A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating this:)

Pearl of the Moon: Thanks!

Me: Uh-oh! Thanks for reminding me :) I'll correct that later :)

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Chapter 3 - Midnight stroll

Emily was pacing nervously in the Gryffindor common room. She wanted to get out and search for Tala in the corridors, but she was scared that Filch might catch her. The invisibility cloak was with Tala, so Emily didn't have much chance on getting out unnoticed. She stopped and looked out of the window. Tala might be freezing in the corridors now, she thought.

A warm breath on her neck brought Emily back from her thoughts. She turned around to see Sirius standing behind her, his face only a couple of inches away from hers.

"Sirius," Emily said, "what are you doing here?"

"Nothing. I couldn't sleep, and I realized that I missed you."

That was it. The magic words that does wonders to a girl's heart. Emily looked into his eyes without saying a word. Sirius was starting to feel rather nervous. Emily hadn't stared into his eyes for so long. In fact, she has never stared into his eyes before.

"I missed you too." Emily replied, finally.

Sirius gave her a mischievous grin and pulled her close. "So, can we finish what we started in the corridors?"

"Of course!" Emily replied and felt herself melting into Sirius' arms as they kissed.

It wasn't long when a sound in the common room had interrupted them. He turned to see an angry James and a confused Remus sitting in front of the fireplace and whispering to each other.

"Can I ever have privacy?" Sirius said and rolled his eyes. Emily giggled. "Oh, you think it's funny?" he asked her and she nodded. "Gee, thanks!"

"Not at all." She replied and went to the girls' dormitories.

Sirius stared after her as she climbed the stairs leading to the dormitories and then he joined his friends.

"Where's Wormtail?" Sirius asked.

"Dunno, and don't want to know." James replied.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked, looking from James to Remus.

"Moony has lost my invisibility cloak!" James said.

"I hadn't lost it! I just forgot to put it in my trunk, that's all." Remus replied, looking grave.

"Hey, calm down you two," Sirius said, "Moony's mum can send it."

"I've been trying to tell him that." Remus said.

"You perfectly know that no one's supposed to know about the cloak!" James' voice was getting higher.

"Take it easy Prongs, you're going to wake the whole school," Sirius said, "besides, it's better if we all go to bed now."

"I can't sleep." Remus said and stared at the fireplace. He was still thinking about Tala and her whereabouts.

"Listen mate," James said, "I'm sorry I got mad about the cloak."

"You have the right to feel so. I'm sorry I…" Remus let out a sigh and looked at the ground. He didn't forget the cloak at all. He had lost it, and he couldn't remember how or when.

"It's okay Moony, you said your mum's going to send it back." James smiled, "And we have a plenty of time until the full moon, so we won't be using it until then."

"All right." Remus said with a faint smile.

"No news about your sister?" Sirius asked.

"Nothing at all." Remus replied.

"If you hear something, let me know," Sirius said and got up, "I'm going to bed."

"Remus, let's go to bed. If your mum sends an owl, it will show up in our dormitory, so it's better if you come and sleep." James said.

"All right," Remus said disappointedly. He got up and followed his friends to their room.

Emily watched the boys as they climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories. She waited a few more minutes to make sure they were in their room and then she came down to the common room. She walked out of the portrait hole and walked through the corridors. She was determined to find Tala, even if Filch found her first.

"Tala, are you there?" Emily kept whispering all the way. Call it bad luck, but she couldn't find Tala anywhere around the castle. Therefore, she decided to search outside.

Meanwhile, Tala was sleeping peacefully under a tree near the lake. She was shivering slightly, as the night was getting colder. A man was watching her from a distance, as to make sure no one tries to hurt her. Tala shifted in her sleep and pulled the invisibility cloak over her body, leaving only her head out.

Emily walked through the school grounds. She looked around her as she walked, trying to see or hear something. She walked until she reached the lake. Suddenly, she felt her legs shaking and not able to carry her. She saw a familiar head at the base of a tree.

"Tala," Emily whispered to herself, "is it you or only your head?"

She looked around for a sight of some kind of a beast, but when she couldn't find any she walked toward Tala's head and knelt near it.

"Tala?" Emily called in a low voice and tried to touch the empty space where Tala's body was supposed to be. She sighed in relief when she felt the cloak and pulled it away. She gently shook Tala's shoulder.

