Hidden Flames

by FoREvEr ends

.Complete. So. Here I am. The new girl. I am proud to say that I've managed to make a few friends, despite my—how do I say it?—less endearing qualities. Now if only this certain Black will just leave me alone, then my life will be just dandy.

5. Chapter Four: Pre Christmas Troubles

DISCLAIMER: J.K. Rowling owns the setting and everything that you see in the Harry Potter books. Thanks to Rowling for a brilliant world to write of. However, I do own a few original characters and ideas. If anything in here seems related to another story/fanfic, sorry! It's really not.

A/N: I hope you guys all enjoy this chapter! I've bee hard at work!

EW4eva: You'd really recommend my story on your bio? TT I'm so happy! Of course I don't mind! Anything for more reviews;)

Pirate grlEe: Wow... it's your birthday, too? Lol!

Lum0s: Of course everybody loves Sirius! He's so cute and lovable! D

Thanks for the reviews!

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- Chapter Four: Pre-Christmas Troubles-

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"So, do you still like the snow, Faye?" Grace called. We were ice-skating on the lake. The cold had really set in by now, as it was almost Christmas break, and the lake had frozen over hard enough for students to skate on. I had wrapped myself up in as much clothing as possible. I couldn't believe how cold it got around here. My chest felt nice and toasty, but my face and hands were blue and tingling with the cold. I had finally wrestled my stubborn hair into a ponytail so that it wouldn't get in my face while I skated.

"Yeah," I answered Grace stubbornly as my breath whooshed out in a cloud of steam that only slightly warmed my nose. "Yeah, I do."

"You're hopeless, Faye," Grace sighed, skating over tome. "Come on, skate! You'll warm up. What, you're a bad skater?"

"N-no," I said through chattering teeth as I started moving. "I just really move well with all these layers of clothes on." My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"I can tell," Grace said critically. "You look like a many-colored snow woman. Come on! Once you start moving, you'll warm up enough to take some of those clothes off."

I started skating around and around the lake alongside Grace, and soon enough, my body was much warmer, though my face, especially my nose, was still freezing.

"Hey, Faye," Grace said. "Do you dance?"

"Sort of," I said cautiously. I did like dancing, and Andrew and I had even tried to learn breakdancing before. Tried, though.

"Then shouldn't you be good on the ice? Like, can you do jumps?"

"If I tried, I'd probably fall on my ass," I laughed. I struggled out of a jumper and left it on the snow by the edge of the lake.

"Try it anyway," Grace urged. "It'd be pretty funny if you didn't succeed."

I glared at her. "Thanks for the support."

"No problem."

"Why don't you try it?" I pointed out.

"All right. I'll do it if you will."

"Okay," I agreed.

"But you do it first."

I sighed. I should have known that it would end up like this. There was no use trying to argue with her. So I skated a little faster to gain some speed before trying to jump into the air and spin…. I felt it go horribly wrong as I fell back down to the ice. My right ankle got stuck between my left leg and the ice as I landed, and the force of my twirl in the air kept my moving…. I fell painfully onto the cold ice and slid all a long way until I stopped in front of another gleaming pair of skates. I looked up and met Severus's amused eyes.

"Trying to show off?" he asked while holding a hand out to help me up.

"No!" I said, embarrassed. He quirked an eyebrow.

"Then you were trying to show off and failing miserably," he suggested. I opened my mouth to snap at him, but then I caught the twinkle in his eyes—it was so faint that I barely noticed it. I closed my mouth and grinned at him. I had a feeling that he was barely ever amused.

"Grace told me to try to jump—ouch!" I yelped as I stepped onto my right foot. Gritting my teeth, I moved away from Severus a little to try and move my ankle.

"Faye!" Grace was suddenly right beside me. "Are you all right?" For some reason, Grace glared at Severus for a moment before turning back to me.

"I'm fine," I said through clenched teeth. I wouldn't start bawling over a little twisted ankle. God, I'd be ashamed to show my face again if I did.

"Need help?" Severus asked. Before I could reply, Grace jumped in.

"She doesn't need any help from you!" I felt my jaw drop at Grace's hostility.

"Grace!" I hissed. "Stop it!" I glanced at Severus to see his jaw go stiff and his eyes flash dangerously. "Sorry about that. I'm fine. Let's go. Bye, Severus! See you around!"

I gritted my teeth stubbornly and stepped onto my right foot to skate away. Too bad my ankle wobbled painfully and sent me pitching over. To my horror, Severus caught me. It was obvious that Grace was horrified as well when she made a weird sort of noise in her throat and her blue eyes started bugging out of her face.

"Sorry," I said, pushing myself away. Severus looked rather embarrassed as well.

Grace caught me and put my arm around her shoulder while still glaring at Severus. Before any of us had the chance to speak to break the tension, a new voice interrupted.

"How's it going, Snivellus?" I stiffened at the sound of the voice. I would know that irritating tone anywhere.

Why, why, WHY did Sirius Black always have to show up at the most inconvenient times?

Severus reacted very quickly to that voice, probably from countless experiences. He whipped his wand out, but before he could mutter a curse, Black stunned him. He keeled over onto the ice, out cold, just like that.

I whirled around—or tried to whirl around, as it was kind of hard when I was leaning heavily on Grace—to face Black with angry words on my lips. "Why'd you do that?" I demanded.

Black arched an eyebrow coolly. "Do what?"

"Are you really that thick?" I yelled. Grace winced.

"Calm down, Faye. You don't want to get in trouble…" Grace tried to say, but I ignored her.

"Oh, you mean that…" he gestured casually at Severus, who was still out on the ground. "I was under the impression that I was doing you a favor."

"I don't need or want any stupid favors from you! Why don't you just mind your own business and let me hang out with whoever I want!" I hollered. Why was Black so—so—there were no words to describe him!

"Then you're telling me that you'd rather hang out with Snivellus than with me?"

"That's a no-brainer! YEAH!"

Black gaped at me in obvious disbelief, and I smiled at his comical expression. I pulled out my wand and muttered, "Enervate." Severus woke up.

"Faye!" Grace cried.

"No one would want to hang out with your worthless self anyway! Even the threat of having to hear you wail is enough to kill someone!" Black shouted, apparently recovering from the shock of my cold dismissal.

"Wail!" I repeated angrily, my hand clutching my wand even tighter.

"Yeah," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Well, I guess yowl and screech would work too. Since it's you, you know. I'd also throw in squeal, howl, whine, keen, and—"

And before Black had the chance to say anything else, I tightly clenched my wand and pointed it at Black's dense, thick head….

ll-ll

I will not use magic to attack other students.

I will not use magic to attack other students.

I will not use magic to attack other students.

I sulkily wrote these lines over and over on the piece of parchment that Professor McGonagall had given me. I did sort of deserve this, as I had cursed Black in front of more than twenty eyewitnesses… I should have known better than to do hex in public… I should have waited until he was alone to strike….

But at least I'd gotten the satisfaction of seeing Black's handsome nose grow to twice its length and sprout hairy warts and boils all over…. The memory of how he had howled with anger and embarrassment and tried to squash his nose back down unsuccessfully while at the same time bursting several boils on his nose was very pleasurable.

I will not use magic to attack other students.

I had never gotten the point of writing lines. It was a complete waste of time, really. It's not as if I really learned a lesson from this, anyway. Andrew and I had spent almost half our lives writing lines in detention back at Drake's. I just hoped that McGonagall wouldn't write to Tracy and David again.

I will not use magic to attack other students.

Psh. Of course I'd use magic to attack other students. As I said, there was no point in doing this…. And it was really all Black's fault anyway, incensing me like that and stunning Severus for no apparent reason…. I still couldn't believe that anyone could like a git like him.

