Title: The Darkest Part of Dawn

Chapter: Life is Wonderful

Author: TigerTiger02

Disclaimer: the song featured in this chapter is property of Jason Mraz. I however do own Sio, Vessa, and Astrid, you want to use them, ask.

Timeline: Ginny's sixth year, might have some OotP and HBP but unlikely.

Dedication: to whoever is reading this.

"Exacerbate!" Sio said as she was shook awake by a bright and cheery Vessa.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Something close to angrily violent… I dunno." Sio said as she stood up. Her knees buckled with exhaustion. She hadn't had a decent nights sleep since she had gotten here nearly two months ago. All had gone well with classes and detentions. Surprisingly they got along well with most of their teachers, even Snape though not as much. Unfortunately they had put off their make-over party until this weekend, which happened to be the Saturday before Halloween. Of course the reason being detentions and the fact that they could get a lot more supplies at Hogsmead. Sio tore her mind away from her ruminations and stumbled to the showers.

It was over an hour later when she finally came out, she was decked out in a pair of low-slung black leather pants. Her shirt was emblazoned with the Sex Pistols and the neck was cut out so it showed her tanned shoulders. It also was cut to only a few inches lower then her breasts to show her toned stomach and belly piercing. She wore a pair of biker leather gloves with the fingers cut off and her black ass-kicker boots. Her make-up was dark making her blue eyes stand out with dark blue mascara, her raven hair in curls. She smirked wickedly at Blaise and Draco who whistled loudly.

Vessa was wearing a sinfully short brown leather skirt; her shirt was red baby-tee with 'Witches Do It Diagon Alley' across it. She wore a pair of fish-net thigh highs with her 'sexy boots' over them. Her long brunette on the verge of redhead hair was pulled into a messy bun. When she had come out of the bathroom one morning with this color she had confessed that she was actually blonde but frequently used magic to dye her hair. Her eye make-up was lighter then Sio's but still dark. When she had descended the stairs after Sio the wolf-whistles became louder.

"Aww… Draco I never knew you cared…" she purred.

"Well I have to say I'm surprised… so how about you and me find an empty classroom." He asked while cocking an eyebrow.

"In your dreams." Vessa purred and left. She wondered where this was all coming from, maybe it was the wolf's influence but she could never be certain.

When they had finally met up with Vi and Astrid they were surprised to see them. The normally conservative Vi was wearing a white see-through shirt with a black bra and a pair of deep brown leather pants. Her long red hair was pulled back with an ebony bone comb. Her brown eyes were lined with black liner and smoky gray shadow. She looked nothing short of fabulous making even Slytherins stare.

Astrid was an entirely different matter. She wore blue dragon hide pants with a white halter top showing off a black henna tattoo of a winged gryphon atop an 'A'. Her hair was long and a purplish-blue; her eyes were a deep violet. Her eyeliner was silver with dark purple mascara and silver shadow. Her lipstick was a blue that was called, 'Asphyxiation Blue', named after the blue color in drowned or strangled people's lips.

It takes a crane to build a crane
It takes two floors to make a story
It takes an egg to make a hen
It takes a hen to make an egg
There is no end to what I'm saying

The four girls were walking out the doors when they ran into Lupin and Snape in a discussion.

"What in the bloody hell are you wearing?" Snape spluttered out while pointing at Sio's outfit. Sio grinned at him and turned in a circle.

"The shirt? Or maybe you're referring to the pants?" She grinned at him with a wink. Snape flushed slightly, while Lupin chuckled good naturedly.

"What's the hold up, I wanna get a good seat near Malfoy and Blaise," Vessa said as she shoved through them, "It might be the wolf talkin' but I wanna cause some chaos, and Malfoy is lookin' damn fine today." Vessa finished even as she caught sight of her two professors. Astrid sighed and stepped out into the bright sun.

"So what do you all think of my tattoo?" she asked.

"Henna, I can bloody well smell it from here." Sio said, "But nice… very Angelus like."

"That's where I got the idea." Vi shoved between them and both Lupin and Snape's mouths dropped. Neither man had ever seen the youngest Weasley like this.

