them. My nails grew and sharpened, ripping out of my nail-beds with a bloody vengeance. I felt the scars on the back of my hand grow hot and irate.

Struggling to control my breathing, I tried deep breaths which only get sharp stabs of pain into my lungs, body rejecting the movement. All the while, I heard sickening cracks and crunches as my bones distorted.

I knew if I looked down, I would see bulges and lumps as my body mutated to the forgien gene. My face would be vaguely wolf-esk, while shifting between that and human. My ears would be pointing, my limbs thinning and muscles leaning up. It was grotesque and I had made the mistake of hiding during a change in a mirrored room. Needless to say, it ranked right up there in my top 5 worst full-moons ever.

I noticed yet again though, that the pain wasn't as intense as normal and as much as I hate to say this I was a bit thankful to Snape for the wolfsbane.

Soon, I settled in to my normal coping process. I counted until the pain caused me to mess up, and then started again. The highest I got was 5 thousand something before I had to start again.

Once the pain got bad enough, counting wasn't in my capabilities so I had to settle with just lying there and taking the pain as it came. My stomach felt like it was tying itself in knots, though I resisted the urge to vomit. I ached and burned in the worst way possible. That was the hardest part but it didn't last forever. Soon, counting was once again the pain time-passer.

After what seemed like a life-time, the pain lessened, gradually, as the moon waned. I didn't notice when it first started drifting away but soon I became concious that I didn't have to clench my teeth until they ached or be careful of breathing too deep.

It was a big relief, that feeling that the night was almost over. I was coated with sweat and blood and god-knows what else, but I was still sane and still kicking. The potion had done its job.

As all werewolves can do, when they're in their right mind of course, I counted down the minutes until the moon disappeared over the ridge of hills and mountains.

It was about six o' clock when the moon dispersed completely. My body settled back into normal form though I still felt achy and worn. I'd been up all night and desperately wanted to sleep but I knew it would screw up my hours if I did.

I felt the ropes around my limbs and neck loosens; the charm that kept my hands flat to the table release and the full weight of the night hit me. I felt as if I had been run over by Hermione on her way to the library. There was lightness in my head that meant I needed to eat.

Weirdly enough, though it made sense if you thought about it, I lost weight after every full moon. I guess with my body being in constant motion, while also fighting the change, burnt up a lot of calories. God knows I'm gonna be munching the whole day.

I sat up stiffly. My skin was pale, clammy, and gross feeling; I definitely needed a bath. Slipping off the table and grabbing my wand from my pile of clothes, I cast a simple water spell and a heating spell. When the water was a degree off scalding, I slipped in, wincing at the heat on my sensitive nerves.

Gradually though, the warm seeped in, relaxed all my abused muscles and set peace to my mind. I was careful not to fall asleep though. Using my wand to conjore up some soap, I scrubbed my body, washing away the night and its memories.

When I was thoroughly pink and noticed that I only had a little while to get to class, I stepped out of the bath and dried myself. I slipped on a new uniform and threw my wand-dried hair into a ponytail. A small mirror on the wall showed me that doing so uncovered the growing bruises around my jaw, under my ear from it unhinging and moving.

I had similar bruises like that all around the rest of my body. It was from the bones moving against each other, bruising the nerves, bone, and skin alike. It was mostly at all my major joints. I had some near my hips, shoulders, knees, and my hands and feet were a mass of blue.

Not wanting to get to many suspicious stares, I pulled my hair down, and tried to fluff it up so that it curled around my face more. It didn't work so I just magically curled it, accomplishing at the same time hiding the bruises and looking pretty.

Well at least my hair did. My cheeks were shallow and gaunt, my face pale, eyes bloodshot with dark bags underneath. One good Pepperup Potion from Madam Pomfrey and I'd look fine.

I hope.

When I left the Shack with my school supplies for the day and started off back to the school, it was around 7:30. I had half an hour before breakfast started to get back to the castle and get a potion for my face. Not much time considering the Shack was eight-hundred miles from the castle. I jogged a little to make up for lost time and try to keep warm. I finally got to the entrance of the tunnel at 7:52.