I will not use magic to attack other students.

I will not use magic to attack other students.

I will not use magic to attack other students.

The sun had set by the time Professor McGonagall let me leave with a sharp word, "Don't put another toe out of line, Miss Prewitt. I don't have this sort of trouble with your younger sister." I felt like I had been slapped in the face. Angrily, I slammed the door shut and ran… all the way back to the Gryffindor tower without stopping. Great. Reminders that I was inferior to Fiona… I was just thrilled to receive them.

Grace looked up from her chess game with Lily when I came in the room. "Hi! How'd your detention go?"

"Boring," I sighed, sliding into a seat near her. "Hey, Lily."

Lily smiled at me and asked, "Why'd you get a detention?"

"I jinxed Black in front of twenty or so people," I said wearily. Lily nodded, looking at me sympathetically. "Too many eyewitnesses."

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "Should have lured him into an empty classroom with bait or something…"

"But you didn't jinx Snape!" Grace protested. I still didn't understand why Grace hated Severus so much. She had been practically steaming after we had gotten off the ice to go to Madame Linelle to get my ankle treated.

"I didn't have a reason to, Grace," I said patiently. "You saw that Severus was perfectly fine, while Black acted like the usual prat he is."

"I keep on telling you to stay away from him," Grace said. "Like I told you before, he's a bad egg. Go on, Lily, tell her."

I glanced at Lily, who hesitated.

"Well, I don't know him personally," Lily started, "but he's really involved in the Dark Arts and spells and jinxes and all that. And he seems to be alone most of the time, but he does hang out with Bellatrix's gang. Really."

I was starting to get a little angry with all this by now, especially since I had just wasted several hours writing stupid lines. "Look, I've never seen him do anything remotely bad. I'll believe it when I see it."

Lily and Grace exchanged glances with each other, but thankfully they didn't pursue the subject. I wandered over to stand by a window while Grace and Lily continued on with their game, and I stared out over the Hogwarts grounds restlessly.

I could just close my eyes and see Drake's grounds…. instead of the Whomping Willow, there'd be a Fairy Fir, right there, and every new moon the Fairy Fir would open its milk-white buds and new fairies would be born… I loved watching the small whorls of light drift away…. Instead of endless forests, there'd be mountains and a waterfall… I felt another pang of homesickness assault me. What I wouldn't do to be back there, away from Black and Potter and all the troubles that they aroused…. At Drake's, my father couldn't touch me, and Andrew had always been there for me to talk and joke with.

"What's wrong?" Grace asked, coming up from behind. She had obviously just finished with her chess game.

I shrugged, not wanting to admit weakness. But one look at Grace's genuine face crumbled that. "I'm just… homesick. I miss my old school. I miss Andrew."

"He must be a great friend," Grace said simply.

"He is."

We stared outside for a while, until we remembered that we still had a load of homework to do.

"Sixth year's supposed to be easier than fifth," Grace grumbled as we set about doing our Potions essay on ground rhinoceros horns. "Right now I'm not believing it."

I sighed. "Yeah."

A few days later, I was heading down to breakfast with Grace and Leah. And of course, Grace and I had our daily race down the banisters. I still hadn't managed to land upright on my feet, but I loved the whoosh and the fastness as I rode the rail all the way down, so I never stopped doing it.

"I still win," Grace grinned. "Maybe it's because you're too tall. More air resistance, you know."

"Or maybe it's because you're heavier," I countered, and then laughed as Grace tried to tackle me.

We were still bantering when the usual morning post came in. An owl came fluttering down to me, holding its letter out, and I quickly took it, hoping that it was a letter from Andrew. My heart sank. It was Tracy's handwriting… and I had no doubt of what it would contain.

Faye,

Why must you persist in getting trouble? David and I are sick of getting all these letters of complaints from Professor McGonagall. We expect you to excel and study hard, not spend all your free time thinking of useless pranks, deploying them, jinxing other students, and sitting in detention! We expected better of you!

Look at Fiona! We haven't gotten one complaint about her. Not one! Why can't you take after her?

We want you to think about your behavior and we hope that we'll see some improvement. If you have trouble deciding on whether or not to do the right thing, go to Fiona and ask her. I'm sure she'll have no trouble in giving you the right directions.

Tracy & David

I sighed sharply and crumbled up the piece of paper. Typical parental answer. I tried to pretend like I didn't care, but I knew that their disapproval cut deep, deeper than anyone else's. And even worse… from the tone of the letter, it was evident that they held Fiona in higher esteem. I'd been expecting it… and yet it still hurt. Tracy and David hurt me more than they could ever know.

If they liked Fiona so much, there was no point in even trying to be better than Fiona. There was just no point. So I told myself not to care. I would do whatever I wanted here, what was right for me. Tracy and David didn't really care about me, not with Fiona around. Why should I give a damn about their thoughts? They didn't even bother to hear my side of things…. But then… they'd taken me in, given me a home, and I'd repaid them by getting so many detentions that Professor McGonagall had to write home.

At that moment, the Marauders were making a scene in the Great Hall—Black was chasing Potter around in an attempt to 'kiss' him—so Grace was currently laughing at their antics and not paying attention to me at all.

"I'm going to the library for a sec, alright?" I asked Grace, who waved me off cheerily. I grabbed my things and hurried off as a loud roar of laughter behind me said that Black had achieved his objective.

Ew.

Ugh.

Argh.

Gross.

I tried to not think about it as I exited the Great Hall. Instead, I turned my thoughts to my upcoming event on December 14th. Earlier in the month, the Head Boy and Girl had made it known that there was to be a ball on that day. A stupid, useless ball. I probably wouldn't even go, as it was such a waste of time. The monthly dances back at Drake's had been just that, where girls were supposed to giggle and dance and guys were supposed to show off, and everyone just basically gossiped. At least Andrew and I had had some fun by wrecking several dances with pranks.

Sighing, I entered the Charms classroom and sat down in my usual seat at the back. Class wasn't due to start for half an hour, but I had nowhere else to go anyway, and I didn't really need to go to the library. I got out my Charms book and attempted to study, but my mind kept on wandering off. I knew I didn't really need to study, as I already knew the things in it, but I wanted to get good marks to please Tracy and David….

Pretty soon I was studying the same line over and over again without any of it actually getting to my brain.

The basic wrist movement for the Bubblehead Charm involves a slight flick upward and a quick slash to the right. And while doing the above, you must cry, "Bublidicio," placing the stress on 'di.'

I wondered distantly when class would start… this was too boring. I would have rather been planning another cruel joke on the Marauders…I just hoped I wouldn't get into any more trouble.

This was not to be. When class had started and everyone else came filing into the classroom, Professor Flitwick assigned us all to work on the Bubblehead Charm on crows. Black thought that it might be funny if he accidentally missed his crow and got me instead—with the wrong jinx, too! He hit me with the Silencing Charm, unfortunately. I was sitting right in front of him, which I thought was a major mistake. My first instinct was to jinx his stupid, smug face off, but, due to his charm, I couldn't utter anything, not one spell, or jinx, or hex.

So I had to sit there, fuming, while Black and Potter laughed behind me. Grace tried to placate me and take the spell off, but nothing she did seemed to work.

"Whoa, did we actually render Faye Prewitt speechless?" Potter laughed at me. I clenched and unclenched my hands in anger while Grace darted worried glances at me.

"Shut up, Potter," Grace snapped, but none of those jerks listened to her.

"I think it's our charm. It was too much for her," Black replied, gloating in the fact that I could reply or hex him.

"She's looking a bit red," Potter commented easily, leaning back to look at me. "Look at her ears."

