Disclaimer - It's not mine, never was.

A/N - Okay people. Enjoy. I really liked the chapter when I wrote it. Hope you do too. Later

Flint is as Good as Dead

Lily, Remus, and Peter ran through the throng of students to where Sable's unconscious form lay on the ground. Professor Swift was bent over her form, checking for a pulse. Even as he tried to shake the girl awake, it was obvious she had taken a hard hit to the upper part of her shoulder. The pain had to have been intense, because she was passed out. When Lily got through the crowd to her, she saw the entire Quidditch team trying to get a better place to see. James was stooped down next to the flying instructor, patting her hand urgently.

"Sable...Sable... come on girl, wake up." he said loudly. There was no response. Professor Swift turned quickly to the first person he saw and sent him to the nurse to relay what had happened. The boy dashed through the crowd and up to the castle with lightning speed.

"Everyone back up!" Professor Swift called. He pulled his wand out and conjured up a stretcher put the girl on. He moved her body to the stretcher and began to walk up to the castle. Lily looked over to James and Sirius. They were fuming, and ready to beat the shit out of Cody Flint. Remus was in an even worse mood. He was clutching and un-clutching his fists at his side. He walked over to James and Sirius with murder on his mind.

"Who was it?" he said gruffly. "Who hit the Bludger to her after the whistle had been called?" James looked ready to kill. He glanced over at Sirius and nodded.

"Flint." was all he said. Remus' temper flared up and he looked around the crowd, searching for the Quidditch Captain.

"I'll kill him." he seethed. The other boys nodded and started to walk off to find the guilty party. Lily sensed the impending fight and stepped in front of the three boys, each one of them twice her own size.

"Not now, you three." she said quietly. Remus looked angrier than ever, and he gently pushed Lily to one side.

"Not now, Lily....." he muttered. The girl grabbed his arm and he turned around and growled at her. His eyes were flashing amber sparks from around the blue center. 'Full moon's soon.' Lily thought. 'This is just great. Something like this had to go and happen when his nerves are already at the breaking point. I would kill Flint myself, if I knew it wouldn't land me Azkaban.'

"Remus, you can't just go and beat the piss out of Flint right now. Sable needs us." She said. Remus glared at her more and looked over to his other friends. They were just as ready to hurt the Slytherin as he was, but the thought of Sable injured in the hospital wing quickly cooled his temper. He hung his head and nodded, his anger still present, but slipping.

"We'll get Flint later, Moony." Sirius seethed. "Right now, we need to make sure that she's okay."

"Yeah, I already saw the rest of the team following her towards the castle." James said.

"Along with some of the younger kids." Peter chimed in. Remus grimaced and glared towards the Slytherin locker rooms as Flint passed into them with a look of triumphant on his face.

"I'll kill him for that." Remus muttered.

"I know, Moony." James said. "And we call dibs on whatever piece of him you leave."

"There won't be anything left when I get done with him." Remus whispered. He turned abruptly and left his friends standing there. The others followed and they were soon standing in the entrance to the hospital wing.

When the arrived, though, it was impossible to get through the crowd of people gathering around the door. Remus spotted little Thomas McCleod closest to the door.

"Why won't they let us in, Thomas." Remus barked at the little boy. Thomas seemed to cringe back when he looked up at the older boy.

"Madame Pomfrey said that no one is going in there until she does a full examination to see exactly what is wrong with her." he said quietly.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER!???" Remus shouted. "A BLUDGER JUST SLAMMED INTO HER. WHAT DOES SHE THINK IS WRONG???!!!!" Sirius walked over to the boy and stopped him.

"Moony!" he said fiercely, "Calm yourself. She's injured, not dead" Remus glared and backed up against the wall. All around him there were students from every house milling around, waiting to find out what was going on with their friend. He started when he noticed a few of the children were wearing cloaks with the Slytherin House crest on them.