Outside was cold and I desperately wished for the warm bath again. The resounding heat that had followed me out of said bath was long gone. The cold was a good way to wake up some more though; I was resisting the urge to grind the heels of my palms into my eyeballs in an attempt to scrape away the blurriness.

It was also extremely bright outside which was adding fantastically to my growing headache. The headaches were probably the most annoying thing about after the change. They started growing slowly once I shifted completely back and got so bad that I had to look through my lashes to dim everything down to a near-twilight light level. Anything else and my eyes about exploded. No way was a PepperUp Potion was going to stop that, and believe me; I've tried a great number of things.

I made it back to the entrance hall right as Breakfast started but it was still early enough that no one was there except for a few morning-people. The trip to the Hospital Wing was short enough from here. Madam Pomfrey opened the doors on the first knock, muttering under her breath.

"Already? Who in the world breaks themselves this early in the mor-" when she saw it was me, she stopped dead and her irate expression turned into one of understand and, dare I say it, pity. It did not help my mood.

"Come in dear, and we'll fix you right up." She ushered me in, hands fluttering nuteringly around my shoulders and sat me down on an empty bed.

"I just need a PepperUp Potion." I said tiredly, yawning. She nodded and dissapeared into her office, and came back a few seconds later with a potion that was just yellow enough to send a thud of pain to the back of my eyes. Great, this headache was gonna be fantastic.

She handed me the vial and watched as I uncorked it, and took two nice-sized gulps. Instantly, I got warm again, sparks of heat in my chilled fingertips. I corked the potion again as the rest of the effects took place. My eyes were soothed and the redness gone. My cheeks pink again and full. The bags under my eyes lightened and I now no longer looked like I've been through hell, but just as if I got a bit too little sleep.

I went to hand it back to her but she shook her head.

"Keep it. I've got dozens more and you need it. You still have a few months before school is out." I nodded, and thanked her before putting the potion carefully in my bag. I got up from the bed and walked out of the Hospital Wing, waving good-bye to her but in no mood to talk.

Since my stomach felt hollow and I was still feeling a bit light in the head, I decided head to Breakfast and then go to Dumbledore about Snape and my potions if I had time.

There were maybe twenty to thirty people in the Great Hall, one or two of them in Gryffindor, none that I knew though. I sat down at a random spot, wincing at the glare of the shiny goblets which added to my headache that was already about a 2 on the pain scale.

Needless to say, I piled my plate high with anything within arms reach. Bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, pancakes, English muffins, fruit, waffles, everything. The food was deliciously warm and seemed to do more for me than the PepperUp Potion.

Note: Even though I was famished, I still had better manners than Ron. Though that wasn't saying much.

It was about 8:34 when Hermione, Harry, and Ron walked in. When their eyes landed on me, they made their way over. By that time, I was on my third helping of my huge breakfast servings and seemed close to done.

"Hey, where were you? You didn't come back after McGonagall and weren't here this morning." Hermione asked, taking a seat by me. Harry and Ron sat in front of us. While talking, Hermione took out a large book that she propped up against a pitcher before grabbing some food. I tried to be inconspicuous as I shifted my hair forward more on my jaw; no need to flash them the bruises. The ones on my jaw were the hardest ones to hide except for the ones on my hands.

"I felt horrible after the meeting so I just spent the night in the Hospital Wing." I said, ignoring the twinge I felt about lying. Lying to someone I don't like is fine with me but lying to a friend is horrendous.

"Oh. Well do you feel better now?" She asked after swallowing her bite of pancake. Harry and Ron were technically in the conversation too, they eyes flitting to whoever was talking but they couldn't talk themselves for they had mass amounts of foodstuffs crammed into their mouth.

"A bit, I guess," I shrugged, "I hope it sticks." Though with this headache, I didn't think I could feign healthy. Already it was a nuisance and it would be a miracle if I got through the day without biting any ones head off.

After washing down my last bite of breakfast with some pumpkin juice, I stood up from the table and hooked my bag on my shoulder.

"I got to go ask Professor Dumbledore something so I'll see you guys in class, mmkay?" I waved good-bye and felt a bit better that I didn't have to lie. I was going to ask Dumbledore something.

