Disclaimer – I don't own them, wish I did at times but hey a girl can dream. Anything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowlings, anything you don't is mine.

Author's note - I would love any feedback I can get, so PLEASE review or email me at web_chick_18@hotmail.com. Thanks. =) I am going to try to get chapters out as fast as I can but due to the wonderful complication of homework that won't be as fast as I like, grades wait upon no ones fun… In other notes I am assuming that 1, Hogworts is a traditional yearly schedule as it stands in the United States; 2, I am assuming that the daily schedule is one with 7 classes a day and is on a rotating "a" "b" schedule, with different classes for each house, for each year (example – 6th year Hufflepuffs are in a different class then 7th year Hufflepuffs or 6th year Ravenclaws) in the case of the class Kalila teaches. Sorry if I am making this much more complicated than it needs to be.

Chapter 5

      As Halloween approached Dumbledore, Cian and Remus began to worry about Kalila. She was rarely seen outside the Great Hall or her classroom. No one knew what she was doing but they watched as she became more and more wraith like in appearance, eating less and less each day and, they feared, sleeping very little. Finally their worry for her overcame their respect for her privacy. They had barely knocked upon her door when it swung open revealing Kalila sitting in on over stuffed chair by the fire. Scattered all around her were books, parchment, quills and ink. She seemed to barely notice them as she continued to look through the book she held.

      As Remus looked around the room he noticed that very little had changed from the first time he had seen it. There were books and writing implements on every remotely flat surface, but no personal touches other than the furniture. The walls were bare and strikingly white in color in the afternoon sun, coming in from the wall of windows on one side of the room. To him the room looked harsh and very uninviting, the overloaded furniture providing little color to soften the harsh white.

      A sudden movement from Kalila started Remus, Cian and Dumbledore. In the blink of an eye Kalila was on her feet and walking to a window, finishing something as she walked. A moment later she opened the window and in flew a large barn owl. Landing by the owl sized food and water dishes the owl had a drink and nibble while Kalila attached a note to its leg. A brief stoke from Kalila and it was back out the window. After shutting the window she turned back to look at the three standing before her.

      "Well?"

      "Kalila….", Dumbledore began but Cian beat him to it.

      "We are worried about you Kalila. You eat less than the smallest of creatures and rarely sleep more than an hour or two at a time. You are wasting away and I want to know why. You are my Queen and I cannot stand aside and watch you die."

      "I am not wasting away Cian. You know how hard that would be for me to accomplish."

      "Not hard enough Kalila! If you aren't dying then what is happening? Whatever it is, obviously it is not healthy otherwise you wouldn't look like a wraith!"

      "I've been working Cian! Just because I am teaching here at Hogworts doesn't mean I no longer work for the Ministry or no longer worry about the people of the Isles."

      "I didn't say it did! You will always worry about the people of the Isles; you are their Queen; as for the Ministry I have never liked the amount of work they pile upon you. You are an Auror Kalila and yet more often than naught have to do the work of both clerk and Auror. How many times have you dropped from exhaustion; how many times have you not felt the Call to Assembly because you are doing the work of three or four people? Before you say anything, I understand the roles you play; you are a Queen, a Priestess, an Auror and now a teacher. But how many roles can you play and for how long before you exhaust yourself beyond your body's ability to handle?"

      With a weary sigh Kalila dropped into the nearest chair, the books that had been occupying it moved somewhere else with a thought.

      "I have no choice Cian, too many people depend upon me. Too much rides upon my shoulders in this war. It would be different if the people of the Isles and the members of the wizarding world would just get along and fight side by side, but they can't, or rather they won't. You bring it up to one or the other and all that is mentioned is the war, a war that took place over a thousand years ago! In the face of a powerful mutual enemy they can do nothing but bicker over how won. You claim, Cian that I take on more than I should, but I ask you this, if I don't who will?"

      "You can't protect everyone and everything in the world Kalila, if you try it will kill you. Your death would be more of a loss than anything else. You are powerful and unique Kalila, you don't belong to any one world, you belong to them all. You can harness the element, communicate with the rarest and most common of magical creatures and have them follow you. I am an example of that, you and I both know how rare it is for Hell Hounds to leave the caves and meadows that we call home, let alone associate with anyone or anything other than our own kind. I met you Kalila and chose to follow you, barely knowing you, because of what I saw in you. Even as a young girl, hurting and alone, you radiated power, control and goodness."

      "What would you have me do Cian, I have a responsibility to those who follow and believe in me."

      "I'm not saying you should abandon them Kalila. I am saying that you should be careful. You cannot keep up the workload you have been under. You are teaching full time and trying to still work for the Ministry full time."

      "I am only doing the work they ask of me Cian, work that is important in the fight against Voldemort!"

      "I don't care if it was to prevent t he destruction of the world. Too many people need you around Kalila for me to allow you to work yourself into an early grave."

      "All right! I'll cut back on the amount I'm doing for the Ministry."

      "Why don't you just quit altogether? More than likely you are already working on the same type of projects on your own. If you stop working for the Ministry you will still be working on the projects just at your own pace and not at theirs."

      "You aren't going to leave me alone until I agree to lighten up my workload by quitting are you?"

      At the three nods Kalila threw up her hands in defeat and leaned back onto the chair with a sigh.

      "Alright, I'll let the Ministry know that I am not going to take on anymore projects and that I'll send them any information I gather from my independent studies. Happy?"

      "For the moment."

      With an impatient gesture Kalila summoned a piece of parchment, quill and ink. Quickly finishing her note to her superiors she didn't bother waiting upon an owl, instead she sent it directly to the hand of the man in charge of the Aurors with a thought. All the while glaring at the three before her. Dumbledore was the first to brave her glare and speak.

      "Since that have been taken care of I would suggest we go get something to eat, it is almost lunch time after all."

      Sill glaring, mainly at Cian, Kalila got up proceeding her three visitors to the door, flinging it open bang against the wall for several seconds and stalking off down the hall. Cian just sighed following as far behind Kalila as he could and still keep her in sight.

      "Perhaps Albus, we should have let Cian handle this on his own. I have been looking forward to getting to know Kalila better and I think I just decreased my chances of that ever happening my a great deal."

      "Don't worry Remus she'll forgive us eventually, before Christmas if were are lucky."

      "And if we aren't lucky?"

      "Then it will take longer, but she will eventually forgive us. Lemon Drop?"

      "No thank you."

      Letting Dumbledore proceed him out the door, Remus took one last look around Kalila's living room and made a mental note to get her something to hang on her walls to soften the harsh white of the walls. Thinking of all the possibilities he shut the door with a soft click and a smile for the Phoenix in the picture guarding the door. Deep in though he made his way to the Great Hall for Lunch.