"Lily," Remus said. "Why are those kids here?" he asked, pointing to the two little boys and two little girls with the Slytherin robes. "They're in Slytherin." Lily sighed and shook her head.

"Remus, Sable helped the younger students with their work all of the time. You know that." she said.

"But they're in Slytherin House!" he exclaimed. Lily shook her head in frustration.

"She doesn't care, Remus." Lily said. He looked astonished , but she kept on. "Remus, you know that many of the first and second years in Slytherin House are brought up in the aristocratic ways of the old wizard families. The parents have very little to do with their own children. Those students are only a few of the dozen or so that come to her for help, not only with their work, but with their personal problems also. She's like a mother figure many of them never had." Remus was shocked, but said nothing. He glanced around and noticed that there were as many Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw students as there were Gryffindor.

About that time, the doors to the hospital wing were opened and Madame Pomfrey came bustling out. She looked surprised to see so many students standing outside the ward.

"Ms. Robbins is fine, students." she said loudly. "She is resting at the moment and is not to be disturbed. If you want to see her, come back after dinner. She will be better by then. However, if she is in no shape to have visitors I will not permit anyone to bother her. Now, go on with whatever you were planning on doing and let her get some rest." Some of the students heaved huge sighs of relief when the nurse finished her speech. Some of them decided to come back later, and the hallway slowly began to empty until only the Quidditch team, the four young Slytherins and Thomas McCleod were still standing there. Madame Pomfrey looked ruffled and turned back to them.

"I told you that she will......."

"Madame Pomfrey. Madame Pomfrey." came a weak voice out of the ward. Pomfrey looked back and saw who was calling her. She turned back to the waiting students and frowned.

"I told you she will be better after dinner, children." she bustled. "Go on back to you Common Rooms." She shut the door and the kids stared at it.

"She's up." Remus said quietly. "And I'm not leaving until I know she's fine."

"But, Madame Pomfrey said that we should leave." The little blond headed Slytherin first year said. Sirius frowned and looked down at the girl.

"You're in Slytherin," he said grumpily. "Do you always do as your told?" The little girl looked chastised and turned back to her friends.

"That was uncalled for, Padfoot." James said.

"Sorry." he said. The door to the ward opened again and a very flustered Madame Pomfrey came out.

"Ms. Robbins insists on seeing her friends before she takes any medication." she said.

"Can we see her, just for a few minutes?" Thomas asked timidly.

"Yes." the nurse conceded. "However, it's only for five minutes at the maximum. Now stay quiet and you can come in." The little boy went forward and the other younger students followed at a respectable distance. The Gryffindor Quidditch team fell in last, with James and Sirius bringing up the rear.

As they entered the ward, the smell of cleanliness overwhelmed them. Everything around them was white and pristine, like something out of a dream. The nurse quickly led them over to a curtained off area and pulled back the privacy curtain. The younger students crowded to one side while the Quidditch team, Lily, and Remus stood on the other side and at the foot of the bed. Sable was lying in the white hospital bed with a white examination gown covering herself. She sat up in the bed and tried to smile, but only managed to grimace.

" Sable," Thomas said quickly, "you don't need to sit up. It might make things worse!" Sable looked over to the little kid and gave a weak grin.

"Has Pomfrey been talking to you?" she asked shakily. Thomas shook his head.

"Why?"

"That's the same thing Pomfrey's been telling me since she got me in here." She looked around the bed and noticed the four Slytherin students off to one side.

"Miranda. Kacey. Michael. Kenneth. You can come closer. I won't bite you." she said quietly. The four children walked forward shyly and stood closer to the bed.

"Are....are you ..... okay, Ms. Sable." one of the little boys asked timidly.

"I'm fine, Kenneth." she said, patting the little boy's hand. "Just a little beat up."

"We saw it when you fell from the broom," the blonde girl said, "We thought you were their house, and if she told them she risked them going to die. It was so far up." Remus grinned and shook his head.