"We did win her over," Black smirked. "Aww… look, she's getting embarrassed." Embarrassed was far from it. I was gettingto the point where I would have very willingly killed him, with or without magic.

I turned around in my seat and glared at both of them. Black was casually tilting his seat back on its back legs and smirking at me. Potter, however, had his chin in his hand and was staring off at something, presumable Lily Evans, and was obviously distracted for the moment.

"What's the matter, Prewitt? Cat got your tongue?" Black smirked at me. I pointed my wand straight at him and tried to curse him to high heaven, but nothing issued out of my throat. He smiled superiorly.

"Or are you just too stupid to think of something to say?"

With a garbled cry of rage—or I tried to issue a garbled cry of rage—I launched myself at him. I didn't care if I didn't have a wand… I would kill him with my bare hands… I was sick of putting up with his stupid, wisecrack taunts. I overturned the desks in my scramble to claw Black's eyes out, and I ignored Grace's cries, "Faye, no! Stop!"

"Really, stop it this instant!" I distantly heard Flitwich squeak frantically, but I was too busy trying to hit every part of Black that I could…. And this, of course, did not bode for a good ending.

ll-ll

Sirius and I were stuck in detention together, again. He had gotten it for placing the Silencing Charm on me, and I had gotten it for resorting to physical violence… not that I regretted it. I'd given him a black eye and a split lip, as I was pleased to remember.

"You will be doing detention with Professor Delaney," Professor McGonagall had told us when we reported to her office, so we had proceeded on to the North tower. Excellent. The last thing I needed was a nutty Divination teacher hovering around while I completed my torture session with Black.

So now, here I was, stuck back in the stuffy classroom again with Black, listening to Professor Delaney's crazy rant about… something that I couldn't really figure out. I tried to block her fluting voice out. It was bad enough that I had to go through this during class, but to have to spend extra time with her… I shuddered involuntarily.

"So, you two shall be polishing all the crystal balls," Professor Delaney—Professor Delusional, as Grace and I named her— finished dramatically. "The fates have foretold it." Oh, please. You decided on it, you old bat, and that's the end of the story.

"You may get to work, now," Delaney said, fluttering a hand at us. "I feel a strong urge to consult the crystal ball, excuse me." She skipped over to the middle of the room and sat down at her table, making a great show of settling down in her seat before she actually got around to looking at the crystal ball. And… skipped? What kind of teacher skipped?

I picked up a soft cleaning towel and strode over to the shelf full of crystal balls. I prayed that this detention wouldn't end in a catastrophe. Then I'd get even more detentions. Black stuck his tongue out at me when he thought my back was turned. How immature.

But when he was bending down to pick up a cleaning towel, I made a face at his back. Okay. So I wasn't above some immaturities. But who cares? Nobody saw, and even if somebody did, I didn't care.

"Look what you got me into," Black finally said after we had worked in a heavy silence for almost half an hour. "Detention with Delaney." He pronounced 'Delaney' as if it were the foulest creature on the face of the planet.

"It was your fault in the first place," I snapped.

"You didn't have to resort to violence," he snapped back. "Man, for a girl, you can really pack a punch."

I was pleased. "Thanks."

"That was not a compliment," he pointed out frostily.

"Then you've got to brush up on your insults," I retorted.

"I don't need to brush up on anything," Sirius said smugly. I could have slapped that overgrown little brat for his arrogance.

"Then you need your eyes checked." I rubbed the crystal ball hard, peering at it to make sure that no speck was left. Suddenly, something inside the clouds of mist within the ball moved… it twirled and wafted out… changing shapes… red, orange, and yellow colors tinted the previously gray mist….

I could make out the image inside. There was a girl, a girl with long, dark wavy hair much like mine, screaming… screaming with agony and pain… flames surrounded her, burning brightly, hotly… the flames were so hot, I could almost feel them against my skin. I leaned closer, and closer, and still closer… trying to see past the roaring flames to catch a glimpse of the girl's face. The flames still hungered and raged… but they shifted, as if complying with my wishes… I stared into my own minuscule face, contorted in agony….

With a gasp, I dropped the crystal ball. It fell to the carpeted ground with a great thump while I tried to calm my frantically beating heartbeat. There was no need to panic, none at all. It was just a stupid crystal ball… it wasn't true. Professor Delaney was startled out of her fake—I'm sure!—trance, and she fluttered over to where I was standing.

"What's wrong, dear?" she fluted, hovering about me and stroking my head as if I were a pet. I cringed.

"Did you see something?" she continued. "You must have seen something, dear. You're all white and shaking."

I was white and shakingI was disgusted at myself for freaking out just because of a little image in the crystal ball.

"I didn't see anything," I said shortly, bending down to pick the crystal ball up. "I just dropped it."

"But, dear!" Delaney protested.

"Really," I said firmly, moving to polish another crystal ball. I saw Black giving me a suspicious glance.

After Delaney had returned to her 'crystal gazing,' Black moved closer to me (I recoiled) and whispered, "What did you see?"

"What?" I asked, deciding to feign ignorance. Besides, it wasn't as if I wanted to blurt out to Black, of all people, that I had seen myself burning in fires to match those of hell….

Black threw me a scornful glance. "It's obvious that you saw something. Only someone as thick as Delaney could believe your weak denial."

"Why would you want to know anyway?" I asked huffily. And it wasn't a weak denial.

"Just interested," he said. "And it did make the usually fearless to the point of stupidity Faye Prewitt go all white and shaky with fear."

I glared at him. "Oh, and with that praise, I'm definitely going tell you."

"Go on, then," he smiled, "I'm listening… for once."

I bristled. "Then I'm not talking."

"For once," he added, still smiling. I couldn't help but notice that he looked rather attractive right then….

Then the meaning of that thought struck me. WHAT AM I THINKING? SIRIUS BLACK, ATTRACTIVE? I mean, he is, but I don't…. WHAT DO I MEAN, HE IS? HE'S NOT, NOT, NOT! NOT TO ME! NOT EVER! I screamed at myself mentally, smacking my forehead hard.

"Not—not—not!" I punctuated all of these with a slap on my head. It was a moment before I realized that Black was staring at me as if I'd gone crazy. Oh. To him, I was slapping myself for no apparent reason.

But I wasn't about to tell him what had made me hit myself. Black, handsome? The very idea was laughable. But, God, I was really losing it, if I was actually thinking that Black was handsome. I mean, he is, but I couldn't think that of him… I mean, he isn't! Delaney's classroom clearly didn't do anything for my mental health.

"Not what?" Black asked, grinning. "Are you telling yourself that I'm not handsome?" Oh my God, how did he know! I was horrified, mortified, terribly embarrassed. Had I been speaking out loud? No… he was just randomly guessing. His mind revolved around himself; of course that would be what he'd think of.

"No!" I denied, trying to act cool and indifferent. He merely lifted his eyebrow.

"Sure… You know, Prewitt, I'd always thought you were strange and bizarre, but this tops it," Black said wickedly.

"It's all your fault," I said, glaring at him again. "If I didn't have to spend time with you, then I'd be perfectly fine. This is what I call a bad case of Siri-itis." (A/N: Like Umbridge-itis.)

He rolled his eyes. "What do you mean? If you didn't spend any time with me, then you'd be in St. Mungo's by now." I assumed that St. Mungo's was a hospital of some sort.

"Get real, Black," I snapped. "If I really need to spend time with you, then I'm a preppy girl who kisses up to any hot guy. Which I'm not."

I checked the clock on the wall. It had been fifteen minutes. Whoa. This was the longest conversation/argument we'd had without ending up jinxing each other.

"You could learn to be," he said suggestively. I rolled my eyes. I still hadn't forgotten his disgusting comments the night I'd gone to his dorm to steal some underpants and hid under his bed to avoid getting caught.

