Sirius sighed, leaning back in his chair. He hated Order meetings. So boring. At least this one was finally over. "So Moons, ya ready to go home?"

"I'll catch up with you."

Sirius's frown of confusion slid into a devilish smirk when he noticed the werewolf's eyes were trained on a certain magenta-haired lady. "Alright Remus you devil, I'll go." He gave an over-exaggerated wink and sauntered off.

Remus sighed, ignoring his friend's comment, and approached Tonks. "Can I talk to you alone?"

Tonks nodded, happily skipping in to the hall where they could get some privacy. Remus followed, not noticing the 'knowing' looks Molly and Arthur gave him.

"So, what's up?" Tonks asked brightly.

Remus cracked a wide smile. "I just wanted to tell you that you are absolutely brilliant. Your contract idea worked perfectly. Rika and I are getting along better than ever."

She patted his shoulder. "Congrats! I knew you'd be a good guardian!"

"Let me pay you back."

"Oh no, there's no need!"

He shook his head. "Trust me, there is. I'm not saying Rika and I won't still fight, but I really think this helped us. So is there anything I can help you with?"

Darn. Did he have to give her such a charming smile. What she really wanted to say was 'You can bloody kiss me,' but she managed to keep her decorum. "Weeeelllll," she said slyly. "You could take me out to dinner."

Remus blinked, taken aback. "W-What? Tonks, I couldn't—"

"Relax, I mean as friends!" For now anyway.

"But—"

"Ever since Auror training I haven't gotten to do anything fun! Trust me, I will take any excuse to get out of the house. I don't care if we go out for peanut butter sandwiches so long as it's out."

He chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, alright. Is Saturday good for you?"

"Seven o'clock?"

"I'll see you then."

She sashayed out of the room, making sure to work her hips. Only Nymphadora Tonks was so awesome that knocking over an umbrella stand on her way out could not diminish her saucy exit.

"Back again I see, little beast child!"

I glanced up from where I was digging up roots for my potion ingredient collection and saw Puck sitting lazily in a tree branch. I gave the faery a wary smile. "Sure am. Takes more than a couple of spiders to scare me off."

He jumped, landing nimbly on the ground. "So I see. But tell me, why are you digging through the dirt? Is the soil at the castle not good enough?"

"I need potion ingredients."

His eyes gleamed mischievously. "If it's ingredients you're after, I can show you the finest selection the forest has to offer."

No way was I trusting that smile. "Thanks Puck, but I kind of promised my guardian that I wouldn't wander off-trail…"

"It's technically not off-trail if we go by the sky," he said, waggling his golden brows.

As bad as I was tempted to go, even I wasn't stupid enough to trust a random guy (faery. Whatever.) that I barely knew. "No thanks. I'm perfectly good on the trail-oriented ground."

Remus should be pleased. I was being responsible, not caving into peer pressure. Ten points to Rika.

….Then Puck had to go and ruin everything by sweeping me into his arms and shooting straight up into the air. I screamed, throwing my arms around his neck. Over his shoulder, I could spot two thin, iridescent, gold wings. Bloody hell, when did those get there! "Puck," I tried to say in a calm, non-freaked out type of voice, "you're not going to let me down are you?"

"I will when we reach our destination. But never fear little beast! You are in capable arms!" His grip tightened around me for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to let me know that, should he have the mind to, those arms could probably crush me. Strangely enough, I wasn't feeling comforted.

When we finally landed, it was at the bottom of a massy, rocky looking hill. Maybe mini-mountain would be a more accurate term. The faery set me none too gently on my feet. "Venture to the top of the hill; there you shall find a flower of red most fair, worth ten times its weight in gold for its treasure most rare."

…..Did he seriously just rhyme at me? Oh crap. Nothing good ever comes from rhyming ventures. "Um, couldn't you have just flown me up there?"

"I was under the impression that you preferred the ground. Besides, where would be the fun in that?"

"So just climb to the top and pick a red flower?"

"Pluck the flower from its gentle vines keeping, careful not to wake the sleeping."

"…Puck, what the fck are you talking about?"

"Once the flower is in your hand, so shall death be at your command."

