Good people, I missed you. But please, please I pray you, hear this now, for I would lay rest the grace in my tongue and speak plainly. Days like these are far too rare to cheapen with heavy handed words, and so, I'm afraid without any ado whatsoever...here it is, here before you now, a true product of my humble writer's soul... theee nexxttttt chaaaappppteeerrrr.

Anybody who can tell me where I stole and mangled that from gets ten cool points.

[DH SPOLIERS

I realize that the release of DH changes a few things, i.e. Fred (I did in the wrong twin!) and Remus (so unfair! I was disappointed. And I cried. Remus was the only one I cried for. Because you just don't do that!!! Not to Remus.)

[END SPOILERS (Whoever hasn't read it by now probably knows anyway, but I'm nice.)

Anyway, we are now a quasi-alternate universe fic! Hurray. Onward.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom's eyes looked dead. Not the sort of dead she had seen when he was being controlled by the more sinister part of his brain dead, but…he looked like he had given up. This was in bright contrast to the bright smile he gave her as she walked into potions class. She had almost been late today, of course, and the only open seat was next to him. Of course. Not that she really minded sitting next to the dark haired young man, but being that close to him always made her heart race and her palms to sweat in a way that she was sure he could notice. She threw herself onto the stool anyway.

"Good morning, Natalie."

She looked at him, and knew something was wrong. "What's happened, Oliver? Something's amiss, you might as well say."

His plastic smile withered immediately. "Remus died last night," he said quietly, staring ahead at the chalkboard, which was beginning to write out instructions for the day's assignment. The other students talked quietly around them; Professor Slughorn chortled happily on the other side of the room.

Her breath hitched at the news. "I'm so sorry. Do you want to talk about it?"

His gaze hardened; his face lost all emotion. "He had a heart attack. We knew it was likely; werewolves rarely live as long as he did."

She looked around the room. No one was acting differently. With the way Oliver was adored, she thought there would be an overload of pity. "Does anybody know?"

Oliver shook his head. "Only the staff. Everyone will find out soon enough- Harry's devastated." Indeed he would be; from what Natalie knew, Lupin had been Harry's only living mentor and best friend.

She took a long look at the pale boy. She knew that Oliver looked down on things such a love and friendship, but Lupin had been his surrogate father. "So how are you? Feeling, I mean."

"I am not sure. I feel…different."

She laid a hand softly on his arm. "Sad?"

He frowned. "Maybe. I do not know what 'sad' feels like. Why would I feel that way anyway?"

"Oliver, he was…" She wanted to say Remus was someone he loved, but thought the better of it. "He was part of your family. It's alright to feel sad."

Tom Riddle, this is a good thing. Now that Lupin is dead, there is one less person to hold you back.

"Shut up!" He exclaimed suddenly, startling her. She got the feeling she wasn't the only one he was talking to. "Shut up. I don't know how I feel. I don't even know if I can feel at all."

There is no room for emotion.

"Of course you can feel," Natalie exclaimed, gaining a shush from the Professor. "You're human, just like the rest of us."

Tom felt like darkness was crushing him and everything around him.

"Am I?" he whispered.

Why be human when you can be so much more?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Um, Natalie?"

She turned her head. It was Darren Yates, a seventh year from Ravenclaw. They had been friends for a while now; they both belonged to the same study group. The tall blond boy looked embarrassed as he caught up to her in the hallway. "What's up, Darren?" she asked distractedly. They were headed to lunch, and Natalie was trying to get there quickly- she had a half written essay due in an hour.

The handsome, but rather bookish, boy blushed a deep red. Natalie had always liked Darren- he was sweet, and always helped her out with her Astronomy work.

"I- I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow," he stuttered, his blush spreading down below his collar.

Natalie was taken aback. Plenty of boys had asked her out on dates this year, but they had all been the shallow jerks that she was set against. This was the first boy she knew to be kind who had taken any interest. "Well, I…" Her thoughts raced, skimming quickly over pros and cons. She found herself thinking of Oliver. It had been a few weeks since Remus died, but he had remained distant as usual. She couldn't help but to picture his face. But the thing is, he won't even be my friend… She straightened.

"That sounds like fun, Darren. I'd love to."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day dawned bright and clear. Natalie met Darren in the main hall, butterflies flitting about in her stomach. She had never been on a date before.

Darren looked nervous and adorable in a brown turtleneck and jeans, and she smiled at him as they walked towards the village. They chatted about everything and nothing. It was pleasant. Natalie didn't have many friends; she wasn't used to going out and about with someone she wasn't already close to. Murphy had been shocked when Natalie had told her they couldn't go shopping together because she had a date; that sort of thing didn't happen. Until now, at least.

They strolled about for a while, window shopping and dipping into Honeydukes for marmalade mallows, which turned out to be Darren's favorite as well as hers. Darren breathed a huge sigh of relief when Natalie told him she'd rather not go to Madame Puddifoot's.

They sat quietly in the corner of the Three Broomsticks for a while, simply enjoying each other's company. That was one thing she had always liked about Darren; he was content to be silent instead of filling time with unnecessary talk, just as she was. They got along awfully well.

After a while, Darren took her hand. She smiled, letting him know it was alright. And it was alright; she didn't mind in the slightest. She had never had such a good time in her life. But she couldn't help but think of a different boy, one with dark hair and eyes the color of onyx.

And as if though called, he walked through the door, surrounded by admirers. They might as well have been the only two people in the room- his gaze locked onto hers. Oliver looked at Darren, and at their hands linked across the table. And unnamed emotion flitted across his eyes before he turned his back to them, effectively ignoring her altogether.

"Can we go? I'm feeling awfully tired all of a sudden," Natalie said quietly, looking quickly away from the back of Oliver's head.

Darren agreed in earnest, berating himself for keeping her out so long. His sweet nature cheered her immensely; she assured him it wasn't his fault. They walked slowly back to the castle, fingers intertwined. He was even thoughtful enough to walk her back the common room. She paused outside the threshold, twisting a strand of hair round and round in her fingers. "I had fun today," she said, smiling into his chocolate brown eyes.

Darren shifted anxiously, a grin playing on his lips. "Me too. Maybe we could…do it again sometime?"

She leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Of course," she said, slipping through the portrait hole.

Darren waited until the frame was firmly attached to the wall before giving a great whoop of excitement, still holding his tingling cheek.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Natalie fell into bed with a content smile. She didn't really feel like going down to the Quidditch field tonight; she'd rather get a good night's sleep for once.