36

Don't Forget to Sayre Your Prayers

The air dropped significantly in the beginning of November, casting the grounds in frigid, teeth-chattering breezes, but I had hardly noticed.

I didn't think I would have noticed if suddenly the entire castle had been coated in thick blankets of snow overnight. The events the night of the Quidditch win had made me totally oblivious to anything and everything that wasn't me or Gideon.

Being happy will do that to you. Turn you doe-eyed and permanently smiling. Or so Lily said.

I'd spent the better part of that first week shocked and enamored by the fact that Gideon Prewett had kissed me. That he had somehow managed to become, what I could only assume, and was later corrected by Gideon for certainty, was my boyfriend.

It became easier to accept and digest as time went on. After the first few days when people gawked and whispered at us in the halls. Emmeline had been throwing me nasty glances for the better part of a week, something that highly irritated Hestia, but I didn't really notice much.

I was used to being stared at. It was actually nice to be looked at for a change for something that wasn't a death or orphanage revelation.

And then there was Gideon. Being around him seemed to make me feel happier. Lighter, even. He was like a perpetual warming charm that circled me. It was easier to forget about things like a war brewing and Rabastan's devilish antics when sitting beside Gideon in an armchair, or snogging in an empty corridor.

That, in and of itself was incredible. I'd never realized how much I'd wanted to snog Gideon until I'd actually done it. It was quite addictive. We spent half our time snogging in empty corridors and alcoves, occasionally getting caught by Marlene or Mary who'd half squeal and demand the details later on. All four of my friends seemed extremely intrigued and frankly, relieved that everything had worked out with him. It made me wonder how anxious I had been about it before. It seemed a bit silly now.

"So tell me, " Marlene said one lazy afternoon, in the empty Charms classroom, our homework splayed out on the tables in front of us. "Say you accidentally hooked up with Fabian..."

It was quiet in here, empty save for Me, Marlene, Mary and Lily. Professor Flitwick had graciously offered us use of the room after Lily casually mentioned during class last week how crowded the library could be after last lesson. Something she didn't think had anything to do with how much the Professors respected her, but the rest of us knew differently.

"Accidently?" I repeated, looking up from our Charms book. "Marlene, I can tell them apart."

The conversation had somehow veered back to Gideon, after a lengthy interrogation of Lily and her progress with Kellan. For the first time in years, Marlene was going through a bit of a dry spell with boys and had thrown all of her energy into the Lily and I instead. "Since Mary is shagging my brother and I don't want any details about that," she had said darkly, as Mary wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"But they're identical twins," Marlene reasoned, stretching her long thin arms behind her back. "It could happen."

Mary rolled her eyes, and Lily snorted beside her.

"They have different hair," Lily reasoned.

"and they dress differently," Mary added.

Marlene chewed on the end of her wand and flashed me a cheeky smile. "I only mean theoretically," she corrected, brushing off the others concerns. "Would that be considered cheating?"

Lily sighed and I had to stifle the laugh that had built up in my throat at the sight of Marlene's honest face.

"Obviously," I chuckled, and her face frowned.

"Seems like a waste to date a twin then," she said with a shrug, looking a bit disappointed.

"I'll be sure to let Gideon know you think so," I told her.

She winked. "Please do. He needs to know I'm watching him so he doesn't hurt you."

"Gideon?" Mary asked in disbelief. "Come on Mar, he wont even use stunning spells. I don't think he's going to be running around breaking Doe's heart."

The phrase stirred something deep inside of my brain that I hadn't even thought to consider. I had been so elated about everything working out with Gideon that I'd never stopped to consider the possibility of what could happen if it didn't, if I got hurt.

I felt a shot of pain strike my chest, as I remembered feeling the depth of despair that had come last year when Sirius had told everyone about the orphanage. The cold sting of betrayal I had felt. It had been painful. Almost unbearable. Even the memory of it made bile rise in my throat.

But that was different, I reminded myself. That was being betrayed by a friend. That made it worse right? That idea seemed so much more painful than anything Gideon could possibly do. Not that I thought he would.

"Still," Marlene said evenly, a hardness in her amber eyes. "You never what someone will do."

There was silence for a minute as everyone hung onto her words. Then Marlene grinned, kicked her feet up onto the desk and we all relaxed.

Lily, deeply focused on her homework, opened up one of the heavy leatherbound textbooks and scowled, "Ugh!"

"What is is?" Mary asked, leaning over her shoulder to get a good look at whatever was making Lily's eyebrows twist in frustration like that.

Lily's eyes narrowed and she lifted a piece of paper in her delicate hand, looking at it like it might bite her.

"Is that from James?" Mary asked, eyes widening as she took the piece of parchment from her. It was faded, like the note had been there awhile. There were only two lines written on it, in James familiar scraggly handwriting, but I was too far away to read it.

Lily nodded, looking annoyed. "Who else would leave notes in my book like a stalker?"

"Your boyfriend maybe?" Marlene asked cheekily.

"Kellan is not my boyfriend," Lily clarified as Mary scanned the notes, looking intrigued. "And even if he was, he know better than to do this."

"Leave you notes?" I asked.

"Its not about leaving a note," Lily said as Mary slid the note to me. "It's about power with James. He wants to make sure I know that he is always thinking about me. It's meant to ruin my day."

Or brighten it, I thought, looking at the handwritten note. It looked like it had been written a while ago, probably slipped into Lily's Charms book months ago when it was left unattended. The note read;

Evans,

If you're reading this, you owe me one date.

Yours sincerely,

James Potter.

I snorted. I had to admit, James had gall. To his credit, there was also the petal of a pressed Lily flower fastened to it. So he had put some thought into it. It made me chuckle as I passed it to Marlene. The sound of my laughter made Lily look up at me.

"It isn't funny," she reminded me, looking slightly irritated.

"It's a little funny," I said quietly. "How one person can think things through so much and still come off on your bad side?"

That made Lily smile slightly as Marlene burst into her own laughter upon reading it.

"I swear those Marauders fear nothing," Marlene said tossing her head back through her elongated chuckles. "It doesn't matter whether its jinxes or rejection, they really do go for it."

"Wish they would stop," Lily said glumly, taking the note back from her. I had been sure she was going to crumple it and toss it in the bin, but she folded it very carefully and slipped it into the pocket of her robes. Almost, gingerly. Huh, that was a little weird.

She seemed to notice me watching her, and she blinked quickly, swiftly changing topics before I could ask her about it.

"You have Quidditch practice again tonight don't you?" she asked.

I gave a hearty nod. "Yup."

"Again?" Mary demanded. "But you all just won the match"

I shrugged. "James doesn't want us resting on our laurels. He thinks if we slack off that Hufflepuff will somehow rise from the ashes and win the cup." I rolled my eyes dramatically and Marlene snorted.

"Bet you want to murder Sirius for making you join the team now, huh?" she asked cockily.

"Sometimes, when I come back to the dormitory caked in more dirt than skin," I chuckled. "But most of the time I really enjoy it."

Marlene frowned. "That's not nearly as much fun as you being infuriated with him."

"Sorry Marls, not this week," I teased, and then stopped at the look of disappointment on her face. "We're still friends."

"I know you prefer it this way," Marlene continued, "but it was quieter when you two weren't friends."