"Seriously. You're kind of scaring me. How exactly will I command death?"

"Extract the gold from its womb of red to brew the draught of the fractured dead."

"….Are you done rhyming now?"

"For the moment."

"So what happens if I refuse your little rhyming quest thing?"

"Then I refuse to guide you home. Good luck finding your own way back."

I glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings, swearing under my breath. There was no way I'd find the trail back to the castle. At least not in one piece anyway… The hill didn't look too bad..A little rocky, but my fingerless gloves would help cushion my hands. I sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'm going."

The climb was difficult but not overly so. I was definitely glad that I tried to stay in shape. The tips of my fingers were starting to protest, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. When I got to the top, I immediately spotted the flower. Just as Puck said, it was resting in a nest of vines. I didn't see anything sleeping though..Maybe the vines were sleeping? Or maybe Puck was just screwing with me. Yeah, that seemed pretty likely.

Cautiously, I made my way towards the flower. It was roughly the size of my head and strongly resembled a closed tulip. It came free of the vines easily enough, but for a flower, it weighed a ton. I frowned, thinking about how to climb down with it. I'd been hoping for something I could tuck in my bra or a pocket, but there was no way it'd fit..

The ground beneath my feet shifted, nearly knocking me off balance. My eyes widened. Surely this wasn't some kind of earthquake? The ground shifted again violently, this time accompanied by a loud roar. From the thick mass of leaves on the ground, an ugly, squished head rose up. It was dull grey in color with orange eyes, slits for nostrils and distinctly reptilian features..and was attached to the now rising hill I was on.

Oh bloody hell, I was on the back of an effing giant tortoise. I took off running in the opposite direction of the head, hoping to scale down its back before it caught sight of me. Its long neck craned towards me, and it swooped down, like a dog chasing a flea, and tried to snap at me with its beakish mouth, obliterating a nearby bolder. Never, in my life, had I been more glad of a creature's bad-aim.

It roared again, valiantly continuing to snap at me, each strike making my heart lurch higher in my throat to the point where I wouldn't be surprised to see it literally leap from my mouth.

Just as I was at the edge of its back, it lurched up on its hind legs, making my world tilt vertically. I screamed, falling, flower tucked roughly under my arm, desperately grabbing at the air.

Ironically, it was the creature himself who saved me from death. A grey lump caught my vision, and I clung to it, scrambling on top of it, pausing for all of a second to catch my breath before I realized with a sinking horror that I was on its tail.

Ohnononononononononono! The sudden relief from not dying slashed by the realized that 'oh shit I'm still going to die' shot a dizzy sickness through my stomach, but before I could succumb to any weakness, those squinty orange eyes were trained on me again, and I had to act.

I jumped, curling myself in a ball so that I hit the ground rolling. The creature screeched as its jaws clamped around its tail instead of my flesh, and I hauled myself to my feet, running as fast as I could.

Its stomps echoed behind me, only diminished by the roar of its never-ending cry, the sound seeming to pierce straight into my heart, steeling my lungs.

Not good. I needed to think! Think! Escape! Had to get away, had to get away, had to bloody breath! DAMN IT BREATH!

A hole. In the ground. Normally it wasn't smart to dive into random human sized holes, but I was beyond caring if the hole was deadly so long as I escaped my current death threat. I made a wild dive for it, tumbling into blackness. I closed my eyes, listening as the creature's roars grew dimmer, till the only sound left was my racing heartbeat. I put a hand to my chest, forcing myself to take deep, chocking breaths.

The fear, stress, anxiety, tiredness from the climb, pain from my falls, the sudden change from full-fledged running to absolute stillness, and fading adrenaline, all swirled through me, twisting my stomach. I am in no way ashamed to admit that I promptly leaned to the side and threw up.

In my sixteen years of life, I may have emotionally gotten used to dealing with more than my fair share of near-fatal incidents, but there are some things a body just has issues dealing with.

As I sit back, slowly calming myself, I heard a low, drawn out hiss. Stiffening, I opened my eyes and came face to fangs with a Giant. Freakin. Snake.

Aw hell.

