Once she was out of breath, she finally stopped running. Her heart was beating rapidly, but not only from running so hard...it was from something else, and she couldn't quite describe it...

"Damn it," she muttered, bending over and resting her hands on her knees while she panted with gusto. What was with that boy? Didn't he see that she was obviously a low-life? A freak? Didn't he understand that she just needed to be left alone?

Well, it seemed he didn't, and that didn't mean anything good. Rolling her eyes in agitation, she picked up the remaining shreds of control she had and stood tall. She was Henna Marie Davis. She could handle anything. She didn't need some idiot boy trying to help her out as if she were a baby. Now that she had her attitude back in place, she felt safer. As long as she was considered an outsider, a freak, she was safe...nobody could hurt her if she didn't care. She had learned that the hard way...

Shaking her head with renewed vigor, she began walking again. Her stomach was growling. That little rabbit had done little to satisfy her hunger. She needed more.

No...no, she thought. She could wait.

The sun was beating down on the back of her neck now. She winced, as slowly her neck began to grow hotter and hotter. She could just let the spell wear off, she thought. She could end her life here and now. Nobody would notice, and the world would be a lot better off without her. Her arms began to get red-hot, and now her hair felt as if it were on fire. Her mouth went completely dry, and her hand itched to go to her wand.

"Just do it...you're a vampire, it doesn't matter. Don't use the spell. You deserve to burn," she whispered. She put a hand up, trying to shield her eyes. They were losing all of their moisture, and she was sure they would shrivel up any moment, the deep brown color would be sucked from them, along with her soul. But just as her hand reached her eyes, a small flame licked her thumb. She froze, and it took her a long while to realize that her hand was on fire. It was starting! She was burning!

Her eyes squinted shut in horror. She could do it...she could do it. Her entire hand was covered in flame now, and pain engulfed her entire being. She dropped to the ground, refusing tears and muffling screams. Slowly her other hand was turning bright red. Her heart was thumping out of control, and that's when panic took over completely. She let out a horrible, heart-wrenching yelp and reached for her wand with the only hand not covered in flames.

"Protego Apricus!" she screamed. She slapped the flames from her hand, her whole body convulsing in pent up fury and agony. She didn't feel the sun anymore, but her hand was throbbing horribly now. She let out a stream of colorful swear-words, trying desperately to ignore the pain. She didn't want to look at it, afraid of what she might see. She didn't know any healing spells, so there would be no point. But even vampires are cursed with curiosity.

She let out a horrible moan as she looked at her blackened hand. It was twisted in odd positions, a lump of charcoal. She thought of any spell that might fix her hand, but none came to her mind. She needed a healer to fix this, and she knew it. A large snort followed this, as she knew full-well that there was no way she would ever be able to afford such a thing. She took hold of a piece of her tee-shirt, and ripped a piece of it off, leaving a large amount of stomach displayed to the public. She didn't care, however, as she was focused completely on her maimed hand.

She wrapped the cloth gently around her left hand, trying desperately not to show any signs of emotion, yet inside she wanted nothing more than to let a few tears slide down her face. No, that would be weakness. Henna was not weak. She couldn't afford to be weak, just like she couldn't afford a doctor. Slowly she shook her head, trying to think of what she could do next. Should she go sleep somewhere? Try and sneak another book?

She busied herself with such thoughts as she walked down the road, but was very frustrated to find that a certain face kept popping in front of her. Remus Lupin. Who was he? She had no idea...yet there was some connection of some sort. But what was it? She didn't know...

"And I don't care," she whispered to herself, putting on her regular 'back-off' signals as she walked down the side-walk. But was that true? A little voice asked her. Of course it's true, she thought stubbornly. She didn't give a damn about anybody but herself, and it was going to stay that way.

"Come on, Moony, get a grip. You've been a complete idiot ever since you walked that train-wreck home," Sirius said, rolling his eyes as they walked down the street. Remus frowned.

