I just want to say that I am proud of my reviewers! I've been reading a lot of fanfiction lately and I noticed that many authors have to yell at rude reviewers, but I am overly pleased that for me, it is not necessary! I have the best readers in the world! (Wipes a happy tear from eye) Just don't start giving me threats about not updating fast enough. (Turns to friend named Siria.) I try to write as fast as possible, but I -sadly- have time limits set by my parents, in which only gives me mainly the weekends to type. TT
Most of you started asking me a lot of questions from the last chapter, and that is a very good sign. Maybe I actually CAN write an interesting fic! Sorry I can't answer them, because that would be giving the story away. Keep asking questions and keep guessing about what's going to happen, since it reminds me exactly what I still need to answer. Of course, don't ask the same question in every review because that would be annoying.
I know I'm forgetting something, and it's really bothering me…
Let's see:
I costplayed for the first time as Ayame from InuYasha.
I think this chapter might not be that great.
I had problems thinking of a name for this chapter.
I still need to come up with a time line for this story.
I…
Ok, if I do think of something that I forgot to mention, then I'll just reload this chapter. It wouldn't be something that important I don't think.
ENJOY!
Message: I dedicate this chapter to Mistress Snape, for being the only one to find the flaw in chapter five. (I'll get around to fixing it soon. It's an easy thing to fix and it won't change much. THANK YOU!!! Keep on the look out. You are officially my editor- not that you have to be.)
THANKS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!!!!
Now on with the chapter… no more interruptions. (I promise.)
Chapter 6: Blank
Harry Potter Era
"The meaning of life is to be and have been."
Luna's Diaries
Harry woke up with the sunlight streaming across his face. He had forgotten to close his bed curtains the night before, and was now temporarily blinded by light. Shutting his eyes again, he groggily scrambled out of bed to try to escape the sun.
"Mornin' Harry," a voice next to him yawned. Harry lazily opened his eyes, and saw a blurry Ron pulling clothing out from inside his suitcase.
Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Harry stumbled over to his own suitcase, mumbling a muffled response. He pulled on some clothing and his robes, while his sight ever so slowly returned. It felt so normal to be back at Hogwarts. To him, it was his home. Not with the Dursleys; never with them.
After cleaning up, he and Ron left the dorm and headed their way towards the Common room. Truthfully, they both weren't ready to get up or have the energy to take part in a complete conversation when Dean and Seamus ran up to them, grinning.
"You two have to see this! Violet's doing yoga!" they laughed as one. Sure enough, there she was doing complicated stretches on the carpet in front of the empty fireplace, looking rather annoyed. Her black robes seemed to have been thrown onto one of the armchairs carelessly, so that she was only wearing a loose yellow tank top and a pair of shorts. A few of the guys were ogling at her with non-blinking eyes, not wanting to look away. Her wand was placed on a table beside her emitting soothing music that Harry guessed was supposed to be calming. Unfortunately is didn't seem to work.
He strolled over to her and sat down on the ground, "Do you do this every morning?"
"Have they never seen a girl before? Or is it just the whole fact that I like doing different things?" She moved her angered eyes towards Harry and softened them, "Yes, I do do this every morning. I start at six and continue until breakfast."
"Don't you miss your sleep?"
"Nope," she shifted from her crouching position and moved into a difficult cross-legged posture, with her forefinger and her thumb pressed together. Her low pigtails swung in a cute way as she did this, though her expression ruined the effect. "So what do you think? Because I'm a girl or I'm doing something different?"
"Neither," he felt a bit guilty when he noticed he wasn't blinking either and felt lucky that she had turned her attention to the gaping boys. "I think it's because you're clothing are eye-openers," he stated bordely. Harry began to wake up a little.
Violet laughed, "I'm not wearing anything fancy."
"I know," he turned his head to look at Seamus, who's eyes were sparkling, "but I don't think the boys care if they're fancy or not. I guess being a girl could have a small factor to do with it."
Grinning, she stated, "Let me guess, most girls don't dress like this?"
"Not in the mornings."
"Well, I guess I'm going to have to find a new spot to do this then," Violet stood up and put her robes back on. "Ready for breakfast Harry? Hermione's already in the Great Hall, waiting for us."