"You mean when he told the whole school I was homeless?" I asked, eyebrow raised.

"Technically speaking," Mary said cheekily, her even teeth becoming more visible as her smile widened. "You were never actually homeless. You did have your parents house, even if you couldn't live there."

I scrunched up my nose and crumbled the closest piece of parchment, tossing it in Marys direction. She dodged it expertly, giggling.

"You're right, Mare! Why didn't I think of it like that? Sure, my parents were murdered by a tyrannical wizard and I lived in an orphanage, but at least I owned property."

"Always go to think of the goblet as half full, Doe," Mary giggled. Even Lily watched on slightly entertained.

While the two of them giggled, I let my mind wander back to that whole incident the year before, and how much it had sucked being angry at Sirius. I didn't know why I kept thinking about that today, but it seemed to be lingering on the edge of my consciousness for some reason.

"At least that wont happen again," Lily offered supportively. "You'll be done with the orphanage soon and Sirius seems to be behaving himself as your friend. For the time being anyway." The tilt of her head suggested she thought this might not always be the case.

"Yeah, but you know," I said quietly, pondering the thought. "I haven't actually seen much of Sirius lately."

I couldn't actually remember the last time I had seen him. Ever since the Quidditch Match, I hadn't had much time. Not that it mattered if I did. He seemed to be everywhere, and always missing at the same time. Every time I asked Remus where he was off too, he would turn scarlet and mention the name of some random girl. If Marlene was in a dry spell, Sirius seemed to be in a fountain.

"He's always off with a girl lately," I continued, talking more to myself than my friends.

"Gee," Marlene said, looking very amused. "I wonder why that is, Doe?" She looked a little smug, gloating.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing," Marlene said, flipping through her Charms textbook with an excessive amount of enthusiasm.

"Oh come off it, out with it," I pressed. I knew that look. She had something she wanted to say.

Marlene stopped the page flipping and raised a perfect eyebrow.

"Would you say you've seen much less of Sirius since the match?" she asked bluntly.

"Around then," I agreed.

"That would be the very same night Prewett snogged you in the Common Room?" Marlene asked. She looked very smug now.

My eyes hardened. I didn't like where she was going with this. "I don't see what one has to do with the other."

Marlene smiled. "Oh, I know you don't, but that doesn't mean they're not related."

"Marlene," Lily whispered in a warning tone. Mary watched on silently.

I sighed, getting slightly irritated. "What exactly are you insinuating, Marlene?" My tone was slightly tenser than I meant it to be, and Marlene seemed to notice.

"Only that Black has gotten a lot tartier since you've landed yourself a boyfriend," she clarified. "He's always off snogging some girl in the corridor or the Common Room. And you don't think that might have anything to do with you and Gideon?"

"Why would it?" I demanded, growing more frustrated by the second. Marlene seemed to sense the change in my tone.

She offered me a polite smile. "No reason, I guess."

I still didn't like the look she was giving me. Like she knew something I didn't. It irked me. I looked at the clock on the wall, desperate to look away from her gloating smile.

"I'm going to go get ready for Quidditch practice," I said glumly, even though I still had a decent chunk of time. If the topic of conversation hadn't turned to this, I probably would have lingered a bit,

"You cant stay a bit longer?" Lily asked.

Marlene was watching me carefully now, her eyes flickering quickly and she looked slightly morose. She seemed to realize she had gone too far.

"I should get going," I said slinging my bag over my shoulder. "I'll see you guys later."

"See you," Lily said softly, looking disappointed.

I left the Charms room quickly, feeling a strange mixture of embarrassment and anger flickering through me. I didn't know why Marlene's insinuations seemed to bother me so much. But as the image of Sirius' face popped into my head, it only angered me more. My cheeks were hot and pink now as I walked, and let my thoughts race through my mind. I did miss seeing Sirius, but I'd been busy and so had he. I'd been spending a lot of time with Gideon, and he'd been spending it with whatever bird he was into at the moment, Something that didn't have anything to do with me, no matter what Marlene thought. Sirius had always been a tart.

I walked, unsure of what I was going to do. Going up to the dormitory to change did feel a little stupid now that I wasn't so upset. But I was too proud to go back to my friends and face more inquisition about their suspected motives for what Sirius was doing.

I rounded a corner and grinned as Gideon approached, trying to read from a book and walk at the same time. Even now, knowing he liked me and knowing I could talk to him at any time, my heart gave a tiny flutter of excitement and nerves.

"If you keep doing that, you're likely to fall down a moving staircase," I called out.

Gideon smiled, snorting without looking up from the book in his hand. He finished the paragraph, and pocketed it.

"Highly unlikely," he said, flashing me his dimples. "I know this castle like the back of my hand, and anyway, I've already fallen for you."

I groaned loudly, and Gideon met me in the middle of the corridor. The hallway was empty, my new favorite kind of hallway lately.

"That was so cheesy," I told him, as he slipped his hand under my jaw.

Gideon's smile widened. "I'll work on it."

He bent his head to meet mine, and my bag went clattering to the floor. And as he pressed his mouth to mine, I stopped caring about whatever it was Marlene had said, and anything I had felt in the moments before. Kissing Gideon cleared my head.

He smelled like the outdoors he had probably spent his afternoon in, and I let the scent fill my nose and head, fully absorbed by it. It was so familiar to me now, the scent of Gideon. It was the forest, and fire. I could pick it out of anywhere now.

I felt his arm wrap strongly around my waist, securing me to him. I knotted my hands in his long hair, lengthening the kiss. I felt him chuckle against me.

"Someone's enthusiastic today, huh?" he chuckled, as he took a breath.

"Mmhmm," I agreed, pulling his mouth back to mine, silencing his cocky laughter.

His other hand found my neck, and I knew he had no intention of moving from me now. He kissed me harder. His body and hands forming to mine.

"Uh hem."

A cold clearing of someone's throat made Gideon and I snap apart quickly. Our hands were still locked on one another, and our cheeks pink as we looked up to see who had interrupted.

I felt white hot anger form in my finger tips as I saw who was standing in front of us.

Beside me, Gideon's body tightened slightly, but he didn't look as upset as I did. But he didn't know him as well as I did.

I knew what Rabastan looked like when he was furious. I caused it most of the time, and this was fury.

I watched Rabastan's face drain of color, his angular features standing out against the stark white pale of his skin. His eyes, normally obnoxiously bright green looked black and narrowed. His full lip was curled so tightly it could have been pencil thin. He was enraged. His eyes roamed over Gideon and I like a predator looking for a weak point in which to strike. His gaze lingered on Gideons hand which rested comfortable on my hip.

"Well, Pet," Rabastan managed, his voice as sharp as a blade. "I admire that your tastes are slanted towards Purebloods, but I think you can aim higher than a bloodtraitor next time."

He spit the insult, looking only at Gideon, hatred filled his eyes.

I opened my mouth to hurl something equally as vile at him, but Gideon spoke before I could.

"Mind your own business, Lestrange," Gideon said evenly, his voice had a touch of smugness to it. "Doe doesn't concern you."

That seemed to make the corners of Rabastans smile turn upwards a bit. "Ah, that's where your wrong, Prewett. Doe concerns me greatly."

Gideon shifted slightly, keeping his hand on me but in a looser, more appropriate position.

