Worst Fears Confirmed

'It feels good here,' Riley couldn't help but think to herself as she sat eating breakfast with her new friends.

"Where's Nicole this morning?" Ron asked expectantly.

"You know, I don't know. She wasn't there when I woke up this morning," Riley answered slowly. Ron was confused by the suspicious gleam in Riley's eyes.

Suddenly, Nicole burst into the hall with a mischievous grin on her face. She dashed over to Riley and sat down.

"Nicole!" Riley practically yelled.

"What?" Nicole asked her mouth already full of food.

"You have powder all over your robe..." Nicole grinned and brushed off her robes. Riley was agitated to notice everyone staring, even the vapid Draco Malfoy. "Wait a minute," Riley began as Nicole sat. "Where's Robin?" The grin on Nicole's face told it all. "Nicole, no! Please don't tell me you two've already started!?!"

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Nicole smirked.

"I am not getting into trouble my first day here, Nicole!" Riley said slamming her fist on the table. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, who they had finally met after the meeting in Dumbledore's office, looked up from their plates.

"What's going on?" Harry questioned.

"Not a thing," Nicole said. She turned to Ron. "So, tell me about these professors."

Riley took a deep breath and noticed Robin come into the Great Hall. Riley gave her the very best you-had-better-not-have-done-anything-stupid look. Robin gave her the same smirk that Nicole had moments before.

"What? Like we'd do anything on the first day." Riley heard in her mind. "I'm not stupid," Riley mouthed. Robin shrugged and joined her table. Aggravated, Riley gave up. She turned back to the table and placed her fork on her plate and pushed it away. 'Here we go again,' she thought.

Nicole looked at the food and sighed. She began piling some food on her plate, but didn't eat any. Ron and the others looked at her and then back at their own plates. And soon everybody had begun to eat. Throughout the great hall, students started choking and spitting their food out as they began to foam at the mouth.

Soon the muffled yells turned into horrified shrieks as thousands of Cornish pixies began to swarm the Great Hall. Everyone was panicking with the exception of the Tenshi. Pixie began lifting people out of chairs by their hair and throwing food before Dumbledore stood. He said something quietly and the pixies stopped mid-air. With a wave of his arm, a cage appeared and the pixies filed in calmly. With another wave of his arm, the room was spotless again.

Professor McGonagall stood slowly. "You all should head to class." As everyone stood to go, Riley heard Professor McGonagall say, "Misses Goodfellow, Eversly, and Devon meet me in my office."

"Great," Riley mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Ugh," Riley grumbled, throwing a book loudly to the ground. Sirius looked up at her from his position near the door.

"There's no need to be huffy. You do the crime, you do the time," came his nagging voice in her mind.

"Hello! Weren't you falsely imprisoned for killing your best friend among others?" Riley retorted, retrieving the book and shelving it. "I'd think you'd have learned a thing or two about being set-up!" She mumbled. Sirius growled. "What's with being in that form anyway? It's late, and in case you haven't notice, because I have, it's just us." Sirius merely laid his head on his paws and shut his eyes.

"Fine, it's not like I wanted to talk to you anyway. What could you possibly have to say anyway? 'I had the best time scratching myself yesterday.'" Riley continued shelving books.

About an hour later, Riley still had an enormous stack of books left. She glanced at Sirius. He had been snoring for the past thirty minutes. 'I could so mess with you right now. I hope you know that.' She thought smirking.

Riley turned back to the books. "Hogwarts: A History...oh what fun," she said rolling her eyes and shoving the book into its home on the self. The next book belonged in the Herbology section. "What are you doing here?" Riley sighed and headed to the back of the library.

"Of course it would belong back here in the dark, creepy corner," Riley grumbled. "Lumos," Riley said after pulling her wand. With the light, Riley was finally able to locate the book's place on the shelf.

Turning, Riley started. 'Where'd that mirror come from?' She thought brushing her hair out of her face. She almost screamed as realized that her reflection did not mimic her. She slowly inched closer to herself. In the small light of her wand, she was finally able to see the figure's face clearly. It was her, alright.

Looking into its eyes, she was transfixed. "No," she gasped, covering her mouth and backing away slowly. "Stop!" She yelled covering her ears. Across the library, she heard Sirius bark in his sleep. The sound dragged her attention away from the apparition before her. She used the moment to rush past it. On her way out of the library, she noticed that Sirius was still snoring.

"This is the life." Robin smiled. She had already finished her job and was stretched out on the floor of the greenhouse watching the starts. Professor McGonagall had assigned her to the Herbology professor, Professor Sprout. She was glad that she had decided to take double Herbology. Professor Sprout was a going to be a breeze. She was a little worried about double potions, but Professor Snape was the head of her house.

She looked at her watch. One more hour and then she could head back. Professor Sprout was bustling around in the garden outside, so Robin had plenty of time to relax. She found that she had to struggle harder to stay awake. Suddenly, she heard a thud by the door.

