Chapter 25: Kierra's Brawls

"ARGH!! I hate potions!!!" Kierra whined several weeks later, after a particularly trying lesson.

"You're not alone," Remus replied, as they walked on towards the Great Hall for lunch, "this is my worst class...I did horrible on our last essay..."

"You got a 7 out of 10!"

"Er..."

"I got a bloody 5!"

"What?? But we worked on them together! I even read yours, it looked pretty good"—

"If you haven't caught on yet, Moony, Professor Keifer doesn't fancy Kierra as much as you do" James said with a grin.

"I don't understand why he hates you so much...you never did anything to him..." Remus said with a sigh as they entered the great hall.

"Well...I didn't exactly do anything to him...per say...I did sort of...badmouth him once, and he heard me...I think that's why he hates me..." Kierra said at last.

"What'd you say??" James asked incredulously.

"Well...back in our fourth year, I was complaining to Alice about all the homework he gave us...and I...sorta...called him...a fat, pompous jackass"—James and Remus fell into laughter, "oh shut up!" Kierra snapped.

Remus chuckled. "And he heard you??

Kierra nodded.

"Well, I think I can understand now why he uh, doesn't like you...but still, he's a teacher, he's supposed to put his biases aside when he teaches" Remus said, as they joined Sirius and Peter at the Gryffindor table.

"Hey Moony, full moon's tomorrow, isn't it?" Peter asked.

Remus sighed and nodded. "which means I'll be missing astronomy...I'm gonna need to borrow someone's notes for that class, if that's alright..."

"of course," Sirius said, "you can borrow mine..."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Sirius, you know you actually have to take notes in order for me to borrow them, right?"

"I'll take notes, don't worry!" Sirius replied impatiently.

"I think he means written notes, Padfoot, not mental notes..." James said with a grin.

"How thick do you all think I am??" Sirius asked irritably, "think I'm illiterate, do ya? that I can't write??"

Remus grinned. "Well, you are the one who always says you can't be bothered with writing rubbish..."

"You can borrow mine, Remus" Kierra said.

"Ah, yes...borrow hers, Moony...she always takes careful notes," James said, "and...if you look carefully, you might be able to find your initials with hearts around them—oww!!" James rubbed his arm in the place where Kierra had pinched him.

Remus laughed. "Really?"

Kierra blushed. Luckily, she was spared from answering, as Dominique, Lily and Alice had just entered the great hall and were waving to her.

"Well," Kierra said as they finished their lunch, "I am determined to do good on this essay for Potions"—

"you mean you're determined to do well?" Remus corrected her.

Kierra rolled her eyes as she pulled out a clean roll of parchment and a bottle of ink. "You just be glad that you're cute," Kierra said, not looking up from her work, "I normally don't take kindly to smart arses..."

"Damn, Nakofsky..." James laughed, thrusting his hand forward, making whipping noises.

Remus smiled and turned back to finishing his lunch. As he took a sip of pumpkin juice from his goblet, he glanced at Dominique, who was chatting with Lily and Alice...

Over the past few weeks since they had gotten back from vacation, Dominique had changed. She acted more or less the same, but she looked a little different...she looked more tired...more stressed out...what could possibly be bothering her?

Suddenly Remus remembered the offhand comment that Sirius had made last night in their dormitory.

"Ahh...February 14th!! Only a week away!" James said excitedly, "Coincides perfectly with our next Hogsmeade trip..."

"Yea, and you better not stick Dominique in your ear for this one," Sirius warned, "I'm taking her out..."

James laughed. "Don't worry, mate. I can manage Lily on my own now. Hey, maybe we can do a double...er...triple date?" James asked, remembering that Remus had a girlfriend too.

"Hey that sounds like fun"—

"No," Sirius said quickly, "I mean, you guys can if you want to...but, I want to be alone with Dominique"—

"hah..say no more, Padfoot!" James said with a sly grin.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean like that...I meant...well, exactly what I said..I want to be alone with her...catch up, and stuff..."

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"I dunno...I feel like I'm losing her...she's becoming more distant...maybe she doesn't like me anymore..."

James snorted. "Girls never lose interest in you...it's always the other way around!"

"Well..." Sirius said slowly, as if he did not want to admit what he was about to say, "whenever we're alone, she seems to get kind of tense...and actually that's hardly ever now...I mean, heaven forbid, I might kiss her if we're alone..."