"How do you figure that?" he asked, sounding a little more irritated.

Rabastan grinned. "Simple. I always get what I want. One way or another." He took his time running his eyes over me, so slowly and methodically, it made me shudder. Gideon noticed.

My eyes hardened now. "Not even if Hell froze over, Rabastan." I slipped my hand into my robes for my wand. It was always better to be prepared.

He only smiled. "We'll see about that, Pet."

Then he turned back to Gideon. "She's pretty isn't she? Shame her bloods so filthy. Then again, that may not matter for what you want her for. I know it certainly doesn't bother me."

Gideon looked confused for a moment, and then enraged as recognition dawned over his handsome face.

I watched his hand slip into his pocket for his wand. Rabastan clicked his tongue in amusement, withdrawing the wand he was already holding. That bastard was always prepared.

"Did I hear correctly, Prewett, that your tub of a sister married into the Weasley family?" Rabasran snorted. "Only other Purebloods with a worse reputation than your family."

Gideons upper lip twitched.

Rabastan chuckled, but his eyes turned very dark. Furious. "See, Pet? If you're going to fuck a Pureblood, at least make sure they aren't a disgrace to the name of Wizard. You don't want people to find out what a whore you are, do you?"

My jaw swug open in shock. Rabastan had said some pretty heinous things to me over the years, but they had never been that foul. He usually stopped short of that. I didn't know why. I knew their were crueler, more vile things lingering under the surface but he had always avoided them. Until now. I was shocked that he could still shock me after all this time.

"Thats it," Gideon snapped, withdrawing his wand fully. "You don't get to stand here and say horrible, untrue things about Doe and expect to get away with it, Lestrange." He said Rabatsans name like it tasted badly in his mouth.

Rabastan raised his wand too, and they lined themselves up to one another. "Might want to get out of the way, Pet. Wouldn't want to hit that pretty face of yours."

I acted without thinking. I raised my wand and cast a nonverbal stinging jinx. It hit Rabastan in the eye. He screeched in fury. Gideon grinned.

"Leave," I hissed at Rabastan, my eyes full of hate, I could hardly see through the angry red patches that were forming on my vision. "Or I swear to Merlin, I'll do worse."

Rabastan's eyes had begun to swell at an alarming rate, contorting his beautiful face. His mouth was spitting with fury now.

"You'll regret that, Pet," he spit out. "My desire for you will only last so long you know."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm shaking in my robes. Can't you tell?"

Gideon chuckled, looking amused. "Not looking so pretty anymore, are you Lestrange?" Rabastan turned his fury on him. "You'll get yours too, Bloodtraitor."

"You don't scare me, Lestrange," Gideon said evenly. "You or that Death Eater brother of yours."

Something flickered across Rabastans face then. His mask of bravado seemed to crack a bit. He recovered very quickly, turning his terrifying eyes on Gideon again.

"We'll see about that," Rabastan hissed, his hand pressed over his eye as he turned and glided down the corridor. He was practically shaking with anger as he stalked away, but he was still too calm. That made me nervous. I like Rabastans rage right where I could see it. When he exploded, I was prepared. I didn't like the idea of his anger marinating into a plan.

We waited until he had fully rounded the corner before we spoke, wanting to be rid of any of his presence.

"I hate him," I hissed into the empty corridor, turning back to Gideon, "I actually despise him."

Gideon moved towards me again. "Take care in the fact that you are not alone in that feeling," he reminded me as he stroked my shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I want him, dead, but I'm fine," I said pushing out my bottom lip.

Gideon chuckled and ran his hand up my arm. "I'll see if I can fit murdering him into my day tomorrow."

"You're such a romantic," I said flatly, and he chuckled again.

"Have I mentioned how attractive it was watching you hex him like that?" Gideon mused into my hair. I had already managed to snake myself around him again.

"You haven't."

"Well it was. I like watching you handle yourself in a duel. Very hot."

And just like that we were wrapped around each other once more, lit with passion and adrenaline from the leftover anger that Rabatsan had stirred. I felt a twinge of pride knowing that he had unintentionally made us want each other more.

We kept kissing until his watch clicked, drawing our attention to it. Now, I really needed to make it to Quidditch practice or I would be late. How ironic.

"I have to go to Quidditch practice," I mused as his hand touched my cheek, leaving hot little red marks wherever his skin touched. "You're going to make me late if you keep doing that."

Gideon groaned softly. "Any chance you can skip it?" he asked hopefully. "I'd really like to keep kissing you."

"Not unless I want James Potter to murder me in my sleep," I reasoned. "I could suffer an Unforgivable and he'd still make me go."

Gideon sighed and then moved away from me. "Go kick arse. I'll see you later."

I grinned, taking off towards the dormitory and changing into my practice clothes as quickly as I could, and bracing the frigid winds to make it to the pitch. I wasn't technically late, but I was the last to arrive and noted James' look.

"You're five minutes early and he was still going to incite a riot if you didn't show up in the next thirty seconds," Sirius said shaking his head in disbelief, as I lined my broom up with his. It was the first time I'd spoken to him all day. Maybe in two days. Could that be possible?

I grinned. "Did you at least try to defend my honor?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "You know I cant choose between you and James, Meadowes."

"Silly me," I said, rolling my eyes. "A girl can dream though, can't she?"

Sirius grinned, a wide hearty smile. "They always do."

James was now lost in conversation with Landon about some play they wanted to try. Hestia, meanwhile, was standing behind them, mimicking them for the enjoyment of Fabian and Tiberius.

"I haven't seen much of you lately, you know," I said quietly to Sirius, grateful for the momentary distraction. "You've been quite... busy." That was the delicate way to phrase it.

Sirius looked up quickly for a minute, scanning my face, then raised a cocky eyebrow.

"The way I hear it, so have you, Meadowes," he said cheekily. I blushed and he raised his eyebrow higher.

Something hung in the air between us, as Sirius waited for me to answer, and for a millisecond, I thought perhaps Marlene was onto something, but I shook my head. That was crazy.

"I have," I admitted, now fully pink. "But that doesn't mean I don't miss being with you… I mean...You know.. Seeing you and hanging out," I started to ramble.

Sirius looked thrilled now. "So you miss me, do you Meadowes?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I rolled my eyes. "Do you have to turn everything into something? Fine. Yes, I miss you."

Sirius was amused. "Well, good. I've missed you too. Perhaps we need to make sure our… busyness," he grinned, "well, that they don't keep us from spending time together, Agreed?"

I smiled. "Agreed."

"Merlin!" James called loudly to us, the rest of the team had already lined up for practice, "are you two done confessing your love for one another or do you need another few minutes?"

"Can you give us another five?" Sirius called back loudly. "I think Meadowes was about to propose!"

I rolled my eyes and headed for James, ignoring the quiet laughter of the entire team as I did, just happy that whatever weirdness was going on with Sirius and I, was over now.

As the temperatures at the Castle continued to drop, Herbology became an even more dreaded class than it used to be. Thankfully, the Greenhouses were heated, so the hour and a half we spent in them weren't nearly as miserable as they could be, but the walk to and from the class was so wet and bitter, I considered skipping the lesson at least once a week.

"It is simply too cold to walk down here," I announced one morning, dropping my bag onto the warm humid floor of the Greenhouse, shedding layers of clothes as I did. "This is cruel and unusual punishment."