"Don't call her that," he muttered distractedly. Then he let a long sigh, running his fingers through his thick, sand-colored hair. "It's just...there was something different about her. Something familiar," he muttered.

"Yeah, she needs a bath too," Sirius said, grinning.

"Will you drop it already? Did it ever occur to you that maybe she doesn't have a home to take a bath in" Remus snapped, his voice raised in unusual anger. James turned around at this.

"What? She doesn't have a home!" he asked in surprise. Sirius looked abashed, and actually began to blush in a rare show of shame.

"When I went to walk her home, she lied to me because she didn't want me to find out that she didn't have one! Does that answer your questions about her appearance, Sirius?" Remus added in disgust. Sirius nodded his head.

"Cool it, you two," James said, sighing. "Boy, I didn't know that. Why do you reckon she doesn't have a home? Is she an orphan?"

Remus bit his lip, but decided to disclose his actual thoughts. "Alright, don't laugh at this...but I think...well I think she might be a werewolf."

There was total silence. And then Sirius burst into bails of laughter. "Oh, Moony, old pal. You're desperate!"

"No, I'm serious!" Remus said defensively. James cleared his throat, obviously agreeing with Sirius, but not wanting to say anything.

"You know," Sirius said, his face looking solomn. "The more I think about it...I did see whiskers." James couldn't help but laugh at that one, earning a glare from Remus.

"It's not funny," he muttered, but Sirius was still smiling.

"I dunno, mate. It doesn't seem very likely," James said. Remus shrugged, deciding it wasn't worth the argument. The three remained silent for sometime, each deep in thought, when the arrival of Peter Pettigrew drew their attention.

"Oy! Peter!" James yelled as Peter hurried excitedly to them. "What took you so long?"

"I was at that Muggle candy shop," he said with a slight blush. The rest of the Marauders rolled their eyes in unison.

"Is food all you care about?" Sirius asked, shaking his head. Peter shook his head vigorously.

"I care about you guys!" he squeaked. There was an odd silence, in which Sirius and James raised their eyebrows and Remus snorted.

"Sorry, buddy, I like women," James said, rumpling Peter's hair. Sirius and Remus both nodded. Peter yelped.

"That's not what I meant!" he said in a very high-pitched voice. Sirius was laughing, and Remus was smiling too.

"We know Peter," Remus said comfortingly. "James was only joking."

"Can't make any jokes around you, can we Wormtail?" Sirius said, shaking his head in exasperation. Peter said nothing, but was now watching in awe as James picked the dirt from beneath his fingernails. "Pathetic," Sirius finally ended up muttering.

"Hey, aren't those the boys that framed Henna?" Remus said sharply.

"Blood hell! Will you just forget about her already!" Sirius said in annoyance.

"No, I think those are the boys," James said, eyeing them.

"How would you know? You weren't there!" Sirius said indignantly. James rolled his eyes.

"If you shut up, you can hear what they are saying," James explained in a slight whisper, as they were getting nearer.

"Yeah, that fat man's face was priceless!" the larger kid was saying. "I thought he was gonna break her arm!" The smaller kid was laughing, doubled over.

"Gullible as anything!" he wheezed. Sirius face hardened, as he realized Remus was right. He hated being wrong.

"Okay, so maybe they are the two thieves," Sirius said indifferently. "What are you going to do? Go beat them up?"

"Yes," Remus said recklessly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Peter said softly.

"We'll tell you later, Peter. Remus, I don't think I've ever seen you like this before! You don't even know that girl!" James said, smiling. Remus ignored him, and glared instead at the boys.

"Remus, there is no way you can take on those guys. That one is as big as Avery!" Sirius whispered, pointing to the largest of the two. Remus shook his head.

"I'm not asking you guys to come with me. Listen, I know you guys don't believe me, but there is something about that girl..." Remus muttered in awe.

Sirius let out a huge cough that sounded a lot like "Obsessive!"

"No, I'm serious," Remus said. "I'm going to talk to them..."

"Whoa, hold on there, partner," Sirius said, grabbing the back of Remus' robes. "See, you've got everything all wrong. You're supposed to keep me out of trouble, not the other way around!"