"Are we soddin' going or not?" Vi asked.

"Fine, fine, I vote for drinks personally. Been getting headaches," Sio said in a nervous kind of voice as she pulled out a cigarette. The other three girls exchanged looks. Before Sio had only smoked three cigarettes a day. Now she nearly chain smoked when she wasn't doing anything.

It takes a thought to make a word
And it takes a word to make an action
It takes some work to make it work
It takes some good to make it hurt
It takes some bad for satisfaction

They had already settled down for a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks when Malfoy and Blaise swaggered in. Well more like Malfoy did, Blaise just sort of strolled in and looked about for someone he knew. It was then when Astrid stood that the boys noted where they were and came and sat down.

"Two more…" Draco whispered to their waitress who nodded and giggling, walked off.

"She's new; I've certainly never seen her before." Vi drawled out, sounding almost annoyed. She turned back to Sio who was debating with Vessa on if a tongue barbell would be good.

"I think that a tongue barbell would be just fabulous on you darling…" Astrid said.

"I can think of many uses for that…" Blaise snickered out. Vi shoved him.

"Eww… shut up pervert."

"Oh you know you like it Weasley," Blaise purred out.

"Yeah, yeah… yeah…" Vi said while rolling her eyes. She gave Blaise a kiss on his nose and returned to her drink. Blaise sat there grinning like a madman while Astrid and Sio exchanged knowing glances, without even realizing it Vi had begun to like the olive skinned Slytherin.

They continued on to Honeydukes, Blaise buying Vi some 'sea-foam' chocolate while they were there. Sio, frustrated by her dwindling supply of blood-pops brought out the whole store, with the surprising help of the young Malfoy. He confessed that he had been planning on buying her some for awhile ever since seeing her eat the lollipops non-stop. Sio had grinned and merely said, "Drake… I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." She said as she slung an arm around Draco's waist. His arm immediately went to her shoulders. By now Blaise and Vi were making cow eyes at each other. Vessa and Astrid merely grinned at each other and followed their wayward friends.

La la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life is full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Al la la la la

They ducked into a shop that Astrid led them to. It was a mixture of Muggle and Magical culture. Band t-shirts from both cultures lined a wall along with magical CD players and CDs. Another wall housed beauty potions and products, including hair dye in every color imaginable and a potion to change eye color. Another wall was dedicated to lamps, incense, and hippie sorts of things. The final wall was covered with jewelry of all kinds from elegant to gaudy.

"Wow this is like…" Sio trailed off.

"Spencer's/Hot-Topic/Hot Rags?" Astrid filled in for her.

"Yeah…" Sio said her eyes were glazed over which meant she was dreaming up all sorts of things.

"Let's get shopping!" Astrid shouted. Immediately they all separated. Vi confessed that she didn't have much money but Vessa said she had loads of inheritance from her grandfather, being that she was an only child, so she gave Vi some. Of course Vi had protested until Vessa said, "Shut up and take the bloody money. If I cared I would be grumbling about it. You are a sister I never had!" And with that the shopping commenced.

It was close to evening when the six of them finally stepped out of the shop, laden with bags, well Blaise and Draco were. The girls walked ahead laughing together and basically messing around. The boys exchanged glances and grumbled on. Vi wandered back to Blaise and they began a conversation, most of it about favorites and their childhood. Astrid wandered back to talk to Draco leaving Sio and Vessa to roll their eyes and grin at each other. Funny how Sio had thought that Draco would end up with Vi, but then again Astrid seemed more like his type anyway, gorgeous, smart, witty, pureblood, and of course a must, devious. Vi was too pure-hearted to be with him, their personalities to different. Astrid had no qualms of any sort about the houses or anything.

Sio turned to Vessa and saw something that made her eyes flash dangerously.

"Bloody Golden Trio…" Sio growled out. Vessa tensed and turned to Blaise and Vi who were completely oblivious. However Draco had noticed and went still. Astrid with her back to the Trio didn't notice and brushed a piece of his hair out of his eyes tenderly.

"What-," she started to ask what was wrong but someone cut her.

"Ginny, get away from the Slimy Bastard!" Ron shouted out. Vi turned swiftly, surprise in her large eyes.