"Someone doesn't like the cold huh?" Charity asked, as she and Amelia stopped their conversation.

"Do you?" I asked, shuddering violently.

Charity shrugged. "I'm indifferent I suppose. I don't really mind it. I spend summers in Bulgaria with my cousins and that kind of cold makes this look like a little snap."

I looked around her to catch Amelia's eyes, completely bewildered. The air outside was freezing.

Amelia raised her hands in the air. "Believe me, I know. The girl is a total freak."

Charity rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you, it isn't that bad when you're actually there, Aimes. You get used to it. We're planning on going up for Christmas too." Charity's pale face lit up at the prospect and Amelia sighed looking disheartened."It'll snow."

Charity let out a buoyant laugh. "Because it never snows at Christmas in England?"

"Still," Amelia said frowning.

I watched the two of them interact for a moment. Charity and Amelia were both very playful, even in the face of everything going on. And the idea of spending the holidays apart seemed to be bothering Amelia.

"Are you staying in at your parents for Christmas, then?" I asked Amelia, thinking of her gingerbread-looking house covered in a blanket of freshly fallen snow. As I did, the image of my own similar house filled my head, reminding me of Christmas' past. I swallowed the bile that had risen up in my throat. It was only a few weeks away. The bitter December anniversary of my parents death was creeping up the back of my neck like some tight, invisible string. The closer it got, the more the memories began to bombard me.

Amelia shook her head and her curls went everywhere. "Nope. The Bones' are going international this year. To Ireland."

"Ireland?" I asked in surprise, as Professor Sprout clunked her way into the room, levitating a string of terracotta pots behind her,

Amelia rolled her eyes. "It's where Daniel's wife is from. Her family still lives there. And he's been pestering us to come and visit. And with everything going on here," her eyes darkened, looking around her for eavesdroppers and finding none. "Mum and Dad thought it would be better to get away."

As far back as I could remember, the Bones' had spent every Christmas at home. When we were little, we used to go over there on Christmas Eve to bake cookies and sing carols. Mr. & Mrs. Bones had to feel really threatened to prefer the idea of a holiday abroad. They hadn't even considered leaving when my parents had eben murdered only a street away.

Amelia seemed to understand the look on her face and sighed, talking swiftly "Edgars going too at least. Thank, Merlin. He tried to convince Mum to let him to stay with the Fallensnows this year but that only made her furious. I've never heard her have a go at Edgar like that."

It was impossible to miss Amelia's cheeky little smile as she said this.

"And I'm sure that made you just miserable," I said sarcastically. Charity laughed.

Amelia shrugged, still looking delighted. "What? I think it's healthy for him to be reminded every now and again that he's not perfect, even though he probably is. They don't usually lecture him, but I think they're really nervous right now. They keep going on and on about keeping us all together."

"Do you blame them?" I asked her quietly. "It is scary right now."

Amelia looked frustrated. "But, running? Spending our holiday hiding out in fear of Death Eaters? That seems a touch dramatic," She threw a sympathetic look at Charity, whose face had gone very still. "I mean, we are Purebloods."

Charity had suddenly become very interested in the front of her Herbology book, and Amelia kept throwing furtive looks at her, as if she regretting having to point her blood status out.

"Being Pureblood doesn't mean your absolved from the danger, Aimes," I reminded her quietly. "My mother was Pureblood. It didn't stop anything. If it makes your family feel safer, maybe it's a good thing. You can't ever be too careful."

Amelia let out all the breath she was holding on too, and for a moment I knew we were both thinking of the same thing. That freezing December night nearly five years ago, when the Dark Mark hung over our sleepy street.

"Yeah," Amelia said softly, probably picturing her own parents in that position. "Maybe, your right."

There was a thick silence in the air as the three of us became a little lost in thought.

"So, what are your holiday plans, Doe?" Charity asked, slicing through the energy with her calm demeanor.

It seemed to brighten everyone up a bit, and I smiled, grateful at the interruption of where my thoughts were going.

"I'm staying at the castle this year," I told her happily. "I usually do. It's nice and quiet. Which is how I like my Christmas."

I wondered idly if any of my friends would join my this year or if circumstances would leave me here alone. Sirius and I had spent the holiday together last year, but now that he was living with the Potter's he would probably go there, Gideon had a large family, and never stayed either. I doubted highly that Mary's parents would let her stay this year if she couldn't last. Things had only gotten worse. It all depended on Lily and Marlene, but it wasn't looking great. I might have to prepare myself for a holiday alone. I could do it. So long as Rabastan didn't stay behind.

Charity smiled. "Sounds nice. I wish I could stay at the Castle but my parents never let me."

I chuckled darkly. "I don't really have that problem myself."

Charity's eyes widened in shock and then shrunk as she took in the sight of Amelia and I laughing boisterously.

"You two are so morbid," she said shaking her head,

Amelia was snorting now, using her Hufflepuff scarf to muffle the sound of her hiccups, and it seemed to make Charity smile a bit more.

"Good Morning, class," Professor "If you are all done chatting. I have a very interesting lesson prepared for you all today."

I sat up a little straighter, picking at my nails. Interesting in Herbology always meant lethal.

The lesson ended up being on the care and cultivating of fanged Geraniums. A plant that looked like the flower it was named after, with the mild expectation of very sharp fangs and an amazing dexterity that allowed them to sink them into unsuspecting flesh.

"They're excellent defensive, plants," Professor Sprout offered me, trying to pique my interest as she rounded on our table halfway during the lesson. I was keeping my distance, as I usually did, helping only when it was very necessary.
"They definitely have...precision," I said, ducking as one of the blue ones darted towards the leftover snuffalog pods from the lesson before.

Professor Sprout smiled at fondly, as Charity stroked one of the petals, and trimmed some of the excessive leaves. Her pink one didn't seem to notice or mind her.

"A lot of Aurors have them in their front gardens," Professor Sprout continued, looking me dead in the eyes, slightly coaxing. "Great for intruders."

I wondered if she'd spoken to Professor McGonagall. My marks in Herbology were perfect but it was no secret that I lacked the talent or passion with plants that the two Hufflepuffs behind me seemed to have. Had Professor McGonagall told Professor Sprout that my route to succeeded in Herbology was through my desire to become an auror. One of the Geraniums on the table was hissing now.

"How do they keep them from attacking the owners of the house when they leave?" I asked her, eyeing the flower with distaste,

Professor Sprout shook her head. "Oh dear, they rarely attack. They're quite docile little flowers. They only attack out of fear or displeasure. In fact, come here. Take your wand, and lets try to trim some of the saplings."

Ignoring my obvious hesitation, Professor Sprout led me over to a potted purple geranium and pointed to the brown saplings growing from the dirt at its stem.

"Now see here, Ms. Meadowes. Just tap your wand on the saplings, utter the incantation, verbally or nonverbally, and the geranium will leave you be."

I didn't want to go anywhere near the fanged flower, but the eagerness on Professor Sprout face made me swallow my fear and approach the flower.

I lifted my wand and very slowly, tapped it to the sapling on the bottom of the pot, letting the incantation roll through my head.

The sapling, which was being strangled be weeds, sprung outward of the pot, green and strong. The weeds retreated back into the soil. Professor Sprout's face lit up with excitement and surprise.