"Yeah, you're supposed to be the sensible one!" James said. "But I guess when it comes to a girl..." James said, putting emphasis on the last word. It didn't matter what he said next, however, as Remus was already confronting the unsightly pair.

"Come on, we've got to keep him from getting himself killed," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"Who would've thought we'd be babysitting Moony," James said, following Sirius. "You coming, Peter?" he yelled over his shoulder.

"Ummm... That's alright...I'll watch?" he said uncertainly, while edging closer so that he could hear. Remus was already in full flight when Peter arrived in the middle of the heated conversation.

"So keep to your own business, and don't meddle in other people's lives. She never did anything to you," Remus was saying.

"Oh yeah? How do you even know her?" the smaller boy said.

"We're her hired thugs," Sirius said jokingly. The pair seemed to take him seriously, and shot furious looks between the two of them.

"So she sent you?" the fat one said, cracking his knuckles as if all he wanted to do was punch them and get it over with.

"Yeah," Sirius said sarcastically. He thought it was quite a funny joke, to think that Henna might actually hire people to come and get them.

"Right, so leave now, or else we'll be forced to fight you," said a new voice, and everybody turned surprised eyes on Peter. His fists were balled up, and his fat face was shining with sweat. It was for this reason that the other three decided not to start a fight.

"Go," Remus said, looking pityingly on Peter. He felt ashamed of himself. He was being selfish, dragging his friends into a fight that wasn't even theirs. To his surprise, the two boys moved away without another word to them, but whispered furiously to each other. It sounded like they were plotting some revenge, but Remus didn't care. In fact, he hoped they would try and fight him, that would give him a valid excuse. "Come on, Peter. We're not going to fight. Everything's okay," Remus said then, and watched as his friend's face relaxed into it's usual droop.

"I love you so much, Derek," Henna whispered, her mouth close to his ear as he held her close.

"I know, sweetie," he muttered sleepily, his arm draped lazily around her. "Will you kiss me now?"

"Of course," she muttered, and let her lips collide with his. She put her whole heart into the one kiss, but slowly she felt as if her heart was being crushed. He began to kiss harder...and harder...until it became extremely painful. His teeth were digging into her lips. "Derek..." she tried to mutter, but he didn't slow down. "Stop...STOP!" she yelled, and she shoved him away.

He fell back a few feet, staring in shock. Her blood trickled down his lips, and he licked it up, tasting it slowly, as if he enjoyed it. She spat her own blood out of her mouth, her lips throbbing in pain.

"That hurt," she said softly, wiping her chin gingerly.

"That's how it's supposed to feel," he explained. She looked up at him innocently. She hadn't known then...she hadn't known...

"I'm sorry," she whispered, feeling as though she had failed him.

"You're just too weak, Henna. You can't handle it," Derek said, pulling her against him. "You need somebody to look after you."

"I do?"

"Yes. Now kiss me," he said harshly. She shrugged slowly.

"I don't...I don't feel like it right now. It still stings," she whispered, wincing.

"You don't love me, then?" Derek said, his face dropping.

"No I do!" she amended quickly.

"If you really loved me," he said, "you would kiss me again."

"Derek..." she muttered, her heart as sore as her lips.

"You need somebody to take care of you. You're too weak to take care of yourself," he said, interrupting her. "Without me, you'd be nothing!" he was yelling now. Henna began to grow frightened. She always hated it when Derek got angry...

"I know that," she said, nodding quickly.

"Good," he muttered. "You should be grateful that I'm still with you," he whispered. "I'm the only one that cares for you. Even your parents can't love you like I do."

"I know...they hate me," Henna whispered. " I am grateful!" and she wanted to prove it, so she pressed her lips to his again, allowing the pain to seep across her heart once again. She was lucky to have him...nobody else would have her...she should be grateful...without him, she would be nothing...

A/N: Hmmm...I wonder if those two boys really think that Henna hired thugs to go get them?