"It'll take more than that to get rid of her." he said. "We've been trying for years, and she still comes back." Sable grinned and the little kids smiled.

"Who knocked you off your broom, Ms. Sable?" Michael asked. Sable looked over to the Quidditch team and bit her lip. She knew who it was, and they knew who it was, but the kids didn't need to. Flint was in getting hurt.

"I'm not sure, Michael." she said with a grin. "But I'll be fine in a few days."

"Is anything broken?" Kacey asked.

"Just my pride." Sable grinned, ruffling the girl's hair. "Pomfrey thinks I may have a concussion, but other than that, I'm just bruised badly." The children looked better and Sable saw Madame Pomfrey peeking around the corner of the curtains. She smiled at the smaller children and looked at each of them in turn.

"I think Madame Pomfrey is about to kick you out, guys." she told the little ones. "How about ya'll come see me after dinner, when I gotten some rest?"

"Will you be okay until then?" Thomas asked immediately.

"I'll be fine, Thomas."she chided gently. "Now go on and get something to eat, all of you. None of you will make decent Quidditch players if you don't eat something. Now go." She smiled at the children as they filed out of the ward and towards the door. When they were out of earshot, Sirius and Remus erupted.

"I'm going to kill that Slytherin prick!" Sirius said. "He done this on purpose!"

"Of course he did, Sirius." Sable said. "Now calm down before Pomfrey kicks all of you out."

"He is going to pay for this, Sable." Remus said.

"We'll get him good, Remus." James said. "Don't worry."

"Look, don't worry about me." Sable said. "How's Karen?

"She's fine." Lily said. "In fact she should be here soon." Sable nodded and rested her head back against the headboard. Madame Pomfrey came bustling around the curtain, ready to kick everyone else out.

"Alright, students." she said. "Your five minutes is up. Out you go." The students grumbled but slowly began to fade out. "Oh, quit complaining. You can come back after dinner. This girl needs rest." Lily gave her a hug and started to push the entire Quidditch team out of the ward.

"Alright people, you heard her, OUT!" she said. "That includes you two too, James Potter and Sirius Black." James and Sirius nodded their heads towards her and left the ward.

"Get some rest, Sable." James said. "We'll come back in a few hours." The two boys disappeared and Madame Pomfrey looked at Remus with narrowed eyes.

"That includes you also, Mr. Lupin." she said gently. Sable grabbed his wrist to stop him before he left. She looked up at Madame Pomfrey and put on her best puppy dog face.

"Madame, can he stay for a few more minutes? Please. It won't take long I promise." She begged. The nurse nodded and walked away.

"Five minutes." she barked. "My patient needs rest." Sable smiled and let go of his wrist.

"Remus," she said gently, "Calm down, please."

"Sable, that prick done this to you on purpose. How can you be so forgiving?"

"I haven't said I've forgiven anybody, Remus." she said. "But you don't need to be worked up about this. Not now, anyways. The full moon's the day after tomorrow, and if you're this upset the transformation is going to be horrible. And I can't give you the Wolfsbane Potion and the pain blocker at the same time. It'll kill you." Remus sat down on the side of the bed with a sigh.

"He's not going to get away with this, Sable. That was no accident out there."

"I know Remus." she said. "And the only thing I've got to say is if any of you decide to fight him, make him hurt." Remus looked up and furrowed his eyes, in confusion. "Because right now, I'm in so much pain I don't know what to do."

"Pomfrey hasn't given you any medicine yet?" he asked. "She's usually forcing the stuff down my throat after the changes." Sable grinned sheepishly and looked away.

"I told her I wouldn't take anything until I've seen you guys. I was afraid you three were going to jump the entire Slytherin Quidditch team after this."

"We nearly did." he admitted. "Lily stopped us."

"Good, I don't want you guys to get into anymore trouble because of me."

"What? You just said to make Flint hurt......bad."

"Don't let anyone see you when you hurt him, okay." she said sarcastically. " I know it's no use telling you three not to fight, because you're going to do it anyway. Just take some precaution, that's all." Remus grinned and stood from the bed.

