Added: dec 26, 2006. just thought i'd let u know, MAJOR PLOT DEVELOPMENT HERE! more author's blurb at the end of the chapie! Also, a lot more of the plot developped for Remus and Vera!

Ch.7, Promises, Chasing, Letters, and Elements

But I want to be in Gryffindor like my sister and best friend!

Ah, theres what I have been looking for. Loyalty. Such strong loyalty is one of the main characteristics of a true GRYFFINDOR!

As the hat shouted it out, the hearts of Lily, Jane, and Remus soared. Vera no longer had green on her features, but was still pale from all the attention the shy girl was getting. She had been up there longer than Jane!

As Vera sat down on the other side of Lily, she smiled shyly. Food filled their plates, and the two transfers looked at it in awe, then started eating their preferences. Vera was still slightly pale because several eyes were on either her or Jane.

On the other end of the table, Remus was confronting his friends.

"You guys didn't seem at all surprised by all this." he said accusingly.

Both boys looked sheepish. You see, since they didn't tell anyone, Sirius doesn't know that James knows, because he didn't know that James saw them on the train and knew from then on. And James didn't know that Sirius knows, because he didn't tell and Lily had said 'other two Marauders'. So that left Remus as the only one surprised.

But then, James saved the day. "Moony, you had a crush on her, didn't you? Why not go ask her out?"

Remus considered it for no more than a millisecond. He got up, and walked over to where the twins were sitting with Lily. It was easy to tell which was which. Jane was flirting with the boy across from her, while Vera was simply eating and staring at her plate.

"Um, excuse me, Vera?" he asked tentatively.

She looked up from her plate, and since Remus was too distracted by her, he didn't see Jane look up with her eyes narrowed.

"Uh, I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me on the next Hogsmead trip?" he asked, feeling the loathing glare from Jane. (Lily had explained Hogsmead)

Jane could barely keep the surprise on her face from being evident as Vera got a thinking expression. But before she could answer, Jane spoke up.

"What she means to say," Jane interrupted, just as Vera had started saying 'I'll consider it', and said "is that she is going with Lily and I so we can be showed around the village."

"But, I would be happy to show her-" Remus said, surprised at Jane's intervention.

Again, Jane had intervened. "The answer is no."

Remus was going to ask if this was what Vera wanted, but he never got the chance. Jane whispered something to Lily, and they both grabbed Vera by the arms and carried her off, and Remus could barely hear her protests.

Remus walked back to his waiting friends in a sort of daze. He said simply, "She's not allowed to come." which startled the boys. James, tried to be soothing, while Sirius found it funny.

"What do you mean she's not allowed to go?" James asked.

"Apparently she's going with Jane and Lily to get to know the village." he answered, still in a daze, while Sirius started singing.

"R-E-J-"

"Did she say that?" James asked, ignoring Sirius.

"E-C-T-"

"No. Jane answered for her." Remus answered in the same dreamy tone.

"I-O-N-"

"Well, maybe Vera wanted to go, but you know that Jane hates you." James said comfortingly.

"R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N! Moony got rejected!"

"SHUT UP!" both James and Remus shouted. Sirius' singing voice was terrible. He sulked and pouted, but stopped singing.

"I wouldn't give up on her. What you have to do is find her alone, and ask. Not when she's with Jane." James said.

Remus smiled. "Thanks Prongs, I will. D'you mind if I keep the map for a few days? It's the best way to learn her schedule.

But this proved more and more difficult over the next few days. The only class that Vera had alone, separate from both Lily and Jane, was advanced NEWT level Herbology. And that was at the same time that Remus had Arithmancy, so it would be difficult to get to her. Arithmancy was on the 4th floor, and Herbology was out in the grounds. But they had several classes together, like DADA and COMC. Whenever Remus saw her exit the classroom, he would go out to the hall to find that she was no where in sight. She was an excellent hider.

One day, he saw that she was heading out to the grounds for COMC, and noticed that he should get going too, but his heart stopped as he saw a large contingent of Slytherins walking briskly and purposely toward her. He shouted a warning, (He was now at the entrance to the grounds) hoping she would here it.

"Vera look out!" and he was just in time.

Vera did here Remus' warning, and she turned around just in time to dodge a curse sent at her. It hit her bag, spilling all her stuff. Remus, with James (Sirius was off flirting with a girl he seemed to like) ran down to help her. Right now it was seven against one!

