Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away - Maya Angelou

October 1st 1976

7:32 PM

My fingers curl around the bottle of firewhiskey, legs drawn out in front of me and black tights balls up somewhere to my right. We're both in casual clothes now, hardly protected against the chill of the night. The water of the Black Lake is near fucking freezing, but the feel of it surrounding my toes as I push my feet into the water and the muddy sand is oddly refreshing. Taking a deep swig, I hold back a very embarrassing gag as the burning liquid of firewhiskey slides down my throat.

Beside me, Brant sighs and draws his legs up and rests his elbows on his knees. Silently, I pass him the bottle, to which he takes a long hard swing and clunks the bottle to the ground. 'To Mr Bandini,' he says dully, head turning slightly toward mine with a dull smile on his face.

'Fucked up,' I mutter and shaking my head and pushing my feet further into the cold water. 'So fucking fucked up'. I suppose, really, it' time for a kind of flashback, right? That'll help clear things up...probably help to understand why Brant and I are being so pathetic. It's a fair reason, I promise you. A sad reason, really. A reason that still makes me feel quite numb, even hours after finding out.

I'm still boggled over the the fact the password to the Headmasters office was bloody candy cane, to really take in the sombre look on Dumbledore's face, even as Brant and I settle into the two large chairs on the opposite side of his desk. The room is huge and beautiful, filled with trinkets that tick away around us and fill the room with noise. Much like every time I somehow I find myself in Dumbledore's office, I stare longingly at the beautiful phoenix until the old wizard settled back into his seat opposite us.

'Mister Zaveri,' Dumbledore says slowly. He has an awesome voice, you know? So calm and knowing. 'Miss Leola. I'm sorry for pulling you from what I am sure was a very riveting Potions lesson, but I thought it best for the two of you to hear the news before it inevitably travels through the school like wildfire. Youth does seem to have a way of finding out even the most secret of secrets'. His half moon spectacles catch in the dim light of the office, blue eyes sparkling from behind them.

His words have me furrowing my brow. 'Are Edith and Endrew okay?' My hand curles involuntarily around my wand in panic, fingers running over the smoothness of the Dogwood. 'It is about them, right?'

'Let the Headmaster talk, Lo,' said Brant gently. Far too gently for the way he normally spoke to him. Oh Merlin, he was worried. I nod to the Headmaster in apology, but he merely smiles a small smile and carries on.

'You'll find that the Bandini twins are quite well physically, Miss Leola. However, they were taken home just before third period after discovering some quite terrible news'. At that, he sighs and folds his thin hands before him, the glittering robes he wore catching at the light. 'I am very sorry to report that Mr Bandini was killed last night in what appears to be a very pointed attack at the Bandini family at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Mrs Bandini is quite safe, I assure you. Though, of course-'

The rest of his speech is drowned out as buzzing seems to fill my ears.

'They have to catch the bastards that did it,' I sneer, snatching the bottle back once again. 'There was three of them, right? I bet every single one of them has a kid in my House. I should-'

Brant nudges me in the side and throws an arm around my shoulder. 'You should do nothing, Lola. They probably targeted Mr Bandini because he's a blood traitor. You need to watch out. It's getting...worse. Way worse than I ever thought it would. Merlin, I can't believe he's dead. They're going to be fucking distraught...' I move closer against him, ducking my head to press closer against his tall form. 'Just thank fuck Mrs Bandini managed to get away'.

I nod and blink away the stinging at my eyes. What use was I if I was crying? 'Do you think they'll come back to school?'

Brant nods, chin resting slightly atop my head. 'Yeah, I do. Hogwarts is the safest place in Britain right now, babe. Dumbledore knows it and so does You-Know-Who-' Brant shakes his head and hisses out a sigh. 'Merlin, I just want to call him by his name, you know? It's just a fucking name. Not saying it makes him so much more more horrifying-'

'He is horrifying,' I say, pushing my legs further out and submerging my ankles in the icy water. 'He's got so many followers everywhere. We're smack bang in the middle of a fucking war. All of this because he wants blood purity...that's so fucked up'. The firewhiskey is beginning to cloud my mind a little, numbing the edges of it in a way that I can't help but enjoy. 'Merlin, their house was attacked'.

'I know'.

I shake my head, cradling the firewhiskey. 'I don't even know what to say to them in a letter...how are you supposed to say sorry you dad was brutally murdered by Death Eaters. Fucking hell. Fuck'.

'I know,' Brant repeats. 'Dumbledore's doing everything he can out there. His name is in the Prophet every single day; you've seen. Politically, he is wiping the floor with any wimp who doesn't know what to do with You-Know-Who's uprising in the Ministry. At least we've got dudes like him'. After a beat he says, 'Shit like this makes me want to become an Auror'.

I hum and nod and take another long sip of firewhiskey, eyes darting up to look at the full moon that is slowly rising into the autumn sky. 'It's okay we didn't write to them after leaving Dumbledore's office, right? I just...they're probably not wanting to talk to anyone right now - which I get. I just don't want them to think we don't, y'know, care'.

