3rd Bell – Let the Games Begin.

-Seiki's POV-

"Zephyr what do you have there?" I greeted the Barred Owl, who's been in my care the last few years, as he landed next to me. I patted his head as I took the letter from him. "No name." I unfolded the parchment and started to read, knowing just whom it was written by.

Dear Aries,

We are all grateful for Sirius' escape this summer, and you are correct that the Potters have taken him in. I'm getting over the break up with Alexia now. Thanks for asking. The sugar flowers you made were beautiful. I'm not going to eat them. I can't bring myself to and besides, I wouldn't know where to start if I was.

In the last letter you mentioned that you were 'frazzled over Voldemort,' and that has me worried. From that I know of you, you're far from supporting him. So does that mean you're in trouble? Like Sirius was? If you are and there is some way I could help, please don't hesitate to ask me. I need to know that my first friend after my infection is safe.

There's something else that has been bother me. It concerns you. I don't know who you are and yet you seem to be always watching over me all these years. I would love to meet you, face to face. I would really like to know who you are. I can't even figure out what gender you are. I thought you were a girl at first, but then after awhile, you sometimes sound like a guy. (I'm sorry if that had offended you.) I know that you're a sixth or seventh year. I suspect that you might be in Ravenclaw from your wise words. But maybe you're in Gryffindor for wandering the Forbidden Forest on a full moon having known about werewolves. Or maybe not, since you haven't shown yourself.

I think I'm going crazy trying to figure out who you are I miss your letters over the summers. Does Voldemort hve something to do with this?

Well I hope you catch my sanity

- R.J.L.

I smiled at the letter, folding it away. I pulled out my writing equipment and started on my reply with Zephyr sleeping next to me. It was my spare block after Care of Magical Creatures; Sirius had Muggle Studies at the moment (took it to piss of his parents). So I was left by myself to my own peace of the out doors.

Aries, a nickname my pen pale gave to me after a series of odd events. I was headed to my room to get the letter to Zephyr to deliver in the morning back in 4th year. I tripped on an ink well someone left lying on the ground, thus splattering ink on my last envelope (I was going to get more during a Hogsmeade trip that was coming up). Remus seemed to have read into the dots of splatter way too much. He saw the constellation for Aries the Ram and has since referred to me as Aries. But here's the real kicker, I'm born an Aries.

** ! **

-Remus' POV-

Dear R.J.L.,

I wasn't expecting a letter so soon, nor was I going to reply so fast. But I'm sending this to quiet your mind for sleep.

First thing's first, I guess, Voldemort and summer. I'm a Hogwarts student, as you have worked out, and I'm safe here, ideally. You have no need to worry about Voldemort when it concerns me. I'm merely hiding from some people and by extension, Voldemort too. As for the letters halting when summer comes around, well to simply put it, it's unfair to make Zephyr, the Barred Owl that's been delivering the letters, to fly such a grand distance. And yes, I happen to know where you live, and no, I didn't stalk you home one holiday. Let's just say that my summers aren't on the island of Great Britain.

It also seems unfair that I know who you are and you don't even know my gender. You've got it correct that I'm shy to show myself. Heck, you wouldn't even know me if not for that stupid bird back in first year. But I'll make a deal with you: if you can find me and you're absolutely sure that it's me, then I'll tell you so, in person. Don't go mixing me up with your fan girls. I'll sound plenty more girly if I was a fan girl. And that brings us to my gender; I'm a girl, and I'm not offended that you might have thought me a bloke. The boyish qualities are probably from the influence of all the guys I live with. You're correct that I'm in 6th or 7th year. I'm no staff member. Telling you my house will be too obvious as to who I am, or at least lowers the pool from about 40 to 10.

You can ask away, but I might not always answer, or have an answer for that matter. I wish you good luck in finding me.

I frowned at the letter. 'Well, it's not her to come right out and go. "Here I am!" or something like that.' This was not going to be easy. My eyes scanned the words again at the comfort and privacy of my bed. I sighed heavily putting the letter down. At least I know that she's a girl now. That eliminates half the populations.

'Who could you be hiding from? Who has you so scared that you can't even send a letter to a friend…?' She claims she's safe here. She wouldn't tell me more than this on her situation. 'I hope you're alright.'

** ! **

"Quit glaring at the mandrake, Hun. It's cut itself," Sirius sung out, nudging Seiki's side as he pulled on his gloves.

"What in their right mind would fucking cut themselves…?" she asked back in a blank tone, still glaring.

"Language, young lady," Madam Sprout tutted from behind me.

"Sorry, Madam Sprout," she mumbled. She wasn't too strict with Seiki, opting to let the girl's vulgar slips slide.