Right before they got there, Remus saw Vera take something from her open bag and throw it to the ground, hard. She had squeezed her eyes shut.

James and Remus had excellent reflexes. They guessed that they should close their eyes too, so they did. And their lucky.

The thing that Vera had thrown was a flash bomb. It emitted a blinding light, and the boys were glad that they had covered their eyes. When the opened them, the Slytherins were blinded, sending random curses this way and that.

As a Slytherin held his eyes with one hand, he shouted "Sectumseptra!"

Remus felt a searing pain across his face. As even more of the curses hit him, he thought that with all this blood loss he would be dead. The last thing he saw before going un-conscious was his own blood, and McGonnagle running down the steps.

After what felt like no time at all, Remus awoke, expecting to see even more scars to cover up when he looked in the mirror, but seeing none at all.

He was in the familiar room of the Hospital Wing (HW) and saw that the other Marauders were there, standing around his bed.

"What happened?" he asked, very groggily.

"Moony!" Sirius shouted, jumping up and down like a little girl.

"You're alive!" and James wasn't that far from Sirius.

"'Course I am, now what happened?" he asked, a slight smile on his face. Before they could answer, Madame Pomfrey's assistant, Nurse Kamy, walked in.

"Oh good, your awake. I take it you boys will explain it to him, you know, you should thank that nice girl Remus." she said. She was always a lively chatter.

"What happened?" he asked for the third time.

"Well, after you were hit with those curses, you fell unconscious. McGonnagle came, and got rid of the Slytherins, and told us to get you to the Hospital Wing asap. But Vera stopped us." James explained.

"I had arrived by that time, and actually Moony, Vera saved your life." Sirius said, now sober.

"You would have died from blood loss if we had tried to get you up here. She had some healing potion with her, she said she had made it herself. She gave you some, and you healed instantly. No scars, nothing." James said with a hint of bewilderment.

"What? Where is she now?" Remus asked.

Sirius pointed to Madame Pomfrey's office. "She's in there, giving the recipe for the potion. Want me to go get her?" he asked. Remus nodded. A few moments later, Sirius came out with Vera.

"Remus! Your okay!" she said, forgetting to be shy.

He nodded, not even realizing that James and Sirius had moved away. "Thanks a lot Vera, you saved my life." he said, looking into her blue eyes and smiling.

"Actually, I'm a little surprised it worked. I've never had to use it for something that serious." she said, but smiled nonetheless.

"Listen, Vera, I know I ask this a lot, but would you go to Hogsmead with me?" he asked, just realizing that there was no Jane here to mess things up.

If possible, she smiled even more, and for one heart-stopping minute, Remus thought she would say yes. But then, Jane just had to rush in the door and break Vera's smile. Jane put on a large, fake, look-at-me-I'm-innocent smile and said that she had been told Vera was here. She grabbed her sister by the elbow, surprised a little when she resisted, and dragged her to the other end of the room, where Jane had assumed that Remus wouldn't here them. But he did.

"How could you? I told you not to go out with him, didn't I?" she asked, furious. Vera almost crumbled under her sister's glare.

"But-" she started.

"No buts! You made a Twin's Promise on the first night we were here, that you wouldn't get involved with him! And don't even think about breaking it, I'll know! Now come on, we're almost late for Charms!" Jane finished, and dragged her mildly protesting sister out by the elbow.

Remus couldn't believe his ears. No wonder she wouldn't go out with him! He didn't know what a Twin's Promise was, but when James and Sirius came back, they saw the determined glint in his eyes.

"What's up Moony?" Sirius asked.

"How soon d'you think I can get out of here Prongs?" he asked.

James shrugged. "If we ask Nurse Kamy to let you out, she will. I'll go find her."

A few minutes later, James came back saying that as long as Remus promised to come back if he felt woozy or anything, he could go now.

Remus quickly got changed and headed out to the library.

Jane was furious. Her sister had promised not to go out or fraternize with him, and she feels that Vera's about to break her promise. But she couldn't be angry now, she had to play counselor to Lily.

"He has never, and I mean never, set foot in the library! And where do I find him, the library! And yesterday, while I was doing my rounds, I found him telling a couple off for being out of bed this late, and in a broom cupboard! I can't believe him!" she ranted over and over again.