"Let's go then."
"Right, but let us not forget something," she walked over to a confused Ron and grabbed his arm. Leading him out of the portrait hole, they all made their way through the castle for breakfast. "Do you have any good ideas of where I can do yoga in the mornings?" Violet asked, walking through the grand doors.
"I guess you could always try The Room of Requirement."
She smiled and waved at Hermione who was sitting a little ways down the table from where they were walking. "I could Harry, but I enjoy the complications of social interaction. Hey Hermione!"
"Stop speaking like a dictionary," Ron muttered and leaned towards Harry. "How do you think she knows about The Room of Requirement? I thought she was new."
Ron was right. How did she know? "Violet?" started Harry and repeated the question, sitting down next to her. Breakfast looked extra tasty today and he couldn't resist eating a plate of small pancakes smothered in syrup.
"I'm friends with Dumbledore. He has helped me out during the years after my mother died," she darted her eyes to Harry as if accusing him for having to explain herself, "And don't think I haven't ever seen The Marauder's Map." Of course! If her mother was once a girlfriend of one of the marauders, then they must have shown her the map… but then, if her mother disappeared and was never seen again how could Violet have seen it. Remus didn't seem to recognize her yesterday, so… "I own a copy of the map at home," she explained, unknowingly reading his mind. Hundreds of owls swooped into the hall, blocking the enchanted ceiling from view, to find the people that the letters and packages they were carrying had been sent to.
"How did you get the copy?" Hermione questioned as she untied a newspaper from the leg of a small tawny barn owl, paid for it, and scanned the front cover with interest.
Violet smirked mischievously in a rather appealing way, "I have my ways."
"Oh my," Hermione stiffened; her mind drawn to the printed ink in front of her. At first Harry didn't know if she was actually responding to Violet's answer or not. Though in time, the sense of shock on her face from the paper in front of her immediately told him the answer. "Harry! Read this!" And she shoved the newspaper into his face, hurriedly pointing the first page article. Violet and Ron leaned over his shoulders to read along with him.
Muggle Disappearances in LondonCan "You Know Who" Be Behind It?
Yesterday morning, April Wedderskin- a young witch living in London- was heading home after finishing her shopping in Diagon Alley, when she noticed that her street was empty. "Unlike most days, the muggles were not outside hosing down their gardens. The only sign of life, was a black cat sitting patiently on my doorstep, with the most amazing violet eyes." It turns out that after Ms. Wedderskin entered her home, a note lying on her table informed her of the disappearance of every muggle in her neighborhood. "You Know Who must be holding them captive and who knows what he will do to them!" Though the letter was signed anonymously, we have proof to believe that this indeed was the work of He Who Must Not Be Named, and if anyone has any information of the mysterious black cat that had vanished after the note was seen, then please inform the Ministry of Magic.
Violet's laughter concluded the article, which shocked Harry and his friends. Finishing her breakfast and grabbing a timetable from Professor McGonagall, she stood up. "I'm sorry guys, I just haven't seen a story like that. How can the Ministry be so stupid?!" chuckling again she walked away yelling over her shoulder, "I'll see you in our first class!"
Harry glanced at his own schedule. Today he had Double Defense Against the Dark Arts and then Potions right after lunch. It was ironic how he could have his least and most favorite teachers in the same day. Swallowing the last bite of his meal, he, Ron and Hermione left the Great Hall to get ready for their lesson with Professor Lupin.
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Violet was a corridor away from the classroom, but she couldn't force herself to walk any further. She didn't know if she was ready for this. Being such a strange person in Remus Lupins' life, she was positive that there would be awkwardness between them. He never said a word to her yesterday and… and what if he was married? Unknowingly, he had given Luna his heart years ago. "The ring…" she whispered, leaning against the freezing stonewall. Her left hand was clutching the clothing over her heart and she could feel her eyes forming tears. Whenever she even thought of the subject, her breathing became as heavy as it was now.
"Miss Moonglade?" A male voice asked. Violet dropped her books and picking them up, she took her chance to rub her eyes away of tears.
"Y-yes Professor Lupin?"