"What's up with the fancy white earmuffs?" Sirius wondered, tugging at the pair on her head.

"They're a pair I leave here since the class ones provided always look like this." The girl tossed the torn up ends attached to a broken band. They didn't look like that 10 minutes ago from what I remembered, having gone to get a hand full for Sirius, James, Peter and myself. Alexia volunteered to fetch them for her roommates. "Wouldn't block shit. Sorry, Madam Sprout….I had helped out here before you came along…."

"Teachers' pet. Ow." He winced when Seiki's foot stomped onto his. "What has gotten my sweetheart in this foul mood? You slept in this morning." True, Seiki was never in Divination. She had Muggle Studies last year, with Sirius.

"I just don't like cutting up Mandrakes. It's killing a person with that face staring at you and they kind of…."

"Shriek like a banshee?"

"…Yeah…."

"Everyone has their earmuffs on?" Madam Sprout yelled. "No fooling around this time, since these mandrakes are mature! And their screams will kill you!" I wanted so badly to ask why we were doing this. "Ready! Go ahead!" At that, all we heard was muffled screams that were still deafening, which made me wonder how loud was Madam Sprout yelling.

Seiki was right. It feels like I'm killing a person or animal not chopping up a plant. It was flailing and screaming on the cutting board. I winced then its mouth latched on my finger. I wasn't the only one wildly swinging their hand trying to free a trapped appendage. James had smacked Lily with the foot of his plant, and the redhead was in the mists of screaming over the screeching at him with a knifed between them. So James had his hands full with worrying about the knife and trying to be free of the mandrake's mouth.

I looked over to Peter. He…. 'Where did he go…?' I had no idea where he disappeared to. My eyes landed on Sirius, who was having the problem like most; where to make the first chop. His knife would nick at the head, neck, stomach, legs, arms, everywhere, but never making a chop. He's even shut his eye to bring down the blade blindly, but thankfully Seiki stopped that bad decision just before Sirius nicked his own fingers. She said something, but I doubt anyone heard it. And…that started the two off into screaming "WHAT?" at each other.

"I SAID YOU WERE ABOUT TO CUT OFF YOUR HAND!"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO!"

"SO YOU'RE GOING TO CUT OFF YOUR OWN FINGERS!" Well that answers her question about what would cut themselves. "YOU'RE CRAZY!"

"HOW WOULD YOU DO IT!"

"YOUR MANDRAKE'S RUNNING AWAY!" It was true; Sirius' mandrake can be seen, scurrying down the table. The Slytherin girls tried catching it. But for a thing with long roots hanging of its feet, it was agile. Sirius was soon seen chasing the annoying plant and avoiding its mouth.

Seiki and I made eye contact. Her hands reached out, knife in hand. I backed away. Seiki wasn't always known for being gentle. I've seen her chop things in Potions and Herbology when she was irritated. I did not want her knife anywhere near me after she stomped on Sirius. She smiled, waving me over, since the table wasn't going to allow her through. She jerked forwards, grabbing onto the roots of my mandrake and slicing them. It screamed, most likely in pain (I would in its place), making it all the more human like. But my finger was free, and she dropped it on my cutting board. With a quick and decisive stroke of the blade, it landed in the mandrake's mouth.

"THERE! IT CAN'T BITE ANYMORE!" Once I had enough sense to look up from the horror on my cutting board (the mandrake was still flailing around with the lower jaw moving about), I found Seiki's mandrake half diced and its legs were kicking…still… She glanced up at my face and started laughing, holding her gut. 'What could she by finding funny…?' (I think she was laughing at my expression of pure terror.) "JUST GET IT OVER WITH, REMUS!" She caught one of the rolling legs and began bringing the knife down on the cutting board with quick chops.

"Watch out!" I said when I spotted a thorn covered vine was rising up from behind the young girl. She didn't hear me, having moved onto the last bit of her mandrake. "WATCH OUT!" I yelled louder, pulling her half onto the table.

"SHIT!" she swore when the vine wrapped around her leg. She kicked violently at a gnarled stump, as her hands tried to free her leg. Another vine clutched onto her wrist.

I drew my wand. "Diffindo!" I casted on the vine on her wrist and her hand grabbed the knife, slicing at the vines attacking her. With a rather strong kick, the stump flew off somewhere into another isle. She grabbed my mandrake, glancing around and then dicing it like she should be a chef. She could be a chef with her skills but from what I heard, she sucked at it. The flailing root was turned into even cubes.

"IT'S GOING TO COME BACK!" she said, removing her gloves and motioning me over to the professor. "MADAM SPROUT! A SNARGALUFF IS LOOSE! I'M GOING TO THE HOSPITAL WING!" She waved at her bloody limbs.