Well that was unexpected, I thought, looking at the pot in surprise.

"A bloody miracle," Amelia joked, looking surprised. Charity nudged her in the ribs with her elbow, but even she looked pleasantly surprised.

"See there, Ms. Meadowes! Excellent work. I knew you could have quite the green thumb if you tried. Your mother was quite the Herbology expert."

It was the first time in years I had ever seen her look so thrilled when it came to me. I went to move my wand hand from the pot, still distracted and slightly proud, when the Geranium stiffened and sprang.

I barely registered the thick white fangs flash through the air until they were sinking themselves quickly into the flesh of my forearm.

I bit the inside of my cheek, to keep from swearing out, while the geranium snapped backwards to its upright position in the pot, leaving two perfect red circle on my arm, a trickle of blood pouring from each.

Professor Sprout blinked in surprise, and then let out a soft sigh.

"Spoke too soon, I guess," Amelia snickered. Both she and Charity looked like they were doing everything they could to hold in their laughter.

"They don't usually bite," Professor Sprout said again, shaking her head at the sight of my arm. It was starting to feel very sharp. A stinging sensation. "It's quite rare."

"It's always good to be unique, I guess" I muttered, wiping the blood away before it could drip on our notes.

"I suppose that's the end of the lesson, everyone," Professor Sprout called to the room, and the other docile plants. "Ms. Meadowes, head up to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey should be able to sort you out quickly enough."

There was a rumble of noise as everyone gathered their things to leave. I took my scarf off the floor and wrapped it tightly around my arm to stifle the blood, scrunching my nose in discomfort.

"To be fair," Amelia said, giggling loudly. "I did try not laugh."

"I don't even blame you, it is funny," I said slinging my bag over my shoulder with my left hand.

Charity looked commiserative. "Do you want us to go the Hospital Wing with you?"

I shook my head. "No, don't worry about it. I have a free period, I'll be fine."

Charity and Amelia turned left towards the grounds for a Care of Magical Creatures lesson and I headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room. There was no way I was going to embarrass myself in front of Madam Pomfrey over something so minor. I'd look it up in a spellbook. I was decent with healing spells. Even if it was my wand arm.

I sat down on one of the squishy couches and carefully unwrapped my arm, there were two perfect bloody circles near my wrist. They looked almost like vampire bites. They were sore too. I wrinkled my nose at the blood.

"Merlin, Meadowes. Why are you bleeding all over the carpet?" Sirius asked plopping down on the cushion beside me.

I hadn't noticed him or Remus enter the Common Room, but now they both crowded around me dropping their bags and books on the floor.

"Blame the fanged Geranium, not me," I said narrowing my eyes. The bites were starting to sting a little worse now.

"You were bit by a fanged Geranium?" Remus asked, looking shocked. "But they're usually harmless."

"So I've been told," I said biting my lip.

"I mean this with love, Meadowes," Sirius said shaking his head. "But how are you still this bad at Herbology?"

"Says the man who I had to tutor in Charms."

"And look how close it brought us."

Remus ignored our back and forth and unearthed his thin, long wand. "I can fix that if you'd like," he offered. "So you don't have to go to Madam Pompfrey. It might scar, but it'll stop the bleeding and any pain."

"Oh would you?" I asked, suddenly extremely grateful at the thought of not having to spend my break pouring over healing spellbooks. "I'd be eternally grateful."

"Eternally?" Sirius asked, his grey eyes flickering. "Now I might try my hand at it."

Remus snorted. "I wouldn't let him if I were you, Doe. You should see how he botches my scars."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I think there's a distinct difference between werwolf cratches and a flower bite, Moony. Stop tarnishing my good name to Meadowes."

Remus rolled his eyes, gingerly taking my right arm in his hands to examine it. "Yeah, I'll remember that when I have to wear a shirt to the beach."

"You do that anyway, Moony. Simply as not to be compared to my beauty."

Remus ignored him, and looked up at me, his expression looked very tired. A knowing look passed between the two of us, far used to Sirius' behavior to be much affected at this point.

"Ignore him, Remus. I bet you look good with your shirt off," I told him as he gingerly poked the closet bite mark. His cheeks turned bright red.

Sirius slammed his hands down dramatically on the plush couch. "Do you have to flirt with him in front of me, Meadowes?" he demanded, dramatically, pretending to sprawl across the couch. "I have feelings, you know."

Remus and I both rolled our eyes this time, and Remus took out his wand. "Can you steady her arm, Sirius? Doe, I'm sorry this might hurt for a second."

I nodded. "Do your worst, Lupin."

Sirius took his time sliding over to us on the couch, and slipped his hands under my arm, wrapping one around my wrist and securing the other under my elbow.

"Alright, on the count of three then?" Remus asked. I nodded.

"One, two…" He pressed his wand onto the bite and removed it. I gritted my teeth as he didm feeling a sharp, twisting sensation as the bite marks closed themselves up.

"Done," Remus proclaimed

"You did it on two," I told him, accusingly.

Remus grinned, "Little trick I learned on Wormtail. If you're not ready, it usually hurts less."

Sirius was still holding my arm by the elbow, though his other hand moved from my wrist to touch the bite marks and where they left tiny faded scars.

"Blimey that's weird," he said examining it. "Handy spell."

He was still holding my arm, stroking the scars on my forearm when the portrait hole swung open Gideon, and a few other seventh years entered the room. He brightened when he saw me, smiling broadly and then blinked as he walked over, eyeing Sirius's hands on my arm with uncertainty.

"Hi, Doe."

"Gideon, I said quickly. "Hi."

Sirius looked up at Gideon with a strange expression. It was unreadable. His grey eyes looked slightly harder than normal. The rest of his face was quite blank. Remus looked between the two of them with a frustrated grimace. Was I missing something?

"Prewett," Sirius said casually, crossing his long legs in front of him. Gideon's eyes were locked on Sirius' hand, which had taken there time moving. The hand that stroked the bite was in his lap now, but the other lingered on my arm.

"What happened?" Gideon asked, he looked a little strange too. "Are you alright?"

"Herbology incident," I frowned. "Sirius and Remus helped me clean it up so I didn't have to face the judgement of Madam Pompfrey."

Gideon looked a little surprised, but his eyes were glued to Sirius, who moved the arm holding mine to the back of the velvet couch behind me.

"That's very..." Gideon seemed to struggle for the word he wanted to use, scrutinizing my best friend in an odd demeanor. "helpful of you."

Sirius entire face widened into a cocky smile. "Of course." Remus sighed. Sirius ignored him. "I'm always here for Meadowes," he said evenly.

Gideon smiled too, though something about it didn't quite seem to meet his eyes, "I can see that. You're a very good friend."

Sirius' eyes hardened and the arm behind the couch slackened slightly. The corner of his lips twitched a bit. Remus said nothing.

Gideon didn't acknowledge it. He turned to me frowning slightly. "Does it hurt too badly to come see the new painting on the third floor I told you about?"

"Nope," I said popping up from the couch. "I'm as healed as I'm going to be."

Gideon smiled. "Excellent."
"See you guys later, then," I told Remus and Sirius. Remus held up his hand in greeting. Sirius didn't say anything. He just stared ahead at the fireplace.