"Fuck…" Vessa ground out, she turned to see a thunderous Sio standing there. Although she had gotten pale her eyes gleamed brightly, flashes of lightening seemed to occupy them. The electric blue swirl saturated the normal murky blue-gray. Both of the Slytherin boys had their wands out. Nobody was really paying attention to Sio as she stepped in front of Blaise and Draco.

"Now boys… you can't just go whipping out your wands in public places, what would you girlfriends say?" Sio said while cocking a slender eyebrow. "Now I suggest you all put your wands away and leave quietly, hmm? What do you think of that?" she purred out. Almost automatically Ron's wand was away. "Harry? Hermione? Don't you want to put your wands away?" Sio asked.

"I-I-I… yes…" Harry said dreamily.

"Hermione you should really put your wand away… what will people think? The Head Girl picking petty fights in Hogsmead?" Sio said. Hermione's wand arm dropped and she put her wand away. "Why don't you guys go visit the Shrieking Shack?" Sio suggested.

"Hey Harry let's go to the Shrieking Shack!" Ron suggested, "Come on it'll be fun!"

"Yes…" Harry and Hermione said simultaneously. They walked around the six people in a daze and up the street. Almost immediately Sio collapsed to the ground. Her knees buckled and her breath came in harsh, short gasps, she had also had gotten even paler the before. Her blue eyes darkened with pain and exhaustion. Vessa dropped down beside her overly pale friend.

"Hey… what's wrong?" She asked carefully.

"I put a lot into that thrall…" she gasped out, "strongest one I've done in a long time… the last time I did one like that I was actually feeding…" she murmured.

"Thrall? Feeding?" Draco asked aloud. Blaise and Draco exchanged looks.

"Is… that why you… need blood-pops?" Blaise asked slowly, trying to word his question carefully. "You need them because you… need to keep the hunger under control?" Sio nodded in her pain filled daze.

"Do you need one right now?" Draco asked.

"I…" she gasped for breath. "I just need to…" she fainted dead away. Snape and Lupin who had been nearby when Sio had collapsed now rushed over at the young woman completely fainting.

"What happened?" Snape snapped out.

"She…" Vessa and Astrid exchanged glances; it wasn't as if Snape didn't already know.

"She put the Golden Trio in a thrall to stop a fight but it was too much power for her, and she collapsed. It appears that she's weak from… not feeding." Draco said in a rush. Snape nodded and conjured a stretched. Lupin levitated her on to and the two teachers pushed through the crowd that had formed.

It takes a night to make it dawn
And it takes a day to you yawn brother
It takes some old to make you young
It takes some cold to know the sun
It takes the one to have the other

Vessa, Vi, and Astrid were arguing with Snape and Dumbledore.

"She's clearly sick!" Vi shouted, "I mean look at her! She hasn't been sleeping, she's barely eating, and she smokes more then I have ever seen."

"Miss. Greenwich is fine. She just used too much of her magical core." Snape sneered out.

"Ah, Miss Weasley, she will be fine with a little rest, I am sure Professor Snape can brew a Dreamless Sleep Potion." Dumbledore said sagely.

"That's not good enough," Astrid said passionately. "She needs real human blood. It's like this bloody place is sucking all of the energy out of her. Her body can't take this abuse any longer!"

"I can assure you Miss Croft that her magic is not being sucked out of her and that she does not need blood. No student of mine will ever drink blood in my school. It is entirely too dangerous. Miss Greenwich is fine. She just needs some rest." Dumbledore insisted.

"What are you stupid, man!" Vessa shrieked out, "She needs some bloody-." A loud yell, followed by a string of curses and, "What the fuck do you think you are doing with that fucking thing!" Sio's voice said. The three girls shot the men glares and scrambled to the vampire. They yanked back a curtain and saw Madame Pomfrey standing over an angry Sio who was trying to bat her away.

"I most certainly don't need to have a big ass needle stuck in my arm. Get away; I know what's wrong with me." Sio screeched out. "Hello, vampire… grr! Nasty!" she said as her fangs were revealed. "I kick puppies and beat up old ladies for money! Grr! Run away in fear!" Sio said. Madame Pomfrey sighed at her dramatics.

