A/N: so this is chapter eight. I hope y'all like it. I don't know why I wrote the word y'all…I'm not from the south at all. Gahhhhh!! Random southerness!! There's nothing wrong with being from the south, it's just that I'm from Massachusetts. Sigh. So much confusion. Anyway, here's the chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 8: Blood on the Midnight Ground

Sophilia waited in the Ravenclaw Common Room until it was empty around eleven. She left, feeling somewhat foreboding about meeting Sirius. Why am I doing this? She thought. Then she remembered, to see if Sirius really is as wonderful as Alantra makes him out to be. She liked Sirius, but she didn't understand him. Or Alantra's obsession with him, for that matter. She speculated that if they were caught, people would think they were going out. After all, boy, girl, meeting at night for a stroll around the grounds. It had a romantic element to it. Sophilia hit herself inwardly for not being utterly appalled by this thought. Sirius was Alantra's. It didn't matter how he felt about it, he belonged to her. Sophilia knew Alantra would never forgive her if she stole Sirius.

She entered the Entrance Hall where she was supposed to meet Sirius, to find it empty. She wondered for a moment if he'd stood her up. She bit her lip, how disappointed would she be if he had? Though she hated to admit it, she would be extremely disappointed. She heard footsteps, and shrank into a corner.

Sirius ambled in looking around as though the most interesting thing in the world couldn't faze him. Sophilia stepped out and waved.

"Hey, Soph. How are you this fine evening?" he said nonchalantly, opening the front doors for her. She simply smiled.

Sirius led her in the direction of the forest. Sophilia followed hesitantly, gripping her wand. What did Sirius have in store for her?

"Did you have any trouble getting to the Entrance Hall?" he asked as they entered the trees.

"No, you?"

"I had to wait for L.J to stop snogging and go to bed, before I could even leave the Common Room. And Snape was lurking on the second floor."

"Snape? What was he doing?" asked Sophilia somewhat alarmed. If Snape caught them, they would definitely get in loads of trouble. Especially after the garden gnome incident.

"No idea. Probably something sinister, and greasy." He added as an after thought.

Sophilia laughed and promptly tripped over a rout. She stood up, blushing, glad it was dark. Blood dripped down her arm where she'd cut it on a rock. She did a quick spell and healed it instantly.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, my mom's a healer at St. Mungo's. She taught me."

"Damn useful."

Sophilia found herself blushing again. The trees rustled in front of them. Sirius put out a hand, signaling Sophilia to stop. It was only then that she noticed how deep into the forest they'd come. She gripped her wand nervously. Suddenly, a strange scaly creature emerged from the trees. Sophilia let her breath out.

"Only a thestral." She whispered. Sirius looked at her curiously.

"You can see them too?"

She met his gaze, "Yeah, my dad died when I was eight. Death Eaters…" her voice trailed off, remembering. She'd seen it from a distance. She'd gone with her dad to fly around a deserted field. The Quaffle they'd brought had flown off, Sophilia went to retrieve it. She came back to see a flash of green light, and three Death Eaters disapparated, leaving her father's dead body on the ground. He'd been one of the best Aurors in the Ministry.

Sophilia pulled herself out of the memory, and quickly swallowed the lump in her throat. She reached out to stroke the thestral, which was eagerly sniffing her just healed arm.

"I'm sorry." Whispered Sirius. Everyone said that, but somehow Sirius sounded different, like he really meant it.

She nodded, "So, who'd you see?"

"I don't know who it was," he said mildly "An old muggle lady was walking in front of me, she fell over, and just died. The muggle people said her heart stopped…" he shivered. He recovered quickly though, as Sophilia had. She knew he was trying to dismiss the memory as quickly as possible. Talking about death in the middle of a forest at night wasn't the most pleasant of things.

"Ever flown at night?" he asked suddenly.

"Um…no." stuttered Sophilia caught off guard, "I've always wanted to though."

"Me too." He said and climbed onto the back of the thestral, "Do you want to?"

Sophilia looked at the thestral doubtfully.

"Is it safe?" she asked, glancing warily at the winged horse.