"Right." he said. "You need to get some rest. If you do have a concussion, the best thing is rest. I'll come back to see you after dinner." Sable smiled and pulled the covers up over her.

"Good, now go get something to eat. You look peaky to me."

"Me???? You're the one in the hospital wing."

"Technicalities, technicalities." she said. "Now go." Remus nodded and walked out of the ward. He heard Madame Pomfrey giving her some sort of medicine and the jumbled voices of the two. 'If Pomfrey gives her what she usually gives me, she'll be out in no time flat.' he thought. He turned the corner and decided to go back to the Great Hall to find the others. Dinner wasn't for a couple more hours, and Pomfrey wasn't going to let anyone else in the ward a minute before then. When he turned the corner that led from the hospital wing into the Great Hall, he ran smack into someone else. He took a step back to keep himself from falling down. He started to apologize for his clumsiness when he realized who he had hit.

Cody Flint.

Remus immediately felt his temper go from nothing to Vesuvius level when he laid eyes on the Slytherin Captain. Flint smirked and tried to push past the boy, but Remus blocked his way by stepping in front of him. Flint done nothing but step back into rank with the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch players who were with him.

"Out of my way, filth!!" he sneered, "I've got nothing to say to you."

"The dungeons are the other way, Flint." Lupin growled. Flint sneered and Remus heard one of the other boys let a low laugh escape.

"We're not on our way to the dungeons." Flint said. "I was actually on my way to see if Sable was alright. She took an awful nasty spill on the Pitch." Remus bristled and fought to keep from lashing out at the entire group.

"Yeah, it's a pity she can't dodge Bludgers as well as she scores with a Quaffle." one of the boys laughed. "She might actually be able to play like a real Quidditch player one day." Remus clutched his hands to his sides, refusing to rise to the direct challenge. 'I can't loose it in front of the whole team. I can't!' the thought. He glanced at the boys and tried to regain control of his temper.

"Stay away from her." he growled. "If you go anywhere remotely near her, I'll kill you myself." The boys smirked and Flint shook his head.

"You misunderstand me, my friend." Remus glowered and said nothing. "We are only concerned with her well being. You see, since she doesn't have a 'significant other' to make sure she's feeling alright, the boys and I were going to see if there were any services she may need us to do for her."

"Yeah, one of us should make her feel a little better." the blonde snickered. "She's got to be hurting bad right about now."

"We'll give her something else to take her mind off of that particular pain, at least for a little while." The red head pressed.

"We'd make old Patrick proud, we would." another one said. Remus lost his control with that last snide comment. Just the thought of one of those creeps doing anything to her like Patrick did to those other girls, made Remus loose his control.

"I'll kill you...." he said. He made for the group, fierce loyalty and protectiveness shining in his eyes, when a commanding voice pulled his attention tot the end of the hall.

"Remus!"

"Moony!" James and Sirius yelled simultaneously. The Slytherins turned as one to see who the intruders were, but Remus and Flint stayed locked in an eye to eye battle.

"What's going on here?" James demanded, eyeing Flint.

"We were going to offer our condolences to Ms. Robbins." Flint lied , never breaking contact with Lupin. "However, we seem to have been interrupted, haven't we?"

"Sable's resting in the hospital wing," Sirius said gruffly. "Pomfrey won't let anyone in to see her. We already tried." Flint smirked and broke eye contact. He turned his head back to his team and sneered.

"Well boys, if that old bat is baring people, our plan will have to wait." The team nodded and grinned before turning to leave the hallway. Flint turned back to the three Gryffindor boys and gave them a half way sympathetic smile. "As light complected as she is, that bruise is going to look rather nasty against her skin. Don't you think, Lupin?" Remus' eyes were full of fire, and he lunged at the boy again.

"You Slytherin bastard......" Remus began, but was cut off as he was jerked back by James and Sirius. He was pushed behind the two boys and blocked from Flint's sight.

