Chapter III + Detention/More Trouble



Maria began polishing a trophy diligently. Flich was on the other side of the room, muttering something like "Tardiness".

The door of the trophy room opened, and in came Sirius Black.

"'Bout Time." Flich growled. Sirius shrugged and grinned at Maria. "You know what to do." Flich continued, walking out of the room. "Polish, no magic. I will be checking up on you 2 later." With that the door shut loudly.

"I didn't know you had detention too." Sirius said, opening their conversation. "What did you do?"

"I-" Maria started. She didn't want to tell him the real reason. "I was just wandering around the halls. I couldn't sleep."

"Ah!" Sirius said, smiling knowingly. "Bad dreams?"

"You can say that." Maria answered, smiling a bit.

"Well, I was caught wandering around too." Sirius said. "I was going to the kitchens. My stomach can be really whiny in the night."

"Who asked you?" Maria said, smiling widely.

"I wanted to let you know." Sirius shrugged, flashing Maria the "Sirius Black" grin. "Oh, and don't polish it like that. You should do this," Sirius said, giving her an example. "It's easier, faster, and doesn't use up much energy."

"I see you're a professional." Maria said, raising her eyebrow.

"You can say that." Sirius said, wiping dust off a very old trophy. "Now, this trophy's tough. I think it's the oldest one. It takes a lot of time to polish it."

Maria laughed. Sirius seemed to be such an easy-going, fun, carefree person. Not to mention extremely funny.

The rest of the detention was actually pretty fun. Maria and Sirius got to know each other better, with a few laughs in here and there. Boy, does Sirius know how to make her laugh. Flich eventually came into the trophy room about 3 hours later, checking on them.

"Alright, it's past midnight. You two can go now." Flich said, glaring at them. Maria and Sirius looked at each other and shrugged. They took their belongings and walked out.

"Bye Mrs. Norris!" Maria said, stroking the cat's back. The cat was known to be an enemy to every student, but it was different with Maria. The cat actually relaxed and let out a soft purr.

Flich gave her a final look of disapproval and Maria and Sirius walked back to the common room.

"You like cats huh?" Sirius asked.

"Love 'em. Got one at home, a black cat named Artemis."

"Do you like dogs?"

"Ugh, hate 'em. Actually, terrified of 'em." Maria added in a small whisper.

"Really? I love dogs. They are so fun and loveable." Sirius said. "Just like me." He added, puffing out his chest.

"Rrriiighhht…" Maria laughed, poking his chest.

"Password?" The Fat lady asked sleepily.

"James Potter worships the great Lily Evans." Sirius said clearly, while Maria looked at him in amusement. The Portrait flew open, and the 2 of them walked into the common room.

"That's what you get for making Lily Evans a prefect, I guess." Sirius shrugged again. "But I think it's hilarious."

"What did James think about it?" Maria asked, plopping down on a soft armchair.

"He was going to change the password into 'Lily Evans worships the great James Potter' but the Head Girl didn't let him." Sirius said, laughing. "Seriously, I will be Best Man in their wedding."

"What made them like this?" Maria asked, suddenly interested in this whole Lily/James craze.

"In first year, I shared a boat with James, Alison and Lily. James pushed Lily into the lake, for no reason, and Lily pulled him in with her." Sirius said thoughtfully. "Then, James started to tease Lily a lot, and I think in second year Lily had a crush on James, But he always had teased her so she started to 'hate' him ever since."

"Did James ever like Lily?" Maria asked.

"Well, every time me or Remus asks, he'll answer 'No, I don't like Carrots or pickles."

"Hah!" Maria laughed. "Those two amuse me so much. Thank you for 'welcoming' me into Gryffindor. I always thought you guys would've ignored me, since I was a Slytherin before."

"Why would we do that?" Sirius asked. "Yes, we rather dislike Slytherins, especially by the names of Snape and Malfoy, but you're not one of them." Maria let out a laugh.

"Well, thanks for the chat Sirius. Good Night." Maria said, waving goodnight at Sirius.

"Bonne Nuit, Mademoiselle."