"Lily," Jane said calmly, "maybe it would help it I knew WHO THE HECK YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT!" Jane shouted. It was very annoying.

"Who else! James Potter!" Lily shouted back. Vera had gone to the library after Lily started ranting.

"So? Maybe he's changing for a certain red-haired Head Girl!" Jane shouted back. She was very testy, ever since she had made Vera take a Twin's Promise. Her conscience was constantly bugging her to let Vera out of it.

"No! I will not let him near me! I'll just get hurt!" Lily said, but in a much less louder voice.

"Tell me Lily, are you a seer?" Jane asked exasperatedly.

"No." Lily said, slightly bewildered.

"Then how do you know that this will happen?"

"..."

"Exactly. Now I'm going for a walk, think it over, please?" Jane said. She actually had a date at the top of the Astronomy Tower.

So now Lily was left with, only to complain when Vera got back from the library.

There was a wonderful view of the library from where Vera was hiding and watching Remus look up a Twin's Promise. She was really hoping he would find it so he could understand, but shook her head when she saw that he was in the completely wrong section of the bookcase. She decided to help him.

Remus was browsing through the shelves on magical promises, vows, guarantees, that sort of thing, when he heard a loud thunk.

A noise that big will get the attention of the librarian right away. So Remus ran to take a look at the cover. 'Rare and Un-Lethal Magical Promises'

Seeing the cover, he quickly took it to a table, called the other Marauders who, after hearing the overheard conversation, were helping him search. They came over.

As Remus flicked through the pages, he saw what he was looking for.

Twin's Promise

Such a promise is very rare, and only able in a set of twins that have had such hardships that they are very close. When one twin, normally the older one, persuades the other, normally the younger, to make a special magical promise, this phenomenon occurs. No matter what it is, the subject of the promise is usually what the instigator (normally the older one) feels strongly protective about it the other. Even if the promiser (normally the younger) wants to do what the instigator wants him/her doesn't want them to do, they won't be able to without feeling such an immense sense of guilt. The instigator can, from then on, feel if the promiser is about to break the promise, or if the promiser already has. Many people say that this is an excellent test of the bond between twins. However, if the promise is broken by the promiser, the instigator will find it very difficult to trust the promiser with anything. This usually imbeds heartbreak in the promiser, as twins normally trust each other with anything and everything.

Now it all made sense. Vera would have wanted to go out with him, but the thought of Jane not trusting her sister anymore would make her hesitant. Therefor, un-intentionally giving Jane time to intervene.

Well, at least he wasn't as upset anymore. He had to think of a way to get Vera to break her promise. There was absolutely no way that Jane would let her out, what with how much she despised him. The only way he could get Vera was to make her break the promise.

Over the next few days, Jane made sure she was always with Vera. But it was the weekend now, and so the Marauders were off to visit Hagrid.

When they knocked on his door, they heard him coming to get it.

"There ya'are! C'mon in!" he said, and the moment Sirius stepped into the small cabin, a small, black, bundle of fur jumped in his face. Sirius was so startled that he fell down.

Hagrid laughed as he saw a seventh year ladies-man get licked to death by the young puppy Fang, who Hagrid had only got that summer. James and Remus snickered, because they were reminded of his animagus form.

"Down Fang, down!" he said, and the young boarhound leapt off Sirius, and went beside Hagrid, his tail wagging furiously.

"Yuck." Sirius muttered as he wiped the dog saliva off his face. Now the other two were laughing.

Hagrid chuckled. "I see ye met Fang. I jus' got 'im las' summer. I migh' be wrong, but I think he's takin' a likin' to ya Sirius." Fang barked. Then, as the group sat down, Fang decided to curl up in Sirius' lap. Dripping slobber all over him, of course.

"So how've ya bin?" he asked, handing them bucket-sized mugs and placing a platter of rock cakes on the table.

James and Sirius snickered. "Remus has a crush." Sirius teased.

Again, Hagrid chuckled. This lot was strange. "Oh really? An' who would it be?" Remus was now blushing.

"Her name is Vera Parker. They met over the summer, and poor Moony's been infatuated ever since." James teased. Remus now had his head in his hands.