"Of course," he replied "Besides, if you fall, I'll catch you."

For some reason this heartened Sophilia and she clamored behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly. The thestral took off gracefully. Soon, they were rocketing into the sky. Hogwarts stood proud and haunting over the lake. The only light came from the stars. Sirius steered the thestral down. It plunged toward the lake. Sophilia buried her head in Sirius' back, waiting for the icy wetness, but it never came. The horse's hooves skimmed the surface as it pulled out of its spectacular dive. How long they flew Sophilia didn't know. After a while she shivered with cold, and her hands were numb.

"I'm getting cold." She yelled into Sirius's ear. He nodded and directed the thestral toward the Astronomy Tower. They touched down lightly, and Sophilia detached herself from Sirius with difficulty. The thestral flew back to the Forbidden Forest. Sophilia laughed with pent up excitement that had somehow not escaped her in the air. Sirius grinned.

"Told you you'd see something interesting."

"That was amazing!" she breathed happily. They headed down in content silence.

"You going to camp out in the Gryffindor Common Room like you did last time?" he asked.

She nodded. She was too tired and cold and happy to walk all the way back to her common room.

The Fat Lady hardly woke up while Sirius told her the password, "Keddiewinkles."

"That's right dearie." She said blearily.

Sophilia stretched out on one of the sofas. Sirius sat by her feet, and leaned back contentedly.

"So, how'd you like that, Soph?" he glanced at her. She sat up and crossed her legs.

"It was…" she fumbled for the right words "Perfect. Probably the weirdest and most amazing thing I've ever done."

"Yeah, the first time is always like that."

"What do you mean, first time? You've done it before?"

He nodded, "James and I sneak out all the time to ride them."

Sophilia slid around so she could lean against him, "What else have you and your partners in crime done? What other amazing things?"

She never heard what he said though; she was already asleep.

"I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!"

Sophilia awoke with a start. Alantra was standing over her, livid with rage. She was about to ask what Alantra was doing in her dormitory, when a deep sleepy voice said, "What the hell, what time is it? Oh, morning Sophilia."

Sophilia leapt to the far side of the couch, looking sheepishly up at Alantra.

"I can explain," she said quickly "It's not what you think it is. Nothing happened!"

Alantra was shaking but she managed not to shout, "Nothing, except you were sleeping on a guy who had his arm around you." Her voice choked up, "Why? Why did you do this? You knew…" tears leaked out her eyes, and she ran out of the common room.

Sophilia leaned forward until her head touched her knees moaning, "That did not just happen. She'll never forgive me. Nothing happened, but she won't believe me." She felt a hand on her arm. She looked up miserably. Sirius looked at her with concern.

"She'll be alright in a bit."

Sophilia shook her head and stood, "No, you don't know her like I do. Just stay away from me for a while, Sirius. Let her see it didn't mean anything." She swallowed and left.

Sirius sat dumbfounded. Why did Alantra have to show up? She'd just ruined all his chances at getting Sophilia to like him. Now, he wasn't even allowed to talk to her. He got up and paced furiously. He'd just have to tell Alantra he didn't like her and never would. He would tell her that she had no right to accuse Sophilia. After all, it had been his fault. He could have moved her when she'd fallen asleep against his chest, instead he'd slipped an arm around her and fallen asleep himself. He doubted he'd actually be able to say anything to Alantra, though. The urge to strangle her was far greater.

Remus came down and asked who had shouted. Sirius sighed exhaustedly and told him everything.

Remus frowned thoughtfully, "I think Alantra needs a reality check." He said slowly.

"I know that. But she doesn't. And she's not going to listen to Sophilia or me. I doubt she'll listen to anybody. She's such a—" he let out a long string of profanities which made him feel remarkably better.

"Who're you swearing about?" Lily asked as she came down the girls' staircase accompanied by Adielle. James stumbled down from his dormitory, blinking.

Sirius waved a hand at Remus, who explained quickly. James looked slightly amused as he kissed Lily good morning.

"So, she's pissed off at Sophilia for something you did, which was only an innocent gesture considering you were half asleep at the time." He recounted.

"Exactly!"

