I'm reposting this for the second time cause it won't show up properly. Hopefully this time it will work. Sorry for all the delays and such...as I said in my profile, don't expect updates to come often or quickly. School takes first priority.

Chapter Thirteen

Bad News and Bad Moods

Sirius slipped out of the dorm room in the wee hours of the morning to use the bathroom—he'd been so tired upon returning that he'd simply forgotten to use it earlier, and now the word "wee" took on a whole new meaning.

When Sirius emerged from the restroom feeling much better, he glanced around the common room, simply out of habit. He was surprised, and strangely pleased, when he spotted Remus and Jesse asleep on the floor before the dying fire. Both were leaned up against the couch, Jesse's head resting on Remus' shoulder. His bandaged hand was cupped lightly between both of hers.

Sirius leaned on the banister overlooking the room, smiling contentedly. So they'd not only become friends again—now Remus and Jesse were much more than that. He felt intensely happy for Remus, who'd had his share of bad experiences, in Sirius' opinion. It was time he found someone who'd treat him right.

A dark expression suddenly clouded Sirius' face at that thought. Suppose Jesse didn't treat him right? Suppose she wasn't like what they all thought—she could have so many secrets that none of them knew about...

Sirius shook his head. That was preposterous, he was just getting defensive about Moony. Besides the fact that they all trusted Jesse by now, Remus had known her for ten years before they even met her. Yes, they'd been apart for four years, but that didn't mean much. She wouldn't have changed that much, or Remus would have noticed by now.

Sirius relaxed and grew happy again. The scene below was just so peaceful...he considered covering them up, as the fire was dying, but decided it was best if they didn't know they'd been seen. It might make them nervous. Besides, if they got cold, they could just go up to bed for the remainder of the night.

After staring at the couple for another few moments, Sirius yawned hugely and decided to go back to bed himself. Now that he was feeling good, the cozy blankets only served to improve his mood. He was asleep in no time.

>>

Remus woke the next morning to find himself completely disoriented and rather stiff. He looked around groggily, trying to figure out why he was in the common room. Then he noticed Jesse at his side, holding his hand and sleeping on his shoulder, and remembered everything about the previous day. He woke up completely and smiled down at Jesse, finally comprehending what it meant to have her there.

He felt stiff from being in one position for so long, but didn't want to wake Jesse by stretching or moving. Instead, he settled back against the couch and leaned his head on hers, closing his eyes and breathing her scent, trying to figure out just what it was: some kind of fruity shampoo, sweat from yesterday's excitement, snow, and Jesse's own personal smell. And a trace of something Remus couldn't identify, almost like an animal...

He realized with a start: he was smelling himself on her. The thought made him a bit giddy and he couldn't resist a wide smile. There was something comforting and yet somehow frightening about it, but he didn't know why. He pushed the thought from his mind and focused on the smoothness of her hair under his cheek.

Eventually, Jesse stirred and woke. She knew where she was almost immediately, and looked up with delight and some surprise to see that Remus was still there, right where he'd been last night. He was wide awake, and yet he hadn't left.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked quietly, still feeling the clutches of sleep on her. He shrugged; his shoulder moved up and down against hers.

"No more than half an hour."

"You didn't have to wait for me," she said with a smile. Remus knew from the look on her face that she was glad he had, so he returned the smile.

"Yes I did. I would've woken you up if I'd moved." Jesse laughed softly and stretched, knocking the kinks out of her back.

"I don't think I've ever been this stiff," she commented. Remus agreed heartily.

"That was certainly one of the more interesting positions I've slept in. I'm glad I don't have to sit in a desk all day—I don't think I could take it." Jesse shook her head.

"No, I think I need a hot bath before I do anything else." She kissed him softly on the cheek and stood up. "Do you mind?"

"Why would I? I'll just see you at breakfast then?" Jesse nodded, smiled, and waved as she headed up the stairs to the girls' bathrooms. Remus watched her go, then went up to his own bathrooms to take a long, hot shower.

Jesse was still in her bath when Remus emerged from the steamy boys' bathroom, rubbing his head with a towel and wearing a bathrobe. He went to get dressed and was surprised to see that everyone else was still asleep. Shrugging to himself, he dressed quickly and went down to the common room to wait for everyone else to get up. There was no point in going to breakfast alone.

Shortly, Jesse and Lily emerged from the girls' room, talking quietly. They joined Remus to go down to breakfast, leaving the other boys to fend for themselves. As a result, breakfast was a bit quieter than usual.

When the owl post came, Jesse was surprised to see her own family owl land in front of her, a letter clutched in his beak. She stroked the barn owl's beautiful head and cooed something softly, then took the letter. The owl left before she even had a chance to open it, probably headed for the owlery to rest after such a long journey.

