OMINIX
CHAPTER SIX-THE FIREPLACE
Hillary dropped her fork and it clattered onto the plate.
"What?" I demanded.
"I found her body this morning. It looked like an animal attacked her," Brittany said gravely.
Panic began setting in now. I knew it wasn't me or Sirius because we change once a month.
"An-animal?" Lily stammered looking pale.
"Yeah. Like she'd been mauled to death," Brittany replied.
Sirius, Remus and I exchanged glances nervously.
"Where's her body?" Remus asked suddenly sounding suspicious.
"In the Forbidden Forest," Brittany said.
The Forbidden Forest was off limits to all students. I doubt very much that a first year would be wandering around knowing very well that he or she could get into serious trouble or suspended for that matter. For some reason though, Remus seemed skeptical.
"Odd," Remus said watching Brittany closely. "The Forest is off limits. Why was she wandering around?"
"I don't know that," Brittany said.
"I say we go take a looksie," Sirius said.
He too, looked skeptical.
"She's badly torn," Brittany warned.
But Sirius and Remus ignored her and stood up.
"We'll be right back," Remus said as he and Sirius began leaving the Hall.
Brittany's eyes narrowed at them as they left.
"You'll be sorry," I heard her mutter under her breath.
Lily and I looked at each other. I think she heard Brittany too.
REMUS.
Sirius and I left the Hall. I heard Brittany mutter under her breath "You'll be sorry." For some reason, I didn't trust her as far as I could see her.
"Something about her I don't like," Sirius said as we began walking toward the Forbidden Forest.
"You picked up on it too?" I asked.
Sirius nodded. "Something strange,"
We reached the skirt of the Forest.
We stopped, looked at each other and took a deep breath.
"Ready?" Sirius asked.
I nodded.
We entered the forest.
There wasn't a sound to be heard. No birds, nothing.
"This place is always so creepy," Sirius replied shivering. "Do you have Laura's scent?"
I paused carefully sniffing at the air.
"No...nothing," I replied. "If she was here, I would most certainly have picked up her scent."
"Right," Sirius said nodding. "Which means she was never here."
I nodded and began getting angry and worried.
"Lily and Hillary are alone with Brittany," I said suddenly.
We took off running back to the castle.
When we entered the Great Hall, Lily was still sitting at the table. Hillary and Brittany were no where to be seen.
"Where's Hillary and Brittany?" Sirius demanded sliding into the seat next to Lily.
"Brittany wanted to show Hillary something on the roof I think," Lily said.
For some reason, she looked scared or spooked.
"I'll stay with her," Sirius said putting his arm around Lily.
I took off running.
I picked up Hillary's and Brittany's scent immediately and followed it up to the roof.
Hillary was leaning over the edge of the roof. Brittany was right behind her.
"Hillary!" I yelled.
Hillary snapped upright and looked at me with surprise. Brittany backed away and looked stunned too.
"Remus? Did you find Laura?" Hillary asked concerned.
"Yeah," I lied as I began pulling her away from Brittany.
Hillary's expression fell. She looked like she burst into tears at any moment.
"I was just showing Hillary how pretty the sun was at this time," Brittany said softly.
"I'm sure," I said. "We'll see you back in the Hall."
With that, I pulled Hillary off the roof and we began heading back down to the Hall.
"Poor Laura," Hillary said sadly shaking her head.
"Laura's fine," I said. "I didn't find her in the forest. Nor did I pick up her scent."
Hillary looked up at me with shock.
"What?"
"Yeah. If she was in the forest, I never picked up on her scent,"
"Are you saying that Brittany lied?"
"Bingo,"
"But why?" Hillary asked looking confused.
"I don't know that," I said slowly. "But I think we should keep an eye on her. I don't trust her."
We entered the Hall. Lily and Sirius looked up.
"Everything okay?" Lily asked.
"Yeah," I replied.
"Are you okay, Hillary?" Sirius asked turning his eyes onto Hillary.
She nodded.
"Brittany lied," she said. "Laura's body was never in the Forbidden Forest."
"What?" Sirius asked wide-eyed.
We nodded solemnly.
"So what does that mean?" Lily asked. "Laura is still alive?"
"We don't know. She might be or she might not be. We haven't found her body either way," I said seriously. "But one thing is for sure. I don't trust Brittany."
"Neither do I," Sirius said. "Something about her doesn't fit right."
"What should we do?" Lily asked.
"Keep a close eye on her," I whispered as I had just picked up Brittany's scent coming into the Hall. By the expression on Hillary's face, I could tell she did too.
"Are we ready for our classes?" Brittany asked cheerfully as if nothing had happened.