I tried to walk with an upbeat air, but the PepperUp Potion could only do so much. I looked fine, maybe a bit tired, but it didn't stop the aches or pains. On the way out, I passed Draco Malfoy who roughly shoulder-checked me. Instantly, the bruises flared up and my headache thudded demonically behind my skull. It took everything in me not to stumble, or flash pain or make any sound of pain at all, before turning my head and glaring at the smirking platinum haired boy.

"Good morning, Vanderwik." he said, mockingly chipper. God, if I could get away with stomping him into nothing...

I made it to Dumbledore's Office with no other incidents and I hoped that the previous password still worked. It did, surprisingly enough, and I ascended the spiraling staircase before being let in by Dumbledore who didn't look surprised to see me.

The meeting was hardly five minutes but since the castle was so big, by the time it was over, it was time to head for Transfiguration. Dumbledore had said he'd talk to Snape about it.

The trio was already there and the class started seconds after I walked through the door. McGonagall had us working on changing the aspects of the transfigured object and even though I knew how to do this already, I still tried to pay attention, knowing it was good to go over things. My headache though, had other plans.

Normally, I could get through the Day After with a headache that if I looked through my lashes, was manageable. Already though, today's headache was a fraction away from the peak of a normal headache and it was only nine o' clock. I really hoped this was the extent to which it would get. Though the more pessimistic side of my mind knew this was only the beginning.

By second period, I could hardly walk straight and even the darkened room of Potions was killer on my head. It felt as if my brain was slowly imploding and every step I took jarred pain to behind my eyes and down my neck.

Malfoy, of course, noticed my sensitivity and took every measure possible to slam things onto the desk. I could have throttled the guy.

Lunch didn't make anything better. I couldn't eat a thing and the loud mess of voices set my teeth grinding and black trickling at the edges of vision as if I was going to pass out.

The pain of the change was something I could handle, a burning pain. But the throbbing, dull, blunted stabs in my skull effected me more than anything.

Hermione and Ginny were sending worried glances at me and I couldn't screw up my face correctly to send them a reassuring smile.

By Charms, I was one step from vomiting my delicious Breakfast all over Professor Flitwick. Ron and Hermione fighting over something right in my ear, send the dazzling black spots closer to the middle of my vision.

When the bell rang, I was the first out of class. I ducked into a broom closet and held my head in my hands, hoping that the near perfect darkness would help. It didn't. I sunk down and propped my back up against the wall, resting my head back against it too.

I tried deep breaths and closed my eyes, struggling not to vomit. I didn't care if I was late to Umbridges class. Not vomiting was more important to me.

My headache was making me weak and dizzy and nauseous. It also scared me too. They were never this bad. Never. I had inkling that the Wolfsbane had something to do with it.

It was starting to hurt so bad that tears pricked in my eyes. I furiously rubbed at them.

A sudden knock sounded at the door. Hermione and Ginny's head poked in.

"You okay?" Ginny whispered.

I tried to stick on a smile, probably failing miserably, "Yeah. My head just hurts a little." My voice, even though it was weak and wavering, stabbed into my brain and I squeezed my eyes shut, ducking my head down to rest on my knees. I heard the door close softly, though it felt like a gunshot in my ear before it opened again, wider this time, light from the hallway brightening my darkness.

I felt someone grab my hands and wrap them loosely around a warm neck, before arms caught me underneath the crook of my knee and my back. I squinted my eyes open and saw that it was Fred picking me up bridal style.

"I'm fine," I protested, though not moving from the embrace.

He smiled and shook his head, "No you aren't. We're taking you to the Hospital Wing."

"It won't help." I muttered, sulkily but nonetheless relaxed in his warm grip. Outside the closet was light and I crunched my eyes shut and buried my head in his chest to block it out.

"Can you grab her bag?" Fred asked someone as he walked out of the closet. He took gentle steps obviously trying to not jostle me, but it didn't help much.

"I might vomit on you." I whispered. Even though I could see him, I knew he grinned.

"Just don't get it in the hair. I'd rather not sport Christmas colors for at least another ten months." I chuckled weakly, and burrowed deeper into his clothing. He smelled nice and I was happy that it didn't hurt my head to breathe him in.

