Fa A Bhialainn Ann
Chapters 3 & 4
by Veralidaine
Part 3
Fiona sat in the high-backed armchair by the fire, trying to ignore the creepy way the shadows danced
about the dungeon of a common room. No matter that it had been nearly two-and-a-half months since she'd
started at Hogwarts; the Slytherin common room still managed to give her "the collywobbles," as Lily
quite jokingly put it.
Though she was hard at work solving an Arithmancy problem, she found her mind kept wandering to the
upcoming Halloween dance. Not that she had any interest at all in going. Lily had managed to convince
her to come along, just to see Sirius, James, and Remus, and to meet another friend of theirs, Peter
Pettigrew.
As it was, Fiona had agreed, just so long as no dancing whatsoever was involved. Lily had assured her
that she would not have to dance if she didn't want to, but Fi suspected that before the evening was
over, Lily would be begging her to dance with someone, "just for fun!" And Fi would probably purse her
lips, cross her arms and legs, and be her usual anti-social self (A/N: Haha, Robyn! Sorry, inside
joke...). Fiona sighed, scribbling down the last few numbers and cramming the rubber stopper into her
ink bottle. Fun beyond belief...
She was so lost in thought that she nearly jumped two feet in the air as someone other than Lily
approached her chair. Recovering enough to look up, she noticed that it was the last person she'd EVER
expect to talk to her--Severus Snape. Fiona quickly adopted her usual "Oh, it's YOU" facial expression,
and gave an impatient "Yes?"
He looked extremely uncomfortable. More uncomfortable and nervous, in fact, then Fiona ever remembered
seeing him. There wasn't a nasty sneer playing across his lips, and for some reason the glittery black
eyes wouldn't meet hers and instead examined the numerous cracks in the ceiling. He mumbled something
incoherent.
"Sorry?" Fiona asked, somewhat curious.
"Wouldyougotothedancewime?"
A wave of utter--what was it, numbness?--swept over Fi. Severus Snape had just asked her to the Halloween
dance. Fiona shook her head, not quite sure how to take this. He looked quite pathetic, actually, and if
her own face hadn't been burning from the embarrassment of even being ASKED to go, she'd have found the
way he was shuffling his feet very amusing. Heck, she would have taken all the pleasure in the world in
MOCKING him. But now she felt oddly sorry for him.
"I can't, Severus. I...emm...WOULD, but I've decided not to go with anyone this time. I'm just going by
myself, and only just 'cause Lily wants me to go. Emm...Sorry..."
He made an indistinct noise in his throat and swept off somewhere into the shadows of Slytherin House.
Fiona let out a deep breath. What had THAT been about? What had possessed him to--
"Whoa..."
Fi turned an exasperated look on Lily, who apparently had been standing in the nearest shady corner. "You'll
catch flies if you don't shut your mouth."
Lily obediently clamped her mouth shut and, grinning, sat in the chair next to Fiona. "Can you BELIEVE
that? SNAPE! I mean..." She shook her head. "Who'd've thought it..."
"Certainly not I," Fi muttered. "Gah, what was I supposed to say? I mean..."
Lily suppressed a giggle. "What'll you do if someone you WANT to go with asks you?"
"First off," Fiona muttered, flipping through her potions text, "there's no one I want to go with, as of
now. Secondly...Well, there is no Secondly, really..." She shrugged. "I don't particularly want to do
this, but I'm eternally grateful for the lovely hex you put on Narcissa. That was simply beautiful."
Lily giggled. "Remember the--the slapping noises!"
Fiona grinned, holding back laughter. "And the look on Lucious' face the next morning!"
Lily bit her lip, giggling softly. "Yes, that was one of my better little deeds, wasn't it?"
"Certainly. So, I may as well ask: What do I have to wear to this thing?"
***
It was Halloween night, and Lily was adding the finishing touches to Fiona. Dressed in plain, deep blue
dress robes, Fiona was seated on Lily's bed in their dormitories. Narcissa, in her usual black, was
applying layer after layer of make-up, while the other girls giggled over the boys they were soon to
meet up with.
"C'mon, Fi, just a little! It'll barely show up!"
"NO!"
"It's just lipstick..."
Fiona had managed to chase Lily away when threatened with mascara, but for some reason, her friend was
much more persistent about lipstick. Fiona crossed her arms and put on her annoyed face. "No, Lily. I
don't wear make-up."
"But it would look SO good--"
"No."
Lily heaved a great sigh. "Fine."
Once finished convincing Fi to leave her hair down, allowing to cascade in dark waves down her back, Lily
grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of Slytherin house and towards the Great Hall.
Upon entering, Fi had to admit that the Great Hall looked stupendous. The live bats that flew back and
forth across the enchanted ceiling, and the cool, crisp breeze that magically played about the Hall gave
the perfect atmosphere for the holiday. Lily, still with an iron grip on her wrist, pulled her towards
the far end of the hall, where four boys were sitting--three of whom very familiar.
"FI!" Sirius gave one of his famous broad grins and made a point of kissing her hand in a very mock-dignified
way. "How simply SPLENDID to see you here!"
James, who had been busy giving Lily a quick hug, turned to Fiona. "Hello again! You know, we never get
time to talk after Care of Magical Creatures. Kettleburn keeps us 'til the last minute!"
Fiona nodded. "Yeah, I know. Maybe we should make time to do homework in the library or something."
At this point, Fiona turned to see Remus, waiting patiently for her to notice him. And she did. "Hullo,
Remus."
"Hi," he said in his usual mild voice. "What, you don't have a date?"
"'Fraid not." Fiona shot a stern look at Lily, who was apparently dying to tell them about Snape. The
redhead was smiling somewhat impishly at Fi and looked on the verge of shouting to the entire hall. Fi
raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged, grinning, and mouthed, 'I won't...Don't worry.'
James gave Lily an inquiring look. "What's up?"
"Nothing," Lily muttered, catching Fi's eye and grinning.
The last boy had joined the group. "Uhm...Hullo, I'm Peter," he said nervously.
Fiona shook his hand firmly. "I'm Fi. Good to meet you."
He gave a weak smile and walked off to talk to some blonde girl across the hall. Sirius, meanwhile, was
on tiptoe, trying to see over everyone's heads. "Where's Annelle?"
James snickered. "I don't know, Padfoot. Did you arrange to meet her?"
"Maybe," Sirius muttered vaguely. "Ah! There she is!"
Ignoring the look of utter confusion on Fiona's face at what James had called him, Sirius strode across
the hall to where a grinning, purple-robed Annelle was waiting, looking quite smug. Lily giggled and
shook her head. "She only was late to make him squirm."
"And it worked, didn't it?" James asked, grinning.
Lily sighed. "I guess. Ooh, the music's starting! D'you want to dance?"
"Aren't I supposed to be the one to ask you?"