Brant tugs at my hair with the arm that's wrapped around my shoulders. 'They know we care, dope'.

'Yeah...yeah, I know'. I sigh and go to stand up suddenly, legs wobbling and a giggle escaping my mouth before I can stop it. 'Let's walk. C'mon. I can't just sit here and think about it over and over. I'll get too angry and then I'll go back to the dungeons and hex one of my lovely Housemates. Or all of them. Maybe not Jone, actually. He's alright'. More than alright, really. Charlie, Elliot and Jone were the oddest couple of friends Hogwarts had seen in a while. It seemed Jone was slowly taking my place as the Slytherin who stuck out like a sore thumb.

Brant sighs and clambers to his feet on long legs that put mine to envy. 'Yeah. Yeah, let's go for a wander. Remember when we used to go to the Shrieking Shack when-'

I give him a soft glare and hook my arm threw his his and pass him the firewhiskey. 'Then it got names the fucking Shrieking Shack in second year. I am not going anywhere near the place, especially when drunk. Slytherins enjoy not dying; do I look like the stupidly brave Potter and Black to you?' If Edith was here, she would definitely agree with me.

'Nah. You do look stupid though. It's not really haunted'.

'Do you want to get into another argument with me, Zaveri?' I point out, smiling slightly at he winces against the gulp of firewhiskey he takes. I prefer this type of conversation. Call me selfish, but drawing my mind away from what Edith and Endrew are probably going through feels a hell of a lot better than worrying so much. There's nothing Brant and I can do to help them, and that feels really shit.

'Hell no,' says Brant. 'Forbidden Forest?' he supplies.

'Er, centaurs,' I shoot back. 'Not to mention Hagrid. That mutt of his seems to see everything-'

At that, Brant huffs out an annoyed sigh and throws me a deadpan look. 'Is there anything you would like to do, your majesty? I am trying to draw our attention away from the shit show that is the outside world. You know that all anyone is going to be talking about tomorrow is Edith and 'Drew, and it's going to be horrible-'

I blink and press my forehead against his arm, an affectionate move that seems to shut him up. No matter how much Brant and I argue or bicker, I will always know with a smug kind of clarity that I have that boy wrapped around my finger. Pulling my face away from his arm, I sigh. 'It's their birthdays next week you know. Merlin'. He doesn't reply and I don't force him to.

The grounds of Hogwarts are finally dark around us, only illuminated from the lights of the castle and the high moon in the sky. We meander along the Black Lake, curving round toward the castle once again and starting for the plain of grass beyond the greenhouses toward the Forbidden Forest. 'You know,' I say, swigging once again the firewhiskey. 'I'm very drunk. Do you have a smoke?'

Brant snatches the bottle from me and grins. 'Cigarette or weed?' I give him a funny look, to which he snorts. 'A beautiful bod ain't all I'm packing beneath this jumper, my dear'.

I roll my eyes and hold my free hand toward him as we trip our way across the grounds. In the distance, I hear a low howl break through the silence of the night. 'Share a joint?'

'Share a joint,' Brant agrees, unhooking our arms to delve into his pockets and brandish a ready rolled joint. He pauses to hold it between his lips, as I brandish my own wand and mutter, 'incendio!' Thankfully my magic works just right, because the flame that erupts from my wand is just small enough to get the roll of paper burning. Trust me when I say I've had singed eyebrows from that going wrong before, and my eyebrows are my pride and joy.

We begin wandering again, passing the joint between us every so often as the familiar feeling of being high as hell fills my brain. 'Wait, who's on prefect duty tonight?' I ask slowly, passing Brant the joint. 'It's not Evans, is it? I think she's actually starting to think I'm not a dick. Fuck, it's not Rookwood is it? I mean, even for a Slytherin, he really does not seem to like me. I mean, I did accidentally throw up on him one time-'

'Literally how the fuck am I supposed to know who's on duty? Maybe it's your boyfriend-'

I choke rather delightfully on my next drag. 'Remus...is not my boyfriend. Shut up. And I don't think he is, you know. He looked quite rough today-'

Brant laughs. 'Yeah, rough is the word that we'll go with. How long were you guys groping each other before I came to interrupt you with very terrible news. You're a bad person, you know that?'

I gape at him. 'I didn't know what had happened-'

Suddenly, Brant is throwing the joint to the ground and covering my mouth before I can so much as yell at him. He lowers his head to mine as I struggle, telling me to shut up with a very low voice. Confused and trusting him, I relax and try and look out into the darkness of the chilly grounds, wondering what the fuck it was that had freaked him out so much.

And then, as Brant raises his stiff hand to point, I see it.

It's large. Like, pretty fucking big. Tall and lanky, even from the distance that I could see it at. From behind it comes another animal, this one short with antlers. It nudges the larger of the two, almost as if it it is impatient. The large...the other one hangs at the edge of the Forest, its large and long head thrown back as it stares hard at the sky above us.

Where the full moon is.