***

"I need time to think." Maria thought. "I need to talk to Dumbledore. I need a walk."

Maria decided to walk out on the grounds, it was mid-October and very chilly. Wandering along, she looked up to the bright full moon in the purple sky and shivered as she pulled her cloak on tighter.

"Fancy seeing you here, White. We've missed you a lot, you know."

Maria stopped dead in her tracks. She knew whom that silky voice belonged to, and she knew what he wanted. She wanted to run away, but made the wrong move by turning to face him.

Severus Snape AND Lucius Malfoy.

"Hey White. What Happened to you? Cat got your tongue?" Lucius sneered. Lucius Malfoy was a silver-blond haired 7th year with piercing gray eyes and a high nose. Maria glared at them, and started to walk away, when Severus Snape caught her arm.

"Where are you going, Nellzie?"

Maria continued to glare, feeling the ache in her stomach when he called her by the nickname he made especially for her in third year. Maria struggled in his arms, trying her best to break free.

"Think you can get away from us?" Lucius laughed coldly. Maria growled and kicked Snape right in the ****s.

"OW! YOU FILTHY *****!" Snape screamed, cowering down. Maria took this chance to run. But Malfoy ran after her. "Oi! Come back here, you *****!!"

Maria silently cursed herself for not bringing her wand. She ran, looking back to see Malfoy a few meters behind her. He was getting closer, and if she couldn't gain any more speed he would catch up with her. Maria gasped for air, stopping in her tracks. Malfoy was coming closer, grinning maliciously at her, as if in triumph.

Maria stared at him, somehow she felt like she had these sudden powers with her. She concentrated on his face, before saying loudly, "Petrificus Totalus!"

"Ow, sh*t, WHITE!" Malfoy yelled. Maria looked puzzled for a second, before running away from him as fast as she could. "He's gonna get you, White! Master's gonna get you!" Malfoy yelled after her.

Not knowing where she's was heading, Maria ran at full speed and ended up in a filthy, broken house. She looked inside and found a few broken chairs and tables, with spider webs and lots of dust. She must be inside the shrieking shack.

Maria slumped down on one of the chairs, catching her breath. She prayed for Malfoy and Snape to not be able to find her. But she heard a low growl that made her jump.

There was a werewolf in the corner of the room, heading her way, ready to pounce on her. The werewolf growled again and Maria could see drool coming out of its hungry mouth.

"Okay, this is my death-night. I just know it. I'm going to die, by getting bit by this werewolf. Then Snape and Malfoy will find me, and hand me over to the Voldemort. Oh God, please…" Maria thought.

The werewolf was inching closer. Maria felt tensed up, and her pulse was beating faster.

"Tell my little sister Lucille I will be proud when she gets her letter, tell my older brother Raheim I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to visit him in Australia, Tell my older sister Rhea I'm thankful of all the things she has done for me, Tell Aunt Sabrina I will miss her, and tell Mom and Dad I love them, and not to worry, I will be in heaven (hopefully) waiting for them…" Maria thought again, her eyes blinded by tears. She quickly brushed them away, and sniffed.

Maria looked at the werewolf in the eye, and wondered how somehow she felt a sudden rush through her body, that wasn't a rush of nervousness, or fright. The eyes of the werewolf looked familiar. It was the color of honey. She only knew one person who had eyes like that.

The werewolf was about to bite her, she knew it. When all of a sudden the door of the shrieking shack was broke opened, by 2 large animals.

One was a silver-white stag, which was nudging the werewolf to move away from Maria with its antlers. The other one, was a big black shaggy dog, which was approaching Maria. Maria always had hated dogs, and she was cowering away from it. But this dog just… GRINNED. A dog can't grin! But his one can… Maria somehow felt more relaxed with this dog, and the dog licked her hand, nuzzling her hand, as if telling her she should go.

Maria hesitated and ran for the door, the dog tagging along behind her. From the corner of her eye she could see the stag was trying to keep the werewolf away from her. Running out of the shrieking shack, she traced the tracks she had used and walked on up to the Hogwarts castle.



***



+a/N+ oKiE… I don't know what to say!!! Um, please review… pretty please?