So, there was a very long review written that I'd like to address. This is not me saying I didn't like it or "oEhMG you're so mean! Don't like dont read!" No, I just want to address the points in it, because I feel like it has merit.

I really try to make Sabrina have her own story and arc, but not diminish the other five main characters. If it seems like that's what I'm doing, I'm going to try and remedy this. I've already finished writing this book and a hefty chunk of book three, but in the future I'm going to look at my story arcs (which I have somewhat planned out) with a different lens.

Also, in terms of Slughorn's comments towards James and Sirius...the two of them are only in their second year, and they haven't REALLY proven themselves yet. They're brilliant, yes, but where could Slughorn look? Their marks are *fine*, because they don't study but they retain the information well enough. James has only had one Quidditch game, and remember that the two of them are notorious for rule-breaking. I feel like Slughorn wouldn't be a fan of that. I'm planning on fleshing them out more and having their personalities gradually change over their time at Hogwarts.

(Also I haven't revealed this yet but I'm kind of painting Slughorn to be a little bit of a perv so that's why he so heavily will dote upon the girls in the Slug Club but eh I guess that's a spoiler now.)

I guess this would be a good a time as any to let you guys know that once I'm done with this series, I'm going to upload one more book. I don't know what it'll be called yet, maybe like "The Lost Files of Hogwarts" or something, but Sabrina's not even really going to be in it. It's going to be a collection of scenes that take place outside the story. For instance, maybe a conversation that Lily and Severus have, or shenanigans that Voldemort is up to. I've already compiled a list of places in between chapters where those kinds of stories would fit.

I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you, Schak, for expressing that you felt Sabrina was leaning a bit on the side of Mary Sue. I reaaaally hate Mary Sues, so I'm going to be much more attentive.

The weather was wet and cold as November passed and December arrived. Winds howled out the narrow windows of Gryffindor tower and the house elves were warming our beds before it was time to sleep at night. But even with their efforts, Remus was still a block of ice. James and Sirius told me that he would shiver half the night, curled in a ball and rubbing his arms, desperately trying to ignite some sort of warmth in his skin. I grew quite worried about him, and wondered how he would do in that drafty old shack during the full moon.

"There's got to be something we can do to make turning into a wolf easier on him," I grumbled this morning, when the sleet and wind had died down a bit. James and I were bundled up and out on the grounds, practising flying in the cold. James' father had sent him a little gadget attached to the handle of the broom which kept it from freezing up on him. Since James had told him that I was on the team, too, he was kind enough to send me one as well, so we were testing them out. "I feel awful for him, being all alone in that crumby old shack."

"It's not so bad out there," James argued, though he only said it half-heartedly.

"It's rubbish out there," I said, shaking my head.

"Yeah, but, I mean, he's a wolf," James said, shrugging, "Wolves don't give a damn what their rooms are like, they're too busy biting up on themselves and all."

I frowned, "All the more reason I wish we could help him out. I hate that he's biting himself all over. Did you see the marks he got from last month? They're awful. He's going to be polka dotted from teeth bites before long."

James sighed, "I don't like it any more than you do, but what do you reckon we could do about it?"

"Dunno," I said, frustrated. I let go of my broom to blow hot breath into my fingers. "Blimey, it's cold out here. How's that thing working? It works well enough for me."

James grinned, "It's working swell for me, too."

"Good. We know they work, now let's go inside before I lose a digit!" I said, and I directed my broom down to the ground. James beat me down there and had already dismounted before I even made it to the ground. I tucked the gadget into my pocket and shouldered my broom.

"You're better at keeping up with moon cycles than I am," James said, "When's the next one?"

"The night before we leave for holiday," I replied, frowning. "We won't even get to wish him Happy Christmas unless it's before he leaves for the Shack."

James frowned, too, and followed me. We were walking up to the castle across the grounds, our feet crunching through the snow. "Maybe we could go down to the laundry and knick some extra blankets for him to bring along?" James suggested, "We could use that chute in the Trophy Room tunnel."

I nodded, "Yeah. Do you reckon a werewolf would use some blankets?"

"Dunno," James replied.

I was doing homework late this evening in the common room. It was around one the morning, and I was alone, until I heard the sound of muffled footsteps coming from the boys' dorm staircase. At first glance, it seemed like no one was there, but I could see the ever-so-slight shimmer that made me realise it was the invisibility cloak.

