Chapter 4

As they entered the Great Hall and made their way over to the Gryffindor table, Roseline scanned the crowd for familiar faces. Sure enough, Lily and Daniea were sitting at the Ravenclaw table with their dates, and Shonelle at the Hufflepuff table with hers. At the Gryffindor table she spotted two empty chairs beside Cennia and Remus, and made a beeline for them, plonking herself in the chair next to Cennia. Looking down the table she saw a very disgruntled looking James sitting next to a pink-faced Hufflepuff girl, evidently not listening to any of the words that were tumbling out of her mouth at 100 miles per hour. As Roseline watched, she distinctly saw his eyes flick over to where Lily was sitting, and grinned to herself.

Just then, the food appeared and everyone dug in. Try as she might, Roseline still couldn't see Sirius, or Peter Pettigrew. As the last pudding bowl was pushed away, Dumbledore got to his feet.

"And now, if you aren't too full from that wonderful feast, the dancing shall commence!"

One flick of his wand later and a troupe of singing skeletons were trouping onto the newly-conjured stage, instruments at the ready. As the first notes rang through the hall, all the couples got up to dance. Stephen and Roseline, who were only going together as mates to stop their friends pestering them to get dates, had agreed beforehand that they wouldn't dance together. Stephen went off to get a drink and Roseline wandered outside to the grounds.

She wandered all the way down to the lake, and sat down under the boughs of a huge beech tree. She stared out across the still, dark lake, savouring the feeling of being completely at peace, with no-one to bother her, and nothing to listen to but her own thoughts. She often came out here at night. She loved it. She loved the way the lake reflected the stars as little shimmering lights on its surface. She loved listening to the world as it slept. But most of all she loved the quiet solidarity it offered - she had never yet been disturbed in her night-time musings.

After a while she decided to go back into the hall. A song was just ending when she spotted Sirius. He was leaning against the far wall, alone and dateless, watching the dancers. His expression was mutinous. Roseline went over to him.

"Will you dance with me?" she asked.

Sirius looked at her, and then looked away again.

"Only if you're sure you want to," he told the ceiling, his voice hard and surly.

"Sirius..." she said softly, laying a hand on his arm.

A slow song had started, and around them all the couples who hadn't broken up yet were taking to the dance floor, their arms entwined and gazing dreamily into each others eyes.

He shook her off and left the room. She darted after him. He was walking quickly along the corridor, his hands in his pockets. Roseline ran went after him, he sped up, but she still caught up with him. She spun him round to face her.

"Sirius, why won't you talk to me?"

"Would have thought it was obvious," he muttered, and started walking again.

For a moment Roseline stared after him. Then she snapped out of her trance.

"Fine!" She yelled at his retreating figure. "Run away! And you know something? You're pathetic!"

He turned around, glaring at her, his face livid. He spoke softly, but even though she was far away she heard every word as it echoed in the deserted corridor.

"Thanks for the compliment," he growled. "And now if you don't mind, I have better things to do than stand around bandying words with stupid people who think they know more about me than I do myself."

Five minutes later, Roseline was sitting by the lake again, still fuming. She picked up a stone and threw it as hard as she could into the water. She stood up and walked away. She found herself walking along the border of the Forbidden Forest, but she wasn't nervous. She heard a rustling in the trees and stopped. Then a reckless feeling seized her and she walked a few metres into the forest before continuing in the same direction. She heard the rustling again but ignored it. But try as she might, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being followed. Again and again she heard the rustling and still she tried to convince herself that it was only her imagination. She quickened her pace and the rustling behind her increased too. She broke into a run – the rustling got even faster. Then she stopped dead. Without realising it, she had strayed from the path. She had no idea where she was. She heard a noise behind her and turned – and then she screamed as she saw what had been following her.....