"Are ya talkin' 'bout that lil' girl I gotta keep chasing away from the forest? I've los' count o' how many times she's tried de sneak in."

"That's her." Remus mumbled, his head still in his hands.

"Well 'ave ya asked her out yet?" Hagrid asked again.

"Oh yes, Moony got rejected!" Sirius sang.

"Don't start that again!" James shouted, effectively shutting Sirius up.

"Yeah, but I found out that she only rejected me because she made a twin's promise to her sister." Remus said, now taking his head back to drink some tea.

"So? Don' tell me ya tried the school library for the topic?" Hagrid asked.

"Well, yeah." Remus said.

"Oh please. I knew the twins who wrote the only book on it in there, they broke a promise and never trusted each other again. They never bothered to edit the book after they fought." Hagrid said.

"You mean that the books out dated?" Remus asked, bewildered.

"Yup. One of 'em didn' want to keep their promise no more. The older one could tell this, and tried to pressure 'im into keepin' it. But soon, the older one became slightly obsessed with keepin' 'is brother in line. Followed 'im around, until, one day, the younger got tired of it. He broke the promise, an' I don' think they've spoken since." Hagrid explained.

"So basically, I've got to get Vera to break her promise before Jane becomes obsessed." Remus said, straightening up.

"Tha's right. The twins I'm talkin' about broke around seven months apart, and ya say they made the promise at the begining of the year? Then I'd say you got 'till the end o' this one." Hagrid said. and Remus left.

Vera was out in the grounds. Her conscience was always bugging her to break her promise, that she and Jane wouldn't talk for a few days, then all would be well. But she was interrupted from her thinking under a tree by the lake when an owl dumped a letter on her head.

Dear Miss. Parker,

I would like to speak to you about your first week back. Please come to my office at your first convenience You will need the password. I trust you know where my office is. If you don't, I'm sure a Mr. Lupin would be happy to help.

Professor Dumbledore

PS I like Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

Vera did know where his office was. Lily had pointed it out, saying something like this was possible to happen. She got up, not feeling the eyes on her back from the direction of Hagrid's cabin, and headed inside.

As she headed up to Dumbledore's office, she kept her head low, not wanting attention. She reached the stone gargoyle, and said, "Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans!" clearly.

"Correct." the gargoyle grumbled. It moved aside, and Vera climbed the long spiral staircase.

She knocked on the door, and entered when he said 'Enter'.

"You wanted to see me Professor?" she asked.

"Yes, I did. Please, sit down." Dumbledore said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Vera sat.

"Now the reason in the letter is not why I asked you here. I simply said that so that if the letter was found later on, it would not seem suspicious. Now what I'm about to tell you will seem strange at first, but please, do not interrupt me." he said.

Vera nodded, slightly stunned.

"Several years ago, a prophecy was spoken, speaking of three young girls. It spoke of Elements, and powers. Watch."

It was then that Vera noticed the swirling pensieve on the desk, between herself and the Headmaster. A figure rose out of it.

Of three to come, as evil reins,

they shall be strong, shining

like a beam through the darkness.

But when separate, their power wanes,

into three separate panes.

The First, wields the Ferocity of Fire,

in all its power, love and light,

She shall be the leader, the others follow her,

it shall be them she is to unite.

The Second, holding the Mystery of Water,

will nearly be the death of unity,

but in the end, the confusing tides

will right things perfectly.

The Third, with the Shyness of Earth,

can truly be a friend,

animals love her, plants adore her

and will save many from their early end.

At some point, The Second and The Third will feud,

placing everyone in danger,

As a test, The First must truly unite them

with no lasting bitterness,

then, only then, will Fire's child

finish his mother's work.

Three rings will identify them,

for only The First and The Second

can know who is who.

There is a feud over a love,

between The Second and The Third,

which must be resolved or

lest the gap be pulled further.

The two twin Elements,

That of Ice and Air

Will match with that of Water and Earth

and help First and Second in their

search for Third

First has a wondrous power,

that of emotions and feelings,

beware her temper

for it can be as dangerous as fire itself.

These three girls will unite two

sworn groups,

troublemakers, and Elements

through love and loss

will find true love, and

the leaders will together bring an end

to the evil that plagues land.

Vera sat stunned for a moment. Finally, she found her voice.

"But, what does that have to do with me?" she asked.