"Isn't that how she acted when you guys first started dating?" Remus asked, "kind of scared?"

Sirius paused for a moment to consider the matter. "Yes, I suppose...but back then, she at least liked being around me...it doesn't seem like that anymore..." Sirius said with a sigh. "Well, I'm gonna plan a long, romantic date with her, try to soften her up...and then confront her maybe...or get her to talk..."

"Oyy, REMUS!!"

Remus snapped back into present day and glanced at James.
"Er..sorry, what?" he asked.

"Just wanted to know if you were gonna finish your cupcake..." James said.

"Ah...you can have it," Remus said, passing the cupcake to James, "you know I don't like anything that hasn't got chocolate in it..."

"Exactly why I asked." James said with a grin, as he devoured he cupcake in one bite.

"Done!!!" Kierra exclaimed, dropping her quill onto the table. "There is no way Keifer can fail me this time...18 inches...6 more than what he asked for...and if that doesn't impress him...ooh, I forgot to date it..." Kierra muttered as she pulled her ink bottle out again and dipped her quill in it. "February...er, what day is today?"

"Why don't you check your underwear?" Sirius said nonchalantly.

"What??" Kierra asked at once. "What are you"—Kierra stopped when it hit her.

"Ohhh...fckity fck..." Sirius muttered when he saw the look of comprehension on Kierra's face.

She quickly turned to Remus, who looked at her a bit anxiously.

"Kierra...um"—

"You told him?? You told him about my underwear?!?"

"Kierra, there's people here"—

"I can't believe you'd tell your friends about what I wear"—Kierra stopped as Remus's words registered in her head. She glanced up, only to notice that several dozen students had stopped eating their lunch to listen to her outburst.

Kierra picked up her bag and grabbed her potions essay...and now everyone could see her blushing furiously...great...

"Don't even follow me," Kierra said as she stalked past Remus, "I don't want to look at you."

"May I sit?"

Kierra looked up from her book. "Go away, Sirius..."

Sirius pulled a chair and sat across from Kierra at the table in the library.

"Hey, I'm sorry about...well, what happened at lunch..."

Kierra sighed as she put her book down. "It's not you who should be sorry"—

"Remus is looking for you...he feels horrible..."

"Good. He should..."

Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned forward closer to Kierra. "You know when we were at his house, and we were all outside?"

Kierra looked up at him to show that he had her attention.

"Well," he continued, "I sort of...asked about...how it went..."

"How what went?"

Sirius sighed exasperatedly.

"oooh"—

"yea, anyway he refused to say anything, even though I assured him that you were across the street with Dominique, telling her every last detail...he said he thought you'd mind, and he didn't want to betray you"—

"I didn't tell D everything! Wait, he said that??" Kierra asked.

"Yea...he just let that one little thing slip...he looked pretty regretful when he said it though..."

"Really?"

Sirius nodded. "He's probably up in our dormitory...full moon's tomorrow and he's not feeling too well either...go see him."

Kierra nodded and got up to leave. "I think I will. Thanks Sirius."

"Anytime...er, what'd I do?"

"For reminding me how wonderful Remus is..." Kierra said as she stalked off.

"Ah...of course!" Sirius called after her, only to receive a glare from Madam Pince, warning him to be quiet.

"Er...Remus? Can we talk?"

Remus looked up, slightly startled. "Yea, sure...sit down..."

"Uh...could we go somewhere...more private? Is there anyone in your room?"

Remus shook his head. "I don't think so...let's go..." he said as he led Dominique up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Once inside, and Remus had shut the door, he looked at Dominique apprehensively. "So...what's up?" he asked.

Dominique sighed. "Oh Remus...these past few weeks...I think...maybe..." she sighed again, shutting her eyes in frustration.

Remus took her by the hand and led her to his bed, gently seating her next to him. "It's alright..." he said quietly, stroking her hand.

Dominique opened her eyes, to show that they were glassy with tears. She took a deep breath and looked straight at Remus. "I think I'm pregnant."

"What??" Remus asked at once. "You're...pregnant??" he asked, nearly choking on the words. "Are you sure?? When did you"—

"I'm pretty sure..." Dominique said, looking at the floor.

"Sirius doesn't know, does he?"