We headed to our classes.
Our first stop was Charms. Brittany sat toward the back of the classroom.
HILLARY.
Remus and I were sitting next to each other with Lily and Sirius behind us. I was still upset over Laura. I prayed that she was alive and okay.
About half an hour into the lesson, I turned to Remus. I froze. Remus was sitting in wolf form on the chair on his haunches next to me. His ears flattened out sideways and he began pulling back the top lip of his snout exposing his white canines and incisors.
His normally jaundice eyes had a reddish tint to them. He began snarling.
"R-Remus? It's me," I said slowly as panic began taking over my body.
The wolf jumped onto the table and walked until it was right in my face. None of the other students seemed to even notice there was a gray wolf standing on the desk in front of me with it's teeth bared and snarling.
"Remus, please," I pleaded in a shaky voice. "It's me remember?"
The wolf prepared to leap at me. Without even realizing it, I grabbed the wolf by the throat and felt myself squeezing the throat. I heard a sickening 'crunch' sound. The wolf topped off the desk dead.
I looked at my hand. A red liquid was covering it. I screamed.
"Hillary?" a voice said beside me.
I kept screaming as I sat bolt upright.
My eyes opened and I realized I was still sitting in Charms class. The entire class was watching me with fear and confusion on their faces. Professor Kendal had an alarmed look on his face. I was gripping the edge of my desk and I was shaking violently.
"Hillary," Remus' voice said beside me.
I shakily turned my head. He was okay and normal but he had an alarmed and worried look on his face.
"W-what happened?" I stammered.
"About a half hour into the lesson, you put your head down on the desk and fell asleep," Remus said, peering into my face.
"Ohhh," I moaned.
A large wave of nausea rolled over me. I clamped a hand over my mouth and tore out of the classroom.
REMUS.
Hillary tore out of the classroom. I quickly grabbed my things and hers and stood up. Lily and Sirius followed. Brittany however, stayed in the classroom.
We reached the girls' bathroom. I took a deep breath and entered. Lily and Sirius were right behind us.
Hillary was standing in front of the sinks, both hands on the cold porcelain and she was slightly bent over. Her hair fell over her face. Even from this distance I could see she was pale and shaking.
"Hillary?" I asked tentatively.
We stood right beside her now. Sirius put a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it.
"I had a horrible nightmare," she croaked out.
"Nightmare?" Lily asked gently.
"I dreamed that when I turned to look at Remus, he was in wolf form and tried to attack me...only I grabbed him by the throat and killed him and there was blood on my hand,"
"Wow," Lily breathed softly.
I gently tucked a strand of her hair away from her face. She turned and faced me. She really was shaken up about this nightmare.
"Listen," I said softly. "You're not going to hurt me okay? I know that for a fact. Besides, it was just a nightmare."
"Remus, if I ever hurt you it would kill me," Hillary choked out.
Without saying a word, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close against me.
Hillary just slumped into my arms and buried her face into my shoulder. I held onto her tightly.
After a while, she seemed to calm down and I released her from my embrace.
"Are you okay now?" I asked taking her face in my hands.
She nodded.
I smiled and gave her a kiss before we left the bathroom.
Brittany came with us to the rest of our classes. For some reason, Hillary seemed spooked around Brittany.
After classes, we headed back to the common room. Brittany and Lily headed off to bed as well as Sirius. Hillary and I stayed on the couch, curled up in each others' arms.
"The nightmare seemed so real," Hillary was saying softly and quietly. "I could feel the fur on your body."
"I know," I said gently. "But it really was just a dream...nothing to it."
Hillary snuggled up against me more. My chin was resting on top of her head. Pretty soon, she was completely relaxed and limp and fast asleep. I threw the blanket over us and I too, fell asleep...and dreamed.
I'm sitting in wolf form under the full moonlight on the grounds. Hillary is sitting beside me also in wolf form. She's a black wolf with ice blue eyes. I turn to her and that's when she prepares to attack me. I clamp my jaws on her throat and bite down hard. I feel and taste the warm gush of blood.
She lets out a whine and falls to the side dead. I release her neck from my jaws. Blood drips from my bottom jaw. I began slowly backing away with my tail between my legs. I hear a voice saying "You won't win".
I woke up abruptly sweating despite the cool temperature in the room. Hillary was still sound asleep beside me breathing softly and steadily. I checked my watch. It was 4AM and for the rest of the night, I remained awake.
The next morning, Hillary woke up.
"Hey," she said softly and affectionately. "Sleep okay?"
I was pacing the room at this point.
"Remus?" Hillary asked as alarm crept into her voice. "Why are you pacing?"
