Hi, my dear readers! How've you been? . . Notes and replies to reviews to follow.
--Chapter 3-I Don't Have a Problem with the World, the World has a Problem with Me--
"Morning, Enna!" Veronica greeted me cheerfully.
"Mmm." I replied, sitting on the bench next to James.
"How are you feeling, En?" Maddie asked me softly.
"Ah, I've been better. Awful night." I yawned. I never did sleep too well this time of the month. I've fallen asleep in History of Magic quite a few time from the lack of sleep. "I'm gonna have to take a nap later."
Ricky looked up from the book he was reading, "Why aren't you feeling well?" I raised my eyebrows and pointed at my eyes. Ricky gave a small 'oh' and went back to reading his book.
I yawned widely once againand grabbed a warm cinnamon roll off one of the platters in front of me. "Did you get schedules yet?"
"We have to see Ackerman for them," Sirius told me. "We get a free period after each class this year."
"Really?" I grabbed Sirius' schedule and scanned the parchment. He was right, there wasa free period after each class. "No more falling to sleep in class will be nice." I handed Sirius back his schedule and said good-bye to everyone. When I arrived at Professor Ackerman's office, I knocked on the door softly.
"Come in!" I heard him call. I walked in quietly and closed the door behind me. The professor was sitting at his desk going through what looked like O.W.L.s grades. "Miss Lupin! Good to see you. I was just looking at your grades. Well done, well done." Professor Ackerman smiled widely at me, his soft gray eyes sparkled happily at me. I blushed bright pink. He was very handsome and made me slightly nervous. Plenty of people have accused me of being his favorite, but they're mainly the girls who have a crush on him. "All Os! Your parents must be thrilled."
I grinned, "More or less." Mum had danced around the house, breaking quite a few things, and dad took me to a bookshop, letting me get whatever I wanted.
"You're qualified to take any N.E.W.T level class that you want. From what I recall, you expressed an interest in either becoming an Auror or dealing with magical creature's rights, correct?"
"Yes, Sir," I replied.
"I'd suggest that you take what you've been taking these past five years—excluding History of Magic and Astronomy of course—and a politics course, since you interested in magical creature's rights. Does that sound good?"
"It does, Sir."
Professor Ackerman tapped a piece of parchment and my schedule appeared on it, "I'll see you after lunch, Miss Lupin."
"Thank you," I took the parchment from him and exited the office. Nina and Alice were waiting outside, tittering. They gave me rather disdainful looks as I passed. I sighed and rolled my eyes.
Potions was the first on my list. I hurried to the classroom, hoping I wasn't too late. I entered the dimly lit dungeon and looked around. Ricky was the only other Gryffindor in the room. William was sitting with two Ravenclaw females that were falling all over him. Oh, the curse of having a veela for a mother. . .
Ricky didn't even bother to hide his relief when I entered. He even pulled out my chair for me when I came over to sit down. "Malfoy's here," he muttered as I sat. I glanced at the Slytherin table. Leonora Malfoy was sitting between her two big-boned friends. Leonora is a pain in the. . .well, never mind.
"Great," I muttered back and turned my attention to the cauldrons on the table up front. There were three. Each was giving off little wisps of steam. The first one was soft lilac in color and the surface was completely still. The second I could have spotted a mile away. It was the murky coloredWolfsbane, although it didn't look as well done as the kind that I help my mother make during the summer. The third was quite lovely and had a mother-of-pearl sheen. It smelled wonderful. . .like chocolate and autumn nights and something that I couldn't name. It was rather soapy, but at the same time it was—
Professor Byrd entered the classroom just as I was trying to decided what it smelled like. Appropriately name, Byrd is very petite, speaks in cheerful chirps, and has dark, lively eyes. "Greetings class! I trust your summer was well spent. As you have probably noticed, there are three cauldrons filled with various potions. I don't believe that any of you have encountered them before, but would you like to take a stab at naming them? Extra points if you tell me what its properties are." Byrd tapped the first cauldron. William's hand fairly flew into the air. "Mr. Weasley?"
"Draught of the Living Death. It's the strongest sleeping potion in the world."
"Excellent! 30 points for Ravenclaw. This one?" she tapped the Wolfsbane. I slowly raised my hand. "Miss Lupin?"
I took a deep breath, "It's Wolfsbane. If taken the week prior to the full moon, a victim lycanthropy can keep his human mind."
"Correct! 30 points to Gryffindor! This last one?"
A Ravenclaw girl was called on. In a rather high-pitched voice she said, "Amortentia. It's the strongest love potion in the world. It smells differently to each person, according to what one finds attractive."
"30 more points to Ravenclaw! Now, today you will be attempting to concoct Wolfsbane. It does not have to be perfect, since this is more complex then what you are typically use to, but whoever does the best will be awarded 50 points. Begin."
I had helped my mother with this potion so many times, I could probably do it with my eyes closed. Despite this fact, I opened my book to the instructions for the potion like everyone else. Mainly because I felt I should double-check each ingredient I put in the cauldron. When I finished, it looked a bit better then what Byrd had done. I was quite pleased with it.
I glanced over at Ricky. He was three steps behind me. He looked up and upon seeing I was finished, gave me a mock angry glare. I grinned haughtily at him, and tossed my rope-like braid over my shoulder.
"Finished already, Miss Lupin?" Professor Byrd walked by and glanced at my finished product. "I must say, I'm impressed. It looks like its been perfectly done."
I shrugged in what my friends say is in an overly-modest way. Byrd moved along the tables to check on everyone else's progress. The only other finished was William. Soon Ricky finished (his was almost perfect. He claims he received some of his father potions skills.), and we chatted quietly. William, much to the dismay and annoyance of his fellow Ravenclaws, came and sat on my other side.