He carried me easily, even though bridal style was more taxing than piggy-back. His heart was smooth, and even, if a bit fast. I tightened my arms a bit around his neck as I sighed, content to be carried. I didn't care about my little crush right now. All I cared about was that there was a solid, warm, nice presence that I could hold onto when my own strength failed me.

I felt him rest his cheek against the top of my head briefly as a word-less sign saying, "I'm here." I resisted the urge to tear-up again.

"Thank you." I whispered out, moving my face to rest more in his neck area. My ear rested on his shoulder and if my eyes were open, I'm sure I'd be able to see his neck as his pulse thudded and his Adam's apple bobbed.

He didn't say anything but tightened his arms around me so I knew he'd heard. A forgein hand rubbed my back and I knew it was either Ginny or Hermione, maybe even George.

Finally we made it to the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey was shocked.

"Deary, is she okay? Is she hurt?" I could practically feel her fluttering around us and she led Fred somewhere, probably over to a bed.

"It's her head. I hear it's been bothering her all day." I felt Fred sit down on something cushion like and reposition me so that I was sitting on his lap, head still buried in his neck. I was grateful that I didn't have to let go of my comforting presence just yet.

Madam Pomfrey's warm hand caught my chin and made me turn my head, just the motion of doing so made me internally wince.

"Open your eyes, dear." she said. I slowly squinted them open, trying to take the light in small increments and finally got them open enough that I could see a vaugely blurry Madam Pomfrey standing in front of me, with a concerned looking George standing behind her, holding my bag. Obviously he was the comforting hand.

Madam Pomfrey then without warning shined her wand straight into my eyes. Pain exploded in my head and I gasped, tearing away from Fred and throwing myself towards the waste bin, finally vomiting up every ounce of my breakfast, feeling just as weak and horrid as I did this morning after the change stopped.

Warm fingers smoothed around my hairline, gathering up my hair and holding it back, and I heaved. I felt the hand falter while going up but thought nothing of it since my mind was on the pain in my skull and the up heaving of my stomach.

I heard Fred whispering comforting nothings into my ear and rubbing my back in slow circles. George stood behind him and had his hand on my shoulder.

"Oh dear..." I heard Madam Pomfrey mutter, before shuffling off quickly, somewhere in the direction of her office. Every time I heaved, pain thudded in the front of my brain, making my eyeballs feel like they're six times too big and a clamp was slowly squishing my temples together.

Finally when there was nothing more in my stomach and all I was doing was dry heaving, I sat back, wiping my mouth on my shirt sleeve. I was sweaty from vomiting and was even weaker than before.

"Sorry." I whispered. I felt bad that Fred and George had to comfort me. They should be in class. I should be able to handle this on my own. But I had never been rendered completely helpless by a headache before... I was only helpless during the change, but never after.

"For what?" I heard George whisper and he laid an arm around my shoulders. Fred was still holding my hair and rubbing circles.

"You shouldn't have to be here, helping me." I felt like an inconvience for some reason. Like I was bothering them...

"Ariel, focus on getting better." Fred said gently. "We can talk about your payment later." I managed a weak smile. Trying to push up from the ground so I could sit on the bed, I fell dizzily back down as the blackness rushed in. My head felt hot and light and the black dots were back again. I felt George lift me up this time, strong hands pulling me up from my ribs. They sat me on the bed and took spots on both sides of me.

I pulled my knees up and rested my sweaty forehead on them. I felt tired, and achy, and sore, and just all around horrid. Madam Pomfrey came back with a dark blue potion that seemed to have little sparkles in it and a dark pink one that was swirled with white.

She poured two individual cups that had the different potions in them. She handed me the pink and white one first.

"It's a pain-killer; it's the strongest one we have so it should stop your headache." I didn't tell her that pain-killers never worked and took it anyway, hoping that I might be lucky enough to have it kick in. It tasted like strawberries and crème, though I could've guessed that.

The second one she handed me was a sleeping draught. "You need rest," she said and started adding "for last night." before she remembered and stopped. Fred and George didn't react. The sleeping potion tasted like warm milk with vanilla and sugar.

