Rose made her decision and quickly entered the Forbidden Forest, diving behind a giant tree. She watched Hagrid walk in through the castle doors and let out a sigh of relief. She knew that Hagrid would understand why she was out here, but she didn't have the strength to face anyone. She leaned her head against the hard trunk of the tree and closed her eyes. She knew that Lily had only said those words out of anger, but somehow, they had reached deeper into her heart than she thought possible. She whipped around as she heard the snapping of a twig and found herself face to face with a werewolf. Rose gasped and backed up against the tree. Her mind was blank.

The werewolf growled and stepped closer. Rose plunged her hand into her pocket for her wand. The werewolf seemed to understand what she was doing and with a growl of rage, it leapt at her. Rose knew she couldn't pull her wand out in time. She had reacted too slowly.

A black figure leapt out of the darkness and tackled the werewolf to the ground. Rose felt her legs shake beneath her as her knees seemed to turn to jelly. The black figure was a big, shaggy dog. It snarled at the werewolf and stood in front of her, facing the werewolf, daring it to come closer. Rose pointed her wand at the werewolf. "Get out of the way!" she shouted to the dog. It leapt to the side just as she launched a stunning spell at the werewolf. It jumped out of the way with a whine and ran off into the forest.

Rose breathed heavily, blinking slowly. She looked at the dog. It tilted its head at her, its tail wagging slowly back and forth. Rose swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. "Come on," she said to it, knowing that it would understand.

She stopped at the castle doors and looked down at the big black dog. For some reason, the dog seemed to look human. Rose kneeled down beside it and looked into its dark eyes. She reached out. The dog flinched slightly. "I won't hurt you," she said softly. She pet its face gently and the dog leaned into her hand, wagging its tail happily. She scratched its ear and ran her fingers through its soft coat. "You saved my life." She kissed its head softly. "Thank you." The dog tilted its head and licked her hand.

Rose smiled at the dog and rubbed its face affectionately. "I'm going back inside… I'm sorry, but you can't come with me." Rose looked over her shoulder at the castle. "I'll bring you something tomorrow night, though, okay?" The dog barked and licked her face. Rose scratched its ear and stood up. "Night!"

The dog sat down and stared at her, seemingly wanting her to go in before it left. She smiled at it and went back inside.

xoxox

"Mister Black!" McGonagall called out sharply. "Perhaps you would like to join us here in the world of the living? Move over there next to Rose and pay attention."

Rose froze. There was a reason why she chose a sit in the back, alone. She looked at McGonagall pleadingly, but the professor was already facing the board again. Sirius sat in his seat next to Rowena, staring at McGonagall's back in horror. He looked over at Rose, but she was in shock too.

"Mister Black! Move!" McGonagall said. "Now!"

Sirius got up slowly and gathered his stuff. He walked over to Rose's table and sat down silently. Rose stared at the front of the classroom nonchalantly, trying desperately to control her pounding heart.

"Pull out your wands and try to transform your ravens into owls."

Rose took out her wand, determinedly looking into its black beady eyes. She tapped the raven on the head with a whipping motion silently and it turned into a snowy owl almost immediately.

"Good, Miss Larkspur! Twenty points to Gryffindor!" McGonagall said. She turned around and went to inspect how the other students were doing. Rose transformed the owl back into a raven and got out her potions book, trying to finish her essay that was to be due the next day. Sirius sat beside her silently, not transfiguring his raven, not really doing anything but sitting with his hands behind his head. Rose tried to ignore his presence. She read the words, but none of it really stuck in her mind. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and sighed. I can do this… he's just a guy. She opened her eyes and read the first line in her book, but her mind was still a blank. Okay… No, I can't.

"Rose, are you ignoring me or are you really trying to concentrate?" Sirius asked.

Rose turned around and faced him. Finally, she had a chance to vent out her anger. "Leave me alone, Sirius. You're so full of yourself that if you drank any water, you'd explode." She turned back to her book, her heart pounding and her mind racing. That felt good. She read over the first paragraph of the page and began to write. I'm going to be okay.

xoxox

Sirius had been sitting with his chair tilted back on two legs, but when she said those words, he fell forward with a thump. He stared at her as she bent over the parchment writing in a tiny script. He knew he should have been glad that she was moving on, that she was strong, but he couldn't help but feel slightly hurt at her words. It was a great comeback and it was something along the lines of what he had wanted. He would have laughed if it had not hurt him so.

Sirius pulled out his wand and transformed the raven into a handsome tawny in little than a second and transformed it back again. "Twenty points for Mr. Black!"

He smiled weakly at Rowena when she beamed at him. Is this really what I want?