Before I climbed through the portrait hole, I turned back to find him leaning over the armchair of a pretty fifth year, whispering something that made her giggle, while Remus shook his head in disappointment.

"I just don't understand why Peter has to ruin every Transfiguration lesson we have?" Marlene complained, early one morning as we left the Defense classroom. "I mean he can't do a single spell, can he?"

"Oh Marley, don't be mean," Lily begged, looking behind her to make sure Peter had already left. While the Marauders often irritated the pants off of Lily, Peter seemed to be the one she disliked being openly rude too.

"What?" Marlene asked, spinning on her long, tanned legs. Several third years boys watched in awe as she did. "He nearly scalped Doe and I."

"There was a bit of shrapnel dangerously close to my eye," I said objectively, remembering the piece of iron that had spun off the lamp Peter had been trying to shrink.

"Exactly!" Marlene pronounced, throwing her arms in the air. "He's a danger to us all."

She scooped a large quantity of her hair onto the top of her head, where it sat like an artful crown.

"To be fair," Mary said, "your eyes are like half your face, Doe. There hard to not hit."

I batted my eyelashes at her in response.

"He did say he was sorry," Lily reminded us, sounding very motherly. "Even though the other Marauders were snickering at him."

"No one is accusing Peter of doing it maliciously," I told her, "just being woefully un-magical." Lily smiled. "I suppose that's okay then."

"He's just an idiot," Marlene said, continuing on our diatribe as though she hadn't been interrupted. "If I can get the spell down, there's no reason he can't."

"I don't know why you think you're bad at Transfiguration," I told her. "You always do well."

Marlene shrugged. "I just have very little interest in studies right now. I'm feeling a little bored of our classes."

"How can you be bored when you don't actually do the homework?" Mary asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'd be surprised," Marlene said, her mouth stretch into a smile. "I think my mind is just on holiday."

"Break doesn't start for two and a half weeks," I reminded her. "You might want to hang in there a bit."

"Ugh," Marlene groaned loudly, and pretended to drag herself down the corridor to the Great Hall for lunch.

We were chuckling at her performance as we rounded the corner into the entrance hall, and suddenly Marlene stopped dragging herself. She stood up straight, her head tilted slightly at the sight in front of her, cocking in interest.

Beside the open Great Hall doors, pressed tightly against the stone wall, were two students engaged in a rather frenzied round of snogging. It was intense, and the kind that was a bit inappropriate for the Entrance Hall, but neither of them seemed to care,

The girl, had her back pressed against the wall. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her the man's head, so you couldn't see who it was exactly. Just her features.

The man was more visible. Tall. Dark hair. Strong build. Pale skin. Strong Jaw.

Rabastan.

"Aw look, Satan does have feelings after all," Lily said darkly, crossing her arms at the sight.

Marlene let out a noise from the back of her throat. "Who would willingly kiss that?"

Rabastan pulled the girl closer to him, his hands locked on her jaw, gripping her face as if his life depended on it.

"I suppose he's handsome," Mary reasoned, looking very confused. "That might be a motivator for some girls…"

"Yeah," I snickered. "If you have spell damage to the head."

The two were still wrapped tightly around one another, kissing with such fervor it looked like they depended on the other for air.

Rabastan seemed to sense someone there, no matter how far away. One of his piercing green eyes opened to a slit, snakelike. He caught sight of us, his eyes focusing solely on me and grinned. As he moved, the girl became visible. She was young, and I didn't know her name, but she wore Slytherin robes.

Her hair was long and light blonde. Her skin was fair and unblemished. Her eyes were cornflower blue. Her mouth round and pink. Apart from the dopey look on her face as she stared up at Rabastan, there was something pretty familiar about her.

"Is it just me," Marlene began, raising an eyebrow. "Or does she look a lot like…"

I felt all three pairs of eyes move in my direction, confirming what I had already noticed.

"Me," I finished. "She looks like me."

"Scarily actually," Lily shuddered, as she watched the girl in front of us. "He has a type then, huh?"

The girl in front of us was grinning at Rabastan still, like he was some prize she was lucky to have won. The sight of it made me very sad for her. She had to know how vile he was. The longer I looked at the girl, the more differences I started to see in our faces. She had a rounder face. I had a fuller mouth. Her eyes were darker. But it didn't matter. The likeness was obvious.

"She's young too," Mary hissed in disgust, "That's Emily Snow. She's Julie's age."

"She's a fourth year?" I asked in disbelief, thinking of how young Mary's sister looked. Mary nodded, looking disgusted.

"Apparently you cant be too choosy when you're searching for someone who looks exactly like you," Lily said, throwing me a sympathetic look. My upper lip curled.

"He found a replacement Doe to try out all of his fantasies," Marlene mused. I flinched.

"Sorry," she said quickly.

Rabastan locked eyes with me again, before pulling the girl back towards him for another round of snogging. His eyes were open and trained on me.

"Let's go," I said, shuddering at the sight of them. I didn't want to stand around and watch the two of them any longer. Whatever Rabastan did in spare time was no concern to me. Maybe he'd finally leave me alone, or be too distracted to burn anymore of Sayre's doors.

"Gladly," Lily said as she and Mary, hooked Marlene and I through the arms and lead us into the Great Hall.

We made our way to the Gryffindor table, which seemed to be much livelier and louder than the rest of the surrounding ones. Apart from the Seventh years and the Marauders, the table seemed to be full.

"That doesn't bother you, though?" Marlene asked, as we sat down on the benches, reaching for sandwiches. "That days after Rabastan finds you snogging Gideon, he's waits around snogging a girl who looks just like you?"

I shrugged taking a hearty bite out of the roast sandwich. "Why should it?"

"Because he was obviously trying to make you jealous."

I snorted, almost covering Mary in bits of sandwich. I swallowed before I spoke.

"I couldn't care less what Rabastan does, or whether she looks like me or not. In fact, I'm hoping it keeps him away from me."

Marlene paused to think about this and then nodded along in agreement. "It would be nice not to have to deal with him for awhile."

"You four wouldn't happen to be talking about the Doe lookalike getting her face snogged off out there, would you?" Sirius asked cheekily dropping in the seat in front of me. The other Marauders joined him, all of the slightly pink and sporting wide smiles.

"I sincerely hope your talking about a female deer," I told him, taking a sip from my goblet of pumpkin juice.

"I wish I was," Sirius said, wiggling his eyebrows. "How does it feel to know the extent of Rabastans obsession with you, Meadowes?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Humiliating."

"Only for him, Darling," Sirius said, grabbing a fistful of sandwiches before Peter cleaned the plate. "It's not your fault he has good taste, and has to settle for a consolation prize."

Remus, who was reading from his Potions textbook, sighed without looking up.

"Did you just call that bird a consolation prize, Padfoot?" James snickered. Lily rolled her eyes.

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his best mate. "Is she not? It would be like you going for Kyla Davies after all this time you spent lusting after Evans."

Lily rolled her eyes so dramatically they looked like the were going to roll backwards into her skull. "I don't look like Kyla Davies."

"You both have red hair," Peter reckoned, and Lily looked like she regretted her earlier kindness to him.

James shoved a handful of chips into his mouth shaking his head. "Davies? Never. I'm holding out for this one." He pointed a wilting chip at her.