It took a minute to kick in and by that time, I was laying back in the bed, curled up on my side, as Fred smoothed my hair and George rubbed my arm. If I ever get sick again, I'm calling George and Fred for help. Who would've known that they're so... caring? Which sounded horrible but not many friends would've carried me all the way to the Hospital Wing and comforted me as I was breaking.

I fell asleep to a warm hand on my cheek and a small chuckle of laughter that made me smile.

It was about seven when I woke up. I was relieve to find that my headache was just a faint ache and I no longer wanted my eyeballs to explode to relieve the pressure. I wasn't surprised when I noticed that I was still extremely tired but I was gonna wait until the normal bed-time to pass out again.

I sat up and noticed that on my bedside table was brightly colored box. "Cure-AllCandies" was printed in fat, bubbly letters. I read on.

"Ifyou'renotfeelingwell,don'tworry!Thisboxwilltakecareofyoubyofferingachoiceselectionofailmentremediesinnon-assumingcandyform.Includes,LaughingLicorice,Cougher-Stopper,andMax-HealthChocolateamongmanyothers!"

I grinned, mentally thanking Fred and George, because I knew it was from them. Opening the box, I took out a Max-Health Chocolate and laughed as I saw it was in a band-aid shape with a pink heart in the middle. Nibbling on the end of it, I felt it melt in my mouth, rushing sparks of health into my body. My headache completely faced away and I wrapped the piece back up to munch on my way to the common room.

I was a bit sad that I missed dinner since I was hungry again but I would rather have my headache be gone and hungry than have a headache and be full. I felt better than I had all day. My werewolf DNA was kicking in and I was hardly sore anymore, and I was sure with a good workout, the stiffness would fade completely.

Slipping out of the covers, I put my socked feet into my boots and just stuck the laces inside since I was too lazy to tie them. I shrugged into my robe, and hoisted my bag onto my shoulder. Madam Pomfrey was in her office, writing when I walked into the doorway.

"Hey, I'm up again. I wanted to thank you for the potions. I feel much better now." I nodded, smiling. She looked relieved.

"Well, next time, if a headache starts just come straight here; don't let it get that bad again." she ordered, lightly shaking a finger at me. I agreed, especially if I was able to get out of class to sleep off my headache.

I walked slowly to the Common Room, munching on the chocolate some more. I tried to walk lightly and gently, limiting the jostling of my head in case the headache started again.

No one was out and the corridors were dim but still somehow comforting. I got to the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave the password.

"Snorklelatus." She swung open with a wink and a smile and I gave her one right back. Inside the common room, I saw the Trio, Gred, Ginny, and Lee in the armchairs by the fire. Hermione was reading a book on the big couch while Harry and Ron played chess. Ginny, Lee, Fred and George were playing Exploding Snap and from Ginny's grin, I was sure she was winning.

I clambered through the portrait hole as I finished my chocolate, the smooth treat warm on my taste-buds. Hermione looked up first. She shot up straight, book closing in her lap.

"Ariel!" Instantly, everyone's head turned in my direction and I smiled. Hermione pulled up her feet and I took that as an invitation to sit down, dropping my bag by the leg of the couch.

"How are you? Do you feel any better?" Harry asked, returning to the chess board.

"A lot actually. Madam Pomfrey gave me a pain-killer and a sleeping draught and I passed out and woke up all better." I shot a glance at Fred and George and from their grin, could tell that they understood. I was thanking them for the box of Cure-All Candies.

"I'm glad your better. That must have been a killer head-ache." Ginny said, placing a card into the shaking pile. There was a moment of silence that confused me. They were all shooting glances at me as if I was really okay or not. I had the feeling I was forgetting something. Brushing off the feeling, I went to ask about what I missed when my stomach let out a loud gurgle.

Everybody looked at me, while I looked down at my stomach laughing. Hermione rolled her eyes and the rest of the group chuckled.

"That's our queue." In unison, Fred and George stood up and walked towards the portal. Ginny yelled after them, enraged.

"Hey! Get back here! I was winning!" They stopped and turned around.

"Calm down, Ginerva." George said. Ginny flushed.

"We're helping a damsel in distress!" Fred went on.

"You should be proud of us!" They through up their hands in mock-exasperation. I laughed.