"No thanks," I said. "I'm sure you're too busy teaching other girls the fine art of kissing ass. I mean, since you're such a good, kissing ass girl yourself."

Black threw his cleaning towel at my face. I automatically lifted a hand to stop it from slapping me, and Black glared at me even more angrily.

"What?" I bit off. "Not used to a girl who can actually raise a hand to defend herself?"

"Not used to a girl who acts so much not like a girl," he corrected. If most girls didn't automatically defend themselves from objects flying directly at their face, then I would be worried.

"Oh, and I suppose you can do a better job of being a girl? Maybe you'd like to give me an example."

To my infinite surprise, he complied.

"Oh, oh, ooohh!" he squealed in a high-pitched, girlish voice. He batted his eyelashes convincingly. "Hiii, Faye," he giggled, still in that incredibly fake voice. I was even tempted to laugh, but that feeling dissolved as soon as he stepped closer to me and laid an arm on my shoulder.

"Later, you want to go for a… walk?" he said breathily, still batting his eyelashes at me.

"Okay," I said, "at the end of the century. Great, it's a date!"

"Oh! B-but… I thought you liked me!" he wailed, clutching my arm. He was even bending his knees so he was shorter than me, and he looked up at me beseechingly through his fluttering lashes.

"You thought wrong." As he pouted with his bottom lip pooched out, I couldn't help myself, even if he was Black. I burst out laughing. He did put up an incredibly convincing image of a snotty girl who loved to go for cozy kissing sessions.

"So," Black said, straightening, "you can laugh, even if it is me."

That effectively stopped my giggles. "So what?" I was instantly hostile.

"Just seeing if you actually had a personality," Black shrugged.

I bristled at his rude comment. "I do, and you obviously don't, since you spend all your time copying others."

"I'd say that others wish they had my personality," he said haughtily.

"Whatever," I snorted. "I'm wasting my breath talking to an arrogant git like you." With that said, I huffily turned my attention back to polishing the useless crystal balls.

The rest of the detention inched slowly away, and after I thought I might have died with impatience, Delaney finally called a halt to our work.

"Good work. This is goodbye for now, but the fates have foretold that we will meet again," Delaney cooed. We take Divination, you twittering dimwit, and you're the Divination teacher. She petted both our heads. She had a really bad habit of doing that.

I recoiled, and I felt Black cringe as well. Professor Delaney was one crackpot, insane, delusional woman. One time in class, she made us hold someone else's pinky for the whole period in a process that she called "bonding." Delaney was really big on that. Ew.

I exited the North tower as fast as I could. But the strange thing was… I didn't hear Black's footsteps behind me. I looked back, and no one was there. Interesting. Perhaps he had fallen into some sort of trap or the other and wouldn't be getting out very soon. I was very hopeful.

My hopes were dashed when I entered the common room to find him laughing and joking with Potter and a bunch of other giggly girls. How had Black gotten ahead of me? I was sure that I had taken the quickest route back to the Gryffindor tower. Maybe he knew some shortcuts… unaccountably, the thought excited me. Andrew and I had found shortcuts and secret passageways in Drake's Institute, so it was only obvious that Hogwarts would have some as well. I resolved to go looking for some as soon as possible.

I spotted Grace sitting in an armchair reading a book.

"Hi!" I greeted her as I plopped myself in a seat next to her.

Grace looked up and smiled. "You're finally back! Blimey, you need to really stop getting into fights. These detentions won't look good on your résumé, you know."

I shook my head impatiently. "Look, why don't we—!"

I was cut off by a sudden thought striking Grace. I could see it in the way her face changed.

"Faye, you're going to the Winter Ball, right?" she asked me excitedly.

"Um… actually, I wasn't planning to," I said, trying to get away from the subject so I could ask her if we could go look for secret passages.

"But Faye!" Grace whined. "You have to!"

"I don't see the point of dances," I said impatiently. "So, anyways, I was thinking that we should go look for secret passageways sometime—"

"Why aren't you going?" Grace interrupted. "I was thinking that we could go buy our dresses at the next Hogsmeade weekend."

I sighed. "I don't want to! I just want to go and find some hidden passageways. Have you been listening?"

Grace suddenly sat up and grinned at me. "If you come to Hogsmeade with me to buy a dress and go to the ball, then I'll go with you to find some secret ways, alright?"

I was appalled. I did not want to go to a stupid dance! "But I don't want to!"

"Then we can't go find anything," Grace said in a singsong voice.

"But!" I tried to protest.

"Nope!" Grace shook her head.

"I don't!"

"Na-uh!"

"Grace!"

"It's the only way!"

"I—!"

"Lalalala… I don't listen to whiners… lalala…"

"GRACE! I'll do it!" I said loudly, overriding her response.

"Oh," Grace blinked, disoriented. "Okay then," she smiled happily. "I can't wait!"

My heart sank. Great. Just… just peachy. What on earth had I gotten myself into? A dance was equivalent to a trip to hell.

Seriously.

ll-ll

"Faye! What about this one?" Grace said excitedly, holding up a pretty purple dress.

"That looks pretty good," I replied halfheartedly.

"Oh, come on," Grace reprimanded, "stop being such a killjoy."

I glared at her and looked at the dress again. "Purple doesn't suit you. It clashes with your eyes. I think a blue one would look better."

"Great!" Grace said, throwing the purple one back onto the rack and grabbing another dress. She eyed it critically before throwing it back into the rack. We went through what seemed to be thousands of dresses alongside other girls who were also getting ready for the ball. I was bored almost out of my mind. I couldn't believe I was actually here. This must have been some sort of parallel universe where everybody does exactly the opposite of what they're supposed to do…. Grace suddenly pulled out a fashionable-looking, midnight blue dress with a white sash.

"I think this one would look better on you," she declared, holding the blue one up to me. "Go on, go try it!"

I randomly grabbed a light blue one exactly the shade of Grace's eyes. "Then you have to try this one on!"

"Okay!" Grace squealed. "That one's pretty!"

I was shoved into a stall to try it on. I glumly put on the clingy dress. Why did I agree to this? But as I examined myself in the mirror, I couldn't help but note that I looked pretty good in it, as it showed off my form. Hey, even I was entitled to a little bit of vanity. It was rare that I actually felt good about myself. I just didn't feel very comfortable showing so much skin, though. It was… indecent. I checked to make sure it didn't expose my back, as that area was where I harbored most of my ugly scars.

"Faye, are you done yet?" I heard Grace say. Grumbling about the unfairness of it all, I unlocked my stall door and stepped out.

Grace gasped. She looked fabulous in the pale blue dress with her brown hair falling artfully over her shoulders.

"You look great!" Grace said with awe. "You are definitely getting that dress! You will be, like, the envy of every girl!"

I rolled my eyes, feeling embarrassed and slightly flattered. "You look really good in that, too."

"Then it's settled. We're getting these two," Grace said firmly. Just as I was going to step back into the stall to change out of it, Grace stopped me.

"Wait, turn around. No, I mean slowly," she commanded. I obeyed, feeling like a dork. She sighed enviously. "You're so beautiful! Especially in that!"

"Pervert!" I cried playfully. "You shouldn't be examining me like that!"

"Hey!" Grace protested. "I was just saying it from an objective point of view! Besides, I would totally go for Remus. You're just not my type, sorry to disappoint you."

We both burst out laughing and went to change. After we purchased our dresses, we went to Three Broomsticks to meet up with Leah, who already had a dress and didn't need to buy one. All in all, it was pretty fun, except for the occasional snide comment from Leah. I really didn't get her problem… I tried to be nice to her, but she wouldn't take it, so I always ended up being mean right back to her.

And Grace said that I was the killjoy.