"Who's it from?" Lily asked curiously. Remus, looking over Jesse's shoulder, recognized the handwriting on the envelope immediately, though he hadn't seen it in a long time. It was Jesse's older brother, who was now twenty-three and working in the United States. The last time Remus had seen that handwriting had been just before the Philbins had moved. Dane had left a note on their doorstep explaining that they'd had to move suddenly and would be living in America now. He'd given his greatest thanks to the Lupins for all the years of fun and friendship, and had signed it "With Love, The Philbin Family." There had been no mention of a forwarding address, or a reason for their sudden departure, though Remus had had his own theories of course.

Jesse had opened the letter and was reading it slowly. Remus inspected the plain white envelope, giving her privacy while she read. The letter was addressed to "Jesse, Gryffindor Table, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." The paper had a British watermark; apparently, Dane was back in England, at least for now. There was nothing else on the envelope, so Remus soon set it down and went back to his breakfast.

Jesse gave a small gasp as she read, and Remus glanced at her curiously. He was shocked to see tears brimming in her eyes.

"Jesse?" he said softly. Lily too had noticed, and reached a hand across the table to touch her friend's fingers.

"What is it?" she asked as the tears spilled over and slid silently down her cheeks. Jesse made a strangled sort of cry as if holding in a much louder sob, and began to take deep, shaky breaths.

"Oh, God," she finally whispered, wiping the tears from her cheeks. She glanced at Remus, then Lily, and opened her mouth as if to explain, but the words stuck in her throat. She shook her head and handed the letter to Remus. Lily moved around the table to read over his shoulder, placing a comforting hand on Jesse's back.

Dear Jesse,

I hate to give you such terrible news by post, but my idiot boss won't give me time off work to come visit you. Please feel free to come stay with me for a few days if you need the company; I understand you're on Christmas Break still. You're going to have to come out soon for the funeral anyway.

Mum died, Jess. I just got the news from Dad, and he asked me to tell you. I don't think he could stand to write two letters, and of course he hoped I'd be able to tell you in person. She died in her sleep, so at least it was peaceful. The doctors knew it was coming, so Dad says he was with her at the time. He's been with her a lot lately. She was happy, at least, I'm sure of it.

Please come see me, Jess, I really miss you. It's lonely out here without you and Dad. We'll go home together for the funeral. Dad misses you too. Write back as quick as you can and I'll tell you where you can Floo to.

I'll see you soon—

Dane

"Oh, sweetie," Lily murmured when she finished reading. She bent and hugged Jesse around the shoulders. Remus scanned the letter a second time, unable to believe the news. He remembered Mrs. Philbin well, she had always been kind to him if not a little distant. She'd been diagnosed with cancer shortly before they moved away, but the disease hadn't taken effect on her yet and she hadn't received any weakening treatment. He remembered her as a strong and healthy woman, and it seemed impossible that she'd simply drifted away in her sleep.

"I've got to go write him back," Jesse said suddenly, drying her face on a napkin and taking the letter and envelope from Remus. "I'll catch up with you guys at the track."

"You're not racing today, are you?" Lily asked in disbelief. "Don't you think—"

"Of course I am," Jesse snapped. "I'll see you there." She disappeared without a backward glance, and Lily stared after her, bewildered.

"I don't understand," she said softly, sitting down next to Remus. "How can she want to race at a time like this?"

"Her mum had cancer," Remus told her. "Maybe they've been expecting this for a long time."

"Oh," was all Lily could think of to say.

>>

Jesse, Sirius, and Remus were all racing for the secondary championship because of their overall placings so far: Jesse in eleventh, Sirius in fifteenth, and Remus in twentieth. The cutoff was twentieth place, so Remus felt especially lucky to be in this race.

The race stood alone, completely separate from the others. It was just a chance for racers to win some money and prizes: first place got fifty galleons, second place twenty galleons, and third place ten galleons. Fourth and fifth place both got five-galleon gift certificates to a racing store, which sold everything from decals to rockets.

At ten minutes to eleven, Remus, Lily, James, and Sirius met just outside the school. The Portkey was in the same place as last time, at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Mandy was keeping control over it again, and she waved as they approached.

"This rock is leaving at eleven sharp, which gives you three minutes according to my watch." They gathered around it, all finding a place to touch, and waited in their rather awkward positions for three minutes. As Mandy had promised, they felt the familiar tugging at their belly-buttons at exactly eleven o'clock. There was a whoosh and a flying sensation, and then they were back in the dark corner of Knockturn Alley.

The bleachers were still up from the day before, though only half of them were full this early in the day; the real races didn't start for another couple of hours, and most people preferred racing to stunt work. Sirius, though, was not most people, and enjoyed watching the stunts probably more than anything else—except actually being in a race, of course.