"We'll be back in a second." Bowing, and tipping imaginary hats, they backed out of the room and were gone.

Ginny was still grumbling.

I spoke up, "I'll play with you, Ginny. I'll take Fred and George's spot." She brightened and instantly got down to business. She was apparently up three or four points and very close to winning. I made sure I paid extra attention to the piles and stayed away from the ones that I could tell were a step away from combusting.

It wasn't long before Fred and George came back like they said and by that time, I was a point away from Ginny's score and she was fighting valiantly. When I looked up, acknowledging their return, I saw that they had in their arms plates upon plates of food.

My stomach gave another loud gurgle and I laughed.

"For me?" I asked, smiling cutely at them.

"Of course, my dear lady."

"A true gentleman would never leave a lady in the throws of hunger." They nodded very seriously, the corners of their lips quirking dangerously. I grinned at them.

I got up from their spot and sat on the couch while they placed the food on the rest of the open area on the table. Before sitting down, I kissed them both on the cheek, thanking them for getting me food. George smiled at me and Fred did too, though his cheeks were close to immediate danger of catching fire.

I sat down next to them and watched at the game finished up. I had just gotten down with my second Sheppard's Pie when Ginny and Lee won with Fred and George a point behind. While they were setting up for another game, I asked, "Where'd you guys get the food anyway?" And then handed a muffin to Hermione since she'd politely asked for one.

Fred and George looked affronted. "Reveal thy secrets? What is this blasphemy?" They looked at each other in horror. "Yonder wench is trifling in episodes not her own. What ever shall we do?" And then, they outraged faces slowly darkened into evil grins, an obvious mental conversation having taken place. Instantly, every sense was on alert. They were planning something...

Just as I set down my Sheppard's Pie to ready myself, Georges hand shot out and I scrambled backwards. They rushed after me and I was off the ground, standing up and running away before anyone but us three knew what was happening. Chasing after me, they followed me around the Common Room, trying to corner me. I had to duck and weave around people and furniture before coming up with a plan.

I sprinted up the girls' dormitory stairs and stood panting near the first curve, several stairs up and out of reach. Fred and George, not yet comprehending that I was on the girls stairs, started up after me, before the steps they were on turned to a slope and they were crashing to the bottom in a heap. Giggling, I used the moment to tie up my boots real quick while they figured out their next move.

They got to their feet, the smiles on their faces telling me that they still had another trick up their sleeve. George pulled out his wand and waved it at the stairs that reconstructed themselves immediately.

What?...

I barely had time to think before they were rushing up the stairs to me. Luckily, there was a small barrier between the girls' stairs and the boys' stairs that I vaulted over, ducking beneath their hands. Both of them stopped quickly though and I had barely put my foot down on the carpet when they barreled into me and we were all sent head over heels into a pile of limbs.

I ended up with my head of George's stomach and my legs across Fred's. They were grinning like Christmas Day, and I tried to laugh along with but the dog pile had bumped about 90% of my… bruises…

Oh crap… That's what I forgot. I blinked and pushed myself up from George's stomach. Looking at them, I saw that both of them were focused on my jaw, where I knew blue splotches were apparent still. Instantly, I shot up, hair falling forward again to cover my jaw but I knew that they had already seen. They had seen at the Hospital Wing when I was puking my guts up and they had seen when we had fallen. And they had told everyone about them.

I looked towards the couch and saw that the group over there was looking at me too. They knew what just had occurred. I had to think fast.

"It's nothing to worry about," I started, putting up a grin that was remarkably good for how shaken I felt. God, how could I have been so stupid?... "It was this dumb Veela reaction to the potion we did the day before yesterday. Remember? It was the Potion of Voicelessness? That's why I've been sick. I asked Dumbledore about it this morning after breakfast. He said that since a Veela's main defense is her ability to trap people in song, her body naturally fights the effects of the potion. Snape had us try our potions yesterday so that's why I've been feeling so crappy."

I struggled to look calm. They didn't all look convinced but I'd rather have a lie that made sense than the truth which was so much worse… They seemed to accept my answer, for now at least, and I made a mental note to be much more careful in the future. I just had to fool them for the next six months.

I'd be surprised if I lasted three.