"New rules. Women's rights and such. C'mon!" With that, Lily now deposited the iron grip on James' arm
and led him out onto the floor, where a rather slow waltz was playing. Sirius and Annelle were tangoing
across the floor, scattering students and teachers alike.
Fiona sighed. "Well, I guess I'll go sit down, then."
Remus gave her a sideways look. "Why? Go ask someone to dance! You heard Lily--women's rights and such."
Fiona shook her head violently, her hair whipping around. "No, I couldn't."
"Sure you could!"
"No, I..." Fiona shrugged nervously. "I can't, REALLY."
"Why not?"
"I can't dance," she muttered.
"Sorry, didn't catch that."
"I can't dance!"
"Oh." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then apparently came to a conclusion, because he turned to her.
"Well, that can be remedied. Fi, d'you want to dance?"
Not sure if he was serious, she looked up. He looked serious enough. "Maybe you didn't catch this: I
can't..."
"Yes, you can! C'mon!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out towards the dance floor.
"No, Remus! No, I...My ankles are weak, and...My knees don't work properly, and...Oh, this is silly,
but..." She finally gave up protesting as he pulled her out to the middle of the floor.
"Now," he said, assuming a businesslike manner, "one hand goes on my shoulder, and you hold MY hand with
the other." She did as she was told, blushing as he put a hand on her waist. WHY did she blush? WHY then?
She hated not having control over what her face did. As if spots weren't enough...
"Right," he said. "Now, your feet go sort of opposite mine, okay? It's a three-step. One-two-three, one-
two-three..."
Gradually, and after tripping over herself several times, Fiona managed to get the dance down. She wasn't
perfect at it, but she could manage without stepping on Remus' feet. Even though she still had to count
"One-two-three, one-two-three..." out loud. Remus found it quite amusing.
"It's not a test, you know," he said, grinning at the top of her head--she was busy watching her feet to
keep from tripping, all the while counting. "Some of it's making it up as you go along."
She gave him a look, and in doing so, lost concentration and tripped slightly. "I'm not creative enough."
That wasn't really true...Well, maybe with dance. Fiona, besides playing several instruments, loved to
paint and draw. She was actually QUITE creative, but dancing, and with REMUS, for that matter, made her
feel highly self-conscious and uncreative.
"Oh, come on. You've honestly NEVER danced before?"
"Well..." Fiona stopped counting for a moment. "We have parties, sometimes, at home. Mostly, I play the
music, along with my Da, and everyone else dances. I think I danced once, with Da, but they had to
practically drag me away from my flute." She was quiet, thinking for a moment, about that party. And
about the various times she'd gone out at night to dance in the faery rings...No! She wouldn't think about
that!
"I probably oughtn't say anything, but you're dancing, Fi."
It was true. She'd been distracted enough that she was no longer counting, and yet she hadn't tripped yet!
As soon as that was realized, she became so astonished that she did trip. And quite thoroughly, too.
Remus managed to catch her before she fell flat on her face, causing her to fight turning crimson again,
and laughed as they walked off the dance floor. "There," he said. "Now you know how to dance. So, why
don't you go ask someone?"
"Are you kidding?" she asked, crossing her arms. "That was exhausting! Do you have any idea at'all how
much work I put into that just then? I'm not nearly coordinated enough for that sort of thing! Do you
HONESTLY expect me to go ASK to do it AGAIN? I mean--" she stopped, realizing that he was holding back
laughter. "What's so amusing?"
He shrugged. "You are. You honestly haven't ever done this before, have you? Other than with your father,
I mean."
Fiona put her hands on her hips, looking for a good response. "No," she managed. Lame.
He gave his usual quiet smile, apparently over his sudden bout of uncharacteristic--what, flirting? No,
Fi thought. Why would he?
"Well, you'll simply have to practice, then." He shrugged.
"'Practice?'" Fiona repeated. "Hmph. I've got another month-and-a-half before I need to worry about the
Yule Ball. Which I may not even go to."
"You're not going?"
"Did I say that?"
"No, but you implied it. Will you please come?"
"Why?" Fiona asked, somewhat bitterly. "So I can trip over myself?"
"No, so I'll have someone to dance with." He grinned. "Other than Peter."
Fiona gave him a skeptical look. "You actually WANT to dance with me again? Remus, I worry for your sanity."
He shook his head. "I would love to dance with you again. Will you please come next time?" Fiona didn't
respond, and he sighed deeply. "You're going to make this hard for me, aren't you?"
"What?" she muttered, completely mystified.
He sighed again. "D'you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?"
There was that numbness again. But this time, it was different. Something sort of--giddy, maybe?--overtook
her stomach, and it was all she could do to keep from emitting a little giggle, like those mindless girls
in her dormitory. "I...Yes. Yes, I'll go. With you. Uh-huh." She allowed herself a smallish smile before
turning and practically skipping out of the Great Hall with the other students, who were now leaving the
ball.
Though she didn't see it, Remus smiled too, exceptionally glad that his skin wasn't nearly as pale as hers,
or this evening's little bout of Sirius-ness would have left him brighter red than the Gryffindor Banner.
Also unseen to the both of them was Severus Snape, who was eyeing Remus Lupin with much more dislike than
was usual. To put it LIGHTLY.
***
Part 4
***
"Fi!"
Fiona turned, already knowing who'd called her. "What's up?"
Lily trotted up to her, grinning. "First quidditch match of the year! Tomorrow afternoon! Ravenclaw versus
Slytherin. You gonna come?" (A/N: Work with me here, guys. I know Quidditch is really in the spring, but
for the sake of the story...I JUST GOT A PLOT FIGURED OUT! CUT ME SOME SLACK!)
Fiona bit her lip, thinking. "What time?"
"Emm...Oh, yeah, one-thirty. Right after lunch."
"Oh," Fi muttered, going distinctly red in the face. "Uhm...I...uh..."
"What?" Lily asked, detecting a secret. "Come on, Fi, tell me."
Fiona shot her a look--that happened a lot with her and Lily--and crossed her arms. "I...have a tutoring
session tomorrow. After lunch. In the library. For Defense."
"With--?" Lily prompted, causing Fi to blush a deeper shade of crimson.
"Remus," she muttered. Rather embarrassed by Lily's giggling at this, she pursed her lips. "Well, he IS
the top student, you know. He's really good at Defense. REALLY," she added when Lily gave her a skeptical
glance.
"If you say so," she said. "Well, try to make it to the match, okay? James is coming--"
"Then you won't have time to talk to me anyway."
Now it was Lily's turn to blush. "Okay, I'll stop teasing you if you stop teasing me."
"Well that's no fun."
"You're right. So, about this tutoring..."
"Don't even go there."
***
The next afternoon, Fiona wolfed down her lunch and found Remus, and together they headed off for the
library. Settling in a corner table, they could hear the rest of the school heading out the doors and
into the stands.