As she'd promised, Jesse found them on the track as they waited in line to register for other races that would take place during the day. She looked perfectly normal, and Remus and Lily exchanged a glance. They hadn't told Sirius or James about Jesse's mother yet, seeing it as more of her business to decide when to tell them.

"Can I cut with you guys?" she asked cheerfully.

"No," James said sarcastically.

"Awesome, thanks," Jesse replied, standing with the group.

When they'd all registered they made their way toward the bleachers to wait for their first race. As soon as they sat down, they were accosted by none other than Silverbolt. He approached them with a wide grin, carrying his flashy broom despite the fact that he wouldn't need it for another few hours. Remus smiled to himself when he felt Jesse stiffen beside him, and she shot him a glare that said "don't you dare laugh at me!".

"Good day to you all!" Geoffrey said loudly when he was standing right in front of them. Everyone but Jesse greeted him politely, but he didn't seem to notice her obvious discomfort; he turned to her and immediately struck up a conversation with her.

"Are you racing in the big one today, Jesse?" he asked excitedly. She nodded. "Excellent! I've been hoping to go against you again sometime...you really do offer a good challenge." Sirius looked vaguely offended that Silverbolt had not said anything like that to him. Jesse was trying her best to seem distant but polite, hoping that perhaps he'd get the picture and go away.

But it seemed Geoffrey was either very dense or very stubborn—or perhaps both. He sat down next to her and began bombarding her with questions: what kind of broom did she have? Oh, really? When had she gotten it? Where did she come up with the color scheme—it was really very nice, and went well with her hair. At this Jesse rolled her eyes and Remus suppressed a snort; what did red and black have to do with brown hair?

Jesse wondered vaguely why Remus seemed to be taking this all so well. Shouldn't he be jealous, nervous, or angry? Here was another guy blatantly flirting with her, right next to Remus, and yet he did nothing about it. She wondered for a fleeting second if he didn't care enough to start something...

But this worry went quickly to the back of her mind. She seriously doubted that Remus would have gotten so close to her—physically and mentally—if he didn't feel something for her. It just wasn't in his nature to have "flings."

Fifteen minutes after Silverbolt had first approached them, the first stunt show was introduced. Jesse sat up straight and stared pointedly ahead, making it obvious that she was deathly interested in what the announcer was saying. It seemed even Geoffrey could read this hint—or perhaps he was interested as well—for he stopped asking her questions and turned toward the track.

The first stunt performers put on a kind of skit: three of them played criminals robbing a shop, two others played Ministry officials, and one more portrayed the shop owner. The skit consisted of a few interesting spells, most of which were thrown at the Ministry men; a fast maneuver performed by one of the criminals that allowed him to duck behind the shopkeeper and steal the three bags of "loot" without being hit with a spell; and the ensuing long, complicated chase that took a tortuous route back and forth across the one side of the track. It ended with one of the Ministry men bringing down one of the criminals, who did a very realistic crash scene. The other two thieves got away while the officials were distracted by the wreckage of the dead criminal and his broom.

As soon as the skit was over, Geoffrey turned back to Jesse and began talking to her about it with a renewed fervor, as if relieved to have something new to discuss. Throughout the performance, he'd been glancing at her to see her reactions to certain feats. Now he used what information he'd gleaned from her expressions to start up the new conversation, twisting his own opinions to fit hers, as though this would make him more wonderful in her eyes.

When Geoffrey was talking excitedly about the crash scene, Remus unobtrusively took Jesse's hand and held it. She smiled, feeling relieved and a bit amused; he was finally doing something to pass Silverbolt a hint, which meant the kid was getting on his nerves as well.

But if Silverbolt noticed the hint, he ignored it. His one-sided conversation continued as before, though Jesse thought she saw a kind of anxious intensity in his expression that hadn't been there before.

When, at the end of the next performance (a man in a cowboy costume doing complicated tricks with a flaming lasso while flying after a phoenix he was trying to capture), Geoffrey turned to Jesse and began talking once again, she decided this had gone on long enough. She turned to him with a sly smile, her sultry expression stopping him mid-sentence. His jaw dropped slightly as she reached out to place a finger under his chin. Gently applying pressure, she closed his mouth before he could start to drool.

"Geoffrey," she said softly, "do shut up before I punch you in the jaw." With that, she removed her finger and turned back to face the track again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him stare at her for a moment, then turn to watch the next performance quietly.

Jesse felt intensely relieved when, at the end of that performance, Silverbolt did not turn to discuss it with her, but sat silently while she talked to Remus and the others. She felt a bit mean when she saw his rather subdued expression, but reassured herself that she had had to make him understand early on, before he could become besotted with her. Remus seemed to know what she was thinking; he smiled at her and squeezed her hand comfortingly. This, somehow, made everything much better.