Apparently I'd hoped through a human sized hole right into the home of a human-sized snake. And I'm talking big-burly-Kingsley-man sized, not average-height-teenage- girl sized. The snake hissed again, and I racked my weary brain for a quick solution.

Harry! Of course!

The boy talked in his sleep so much that even I'd heard it, and he was known to let slip a few parsalmouth phrases..

Having no clue what I was saying, or even if I was saying it right, I tried to mimic the odd hissing sounds I'd heard from Harry.

The snaked paused, backing away and giving me a curious hiss.

Crap. It was looking at me like it expected a response… I nodded. It hissed again. I kept nodding to its hissing. It started to look a bit agitated so I repeated the phrase from earlier. Just when I started to think it had lost patience with me, a pair of green hands grabbed me under my arms and hoisted me upwards.

Puck deposited me on the ground, smiling. "Very good little beast child. I see you've managed to keep the flower safe."

More than anything, I wanted to scream at the bloody faery till I was blue in the face. How dare he try to get me killed! Unfortunately, it's never smart to yell at your ride home, so I held my tongue, instead murmuring a feeble 'will you take me home now?'

The green man scooped me up in his arms, being, thankfully, mindful of my newly-acquired bruises. "Oh look," he said after several minutes of flying, "there's your little wolf friend."

He landed on the ground, in front of Rune who was talking to a centaur.

'Rika!' Rune ran to me as Puck set me on the ground. The wolf nuzzled my shoulder anxiously. 'I saw the faery take you. I was just asking Firenze here to help find you. Are you harmed?'

I shook my head. "I'll be okay..is it really that bad that a faery took me?" I mean, I knew it was bad, but how did he?

"It is almost always bad when faeries interfere with humans," the centaur, who I assumed was Firenze, said in a wise voice.

I glanced back to see Puck's reaction, but he was already gone. Bastard. Left before I got a chance to yell at him. "I'm not a human; I'm a werewolf."

"You are human enough."

Funny, I'd never been told that before. Firenze's eyes widened. "Child, what is under your arm?"

"….Honestly I have no clue. Some giant flower from a huuuuuge tortoise's back?"

Rune growled low in his throat. 'Fool! Sending a mere cub after such a treasure!"

Firenze dipped down to one knee to look me in the eye. "Moon child," he said very seriously, "it is of utmost importance that you bring this flower to Dumbledore intact. I am no man's horse, but I cannot allow you to linger in this forest longer than necessary whilst carrying the flower. Climb on my back, and I shall take you to the castle."

My eyes widened, barley believing what I'd just heard. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Mars is too bright to dawdle. I am sure, being what you are, you will understand that no creature is mans' property and shall not interpret this gesture the wrong way."

"No sir. Of course not."

"Give me the flower. You will not be able to hold it while you ride."

At Rune's nod, I handed it over and carefully climbed on Firenze's back, wrapping my arms tightly around his chest.

He snorted. "It feels like you are trying to hug me rather than ride me."

I shrugged. "Then think of it as that. I'm a cuddly person, I like giving hugs."

With a shake of his head, he took off at an impressive speed, Rune running alongside us. When we were in seeing distance of the castle, Firenze came to a stop and kneeled so I could stumble off his back. Rune nudged against my side, letting me grasp his fur for balance.

'Are you sure you are unharmed child?'

Now that the adrenaline had completely filtered out, I wasn't so sure. I think I may have pulled a muscle in my leg and fractured one of my arms. 'I'm fine enough to walk to the castle.'

Firenze handed over the flower. "Bring that straight to Dumbledore child. May the stars turn in your favor." He galloped away, disappearing into the deep brush within seconds.

Rune guided me to the left. 'You're guardian is having class. He can get you to the castle and keep the flower safe.'

I nodded, following after him, mentally apologizing for any of his fur I pulled out.

We were still several feet away when Sirius spotted us. He yelled something to his class, then took off running towards me. A few curious students edged forward a bit but none tried to approach me.

"Rika!" Sirius yelled, gently grabbing my arms to help stabilize me. "What happened to you!"

"Dumbledore now. Talk later."

"Can you walk?"