"Eat this, and then you may leave." She said while shoving a rather large piece of chocolate into her hands.

"Sweet, I should faint more often." Sio said as she shoved roughly half into her mouth. At the same time she was pulling a cigarette out and she lit it up while she swallowed the large chunk. "So what happened back there? I don't remember much…" she trailed off and smiled sheepishly. 'yeah what a fucking liar I am, I lost control, that's what the fuck happened…' she finished in her mind.

Draco and Blaise greeted them in the Slytherin common room. Sio immediately went to bed with the potion Snape had given her. Astrid and Draco began to talk in earnest while Vi and Blaise skittered around the issue. Vessa did her homework and rolled her eyes periodically. Finally they all agreed to do the make-over party tomorrow so as they didn't have to wake up the grouchy vampire.

The sun rose bright and early but Sio was wide awake in her bed. She had woken up eight hours after she had stumbled into her bed. She had woken up about two hours ago. The hunger gnawed at her veins. She rolled over and tried to sleep, tried to drift away into the deep dark abyss. She drifted away into the dark.

Vessa listened to Sio's breathing all night. About two hours ago there had been a hitch in her breathing and then soft muttering that she couldn't understand. Sio had breathed harshly then, and used the Muggle technique of Lamaze. What pain she was fighting off Vessa did not know, but she did know it had to have been bad. Vessa vowed to watch Sio every night she could.

It takes no time to fall in love
But it takes you years to know what love is
It takes some tears to make you trust
It takes some years to make it rust
It takes some dust to make it polished

"Drake, I think this pink polish with the lime green would positively delicious on you." Sio purred out. Draco laughed and cuffed her ear lightly before turning to Astrid.

"What do you think luv?" he said lowly.

"Hmm… silver and lime green darling." Astrid said absently from her black and blue nails. Vessa studied her blood red talons and showed Sio.

"Nice color, yeah?" she said. Sio's eyes darted from the nails to her throat and then to her own hand.

"Yeah…" she said distantly. She flexed her hand, her mind set on the feeling of a neck under those fingers and the satisfying snap. She bit her tongue and the blood flooded her mouth. Swallowing convulsively on it she finally chose the black and silver for her polish.

By the end of the day Sio's hair had wild streaks of every color of the rainbow in her black hair; the black still was there though so it was a small comfort. Vessa's hair was a myriad of reds and purples. Vi's was a mixture of greens and blues. And of course Blaise had consented to peek-a-boo highlights of a deep blue. Draco had flat out refused, ("Not even for me, Darling?" Astrid had said), he had thrown a fit when Astrid had tried to distract him with a kiss. Now the two of them were sneaking glances at each other from across the room, and pretending to glare when the other caught them.

"Why don't you just go and apologize to her." Blaise and Sio prodded.

"No." Draco said stubbornly.

Across the room a similar conversation was taking place.

"He likes you, in all honesty so why don't you go over there!" Vessa said.

"No. He doesn't." Astrid said dully. Vi and Vessa exchanged looks and finally went to confer with Blaise and Sio.

"He won't apologize." Sio said as Vessa said her piece.

"And she refuses to even talk to him." Vessa and Sio laughed as they realized they had spoken at the same time.

"We've got to get the talking again." Blaise interjected. Unbeknownst to any of them Astrid and Draco had stood up and walked towards each other.

"I'm sorry." Draco said just before their lips met in a chaste kiss. He went to pull away but Astrid grabbed his tie and yanked him toward her, giving him a kiss that left both of them panting.

"Utility closet?" Draco said as they pulled away.

"The one by the suit of armor that's missing a head?"

"Yeah that one."

"Let's go." They quickly left.

The meddling foursome turned around and with a start realized their friends were missing.

"Where did they go?" Sio asked.

"Dunno." Blaise replied, "Well at least I can get on with my life." He said while grinning at Vi slyly.

"Uh… I just realized that I left something in the Room of Requirement…" she said suddenly.

"Huh? But we haven't-." Vessa started to say.

"Yeah I know…" Vi said and quickly left. Five minutes later Blaise stood up.