"Evenin'," I said with a smirk. The area where the cloak was came to a stop beside me, and I ducked under it to see that it was James and Sirius.

"I explained the situation to Sirius, and he wanted in," James said.

"Sounds good. Let me put my things away and I'll be ready to go." I sprinted up the stairs to my dorm, threw my books messily on my bed, and headed back down.

I grabbed hold and ducked under the cloak with James and Sirius and was just about to open up the portrait hole when I heard a creak on the stairs. My eyes widened as I looked at the two boys and we ducked out of the way of the hole, looking back at the stairs behind us. A shadow was creeping down slowly, though whoever it was clearly had not been close enough to see us before I went under the cloak. For a moment, I thought perhaps it was Peter, following along behind us, not wanting to be left out as usual.

But it wasn't Peter.

It was Derek Bell.

Derek crept quietly down the stairs, tiptoeing, wincing when the staircase creaked or groaned beneath him. He was clearly quite skilled at descending those stairs noiselessly, though, as he slid his feet side to side and leaned in strange ways on the way down. I made a mental note of the way the elder boy moved to get down and planned to try it next time we needed to sneak out at night. When Derek had finally made it to the bottom, he quickly hastened to the portrait hole and pulled it open, glancing up at the girls' dormitory stairs, making sure nobody had woken up, and he ducked out into the hallway.

The three of us scrambled to follow him.

Derek walked quietly down the corridor, pausing rather often to listen carefully to the castle. We had to freeze still when he paused, afraid that Derek might hear us. It felt like a twisted version of Red Light Green Light. One or twice the seventh year had glanced back over his shoulder and I held my breath in fear of being found out. We weren't sure why we were so worried about Derek finding us… after all, it was just Derek, the bloke was our friend, he wouldn't care if we were out of bed! He'd probably find us funny. Or, at least, he might normally, but there was something about the way he was moving, something about how secretive he was acting, that made me doubt Derek would be pleased to see us. Luckily, Sirius and James seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

We followed Derek through the castle, down the staircases to the third floor corridor. Then came a heart-stopping moment. Derek had paused, frozen, back pressed to the wall by a portrait of a fat wizard charming a prince into a toad, when echoing down the corridor came a little meow.

I winced. Derek was certainly about to be caught by Filch. He'd get detention for sure. All the protecting him that the whole of Gryffindor house had done since the incident with the Firewhiskey...it was sure to all be undone in one go, and all thanks to that filthy old cat!

But Derek had thought ahead.

He knelt down as Mrs. Norris neared, her tail swishing through the air in annoyance. She was about to turn and go to alert her master when Derek clucked his tongue quietly and reached into the pocket of his robes. Mrs. Norris sat at the corner of the corridor, where she had just come from, and peered, interested, through the dark at Derek's outstretched palm. She licked her foot carefully, considering him, her little pink tongue wetting her paw before she swept it over her ears.

"C'mon, Mrs. Norris," whispered Derek, "You've never once refused a snack of crab meat, have you?"

The cat could resist no more. She inched closer, her nose twitching in interest at Derek's plan.

"C'mon you mangy old thing," he said in a gentle voice, "C'mon. Be on my side now." She blinked up at him with her big yellow eyes, and, finally, gave in and trotted over, licking the bits of fishy meat out of his palm, her little teeth bared as she ate quickly. "Good girl," whispered Derek. "You're easy to bribe, love." He dropped the handful of crab meat onto the carpet and stood up, carefully stepping past her.

I grinned. This was very useful information indeed and I made note of it as the three of us rushed on past Mrs. Norris and followed after Derek to the mouth of the stairwell that went on down to the Great Hall. Derek lingered there, looking at the moon through the windows over the entrance doors and pacing to and fro in a nervous manner. James, Sirius, and I hung way back, crouching behind one of the suits of armour, watching.

"What do you reckon he's waiting for?" whispered James, his voice barely a breath, too soft for Derek to hear, even in the silence of the castle.

Sirius shrugged.

I nervously whispered. "You don't s'pose he's….you know...imperiused, the way Professor Tutman was?"

Sirius shook his head, "I dunno, but I doubt it."