"Assistance would be appreciated."

He carefully picked me up, walking towards the castle. Rune followed closely behind us. Luckily class was in session, so we didn't pass by any students.

"Butterscotch poppies," Sirius said at the Headmaster's door, and the gargoyles sprang aside.

Dumbledore looked up as we entered, the obvious words 'what's wrong,' dying immediately on his lips when he saw the flower. He stood, rushing to us. "Where did you get that?" he asked in a serious voice.

I thrust it out to him. "Rune and Firenze said to give it to you. All yours."

"Why are you focusing on a bloody flower when Rika's hurt!"

I sighed. "Look, I know you both want answers to different questions, so how about we compromise. You take me to Madam Pomfrey—don't worry Sirius, I'm fine—and while she patches me up, I'll explain there."

Dumbledore nodded. "I'll contact Professor Lupin and Professor Snape."

Sirius didn't bother to ask why Snape (though I assumed it was because of the flower). He turned and walked me as fast as he dared to Pompfrey's. Rune didn't follow; he probably stayed behind to talk with Dumbles.

Sirius eased me onto a starchy-white hospital bed, and Pmopfrey began running her wand over me, muttering under her breath. Remus burst through the door, dropping down to my side. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'll explain when Dumbledore and Snape get here."

Remus turned to the Matron. "Is she alright?"

"Multiple bruises, arm fracture, sprained wrist, and a pulled muscle in her leg. It almost looks like she fell off a broomstick."

I sat up, leaning against the wall. "I might as well have fallen off a broom."

She made a tutting noise. "I'll get you some potions, dear."

She bustled around for a bit, then came back with two very nasty-looking potions. Sadly, they tasted even worse than they looked.

A few minutes later, Dumbledore came in, Snape in tow. Snape's eyes were wild, boring in to mine. I had nothing to hide, but I still couldn't help but drop my eyes from his probing gaze. Dumbledore, at least, appeared calm. "Hello Rika. Everything alright?"

"Nothing I can't fix," Madam Pompfrey said, handing me a glass of water. "She can go back to her quarters so long as she promises to take things easy."

"Excellent! Would you mind excusing us? I wish to speak to Rika about how she acquired these injuries."

Pompfrey nodded and left. The second she was out the door, Snape made his way to my bed in two long strides, eyes burning. "How did you get the flower? What on Earth were you thinking?"

"Flower?" Remus asked confused.

I groaned. "Okay, everyone be quiet while I explain. I was in the Forest, staying on trail and behaving myself, when Puck kidnapped me. He brought me to a giant mountain and said if I didn't get the flower from the top of it that he wouldn't take me home. I didn't want to, but I knew I couldn't find my way back, so I agreed. The mountain turned out to be a turtle, I escaped it by jumping into a hole, Puck saved me from a snake, then dropped me off with Rune and Firenze, who took me back here. The end." I finished, panting slightly; I should not have attempted that in one giant breath… I glanced at Remus. "…So I'm not in trouble, right? I mean I didn't do it on purpose."

He shook his head. "You were on top of a giant turtle? How big? How did you get down?"

"Um…pretty big…it kinda dumped me off…"

"Like falling off a broom," Sirius mumbled, echoed Pompfrey's earlier analysis.

"Rika," Dumbledore said in a grave voice, "do you know what this flower does?"

I thought back to Puck's earlier words, trying to repeat them. "..Um…take the gold from the red…something…draught of the fractured dead?"

Remus and Sirius were exchanging confused looks, Snape's lips thinned, gaze hardening, and Dumbledore nodded. "I think it would be for the best," he said quietly, if you kept the flower's discovery to yourself." His gaze swept over the Marauders, including them as well. "And I advise you not to try and discover more about this draught; I dare say you wouldn't find any information anyway."

Frowning, I gave a small nod. Don't get me wrong, I was going to go looking for information the first chance I got, but there was no way I was telling Dumbledore that. I glanced up at Snape. He didn't look mad at me exactly…more like just mad in general…

He and Dumbledore walked out, leaving me alone with my guardians. Remus slipped onto the bed next to me and slipped his hand over mine. "You just can't get a break, can you?"