"I… er… need to talk to Professor Snape…" he said quickly and left.

"What the hell was that?" Vessa asked Sio.

"I think we've been ditched… for smoochies in various places. Ugh… I need to find a boyfriend." Vessa rolled her eyes, a sudden new trait that she certainly hadn't possessed before this year.

"Well… we still have each other…" Vessa said with a sigh.

Ha la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life is full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is so full of
Ah la la la la la la life is so rough
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life is full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is our love
Ah la la la la la

It was Halloween and classes had gone well or pretty well considering Snape had yelled at the four of them and then took off 40 points for no apparent reason. Shivers wracked Sio's form as she leaned heavily against the wall. She wanted to dress up but she felt like shit. The shivers seemed to only get worse as the need gnawed angrily at her. She slid to the floor and began to sob.

"It's not supposed to be like this…" she wept out.

"Sio?" Her head snapped up to meet Vessa's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing…" she chocked out.

"Liar, tell me what's wrong."

"Something's happening to me… I don't know what it is but I feel terrible."

"I know."

"What?" she asked sharply.

"I know you haven't been sleeping properly even with the potion Snape gives you."

"How?"

"I can hear you, remember? Maybe you should ask for a stronger potion."

"Yeah… I'll ask Snape for a stronger one, I'm sure he'll understand."

"Alright, but remember you can come to me if you don't feel well." Sio nodded and stood with the help of Vessa. With a pang in her heart Vessa realized that Sio had lost weight, it could be seen in her face. Though she had visible cheekbones they hadn't looked so sharp before. Her eyes had a glazed, haunted look in them. Her hand and wrist had seemed too fragile under her own hand, she had been afraid that she would snap Sio's seemingly delicate bones. With dismay Vessa realized that maybe she couldn't save her friend, but she would damn well try to.

It takes some silence to make sound
It takes a loss before you found it
It takes a road to go nowhere
It takes a toll to know you care
It takes a hole to make a mountain

The Halloween feast was marred by a Death Eater attack in Hogsmead. All except for Filch were missing from the Head Table. Also several Slytherin students were missing too. Sio and Vessa exchanged worried glances with Astrid and Vi. Half-way through the feast a ragged looking man wearing a white mask and black robes stumbled in. He was giggling madly.

"Soon all of you blood-traitors will be dead." He cackled out. Almost immediately Sio felt herself stand up.

"Oh really?" she spat out, "Wow that's what one against three hundred, if not more. What are you, stupid?" she asked. The Death Eater turned to her and pulled out his wand.

"Crucio!" He shouted before Sio could even say anything. She fell to the floor, pain wracking her body. She twitched harshly and bit down on her tongue and cheeks to keep from screaming. 'Oh my god, am I dying? It feels like knives and teeth digging into me… oh god how much longer… feels like years. I feel like someone is trying to crawl through me. Am I going insane?' It seemed like hours before he lifted the curse, seemingly satisfied that she had passed out. He was severely wrong however when she weakly stood up. His back was to her so she had only a slight advantage. She was lucky that when the students and Filch gasped at her rising the Death Eater assumed that it was because he had just done an Unforgivable Curse. She was slow, drawing out the tension in the room as she pointed her wand at him, directly at his heart.

"STUPEFY!" she shouted while shoving all the power she could into that one attack. Almost immediately the Death Eater collapsed, seconds later Sio was in a crumpled heap on the stone floor. Slowly, under both of the collapsed individuals, a pool of blood spread.

"Oh god..." Vessa said while stumbling awkwardly towards her friend. Vi had stood up but was held back by Ron. Astrid had stood up too and shakily made her way to pool of blood. Her slender fingers shook as she searched for a pulse. Vessa was sobbing harshly as Astrid frantically searched. The whole hall was silent.

Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life is full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is oh love
Ah la la la la la la love is all sorts of
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life is full circle
Ah la la la la la la life is holla holla
Ah la la la la la la next up bushwalla-walla
Ah la la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la...

A/N: so... yeah I have my doubts about anyone reading this but I love writing it so much. Someone give me a sign! Is anyone reading this piece of shit?