"Um…Class will be starting in a moment, would you like to come with me and get a good seat?" He said calmly, not noticing her odd behavior. No teacher had ever asked her to go to class early before – she was annoying enough to most of them – unless they wished to talk, and she wasn't ready for that. At least not with him. Even this conversation made her hands tremble and stomach ache horribly. In fact, it was getting so bad that she was finding it hard to keep steady and not topple her books over again.
"I-I forgot something in my room, but don't worry, I always get the seat I want." She answered reassuringly. Forcing a smile she nodded, letting him know he could leave. But he didn't. No, not at all. He just continued examining her and making her feel even worse then before. And that's when it happened… the sound of book covers slapping against the stone floor, "Oh! Um… I-I'm so s-sorry. I can't believe this happened twice in two minutes. I'm such a klutz!" Violet fell to her knees and tried to gather her scattered belongings as fast as possible, while wondering why she had carried so much.
A hand picked up one of the textbooks she had intended to grab her self. "Everyone makes mistakes," Remus Lupin said. He handed the book to her and that was when she noticed his skin.
"Professor? You look really pale."
"It's about that time of month," he stated seriously, standing up.
She chuckled, "I thought you were male Professor!"
"That I am," he laughed along with her, "But you know what I meant. Unless… has your mother ever mentioned what I am?"
"My mother died a long time ago, Professor." His eyes met hers and she could feel the surprise and then the understandable pain that followed. Had Luna meant that much to him?
"I'm sad to hear that." His voice was so respectable, yet there was a definite quiver.
Violet felt so guilty, even though it wasn't her fault that he was like this, "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing for you to be sorry about," he smiled a bit sadly.
"No. I am sorry," Violet looked at the floor, "I'm sorry about Luna."
"It's-"
"I have to get that thing I forgot! I'll see you in class Professor!" and she ran. She didn't really know where she was going, but she had to escape from that conversation. She new it was going to be awkward and it had been. Her face definitely told her so. Why couldn't she be a regular kid that wasn't destined to have situations like that? Why couldn't she be normal?
------
"Come on you two! Violet must be waiting for a long time! We only need a few textbooks!"
"I'm shocked Hermione!" Ron said trying to make her let go of his sleeve, "I never thought I'd ever hear you say that you only needed a 'few' textbooks."
"Oh, Shut up Ron."
Harry laughed at them and walked out of the Portrait Hole, but not for long. Something rammed him in the stomach, forcing him to fly back into the Common Room. His gut ached and something was on top of him. Ignoring the pain, he opened his eyes and saw the 'thing' that was quickly trying to get off him, "Violet?"
"I'm sorry Harry…" she said hurriedly and rushed up to her dormitory, still holding a bunch of books in her arms.
Ron gestured her way and asked, "What's with her?"
"She must have talked with Professor Lupin," Hermione replied.
"And what makes you think that?"
"Don't tell me you're that stupid, Ron," she said dryly, "You saw how she acted yesterday when she saw him for the first time. Maybe I should go check on her."
"I thought you wanted to get to class?" said Ron with a cocked eyebrow.
"I'll just be a minute."
Harry stood up and rubbed his stomach, "While you're up there, ask her if she's ever thought of taking football as a hobby." Hermione just rolled her eyes and ran up the stairs to her room.
"Football? What's that?" Ron asked him.
"It's a sport that muggles play. I'll explain it later."
"Sure," he and Harry walked out of the Portrait Hole and made their way towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, figuring that the girls would be taking a while, "Uh, Harry? Why do you think Violet acts that way around Professor Lupin? And what about Snape?"
"I don't know," he answered as he entered the classroom. Lupin was inside organizing his desk, even though it was already as clean as possible. Harry watched as he picked up a tiny object wrapped in a brown cloth and placed it in the top, right desk drawer. After muttering a charm, magically locking it, he looked up and smiled.
"Good Morning, Harry."
"You too Professor," Harry was curious as to what was in that desk. Taking a seat in the front row, he decided to forget about it, even though he could see that Ron wanted to know what it was as well.
Minutes past and Harry decided to explain to Ron then, what football was. The classroom was almost full as students entered after eating their breakfast. Hermione and Violet hadn't arrived yet though. Even Nevil Longbottom had found a seat by now.
