"I've gone for too long living like I'm not alive, so I'm gonna start over tonight, beginning with you and I."

-Paramore, Miracle

I had been meaning to tell Remus off for a while, and the socks were just the least of it. The problem was, the numb liked his presence very much, and making me annoyed enough to disturb the numb was seemingly improbable in his presence. Still, between the socks and his seeming inability to mind his own business, Remus Lupin had it coming.

It happened in the library of all places. For some reason that space was practically begging for a confrontation. I was working on a Potions essay when Remus sat down beside me, his own stack of books before him, and gave me that look which said he was worried about me.

The look disturbed the numb. That was exactly what I had needed.

"Something to say, Remus?"

Despite my mild annoyance, my voice sounded eerily hollow. Even I was aware of it, which alerted me to must how much he had disturbed the numb.

"You've not been yourself lately," he said softly. "Is there something you would like to tell me?"

Had he been anyone else, I would have blamed it all on the N.E.W.T.s, but this was Remus Lupin, and his overly careful attention had been half the reason for my paranoia. It was unacceptable. He had no reason to be watching me with such care, looking at me with eyes full of concern, like Sirius ought to have looked at me.

"I can think of one thing," I replied calmly. "Leave me alone."

He blinked.

"W-what? What do you mean?"

"The amount of attention you've been paying me lately has been bothering me, Remus. I would appreciate it if you would back off. You don't have any business in my private life, so I'd appreciate if you stopped acting as if you do."

There was a silence that anyone but me would have recognized as awkward. I expected him to say something, to fight back. Most people would have done. But I had misunderstood the mindset of Remus Lupin, expecting him to behave like his bolder counterparts.

Instead, he replied, "If that's what you want, then I won't be bothering you. It's simple enough." Quickly, he gathered up his books and walked away, saying, "See you around, Alison," as he went.

A bit of something like regret disturbed the numb, but it was gone as soon as it had come.

Studying was more productive than it had been for a while, and when I went back to my dormitory to drop off my things for dinner, I felt incredibly peaceful. I hadn't felt like that in quite a while and I decided to bask in it for a while. The numb purred.

On my way down to dinner, however, I was pulled into an empty classroom by none other than Marlene and Lily. They watched me expectantly as I settled on a creaky desk across from them.

"Well?" I asked softly, staring at them, waiting. "I'm assuming you have something to say, and I'd like to make it to dinner."

"I'm sorry," Lily answered anxiously, "and you were pretty much right. Clark gets me all worked up and she brings out the worst in me. It's been that way since first year, and I don't know how to stop reacting so violently. I should have let McGonagall punish her and been satisfied. You two didn't need to hear me carry on about it, and I'm sorry. I will try to control myself better next time." She paused. "But I won't be snogging Potter!"

"No one's forcing you to," I pointed out. She nodded.

More awkward silence. It took me a moment to realize that they expected a similar sort of apology/explanation from me. This was what we girls did, exchanged words after fights before hugging and making up, even if there was only one guilty party. What had I done lately that I should apologize for?

"I'm sorry," I said, unsure of what I was supposed to be sorry for, but knowing I was expected to be sorry. They also wanted me to give them some sort of reasoning for me being sorry, as Lily had done. So, I gave the only excuse I could expect to be believed: "N.E.W.T.s."

"I didn't realize you were so stressed," Marlene said sympathetically. "Have you seen Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes," I lied. "I'll be fine."

"You would let us know if something was wrong, wouldn't you?" Lily asked anxiously.

"Of course," I lied. It was becoming far too common to do that, lately. I wanted to push them out of my personal space, as I had done with Remus, but the numb told me that this would be a bad idea.

We went to dinner, but I realized just as I sat down beside Sirius that I had left my Potions notes in the library.

"I have to go," I said abruptly. "I left something in the library. I'll be back soon."

No one appeared surprised, so I went along my way, taking the familiar route to the library. Madam Pince had found my notes and put them behind the desk for me, so I took them and stashed them in my dormitory quickly before heading back down to dinner. I was halfway there when it happened.

"Well, what have we here?" said a sickeningly smug voice. "A little lost Hufflepuff, with no one to hear her scream."

Something about the words that had been said made me think I ought to run, but instead I turned to find Camilla West with an assortment of Marauder fan girls, of the most rabid sort. They were looking at me with such pure and unadulterated hatred that it might have made an unnumb person shiver.

"West," I said hollowly. "Just heading to dinner; I expect you were doing the same?"

"You think you're so special, don't you, Marren?" she spat. "You're not. Sirius doesn't love you. He's with you because you're the only one stupid enough not to see what he does behind your back."