"You're sure you don't want to go watch the match? Slytherin is playing, after all." Remus unpacked his
textbooks as he spoke, stacking them on the table.
Fiona shrugged. "I don't care about quidditch. Or Slytherin. So I can miss the match." She looked up,
scowling.
Remus was giving her a sympathetic look. "Fi, you're supposed to have...well...LOYALTY towards your
house, whether you want to be there or not. It's...I dunno. You shoudn't feel so horrible about Slytherin."
"Why in the world shouldn't I? It's where all the darkest wizards have come from, isn't it? And I'm there
now."
He sighed, setting his now empty bookbag on the floor next to his chair. "Fiona, you're NOT a dark witch,
okay?"
"How do you know?" she asked stubbornly, not really expecting him to humor her with an answer. After all,
she was being rather childish.
But he did. "Because dark witches and wizards don't WANT to be good. You do," he answered mildly.
She was about to retort with another "how do you know?", but he silenced her with a look. "Fiona, McGonagall
even said that each of the houses have produced wonderful witches and wizards. Not ALL of the Slytherins
turn evil. Look at Lily--she's not evil, is she?"
"Well, no, but--"
"Then you can't stereotype the Slytherins. Personally, I can see why you don't think you belong there. I think
you and Lily both belong in another house. Maybe Ravenclaw. But Lily tends to be somewhat short-tempered and
is QUITE capable of being vengeful. And she's clever and somewhat sly, you know that. Maybe that's what the
hat saw in her. As for you, what's your bloodline?"
Usually Fiona would have taken a bit of offense at this, but Remus was different. He NEVER mocked anyone for
their family. "Well, I'm Muggle-born. Da's a farmer's son, Ma's from Dublin."
"You're sure?"
"Well, yes. I DO know my own bloodlines, after all." Fiona grinned, but stopped quickly. "See? Lily has
Slytherin traits, so even though she's Muggle-born, she has a reason for being there. I'm a Muggle-born
Irish farmgirl. I mean..." she hesitated. "Do I have...You know...Slytherin-ish traits?"
"Not that I'm aware of." He opened one of his books. "You have a bit of a temper, but so does James, and he's
basically the super-Gryffindor. Maybe it was bungled. I doubt it, though. That hat's not ever made a mistake.
Everyone has been put in their house for a very good reason, though they may not know it yet."
"I hate it when you act so philosophical."
He shrugged. "My point is, you can have friends and enemies anywhere, and you shouldn't stereotype people, like
the Slytherins, based on prats like Malfoy, Snape, and Parkinson. Okay?"
"Yes, but why am I in Slytherin, then?"
He looked at her for a moment, forgetting his books. After a moment, he sighed. "I don't know. Like I said,
you'll probably know someday."
Fiona made a derisive noise in her throat, but nodded. She jumped as a voice behind her sneered, "Wise words for
something like YOU, Lupin."
Fi whipped around to see Severus leaning casually against the nearest bookshelf, glaring at Remus with his cold
black eyes. Remus shrugged. "I'll take that as a compliment, Severus," he said calmly.
"What, not cheering Aaron and Lucious on?" Fiona said stiffly. He had been unusually unpleasant since she'd turned
him down for the Halloween dance.
"Actually, Professor Blasphen asked me to come find you. Slytherins ARE supposed to support their house, you
know." A hint of a smile crossed his face--but not a warm one. "I expect she'll be MOST displeased to find that
you were absent from the game to sit and chat in the library with a GRYFFINDOR."
Fiona shrugged, beyond caring. "She's 'most displeased' with the mere sight of me. I don't really care at this
point."
"Ahh, but see, it's not YOU who needs to care. Our beastly little friend here will be in trouble for detaining you.
He doesn't get along very well with Professor Blasphen, either. She might just have to take a few points from
Gryffindor, you know."
Fiona smiled sweetly and spat out a rather nasty insult at Severus--in English--before giving Remus an apologetic
look and gathering her books. "Okay, Snape, have it your way. Let me put away my books and I'll come watch the
Testosterone-pumped trolls do their thing."
Severus gave her a rather startled look, both from being called "Snape" instead of his first name, and also from
her little interpretation of quidditch. It didn't bother her, though--Remus was covering a smile with one
of his large hands. So it was worth it.
She stood from her seat and brushed past Severus with a lofty expression on her face before slamming her side
into the door to open it. Once in the hallway, she winced from the slight ache it had caused, but hey, she'd made
her point. What did he think he was doing, monitoring her like that? As if she couldn't take care of herself.
And threatening to get REMUS into trouble was low. Very low. Why was he doing this? Fiona shook her head, angrily
chucking her books onto her bed, and completely oblivious to the conversation taking place in the library now that
she'd left.
***
"What do you think you're DOING, keeping her away from the match? YOU may not appreciate Slytherin, but if she's
in this house, she needs to support it." Severus looked extremely miffed, to say the least.
Remus sighed. "If you were actually listening to our conversation, which I have no doubt you were, then you know
I was TRYING to get her to go to the match, and to respect your house. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go
back to my common room--"
"Not so fast, Lupin! Have you ever even THOUGHT about the possibilities of this? Of what COULD happen to her?"
Remus bristled. "What d'you mean?" he asked, knowing perfectly well where this conversation was going.
"What if you attacked her? Bit her? KILLED her? You're putting her in danger by letting her get attatched to you.
What if something were to happen?"
Remus scowled, losing his usual calmness. "She's not attatched..." he said impatiently.
Severus snorted. "'Not attatched?' You saw her. She was sitting about six inches away from you before I--"
"Might I suggest, 'allowed my scent to wander'? You probably scared her off, swooping over like some overgrown,
smelly nocturnal animal." Remus was standing now, eye to eye with Snape.
Severus sneered. "--Whatever. The point is, you're a danger to her. Stop playing with your prey."
Remus' jaw dropped, an expression he usually considered uncouth. Remembering this, he quickly closed it. "You
are way out of line, Snape," he growled.
"Am I?" he murmured. "What happens when she gets curious as to where you go each month? What happens when she
decides to follow you, O Feral One, and finds out the same thing I did last year? James won't be there to save
her, too."
And then it finally dawned on Remus: "You're jealous, aren't you?"
Snape raised his eyebrows. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm merely concerned that you might inflict pain and
misery, or even DEATH, upon some ignorant girl who's too busy fawning over you to notice the danger."
Remus said nothing. He crammed his books into his bag, trying not to allow his hands to shake, and stalked
stiffly out of the library, leaving a rather satisfied-looking Severus behind him.
***
Fiona didn't even look up from her book as Lily danced through the door to their dormitory. "How was the match?"
she managed, around a mouthful of cookie. The house elves were always so kind to her; perhaps because they didn't
have to speak English to her...
Lily sighed, evoking soft giggles from Fi. "It was great."