"That's enough, Flint." James said. "Go back to your Common Room and change. You're stinking up the hallway." Flint gave a mock bow and nodded.

"Of course. Who would dream of disobeying the great Head Boy, James Potter and his trusty side-kicks, dog-boy and wolf-man." Remus tried to get around the two, but Sirius caught his shirt again.

"Get lost, Flint." he hissed. "You're getting in over your head." The boy only shook his head in disgust, eyeing each of the Gryffindors. His gaze landed on Remus and he smirked.

"We'll finish this later, Lupin." he said quietly. The only response was a low growl from the back of Remus' throat. Flint turned and walked back down the corridor, leaving the three boys there.

James let out an audible sigh of relief when Flint's green robes slipped around the corner. He let go of his death grip on Remus and turned to face the distraught boy.

"You okay, Moony?"

"Not as okay as I would have been if you'd have let me get my hand s on that bloody bastard!" he said. Sirius patted his shoulder reassuringly.

"We'll make sure he gets what's coming to him, Moony. Don't worry."

"Yeah," James said. "When everyone saw him purposely hit her, they were in an uproar. All of the Houses are ready to jump him, even some of the younger Slytherins."

"You're right." he muttered. "The last thing I want is him laid up in the hospital by Sable." He shook his head and began to walk away, leaving James and Sirius behind.

"Is Flint trying to get himself killed?" Sirius asked. "Does he have a death wish or something?"

"If he does, I think Moony's more than willing to fill it right now." James shuddered, running to catch up with the very pissed of werewolf that was one of his best friends.

Halfway through dinner that evening, Remus pushed back his plate and excused himself form dinner. He'd been trying to find something to keep himself occupied for the evening, but all he could think about was the coming full moon and Sable. He made his way up to the hospital wing in record time and pushed open the door. As the solid door slid open, he heard voices float through the silence. It was Sable's voice mingled with the pleasant Scottish accent of Thomas McCleod's. She was laughing and Remus topped to listen to what was going on.

"....and then, Mikayla swooped down and caught the Snitch. We won the Junior League Championship by a hundred points. It was great!"

"Sounds like you guys had to work quite hard and put up a fight to win that game." That was Sable. Her voice was stronger and she sounded like she had gotten some much needed rest.

"Oh, yes," he said. "We worked heard, and it all paid off in the end."

"I'm glad for you, Thomas. You're going to make a fine player one day." There was a pause until Thomas spoke again.

"Sable, I've got a question for you."

"Fire away, buddy." she said easily.

"Well...um....I wanted to know if you....well....never mind. It's stupid." Remus could hear the nervousness in the boy's voice as he spoke.

"What is it, Thomas. Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Well, you see, a bunch of my friends were playing a game of truth and dare, and well, I was dared to ask you a question."

"What is it? It can't be that bad, can it?"

"It's embarrassing."

"Thomas," Sable said gently, "I'm friends with four of the biggest trouble makers in school. If they've never embarrassed me before, I highly doubt your friend's question will."

"What about that day after the Quidditch tryouts?" he teased. "You seemed pretty embarrassed then." Remus nearly choked holding back a laugh. He heard as Sable shifted uncomfortably in her bed.

"Thomas, do you want me to answer the question, or not?" she asked.

"Okay, okay." he said, laughing at her. "Here goes." He took a deep breath and shuddered. "Is Remus Lupin your boyfriend?" There was a slight pause and he heard Sable move again.

"Define 'boyfriend'." she said. "Remus is a very good friend of mine who happens to be a guy."

"But you guys are always together. And anytime you two fight, he mopes around the Common Room. You should have seen him after that mess last week. He was a mess."

"We're just very good friends, Thomas. We understand each other much better than other people do." she said quietly.