Dominique shook her head. "No one does, except you...and please don't tell anyone..."

"Dominique, you have to tell him"—

"I know! I will....when I think he's ready to hear..."

Remus nodded. "Well...what are you gonna do now?"

Dominique sniffed. "Oh, Remus...I don't know what I'm going to do...I never thought this would happen to me...I just got so carried away with Sirius...how could I have been so stupid?? So thoughtless...." she let the tears flow freely down her cheeks. "I'm scared as hell..."

"It's ok to be..." Remus said quietly as he hugged Dominique. "You've got every right to be scared..." he said as he rubbed her back while she sobbed. "But just remember, whatever happens, you're gonna have your friends' support, and your boyfriends'."

"What if they don't"—

"Well, you'll have me..." Remus said, planting a kiss on her head and hugging her tightly.

Kierra ran up the steps to the boys' dormitory.

"Hey, girls aren't allowed up there!!" she heard a 2nd year named Ichabad Foster shout from the foot of the stairs.

"Oh, piss off..." She muttered as she climbed the stairs, two at a time. Kierra had finally reached the door and swung it open. "Remus, I'm sorry I"—

Kierra stopped at the sight in front of her. Remus was holding Dominique, murmuring something to her. "Uh"—

"Sorry..." Dominique said quickly as she got up. "I'll um...I'll just see you guys later..." she muttered as she bolted out the door.

"Er...what was that about?" Kierra asked.

"Did you say you were sorry?" Remus asked quickly, smiling at Kierra in hopes of changing the subject.

"Er, yea...I am...I had a talk with Sirius...he told me you said that stuff on accident..."

"I'm sorry I did though..." Remus said. "So we're ok?"

Kierra smiled. "Yea, we're ok...So, what's with Dominique? Why'd she come up here?"

"Oh...it was nothing..."

"But she looked weird...she was all pale and"—

"Just not feeling well," Remus said quickly, "that's all..."

Kierra narrowed her eyes at Remus. "Then why were you holding her, and...and...whispering...little...sweet nothings to her??" Kierra spat.

"What?? No I wasn't!!" Remus snapped.

"Then??"

"Then nothing!! She's my friend, can't a guy talk to his friend??"

"Fine...talk to her...as much as you want..." she said as she stomped away.

"Kierra"—

"You know, if you like snuggling with her so much, why don't you just date her?!" she shouted as she slammed the door behind her.

"So...you and me...Hogsmead next week?" James asked.

"Yep...but only," Lily said with a grin, "if you promise not to bring Dominique along this time."

James laughed with Lily. "It's a deal..."

"It's a date!" Lily corrected him.

James smiled and kissed Lily on the forehead. "You are so cute...did I ever tell you that?"

"yea, a few...dozen times...but I don't get tired of hearing it..." Lily said with a grin.

"Good, because there's plenty more to be had" he said as he leaned in to kiss her.

"Geez Prongs, get a room!"

James and Lily pulled away from each other immediately, only to see Sirius and Peter approaching them with grins.

"Er, sorry about that...the sight of you two together...still trying to get over the shocks..." Sirius muttered.

"Haha...very funny..." James replied, "ay, Kierra! What's eating you?" he asked, looking past Peter and Sirius, at Kierra, who was walking toward them with a heavy frown.

"Did you find Remus?" Sirius asked.

Kierra shrugged. "Oh, I found him all right...he was a bit busy though..."

"Doing what?"

"He was up in the dormitory with Dominique..."

"Oh come off it, Kierra, they're friends!" Lily interjected.

"He was hugging her!!"

"But"—

"And talking quietly to her"—

"Well"—

"and when I came in, she just left without saying anything to me...and Remus wouldn't tell me either!"

"Kierra, don't you think you're overreacting just a little"—

"Wait, so he was hugging her??" Sirius interrupted.

"Yea...they were sitting on his bed"—

"HIS bed?? They were holding each other, telling each other little secrets on HIS bed??" Sirius bellowed.

"Ok, calm down, the both of you!" James exclaimed. Lily, Sirius and Kierra all looked at him with surprise. "Look you guys, you both know very well that Remus and Dominique are good friends, so get over it...they were probably confiding"—

"Why can't she tell me? I'm her boyfriend!" Sirius barked. "I bet this is what all her funny business is about...she likes Remus and wants to"—

"Sirius, you've been going out with her for a year...she's known Remus her whole life...of course she's going to trust him more...no offense mate...and same goes with you Kierra," James said, turning to Kierra, "you two haven't been going out very long either...about a month..."