"What do you think Lupin's going to teach us today? I don't see any cages or creatures anywhere," said Ron, after Harry finished explaining to him the rules of the sport.
"We could be learning a few spells or we might go to another empty classroom, like we did with the Boggart."
Ron shrugged, "I guess it's possible." The last two students entered; one with very bushy hair and the other with her nose in a book. Hermione took the seat on Harry's left and Violet, using her peripheral vision guided herself to a seat in the back. It was the last seat available. She was still determined to continue 'reading' when she sat down, but Harry could see that her eyes weren't even scanning the page. Instead, they were every so often glancing up to Professor Lupin, as her fingers lazily turned a few pages. Very believable, thought Harry, sarcastically.
Lupin stood up and strode over to the front of his desk, facing the class, " Well, as you can see, I have returned to teach at Hogwarts-" he was interrupted by a loud applause and cheering from the students. Violet had instantly put her book away and smiled; gently laughing at the response he had been given. She clapped politely along with the rest of the class, enjoying herself already. Harry wondered why she had acted so strangely yesterday and now seemed so happy, but he let Remus continue after the noise died down and let his thought go. "-even though there are circumstances that I wish not to discuss."
Harry heard Seamus whisper to Violet, "He's a werewolf." She in turn narrowed her eyes at him and then returned her gaze to the professor. Harry had never seen someone look so scary, and then be so calm a moment later.
It took Lupin half of the class just explaining what they were covering this term; including the fact that they were having to take twice as many Defense Against the Dark Arts classes than last year, due to the poor teaching from Professor Umbridge. Not that the class minded. According to him, they were to study various dark and ancient artifacts as well as dealing with curses and creatures.
"Can anyone tell us what the Ancient Fires were and what they were used for?" he questioned the class.
Automatically, Hermione raised her hand, and being the only one to do so, she answered, "The four Ancient Fires included The Chimalapus – a white flame used to contain all of the light in a room and was rumored to suck out the souls of wizards and witches that have killed for unknown reasons; the Granythe – a fire so powerful that it could burn up the Earth; the Shryke – a burning mass of blue, that devours heat and may turn anything to ice so cold, you couldn't feel it," Hermione had been counting them off on her fingers and allowed herself to take a breath, "And, the Brizangar, which is a mystical black fire that emits a unexplainable light. People have been known to disappear whenever they were near it and never return." The class actually applauded when she finished, but Violet looked a bit frantic and confused.
"Excellent Hermione! Ten points to Gryffindor. It is true that the Chimalapus-" The sentence went unfinished once Violet slowly raised her hand, still looking puzzled. "Yes, Violet?"
Her answer came out a bit quietly and was asked to repeat it, "I think Hermione forgot one." The class was shocked between the two concepts of Hermione not knowing everything and the fact that someone corrected her. Many people coughed on their sugar quills; a few of them choking.
Harry remembered reading about this topic once during the summer, or more, Hermione had forced him, believing that it would be required to know this year (she was right), yet he only remembered that there were only four Ancient Flames. Professor Lupin thought for a minute and not being able to come up with the answer him self, gave her the permission to speak.
"Well," she fumbled, "There is the Green Flame Torch…"
"Great," Dean said dryly, "Now there's another girl who's as loony as Luna Lovegood," He faced a startled Violet and said matter-of-factly, "There is no such thing as the Green Flame Torch. It is just a fable our parents told us when we were young so that we would be good."
Violet looked like she would kill him. Her eyes were slits and the way her fingers began tapping hardly and quickly on her desk didn't help her look less fierce. Slowly the wood seemed to be forming little grooves from where her nails came upon it, and Harry noted that they were very sharp, "What did you say?" He could feel the sneer from his desk at the front… followed by a sudden chill. He shivered.
"The Green Flame Torch is a myth! It's not real," he said loudly and then in a mocking tone, "If you're a good little boy, when you die, you will have a chance of living again if the Torch thinks your worthy. That is what was said to me when I was little, but you know what? I did some research, and found that the Green Flame Torch has never been spotted!" Dean leaned back into his chair and must have believed he'd won. Well, at least until Violet has her say in the discussion, thought Harry.