"Oh, how terribly romantic," Lily muttered.

"Thats because you never give me the chance to be romantic, Evans," James reasoned smoothly, an easy grin plastered on his face. "Give me full licensing and I'll romance the pants off you."

"Maybe when Hell freezes over, Potter" Lily told him, stealing one of the chips off of his plate. Marlene eyed this with wide eyes, turning immediately to me. I shrugged,

"I can wait," James told her, looking equally surprised. "I'm very patient."

Lily grinned. "Yeah? Maybe try doing it while holding your breath,"

"Oh how you torture me, Evans." James winked at her. A tiny bit of color rose up on Lily's cheeks and she immediately stuffed a huge bite of sandwich in her mouth, staring only at her plate.

That was weird.

"Does anyone have the study notes from last Potions lesson?" Remus asked suddenly looking up from the open textbook, distracting me from my train of thought.

"I have those!" Lily said quickly, reaching into her bag to unearth a perfectly labeled leaflet from last Potions lesson.

"Thank you, Lily," Remus said, taking them politely. "How'd you fair with that clear mind concoction we made last week. I found it dreadfully tricky-"

Sirius groaned, cutting him off and grabbing another handful of chips. "Must we discuss classes on lunch, Moony?"

"If we'd like to make it to Seventh year, then yes," Remus reminded him. "Unless you were planning on coasting through life with your good lucks and unfinished education."

"I am quite good-looking."

"Then marry rich," Remus said, flipping through the leaflet with quick, nimble fingers.

Sirius snorted. "You see, Moony, I would, but I'm already rich so there's no point in that, really…"

As Sirius launched into his usual diatribe, I turned back to Lily. She looked flushed. Her cheeks were a bit pink and she seemed hell bent on avoiding looking in James direction.

That was really weird. Marlene seemed to be thinking along the same lines as me because she stared, eyebrow cocked at our friend. But Lily was once again unreadable. Her fair face was always a very careful mask, hiding what she was actually thinking from the world.

"...so it would move then?" Peter asked loudy, interrupting my observation of Lily.

"No," James spoke over him, looking eager. "Not move. Walk."

Peter frowned and Sirius beamed. "Oh come on, Wormy. It's not that complicated."

From the tone of their hushed, fervent voices I could tell they were planning something. A prank maybe. It had been awhile since they had done anything. Perhaps they thought their trouble-making reputations were on the line.

"... Now that is brilliant," Sirius said loudly, slamming his palm flat on the table with excitement at something James had whispered to him, smiling with anticipation.

"No," Remus interjected, "that is stupid."

"Feel free to offer alternatives, Moony," James said, leaning back. "I'm all ears."

Remus sighed softly. "If you're going to do it, you might as well try this." He scribbled something on the blank piece of parchment in front of him and slid it towards James. He and Sirius took a moment to scan the page, their eyebrows scrunched up in frustration until enlightenment crossed their features.

"Now, that is more like it," Sirius praised, staring up at Remus, who looked equal parts proud and ashamed.

"And you call yourself a prefect," James snickered. "With a mind like this?"

Remus turned a darker shade of pink, and Peter, who the parchment had finally made it's way too, was giggling like mad.

"Oi!" Marlene said, frowning at the parchment. "What are you lot going on about?"

Sirius' long, quick-thinking fingers, plucked the parchment from Peter's loosened grip, and tucked it into his breast pocket.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, McKinnon," he said patting the pocket for good measure.

Marlene raised one of her eyebrows at Sirius, and turned back to Lily, who normally would be airing her grievances about whatever the Marauders appeared to be planning, but she was still looking at her plate, as if she wasn't even listening.

In fact, Lily didn't say anything for the rest of the lunch period. She ate her sandwich and chips quietly, only occasionally looking up at James with a strange withdrawn expression.

The afternoon classes seemed to drag on endlessly. Lessons that were normally captivating seemed banal and mundane. Teachers, even Sayre, seemed to drone on in lackluster voices focusing on the most tedious details to the point where the entire sixth year was daydreaming.

By the time I got out of my final lesson, I was so bored I was actually hoping to have a run in with a Slytherin just to spice up the day. I groaned, thinking of how much I sounded like a Marauder, hoping for a duel.

"Why do you look so bored?" Gideon asked lightly, popping up behind me as his N.E.W.T. level Charms class spilled into the hallway beside us.

"Because I am," I chuckled. "I'm having one of those dreadfully boring days, where even Goblin Wars sound uninteresting."

Gideon grinned. 'I thought you dropped History of Magic?"

"I did," I said, smiling at the thought, "it was just a metaphor for my very boring day."

"Ah, I see," Gideon chuckled. "How could I ever have confused that?"

"No idea, Prewett. Keep up."

"With you? Thats a lost battle, Doe."

I smiled, as we rounded the corner to the more crowded corridors. There was clustered groups of students all over the third floor corridor, whispering and giggling in excitement.

"Did you see it?" a tiny first year girl whispered to her friend, who was so overcome with giggles she didn't seem capable of recovering.

"How could you miss it?" her friend snickered back, they both kept darting to the end of the corridor where it seemed most of the younger Hogwarts students were congregating.

My eyes followed where they had come from, to the masses of huddled students, and I felt my stomach drop.

Please don't let it be something bad, I silently begged. I didn't know if I could handle bad news. I had been in such a good mood lately that I had been actively avoiding the prophets and all of the stories of Death and War it contained. I knew they were still there of course. I could see that on the glazed over, steely expressions on my school mates faces, but I didn't need to see the gore for myself.

"Looks like somethings going on," Gideon mused, looking over the top of my head to the crowds. "Should we go investigate?"

"Might as well," I agreed, crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

We made our way to the crowds to the very front. The tiny first years seemed to part for us older students easily.

The moment I made it to the front, the bubble of worry that had formed in my chest popped, and a smile crossed my face.
Suddenly what the Marauders had been discussing at lunch made much more sense. Remus had been right. This was stupid. But funny all the same.

A tarnished suit of armor stomped around the corridor, clearly bewitched. When students would approach it, giggling with nerves, the Knight would jump backwards or forwards, or attempt to engage them in a duel.

"Something tells me this has the Marauders written all over it," Gideon chuckled quietly, watching the Knight take a very careful bow.

"Who else would bewitch a Knight?" I asked, unable to hide my own delight at the sight of it.

As the knight bent lower, to the absolute delight of a pair of Hufflepuff boys, a loud shrieking noise erupted from the slightly open helmet.

The two boys darted backward away from the sound, taking care to pull out their wands. beside me, Gideon stiffened at the strange shrieking, poising himself to step forward.

The helmet slipped slightly and the shrieking got louder, making the sound much more clear. It wasn't a shrieking at all. It sounded like...

"Is that a meow?" I asked Gideon, eyes wide. The Suit of armor was stomping again, and the noise was growing louder. It was definitely a meow.

Gideon's red eyebrows knotted together, and the two of us took a step forward toward the Suit of Armor.

I drew my wand and Gideon grinned at the sight of it.

"Going to duel with a suit of armor, are you?"

"You never know."

The younger students backed up for us, leaving a decent space between us and them, They all seemed to be watching with interest, their eyes darted from the dancing suit of armor to our wands.