Dumbledore smiled. "Why, I thought that would be obvious. (replay the bit about The Third) In my opinion, this describes you perfectly. The mountain lioness simply walked past you, and did not hurt you. And have you not already saved your sister, Miss Evans, and Mr. Lupin from early deaths?"

Vera didn't ask how he knew this.

"If you are still doubtful, then there is one way to know for sure," Dumbledore said as he took out a small box, "I was able to secure the rings spoken of in the prophecy, and they are right here."

He opened the box and out came three gorgeous rings. They had a gold base, and different symbols were colored onto them. One had a bright red flame, another a deep blue wave, and a third- this drew Vera's attention- a third with an emerald green leaf. Dumbledore took out the third one.

"Try this on." he said, holding it out to her.

Vera took the ring cautiously and slipped it on. At once, a warmth spread through her body, like she just had a drink of hot cocoa. The ring flashed for a moment, then went back to normal.

"You see," Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eyes, "if anyone else had tried that on, then they would have been in a coma by now."

"But, what does this mean?" she asked, once she had torn her eyes away from the ring.

"Go into the forest. Hagrid will not see you, unless you want to be seen. Then, you will see the difference. Believe it or not, Vera, you are the Third spoken of. Now think-do you want to be seen going into the forest?" he asked.

"No. Of course not." she said, hardly believing what was happening.

Dumbledore smiled. "Then go into the forest. None of the animals there will hurt you, or the plants much less. Now I must send a letter to Miss Evans, I must speak to her and your sister about this. Oh, and they must not know that you are Third." and with that, Vera left.

Half an hour later, Lily was walking up the steps to the Headmaster's office, wondering why James hadn't been called if it was Head stuff. But when she got there, she was surprised to find Jane already there.

"Ah welcome ladies. By now you must have figured out that I did not call you here to see how you like Hogwarts, or for Head duties. I must explain something to you, and I beg you not to interrupt me."

(Insert prophecy)

"A-And your saying that this is...us?" Lily asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes, I am. But, seeing as Third didn't believe me, I'm taking it you won't. Try these on." he said as he took out the box again. He handed the Fire ring to Lily, and the Wave ring to Jane.

As Lily put on the flame ring, a ball of fire instantly appeared in her palm. She was startled, and dropped it. Which Jane quickly put out with her own dropped-by-surprise ball of water.

"You will, of course, have to practice controlling your powers. There is a certain room on the seventh floor, I believe that it would be suitable. Now, I must check up on the Third. If you'll excuse me." he gestured to the door. The girls took that as an invitation to leave.

"Hey wait," Jane said suddenly, just before Dumbledore got up, "who is Third?"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you. The prophecy clearly states that The Second, which is you, can't know who the Third is yet. You will find out, all in due time." he said, and with that, the girls left.

They spent hours in the Room of Requirement, because Jane had consequentially paced back and forth in the proper spot due to frustration. Soon, they got control over their powers, so that at least, an inferno of flame or a fountain of water would not come out of the girls' ring hands whenever it felt like it. At 8:30, the two headed back to their dorms, where they found Vera, with a few scratches and more plants than they had noticed before around her bed.

"Hey Vera. Sorry we didn't see you all day, we- er- were doing homework in the library." Lily said casually.

"No problem." Vera replied. She was tending to a strange potted plant, with her owl, Lightning, on her shoulder.

"Uh, what is that Vera?" Jane asked, because the plant was now emitting fumes.

"Oh, this? It's an entire Haydora plant, I've never seen one this big before." she said happily, placing the plant in the moonlight.

Jane shrugged, as did Lily, and thought nothing of it.

Ok, so tell me, who liked this chapter? Please, be honest. I've never done a story with this sort of line before. I need feedback, but this is the way the story's going. Any advice is welcome! Thank you!

Added Dec 26th 2006:

I think you can tell why I put MAJOR PLOT DEVELOPMENT here!This chapter is the answer to a lot of questions, and i really hope you enjoy it. i was sooo happy when i logged on today, seeing that i had five more reviews than i did last night! thank u so much! no Poster's Block for me, unless the 'treatment' doesn't continue, and i don't get more reviews! thx! (Note: in accordance to the advice part up there, um, i'm currently writting ch13, so any advice will have to be small things, not plot character, attitude, blah blah blah.)