"Nope." I smiled. "But it makes life interesting."

"Bedrest. You're going to be on bedrest for a while. Let's get you cleaned up and get some food in you."

"Potion-laced bath?"

"Of course."

He carefully picked me up and took me back to our quarters. The way he fussed over me may be a bit excessive—at least to me—but it was nice to have an adult watching over me.

"Hey Harry," I asked from my place on the couch.

"Yeah?"

"What does slhiissslff lssiiisss mean?"

Ron's mouth dropped open. "Did you just speak in parsalmouth!"

"Yeah..I heared the phrase from Harry. So what does it mean?"

His lips twitched. "I believe you were trying to say slhisssliff lsssiiisss, which means 'come to me,' but slhiissslff lssiiisss means 'bloody yaks.'

"….Sweet! I know how to curse in parsalmouth!..No wonder that snake got annoyed with me.."

"What?" Harry asked.

"….Nothing…"

Rika sighed for the umpteenth time. "Just go Remus. You don't want to keep Tonks waiting."

Remus fidgeted. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I've been off of bed rest for three days, Sirius lives with me, Damon and Kayla are here, Damon is practically a healer, and speaking of which, there is a fully trained healer downstairs. I think I'll live."

"Besides Professor," Kayla said smirking, "you wouldn't want to keep your date waiting."

"It's not a date. Tonks and I are just having dinner."

Sirius coughed. "Denial."

Remus sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Fine, fine, I'm going." He turned to Damon. "I'm leaving you in charge. Good luck."

"Yes sir, Damon said with a mock salute.

Shaking his head, Remus stepped through the floo.

Tonks laughed, throwing her head back, hair flashing. Remus laughed too. He couldn't help but join her. The food may not be fancy (muggle meatlovers pizza and muggle soda. Tonks seemed to share her cousin's interest in muggle things) and the background may be filled with obnoxiously loud kids, but all Remus could see was Tonks.

He told himself that it was just because she was a girl. He only hung out with men (teenage and elder women aside) so he just wasn't used to being around a young woman. That's why his throat was dry and his palms were sweaty. Exactly why.

"Excuse me sir," a teenage boy in a black apron said, "but the restaurant is closing.."

Startled, Remus looked around. Besides the employees, they were the only ones left. Where had all the screaming children gone? He looked down at his watch. Ten o'clock. Had it really been three hours.

Tonks shook her head. "You know what they say about time."

Remus stood, placing a few bills on the table. "Shall I walk you home?"

"Yes please."

The two walked in a comfortable silence, both highly aware of how close their hands were to touching. Once they were out of sight, Remus took her arm and together they appaparated away.

"I had fun," Tonks said, hesitating in fornt of her door."

"So did I."

"Night Remus." She ducked down and placed a kiss on his check, disappearing behind the door before he could react. He touched his fingers to the spot, gulping against the fluttery feeling in his throat.

It was just a friendly thing. Girls did stuff like that all the time.

…..All the time… Yeah…

When Remus got home, Sirius was the only one in the living room. Remus smiled, expecting some good-natured teasing about being out late, but the look Sirius gave him whipped the smile right off his face. "What is it?" he whispered.

"Rika."

Remus felt his insides freeze in fear. "What?" he asked in a frightened voice, not able to finish the question.

Sirius shook his head. "..She's not hurt..just.." He took a deep breath, and handed him a newspaper. "Arthur got me a copy of the daily prophet early."

Remus closed his eyes, not wanting to look. "Just tell me. I can't read that filth. What the hell else dose the Ministry want to deny that girl?"

"Her voice."

Honey eyes popped open in horror. He snatched the paper up, not caring how offensive it was to his eyes. He shook his head in disbelief, his horror fading, but transforming into a sick lump weighing at the bottom of his stomach.

How would he explain to Rika that the Ministry was going to take away the thing she loved most simply because they could?

Author's note: Okay, so my attention-whore side is coming out. Could I possibly get...10 reviews! Am I asking too much? Maybe. Can I get 10? Probably not. But it's good to dream big. Anyway, if I can get 10 I'll give ya'll an early update! so review!