"Do you want me to be scared of you, West?" I whispered. I looked her square in the eye as I spoke, not from confidence, but because it seemed the most logical place to look. "Do you want me to run away like everyone else who's ever dated him, to cower before you? I'm not afraid. I'm not running from you."

"How very Gryffindor of you," she drawled. "Foolish, I mean. But then, Hufflepuffs never were known for their ability to reason. And we all know you aren't the brightest of Hufflepuffs."

She flicked her wand and sent a Stinging Jinx at me. I dodged it and put up a Shield Charm, but my reaction time was a little slower than usual. A Full-Body Bind hit me, and I lay on the ground, praying my shield would hold long enough for someone to find me. I didn't want my obituary to say that I had been gored by a pack of crazed fan girls of my boyfriend who was cheating on me. Probably. It still hadn't been proven, but in that moment, proof didn't matter. Whether or not he was cheating wouldn't save my life.

The shield did last, but not long enough. It was only a matter of minutes before the storm of psychopathic fan girls had descended upon me, spitting on me, stepping on me, kicking me, pulling my hair, and laughing all the while.

"I say we rearrange her pretty little face. Sirius wouldn't want her then," one of them voiced.

"A good idea," Camilla said, smirking. She looked down at me, spitting on my nose. "Who would like to do the honors?"

"Allow me," said a voice from outside the group. Camilla's smirk twisted as she turned.

"Thompson," she said. "Nice of you to join us. Want to help us give the little bint what she deserves?"

"With pleasure," Ashley snarled, shooting a curse at Camilla. Gasps of outrage sounded throughout the fan girls. I hadn't heard an incantation or seen the results, but there was a flash of purple.

"My hair!" the Ravenclaw shrieked.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ashley said with a cold laugh, "were you referring to a different bint? Silly me. If it's any consolation, West, you were getting split ends, anyway."

Camilla West gave off a horrifying cry and they began to duel. I listened to the sounds of dueling as I endured more kicking and spitting. Actually, their methods of abuse were more dull than painful at that point. It went on like that for several minutes, until I heard Lily's voice yell, "Oh my god, Ali!"

"Did you find her?" called Potter.

"A little help would be nice, guys! There's a fair amount of these birds." Ashley yelled.

I could see the distinct profiles of Lily, Potter, Sirius, and Remus join in on the dueling action, but even so they were outnumbered two to one by fan girls and I was still immobilized. That was particularly frustrating, because I was still being kicked, even if it was more accidental now, and I was no longer being spat at. That, and my foot itched fiercely.

After about twenty minutes went by, the fan girls had begun to scatter, as they happened to be matched against the five best duelists in the school. A couple of the more rabid girls were still around, including Camilla West, who must have been better with a wand than I would have guessed.

It was when that wand suddenly pointed at my chest, however, that several of my defenders froze. She didn't declare her intentions. Attacking her could cause her to hit me with any number of curses, and she had proven herself to have impeccable reflexes.

Before anyone had figured out what to do, a spell shot from the corridor behind Camilla West and hit her in the wand arm. The dynamic of the fight changed instantaneously. Whatever it was that hit Camilla West seemed painful, because she promptly dropped her wand and screamed as her arm began to bend the wrong direction.

"Who was that?" Sirius barked, but nobody answered.

Lily and Remus ran to look for my elusive savior as Potter led West and the only remaining compatriot of the Ravenclaw to the hospital wing, taking points off Ravenclaw as he went, and Ashley rushed to unfreeze me. She and Sirius knelt at my sides.

"Are you all right?" she said carefully, running her wand over me and cleaning all the saliva off me.

"Just bruised," I said honestly as I sat up, stiff from being stiff for so long. "You have really good timing, Ashley. I thought I was going to die."

"Nobody messes with my House," Ashley snarled. "West will be lucky if she survives the week."

"I think she's suffered enough," Sirius said firmly, "between whatever you did to her hair and what happened to her arm."

Lily and Remus had just arrived back, shaking their heads.

"No sign of whoever it was," Remus said. "Not that I blame them, they could have been expelled for a spell like that against a student."

"Come on, Ali, let's get you to the hospital wing," Lily said, helping me to my feet. "You're going to have bruises in the morning if we don't."

I allowed them to steer me off to the infirmary, but my mind was on the person who had attacked Camilla West from behind. I didn't say a word, but I was positive that I had seen a head of cherry-red hair disappearing around the corner just after the spell had hit its target.

A brief thought of thanking her crossed my mind, but if I knew Cherry at all, I knew she didn't want me to know she had done it.

"See?" Potter cried as they led me into the hospital wing. "There she is. I told you it was in defense of a student! I told you I wasn't just attacking people. Why do you never believe me?"

Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall were there, apparently not believing a word the Marauder had to say about the state the two Ravenclaw girls were in. However, with one look at my condition they summoned Professor Sprout. The three heads of House sat down with Lily, Potter, and Remus to discuss the events and proper punishment for those responsible as Madam Pomfrey began salving my welts and bruises.

It was then that I got a good look at Camilla West. There was a bottle of Skele-Gro at her bedside and Madam Pomfrey had had to use a magical binding to bend her arm back into place and hold it there for healing. Also, her previously luxurious blonde hair was choppily hacked up to around her ears with odd patches missing and a look as though the tips of the shorter strands had been melted.

Well done, Ashley.

"Oh, dear, Miss Marren," said Madam Pomfrey. "It appears you have had a couple of patches of hair pulled clean out. Let me fix that for you."

Camilla shrieked, "But you said mine couldn't be fixed! How can you fix hers?"

"Miss Marren's hair was ripped out by hand, Miss West," Madam Pomfrey said sternly. "Yours was cursed. The method makes a difference. I can make yours grow faster, but I'm afraid that is the best I can do. You will just have to wait."

Ashley and I exchanged incredulous looks. That was a lie. We knew perfectly well that Madam Pomfrey could fix the spell, and she had, in fact, done so when a Slytherin had used the same curse on Grace the previous winter. That had been how Ashley had learned the curse in question.

"Miss Marren," Professor McGonagall said to me, rather more kindly than I was used to hearing her speak, "did you, by chance, happen to see the person who injured Miss West at all? Or did you perhaps hear something? Anything you can remember could be useful in helping us identify him or her."

My mind recalled the flash of cherry-red hair instantly. I didn't just see something; I knew exactly who they were looking for. My heart began to race. I looked up at Professor McGonagall's expectant face, then to Lily's anxious expression, then to Camilla West's injured arm.

Camilla had deserved it. If McGonagall and Lily knew who I was very sure it was, they would both lose their heads. Neither could be reasonable where she was concerned; there were simply too many years of tension to put aside emotion and treat her as any old student.

"No," I lied evenly. It struck me again how regular lying had become for me. "I didn't see anything."

Half the room let out a collective sigh of frustration.

"Very well," Professor McGonagall said. The disappointment was clear on her face, but her voice was still intensely kind. "Please, let me know if you do remember something."

"Of course, Professor," I said, and as she turned back to the more important people to determine punishments, I turned to Madam Pomfrey. "Could I get a Calming Draught?"

The numb was wearing off and I could feel my anxiety returning, building, taking over. I suddenly wanted to crawl under the blankets of the nearest cot and avoid the staring eyes. All of them were looking at me, even if they were turning away before I could catch them at it. They couldn't see me like this. I wasn't okay.

Madam Pomfrey blinked.

"O-of course, dear. Are you sure? Do you need one? You seem quite calm."

"I need it," I said, a little too quickly. They were all looking at me. I ignored curious looks Sirius and Remus gave me as Madam Pomfrey went into the storeroom and the professors continued their discussion of fair punishments. Madam Pomfrey regarded me with surprise as I downed the vial in one. I should have taken much less, but I needed the numb back.

"You shouldn't take so much at once," Remus said softly. He was apparently paying less attention to the heads of House than I was. "You could develop a dependency."

I ignored him, and the teachers began distributing detentions, saving me from being the center of attention as the numb settled back in. Camilla was given by far the most, but the others had still engaged in the duel, even if it had been for my safety. They all received two detentions (Ashley had three because of the hair incident, much to the surprise of all the professors), and the numb was back.

Remus gave me a curious look as we exited the hospital wing, my hair back and the rest of me properly salved. He didn't speak to me, though, as we made our way to the kitchens to make up for the dinner I had missed and the others had cut short, and this pleased the numb. Now if I could just sort out my sock issues, everything would be grand.

A/N: This is probably my record fastest chapter for this story. It was mapped in general, but my specific plan developed as I wrote it. I'm surprised it didn't take a different course, but I'm glad it stuck with what I told Evan I was going to do! I'm glad you guys are starting to appreciate Ali more. I promise, she's not a dull character, but she needs more time to develop. Not all people are interesting by nature. Some have to become that way, through the circumstances in their lives. Honestly, if Harry Potter had never gotten that random Hogwarts letter, he would have been the most boring kid ever. It was all circumstances. Off the soapbox, now. Hope you guys enjoy this!

As for the socks, it's not meant to be understood. I don't get it either, but I wrote it and I liked it and I'm stickin' to it! Hope you guys appreciate it too.

-J