Robin jumped up quickly and rushed to the door. She skidded to a stop as she realized that the thud was Riley. "Riley?" She whispered as tears formed in her eyes. A puddle of blood had formed at Riley's side. "No." She turned and fled out the back door.

Nicole was in the Great Hall cleaning up the mess all the students had made at supper. Normally the house-elves would have done it, but Dumbledore had told them that it wasn't their job tonight. Nicole had to pick everything up by hand and clean the tables without using music.

'At least I don't have to wash the dishes.' Nicole mumbled. 'Although, I'm sure it was a possibility.'

"Nicole. I need to go talk to Sirius really fast. But, I'll be back soon. Will you be alright on your own?" Remus asked.

"Yeah. Not a prob. Take your time, actually." Nicole replied. Remus began to leave. "Wait!" He turned around at her cry.

"Yes?"

"Do you know where I can get another dishrag? This one's dead."

Remus nodded. "If you look in that closet over there, you'll probably find some."

"Thanks." Nicole went to the closet Remus had indicated and opened the door only to have a man fall out of it. Nicole let out an earth shattering scream, before falling to the ground to see if the man was alright. When she turned him over though, it wasn't what she expected.

Nicole quickly backed away as the man began to groan and stand up. He looked at her and his eyes turned cold. "Look what you did, you stupid girl. Because you ran away, I can't get the support check anymore. State's taking you away from me. You made me lose my damn meal ticket, girl!" The man hissed.

Nicole shook her head, tears rolling down her face, as she began to creep towards the door

"Stupid girl! I can see why you're in foster care. Why nobody wants to take care of you! I hope you get sent back to the orphanage!"

Nicole heaved a sob and ran out the door, trying to get away from her second foster father. As she was running from the Great Hall, she ran into a girl coming in from outside. They fell to the ground. When Nicole began to apologize, she realized she had run into Robin.

Heaving a huge sigh, Nicole latched onto her friend and hugged her as if her life depended on it. "What's wrong Nicole?" Robin asked.

Nicole shook her head. "Can we find Riley first? I don't want to stay here right now."

Robin sobbed. "Nicole. I have to tell you--"

"Look, there she is," Nicole said pointing. Together they stopped walking in the when they saw Riley coming towards them. She looked as if she had seen a ghost. She stumbled as she walked and nearly passed the two girls in her rush.

"Riley, what's wrong? It's us—your friends." Nicole asked, her voice low and, truthfully, thick sounding.

"I—" Riley blinked slowly. Suddenly, she shook her head and her eyes were once again clear. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. What's the matter with you two? Both of you have been crying."

Nicole shook her head violently. "Nothing. I just...I just...ran into somebody I thought I'd never see again." Nicole answered, lowering her eyes to the ground and fighting the urge to cry.

Robin latched on to Riley. "Riley I thought you were dead. I saw you in the greenhouse. Don't EVER scare me like that again."

"What's wrong ladies? Why are you out of detention?" A voice behind them asked. Nicole jumped and hid behind Robin until she saw who the speaker was. She sighed and relaxed, and she felt surprise coming from everybody at her reaction. She could tell, though, that Riley and Robin had been just as surprised as she had, but they didn't know what she had seen.

"I'm sorry, Professor. But, what did you say Robin? I was in the library until I came here," Riley was highly confused.

"I just came to tell you that when I opened the closet to get a rag....a...my...a man fell out of it, and I thought that I should get some help. On the way here, I ran into Riley and Robin. And...then you startled me, us."

Sirius started at Nicole's statement. "A man? What was a man doing in the closet?" He asked.

"I don't know. That's why I..." Nicole trailed off, her voice thoughtful. She turned to the other girls. "Why did you guys leave? What did you see?" Nicole asked a strange excitement in her voice.

"I saw Riley dead." Robin whispered.

"Oh my God, Robin." Riley gave her friend a hug. "I didn't see anything, just myself in a mirror." Riley replied.

Nicole started laughing, scaring her two friends and making Remus and Sirius a tad bit nervous. "I saw my second foster dad yelling at me, making me feel rejected and alone." Nicole confided. "It's a test, and we've failed it."

"Test?" Robin asked. She looked at Sirius and Lupin with daggers in her eyes. "A test? One of your stupid we-don't-trust-you-so-we're-going-to-test-you tests? Did you think it would be funny for me to see Riley dead?" Robin was almost yelling.

"How were we supposed to know you'd see Riley dead? We never meant it to be funny." Sirius replied.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I hate failing things, especially tests. So I'm going to try and face my fear." Nicole said, trying to psych herself up.

"What are you talking about fears? I just saw myself, and besides a bad hair day..." Riley sounded genuinely confused.

"It's a boggart, Riley." Nicole whispered. "Apparently you're afraid of yourself."

Riley laughed out loud. "Afraid of myself? What kind of sense does that make? I was shelving a book and turned around and saw my reflection is all. I was startled, and panicked. No biggie. Maybe the boggart didn't get to me?"