Throughout the rest of the performances, Geoffrey said not one word. Jesse began to get a bit worried when his saddened face became rather angry; by the end of the stunt shows, he was positively fuming in his seat. She blushed slightly and quietly alerted Remus to this change. He glanced at Silverbolt, eyebrows raised.

"Don't worry about it," he said very quietly. "I'm sure he'll get over it—he's only known you for a day, how bad can it be for him?" But Jesse wasn't quite sure Remus was right; Geoffrey looked really angry, and he glanced icily at her every once in a while. Maybe he had a bad temper problem or something.

Half an hour later, though, all thoughts of Silverbolt were gone from her mind: she was standing at the starting line, broom in hand, waiting for the whistle to blow...and there it went! All twenty racers waited for the end of the signal, then kicked off into the air. Jesse was amused when most of the racers, herself included, adopted Sirius' technique of staying low to the ground to preserve momentum.

Since the prize was money and points didn't matter, only placing, this race was far more aggressive than the ones preceding it had been. Jesse grew a bit nervous when, not two minutes into the race, three people had already crashed and gone down. The broom of the first racer to crash had actually burst into flames, and Jesse wondered if someone had sneaked a wand into the race.

But she tried to stay focused and not worry too much, as that would only make her more vulnerable and less able to think. After the second of ten laps, she was in fifth place, at the front of the second cluster of racers. Ahead of her were Remus, Silverbolt, and two racers she didn't recognize. One of them was a girl maybe her age with short, jet black hair; the other was an older girl with long blonde hair, pulled back into a lengthy braid that whipped in the wind.

Jesse hugged the curves as best she could and poured on the speed on the straightaways; by the fifth lap, she had nearly caught up with the girl in fourth—the black-haired one. Number eighty-two. Jesse pulled up next to her shortly and, before the girl had a chance to bump into her, dropped a few feet and passed from below. She was careful to stay on a different level from the girl until she was a safe distance ahead of her.

The next person to pass was the girl with the braid. As soon as she saw Jesse coming up behind her, she slowed down just a bit. This confused and worried Jesse; she must have some sort of trick up her sleeve... As Jesse quickly found out, the trick was actually up her hair. When Jesse was just barely ahead of the girl, the blonde reached back and drew her wand from where it had been hidden up her braid and, keeping it under her sleeve to hide it from the judges, began blasting spells at Jesse. The first two, simple impedimenta spells, missed by a few inches; Jesse could actually feel their heat as they passed her face. The third one, a spell she didn't recognize, came at her in a zigzag pattern that was hard to dodge. Jesse waited until it was less than a foot from her face, then dived quickly. She moved over to the right a bit and rose as fast as her broom could manage, directly under the braided girl. The girl hadn't expected this and didn't have time to react; in moments, she was free-falling, her broom clutched uselessly in one hand.

Jesse sped on, hoping the medi-witches would slow or cushion the girl's fall. She was now in third, with Remus and Silverbolt ten feet ahead and the black-haired girl a few feet behind. The rest of the racers were hardly a threat at this point, though Jesse knew they could easily have some trick or plan that might catch her off guard. She tried to keep an eye on them, but most of her attention was fixed on the more immediate threats.

And, though she tried not to worry, Jesse couldn't help but keep an eye on Remus and Silverbolt. As of yet, Remus hadn't caught up with his opponent, but she was worried that he'd get hurt again when he did. She knew the wounds were pretty easily treatable by magic—at least the pain was—but she didn't like to think of more injuries like the ones on his knuckles. It just looked...painful.

At the next curve, the black-haired girl suddenly caught up with Jesse. She wasn't sure this had been done quite legally, as there was no real explanation for the sudden speediness of the girl's broom, but there was no time to ponder this. They were now finishing their seventh lap, and the stakes were getting higher. Jesse forced herself to leave Remus to take care of himself, which he could certainly do quite well, and focused on the problem at hand.

The black-haired girl was now neck-and-neck with Jesse. To Jesse's surprise, the racer flashed her an almost friendly grin before moving over to slam into her. Jesse wondered if the smile had been to catch her off guard; if so, it had certainly worked. She was nearly knocked into the fence with the force of the collision, but managed to swing up and to the left just in time. This left her almost directly above the black-haired girl; using her technique from earlier, she dove sharply and collided with the other racer. But the girl was not so easily beaten—she clung tenaciously to her broom and actually managed to shake Jesse off, leaving Jesse worse off than she had been before. No doubt about it, this girl knew what she was doing.