"Who won?"
"Uhm...I don't...quite know..."
Fiona laughed loudly, offering Lily a cookie, which she took. Lily grinned, examining the cookie thoughtfully.
"How was the tutoring session? Or did you learn anything ACADEMIC?"
Fi made a rather disgusted face and threw a pillow at her friend. "Actually, all I learned was that Slytherin,
supposedly, isn't as much of a rat's nest as I, being the Slytherin, think. This theory was only proven wrong
as our dear friend Severus chose that moment to show up and threaten to get Remus into trouble for 'detaining
me'. Can you BELIEVE that?"
Lily shook her head, an annoyed expression on her face. "That git."
"I know!" Fi exclaimed. "So I left. I grabbed my books and said something nasty to him--yes, in English--and
just marched right out. I do believe he was quite surprised. Oh, and I called him 'Snape' instead of the usual
'Severus.'"
"He can't've liked that," Lily said, offering a small smile. "Not to bring you down for showing that idiot
what you're made of, but did it occur to you that...Oh, I dunno...Never mind."
"No, don't you 'never mind' me. What?" Fiona was dead serious now, sitting on her bed and dragging a brush
through her impossibly thick hair.
"You mean it's not occurred to you yet? Oh, Fi, you're SO oblivious..."
"Hey, I'm not the one who went to the match and doesn't know the score."
"Point taken. But...FI...Honestly. Snape's jealous. I thought you'd know, considering the fact that he asked
you to the ball, only to be turned down and watch you then dance with Remus instead." Lily stated all of this
in a very sweet voice, as though explaining that one and one was two to a small child.
"Well, life's tough and then you die. Relationships don't always work, especially when you're a slimy, greasy
little mass of nastiness, like he is. I need a cookie."
Lily sighed exasperatedly as Fi crammed another cookie in her mouth. "Fi, he and Remus are already on bad terms.
What d'you think happened after you left?"
"Remus probably told the slimeball to keep his nose in his own business. Or, he could have merely left for
Gryffindor tower."
Lily sighed. "Fine. I guess you're right. It's just...Be careful, okay? Those guys are quite full of themselves,
you know. They will fight to the bitter end. And that's not just James and Severus, either. Remus, though he
hates being violent, does tend to have a temper. And, if Severus hit a tender subject, like his family's...em...
social status, it could be a problem." (A/N: Remember, guys, Lily doesn't know about Remus yet, just the boys.
'Kay?)
"He'll be okay." Fiona shoved the last half of her cookie into her mouth and brushed the crumbs off her
robes.
"Yes. I suppose."
At that moment, Narcissa entered the room, small pointed face wearing an expression of one who smells something
unpleasant. "I'm to tell you two that we're having a party to celebrate the victory of Slytherin."
"Oh, so SLYTHERIN won!" Fi said, grinning. "May as well, don't you think, Lily?"
"Sure, we'll be right out." Lily made shooing motions with her hands at Narcissa, whose look of loathing deepened
as she regretfully left the room. Lily sighed. "Fiona, just...Be careful. This is quite a situation, you know."
"Stop worrying. Remus is a big boy; he can take care of himself. I'm going out there. Why don't you change out
of your Date With James clothes and get into something less...purple."
Lily grinned as Fiona left for the common room. "Yeah, I'll stop worrying, Fi," she muttered, grin faltering, "but
sometimes I think Remus NEEDS someone to care for him..."
***
Fiona sighed, grabbing a bottle of butterbeer and sitting down against the wall. Snape was avoiding eye-contact,
but Fiona glared just the same, even at his back. The git. Why couldn't he keep his nose in his own business?
She noticed that he was standing with Lucious and Aaron. Quite normal, really, but there was something odd about
the way they were whispering together. Obviously they were plotting, but against whom? Fi's curiosity was peaked,
so she moved a little closer. Lucious noticed and they all turned to glare at her before retreating to a more
distant corner. Fiona sighed. Maybe, just maybe...No, she couldn't. What if she lost control? What if they...
Well, for that matter, what would she care if the faeries DID wreak havoc in the Slytherin common? Sirius,
anyway, would think it a brilliant joke, and would probably take credit for it, not even knowing who REALLY did
it...
No! she told herself. No, no, no! Think...Is there ANY other way? Remembering what Lily had said, Fiona became
concerned. What if they were going to do something to Remus?
Closing her eyes in concentration, she called. There was a small popping noise that only she heard, and a small,
quite literally flaming red creature appeared, fluttering its tiny orange and yellow wings. Fiona paused, just
taking in the pixy's appearance. She (it could only be female) was small, with shiny dark eyes and a pointy
little face, and hair composed of flames that whipped around her head, giving her a somewhat chaotic look. Fi
remembered what was happening when the pixy put her minute little hands on her hips and said in a tiny voice,
"Well? I answered, didn't I, Fae-speaker?"
"Oh," Fi muttered, careful not to allow anyone in the room to see her talking to what appeared to be thin air. "I
was wondering, if it wasn't too much trouble, could..."
"Well, spit it out," the pixy said. "I've not got all century."
"I will, I'm getting there," Fi said, rather annoyed at this small being's impatience. "I need to know what those
boys are saying over there. It...It sounds sort of silly, I know, but it may be important. Could you please do
it for me--they can't see you. Please, erm..."
"Firebell."
"Firebell, then. Would you, please?"
Firebell sighed, flames whipping about her small face. "Very well. Since you asked nicely."
"Thank you," Fi breathed. "Emm...I'll get you something to eat, if you like. How does chocolate sound?"
Firebell brightened greatly. "Well, then, if there's CHOCOLATE involved...I've not had chocolate in at least fifty
years...Mortal food, you know."
"Yes, well..." Fi muttered distractedly. "Please find out what they're saying, while I go get you some food. Okay?"
"Very well." The pixy fluttered off, and Fi managed to find a chocolate frog among the other party treats. After
a moment, Firebell returned and grabbed the frog. "Well, they're discussing something about a werewolf, and setting
a big brute of a dog loose. Lots of violence, lots of evil laughter. Unpleasant little things, humans, if you
ask me."
"Gee, thanks." She thought a moment. "Werewolf?" Fi muttered vaguely. "I didn't know there was a werewolf nearby...
Well, maybe in the forest, but..."
"His name was strange," Firebell said, mouth full of chocolate. "Like, 'Loopy' or 'Loony' or something."
"Lupin?" Fi suggested, going cold all over.
"Yes, that was it," the pixy said cheerily, dusting her little hands off. "Well, thanks for the chocolate,
fae-speaker. You're one of the few nice humans I've met."
Fi nodded numbly, not watching as the pixy dissappeared with a small pop. Remus, a werewolf? And something to do
with a big dog? It didn't make sense...Remus, a WEREWOLF? No...He would have told her, right? They told each
other everything. Right? RIGHT?