"Oh." was the only answer she got. "Well, I'd better go. Dinner began twenty minutes ago. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Sable. Bye." Remus slipped behind a curtain until he heard Thomas pass, mumbling '..understand each other, my foot! They're more like friends with benefits! I've seen the way he looks at her, and it's not just friendship he's thinking about. I'm only 11 and I can see it! Why can't she?'

When the door to the ward shut, he emerged from the curtain with a grimace.

"Am I so obvious an eleven year old notices?" he asked quietly to no one in particular. "I'm in over my head. I'll never by anything more than her friend."

"Remus?" Sable called out, "That you?" Remus kicked himself, remembering her own heightened senses as well as his own.

"Damn. I forgot!"

"What'd you forget, Remus?" she asked as he walked around the privacy curtain surrounding her bed. There were flowers and cards and candy all around her. Obvious gifts from some of the other Houses to make her feel better, but he wasn't looking at them. He too one look at her and frowned, his anger beginning to boil again. He eyes traveled from her face to her shoulder, noting the blackish tint to her skin, residual of healing bruises.

"Exactly how much I want to kill Flint right now." he hissed. Sable shook her head.

"Temper, temper, Mr. Lupin." she chided. "You don't need to shoot your blood pressure through the roof. You know that."

"I can't help it." he said, staring at the black marks on her otherwise creamy skin. "How big is that bruise anyway?" Sable frowned and shifter her shoulder.

"Come here, and I'll show you." she said. She undid the tie on the hospital gown and slipped it off of her shoulder, exposing the remnants of Flint's handiwork with a Bludger and a bat. The bruise was roughly the size of a dinner plate and covered the entire left side of her shoulder and chest.

"Bastard." Remus cursed. "He's really going to get it now."

"Remus." Sable said, pulling the gown back up and retying it. "You aren't going to do anything to him until I get out of here."

"Says who?" he asked incredously.

"Says me, that's who." she stated. "Unless you want to be the next one laid up in here beside him."

"He can't put me in the hospital! You think I can't fight him and win?" he asked, his temper starting to come back.

"It's not him that's going to do the beating." she said primly. "It's me." Remus blanched and backed down, knowing she would make good on her threat in push came to shove.

"Sable, I'm not letting him get away with this."

"Neither am I." she said patiently. "But it can wait for now. The full moon is tomorrow, and neither of us need to be having a fight on our minds, especially you." Remus looked away, knowing she was right.

"You're right." he said, slumping into a chair. Sable smiled and nodded.

"I know I am." she said gently, patting his hand. Remus grinned and looked up at her, hopeful. "Now, I need you to do me a favor."

"What?"

"Go down to my lab and get two viles of the Wolfsbane Potion." she said. "You have to take one in the morning, when you eat breakfast. And one tomorrow night before you change."

Remus looked shocked.

"Aren't you coming with us tomorrow?" he asked. Her presence at the last transformation had helped him to some extent, so he had hoped she would be with him this time. Sable grimaced and tried to move her arm.

"Pomfrey says I have to stay in here for another day or so. I got a concussion when I fell, so I won't go back to class until Monday or Tuesday." she said. Remus nodded, but didn't move form his seat.

"That sucks." he said. "I was hoping you would be able to come with us." Sable nodded and tried to move around again.

"I was hoping I would be able to come, too." she said quietly, "but Pomfrey won't let me get up from this bed. Trust me, I've already tried." Remus nodded, knowing fully well that if Pomfrey didn't want you to go anywhere, you weren't going. He shook his head slowly, but stopped when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. Sable had pricked up also.

"James and the others are coming." he said.

"I heard." she answered. Not even two minutes later, James came into the ward, carrying a huge basket of flowers. Sable looked over at Remus, who shook his head in confusion.

"Uh, James, what's up with the flowers?" Sable asked.

"Just wait and you'll see." he said through the stems of flora. As he said that, the rest of the group (Sirius, Peter, Lily, Arabella, and Amanda) came in with various arm loads of stuff ranging from candy to flowers to books. When they got all of the stuff situated, Sirius turned to her and grimaced.