"Faye, do you have a date for the ball?" Leah asked with a touch of maliciousness in her tone.

I was startled by this question. "We have to have dates?"

Grace shook her head. "No, of course not. But it's recommended and encouraged."

"Why?" I asked wildly. I was thrown totally off-balance. The thought of going with a date unaccountably disgusted me.

"Because it's a ball, and we're supposed to dance," Leah said as if I were the stupidest person on the face of the planet.

"I don't want a date," I panicked. "Do you have a date, Grace?"

Grace looked away, a rosy blush spreading across her cheeks. "I asked Remus, and he said yes."

"Oh my God, why didn't you tell me?" I asked. My breathing was coming in short gasps already. "I shouldn't have agreed to this!"

"I thought you wouldn't have any trouble finding a date," Leah said a bit smugly. "I have a date already, you know. Mark Ripley." I glared at her and refrained from slapping her silly.

"You'll find one really easily," Grace said soothingly. "Really, guys dig girls with good looks."

I sighed sharply. "I don't want to go with any shallow guy. Maybe I'll just go alone and sit in a corner or something. Besides, I think the rest of the male population has begun avoiding me since that first day when I punched Sirius Black." Thank God, I added silently.

"Oh, yeah," Grace said thoughtfully. "Well, you could always go alone. It won't look that bad." Her voice was obviously uncertain and not that convincing.

"Thanks for the comfort," I said tartly. Great. Now I had the added weight of finding a date—I shuddered—for the ball so I wouldn't look like a fool. I saw Leah smiling smugly at me. Oh, brother. She was one annoying git.

"Balls are too much trouble," I grumbled, letting my head fall onto the table with a loud bang amidst Grace's snort of laughter, where she accidentally sprayed butterbeer all over Leah and me.

"Nice…" I grumbled, wiping my face.

Over the next few days, I started to despair about getting a date. It seemed as if everyone had already gotten one. And I marveled at the fact that I was actually looking for a date. Before I came to Hogwarts, I would have refused no matter what. Now, it didn't seem so big a deal. I found out that the prefects were to open the ball, so all the prefects have to dance with their house partners. That meant that I couldn't ask Severus, and that Lily and James had to dance with each other, which would probably end up as a disaster.

So whom could I ask?

One morning a week before the ball, Sirius came up to me while I was eating breakfast with Grace and Leah.

"Yeah, Divination yesterday was horrible. I mean, we had to lie on the ground, making a circle. Seriously, bonding isn't what I had in mind for Divination," I was saying to Grace while ignoring him.

A hand tapped my shoulder, but I brushed it off. Grace was looking at Black, so it was very hard to keep up a conversation with her.

"What?" I finally snapped, turning around. As I knew expected, Sirius Black stood there. "What do you want?"

He looked completely at ease, completely full of himself, and he was smiling his usual arrogant smile. I rolled my eyes. I still hadn't forgotten the conversation and Black's 'bloody brilliant idea' that I'd heard weeks ago. He was probably going to employ his 'bloody brilliant idea' idea right now, and I'd do just what I'd been planning to do for ages: brush him off, coldly deny him.

"Will you go to the Winter Ball with me?" he asked easily. I rolled my eyes while Grace and Leah gaped in amazement. I wasn't surprised at all. I'd been expecting it for ages, waiting for it, even, so I could snub him.

"Black," I said patiently, "you should already know the answer to that." I saw his smile grow even wider, so I decided to make myself clearer. He was obviously thinking down the wrong lane.

"No," I clarified before turning back to my food. Grace's jaw dropped. I smiled as I saw the thunderstruck and disbelieving look on Sirius Black's face.

"W-what?" he asked, stupefied. I turned around and smiled at him sweetly.

"I said, I won't go to the ball with you," I drawled, stretching each word out. "You need me to spell it out for you?" There were titters in the crowd. The whole Gryffindor table was now watching the drama that was taking place before their eyes.

"B-but you can't say no!" Black sputtered, apparently thrown way off balance. "Nobody says no to me!"

"I just did," I pointed out frostily. "You seem to forget that we aren't even on a first-name basis with each other, not to mention that I feel like throttling you when I see you. And besides, I'm sure that whatever spurred you to ask me was probably done out of spite. Were you planning to dump me in front of the whole school?" If possible, his expression grew even more shocked. I smiled at him before continuing. "Really, you should try to be less obvious about these things, Black. You're not exactly subtle, you know." I felt immeasurably satisfied at the stunned, open-mouthed gape on his face.

Evidently at a loss for words, he closed his jaw with a snap, turned away from me, and walked jerkily back to his friends, who were banging on the table with drunken laughter. I grinned at his back. I hoped that properly knocked him off his high horse.

"Faye," Grace said in a strangled voice, "you just turned down Sirius Black. I can't believe you did that! Why did you just do that? Just tell me why!"

"I didn't want to go with him," I shrugged. Grace's eyes almost popped out of her head at these words. "I'd probably end up jinxing him anyway and getting another detention. Really."

Grace still looked completely blown away. "But, Faye!"

"No buts," I said firmly. I glanced at Leah, and I was pleased to see that her eyes were practically bugging out of her overlarge head and her jaw was opening and closing in a slack, fish-like way.

Later that day, when I was sitting quietly in the library doing my homework, a guy came up to me and sat across from me. I looked up at him inquiringly. I recognized him as a Ravenclaw sixth year, but other than that, I had no idea who he was. He had light brown hair and hazel eyes, and he was rather good-looking.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Um… I'm Fabian Prewett," he said a bit nervously. Okay. I smiled at him to make him feel more at ease. What did he want, anyway?

"Faye Prewitt," I said. Interesting. Our last names were practically the same.

"I know," Fabian said, smiling. "You were the one who snubbed Sirius Black."

I grinned fondly at the memory of Black's dumbfounded face. "So?" I prompted.

"I was just wondering… if you… I mean… if you don't have anyone else to go with… will-you-go-to-the-ball-with-me?" Fabian rushed the last words. I studied him, and he seemed to squirm under my scrutiny. He didn't seem all that bad. And besides, I didn't have a date. I didn't think he was only interested in me because of my looks. At least, I hoped not, because I had already made up my mind.

"Sure," I said. "But just as acquaintances. I don't want anyone getting ideas."

"I wouldn't!" he protested, and I smiled at his reaction as I gathered up my books. I maintained a calm, outward countenance, but I was really jumping for joy that I wouldn't have to be a loner at the ball.

"Well, see you around, then," I said.

"Bye," Fabian replied. I hurried to Gryffindor tower to find Grace sitting on her bed, reading.

"Grace! Guess what!" I said excitedly as I jumped onto her bed.

"Chicken butt," she said mildly, looking at me.

"I got a date for the ball!"

"Really?" she asked, dropping her book, immediately interested. "Who?"

"Fabian Prewett," I said.

"Fabian Prewett? You know him?" she asked, amazed. "He's a sixth year prefect and his brother Gideon was the Head Boy last year! He's hella hot! I can't believe you know him!"

"Well… er… I don't know him, like, know him well, but he asked me," I said with some embarrassment. Grace hooted with glee.

"Ohh! Faye, you're too cute for anyone to ignore! Attracting people who don't even know you! Come on, you got to give me some pointers!" she crowed, elbowing me. I could feel my cheeks turning red. I wasn't cute at all. She was just taunting me.

"Shut up," I muttered.

"Embarrassed?" she teased, looking into my face. I grabbed a pillow and thwacked her grinning face.

"Isn't it the same for you?" I turned the tables on her. "Remus asked you! And you're still asking me for pointers?"

"Ahhh!" Grace screamed, turning a satisfactory red.