Chapters 3 & 4
by Veralidaine
Part 3
Fiona sat in the high-backed armchair by the fire, trying to ignore the creepy way the shadows danced
about the dungeon of a common room. No matter that it had been nearly two-and-a-half months since she'd
started at Hogwarts; the Slytherin common room still managed to give her "the collywobbles," as Lily
quite jokingly put it.
Though she was hard at work solving an Arithmancy problem, she found her mind kept wandering to the
upcoming Halloween dance. Not that she had any interest at all in going. Lily had managed to convince
her to come along, just to see Sirius, James, and Remus, and to meet another friend of theirs, Peter
Pettigrew.
As it was, Fiona had agreed, just so long as no dancing whatsoever was involved. Lily had assured her
that she would not have to dance if she didn't want to, but Fi suspected that before the evening was
over, Lily would be begging her to dance with someone, "just for fun!" And Fi would probably purse her
lips, cross her arms and legs, and be her usual anti-social self (A/N: Haha, Robyn! Sorry, inside
joke...). Fiona sighed, scribbling down the last few numbers and cramming the rubber stopper into her
ink bottle. Fun beyond belief...
She was so lost in thought that she nearly jumped two feet in the air as someone other than Lily
approached her chair. Recovering enough to look up, she noticed that it was the last person she'd EVER
expect to talk to her--Severus Snape. Fiona quickly adopted her usual "Oh, it's YOU" facial expression,
and gave an impatient "Yes?"
He looked extremely uncomfortable. More uncomfortable and nervous, in fact, then Fiona ever remembered
seeing him. There wasn't a nasty sneer playing across his lips, and for some reason the glittery black
eyes wouldn't meet hers and instead examined the numerous cracks in the ceiling. He mumbled something
incoherent.
"Sorry?" Fiona asked, somewhat curious.
"Wouldyougotothedancewime?"
A wave of utter--what was it, numbness?--swept over Fi. Severus Snape had just asked her to the Halloween
dance. Fiona shook her head, not quite sure how to take this. He looked quite pathetic, actually, and if
her own face hadn't been burning from the embarrassment of even being ASKED to go, she'd have found the
way he was shuffling his feet very amusing. Heck, she would have taken all the pleasure in the world in
MOCKING him. But now she felt oddly sorry for him.
"I can't, Severus. I...emm...WOULD, but I've decided not to go with anyone this time. I'm just going by
myself, and only just 'cause Lily wants me to go. Emm...Sorry..."
He made an indistinct noise in his throat and swept off somewhere into the shadows of Slytherin House.
Fiona let out a deep breath. What had THAT been about? What had possessed him to--
"Whoa..."
Fi turned an exasperated look on Lily, who apparently had been standing in the nearest shady corner. "You'll
catch flies if you don't shut your mouth."
Lily obediently clamped her mouth shut and, grinning, sat in the chair next to Fiona. "Can you BELIEVE
that? SNAPE! I mean..." She shook her head. "Who'd've thought it..."
"Certainly not I," Fi muttered. "Gah, what was I supposed to say? I mean..."
Lily suppressed a giggle. "What'll you do if someone you WANT to go with asks you?"
"First off," Fiona muttered, flipping through her potions text, "there's no one I want to go with, as of
now. Secondly...Well, there is no Secondly, really..." She shrugged. "I don't particularly want to do
this, but I'm eternally grateful for the lovely hex you put on Narcissa. That was simply beautiful."
Lily giggled. "Remember the--the slapping noises!"
Fiona grinned, holding back laughter. "And the look on Lucious' face the next morning!"
Lily bit her lip, giggling softly. "Yes, that was one of my better little deeds, wasn't it?"
"Certainly. So, I may as well ask: What do I have to wear to this thing?"
***
It was Halloween night, and Lily was adding the finishing touches to Fiona. Dressed in plain, deep blue
dress robes, Fiona was seated on Lily's bed in their dormitories. Narcissa, in her usual black, was
applying layer after layer of make-up, while the other girls giggled over the boys they were soon to
meet up with.
"C'mon, Fi, just a little! It'll barely show up!"
"NO!"
"It's just lipstick..."
Fiona had managed to chase Lily away when threatened with mascara, but for some reason, her friend was
much more persistent about lipstick. Fiona crossed her arms and put on her annoyed face. "No, Lily. I
don't wear make-up."
"But it would look SO good--"
"No."
Lily heaved a great sigh. "Fine."
Once finished convincing Fi to leave her hair down, allowing to cascade in dark waves down her back, Lily
grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of Slytherin house and towards the Great Hall.
Upon entering, Fi had to admit that the Great Hall looked stupendous. The live bats that flew back and
forth across the enchanted ceiling, and the cool, crisp breeze that magically played about the Hall gave
the perfect atmosphere for the holiday. Lily, still with an iron grip on her wrist, pulled her towards
the far end of the hall, where four boys were sitting--three of whom very familiar.
"FI!" Sirius gave one of his famous broad grins and made a point of kissing her hand in a very mock-dignified
way. "How simply SPLENDID to see you here!"
James, who had been busy giving Lily a quick hug, turned to Fiona. "Hello again! You know, we never get
time to talk after Care of Magical Creatures. Kettleburn keeps us 'til the last minute!"
Fiona nodded. "Yeah, I know. Maybe we should make time to do homework in the library or something."
At this point, Fiona turned to see Remus, waiting patiently for her to notice him. And she did. "Hullo,
Remus."
"Hi," he said in his usual mild voice. "What, you don't have a date?"
"'Fraid not." Fiona shot a stern look at Lily, who was apparently dying to tell them about Snape. The
redhead was smiling somewhat impishly at Fi and looked on the verge of shouting to the entire hall. Fi
raised an eyebrow at her and she shrugged, grinning, and mouthed, 'I won't...Don't worry.'
James gave Lily an inquiring look. "What's up?"
"Nothing," Lily muttered, catching Fi's eye and grinning.
The last boy had joined the group. "Uhm...Hullo, I'm Peter," he said nervously.
Fiona shook his hand firmly. "I'm Fi. Good to meet you."
He gave a weak smile and walked off to talk to some blonde girl across the hall. Sirius, meanwhile, was
on tiptoe, trying to see over everyone's heads. "Where's Annelle?"
James snickered. "I don't know, Padfoot. Did you arrange to meet her?"
"Maybe," Sirius muttered vaguely. "Ah! There she is!"
Ignoring the look of utter confusion on Fiona's face at what James had called him, Sirius strode across
the hall to where a grinning, purple-robed Annelle was waiting, looking quite smug. Lily giggled and
shook her head. "She only was late to make him squirm."
"And it worked, didn't it?" James asked, grinning.
Lily sighed. "I guess. Ooh, the music's starting! D'you want to dance?"
"Aren't I supposed to be the one to ask you?"
