Chapter 3

"Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have." ~ Jim Rohn

-Bridget's P.O.V.-

We all took the news of Maggie's injury pretty hard, even though she was only in the hospital wing for one night.

Bree decided to blame herself for the incident and hasn't stopped sulking. Helena however decided to take a completely different approach; she's been blaming all of us.

She's mad at me for being a Slytherin, she's mad at Bree for fighting the Slytherins instead of finding a prefect, and she's mad at Maggie for not using the proper spell against the snake and letting her fear get the best of her.

It's about the time for another midnight meeting, but we've all been avoiding each other whenever we can. Even when we sit in class, we just do our work without talking.

I know I should feel sorry for Maggie since she is the one who got hurt, but right now my pity goes towards my sister.

Since the attack she's been getting hell from Helena and Lily for not waiting for a prefect to sort the matter. Professor McGonagall took away 20 points from both Slytherin and Gryffindor for duelling, and once James found out about this both he and Sirius accused Bree of trying to ruin their chances at winning the house cup.

They're both hypocrites though, if anyone ruins Gryffindors chances at the house cup it's those two gits. They're always losing points for all the stupid pranks they pull, and if there's ever a duel with Slytherins you can bet that they're part of it.

"Bridget!"

I looked up to see Regulus Black infront of me. I watched as Sirius` little brother pulled out the chair infront of me.

"Keep your voice down, we`re in a library not the Quidditch pitch."

"Sorry love." He replied with a smirk.

"I told you not to call me that." It always annoys me when someone calls me anything but my own name. Bree tried giving me a nickname once but I prefer my name. I don`t need a nickname.

"I haven`t seen you in a while; how was your summer?"

"It was alright."

I knew I was being a little cold, but I had to. This kid just wouldn't take a hint. That`s why I didn`t allow myself to look up at him. It`s not that he was a bad looking guy, he was actually quite handsome. He was also well behaved for someone who hung out with the older students. I suppose he had to be for them to take him seriously, but it was still surprising considering who his brother is.

"Could you look at me?" he asked sincerely.

I sighed but looked up anyways. It`s not like I hated him, but I already knew what he was going to say. It`s why I've been avoiding him since we got back at school.

"Do you think you can help me with my Transfiguration homework?"

"What?" Okay, so maybe I was wrong. Here I thought that he would ask me on a date, he tried last year before the holidays. I guess he`s not as persistent as James Potter.

"I hate asking, but my parents made it clear that they want to see better marks this year."

"Isn't there anyone else you can ask? Most of my time this year will go towards studying for my OWLS."

"The guys would never stop teasing me if I asked." He looked desperate, although I wouldn`t doubt that he`s a good actor.

"I guess I can help you for a while-"

His grey eyes shined as he relaxed in his chair.

"Once we come back from Christmas break though you`re on your own."

"Of course, thanks Bridget."

-Bree`s P.O.V-

Maggie and I were reading the list of ingredients that Professor Slughorn wrote on the board. Both Maggie and I weren't very good at potion making, but I wanted to get us a good mark this time. We still haven`t talked about what happened just the other day, but Maggie said she just wanted to forget it.

"It says that we need belladonna, caterpillars, horned slugs, and leeches."

"Eww." We both said in unison.

"Well, I guess we should get started, I can get the ingredients if you-"

"I`ll get it!" I said a little too enthusiastically since the table in front of us turned around to glare at me. Usually Maggie and I would fight over who gets the cauldron ready since we hate getting the ingredients. Most of the stuff in the Ingredients Cabinet is either weird or just plain gross.

"Bree, I've been meaning to talk to you."

I turned around to see James standing behind me before I returned my concentration on finding the ingredients that we needed. The Cabinet was usually crowded since everyone wanted to finish their potions first.

"Not now James, I need to find good leeches."

"Uhh, alright." He said and I heard him chuckle softly but I didn`t care.

"Here`s the belladonna." He said

"Look James, I'm in a bit of a hurry. Can we do this chit chat thing later?" I said as I grabbed the leeches and horned slugs.

"Sure, can we meet up before dinner? It`s important."

"Uh huh, yeah sure, whatever." I said while trying to grab the caterpillars without dropping the rest of the ingredients.

"Here." He said as he handed me the belladonna and helped me balance it all.

"Thanks"

I walked back to the table where Maggie had set up the cauldron and was reading the directions again. I placed the ingredients on the table a little too fast and almost broke the jar full of leeches.

"Nice reflex." Maggie said as I caught the damn things.

"Thanks, I can handle the leeches if you want to start with the belladonna." I said even though the thought of touching a leech made me shiver.

"Listen, Bree." Maggie said "I don't blame you for what happened."

"I know." I replied in a whisper since my throat was dry. Everyone has been blaming me for the attack on Maggie and I guess I just started to believe them.

"We couldn't wait for a prefect, no matter what Helena tries to say. That first year needed our help, so stop being so nice to me. I just want things to be the same as they used to be."

I sighed but agreed with her. She had a point. That and I really didn't want to handle the leeches.

"I want to call another meeting tonight, so tell your sister after class. I'll handle Helena."

"Sounds good" I replied and we got to work on our potion.

Turns out that we weren't that bad at potion making after all. Professor Slughorn even praised us for our good work. Once the bell rang we cleared the remaining of the potion and headed up the stairs for dinner. Sirius and James had to stay after class since they were throwing leeches in a Hufflepuff's hair.

This was my favourite part of the day, when we were finished with classes and could do whatever we wanted to. Unless we were bombarded with homework of course.

I went to sit at the Gryffindor table with Lily while Maggie went to sit with the other Hufflepuffs.

"Good job in class today" Lily said as I piled some food onto my plate.

"Thanks, although I'm sure it's nothing compared to the one you and Amelia made."

I was shocked when I heard Lily's sigh and saw her roll her green eyes.

"That was supposed to be a compliment."

"No, it's not that" she said "It's just, Potter's starring at us."

I looked over to my left, and sure enough Lily was right. James was looking our way while Peter and Remus ate. Sirius must have been chasing some girl again. He never stayed in a relationship for too long.

I gasped once I remembered that James wanted to talk to me.

"What is it?" Lily asked

"Nothing, I just remembered something. I'll see you later, alright?"

"Sure." She said while watching me walk up to James. I tried not to look at Remus as he looked up from his plate when I sat next to James.

"So, what's so important that you had to harass me in Potions."

"I wasn't harassing you." He replied and I grabbed myself another plate. I blushed a bit once I saw Remus looking at us suspiciously.

"James, please tell me you're not thinking about asking her what I think you are."

Okay, that was weird.

"What's he talking about?" I asked James.

"I need your help." He replied.