But so did Jesse. She circled around and came up on the girl's left side; before the racer could even register that she was there, Jesse fishtailed her broom and smacked the twigs into the front of her opponent's broom, knocking it around. As Jesse sped forward, the black-haired girl did a lopsided spin and dropped behind again.

Ahead of her, Remus had finally caught up with Silverbolt. The two had just crossed the checkpoint and started their ninth lap, and Geoffrey seemed to be getting nervous. He continually bumped into Remus, but Moony's knuckles were (to Jesse's relief) protected by his bandages and he was able to keep on course. Occasionally, he retaliated, but there wasn't much he could do without risking touching his opponent's broom.

Silverbolt, after so long of playing this little game, seemed to realize that, for some reason, his opponent was avoiding contact. He used this to his advantage, purposefully ramming Remus, not just his broom. Once, the tip of his broom caught on Remus' forearm, tearing into his skin immediately. Blood flew in little droplets; some of it landed on Jesse as she tried in vain to catch up with them before they could begin the last lap. Once they were in the final lap, she knew she had little chance of passing either of them.

After witnessing this new injury, Jesse had to force herself to stay calm. She knew there was nothing she could do from this distance without a wand, and flying while angry was dangerous—strong emotions impaired judgment and made split-second decisions much harder. So she carefully calmed herself down and focused on the little ways she could get her broom to go faster, hugging curves and flying a bit higher, as Sirius had done before, to cheat on the fences a bit. When Remus and Geoffrey began their final lap, Jesse was only two feet behind them, though far above, and Silverbolt was looking up at her nervously once in a while.

Then, completely unexpectedly, the black-haired girl appeared again. She came up under Jesse and used that same tactic, bumping into her and knocking her from her broom. Jesse felt a split second of raw fear, in which she thought she was going to fall from her broom onto the track more than fifty feet below. But she managed to do a little half-spin and stay on, though she had slowed considerably and was now more than ten feet behind the others. She lay flat to her broom and put on an extra burst of speed, but she knew it wouldn't be enough...

Sure enough, they rounded the last bend and began the home stretch. Jesse urged her broom on, but knew she didn't stand a chance. Instead, she focused on what was happening ahead of her: Remus, who'd pulled ahead at the last curve, was now dropping behind the faster Silver Arrow once again. The black-haired girl, sporting a broom Jesse didn't recognize, was just behind Remus, the front of her broom in line with his knees. She occasionally smacked him with her broom, but couldn't get enough leverage and power to be more than an annoyance. Remus tried his best to keep up with Silverbolt, but he was still dropping back...the front of his broom was now a good six inches behind that of Silverbolt's.

As they came within ten feet of the finish line, Remus took a last chance. He was positioned to the left of the black-haired girl, who was to the left of Silverbolt. Remus veered left a tiny bit, then swung right as hard as he could, smacking into both of them and knocking the girl into Geoffrey. She was pushed back and nearly lost control; her broom fishtailed all the way across the finish line. Silverbolt, though he managed to keep perfectly on course, lost just a little bit of speed. Remus lay flat and put on a burst of speed...

And they crossed the finish line at the same moment. Silverbolt, who seemed to know without looking at the scoreboard that they'd tied, let out an angry scream and made a sudden, rather painful-looking landing. Remus spiraled once and touched down, smiling happily. The black-haired girl, who'd finally regained control of her broom, alighted on the track as well. Just as she dismounted from her broom, Jesse crossed the finish line, a good ten seconds behind. She turned and looked back, surprised to see that there were two racers fighting for fifth place, less than two feet behind her. She quickly flew out of their way and landed beside Remus, who was still watching the other racers. He gave her a quick smile and put his arm around her waist when she came to stand next to him; contented, she rested her head on his shoulder and watched the remaining racers cross the finish line, within seconds of each other.

When all the racers had landed and most were resting in the racers' pit, the black-haired girl who'd won third place approached Remus and Jesse, a friendly grin on her face. Remus let go of Jesse so the girl could shake both their hands.

"That was so much fun!" she gushed, grinning at Jesse. "You are both such good racers—I hope I get to race you again sometime!" Her approach, though similar to Geoffrey's from yesterday, was somehow very different. Not only was she not flirting with anyone, but she seemed very genuine. She really was excited to have raced against them. Jesse found the girl's smile contagious, and couldn't hold bad a foolish grin.

"Yeah, you're really good too," she replied. "I couldn't believe you almost got me with my own trick!" The three of them walked toward the racers' pit, animatedly discussing the race. When Remus talked about his little one-on-one with Silverbolt, Jesse suddenly remembered his injury.