"Perfect as usual," William complemented, glancing at my potion.
"I'm hardly perfect at anything. The only reason I did so well was because I help mum make it so much." I said the last sentence very quietly, so no one else would hear.
"Still better then me." Ricky bumped me gently with his shoulder.
I rolled my eyes and cleaned up my supplies. Class was soon over and we were permitted to leave. As I stood up, I caught scent (I sound a bit wolfish there, no?) of that rather soapy smell I hadn't been able to identify earlier. I looked around curiously. William and Ricky were close to me, but so was a Hufflepuff boy and the cauldron of Amortentia. I guess it was the potion. . .
I followed William and Ricky out of class. With their long legs, they easily got ahead of me. I lost sight of them when I dropped my bag and had to stop and pick all my stuff up.
"It's no wonder you got such high marks on that Wolfsbane potion," Leonora's condescending voice interrupted my thoughts. I glanced up. Leonora was standing over me, her dark brown eyes glittering in hatred. "You must know how to make it with your hands tied behind you back!" She laughed coldly.
I stood still, trying to keep my face expressionless. Just what I needed. . .and on the first day back as well!
"From what I've heard, you father's old enough to be your grandfather, and your mother's young enough to be you sister!" That's untrue, I told myself, completely untrue. As Leonora belittled me, a crowd of students gathered. Leonora told everyone in a conversational tone, "Her father dresses like a house elf, and her mother has pink hair. Did you know she's a over ten years younger then her husband? She's probably just some hussy that got married only because she was pregnant with his half breed baby." That's totally untrue! My parents were married for two years before I came into the picture. . .I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. She deserved to be punched right between the eyes, but I couldn't. . .If I hurt Leonora, she would just spread a rumor about me and how I'm more werewolf then human and I should be kept in a cage. "—It's a wonder she's walking upright and speaking in complete sentences, no?"
Just as I felt I was about to loose control and smack her, a flash of red light shot by me and hit Leonora. A cut on her cheek dripping blood appeared. "Don't you ever insult my friend or her family!" Ricky bellowed at her. "You're a horrid little—"
As Ricky yelled at her, William appeared beside me. "Are you okay?" he whispered.
A tear slid down my cheek. William put an arm around my shoulders and wiped the tear away with his sleeve, "What she said isn't true, Enna." he whispered.
"Of course it's not!" Ricky, still rather red in the face, exclaimed. He had just received a month's worth of detentions from Professor Byrd who had broken up the fight. "Malfoy is a slimy git. That's all there is to it." he angrily shoved his red hair out of his eyes.
It helped a bit, but I still couldn't resist bursting into tears. I buried my face in William's shoulder and cried for a bit. William kept his arm around my shoulders, and Ricky stroked my head gently. When I finished, I wiped my eyes and hugged Ricky fiercely, "Thanks for sticking up for me."
"Well you weren't doing anything," he shrugged.
"I know," I sighed. "I was trying to suppress the urge to call her a few filthy names and smack her across that smug face."
"You did quite well," William said.
"I've had practice," I told him quietly. It's not like this hasn't happened before. Usually people corner me when I'm trying to get to my next class or heading back to the common room on my own. I've been called so many horrible names. . .I suppose Leonora had just be upset I beat her in Potions.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I smiled up at both William and Ricky who were on either side of me, looking very much like concerned bodyguards. "Herbology next?" I asked cheerfully.
Ricky and William exchanged confused glances, "Yes. . ."
"Let's get going."
William and Angelique joined us at the Gryffindor table for dinner that night. No one gave a second thought, since they've been doing that ever since year one. . .William filled everyone in on what had gone on after potions.
"You'd think she'd wait a day," James commented.
"She's such a witch!" Maddie slammed her goblet on the table. Everyone looked at her in amusement. She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean!"
"Oh, Enna," Veronica sighed. "I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault, Ron. It's what comes with being what I am." I told her.
"You're as human as the rest of us," Sirius told me firmly. "And just because Remus has lycanthropy, doesn't make him less of a person either."
I smiled gratefully at Sirius. "Unfortunately the rest of the world doesn't see it that way," I said in a soft voice.
"We'll stand by you no matter what." Ricky promised. The rest of my friends agreed enthusiastically.
"Thanks, you guys." I whispered.
Ah, how wonderful can friends be? Like the chapter title? I couldn't help thinking of Shrek. Anyway, hope you liked it! Remember, reviews are more than welcome!
Okay 2 more things:
1)I'm going to work on character descriptions. When they're finished I'm going to put them in my profile for easy access, okay?
2)Anyone want to take a guess at Enna's real name? That's right, Enna is only a nickname. Now I'll give you a few hints. First her name does NOT start with an 'E' and second think of her parentage. A plate of cookies (winner's choice) to whoever gets it! I'll tell you next chapter, even if no one gets it right.
Reviews:
bograt—Thank you! I'm extremely glad you liked it!
TrubySCS3—Oh! -smacks forehead- Darn it! I'm just so use to typing/reading 'headmaster' that I completely forgot. Anyway, Tonks did plan on Enna. She just didn't tell Remus what she was going to do. -grins evilly-
chocoholicbookworm—Let's see. . .William and Veronica are siblings, Maddie, Sirius, and James are siblings, and Ricky and Veronica are siblings. Full bios to come sometime in the future. Love you penname, btw.
Amanda—Thank you very much!
Ginerva lily—I'm glad! I was wondering if it had been a good idea, but it seemed to get a good response. Thanks for the review!
--Anne--