"If you ever get hurt again, I refuse to play messenger boy for your gifts from your admirers." he said flatly. "By the way, you're never playing another Quidditch game again for this very reason!"

"This is all mine?!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Well, it isn't the Easter Bunny's." Peter remarked. Sable looked wide eyed around the room slowly taking in all of the gifts

"But who sent all this?" she asked, turning and looking at her friends.

"Well," Arabella said, coming out from behind Sirius, "that pile is from a bunch of Ravenclaws. Most of it is from the kids you tutor after classes. The rest was thank-you gifts for showing Flint up at the game."

"And," Amanda started, pushing over to the bed. "That pile is from the Hufflepuffs. Like Bella said, most of it is from the little kids you tutor. But there are a few of the baskets that came from some of the guys on the Quidditch team." Remus glared at the Hufflepuff girl, who was completely oblivious to the icy gaze. "Just to say thanks for kicking some Slytherin arse." Sable smiled and looked around to a pile of gifts flashing red and gold colors.

"I take it that is from the Gryffindors." she said. James and Sirius nodded. Peter stepped up and grimaced.

"You even got something from the Slytherins." he said.

"WHAT!!" Remus asked. "Which one of those slimy snakes had the audacity to send her something after they knocked her off the broom?!!" Sable shook her head.

"Calm down, Remus." she said. "It's probably just from the kids." Peter walked to the pile of gifts and pulled out a little box.

"Open this," he said. "I don't think the 'kids' bought it?" Sable looked a little confused, but opened the box. Lying in the soft tissue paper was a gold chain, a small Quaffle pendant attached to it. She looked closely and found 'MSR' engraved on the front, her initials. She picked the necklace up and a small note fell from the paper. She picked it up and scanned over it before putting it back in the box.

"Pete," she asked, "who sent this to me?" Peter shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't know." he answered. "One of the little kids gave it to me this morning. Said that some of the older students told them to give it to one of us to give to you." Sable shut the box and put it on the table beside the hospital bed.

"Do you know who would have sent you something like that?" Lily asked.

"No. Especially if they were really from Slytherin House." she said. Everyone was silent until James cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"So, Sable, when is Pomfrey gonna let you out of here?" he asked.

"Not any time soon, I'm afraid." she said. "I won't be able to get out of here for another two days or so."

"But what about tomorrow night?" Sirius said quickly. "We need you there to make sure that everything goes okay." Lily promptly stepped on his foot to shut him up. Arabella and Amanda looked a little confused.

"What's going on tomorrow night?" Amanda asked.

"Uh... well...you see...." Sirius stumbled. James looked pale and Remus started shuffling his feet.

"What my articulate friend is trying to say," Sable said smoothly, "Is that we were planning on pranking the Slytherin Quidditch team tomorrow. However, now that I'm temporarily incapacitated, it will have to wait." She looked at Sirius and gave him a rather pointed stare that said Don't-worry-about-it. It's- already-taken-care-of. Sirius looked relieved and Remus nodded enthusiastically.

"Well," Arabella said, "if you ever need any help pranking them, call me." Amanda grinned and nodded.

"Me, too." she said.

"We'll definitely keep you two in mind." Lily said with a grin. About that time, Madame Pomfrey came around the privacy curtain and stood shock still at the sight of everything.

"Where did all of this come from?" she barked, pointing at the Get Well gifts.

"The students?" Sirius asked stupidly. Pomfrey put her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"I want this stuff out of my ward, right now!" she said.

"You mean we have to carry it all back to the Common Room?" Peter whined. "We just carried it all up here."

"You're a wizard, Pettigrew," the nurse said sarcastically. "Put a levitating spell on it."

"Oh, that's right." Peter muttered, pulling out his wand. The others snickered and tried to hide their laughs.

"And I want the rest of you out of here." she said. "Ms. Robbins still needs her rest."

"But you said we could talk to her after dinner." Remus protested.