'Werewolf,' breathes Brant, breath hot against my suddenly freezing cold cheek. 'Fuck. Fuck'.

Fear seeps into me then. The kind of fear that I had never in my life felt. The panic wasn't exactly helped by the weed that was fucking with my mind, nor the firewhiskey that seemed to make everything go much slower. Brant and I stand stock still, pressed against each other at every angle as if this would help us disappear into thin air. There seems to be some unspoken agreement between us to not fucking move.

I reach slightly, hand linking with Brant's as we watch the werewolf crouch low to the ground and butt its head against the stag. Yeah...yeah, it's definitely a stag. It seems to be focused at something on the ground. That something, apparently, causes the werewolf to dart into the forest with a speed that sends me nearly falling to the ground. If it had come for us...we wouldn't have been able to outrun it.

'Go,' Brant breathes.

We run. The bottle of firewhiskey drops to the ground with a dull thud as we spring across the ground, not caring if we get caught by prefect or teacher. My heart hammers, thinking that perhaps it had seen us, perhaps it was going to chase us down. Hogwarts. What the fuck is it doing here? How the fuck did it get here? Fuck. Who is it?

We reach the courtyard and slow down immediately, breath coming in short gasps as Brant clutches onto my hand and drags me toward the large doors. He waits for a moment, jaw set and hand resting against the hard surface as he catches his breath. After a short pause of me staring at him, he nods and yanks the door open with a flick of his wand, looks left and right, and then drags me in behind him.

'Kitchens,' I gasp, and he nods and we trip in that direction, cautious for Filch or any prefects.

The moment we reach the painting and tickle the pear, we clamber through the portrait hole and stagger toward one of the many tables. The warmth of the kitchen hits us like a well needed fucking hug and Merlin almighty I am so high and drunk.

'What the fuck just happened?!' I yelp, throwing myself into one of the waiting chairs and scaring the shit of a House Elf. 'Hot chocolate - please!' It darts away from me in fright, yelping and nodding on its way.

Brant holds his head in his hands and stares at me, brown eyes bloodshot and wide. 'Did we just see a fucking werewolf?'

'Yup!'

'Merlin. Merlin. Today is fucked up. Today is so fucking up'.

I breathe in deeply and press my palms against the table. 'It's cool. We're cool. How the fuck did it get on the grounds? Doesn't the castle have some super insane protection charm on it?' I shake my head and jump when the scared little House Elf appears beside me again, shaking as it hands me my hot chocolate. I duck to accept it, thanking it far too loudly as it scuttles away.

'Yes. That's fucked. Fuck...dude...wait...' Brant stares at me, wide eyed and dazed. I swallow the hot chocolate and stare back. The staring pretty much goes on for a good minute. 'What if it's a teacher. Or a student'.

I stare at him, mouth open. 'Fuck, do you reckon?'

'Dumbys the kinda dude to be cool with that and protect them, don't you think?' Brant points out, reaching across the table to curl a hand around my mug of hot chocolate. He takes a long gulp. 'That's bad-' he cuts himself off and rolls his eyes at me. 'Sorry, I forgot I was talking to Miss Werewolf and Giant Friend of the Year'.

I stare at him, quite gormless. '...What?'

Brant throws me an exasperated look that doesn't really fit with the tone of the conversation. 'Dude, last year. Defence Against the Dark Arts class. You and Yaxley had a verbal battle across the classroom about the rights of werewolves and giants. Is this seriously not ringing any bells? Black looked like he wanted to kiss you when you backed him up after Bulstrode and Yaxley shot him down when he said 'werewolves are people too', or whatever-'

I click my fingers at him, face lighting up. 'Oh, yeah! Fuckin' amen. Black and I owned that bitch'. I sober quickly and blink at the hot chocolate Brant slides back toward me. 'They're bigger than I imaged they'd be. It could have torn us apart'.

Brant shrugs one shoulder. 'I mean...don't you think it's bad if it is a student? It's not exactly safe, is it?' He blanches at my blank look. 'Fuck, okay, sorry. It's just...werewolves are manic, Lo. They-'

'Bitch, I know what they are. The fuck you think so many of the werewolf packs out there are going to You-Know-Who's side? They have nowhere else to go because of attitudes like that, mister'. I click him a pointed look and sip idly at my hot chocolate, the voice of my father pouring out of my mouth. My breath has slowed somewhat, and the warmth from the kitchens and the drink combined have calmed my wired nerves.

Brant snaps his mouth shut and blinks once. 'Shit. You told me'.

'Yes, I fucking did'. I straighten my back and blink blearily at the table top, a frown appearing on my face. 'Oh, fuck. I left my shoes at the Lake'.

Holy sardines, Batman! I wonder who the werewolf is? Now, don't hate on Brant for having that view. He's not saying he's against werewolves, he's just saying it's dangerous. Of course, we have Lola to educate him on that. Net chapter should be up tomorrow. Thankfully the twins are okay, though! Couldn't dare harm my Bandini's.

Thank you so much for the reviews, guys! You're honestly being so epic with the feedback it's making me liiiiive.