"Tala, wake up."

Tala opened her eyes and looked around.

"Wha… Emily? Oh, thank God you're here!" Tala said and embraced Emily.

"I thought Filch caught you in the corridors! I was worried!" Emily said and pulled back.

"I'm so sorry," Tala said, "I was bored and went for a walk, and I ended up here."

Emily smiled, "let's go back before anyone wakes up."

"Too late," said a voice from behind.

The girls stood and looked around. Emily recognized the voice at once.

"Hagrid?" she asked.

"Quite righ'," Hagrid replied, "wha're yeh two doin' 'ere?"

"We… er… we…" Emily was trying to say something, but it seemed that she forgot how to talk.

Tala, on the other hand, was staring at Hagrid as though she was looking at a monster. He was as twice as a normal man's size would be, with shoulder length, messy black hair and beard. He reminded Tala of a giant pirate. She took a step back and pulled Emily with her, afraid that the 'big' stranger would hurt them.

"Yeh forgot how ter speak?" Hagrid asked, "what're yeh doin' out here at the middle o' the nigh'? Yer not supposed ter get out of yer dormitry after nine!"

"S-sorry Hagrid," Emily said, "I can explain everything."

"Yer lucky I found yeh first!" he said and started to walk, "follow me!"

Tala hesitated, but Emily pulled her and assured her that they were safe. Although Tala wasn't convinced, but she had no other choice than to follow Emily wherever they were going to.

Hagrid took the girls to his hut. He opened the door and a puppy ran to him and started jumping around him and barking in his own way, which were more like squeaks.

"'ello Fang." Hagrid said and picked the puppy in his enormous hands, then he turned to the girls, "come in and close the door after yeh."

Tala and Emily entered the cottage and Emily closed the door.

"Sit down," Hagrid said.

The girls sat on the couch. Tala looked around and was amazed to see that everything was so big in the cottage.

"Want some tea?" Hagrid asked as he put three cups on the table.

"Yes, please." Emily said with a smile. She knew that Hagrid offered tea only when he wasn't angry.

"No, thanks." Tala said. She was feeling nervous.

"All righ', there yeh go." He gave a cup to Emily and offered another to Tala, "yeh sure yeh don' want some?"

Tala shook her head.

"Suit yerself," Hagrid said and sat on an armchair. "Now, tell me what yeh two were doin' out there at this hour."

Emily looked at Tala apologetically, "we have to tell him, you know."

"All right." Tala said and looked at the ground.

"Hagrid, meet Tala Lupin." Emily said.

"Lupin? As in Remus Lupin?" Hagrid asked.

"Exactly," Emily said, "Tala is Remus' sister."

"Blimey! Poor lad was cryin' his eyes out fer yeh!" he looked at Tala as though he was going to shout at her, "why didn't yeh tell him where yeh were all day?"

"Hagrid, she didn't know Remus is a wizard." Emily said.

"What?"

"She came to Hogwarts trying to find out about Remus' secret school." Emily told Hagrid what she knew about Tala, and the reason she was there. Hagrid listened carefully without interrupting her.

"…And I found her sleeping at the lake." Emily finished her story.

Hagrid sat there silent for a moment, patting Fang with one hand, and holding his tea cup with the other. He looked from Emily to Tala for a moment, then he spoke:

"And why do yeh think Remus doesn't care for yeh?" he asked, looking at Tala.

"He… he never acted like he did." Tala replied.

"I don't know how he acts at home, but I'm sure he's a wonderful person!" Hagrid said.

"I found out about that tonight," Tala said, "I saw my father, and he told me everything."

"Well, I must take yeh ter see Dumbledore." Hagrid said and got up.

"No!" Emily said a little bit louder than she intended. "Hagrid, please don't tell the headmaster! I'll get expelled from school!"

"He won't do such thing, now come on." He put Fang on the ground and walked to the door, "he'll find out anyway."

Emily and Tala got up and followed him out of the cottage.

As they entered the school, they headed straight to Dumbledore's office. They stood in front of a stone gargoyle.

"Midgets!" Hagrid said and quickly turned to face the girls, "he likes ter use some funny stuff as passwords sometimes."