"New rules. Women's rights and such. C'mon!" With that, Lily now deposited the iron grip on James' arm
and led him out onto the floor, where a rather slow waltz was playing. Sirius and Annelle were tangoing
across the floor, scattering students and teachers alike.
Fiona sighed. "Well, I guess I'll go sit down, then."
Remus gave her a sideways look. "Why? Go ask someone to dance! You heard Lily--women's rights and such."
Fiona shook her head violently, her hair whipping around. "No, I couldn't."
"Sure you could!"
"No, I..." Fiona shrugged nervously. "I can't, REALLY."
"Why not?"
"I can't dance," she muttered.
"Sorry, didn't catch that."
"I can't dance!"
"Oh." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then apparently came to a conclusion, because he turned to her.
"Well, that can be remedied. Fi, d'you want to dance?"
Not sure if he was serious, she looked up. He looked serious enough. "Maybe you didn't catch this: I
can't..."
"Yes, you can! C'mon!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out towards the dance floor.
"No, Remus! No, I...My ankles are weak, and...My knees don't work properly, and...Oh, this is silly,
but..." She finally gave up protesting as he pulled her out to the middle of the floor.
"Now," he said, assuming a businesslike manner, "one hand goes on my shoulder, and you hold MY hand with
the other." She did as she was told, blushing as he put a hand on her waist. WHY did she blush? WHY then?
She hated not having control over what her face did. As if spots weren't enough...
"Right," he said. "Now, your feet go sort of opposite mine, okay? It's a three-step. One-two-three, one-
two-three..."
Gradually, and after tripping over herself several times, Fiona managed to get the dance down. She wasn't
perfect at it, but she could manage without stepping on Remus' feet. Even though she still had to count
"One-two-three, one-two-three..." out loud. Remus found it quite amusing.
"It's not a test, you know," he said, grinning at the top of her head--she was busy watching her feet to
keep from tripping, all the while counting. "Some of it's making it up as you go along."
She gave him a look, and in doing so, lost concentration and tripped slightly. "I'm not creative enough."
That wasn't really true...Well, maybe with dance. Fiona, besides playing several instruments, loved to
paint and draw. She was actually QUITE creative, but dancing, and with REMUS, for that matter, made her
feel highly self-conscious and uncreative.
"Oh, come on. You've honestly NEVER danced before?"
"Well..." Fiona stopped counting for a moment. "We have parties, sometimes, at home. Mostly, I play the
music, along with my Da, and everyone else dances. I think I danced once, with Da, but they had to
practically drag me away from my flute." She was quiet, thinking for a moment, about that party. And
about the various times she'd gone out at night to dance in the faery rings...No! She wouldn't think about
that!
"I probably oughtn't say anything, but you're dancing, Fi."
It was true. She'd been distracted enough that she was no longer counting, and yet she hadn't tripped yet!
As soon as that was realized, she became so astonished that she did trip. And quite thoroughly, too.
Remus managed to catch her before she fell flat on her face, causing her to fight turning crimson again,
and laughed as they walked off the dance floor. "There," he said. "Now you know how to dance. So, why
don't you go ask someone?"
"Are you kidding?" she asked, crossing her arms. "That was exhausting! Do you have any idea at'all how
much work I put into that just then? I'm not nearly coordinated enough for that sort of thing! Do you
HONESTLY expect me to go ASK to do it AGAIN? I mean--" she stopped, realizing that he was holding back
laughter. "What's so amusing?"
He shrugged. "You are. You honestly haven't ever done this before, have you? Other than with your father,
I mean."
Fiona put her hands on her hips, looking for a good response. "No," she managed. Lame.
He gave his usual quiet smile, apparently over his sudden bout of uncharacteristic--what, flirting? No,
Fi thought. Why would he?
"Well, you'll simply have to practice, then." He shrugged.
"'Practice?'" Fiona repeated. "Hmph. I've got another month-and-a-half before I need to worry about the
Yule Ball. Which I may not even go to."
"You're not going?"
"Did I say that?"
"No, but you implied it. Will you please come?"
"Why?" Fiona asked, somewhat bitterly. "So I can trip over myself?"
"No, so I'll have someone to dance with." He grinned. "Other than Peter."
Fiona gave him a skeptical look. "You actually WANT to dance with me again? Remus, I worry for your sanity."
He shook his head. "I would love to dance with you again. Will you please come next time?" Fiona didn't
respond, and he sighed deeply. "You're going to make this hard for me, aren't you?"
"What?" she muttered, completely mystified.
He sighed again. "D'you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?"
There was that numbness again. But this time, it was different. Something sort of--giddy, maybe?--overtook
her stomach, and it was all she could do to keep from emitting a little giggle, like those mindless girls
in her dormitory. "I...Yes. Yes, I'll go. With you. Uh-huh." She allowed herself a smallish smile before
turning and practically skipping out of the Great Hall with the other students, who were now leaving the
ball.
Though she didn't see it, Remus smiled too, exceptionally glad that his skin wasn't nearly as pale as hers,
or this evening's little bout of Sirius-ness would have left him brighter red than the Gryffindor Banner.
Also unseen to the both of them was Severus Snape, who was eyeing Remus Lupin with much more dislike than
was usual. To put it LIGHTLY.
***
Part 4
***
"Fi!"
Fiona turned, already knowing who'd called her. "What's up?"
Lily trotted up to her, grinning. "First quidditch match of the year! Tomorrow afternoon! Ravenclaw versus
Slytherin. You gonna come?" (A/N: Work with me here, guys. I know Quidditch is really in the spring, but
for the sake of the story...I JUST GOT A PLOT FIGURED OUT! CUT ME SOME SLACK!)
Fiona bit her lip, thinking. "What time?"
"Emm...Oh, yeah, one-thirty. Right after lunch."
"Oh," Fi muttered, going distinctly red in the face. "Uhm...I...uh..."
"What?" Lily asked, detecting a secret. "Come on, Fi, tell me."
Fiona shot her a look--that happened a lot with her and Lily--and crossed her arms. "I...have a tutoring
session tomorrow. After lunch. In the library. For Defense."
"With--?" Lily prompted, causing Fi to blush a deeper shade of crimson.
"Remus," she muttered. Rather embarrassed by Lily's giggling at this, she pursed her lips. "Well, he IS
the top student, you know. He's really good at Defense. REALLY," she added when Lily gave her a skeptical
glance.
"If you say so," she said. "Well, try to make it to the match, okay? James is coming--"
"Then you won't have time to talk to me anyway."
Now it was Lily's turn to blush. "Okay, I'll stop teasing you if you stop teasing me."
"Well that's no fun."
"You're right. So, about this tutoring..."
"Don't even go there."
***
The next afternoon, Fiona wolfed down her lunch and found Remus, and together they headed off for the
library. Settling in a corner table, they could hear the rest of the school heading out the doors and
into the stands.