The three of us continued to wait. Time seemed to drag on and we sat down behind the armour, waiting to see what it was that the Quidditch captain was waiting for. Sirius yawned as Derek sat on the top step of the stairs. James even went so far as to fall asleep, his cheek pressed against my shoulder beneath the invisibility cloak. Sirius and I stayed awake, though, staring at Derek and waiting…

And then there was a noise. Footsteps in the corridor. I felt my heart quicken. It could be anybody. Derek was clearly thinking along the same lines. He got up, moved closer to the bannister, crouched low to the stairs, his eyes watching the corridor. But the footsteps were too quick and even to be Filch's. I elbowed James awake. "Look at this!" I said, staring in disbelief at the oncoming witch.

It was Professor Blythe.

James sat up straighter the moment he'd focused on her face long enough to recognise her, his eyes wide as he glanced at us. None of us could've been more shocked to see her.

Derek spotted her, too, and he stood up, his long legs unfolding from the crouch he'd been holding so long. "Cyrilla," he greeted her.

"Shh," she said quietly, looking around. "The walls have ears. Come along." Quickly, she moved around him and down the stairs. Derek followed. The three of us scrambled to go after them, too, but at the foot of the stairs Professor Blythe's path brought her and Derek to the front doors of the castle. James stopped, pointing to the stockinged feet that we had gone in to follow their quarry. We couldn't follow them onto the grounds. Professor Blythe carefully brought the door to close behind them, her eyes searching the dark of the Entrance Hall before the seal was made.

"Damn," Sirius cursed. He was clearly frustrated, fists hitting against the closed front doorway of the castle.

"Can you believe it?" I asked, and James shook his head. I stared at the large wooden doors. What in the world had they needed to go outside for? What had Professor Blythe meant when she said the walls have ears? I stared up at the door in frustration.

There was a sound at the top of the stairs...Mrs. Norris had finished her crab and caught up, finding her master and leading him downstairs. Sirius dove for the invisibility cloak and the three of us quickly ducked into a broom closet under the stairs to hide from Filch as he came down the stairs hastily and looked around. He made a funny little growling sound as he ducked into the little room off the Great Hall and disappeared.

"C'mon," whispered James, "Let's get back to the tower while we know where Filch and Mrs. Norris are at." Sirius and I agreed, and we rushed back up the stairs and through the corridors to the very top of the castle at Gryffindor tower. Sirius muttered the passcode to the Fat Lady, who swung open to admit us, grumbling about needing her beauty sleep ("you can't possibly think I just look like this without my rest, do you?" she trilled).

It wasn't until we raced back into the common room and collapsed on the large couch that I remembered with why we'd left the tower in the first place. "We forgot the blankets," I frowned.

"Remus has barely been sleeping lately, so let's just have a snooze down here instead," Sirius said. "I don't want us coming in to wake him up."

"Fine, then shove over, I want more space." James said, giving Sirius a push, as he was the largest of us.

I snickered, this moment reminding me of when Sirius and I would fall asleep here after I comforted him about his nightmares. "Stay firmly in the centre, Sirius," I chuckled, "I don't fancy waking up to you drooling all over my hair like last time."

"I don't drool," Sirius said, "I'm not a dog."

I shifted, and mumbled, "You drool like one."

"Oi, shut up, you two." James said, staring up at the ceiling.

Gradually, my breath was even, but not deep enough for sleep and Sirius knew I was still awake. "Do you reckon that Blythe is a dark witch?" I asked.

James blinked blearily into the dark, taking his glasses off and placing them on the coffee table. "No." He paused. "I dunno,"

"It's not as though they were discussing homework," Sirius pointed out.

"Maybe she's part of the group that's fighting Voldemort," James suggested.

"Could be," I mused. "But Derek's underage, isn't he? Would they allow somebody underage to be working in the Resistance like that?"

James shrugged, "Voldemort had Lucius Malfoy working for him and he was underage."

"That was Voldemort, though," Sirius pointed out. "Of course he's going to do things all wrong. And it wasn't very effective, was it? Malfoy wasn't a very good assistant if a bunch of first years could do what we did."

I hummed in agreement. I realised that this term, watching the new first years, just how insanely overconfident we'd been, trying to take on the Dark Lord as bumbling first years. They were teeny-tiny! It seemed unbelievable to me that I'd been that fragile and confused-looking only a year ago. Everything seemed different now.

Sirius shifted a bit before settling back down again. It was several moments before any of us spoke.

A chill ran through my spine. "We've got to get Remus more blankets," I said.

But by the time I said it, James and Sirius were fast asleep.