Obviously, one good night didn't cure Crimson. Steven had to force her to get out of bed every morning for the next month. Nothing about their situation was ideal, but at least she was getting out of bed. Once Christmas break came and left, Crimson was back to her regular self. It was a shock for Steven when he came downstairs and saw her waiting for him, a small smile breaking her porcelain face.

Over the break, Crimson realised two things. One, Sirius Black still had her pencil and two, her hair needed to be fixed. The brassy knots really weren't cutting it for her anymore (not that she had enjoyed it in the first place) so she went out to a muggle store and bought black hair dye–Black couldn't be dealt with as easily. It was on a whim that Crimson chose black dye, a whim that worked out in her favour as she looked quite good with darker hair. She knew she also needed to cut it, but she wouldn't dare try something like that alone, so the next time she saw Steven on the train back to Hogwarts, she asked him for help.

"How short?" he had asked without a second thought.

That was a question Crimson had been asking herself all break. How much was she willing to take off? The more she cut the more she was risking fucking up and looking awful. She sat in front of Steven staring at him silently for enough time that he began to worry she fell asleep with her eyes open before she responded, slowly.

"My chin… with bangs."

So, the two snuck down to the prefects' bathroom (after forcing the password out of a particularly wimpy fifth year) that night and got to work. Crimson was worried Steven would fuck her hair up and she would end up looking horrid only to be pleasantly surprised when Steve proved himself to be quite the stylist. He used a comb and proper hair shears like a true professional, cutting off small portions at a time. The end product was a layered choppy pixie cut, the hair on the sides of her face longer than the rest, with long bangs. Crimson used a spell to curl the hair slightly and was happy with the result. Her old hair made her look tired, worn, and was unkempt; the new style framed her face elegantly and even showcased her cheekbones that were peeking through her baby fat.

Her classmates were shocked when they saw her again. Girls were shocked Kooky Crimson had an ounce of beauty and boys were intimidated by her but in an oddly good way. Even Sirius Black was stunned when he crashed into the Great Hall—he picked her out of the crowd immediately, a skill he had picked up quickly.

However, it seemed he was too scared to say another word to the girl, as they didn't speak again that year, other than a letter at Easter break, begging for the recipe to the potion Remus spoke to Crimson about.

"Well, are you gonna give it to him?" Steven sat across from Crimson in her suburban bedroom. Her uncles were shouting about the latest football match in the basement, but the arguing could be heard from two floors up. He liked it.

"I don't know," Crimson hummed. "Should I? They'd be able to find it if they kept looking…"

"How did you find it?"

"Ghosts told me."

Once he had learned of her powers, Steven had begged Crimson for a demonstration of them, but Crimson refused to even give him the breed of animal she turned into no matter how much he begged and sucked up to her. Eventually, she had to tell him to stop doing her homework, it was futile, she was never going to tell him, and he was bringing her grade down.

"You have ghosts here?!" The blonde boy swung his head around excitedly hoping to catch a glimpse.

Crimson cracked a smile at his innocent actions and shook her head. "No, not here. Where I lived before this."

"And… where did you live?" Steven was nervous to say anything. He knew that certain topics were off-limits, but he had to try. It was the only time he was ever gonna get the chance.

"Not today."

'Not today'. 'Not today' was better than her shouting at him. It was a promise for the future, and Steven could work with that. He could be very persuasive–he thought it had something to do with his devilish charm.

"Alright, so what are you gonna tell him?" Propping his head upon his hand Steven looked at Crimson through wide eyes. This was the most interesting thing that had happened to him at Hogwarts: Sirius Black was making a deal with his best friend.

Crimson shrugged her shoulders and collapsed onto the ground. "I think I'm gonna tell him. I mean, they have good intentions."

"You wanna tell me what they are?"

She shook her head. As much as she wanted to tell Steven this absolutely delicious piece of information, she knew that this wasn't her place. He would have to remain in the dark.

"I thought as much. As much as you try to hide it, you're a good person." Steven took Crimson's hands and tugged the girl off the ground. "Now, show me what muggles do."

"What does that even mean?"


When Sirius Black spoke to Crimson Reeds again, it was the start of their fourth year and she was punching Severus Snape in the nose while looking great doing it. The sound of fist on bones crunched in a painfully loud way. Everyone in the train, compartment or hallway, heard the devastating defeat as Severus recoiled back with such force; he took Avery and Mulciber down with him. As much as he hated the guy, the look on Crimson's face was enough to spring him into action and pull her off of him.

"YOU BITCH!" he screamed through the blood. A lot of blood. Something had definitely broken.

Crimson's face matched her name and she clutched her fist. "You stay away from us, or you'll have worse than a broken fucking nose."

Once Sirius had managed to get the girl far enough from Severus, Steven ran up to them. His face was flushed and his lip was cut, but the rest of him was perfect, as usual. Sirius looked between the two before realising what had happened. Not that it explained why Crimson actually hit someone.

"Don't say a damn thing, Black," spat Crimson. She pulled herself from his grasp and stomped away.

Steven looked apologetic when Sirius looked back at him. "She's just … on edge."

"Did Snivellus call you a–"

Steven nodded, his face got darker. "Yeah."

"And she–"

"Yeah."

"Wow." The two stood in silent appreciation.

"Yeah. See ya."