Chapter 6- Life

~Damonna's Notes- YAY!  This chapter's a little (key word- little) less serious than the last.  Everything is answered from the last chapter.  Don't worry, chapter 7 is soon on the way with more comic relief than you can shake a stick at!~

*Corbin*

I smiled. In spite of myself. Not only did we not have classes today, but it was the day before Halloween vacation. Of course, I'd be staying back. But it was nice.

"I'll miss you." Lwena's look was a little less than sincere, but I had gotten used to it. She was always lying.

"Get off it. You're only gonna miss your little friend over there." I laughed and pointed at Severus, who was trying to cram his robes into a tiny trunk.

"They're not gonna fit, idiot." Lwena strode over to him and sighed.

"I'll make them." He glared at the robes and then at Lwena. "How did you get yours to fit, anyways?"

"I made them." And she winked. "I have an extra trunk, if you need it."

"No." He snapped, and Lwena looked a little hurt. "Sorry, I just…If my father saw me brining home one of yours, he'd ask me who my girlfriend was…"

She smiled charmingly and draped herself over his shoulders. "And is that such a bad thing?"

"Get off me." And he shrugged her off.

Then Lwena burst out. "In case you two haven't noticed, I am the prettiest girl in Slytherin right now, so.."  She stopped and glared at the two boys, shaking her arms and balling her hands into fists.  "DAMN IT!"  She stormed out and the boys just shrugged.

"Must be that time of month" Corbin said grinning.

"Yeah most likely, either that or she got fed up with us." Severus replied.

"What, already?  We were just starting to have fun!" I said jokingly.  I glanced at Severus's overflowing trunk.  "You can use one of mine." I volunteered.

"Thanks." He reached over and grabbed one of my black trunks. Shoving his robes into it, he grabbed the other and strode for the exit of the common room. "You staying?"

"It doesn't matter if I go home anyway."

"Ah. Alright." He waved. "Bye. Happy Halloween."

"Bye."

And they both were gone. It gave me time to think. If I was right, my sister had died. That meant it worked. I felt a sharp pain in my left arm. I looked down to see blood blossoming on my shirt over the scar. So she was trying to come back.

I leaned my head back and drew in a deep breath. I was glad I was the only one there. I gasped as a sharp pain hit me. My head was throbbing. I leaned back into the large chair I was sitting in. Riding this out was going to be hard, but I couldn't do anything about it.

And just as suddenly as it had come, the pain stopped.

So Damonna was back.

*Damonna*

I rolled over in the hospital bed fitfully. I felt like I was drowning, but I could breathe. It was only when I felt a pair of large hands shake me roughly did I surface to consciousness.

"Damonna. Hey."

I gazed around for a moment and then realized that I was laying in the Hospital Wing. I looked to my right to see green eyes. To my left, blue. "Hmm? Audia? Sirius?"

They nodded. Audia wiped her eyes.

"You been crying?"

She nodded slightly.

"Why?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but choked and looked over at Sirius.

He caught her gaze and nodded. "Damonna…Madam Pomphrey told us…" He stared at his hands for a moment, struggling to hold in his own emotions. "Damonna…You were dead."

I smiled and sat up. "Well, I'm fine now, right?"

Audia spoke up. "That's not the point! You were dead just a few hours ago!"

"But I'm alive now, right?"

"Ummm…Yes…"

"Isn't that good enough?"

"But why?! I don't understand!"

"Most people wouldn't." I sighed. "It's a twin thing." I rolled the sleeve of my white shirt up and glanced at the sheets on my bed. "I haven't shown anyone this before, alright?" I held out my right forearm so they could see the blood red scar that snaked its way up my arm.

Audia gasped. Sirius did too. "What is it?"

"Magic, that's what it is. There's a couple of stories behind it." I put a hand on Audia's shoulder to support me as I rose out of bed (had I used Sirius's, might have fainted. Guess I do like him after all). "How about I meet you all outside near the lake? I can tell you there."

They both nodded.

~*~*~

I could see Sirius and Audia already waiting for me. So I was late. "Don't you have a train to catch?!" I shouted.

Audia shook her head. "Nope. Parents are on vacation."