"Hey, why aren't you in the hospital section!" she scolded suddenly, cutting him off. "I want you treated right away—we can talk while you're healing!" Remus rolled his eyes in a rather amused way and obliged, leading them towards the medical area. A medi-witch approached him immediately and began checking him over. She looked rather surprised to see his arm, which had a long, wide gash on it from Silverbolt's broom. The skin, as before, was jagged and broken; the wound wasn't nearly so deep as yesterday's, and didn't quite reach the bone, but it was bleeding plenty and the muscle was definitely torn. Remus didn't seem to register any pain until the medi-witch poured a cleansing solution on it; he actually yelled in pain and jumped up from his seat, eyes wide. The witch gently pushed him back onto the chair, shaking her head apologetically and explaining that it was necessary. Jesse stood behind him and rubbed his shoulders comfortingly while the witch stopped the bleeding with one charm, the pain with another, and wrapped his arm in gauze. When she had covered half the wound, she stopped suddenly and leaned forward for a closer look. She came away with a long shard of silver between her thumb and forefinger. She gave Remus a curious look, tossed the silver in the garbage bin, and continued wrapping up his arm. She put a sticking charm on the loose end of the bandage and pressed it down.

"Good as I can get it," she announced when she was done. "The nurse at your school will probably be able to do better. Madam Pomfrey is still there, right?" Remus nodded, and the medi-witch smiled. "Oh good. She'll know how to deal with this...particular injury." With a smile and a nod, she stood and walked away to find someone else to help.

Remus looked at Jesse, alarmed. They couldn't say anything because of the presence of the black-haired girl, but she knew what he was thinking. Had the witch figured him out? They certainly hoped not...Remus didn't want to be disqualified now, especially since he'd just tied for first. If she told on him now, he wouldn't even be eligible for the prize and would be kicked out from the rest of the races.

As they left the crowded racers' pit, the black-haired girl introduced herself as Jeanine Hope. She generally went by Jean, and her racing nickname was, for obvious reasons, High Hope. Jesse and Remus introduced themselves, then offered to take her to meet their friends. She happily agreed, promising to introduce them to her own friends at the next race; they'd been unable to attend this one.

Reggie Scott was talking with Sirius and Peter when Remus spotted them. They introduced Jean and asked where James and Lily were. Sirius gave them a "duh" look and ignored the question.

Jesse was surprised to see a long, thin cut on Sirius' cheek and a bandage around his upper left arm. She asked him about it, and he ended up telling her and the others his part in the race.

Sirius had started out fine, up near the front with the others, but things had gotten aggressive very fast. He'd found himself in the middle of what seemed like a mid-air mosh pit, with people throwing curses and punches every chance they got. He'd tried to duck out of the cluster, but had been too closely surrounded to do anything safely. After six laps of this, however, he began to get sick of being confined to the group's slow brooms and not-so-great strategies. He decided to take a risk, and rose as quickly as he could. He nearly made it, but someone saw him and decided not to let him get away; the racer, whom Sirius could not see in the mob, sent a type of rope from his wand and wrapped it around Sirius' broom, yanking it down and back forcefully before releasing him. Sirius had gone rocketing backward and had crashed into a straggler; both had gone down, the other racer landing on top of Sirius and breaking his arm. They'd both been disqualified from the race and sent straight to the racers' pit for medical treatment. Sirius had watched the rest of the race from the stands with James, Peter, and Lily. Reggie had joined them only moments ago, just before James and Lily had slipped away.

Jesse sympathized with Sirius about his rotten luck, but he didn't seem to mind much; in fact, he seemed rather proud of having at least gotten out of the cluster of racers. Jesse wondered with a smile if his indifference had to do with Reggie being there, sympathizing with him.

None of them were in the other races for the rest of the day. Jean was in one, a personal race between herself and a family friend. They were racing for babysitting privileges.

Jesse sat with Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Reggie throughout the rest of the races. Jean joined them when she wasn't racing, and, to Jesse's annoyance, so did Silverbolt. She'd thought she'd gotten rid of him earlier, but apparently he was even more stubborn than Sirius. She assumed he would try to flirt with her again and made it obvious that she and Remus were somewhat of a "thing"—but she quickly realized that her rather egotistical assumption had been wrong. Silverbolt was not there to flirt, he was there to argue.

After Jean's race, while they were all waiting for her to come back from the racers' pit, Geoffrey approached Jesse. Remus had gone into the racers' pit to get his bandage replaced—it had gotten rather bloody, despite the medi-witch's charm—so Jesse was standing alone. Peter was off to one side, staring around at the audience as if looking for someone, and Sirius was engaged in conversation with Reggie. Jesse was just thinking how cute they looked, both wearing black shirts and Muggle jeans, when she sensed someone standing behind her. She wheeled around to see Silverbolt standing there, glaring at her hatefully.