"I had a similar dream last night," I whispered as I headed over to her and crouched down in front of her. I looked up into her face.
"Similar dream?" she asked sounding confused. "Like I dreamed that I killed you?"
"Exactly," I said nodding. "Only we were in wolf form and I clamped my jaws on your neck as you prepared to attack. I killed you."
"What's going on?" she mused. "What's the chance of two people having a different dream but the same undertone?"
"Very remote," I replied. "Something is telling me that those dreams were on purpose."
"Purpose? You mean someone made us dream?" Hillary asked, her honey brown eyes catching the sunlight that poured in from the window.
I didn't reply and just stared at her pretty face. If that dream ever came true, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I'd rather hurt myself than her.
"Remus?" Hillary prompted with a fearful look on her face now.
"I think so yes," I said finally. "The question is, who?"
Suddenly, all the color drained from Hillary's face and she went pale. Her eyes were locked on something behind me. I slowly turned around.
Laura's body was stuffed into the fireplace.
I stood up and immediately went over to the fireplace. I crouched down and put my index and middle fingers on the side of Laura's neck.
"She's alive," I said as pure relief flooded over me.
Laura's body was covered in soot and parts of her robe and uniform were singed. I gently picked Laura up in my arms. I had one arm under her legs and the other under her back. Her head rested against my shoulder.
Hillary smoothed back Laura's blond hair away from her face.
"What happened?" Hillary asked totally angry and in shock.
"Hey," Lily said cheerfully as she and Sirius entered the common room at the same time but their faces fell when they saw Laura in my arms.
"Is she...?" Sirius started in a shaky voice.
"No," I said. "She's alive...but barely. Help me get her to Madam Elkin."
We hurried out of the common room not even waiting for Brittany.
Madam Elkin examined Laura.
"Well, it seems someone stuffed her up into the chimney and then lit a fire beneath her hoping that the flames would get her. That's my theory," Madam Elkin said as she pulled a white sheet and blue blanket over Laura and stopped at Laura's chest. Laura had on a white hospital gown like the Muggles use but these also help heal wounds or burns on the skin when a Rya Charm is put on them. Laura was in bad condition though. She had inhaled a lot of smoke and soot from the fireplace.
"Why would anyone want to hurt her?" Lily said as tears formed in her eyes. "She's such a sweet kid."
"I don't know," Madam Elkin said. "But we won't let her out of our sight. Time will tell if she will be okay. I will keep giving her a Ergran Potion to clear her lungs out."
With that, she left the hospital wing.
I sat on the edge of the bed and gently began stroking Laura's arm.
"She'll be fine," Hillary said reassuringly as she put her face close to mine.
"I know," I said feeling a lump rising in my throat.
Just then, Professor Dumbledore came into the wing.
"How is Miss Mason doing?" he asked kindly as he came over to us.
"Madam Elkin doesn't know. She said time will tell if she will be fine," Sirius said swallowing. His voice had begun breaking as well.
"I'm sure she will be just fine," Professor Dumbledore said gently. "No one knows how she got into the fireplace?"
We all miserably shook our heads.
"Madam Elkin thinks that someone stuffed Laura into the chimney and set a fire, hoping the flames would get to her," Lily relayed to Dumbledore.
"And I totally believe that," Dumbledore said seriously. "What I want is for Remus, Hillary and Sirius to guard her...in their other forms."
He added meaningfully. "This way, no one would know you're protecting Laura except me."
"Tonight's another full moon," I said. "We'll all stay here."
"Good idea," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes twinkling. "Just please don't start sniffing each other's butts."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Lily, Sirius, Hillary and I managed a chuckle.
He winked at us before leaving the wing.
That night, Lily headed back to the common room. She told Brittany that Sirius, Hillary and I were working late with Professor Dumbledore and won't be back until morning.
I stared out the window. A full moon peered out from behind clouds. I began transforming.
When the transformation was complete, I shook my gray wolf body and realized that Hillary was not a black wolf at all...but a pure white one. She had one jaundice eye and one blue eye. Sirius jumped on the bed beside Laura and curled up against her. I stood watching Hillary. She was graceful for a wolf. Hillary trotted over to the bed and jumped up, curling up against Laura on her other side so she had wolf on one side and a dog on the other. I remained standing on all fours watching every movement in the hospital wing. My ears were erect and perked, listening for any noise. My eyes flicked around the room and my body went stiff.
About an hour later, I sensed Hillary standing beside me. I turned my head. Hillary's eyes caught the moonlight. She began panting, but then, her ears flattened out sideways, and her top lip began sliding back exposing the white canines and incisors. She began snarling.