"Aye, I did." she said, "And you have. Now out. She needs her rest."

"But......." James began.

"No 'buts', Mr. Potter." she said. "Out!" All of the teens quickly grabbed their wands and levitated the stuff out of the ward without a word of digress.

"We'll be back in the morning." James said. Remus frowned and walked out of the room after saying goodbye to her. Sable had the fleeting impression he had mumbled 'I'll be back in here before tomorrow.' but she wasn't so sure. She gulped down the potion Pomfrey had handed her and soon felt the blissful abyss of sleep envelope her.

Half an hour later, someone named Remus Lupin snuck back into the ward and fell asleep in the chair beside the bed.

IIIIIIIIIIIII The Next Morning IIIIIIIIIIII

The morning sunlight woke Sable up from her peaceful slumber early the next morning. She sat up in the bed and looked around. Pomfrey was no where in sight, which was probably a good thing.

"She'd probably try to force one of those disgusting potions down my throat again." she muttered.

"Huhhh?" came a distorted voice from her left. "Whose forcing what ......throat....." Sable nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice, but calmed down when she remember the Marauder's invisibility cloak. She reached over and felt around for the silkiness of the cloak. Once she found it, she pulled gently, revealing a sleeping Remus Lupin.

"What're you doing here, Remus?" she asked quietly, not wanting to wake him up. It was still somewhat early after all.

"Make....sure....you're.....fine......Flint......came........talk.....we......told.......off." he mumbled, turning over in the chair and pulling the cloak closer around him. Sable grinned and tried to hold in her laugh. He was talking in his sleep. 'Let's see what I can find out about you to use as blackmail, Moony ol'boy.' she thought.

"Remus." she said quietly, "Remus. Can you hear me?" A disgruntled grunt was her only response.

"Did Flint try to come up here yesterday?"

"Uh-Hu."

"Why?"

"Services.......rendered.....Sable...Beat...up..Captain." He mumbled. 'I'm not even going to ask about that one.' she thought. 'Time for a change of topics.' So, for the next ten minutes, Sable pried information out of the sleeping form of Remus. Finally, he began to stir awake. She smiled and sat back on the bed, waiting for him to wake up. He finally turned over and looked at her when he woke.

"How long you been up?" he asked groggily.

"Not long." Sable answered with a smile. She looked over him critically and grinned. "I think you need to shave, Remus. You're starting to look a little hairy." Remus ran his hand along his jaw and nodded.

"You're right." he said. "I'll do that first thing after breakfast. You hungry?"

"Actually, yes. I am." she said. "Let's go get some food." She pushed the covers off of her bed and went to stand up, but Remus stopped her.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"To get food." she said plainly.

"You're not suppose to leave." he reminded her.

"I was hoping you would have forgotten that by now." She said grumpily.

"Not likely." he said. "I already told the house-elves to bring some food up here. They should be here soon."

"Do you have the potion with you?" she asked quietly. Remus nodded and pulled out a vile of the clear liquid. She looked rather skeptical, and was about to say something when Remus grinned.

"Don't worry about it." he said. "I trust you." He knew she had been thinking about putting him in danger with an untested potion. She'd been doubting herself the whole time and he knew that. But he also knew that she was the best potion brewer in and around England

"Good." she grinned half-heartedly, "that's refreshing to know." He nodded and tucked it back into his pocket.

They spent the rest of the day talking about different things. As Sable's steady stream of visitors for the day began, Remus decided to go get some more sleep in his own bed. With a parting hug, he slipped back up to the Tower to wait for night time to fall. He'd be on the floor of the Shrieking Shack in a few hours. 'Might as well get some rest while I can. Cause I don't think I'll be getting much tonight.'

A/N - Okay. I know. I know. No blood shed yet. Don't worry, it's coming I promise. The boys will fight, just not right now. Remember to leave me a review. Trust me, after the phone call I just got, I'm going to need all of the good words I can hear. Later.