"Alright, we get it..." Kierra muttered.

"Good...just think about what I said..."

"Ok dad..." Kierra replied sarcastically.

"You know, you're really cute when you get all authoritative..." Lily commented.

"Really?" James asked, his ears going slightly pink.

"Yea...really..." Lily said with a grin. "Very refreshing to know that you can be more mature than them..."

"Yea..." James murmured dazedly as Lily pulled him close to her, "I can be mature..."

"Ugh, you guys are so...cheesily...romantic..." Kierra muttered with a slight hint of a smile.

An hour later, Kierra stepped out of the Gryffindor common room. She had been looking for Remus, or at least Dominique, only to be unsuccessful in finding either of them. Kierra sighed as she walked down the staircase; maybe she'd find Remus in the library—

'Oh damn...' Kierra thought irritably as the staircase decided to shift. "Who the hell designed this castle anyway??" she muttered out loud. She quickly got off of the stairs when it came to a halt, and hurried down the dark corridor. Several minutes later, Kierra began to regret that she had stepped off the staircase.

'Where the hell am I?' she thought. 'Must be near the dungeons...which means'—

"What do you think you're doing down here?" came a drawl from behind her. Kierra wheeled around, only to find Lucius Malfoy standing in front of her.

"I can walk wherever I please, Malfoy..." Kierra said defiantly, hoping she sounded brave, when in reality she was feeling a bit nervous...she had forgotten her wand in her room and was certainly not very good at wandless magic.

"You really think you have that privilege, Nakofsky?" Lucius asked, taking a step towards her. "What's wrong? Not feeling as brave without your friends by your side?" he sneered as Kierra took a step away from him.

"Accio..."

Lucius's incantation was followed by a short silence. At last, he smiled. "What?" he laughed, "You mean to tell me you don't carry your wand with you? Well, this'll be easier than I thought"—

"What'll be easier?" Kierra asked nervously as she backed away further, only to back up into the wall. 'ooh...this can't be good...'she thought anxiously as Lucius grasped her by the wrists. "Let me go"—

"Shut up! You"—

Kierra struggled against him. "What the hell is your deal?? I thought I was a filthy muggle-loving half blood...surely I'm not...pure enough for you..." she spat as she attempted to kick him in the crotch as she did a month before.

Lucius however put a leg-locking curse on her and smiled. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I'm not a fool, you know"—

"Er, yea you are"—

"and of course you're not pure enough for me...but you are a pretty little thing...quite a shame to see pretty things go to waste"—

"Go to waste??"

"Yes...aside from the fact that your blood is tainted, you're also quite talentless and pathetic...I don't even understand how you got into NEWT level classes..what'd you do, sleep with the exam proctors"—

"IF I'M SO BLOODY TAINTED WHY DON'T YOU GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME"—

Kierra moaned in pain as Lucius struck her across the face.

"Don't raise your voice at me, girl."

"You coward..." she breathed as she felt her face burn from where Lucius had hit her. She looked at his hand, only to see the he bore several rings, one which held the Slytherin emblem; it had very jagged edges.

"I'm not a coward. I'm simply putting you in your place"— he said as he shoved her onto the floor. The leg bind Kierra was in was still in place, so she toppled over, hitting the stone ground with a loud thud.

Lucius stared at her for a moment. Slowly, a large smile grew across his face. "And what better way to emphasize my superiority than to...yes...oh this is wonderful...."

"What"—

"I'm gonna teach you a little lesson, Nakofsky"—

"Leave me alone!! What have I ever done to you?"

"Everything! You've irked me since our first year, the little brat that you are...and then, there you go, you get on the quidditch field, for one game"—

"This is what this all about?? You are the sorest loser I have EVER seen...you're pathetic!!"

"I could never forgive myself if I left this school without humiliating you...and this...." He said with a laugh as he pulled her up and pushed her against the wall, "this is the ultimate way of humiliating you...ah, gosh, and I'm sure your half-blooded bookworm of a boyfriend will be devastated...oh, I love getting two birds with one stone..."

"Well, you assumed wrongly...he won't be nearly as hurt as you think..."