I looked at Sirius. "And what about you?"

"I'm a half-blood. So, naturally, my mother thinks it would be educational to spend more time with wizard-folk." He looked at us. "…Or witches!"

Audia shook her head. "You womanizer."

"I try." He looked at me. "So, you gonna fill me in on the crazy twin stuff we have going on?"

"Ah. Yes. Well, a long time ago, there were two twins who cared for each other more than anything. So they made a charm…"

"Is this the story?" Sirius interrupted, and Audia playfully smacked him.

"Yes! The made a charm that, if one of them died, that the other could give permission for their ghost to use their life to come back. So basically, if they could stand the pain and if they had enough power…"

"With permission, the ghost could use them like a battery." Sirius interrupted again.

Audia and I stared at him. "A what?" Audia managed.

"A battery! You know…" But he gave up. "Something they could get energy from."

"Yes! So the other twin could come back."

Audia smiled. "So you and Corbin dug up the charm and…"

I nodded. "Yep."

Sirius looked confused. "I'm lost."

Audia sighed heavily and explained it. "Damonna and Corbin used the charm, and when you saw Corbin talking to the fox, he was giving her permission."

"Okay! I see now! But why…?"

I finished for him. "Why did I, as a fox, gravitate to you? Maybe because…" I blushed. "I dunno."

Audia caught my reaction and gave me a sad smile. She catches on quick, poor girl.

"So you're an…"

"Animagi." I looked at him. "Yeah." I grabbed at a package I held behind my back. "Guess we all are here."

Sirius nodded and smiled at me.

"But I'm not…" Audia started, before I shoved the package in her hands.

"You are now. Go on, open it."

She tore through the paper and pulled out a feathered cloak. "What is it?"

"It's my great-grandfather's cloak."

"What's it for?"

"He used it to change into animals. Feathered animals."

Her mouth opened and she raised her eyebrows at me. "You're just giving this to me? Why?"

I shrugged. "Why not? Try it out. Just think of an animal and put it on."

"Alright." She threw the cloak around her shoulders and melted into a white owl. From the owl came a Griffin, and then a girl. "Hey. You sure about this?"

"Positive."

"Only fools are positive."

"What do you think I am?"

We all laughed and gazed into the darkening skies. Audia smiled and became an owl once more, soaring off into the forest.

I slowly dissolved into fox, and darted into the underbrush near the lake. I felt something behind me, and a shaggy back dog bounded in front of me, bumping me with its blunt muzzle and running off.

It was Sirius. And we were playing a game.

*Audia*

Dear Diary,

You're wondering why I'm not complaining, and why I'm in a very good mood. The thing is, Damonna almost died today. Wait, this isn't why I'm happy. I'm happy because she didn't die, and because now I'm an Animagi. Am I making much sense? The thing is, Damonna has a twin, which I've mentioned before. Anyway, she and he have this twin thing, where if one of them dies, they can use the other twin's life source to come back. Sirius says its kind of like a battery, but I don't really know what that is. He says it's a power source all stored up into a little container, which reminds me of a wand. He says they're a lot smaller though. Oh well.

Yes, and about Sirius… I think I've gotten over him. I mean, he still makes my stomach flip, but I think that's because he's so handsome. I cried on his chest twice today, and it felt good. Not good as in "my gosh he's so handsome I love him", but good as in "now I have a friend". And Damonna likes him. She hasn't said anything to me, but its obvious. Right, now I've gone from friendless, to having two friends. It feels great.

Damonna's in Ravenclaw, too, if you can believe that. I didn't even know! Guess we've just been avoiding each other unconsciously for five years…

You're wondering where I am, I bet. And guess what! I'm in a tree. Actually, I'm at the very top of a tree, nestled in a spot where no humans could climb. And you know why? Damonna gave me a cloak that allows me to turn into any winged animal. So, I turned into an owl, flew into my room and got my diary, and flew to this tree. Damonna and Sirius are somewhere in the forest too, but I've lost them from my sight at the moment. I can hear barking to my right, but I don't see them. Funny, because Damonna's a fox, and Sirius is a dog. They're Animagi, too, obviously.