She gave Dean a long glare and stretched her arms. She looked as though she was going into war, but then rested her hands on her desk again and smiled rather evilly, "I agree," This got a nice sputter out of Dean, but she didn't stop boring holes into his head. "You are absolutely right. That is a myth. I have no idea where you've heard such fairytales, because the real Green Flame Torch has no say in whom it chooses to bring back from the dead. In fact-"
"This is stupid! You're rambling on about nonsense!"
"No…Dean is it?" He nodded at her question, "Well then, no Dean, I am not rambling on about nonsense, because I have proof. You know, the one you said has never existed."
He looked a bit suspicious and glanced at Professor Lupin for support. Lupin smiled, and looked quite interested in where this argument was going. "Show it to me then," Dean demanded.
"Unfortunately you can't read my proof, though I can show you where it is." Violet reached into a large book bag that was placed beside her seat and pulled out one of the thick books Mark Evans had carried to her yesterday. The cover was hidden under brown paper with a single moon drawn in what seemed to be black marker on the cover. She flipped to a marked page and pointed to it.
"What do you mean I can't read it?"
"I mean what I mean. You cannot read it, because-"
"Let me see that!" Dean exclaimed.
Violet shook her head and lifted the book higher towards her nose, "I wouldn't touch it if I were you. You'd turn into a… actually I'm not sure what you'd turn into."
"But-"
"Look, just let me read it out loud so everyone can hear," she didn't wait for a response when she began to speak, "The Green Flame Torch was created by the Moon Sisters: Artemis, Chandra and-"
Dean ran over to her and grabbed the book from her hands, but before he could say 'hand it over,' he vanished and the book dropped to the floor with a loud 'thwap.' The class gasped and looked under their chairs and tables to see if he had possibly fallen, but it was true he was gone. Violet bent over to pick up her book and pulled back quickly, startled. If he wasn't mistaken, Harry thought he heard her giggle. This was proven when she burst out laughing and pointed to the floor. In a crevice between two stones was a long, thin and squirming line.
Violet bent down and gave the thing her best sarcastic-pity look, "A worm! That definitely suits you right now," she sighed and let out a small chuckle as she stood up again, "My books always know what to do to crack me up. Unfortunately though, I have to change you back." She gracefully took out her wand and muttered a charm that no one could hear. "You are lucky to have escaped without injury. This book could have squished you permanently." Dean was happy to change back though still looked rather uncomfortable. Violet told everyone to sit back down, since they had rushed over to see what had happened, and quickly took her own seat. The silence in the room was odd as everyone stared at each other.
"You know, you could probably put me out of a job if everyone listens to you that easily," Lupin said, not seeming to have been effected by the entire incident that had just happened. He joked, "and if you're anything like your mother was in class, then you could probably teach them just as well on the days I'm away. "
She blushed, "Thank you Professor, but why would you be away?"
"I am…" was it just his imagination, or did Lupin seem a bit stressed. Harry couldn't tell. Sure, it seemed that every answer that was given to Violet had strange consequences, but why was he this worked up about it? "I have lycanthrope."
Simple, but the answer had a large effect. Most of the class turned still as stone, somehow not used to the concept. Violet however, replied easily, "That's no excuse. If I am correct, you only transform at night and since you don't teach Astronomy, you're classes would not be interrupted, Professor."
Remus stilled at her calm scolding, "Yes Ms. Moonglade, but one of the symptoms of lycanthrope is that you feel sick and tired for most of that day."
"That only occurs if you allow it to. Of course, most werewolves don't know how to prevent it, so your cause must be because of the potions you're drinking."
"I don't make my own potions, so I wouldn't know," this did catch his attention.
"Then it isn't your fault. You see, if the potion has its own un-added flavor – usually a really foul one – then that is the first sign that it won't work to perfection. It might not even work at all," she explained scratching an itch on her ear. She walked to the front and placed the book on his desk. Violet opened the book to a different page and guided his eyes to a point on the aging paper. "One of the key ingredients is-" she glanced up at the intently listening class uneasily and finished with, "-that." Clearly she didn't want anyone else to know.
The professor nodded, "So it shouldn't taste foul?
"Exactly," she closed the book before Lupin could read everything.