"Can I help you?" she asked calmly, though she was rather startled by his sudden appearance and angry visage. Silverbolt glared at her for another moment, then, without warning, pulled out his wand and began blasting spells at her. Jesse saw them coming and managed to dive out of the way just in time; the asphalt track tore into her skin and she grimaced. But before she could really register much pain, Geoffrey was attacking again. She rolled out of the way of the next curse and jumped to her feet. But before he could complete the incantation for the next spell, someone tackled him. They fell to the pavement, Geoffrey yelling and holding up his arms against the wild punches his attacker was throwing.

"Remus, Remus stop!" Jesse yelled above Geoffrey's shrill voice. She tried to run in and stop the fight, but the boys were rolling around on the track and she couldn't get close enough without risking getting hit. Finally, Sirius ran in and lifted his friend out by the collar of his robes. Remus didn't struggle or fight against Sirius; he seemed almost relieved that someone had stopped him before he'd gone too far.

Geoffrey lay on the pavement for a long moment, panting and bleeding. His lip was split wide open, his nose dripped thick red blood, and one of his arms had been scraped on the pavement. He'd probably be developing numerous bruises overnight, and was already massaging his sore ribs.

Slowly, Silverbolt got up, never taking his eyes from Remus. Sirius was still holding his friend by the arm, but Remus made no move to renew the attack. He simply kept a sharp eye on Geoffrey as the boy brushed himself off a bit and glanced around. Then, with a sneer, Silverbolt pulled a necklace out from under his shirt, holding it out for Remus to see. The silver cross charm glinted in the sun as it swung on its delicate chain.

Geoffrey stepped a bit closer and held the charm up in front of Remus' nose, swinging it back and forth. When Remus neither screamed nor began to writhe in pain, Geoffrey's face grew rather sour. Without taking the charm away, he sneered again and said, in a rather sing-song whisper:

"I know what you are, half-breed. You and your little girlfriend. Don't cross me again or I'll expose you to the world—we'll see how well you do in the races then." Before he could turn away, Remus grabbed the cross charm and yanked as hard as he could. The chain broke away easily in his hand, and he threw it to the ground. It skidded under the nearest bleachers and was lost from sight.

Geoffrey looked at Remus, wide-eyed, and took a step back. He held a hand to his neck, where a welt was already forming, and gaped blankly for a moment. His one major defense had failed miserably, and he was now half-surrounded by four angry teenagers, one of whom could easily tear him limb from limb—and would, he was sure. Without another word, Silverbolt turned tail and ran.

Remus relaxed immediately and went to Jesse, concern on his face.

"Did he get you? Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. Jesse smiled and nodded, hiding her scraped cheek with her hair.

"He missed every time, don't worry about it," she assured him. "But you..." Jesse frowned. "You shouldn't have done that."

"What was I supposed to do?!" Remus asked angrily as the others gathered round. "Let him curse you?" Jesse shook her head, but didn't really have an answer for him.

"At least you could have left the kid's necklace alone," Sirius said reprovingly. "Now he's gonna be even more afraid, and even more pissed off."

"Speaking of which, let me see your hand," Jesse said quickly, taking it and turning it over to inspect his palm. There was a small red mark from the sharp edges of the cross, but no shards of silver, no blood, no injury at all. "Why didn't it hurt you?" she asked, confused.

"Why on earth would that little thing have hurt me?" Remus scoffed, flicking his eyes to Reggie and back. Jesse got the picture and quickly shut her mouth. "It was stainless steel," he added in an undertone.

"Well, you should've left it alone anyways," Reggie echoed Sirius. "What do you think he meant by that? 'I know what you are...' Is that was he said?" Remus shook his head casually.

"I have no idea. Judging by the cross, he thought I was a vampire or something. I'm sorry to say he'll be sorely disappointed to learn that I'm quite clear of anything like that." Jesse wondered for a moment why they hadn't told Reggie about Remus being a werewolf; perhaps they didn't feel they trusted her enough yet, or maybe she was adverse toward werewolves and the like. Jesse had detected a little shudder at the mention of vampires.

"Is everyone okay, then?" Peter asked rather irritably. "It's rather dull to just...stand here..." Sirius laughed and clapped his friend on the back.

"And what would you prefer, your highness?" he asked. Peter shrugged.

"Let's get something to eat or something...I dunno." Jesse shook her head.

"We have to wait for Jean first—she's still in the racers' pit. Once she comes out, we can decide what we're going to do." Peter agreed to this and they went to sit by the racers' pit to wait for Jean. In the space of ten minutes, Jean had appeared and they'd all decided to go walk around in Diagon Alley for a while. The races were almost over, and they'd soon be able to catch a Portkey back to Hogwarts.