"Oh, I'm sure he would be"—

Lucius stopped in mid-sentence. He turned around just in time to see a jet of red light streaming towards him. He made to duck; but too late...

"You wound me, Kierra..."

Kierra turned around to see Remus, pointing his wand at Lucius, who was sprawled against the floor, moaning in pain.

"Remus..." Kierra breathed.

"And to think...Lucius had more faith in me than you...." He muttered. "And you..." he snarled, turning to Lucius, "if you ever so much as speak to my girlfriend, I will personally hex you into oblivion...you understand??"

Lucius only glared at Remus.

"I said...do..you..understand?!"

Kierra back away slightly from Remus, quite startled by him. She had never even seen him angry before.

"She's not even worth looking at..." Lucius muttered as he got up and stalked away, glancing back at Remus every few seconds to make sure he wasn't being tailed.

"Remus...thanks..." Kierra said, as Lucius disappeared around the corner.

"How could you think I don't care about you? And...what's that one your face?? What'd he do to you??" Remus asked at once when he saw the gash on Kierra's face.

"Oh, he smacked me"—

"WHAT?! That bloody coward!! I'll"—

"You won't do anything...just leave it. We're just lucky a professor didn't come along..."

"Why? He'd probably have gotten expelled"—

"And so would you! You used an unforgiveable!!"

Remus shrugged. "For what it was worth...I was willing to do it..."

"Dominique!! Wait up!!" Sirius called after her.

Dominique turned around and smiled slightly at Sirius. "Hey..."

"Listen, you're going to be free next week when we go to Hogsmead, right? It'll be Valentine's Day..and I've got a nice, romantic date planned..."

"Sounds wonderful. I'll be there..." Dominique said with a smile.

"Excellent..." Sirius replied. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two, before Sirius decided to speak up again. "Dominique, is everything ok with you? I mean...I've got this feeling that something's wrong..."

Dominique sighed. He'll have to know, sooner or later... "Yea...Sirius, I need to talk to you about something..."

Suddenly, James burst into the common room, followed by Peter, Lily, Remus, Kierra and Alice.

"You guys won't believe what happened to Kierra!!" James huffed. "Incredible...the nerve of that guy"—

"Who?" Dominique asked at once.

"Lucius Malfoy"—

"What??" Sirius exclaimed.

"Shut up guys, let me explain! Er wait...Kierra, you explain, it happened to you..." James said. Kierra sighed and recounted the entire incident to Sirius and Dominique.

"He HIT you??? What a little"—

"Yea, I know!!" James exclaimed. "And we're gonna show that ferret face"—

"Remus already did!" Kierra interjected pleadingly. "Guys come on, there's no need to interfere"—

"He could've done something horrible to you!!" James exclaimed, "I mean, he already did...he could've done worse...he could've...violated you, or something..."

"I think an ass whooping is definitely in order!" said Sirius. "All those in favor of seeing Malfoy getting his butt kicked, say ay!"

"AY!!" everyone but Kierra said together.

"Guys"—

"So what do we do to him?" Peter asked.

"Well...the wheels in my head have been turning," James began,

"that can't be good..." Kierra muttered.

"Now, it's nearly dinner time...Padfoot...Moony...Wormtail...I think it's time we put our connections with the house elves to some use..."

"Master James knows he is not supposed to be here when the house elves is preparing dinner!" said a little elf in a pink apron.

"Yea, I know Arala...but I just wanted to make this special request...it's really important," James said, pulling out a small vial from his pocket, "think you could put this in Mr. Lucius Malfoy's plate?"

"What is it?"

"A present for him...he uh...did me a favor, and I wanted to return it..."

"What's in the vile?"

"Just a potion...to put him in better spirits...he's been a bit...grumpy lately..."

Arala smiled and took the vile. "Master James is a very good friend. Arala will see that this is put in master's friend's plate.

"Ah, thank you Arala...you're the best! Ooh any chance you've got some leftovers from yesterday's din"—

"Come on, Potter..." Lily said, pulling James out of the kitchen, followed by the others. "I can't believe she believed you...a friend...to Malfoy?"

"What can I say? I've got this charm with the ladies..." James said with a grin.

"Oh yes, absolutely...you worked those charms on me, and BAM, five years later, you had me..." Lily replied sarcastically, though she smiled back at James.