Gideon got to it first. Delicately, he tipped the helmet back and peered into the suit for a moment. He looked down at it for a second, before sliding the helmet back into place, and turning to grin at me.

"What?" I asked hesitantly.

Gideon's smile widened, and he turned to face the collection of anxiously waiting students.

"Mrs. Norris!" he shouted cheerfully. He was answered with a round of cheers and giggles.

I blinked. "You don't mean? She's in there?"

Gideon grinned. "See for yourself."

He tipped the helmet back again and I peered inside. Sitting where a humans torso normal would, was a spitting, meowing, enraged Mrs. Norris. When she saw me, she began to hiss.

"Oh, shut it," I snapped at her, sliding the helmet closed. The meowing had only gotten louder. The younger students had formed a line behind us, anxious to get there look at the angry, hated cat. Gideon and I moved out the way to allow them.

"You know," Gideon said, as we stood back, watching the other students delight in watching, "I hate that cat. Most miserable creature I've ever come across. And I love cats."

"Trust me, that thing is not a cat," I said, thinking of Rylie's docile pet in the dormitory. We perched ourselves on the railing of one of the staircases, giggling as the first and second years led the suit of armor further down the hallways, Mrs. Norris howling as they did.

"Technically as Head Boy, I should go free her," Gideon mused quietly, as the howling got fainter.

I turned to raise an eyebrow at him. "Are you going to?"

Gideon grinned. "Absolutely not."

Mrs. Norris and the howling Suit of Armor was the talk of the rest of the afternoon. Apparently, led or not, the Suit of Armor was enchanted to visit as many parts of the castle as it could. A distant howling heard as it came and went.

By dinner time, the entire school had heard the howling from one corner or another. And to the delight of the entire student body, it seemed that Filch seemed to be unable to locate the Suit of Armor. Whenever he even came close to nearing it, it would dart silently to a different part of the castle, leaving a furious Filch in its wake.

It was abundantly clear that the Marauders were behind this. It was exactly the kind of thing they would do.

Plus, Lily had caught them, wands pointed directly at the Suit of Armor charming it to an Irish jig.

It was doing a very complicated waltz, when my friends and I passed it in the second floor corridor on our way to dinner. Mrs. Norris seemed to be sufficiently exhausted from her yelping now and had taken to quietly hissing. It was so close to the Entrance Hall now that the Marauders must not have cared if Filch found it anymore. I supposed they'd already had their fun.

"You've got to admit, it's funny," Marlene said, practically skipping past it.

"I like cats," Lily reminded her, not doing a very convincing job of hiding how funny she did find it.

"Mrs. Norris is an evil toad in a cat costume," Mary reminded her. "Remember when she tried to take an eye off Marlene's first Owl?"

Marlene's eyes narrowed. Lily reached out to squeeze her shoulder.

"RIP Feathers," I mused quietly, thinking of the ancient owl we had all loved in our first year.

Mary snorted quietly. "Merlin, I had forgotten you'd named him that. Weren't a very creative kid were you?"

"What's wrong with my dead pet's name?" Marlene asked cheekily.

I chuckled. "You named an owl, feathers."

Marlene frowned, missing the irony. "So?"

"It would be like if Lily's parents named her Ginger," Mary explained.

Marlene grinned, seemingly no longer concerned. "Oh, that would have been fun wouldn't it? Ginger Evans." She reached out to play with a piece of Lily's thick red locks.

Lily shuddered. "That would have been infuriating."

"Thankfully, your dad is a botanist and not a chef," I chuckled and Lily smiled in delight.

We were discussing the possibility of what Petunia's name would have been had Lily's father been a chef, and had just settled on Thyme, when we rounded the Entrance Hall.

A couple of Slytherin sixth and seventh years were lingering by the Great Hall looking quite pleased. Smug smiles were plastered across all of their faces as they whispered to one another and pointed a brown piece of parchment they clutched. At the helm were Narcissa and Elizabeth , their usual gang of Slytherin girls crowded around them.

When we got closer Narcissa nudged Elizabeth hard in the shoulder and pointed to us. The girls behind them giggled louder. Elizabeth squared her shoulders and headed straight for us.

"What does she want?" Marlene asked, her voice dripping with irritation.

"Who knows, maybe she finally figured out she might not a tutor to pass the Sixth Year," Lily snorted. Mary looked pale.

Elizabeth stopped in front of us looking me dead in the eyes. Her smile was wide, and so falsely kind it made me want to hex her.

"Oh hello," she said, in a very strange voice. It sounded as if she was doing everything she could to hide her pleasure.

"What do you want, Burke?" I snapped. My wand hand itching toward the pocket of my robes where I kept my wand.

"Tut, tut. So rude," She said carefully, still smiling ."I wouldn't jump down my throat if I were you, Meadowes. You see, I have some information you might find interesting."

I snorted. "If it has anything to do with you I doubt it's more interesting than Professor Binns."

Elizabeth's dark eyes flashed. A spasm of anger flickered across her face, wilting her smile a bit. She recovered quickly.

"So, you didn't hear then?" She asked, faking sweetness.

"Hear what?" I crossed my arms.

A real smile now. It reached her eyes. She took great care in untucking the parchment from under her arm and unfolded it. I saw now it was a copy of an American Wizarding Newspaper, the Charmer.

"Your precious Sayre? She was accused of being a Grindelwald supporter in America," She thrust the newspaper at me. "Pity she denies it. Then again, she could always be lying. Personally, I hope she is. Then she can join the Death Eaters and we all might like her a bit more."

The article was dated a few years ago, and featured a photo of a young woman with long dark hair and a long, thin upturned nose. It was unmistakably Professor Sayre.

Elizabeth flashed me one more contemptuous grin, and then flitted off to her other Slytherin friends leaving me with the article as my heartbeat began to beat in my ears.

Professor Sayre a Grindelwald supporter?

He was nearly as bad as You-Know-Who. Worse if you asked some people. He was a tyrannical dictator. How could she have supported him?

"Doe.." Lily began quietly.

I ignored her. Yanking the article up to my face, ignoring the fact the Slytherins were still watching me intently, waiting for my reaction.

Ines Sayre, Heir to the Illevermony Accused of Being a Grindelwald Supporter

By Eldra Enesterson

In a shocking turn of events, Ines Rosalia Sayre, famed spell-creator and heir to the Ilvermorny School has been accused of supporting Grindelwald. Ms. Sayre, who rose to prominence in the United States by her exemplary magical ability and her families famous last name, spent her later years preaching tolerance and claiming to actively fight tyranny of any nomag or magical being.

Which is why it such a surprise that over the weekend, an anonymous tip led the Action Committee of the department of Magical law Enforcement to raid the apartment that Ms. Sayre shared with a roommate. During the raid, various Pro-Grindelwald, memorabilia and propaganda was found and removed from the home. When questioned by Hit Wizards, Ms. Sayre claimed she didn't know how they appeared there. She was later brought into The Magical Congress of the United States for wand inspection and questioning. Despites large amounts of evidence, Ms. Sayre was not charged. Leaving us to wonder if simply belonging to the Sayre family is enough to dismiss charges in the magical community.

News on a trial has not come out yet, but updates will be printed as they occur.

The Slytherins were still smiling as I crumpled up the newspaper and shoved it in my bag.