"Oh yeah, you asked him, not the other way around," I joked, and I was rewarded by a solid thump on my head with a pillow. It erupted into an all-out pillow fight, Thompson versus Prewitt. We were giggling and laughing by the time Lily, Bella, and Alice walked in.

"Hi," Lily said a bit hesitantly as I whacked Grace with a pillow and Grace tried to stuff some feathers into my mouth.

Bella pouted. "Why didn't you guys invite me to join in?" Grace laughed and threw a pillow at her.

"You're welcome to!"

ll-ll

"Shh!" I hissed at a giggling Bella. I reached a hand out and grabbed one of Grace's curtains and ripping it back quickly.

"SURPRISE!" I hollered at the top of my lungs, Lily, Alice, Leah, and Bella's voices echoing mine.

"AHHH!" Grace screamed, diving under her covers as we exploded confetti right into her face.

"Happy birthday, Grace!" I yelled happily, pulling her blankets back. "Hey, don't hide! It's your birthday! We all got up early just for you!" I gestured at Lily, Bella, Alice, and Leah.

"That's what I was afraid of," she muttered, and I bonked her hard on the head.

"Be more cheerful, birthday girl!" Bella cried, shooting sparks at Grace with her wand, which swiftly ignited the bed. After we put out the fire and restored her burned bed, we all proceeded downstairs to celebrate my birthday in the Charms classroom, which Professor Flitwick had lent to us for just this occasion.

"Thank you!" Grace cried, when she discovered that we had even decorated the classroom with streamers and other pretty things, and a huge banner in the room sported the words, Happy Birthday, Grace!

"You have a really late birthday," Lily commented as she took a bite of the ice cream cake that they had gotten from the kitchens. We had finished singing the Happy Birthday song, so now we were feasting. "You're sixteen now, right?"

"Yeah," she said happily. "Finally sweet sixteen!" Grace licked her chops and helped herself to another slice.

"Open your presents, now!" I ordered happily.

Grace grinned and pulled the stack of presents towards herself. There was a present from everyone in the room along with the presents that had arrived from her family.

Afterwards, we all went out onto the grounds to have a snowball fight before getting ready for the ball. This was a fearsome battle, with Leah, Grace and I pitted against Lily, Bella, and Alice. We even built forts. Lily specially charmed a bit of snow into an extremely efficient snowball machine that shot snowballs with surprising force and accuracy.

After my team suffered an ignominious defeat, we all headed back to our dorm to get ready for the ball. It was a good four hours before the ball would even start, so I had a hard time understanding why we had to go in so early. Getting ready couldn't take that long, could it?

I was soon proven wrong.

We all oohed and ahed over each other's dresses. Grace looked stunning in her blue dress and with her hair bound up in a pretty French braid that had taken two hours, a handful of singed hair, and a Lily-to-the-rescue for her to get right.

"I'm sure that you'll knock Remus over," I teased. Grace couldn't hit me, as she was restrained by her dress.

"Change into your own dress," she snapped instead. "Then we'll see how hard you'll knock Fabian down!"

"You're going with Fabian?" Bella grinned. "I heard that Fabian was really excited about his date."

"But I don't even know him!" I cried. I knew my cheeks were pink—I just knew it!

"You don't have to," Grace replied, wagging her eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes and changed into my dark blue dress.

"Blimey, Faye, you look fabulous," Lily said approvingly. She herself looked gorgeous in a pale green dress with her hair tied up.

"You look great, too," I said, flattered.

"You're too good for Potter," Bella sighed. "I still can't believe you have to go with Potter. Doesn't anyone know that it'll end up in war?" Bella herself looked wonderful in a black dress.

Lily sighed gloomily. "I know. Don't make me think about it."

"But he's cute, right?" Alice said slyly.

"Looks aren't everything!" I interjected. "Potter's as bad as Black!"

"Oh, yeah," Bella said wickedly. "Black asked you!" I turned red and glared at her.

"Only to embarrass me," I muttered. "Besides, I definitely wouldn't have gone with him! We're like… like how Lily is with Potter!" Everyone winced.

"Well, you're going with Fabian," Grace said, at the same time pulling out her wand. "But… you know what?" I shook my head in the negative, nervously eyeing her wand. "We need to make you look more presentable. You didn't even put up your hair! And you need some make-up. It'll bring out your eyes quite nicely."

"WHAT?" I asked, horrified. "No!"

"Yes," Bella, Alice, and Lily agreed.

"No! I don't want to!" I cried desperately while my so-called 'friends' advanced on me with their wands out.

"Ahh!" I screamed and tried to bolt. Too bad Lily hit me with the Petrifying Curse. I was lugged up and forced to stay still while they all worked over my hair and face. It was bad enough that I was going to the ball without having my stupid friends deck me up like some sort of doll! Normally, I wouldn't even have agreed to go to the ball, except Grace would have gone with me to find any secret passageways if I didn't go!

Life was so unfair.

"There," Grace said with satisfaction a half anhour later. "You look perfect. Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked sweetly. I glared at her sulkily while Lily lifted the Petrifying Curse.

Immediately, my hands went up to my face and hair, but Grace stopped me. "If you don't, then I won't with you to look for you-know-what!"

I glared at her and dropped my hands. "Blackmail is illegal," I snapped.

Grace merely smiled. "Just go look at yourself in the mirror, beautiful."

"Stop checking me out like that, Grace! It makes me wonder!" I told her.

But I did go look at myself, while Grace and Bella cooed at my reflection. A radiant girl looked back at me. I couldn't believe that I was really that girl. My cheeks were flushed becomingly with rage and my hair was done with a white ribbon. The dress was perfect on me, and I couldn't deny that I looked unusually good in it, unusually like my old, ugly self. I grimaced. Back at Drake's I would have been caught dead wearing this. But… I did feel… I don't know… more feminine in this.

"Come on!" Alice urged. "We're going to be late!"

We all trooped down the stairs, laughing. I tried not to trip on my shoes; I wasn't used to walking in high heels. And Grace had even insisted that these shoes weren't all that high.

Frank Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Mark Ripley, Chris Grandon, Fabian Prewett, and James Potter were waiting for us. Well, actually, Potter was sulking off in a little corner. I felt very… exposed and more than a little embarrassed to be seen wearing what I was.

I stepped directly over to Fabian and gritted my teeth in what I hoped was a nice smile.

"Hi," I said when Fabian hesitated. I guess my forced smile wasn't all that reassuring.

"Hey," he swallowed, closing his open mouth. I was tempted to laugh. "You look beautiful. Just like your name. Like a fairy."

I shrugged uncomfortably. "Thanks. Let's go."

"Wait!" Fabian protested.

I stopped and looked at him quizzically.

"You have to take my arm, silly," Fabian said with a grin. My jaw dropped. I was horrified, mortified, offended, utterly revolted. No, I couldn't do this. I turned to look around me, and sure enough, all my friends were holding onto the arms of their dates, even Lily, though she looked as if she was about to hurl.

I closed my eyes in horror. "Do I have to?"

"Of course," Fabian said, amusement evident in his tone. I snapped my eyes open and steeled myself to take his proffered arm.

"See. That wasn't so bad," he said. I looked up—he wasn't that much taller than me—and saw the twinkle in his eyes. I rolled my eyes.

"I just never went to a dance before," I explained through clenched teeth, "and I don't think I ever will again."

"Aw, come on," Fabian said. "I'm not that bad, am I?" His eyes looked so anxious that I was amused in turn.

I laughed, releasing the tension between us. "No, you're not."

"Great," he said. We started towards the Great Hall in companionable chatter about many things. Thank god. I didn't think that this would be so bad after all.

Once we entered the Great Hall, a great hush fell over the crowd. I suddenly felt as if all eyes were on my friends and me. I cringed.