Madam Sprout frowned, going off after the stump. "MISTER LUPIN! PLEASE MAKE SURE SHE GETS THERE!"

-Seiki's POV-

'THOSE FUCKING FAN GIRLS! JEEZE THIS WAS MY FAVOURITE SHIRT TOO!' I grumbled, walking out of Greenhouse Three. I grabbed my pack on the way and stuffed the muff into it once I was safe of not dying from the screaming.

"Seiki! Wait up!" Remus called, running after. His voice was rougher than usual, raw even. My own throat hurt. "Should you be walking?"

"I'm okay," I muttered, still in a foul mood. 'Merlin's beard my voice….' This wasn't the first time a particular fan girl of Sirius' sicced a vicious plant on me. Sure I knew just which one was behind it, but I had nothing to pin her with. I can just get her back without getting myself in too much trouble. But still, my favourite school shirt is all bloody.

"Umm…thanks for the help."

"Nah. We're even," I smiled, shrugging it off. "Crazy fan girls are getting more and more vicious."

"…You mean someone sent that?"

"Hmmm? Yeah, happens all the time. I'm pretty used to it." I headed up the stairs hurriedly. My health was rather poor, so getting to the Hospital Wing as fast as possible was preferable. "It's just plain annoying now."

"Sending something like that is a bit extreme."

I just chuckled at him. He's a little naïve to the girl's evil side, but that's surprising. Cross wasn't too kind with their break up. "Well, I can say the girl's not going to be getting full marks today. She hasn't even started cutting the mandrake."

"You know who it is?" I merely smiled at him and shook my head. Not at the fact that I didn't know but at how blind everyone was to this. "…This lesson was…."

"Disturbing?" I offered. "Mandrakes aren't difficult to dice if a person could get over the fact that they seem like a lived human until they're all cubes. A little hard to move in the shape of a cu…." An arm caught me as I slipped. My world was a blur of grey and a patch of beige.

"Seiki…?"

"Wha…? Ugh…I feel light headed…." Merlin's no! Don't go shaking me around! I'm going to puke! No, I didn't eat breakfast, since I barely made it to class on time. I was pulled onto Remus' back as he hurried up the steps and down the halls. There was more vomit inducing moments before slowly, I felt like blood was flowing around to everywhere it needed to be and not out of my body.

"You've got to be more careful, Miss Narusei," Pomfrey chided.

"What did you give me…?" I asked. There was this foul taste stuck on my tongue. "Ack."

"You were poisoned too, my dear. You should rest here until the end of class. Can't be too careful."

I nodded weakly. Bad idea! My world took me for another stomach sickening joy ride. "Thanks….Can I at least down a bucket of sugar while I'm here?"

"That's quite unhealthy. Here, a blood loli."

I grinned at her and she smiled back before leaving to tend to other matters. I felt eyes on me as I unwrapped the loli and spotted Remus. I smiled at him. "Thanks for bringing me up here."

"You know who attacked you," he stated. I smiled and leaned back against the headboard. "Who is it?"

"No one you need to worry about."

"We made a deal with you to protect you. We clearly failed."

"No. You've stopped plenty attempts already," I chuckled. "Just drop this, Remus. You don't want to know who it is."

"What? Is she someone I know?"

"No duh. Hogwarts' student," I grinned. 'You, of everyone, most certainly wouldn't want to know.' I patted the area of the mattress I cleared up by moving my legs. "I can handle anything this particular person can possibly dish out. Ugh, we still sound like toads."

Remus chuckled, sitting down. "You sound worse than me."

"Of course. I was yelling with Sirius. What kind of Beater would cut off a few fingers?"

"Are you going for the tryouts?"

I shrugged. "When are they anyways?"

"Sunday at…" he looked away nervously.

"It's in the morning, isn't it?" He nodded. I think I've snapped at him on a few occasions in the early morning. Mainly from the Marauders' racket that caused me to storm down stairs, chasing them about with anything weighted to shuck at them. "Okay, just tell James not to wake me rudely like last year if he wants me as Seeker."

"Deal," he said, rubbed the back of his head.

I laughed at his actions. "I'm sorry for whatever I threw at your head last year."

"A lamp."

"Ow… Sorry, mate. I didn't dent anything, did I?"

"Nope. Was that the reason you quit Quidditch? You woke on the wrong side?"

"Well…that had been part of it. I'd probably be positioned as a Beater if I wasn't claimed a hazard. But then my arms aren't that strong."

"What's the real reason then?"

"Saw no point of it. I'm not the sporty type."

"Then why play in 4th year?"