"Fine. Then you can come help me, before we help Robin get over her fear of you dead. I'll need all the help I can get just entering the same room as that man. Now I know why I hated him." Nicole offered, trying not to strangle Riley. 'Of course, you would be in denial about your fear. You've always been scary that way.' Nicole thought.

"Nicole!" Riley exclaimed. The others were startled. They couldn't understand why Riley was so upset about Nicole hating her foster father. "Hello! Did you forget that I am telepathic? I can hear you. And, I'm not in denial, but why would I fear myself?"

"Cause you're freakin' scary sometimes!" Nicole retorted. "You might be scared of who you want to be, who you are, of living up to the expectations you place upon yourself! Take a wild guess. And yes, I did forget for an instant that you're telepathic. Maybe it's 'cause I'm about to face my foster father or some other terror from the foster care system. You'll have to forgive Robin and me for not being as ego-centric as you."

"Nicole," Robin was shocked. "Girls, now is really not the time. If it is a boggart, then we need to deal with it and get to bed. So, put your differences aside and let's go."

Riley snorted and stormed into the Great Hall without waiting for the others.

"I'm sorry, Robin. I didn't mean to get so out of hand. Even if it is ..." Nicole's statement faltered and she let out a gasp and began to shake.

"Are you alright, Nicole?" Robin asked.

Nicole shook her head. "She's scared. She's found the Boggart. We need to help her." She sprinted into the Great Hall and let out a piercing scream.

Robin didn't even glance at Sirius or Remus. She darted for the doors. Lupin looked at Sirius and rushed after her. When she reached the Great Hall slightly ahead of a concerned Remus and Sirius, she saw Nicole against the wall sobbing.

Nicole couldn't believe it. The minute she entered the room, she saw her foster father run towards her and hit her. She landed against the wall and let out a scream. "No, no, please, no. I didn't do anything, please." She sobbed. She cowered in fear as she saw the Boggart foster dad raise his hand, then he turned and saw Robin and began to go after her. Nicole stayed against the wall, praying he didn't notice her again and crying. Suddenly, her foster dad was no longer there. Instead, she saw herself stumble towards Robin only to fall, seemingly dead. Robin began sobbing and froze.

Remus saw what was happening. They were petrified by their fears. He saw Riley on the floor—she had fainted—while Nicole was now on the floor, crying her eyes out, and there was another Nicole, dead in front of Robin's feet.

They knew it was a boggart, but they were helpless. They didn't know how to change their fears into something less dangerous. He stepped forward and heard the faint pop as the boggart transformed from a dead Nicole into the full moon. "Riddikulus," he said, and the moon vanished.

"Riley," Robin said as she suddenly stopped crying. Nicole's sobbing slowed.

"Don't you bother to worry about her," Nicole said bitterly. At least you and I faced our fears, she was in complete denial."

Robin doubled over. "She wasn't in denial...she didn't know...she thought her fear was just a reflection...she's dreaming of guilt...she fainted from pain..."

"Guilt?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, the pain I can feel." Nicole gasped. "That part isn't hard, and I can sort of feel her guilt. It's hard though, since she feels so far away." Nicole had one of her hands on her face, wiping away tears, or so Remus thought, and the other she was using to steady herself while she tried to stand up.

"Riley!" Robin yelled. She too was finding it difficult to stand. "Riley, wake up right now."

Riley's eyes fluttered. "What happened?" She sat up slowly. "Where's the boggart? Did you get it? What'd I hit my head on? What wrong with you two. Speak!"

At last, Nicole was up and moved towards Riley with a limping walk. She had finally moved her hand away from her eyes to reveal a black eye forming on her right eye. "None of us got him, Riley. We were too frightened. You fainted, I got beat up, and Robin gave me a nice picture of what I'd look like dead—she froze like a duck in a snowstorm. Remus got it in the end."

"Fainted?" Riley asked in disbelief. "But...why don't I remember that?"

"Beats me." Robin said, before realizing what she had said. She looked at Nicole. "Sorry. I didn't mean it."

Nicole gave her friend a small smile. "It's alright. But if you really want to apologize, you could help me to Gryffindor Tower, so I can get into bed. That'll help a lot."

Robin nodded. She helped Riley stand up, and then all three began to walk towards the door.

"No. You three are going to the hospital wing. Now!" Remus demanded.

After they had put the girls in the custody of Madam Pomfry, Sirius and Remus left the hospital wing, trying to make sense of what had happened.

"I've never seen anyone so paralyzed by their fear before." Remus stated. "Even Harry tried to do something. These girls couldn't even move. The reasons why they're that scared have to be great reasons." Remus mused. "Wish I could find out why."

"I'm sure we'll find out why soon enough. Right now let's just report this to Dumbledore and Ms. Lange." Sirius said, before transforming into Padfoot and trotting off towards Dumbledore's office.