"What's wrong?" Fabian asked me. He must have felt me recoil.

"I don't like the stares," I muttered.

"Come on. It's not that bad. They're only staring because you're too beautiful," Fabian teased.

"Oh, shut up," I snapped. I hated it when people did this, said I was beautiful when I wasn't. My old family had proven that I was as ugly as an old hag.

"Whatever your Majesty wants." I controlled the urge to hit him.

"Hey, Fabian, how'd you manage to get the most beautiful girl here?" said a boy whom I presumed was Fabian's friend. I blushed and glared at the offending boy.

"I had to beg her for days and days on a bended knee," Fabian said. "I even had to duel several boys for her!"

"I swear, I'll step on your feet if you keep on going on like that," I hissed at Fabian, who grinned at me innocently.

I turned my attention away from him and to the Great Hall. It looked magnificent. Streamers and banners hung in the air, twining around specially decorated candles. Giant Christmas trees festooned with pretty ornaments were everywhere. Enchanted snow was falling softly from the ceiling, and little snowmen and Santa Clauses were singing Christmas carols in the background. Small round tables covered with table clothes and glass utensils and platters replaced the usual four long tables, and a huge space was left clear for dancing. There was a stage set up, and a band was up there, getting ready to play.

The prefect couples were already moving onto the dance floor as the music began. Shit. Why didn't English people ever dance the normal, American way? The way where you just moved your body and didn't necessarily have to touch your partner. This was the waltz, for heaven's sake.

Fabian looked at me and winked. "Want to dance?"

"Whatever," I shrugged, trying to hide my total objection, and let myself be led over to the dance floor. Trying not to wince, I tentatively put one hand in his and the other on his shoulder. I was very ticklish, and I almost burst out laughing when he touched my waist. My fear of being touched by men only made things worse. It was a natural instinct to me, after my father….

"What's the matter?" Fabian asked, obviously feeling me go stiff.

"I'm ticklish," I gritted out. "Don't laugh."

"I wasn't going to," he said indignantly. "I used to be ticklish, too. When I was small, I was a really heavy sleeper, so my brother would tickle me every morning to get me up. It was torture," he concluded while I laughed at his expense.

We danced pass Severus and his partner, Bellatrix Black. I smiled at Severus and made a face at Bellatrix. I felt sorry for him, stuck with Bellatrix Black. I shuddered at the thought.

After the first dance ended, I sat down at a table while Fabian went off to get us drinks. I sat back and surveyed the dancers before me. Lily and James danced past me, each wearing an expression of utmost loathing, and I struggled not to laugh. Grace and Remus also twirled by, and Grace was laughing happily at something Remus said. They looked like such a cute couple.

Wait. Ew. Did I actually think that, 'cute couple?' Me? I really was changing, for the better or for the worst. Probably for the worst. What would Andrew think? I sighed. I looked up, and I suddenly saw Sirius Black dancing by with—Fiona. Black smirked at me, probably thinking that I would be annoyed, but I only rolled my eyes at him. If Fiona was so stupid as to overlook his shortcomings, then that was her problem, loss, folly, whatever. I certainly couldn't care less. I didn't like Fiona, anyway.

Just then, a commotion in the middle of the dance floor drew my attention away. Lily had just kicked Potter in the shinbone, and now she was stalking away from the Great Hall, her face as red as her hair. Potter was hopping around on one foot, looking ridiculously pathetic.

"Faye?" Fabian said at my elbow. I turned in surprise. I had forgotten that I was still his date. He was holding out drinks, and I gratefully took one as he took a seat beside me.

"You're little sister's with Sirius," Fabian commented idly as we watched the dancers.

"She deserves him," I said. "They're both despicable."

"Why don't you like your sister?" Fabian asked curiously. I sighed, looking up at the night sky—which was the Hogwarts ceiling— before replying.

"She's my half-sister," I said before I could stop myself. I wished I could just zip my mouth up before I spilled any more secrets.

"So?" Fabian prompted.

"We've just never been that close…" I sighed. I still didn't get why I bothered to say these things. As far as I was concerned, Fiona and I weren't really family. She had never really cared about me. She had gotten me a present for my birthdays, but other than that…. She had made fun of me at school. She had always left me to do my chores alone. And worse of all… she had been a bystander in all the beatings I had endured from my father… she had seen it, and she had done nothing to stop it, prevent it, or help me….

But that part of my life was gone, ended forever. I would never have to face it again. I was now safely living with Tracy and David.

"Don't worry," he said. "Things will clear up. You just have to wait." Hah, I'd been waiting years for Fiona and I to come to an understanding.

"I'm tired of waiting," I said simply. "I've been waiting for a long time for things to clear up between Fiona and me and my whole damn fa—!" I bit my tongue. I had come so close to telling him about my real problems with Fiona and my old family. Scary.

"Then go talk to her," Fabian reasoned. I laughed bitterly.

"Me, talk to Fiona? It's not possible. I just have to face it, we're not really sisters as far as bonds are concerned. We're more like strangers." Except for the fact that Fiona knows about my past, abusive life, I added silently.

We were silent for a time as we watched other people. I felt like I was going to suffocate in the silence.

"Do you want to dance?" Fabian spoke up eventually.

"Why not?" I said after some time. I was his date, so of course I had to touch him no matter how much I loathed any boy's touch. I accepted his hand and we stepped into a slow dance. This was the second time I actually danced with someone, boy-girl style, so I was pretty bad.

"Ow," Fabian winced as I stepped on his right toe for the fourth time in a row.

"I'm sorry," I said sheepishly. "I'm not that good. A-and you're tickling me!" I said the last part quietly but with intensity. I was not used to the feeling of someone else's hand on my waist. I didn't like the touch at all. It made me feel completely vulnerable, open to attack. No matter what happened, I knew I would never get used to it.

"I guess that makes us even, huh?" Fabian joked while I glared at him and stepped on his feet again, this time purposefully. I smiled at his pain.

"You are really sadistic, you know that?" Fabian said, wincing.

"I know. I've worked on perfecting it," I grinned. I was still keeping as far away from him as possible without seeming rude. He was nice, but I just— didn't— like his touch.

After that, a girl I didn't recognize asked Fabian to dance, and he accepted after looking my way apprehensively. Truth to tell, I didn't really care. I wasn't interested in guys. I retired to a seat again, already bored.

If Andrew was here, we would probably be wreaking havoc and mayhem with the décor, and we'd probably hang Black and Potter upside down so that their boxers would show; and we'd make those enchanted snowmen hurl snow at the crowd. We'd most likely upend those neatly arranged foods, and paint gravy, syrup, honey, and whip cream all over our faces, and hurl the foods into the crowd, instigating a food fight…. We would have charmed the lemonade to fall from the ceiling so that everybody would think that it was pee. Then we would've finish up by cursing several people to do some breakdance right on the teachers' table, flinging food at the teachers left and right…. I imagined Professor Gadgen wiping his face after being hit in the face with some pie and Professor McGonagall spitting out some juice, and I smiled at my daydream.

"Having fun, Prewitt?" a voice interrupted my wistful fantasy. I turned to face… Sirius Black. God, couldn't he just go dance with some girl and leave me alone?

"I was, until you decided to intervene," I snapped. "Now why don't you just go away and leave me in peace?"

"Will it make you happy?" he asked.

"Yes!" I said exasperatedly. "Why else would I tell you that?"

"Then I'll just stay right here. I wouldn't want you to get too happy," he grinned.

"Always the gentleman, aren't you, Black?" I snorted.

"Of course. I'm a natural at it."

"Natural, my ass. Now get out of my face before I jinx you to high heaven."

"Big words for somebody who can't even get through a dance without stepping on their partner's toes." I felt myself flush.