"You're sure you don't want to go watch the match? Slytherin is playing, after all." Remus unpacked his
textbooks as he spoke, stacking them on the table.
Fiona shrugged. "I don't care about quidditch. Or Slytherin. So I can miss the match." She looked up,
scowling.
Remus was giving her a sympathetic look. "Fi, you're supposed to have...well...LOYALTY towards your
house, whether you want to be there or not. It's...I dunno. You shoudn't feel so horrible about Slytherin."
"Why in the world shouldn't I? It's where all the darkest wizards have come from, isn't it? And I'm there
now."
He sighed, setting his now empty bookbag on the floor next to his chair. "Fiona, you're NOT a dark witch,
okay?"
"How do you know?" she asked stubbornly, not really expecting him to humor her with an answer. After all,
she was being rather childish.
But he did. "Because dark witches and wizards don't WANT to be good. You do," he answered mildly.
She was about to retort with another "how do you know?", but he silenced her with a look. "Fiona, McGonagall
even said that each of the houses have produced wonderful witches and wizards. Not ALL of the Slytherins
turn evil. Look at Lily--she's not evil, is she?"
"Well, no, but--"
"Then you can't stereotype the Slytherins. Personally, I can see why you don't think you belong there. I think
you and Lily both belong in another house. Maybe Ravenclaw. But Lily tends to be somewhat short-tempered and
is QUITE capable of being vengeful. And she's clever and somewhat sly, you know that. Maybe that's what the
hat saw in her. As for you, what's your bloodline?"
Usually Fiona would have taken a bit of offense at this, but Remus was different. He NEVER mocked anyone for
their family. "Well, I'm Muggle-born. Da's a farmer's son, Ma's from Dublin."
"You're sure?"
"Well, yes. I DO know my own bloodlines, after all." Fiona grinned, but stopped quickly. "See? Lily has
Slytherin traits, so even though she's Muggle-born, she has a reason for being there. I'm a Muggle-born
Irish farmgirl. I mean..." she hesitated. "Do I have...You know...Slytherin-ish traits?"
"Not that I'm aware of." He opened one of his books. "You have a bit of a temper, but so does James, and he's
basically the super-Gryffindor. Maybe it was bungled. I doubt it, though. That hat's not ever made a mistake.
Everyone has been put in their house for a very good reason, though they may not know it yet."
"I hate it when you act so philosophical."
He shrugged. "My point is, you can have friends and enemies anywhere, and you shouldn't stereotype people, like
the Slytherins, based on prats like Malfoy, Snape, and Parkinson. Okay?"
"Yes, but why am I in Slytherin, then?"
He looked at her for a moment, forgetting his books. After a moment, he sighed. "I don't know. Like I said,
you'll probably know someday."
Fiona made a derisive noise in her throat, but nodded. She jumped as a voice behind her sneered, "Wise words for
something like YOU, Lupin."
Fi whipped around to see Severus leaning casually against the nearest bookshelf, glaring at Remus with his cold
black eyes. Remus shrugged. "I'll take that as a compliment, Severus," he said calmly.
"What, not cheering Aaron and Lucious on?" Fiona said stiffly. He had been unusually unpleasant since she'd turned
him down for the Halloween dance.
"Actually, Professor Blasphen asked me to come find you. Slytherins ARE supposed to support their house, you
know." A hint of a smile crossed his face--but not a warm one. "I expect she'll be MOST displeased to find that
you were absent from the game to sit and chat in the library with a GRYFFINDOR."
Fiona shrugged, beyond caring. "She's 'most displeased' with the mere sight of me. I don't really care at this
point."
"Ahh, but see, it's not YOU who needs to care. Our beastly little friend here will be in trouble for detaining you.
He doesn't get along very well with Professor Blasphen, either. She might just have to take a few points from
Gryffindor, you know."
Fiona smiled sweetly and spat out a rather nasty insult at Severus--in English--before giving Remus an apologetic
look and gathering her books. "Okay, Snape, have it your way. Let me put away my books and I'll come watch the
Testosterone-pumped trolls do their thing."
Severus gave her a rather startled look, both from being called "Snape" instead of his first name, and also from
her little interpretation of quidditch. It didn't bother her, though--Remus was covering a smile with one
of his large hands. So it was worth it.
She stood from her seat and brushed past Severus with a lofty expression on her face before slamming her side
into the door to open it. Once in the hallway, she winced from the slight ache it had caused, but hey, she'd made
her point. What did he think he was doing, monitoring her like that? As if she couldn't take care of herself.
And threatening to get REMUS into trouble was low. Very low. Why was he doing this? Fiona shook her head, angrily
chucking her books onto her bed, and completely oblivious to the conversation taking place in the library now that
she'd left.
***
"What do you think you're DOING, keeping her away from the match? YOU may not appreciate Slytherin, but if she's
in this house, she needs to support it." Severus looked extremely miffed, to say the least.
Remus sighed. "If you were actually listening to our conversation, which I have no doubt you were, then you know
I was TRYING to get her to go to the match, and to respect your house. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go
back to my common room--"
"Not so fast, Lupin! Have you ever even THOUGHT about the possibilities of this? Of what COULD happen to her?"
Remus bristled. "What d'you mean?" he asked, knowing perfectly well where this conversation was going.
"What if you attacked her? Bit her? KILLED her? You're putting her in danger by letting her get attatched to you.
What if something were to happen?"
Remus scowled, losing his usual calmness. "She's not attatched..." he said impatiently.
Severus snorted. "'Not attatched?' You saw her. She was sitting about six inches away from you before I--"
"Might I suggest, 'allowed my scent to wander'? You probably scared her off, swooping over like some overgrown,
smelly nocturnal animal." Remus was standing now, eye to eye with Snape.
Severus sneered. "--Whatever. The point is, you're a danger to her. Stop playing with your prey."
Remus' jaw dropped, an expression he usually considered uncouth. Remembering this, he quickly closed it. "You
are way out of line, Snape," he growled.
"Am I?" he murmured. "What happens when she gets curious as to where you go each month? What happens when she
decides to follow you, O Feral One, and finds out the same thing I did last year? James won't be there to save
her, too."
And then it finally dawned on Remus: "You're jealous, aren't you?"
Snape raised his eyebrows. "Don't flatter yourself. I'm merely concerned that you might inflict pain and
misery, or even DEATH, upon some ignorant girl who's too busy fawning over you to notice the danger."
Remus said nothing. He crammed his books into his bag, trying not to allow his hands to shake, and stalked
stiffly out of the library, leaving a rather satisfied-looking Severus behind him.
***
Fiona didn't even look up from her book as Lily danced through the door to their dormitory. "How was the match?"
she managed, around a mouthful of cookie. The house elves were always so kind to her; perhaps because they didn't
have to speak English to her...
Lily sighed, evoking soft giggles from Fi. "It was great."