"Yea, well, you're a special case..." James replied with a frown.

"and you're a nut case," Lily said, "so what exactly does that little bit of potion do?"

"Oh, you'll see...come on, let's get to the great hall...I don't want to miss it!" James said excitedly, leading the gang to the great hall.

Soon enough, Lucius Malfoy appeared in the great hall, surrounded by his cronies; Crabbe, Goyle, and Snape. As they took their seats at the Slytherin table, Malfoy glanced towards them, staring angrily at Kierra for a few moments before turning to his dinner.

"Soon as he swallows and it gets into his system..." James whispered eagerly, "ah....here it comes"—

A loud eruption could be heard from the Slytherin table, which was followed by laughter from the entire great hall. Many of the students had turned to the Slytherin table to see who caused the noise.

"hey who cut the cheese??" Frank Longbottom asked incredulously, trying to stifle a laugh.

Just then, the same loud noise came again, and Lucius Malfoy sat frozen in his seat, while the some of the Slytherins looked at him amusedly, while others were sniffing the air around him and quickly backing away from him.

"Having gastronomical problems, eh, Malfoy??" James laughed.

Lucius stood up immediately and stormed towards Kierra. "Nakofsky!!" he snarled, "you little"—(he farted again...the great hall again erupted with laughter) "you are going to pay dearly for this!!"

"Hey, if you're going to show gratitude to anyone, it should be me!!" James said proudly.

"Potter"—

"Yea...don't touch what you can't have, near our Kierra ever again, and I'll—

"Mr. Potter!!!"

"Oh, shit..." James muttered, as he turned around to face Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore.

"Professor, I"—

"Come with me to my office, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, "and you, Mr. Malfoy...and I have this feeling that I need to ask all of you to come with me..." he added, eyeing the girls and the marauders.

"No...just me," Kierra said, "the rest of them didn't do anything..."

"But we knew about it!" Lily said with a frown.

"Come along now, all of you..." Professor Dumbledore said as he walked out of the great hall.

"Oh man..." James muttered, "I've gotten in trouble with just about every staff member in this school, except for Dumbledore..."

"I've never been in trouble in my life..." Lily said worriedly. "What're my parents going to think??"

"Bet Regalus the perfect is writing my parents this very moment..." Sirius remarked coolly.

"Alright," Dumbledore said with a sigh as he took his seat behind his desk. "Who did this to Mr. Malfoy?"

"I did, sir." James answered, "but I did it because I wanted to get back at him, he hurt Kierra, sir..."

Dumbledore turned to Lucius. "Is this true?"

"No"—

"Mr. Malfoy, I will ask you again. Is this true?"

Lucius sighed. "Yes."

"Great Scot...is that my great-great grandson??" came a voice from the wall.

"Yes, Phineas, it is..." Dumbledore replied without turning around to face the portrait.

"Well, Mr. Sirius Black...what do you think you're doing here in the headmaster's office?? Up to no good? Just as your parents suspected!"

"That's enough, Phineas," Dumbledore said, putting a hand up to silence the portrait. "Now, did the rest of you have any other part in this, aside from knowing about Mr. Potter's plan for revenge?"

They all shook their heads.

"Well then, off with you all. Except Kierra, Lucius and James...the rest of you may go."

Lucius stared after the group incredulously as they left. "WAIT!! What about Remus??"

Everyone froze.

"What about me?"

"Yes, what about Mr. Lupin?"

"He performed the crutacius curse on me"—

There was a sharp intake of breath from Kierra. That snitch. He was determined to take as many down with him as possible.

Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at Remus. "Is this true, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus frowned and stared at the floor as he nodded.

"Very well, you stay too. The rest of you...wait...Dominique..."

Dumbledore stared curiously at his niece for several seconds before shaking his head. "Nevermind, you go too" he said, still eyeing Dominique.

"Yes, sir" she replied as she followed her friends out. 'oh God...he knows...he knows something....' She thought anxiously.

"Well," Dumbledore said, as heard the door shut, "someone please explain from the beginning..."

"I found Kierra lurking around the dungeons sir," Lucius started at once, "where our common room is, as you know...thought it was odd to see a Gryffindor down there....so I"—

"I wasn't lurking!" Kierra protested, "I got lost because of the dumb staircase! Anyway, it's not like I'm not allowed down there, I wasn't in the common room...hell, I wasn't even looking for it!"