When they were all having sundaes at Florean Fortescue's, talking happily about the races and what they were planning to do with the rest of Christmas break, Reggie suddenly gasped and stood up, nearly tipping over her sundae. Everyone looked up at her in surprise.

"Remus!" she breathed, staring at him in shock. He raised his eyebrows, looking around in confusion.

"Er...yes?" To his surprise, Reggie walked around the table towards him, her eyes shining with angry tears. When she was directly in front of him, she slapped him hard on the cheek. Remus put a hand to the already reddening spot, staring up at her in alarm. "What was that for?" he asked angrily while Sirius snickered from across the table.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she hissed.

"Er...tell you what, exactly?" Reggie rolled her eyes.

"The necklace, that thing Silverbolt said—half-breed, he called you—'I know what you are...' I should have known right away!" She said all this very quickly, though managing to keep her voice low so none of the other customers would hear her. Her disconnected thoughts took a moment to seep into Remus' brain. When he realized what she'd said, he closed his eyes and pressed the heels of his hands into them. Here it comes, he thought to himself. Now she knows, she'll decide I'm dangerous or frightening or something, and if she ever even looks at me again it will be a miracle...

"You should have told me right away!" she said angrily. Then, turning to the rest of the group, "And you! You all probably knew—why was I left in the dark?!" Everyone shifted uncomfortably. Remus lifted his head and focused on a spot some inches to the left of Reggie's face.

"Listen, Reggie—I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to keep this from you, to deceive you that way."

"Damn straight it was wrong!" she exploded.

"I'm sorry...you have every right to be angry with me. I just didn't want to lose you as a friend. I hate..." he trailed off, aware of everyone staring at him. "I'm sorry," he finished lamely. "If you still want to hang out with all them," he gestured at the rest of the group, "I'll just...y'know..." He turned to his friends as he stood up. "I'll see you all back at the school." Before anyone could say anything, he'd turned and left the shop.

A bell tinkled as he opened and closed the door. Its falsely cheerful sound angered him, made him want to tear it from its mount on the top of the door. Instead, he clenched his fists and walked out into the street. So, it had finally happened. He'd been through this before—people he'd thought were his friends had left him once they'd found out. But not ever in Hogwarts, not ever since he'd come here...he'd been beginning to think that people were different here, that he'd never have to deal with that anymore.

But that had just been false optimism, he now realized. He'd brought his hopes up, honestly believed that he could be accepted despite what he was—possibly even for what he was.

The bell tinkled again; Remus' sensitive ears picked it up from across the street.

"Remus Lupin! Stop!" Reggie yelled. He felt his hopes soar, but quickly suppressed them. This was no time to set himself up for another fall. He continued on his way, pretending not to hear. But now there were running footsteps, and soon Reggie had caught up with him and, panting, matched his pace.

"Remus, slow down! I want to talk to you!" she said pleadingly. The tone in her voice—completely absent of anger or hate—surprised him, and he couldn't help but turn to her hopefully.

"Thank you!" she said breathlessly. "Can we sit down?" She gestured to a bench outside one of the shops, and they sat on it. "I talked to your friends," she said quickly. "I know the truth now, so you don't need to lie anymore." Remus looked away, not sure anymore where this conversation was leading.

"Remus, how could you think I would stop being your friend just because of...well, you know...?" Reggie blushed, then shook her head forcefully. "I have to admit, it was something of a shock, I never would have expected it...but that doesn't change anything! I'm still your friend, a stupid...thing...wouldn't change that." He could tell she was nervous and uncomfortable speaking about this, but she plowed on. "I'm your friend because of who you are, not what you are," she said with finality, glad to have finally found words to express herself, cheesy as they may have sounded. She waited for him to reply.

"But...after hearing about your thing with vampires..." Remus said rather helplessly. Reggie shuddered; she'd always been afraid of vampires, ever since her father, a renowned vampire hunter, had been killed by one. She worried that they hated her because of her name—the Scotts came from a long line of vampire hunters.

"Don't be daft," she said with some confidence. "I may be afraid of vampires, but that's completely different. Hating w-werewolves would be like hating...unicorns! Or something," she added, realizing that her example was a bit far-fetched. Remus laughed.

"I see..."

"You know what I mean!" Reggie said indignantly. "My point is, I don't hate you, and I'm still your friend." She paused. "As long as that's okay?" she asked uncertainly.

"Of course!" Remus assured her quickly. "I just thought you would—well, you know." Reggie smiled and stood up.

"Now that that's settled, can we go finish our ice cream?" Remus laughed and joined her in heading back to the ice cream parlor, feeling a surge of happiness. This was another true friend standing beside him, someone who knew about him and liked him no less for it. And there was nothing in the world like a true friend.