"I think I'll need to speak with our Potions Master."
She laughed, "Don't be silly. I have Potions after lunch and so I'll have a nice little chat with the teacher. By the way, who teaches Potions again? I believe I forgot."
That was Harry's cue, "Professor Lupin? Do we have any homework?"
"No," Remus said, suddenly glancing at his watch. He must have caught on to what Harry was trying to do. "Not today," and he dismissed them. Violet forgot about her question at the mention of homework and gathered up her things. Harry believed that he had saved them a bit more time before hearing her blow up at Snape. His hearing should come before fun.
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"Is the Green Flame Torch actually real?" Violet rolled her eyes wishing that Ron didn't have to ask this question every few minutes.
"Of course it is. It's just not known as well as other fires," she took a bite of her sandwich. "I'm interested in finding this Luna Lovegood Dean had spoke of. Why do they call her loony?"
"Because she believes in things that don't exist, like the Heliopaths," Hermione wrinkled her nose with distaste.
"Heliopaths do exist. So do most things that people think aren't real. There is no such thing as a myth… except of course Santa Clause and that Easter Bunny. Muggles can be so silly," Violet said.
Ron's eyes widened, "What? You're kidding right?"
"No, I'm not," she picked up a slice of watermelon and took a few bites. "Heliopaths used to live everywhere, until wizards began killing them off centuries ago. So, they returned to their first habitat."
"No not about Heliopaths, about muggle legends," Ron said eagerly. "Is it true they actually believe that there's some large bunny that hands out Easter eggs?"
It was Hermione's turn to look surprised, "You mean you actually know about muggle holidays?"
Ron shrugged it off, "I heard Fred and George talking about it. They seemed really interested in one holiday called April Fools day. What is that?"
"A day where people can play pranks on each other," explained Harry.
"No wonder my brothers liked it." Ron put down the bread he was eating and took a swig of water from his goblet.
"So where do the Heliopaths live?" Harry said trying to get back on topic.
Violet looked at him and smiled, "On the moon."
Ron sprayed his water across the table coughing like crazy, "On the moon? Let me guess, we're really on Jupiter."
"You don't have to be rude about it Ron," she snapped.
"I'm just joking."
"In a very tacky way."
"You aren't one of those people with a fashion sense are you? They're bloody annoying."
She looked at him and grinned, "How so?"
"They always need everything to match perfectly or it doesn't look good," Ron yawned.
"Oh I don't know," she paused and added a honey sweet tone to her voice, "Your hair clashes horribly with your robe and yet it is oddly attractive."
"Really?"
"You are gullible. The only one who would think that is-" she slapped her hand to her mouth for a second and took it away; her voice trying to hide her mistake, "As I was about to say, no, I'm not a fashion freak, but I do care about how I look."
Ron laughed, "Maybe you should actually use a mirror."
"Nah, my broken one does just fine," she joked.
"You do know your face is crooked in real life. It's not just the mirror."
"And I can smell you a mile away, because my nose is at the top of my head. Yah right," she stood up pretending to be very angry, waving a hand in front of her nose "Even with my nose in the right place, I can still smell you. And it's a really funky scent."
Ron's face reddened and he stood up quickly, knocking the mystery book Violet had in Defense Against the Dark Arts class from the table. He had never been good when it came to comments like that. He glanced questioningly at the item on the ground, "Why do you carry that book around all the time?"
"Don't you know how much it's worth?" she stared downward, gasped quickly picking it up and slammed it shut. Harry inwardly freaked out. He had only seen something like that once before and even this time he knew it was different. He didn't think that if he asked questions, he'd receive an answer. Violet's book… it's pages were blank.
He he he he!! Sorry about that! A cliffy! I've already started writing the next chapter and you can see its progress on my bio page. Unlike this chapter, I didn't have a problem finding a title for it. The next chapter will be called J.A.H.P. I'll let your brain figure it out.
Before I forget, my friend (filly-foxy) didn't write her story title correctly, but she has fixed it (The Maraudettes). WARNING: There MAY be spoilers about my story in it, but I'm not sure. (Someone just give her two reviews, because she won't update and it's driving me crazy!)
Remember 15 reviews to update! Bye!