"Your language, Miss Nakofsky"—

"Oh, sorry, sir..."

"Kierra, Professor McGonagall had once boasted to me that honesty was one of your finer qualities. Could you tell me honestly, what happened, from start to finish?"

"Professor McGonagall really said that?" Kierra asked with a hopeful smile, which disappeared when Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at her.

"Er..sorry...yea I can tell you honestly what happened. I was coming from the Gryffindor common room, I had decided to go to the library, to look for Remus. Anyway, the staircase changed positions, and I got off as soon as it stopped moving...because, well..I get motion sickness," she said sheepishly, glancing at Dumbledore, who nodded to her for her to continue.

"Anyway, I didn't even know where I was, I figured I was near the Slytherin dungeons...but that wasn't really my concern. Then Lucius came out of nowhere and asked me what I was doing there. I told him I could walk wherever I wanted, and he said I didn't have the privilege..." Kierra sighed and took a deep breath. "he tried to disarm me, but I didn't have my wand on me...and then he grabbed me by the wrists...and then...he hit me..."

"On the face?" Dumbledore asked, indicating at the gash on Kierra's cheek.

"yea...and then he put a leg-locker on me...because I tried to kick him...and then he pushed me onto the ground...and then he pulled me back up and pushed me against the wall"—

"May I ask if there was any exchange of words between you two, during this?"

"Yes, of course...we argued...but I thought some of the stuff said is a bit...too crude..for me to bring up."

"Alright, continue then..."

"Well, that's when Remus came...or...maybe he came earlier...I don't know...but that's when he hit Lucius with the curse..."

"How much of their interaction did you see, Remus?" Dumbledore asked.

"just a couple of seconds..I had heard them from down the hall...I heard him saying he wanted to"—Remus paused and glanced at Kierra, who looked thoroughly pained to rehear what Lucius said... "I heard him yelling at someone...when I saw it was Kierra...and he had pushed her against the wall, I pulled my wand out and cursed him..."

"And when we found our friends, we told them what happened...I mean...they noticed the cut on my face...so I had to tell them...and they were all angry, and wanted to get back at him..."

"Kierra didn't want us to though," James piped up, "she really didn't...but I kept insisting...I'm sorry sir, but we just couldn't stand to see Kierra get hurt. And please...don't send Remus to Azkaban...he was just trying to protect her...it could've been a lot worse...ow.."

Kierra pinched James.

"Is there something you wish to tell me, Miss Nakofsky?"

"No, sir..." she said quickly.

Dumbledore sighed. "Well, I'll be writing to all of your parents...except yours, Kierra...I do not see that you've done anything wrong....unless, you'd like me to, to explain wha happened?"

Kierra shook her head vigorously.

"Alright, they won't be getting any letters...and you all, minus Kierra, will be receiving detention...I'll ask Professor McGonagall to see to that That'll be all. Mr. Malfoy, you may go now."

"Wait, aren't you going to the ministry? They're supposed to know if someone uses the unforgivable curses"—

"Thank you Mr. Malfoy, I'm aware of that. That was actually what I was going to talk to Mr. Lupin about. So if you will?" Dumbledore requested, pointing to the door. Lucius nodded and left.

"Professor, you can't!" James exclaimed, "please, you just can't"—

"Calm yourself, James...I have no intention of reporting this to the ministry.

"Really??" Remus and James said at once.

"Normally, I would...but...as the circumstances are...as the majority of the wizengamot is prejudiced against werewolves...I cannot throw you into the hands of people who will most likely be treating you unjustly. Now...I know all of you are well intentioned young men, and woman, I must ask you to be careful around...certain students...is that understood?

"yes, sir." The three said together.

"Well then, off with you."

"I can't believe he was so easy on us..." James exclaimed as they left.

"Yea I know...he could've sent me to the ministry..." Remus said with a frown.

"What would they have done?" Kierra asked. "Had they tried you and everything..?"

Remus gulped. "I read in the daily prophet a few years ago, some werewolf got executed for stealing...man...and I used an unforgivable...they'd probably send me straight to the dementors..." he said with a shudder.

"Oh God..." Kierra murmured, as she clutched tightly to Remus's arm.

"We're really lucky to be going to school under Dumbledore's headship..." James said.