"Who won?"
"Uhm...I don't...quite know..."
Fiona laughed loudly, offering Lily a cookie, which she took. Lily grinned, examining the cookie thoughtfully.
"How was the tutoring session? Or did you learn anything ACADEMIC?"
Fi made a rather disgusted face and threw a pillow at her friend. "Actually, all I learned was that Slytherin,
supposedly, isn't as much of a rat's nest as I, being the Slytherin, think. This theory was only proven wrong
as our dear friend Severus chose that moment to show up and threaten to get Remus into trouble for 'detaining
me'. Can you BELIEVE that?"
Lily shook her head, an annoyed expression on her face. "That git."
"I know!" Fi exclaimed. "So I left. I grabbed my books and said something nasty to him--yes, in English--and
just marched right out. I do believe he was quite surprised. Oh, and I called him 'Snape' instead of the usual
'Severus.'"
"He can't've liked that," Lily said, offering a small smile. "Not to bring you down for showing that idiot
what you're made of, but did it occur to you that...Oh, I dunno...Never mind."
"No, don't you 'never mind' me. What?" Fiona was dead serious now, sitting on her bed and dragging a brush
through her impossibly thick hair.
"You mean it's not occurred to you yet? Oh, Fi, you're SO oblivious..."
"Hey, I'm not the one who went to the match and doesn't know the score."
"Point taken. But...FI...Honestly. Snape's jealous. I thought you'd know, considering the fact that he asked
you to the ball, only to be turned down and watch you then dance with Remus instead." Lily stated all of this
in a very sweet voice, as though explaining that one and one was two to a small child.
"Well, life's tough and then you die. Relationships don't always work, especially when you're a slimy, greasy
little mass of nastiness, like he is. I need a cookie."
Lily sighed exasperatedly as Fi crammed another cookie in her mouth. "Fi, he and Remus are already on bad terms.
What d'you think happened after you left?"
"Remus probably told the slimeball to keep his nose in his own business. Or, he could have merely left for
Gryffindor tower."
Lily sighed. "Fine. I guess you're right. It's just...Be careful, okay? Those guys are quite full of themselves,
you know. They will fight to the bitter end. And that's not just James and Severus, either. Remus, though he
hates being violent, does tend to have a temper. And, if Severus hit a tender subject, like his family's...em...
social status, it could be a problem." (A/N: Remember, guys, Lily doesn't know about Remus yet, just the boys.
'Kay?)
"He'll be okay." Fiona shoved the last half of her cookie into her mouth and brushed the crumbs off her
robes.
"Yes. I suppose."
At that moment, Narcissa entered the room, small pointed face wearing an expression of one who smells something
unpleasant. "I'm to tell you two that we're having a party to celebrate the victory of Slytherin."
"Oh, so SLYTHERIN won!" Fi said, grinning. "May as well, don't you think, Lily?"
"Sure, we'll be right out." Lily made shooing motions with her hands at Narcissa, whose look of loathing deepened
as she regretfully left the room. Lily sighed. "Fiona, just...Be careful. This is quite a situation, you know."
"Stop worrying. Remus is a big boy; he can take care of himself. I'm going out there. Why don't you change out
of your Date With James clothes and get into something less...purple."
Lily grinned as Fiona left for the common room. "Yeah, I'll stop worrying, Fi," she muttered, grin faltering, "but
sometimes I think Remus NEEDS someone to care for him..."
***
Fiona sighed, grabbing a bottle of butterbeer and sitting down against the wall. Snape was avoiding eye-contact,
but Fiona glared just the same, even at his back. The git. Why couldn't he keep his nose in his own business?
She noticed that he was standing with Lucious and Aaron. Quite normal, really, but there was something odd about
the way they were whispering together. Obviously they were plotting, but against whom? Fi's curiosity was peaked,
so she moved a little closer. Lucious noticed and they all turned to glare at her before retreating to a more
distant corner. Fiona sighed. Maybe, just maybe...No, she couldn't. What if she lost control? What if they...
Well, for that matter, what would she care if the faeries DID wreak havoc in the Slytherin common? Sirius,
anyway, would think it a brilliant joke, and would probably take credit for it, not even knowing who REALLY did
it...
No! she told herself. No, no, no! Think...Is there ANY other way? Remembering what Lily had said, Fiona became
concerned. What if they were going to do something to Remus?
Closing her eyes in concentration, she called. There was a small popping noise that only she heard, and a small,
quite literally flaming red creature appeared, fluttering its tiny orange and yellow wings. Fiona paused, just
taking in the pixy's appearance. She (it could only be female) was small, with shiny dark eyes and a pointy
little face, and hair composed of flames that whipped around her head, giving her a somewhat chaotic look. Fi
remembered what was happening when the pixy put her minute little hands on her hips and said in a tiny voice,
"Well? I answered, didn't I, Fae-speaker?"
"Oh," Fi muttered, careful not to allow anyone in the room to see her talking to what appeared to be thin air. "I
was wondering, if it wasn't too much trouble, could..."
"Well, spit it out," the pixy said. "I've not got all century."
"I will, I'm getting there," Fi said, rather annoyed at this small being's impatience. "I need to know what those
boys are saying over there. It...It sounds sort of silly, I know, but it may be important. Could you please do
it for me--they can't see you. Please, erm..."
"Firebell."
"Firebell, then. Would you, please?"
Firebell sighed, flames whipping about her small face. "Very well. Since you asked nicely."
"Thank you," Fi breathed. "Emm...I'll get you something to eat, if you like. How does chocolate sound?"
Firebell brightened greatly. "Well, then, if there's CHOCOLATE involved...I've not had chocolate in at least fifty
years...Mortal food, you know."
"Yes, well..." Fi muttered distractedly. "Please find out what they're saying, while I go get you some food. Okay?"
"Very well." The pixy fluttered off, and Fi managed to find a chocolate frog among the other party treats. After
a moment, Firebell returned and grabbed the frog. "Well, they're discussing something about a werewolf, and setting
a big brute of a dog loose. Lots of violence, lots of evil laughter. Unpleasant little things, humans, if you
ask me."
"Gee, thanks." She thought a moment. "Werewolf?" Fi muttered vaguely. "I didn't know there was a werewolf nearby...
Well, maybe in the forest, but..."
"His name was strange," Firebell said, mouth full of chocolate. "Like, 'Loopy' or 'Loony' or something."
"Lupin?" Fi suggested, going cold all over.
"Yes, that was it," the pixy said cheerily, dusting her little hands off. "Well, thanks for the chocolate,
fae-speaker. You're one of the few nice humans I've met."
Fi nodded numbly, not watching as the pixy dissappeared with a small pop. Remus, a werewolf? And something to do
with a big dog? It didn't make sense...Remus, a WEREWOLF? No...He would have told her, right? They told each
other everything. Right? RIGHT?