"But who's going to explain it to Alantra?" asked Remus.

Nobody answered for a moment. Adielle said timidly, "I think Sophilia should do it. I mean, it's between her and Alantra. Sirius is just the cause. If Sirius explained, she wouldn't believe him for one, and she worships the ground he walks on so she'll just twist his words around to make it seem like Sophilia seduced him or something. And the rest of us weren't there so we really don't know." She glanced around. Lily nodded.

"Yeah, Sophilia should tell her you're just friends," she looked at Sirius "She should tell her it didn't mean anything. If it really didn't mean anything, that is."

Sirius stared hard at the carpet. "Didn't mean anything to her." He mumbled unhappily. It looked like he would never go out with Sophilia now. Maybe he could go out with Alantra, make her hate him, then she wouldn't mind if he asked Sophilia out.

Sophilia walked around the lake forlornly. She thought Alantra was being unreasonable for not listening to her. Nothing had happened, if Alantra was going to interpret everything the wrong way that was her problem. Sophilia looked out over the lake. Just ten hours ago she had flown over that lake, feeling so ecstatic. This might not have had anything to do with flying. She shook herself, to clear her head. Now was not the time to decide she was falling for Sirius Black. Hadn't she said only last night that he belonged to Alantra regardless of how anyone, including him, felt about it? She saw Peter coming out of the forest looking happier than she'd seen him in a long time. He was rubbing his arm as though it hurt, but smiling ecstatically. She waved. He walked toward her.

"What are you doing out here? Everyone else is at breakfast." He called to her.

"I could say the same thing about you." She replied. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk to Peter about her love/friendship issues. "What were you doing in the Forest?"

He looked at her curiously, "I was just walking around the edge. I wasn't actually in it. No, there are all kinds of stuff in there. Werewolves, banshees—"

"Thestrals," murmured Sophilia. Had it really only been last night that she'd ridden one?

"What are those?" asked Peter. Sophilia hardly felt like explaining. She didn't feel like letting everyone know she'd seen death, and therefor the thestrals.

"I read about them once," she lied "They pull the carriages that bring us to school."

"Oh," she could tell he hadn't really been paying attention to this conversation. His mind was elsewhere.

"Well, I'm hungry. I'm going to breakfast. Are the others up, do you know?" he asked.

"Sirius and Alantra are." She said with a sour smile. He didn't notice. Peter left her standing by the waters edge.

What was he up to? He was hiding something she knew it. Peter wasn't a very accomplished liar. He had definitely come out of the forest, but why? Since when was Peter Petigrew ever brave enough to go into the forest alone? Sophilia's stomach grumbled. She followed Peter's footsteps up to the castle. Would Alantra be in the Great Hall? Would she ever forgive her? She'll forgive Sirius in a heartbeat, thought Sophilia bitterly as she walked through the huge oak doors into the Entrance Hall.

Alantra wasn't in the Great Hall, so Sophilia sat at the Gryffindor table. Sirius was sitting far away, not looking at her. Lily leaned over and said, "Sirius told us what happened. Alantra was overreacting."

"Glad to see somebody believes me." Replied Sophilia helping herself to beacon.

Peter looked around oblivious. "What happened?" The others ignored him.

"But we all believe you." Adielle said. She looked somewhat unhappily over to where Remus was keeping Sirius company on the opposite end of the table.

"So you're going to help me convince Alantra that I'm not a lying-guy stealing-whore?"

"Sorry, you're on your own, there." Said James through a mouthful of toast.

"Thanks a lot."

"Well," said Adielle deviously "If you corner her we'll block all possible escape routes."

"Grand, what do we have first?" she asked Lily.

"History of Magic."

"Oh, boy." Said Sophilia blandly.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chappy. So much drama. Anyhoo, REVIEW PEOPLE!! Why am I writing a fic that nobody (except the super wonderful FrOggy) is reviewing? So please, the continuation of this fic is at stake!! Not really. I have no life so I'll probably be writing this fic until I get carpal tunnel (spelling subject to change). I'm really spazzy today and I have no idea why. I think there's something wrong with me. slgjdarogih