"Ah, James caught me catching the Snitch for Hooch," I answered lightly. "Back in 3rd year. Been bugging me since, but I refused every time. By the time tryouts came around again, he learned that he had to something to get me to join. Watched him help with the Cornish pixies. Impressed me with kindness, so I agreed the next time he asked."

"You're odd, Seiki."

"Life's more fun that way. You're an odd bunch too, hectic as hell to be around. But fun."

"…Thanks…I think…."

"You're welcome." I sighed looking down at the sleeve that's been destroyed. "…there goes my favourite shirt."

"Here. Reparo. Skurge," he casted with a soft smile.

"Thanks," I grinned. "…How are you holding up after…um…."

"A lot better. Getting over it." He knew what I was referring to, Cross.

-Remus' POV-

'Why was everyone so worried about that?' I wondered.

"Oh!" Seiki exclaimed, hopping out of bed and going for her bag. She was grinning happily like a boy having found some worm to show his mother. She was fussing with something and suddenly a swallow flew towards me, landing on my hand. Then it got much lighter, a charmed origami. "Thanks for today. Probably be stuck here for ages growing mold if you weren't there. If you want something else, I could make another thing given some time."

I shook my head. "I like this."

She jumped onto the bed, but somehow utterly missed the entire thing. I managed to catch her by the back of her shirt. She was a little light so I had no problem. She laughed nervously, facing me. "I feel so uncoordinated…" she giggled.

"Just make sure she stays seated until the medicine's side effects wear off her, and the damage should be minimal," Madam Pomfrey stated lightly. "And watch her limbs, they can hit harder than you expect."

"Weee!" the girl sung out with her arms out as if she was flying. Yup, she hits harder than expected, or maybe a whack to the chest from that angle hurt more….

** ! **

"Oh, Merlin…" Seiki groaned. Her flushed face buried in her hands. I couldn't help but chuckle at her bizarre potion induced behaviour. She glared at me through her fingers. "Your mates better not find out about this. Sirius will be spiking my pumpkin juice like a mad man."

"…Yeah, he would." She glared harder. For an innocent appearing girl, her glare was strong. "Okay, okay. Don't burn holes into my head. I won't say a thing."

She grinned, putting her hands down. That was a turn of emotions. "Come on, I'm starving!" she exclaimed after the lunch chime. She grabbed a bunch of things, one of which was my sleeve and raced down the halls, much more coordinated than moments ago.

"No running!" I heard someone say and she slowed her pace, though only by a smidgen.

"Hey, where were the two of you halfway through Herbology?" Sirius demanded once we came to a stop. His voice was much more raw than mine or Seiki's. "Have you been cheating on dear old Sirius, Sweetheart?"

"Of course," the girl replied jokingly, taking her usually seat next to the Black. "You're so old."

"…Hey!" I shook my head at them, as I took the free seat next to the girl. They really were quite the pair.

Her hand floated on all the dishes before she rested her elbows on the table. "I got attacked by a rogue plant while you were chasing your mandrake like a dog with a cat." She pulled out her wand and Sirius grabbed the jug of pumpkin juice.

He was about to pour her a glass when he bumped into a barrier. He furrowed his brow smacking it with his hand. "Hun, what's this for?" he demanded. Then suddenly screams erupted from all over the Great Hall. Seiki turned her head and smiled at him, knowingly. "…How did…?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't feel like eating or drinking any of the bugs you lot used." She muttered a word and Sirius hand slammed onto her shoulder, since he was still whacking away.

"Oops. Sorry, Hun."

"I suggest that you lot start pretending like the rest of us before the professors zero on you," she warned, flicking a worm at Sirius' face. She stood up, taking her pack with her. "I'm going to find something that I can actually stomach." With that, she hurriedly sped out of the room. She was really disturbed by bugs.

"She's never going to go out with you if you keep bringing bugs into her life, Padfoot," James said sagely with Peter nodding.

"Hey, James, have you notice any one particular girl picking on Sirius' sweetheart?" I asked. He shook his head after a long thought. "Well, the Snargaluff was sent to attack her." The Potter sighed heavily. "Oh, by the way, she says not to wake her up like last year for tryouts." James jumped up and leapt about, dancing with a very angered Lily Evans.

"Seems like Prongs has a death wish," Sirius commented. "Evans already lost her voice from scream at him all Herbology." He looked over to me. "Shall we rescue him?"

"I guess." With that, we crawled under the table. I peeled the Chaser's arms off my fellow Prefect. Sirius and Peter spirited away with James. "Umm…You should rest your throat, Lily…." With that, I darted after my roommates.

** ! **

AN: Please review ^^, much appreciated.