"And I'm sure you did better," I shot back. "And why were you even watching? I assure you that my business is none of yours."

"I just happened to overhear Fabian yelping in pain," Black said coolly.

"You—!" I cut off as I saw Professor Flitwick approaching.

"What were you…?" Black trailed off as Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice interrupted him.

"What are you two doing?" he squeaked. "A lovely girl, sitting all by herself, and you being a free gentleman!" he scolded Black, who looked about to hurl. "Mr. Black, go ahead and ask this lovely young lady to dance! It is, after all, what the both of you came to the ball for, isn't it?" I must have looked ready to hurl as well, for Flitwick moved a bit back and asked, "Are you quite all right, dear?"

"Yeah," I coughed.

Why must I always be saddled into doing something despicable with Black? It seemed that every opportunity never seemed to pass me by. It was quite amusing to see Black caught in a fix, though, and I watched his jaw work and a kind of garbled sound escape his mouth.

"Go on," Flitwick encouraged him. "I never thought that you were the shy sort, Mr. Black." That got to him. He shut his mouth with a snap and looked at me angrily, as if I had gotten him into this mess.

"Prewitt…" he started, but Flitwick interrupted yet again.

"Prewitt? No, no, no! You have to address her as Faye! It's only polite, you see. You can't call beautiful young ladies by their last name! It's disgraceful!"

"Faye," Black said through gritted teeth. I would have been very tempted to laugh, but I was also caught in this fix as well. "Will… willyoudancewithme?" he rushed the last words as if he'd rather get it over with quickly. I narrowed my eyes and glanced quickly at Flitwick, who was looking at me expectantly. Well, if I was absolutely going to be involved in this, there was no reason why I couldn't make Black suffer more.

"What did you say? I'm sorry, I didn't catch the last bit," I said sweetly into Black's snarling face.

"Will. You. Dance. With. Me. Faye," Black spat out every word bitterly. But he made sure that every word was clear.

"Fine," I said sulkily, keenly aware of Flitwick's eye. Did that professor have a self-satisfied smile? I shook my head. It must have been my imagination. Since when did teachers ensnare students to dance together just for the heck of it?

Touching Black was even worse than touching Fabian. Every nerve and fiber in me screamed to get away, to run away, to escape from this… exposure. Who knew what could happen to me… I felt like being sick, throwing up all over Black's clothes. Unaccountably, the thought pleased me even in my sickened and frightened state.

I tried to keep my body as far away from Black as possible, and I impulsively kept on twitching my hands, trying to get out of his grasp.

"Stop twitching already!" Black hissed in annoyance.

"I can't help it! It's a side effect of being with you!" I snapped. Several people shot us frightened looks, obviously thinking that it would erupt in a catastrophe. And they weren't far off, in my opinion.

"Well, being with you always gives me indigestion," he shot back. I smiled sweetly at the teachers as we danced passed them.

"Good. I don't want you to get away with nothing," I said. "And it's your fault that we're even dancing right now!"

"My fault? Since when?"

"Since you decided to sneak up on me and insult me!"

"Flitwick was the one that saddled us both into this!"

"He would have done it if you hadn't been near me in the first place!"

"How am I supposed to make you miserable if I'm not near you?" he asked with false sweetness. He leaned closer to me, and I pulled back quickly. Just the thought of having him so close was nauseating.

"Are you afraid of me?" he smirked.

"Not a chance," I bit out.

"Then will you go out with me?" As soon as those words shot out of his mouth, Black looked astounded at himself.

I was disgusted at him. He already had a girlfriend, and he was still asking me out! Well, maybe he didn't mean it, from the horrified expression on his face… but still! It was like his default phrase or something! It made me so angry!

"How many times do I have to make it clear to you that I absolutely hate you! I loathe the sight of your unquestionably offensive face!" I shouted, breaking away from him. Everybody was staring at us. "You're absolutely horrid, you arrogant, swaggering, lame excuse for a boy!"

"You're one to talk, when you're the perfect example of a snotty, stuck-up, vile, appallingly nauseating excuse for a girl!" he shot back. We were right in front of the teachers' table, standing right in front of Professor Dumbledore himself, no less. I knew this wasn't the best place to have a facedown, but at the moment I couldn't care less.

"At least I don't worship the filthy ground you desecrate by walking on! That would be sinking so low as to never being able to get back up again!" I shouted.

"At least I have worshippers! You have nothing, not even brains!" he yelled.

That was it. I couldn't take this anymore. I plucked the nearest glass of pumpkin juice off the table—I vaguely registered that it was Professor McGonagall's—and threw it into Black's face.

"You are not all-that!" I hissed. "You are so much less than what you think, you egotistical idiot!"

Black slowly and deliberately wiped his face. Then, as fast as lightning, he grabbed another cup of pumpkin juice—which was Professor Dumbledore's—and threw it into my face, drenching me. We stood there for a moment, glaring at one another with enough hate to make Hagrid's ears shrivel up.

Then, simultaneously, Black and I shouted, "I hate you, you bloody git!" We stomped off in opposite directions. I was burning with humiliation and dripping with juice, keenly aware of all the eyes on me as I stamped off the dance floor, trying to keep the last shred of my pride intact. Frustration was burning behind my eyes, and I swallowed hard, refusing to cry. My first ball… at least I would not add to my humiliation by bursting into tears.

Fabian was suddenly at my side, and he took my elbow and steered me towards the door. We made our way out, and as soon as my foot cleared the entrance, the whole hall burst into laughter. At least they had the grace to keep their laughter in until I exited. Fabian and I walked in silence.

"God, balls do suck," I eventually said to break the silence.

"Nah," Fabian answered. "I thought it was pretty fun."

"You would," I said sourly. "Let's head back. It's cold." I was shivering from having juice poured all over me.

"Okay," he agreed. In silent agreement, we headed back to the Gryffindor common room. He must have felt my tiredness.

Once we reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, I turned to Fabian. "Hey, thanks for putting up with me. It must not have been really fun for you. I'm sorry. I was a waste of your time."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Fabian assured me. "It was fine. You're a good dancer."

"Please don't exaggerate," I grinned. "I stepped on your toes at least ten times."

Fabian ducked his head and laughed. "Yeah, well… it wasn't that bad. Honestly."

"Thanks," I smiled. "Good night. See you around."

"Wait!" he said suddenly. As I looked back at him, he asked, "Was it fun for you?"

"You're nice," I replied. "I had fun hanging with you. But you know, overall, the ball really sucked for me. But it had nothing to do with you."

"Oh, great," he looked genuinely relieved. "So we're friends, right?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah. Good night. I'll see you around."

"Good night."

I smiled at him before giving the password to the Fat Lady and heading back up to my dorm and quickly changing out of my dress, showering to get the juice off me, and jumping into bed. Lily was already there, and I could tell from her breathing that she was pretending to be asleep. I didn't say anything to her. All I felt like was hiding in bed as well. As I burrowed down in the covers, I felt another stab of anger at Black.

God, I was glad winter break was coming up. I didn't think I could handle any more of Black.

-

Did you all like that one? In the next chapter, Sirius is going to be really sweet to her!

Anyway, I have a QUESTION for all of my readers. Should I put in the whole Sirius/Snape/Remus werewolf thing? I'd put it in some time towards the end of the year, but it's hard to write about, and I don't want to put Sirius in such a bad light... D PLEASE leave a reply in your reviews! Just say yes or no! I really need help on this decision. If I put it in, then Faye would have even more reason to hate Sirius... and all that other complicated emotional stuff. If I don't, then it'd be a lot easier, but it wouldn't be really following the OOTP.

PLEASE REPLY TO THIS ASAP!

Thanks!