Emily raised an eyebrow as she looked at Hagrid, who smiled. Until this moment, she thought that their headmaster was a serious person, but now, she thought he was someone very similar to Sirius and his friends if he chose that kind of a word for a password.

The stone gargoyle moved to a side and a spiral staircase appeared in front of them. Hagrid climbed it and the girl followed him.

As they reached the top of the stairs, Hagrid stopped and knocked the door.

"Come in!" the headmaster said from inside his office.

Hagrid opened the door and entered, the girls following him silently.

"Hagrid? Is there something wrong?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sorry ter disturb yeh professor," Hagrid said, "I thought yeh ought ter know 'bout these two…"

"Yes, of course," Dumbledore said and got up from his chair, "have a seat, please."

The girls and Hagrid sat down.

"Professor, this girl 'ere," Hagrid pointed at Tala, "is the sister o' Remus Lupin."

"What a nice surprise." Dumbledore said.

"She's 'ere ter keep an eye on 'er brother." Hagrid added.

"Is she?" Dumbledore looked at Tala, "well, we'll have to hear her out before we judge her."

Tala and Emily looked at each other nervously. Tala felt like she was about to cry as she felt the lump in her throat. She was in deep trouble and she knew it. Emily looked scared. She knew she was going to be expelled for wandering out of the castle in the middle of the night.

"Miss Lupin," Dumbledore said, "you may speak."

Tala turned to face the headmaster and to her surprise he was smiling to her. That didn't make her feel any better though.

Tala told the headmaster the reason why she came to Hogwarts, and how she thought that her mother was favoring her brother and sending him to a privet school while she had to go to some public school. Dumbledore listened to her tale carefully and without interruption. When Tala reached the part where she was on Hogwarts Express, Emily joined the conversation and skipped the parts where Sirius was involved.

"I know that I did wrong by hiding her, headmaster," Emily said, "but I didn't know what to do at the moment."

"Is my brother going to be thrown out of school because of me?" Tala asked, tears glittering in her eyes and her hands shaking.

Dumbledore looked at both of them for a moment before standing up and walking to the window. His silence was scaring the girls and he felt their fear. He turned to them and looked at Emily.

"Miss Brown, I believe you should be in your dormitory at this moment."

Emily got up and gave Tala a look of sympathy before heading to the door.

"Hagrid, if you please escort Miss Brown to the Gryffindor Tower," Dumbledore said.

"Yes, sir," Hagrid got up and left the office with Emily.

"Are you going to hand me to the police?" Tala asked slowly.

"Police?" Dumbledore wondered, "why should I do that? You didn't break any rules, did you?"

Tala shrugged.

"You did break rules, and I'm too lazy to name them at this moment," he smiled, "but we can talk about them tomorrow morning before breakfast. Besides, the police don't know about our school."

Tala shifted in her seat, "I… I don't have a place to stay."

"I'm sure we can find a free room in this little castle," Dumbledore replied with a smile.

Tala smiled. Somehow, she felt relieved. Dumbledore showed her a room at the Western Tower, where the chambers of the teachers were located.

"I will owl your mother," Dumbledore told Tala when they reached the room he was going to show her, "she has the right to know where you are, and it's a good opportunity to meet her again."

"You know my mother personally?" Tala asked.

"Of course I do," Dumbledore replied, "you don't think that I could've accepted your brother to study here before meeting your parents first."

"I guess not."

"You'll stay here tonight," Dumbledore opened a door that led to a small room with only a bed, a chair and a desk. Tala entered the room and looked around. The walls were white and blue flames provided light to the room. Tala noticed that the flames were floating in the air and she stared at them with amazement.

"They're called Everlasting Flames. They provide light, as you can see." Dumbledore said.

"How do I turn them off?" Tala asked.

"You don't. It's done by magic, with just a wave of a wand. And since you can't do magic, I'll charm them to disappear in about fifteen minutes. Is that enough time for you to go to bed?"

"Yes, thank you," Tala replied.

"Good night," Dumbledore replied and waved his wand at the flames. He left the room and closed the door after him.

Tala looked around. The room was small and had only one window, which was covered with a white curtain. She decided that she would look out of the window in the morning and lay on the bed. She saw the flames disappear one after another until the room was completely dark.

"Well Tala, welcome to the world of… weirdos." She mumbled to herself before she fell asleep.