A/N: ello. I haven't published in a whail... but it's longish! This isn't my best work. It's kind of half assed. Sorry.

The next day...

Mornings at hogwarts were always the same. The sun would rise, and for a moment the lake would shine like a mirror before returning to it's normal state. The shadows rearranged themselves in preparation for the new day, and the birds began to harmoniously chirp. All of the students, wether they be in a tower or dungeon, began to rise and greet the morning. Of course, for most, they only rose and grunted at the morning in disapproval. But the concept was generally the same.

Adell woke to the usual grumblings of her peers and was happy at first, to greet the day. That was before reality crashed down upon her. It. Was. Monday. Ahhhh! She had her Transfiguration exam today! Her worst subject! The day she had been dreading all year! It couldn't be happening! It couldn't be today! Adell pulled the blanket over her head, hoping to hide from the onslaught of death and horror. But she had to face the truth... This day would be the undoing of her. Nothing she did could stop it.

She slowly rose from her sanctuary and put on her uniform in slow motion. Button. Button. Button. Sock. Sock. Please oh please oh please oh please! I have to do well, I have to do well, I HAVE to do well! Shoe. Straighten collar. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. She had her hair pulled back with a flimsy black head band, black was appropriate. She was in mourning. Mourning for her lost grade. Finally she reached in her trunk, and emerged with her school tie. Her tie had been through much with her. She rubbed her finger over the silver and green stripes, displaying her house allegiance for all to see. Hey, just because she believed that discrimination between houses was stupid, did NOT mean that she wasn't patriotic. She slowly knotted it around her neck, not too loose, but not too tight. Her collar hung over it perfectly. And there, pinned to the front of her knot, was her pin.

It wasn't special. It was just a gold circle about the size of a knut. It was pinned to her tie all the time, and since she always tied her tie exactly the same, she never bothered to take it off. It had one faded word inscribed upon it. "semper" Always. Adell didn't know if "Always" was a special word to her. She had found the simple nick-nack in the bottom of the boat that carried her to Hogwarts for the first time. She used it for luck. And she needed luck today above all others. She brushed her thumb over the faded letters, but unlike most days, Adell found little comfort in the familiar movement. She finally took up her bag of books and went out into the slytherin Common room.

It was practically empty with only a few people pulling themselves together or waiting for their lackluster friends. She went by them unnoticed and walked to breakfast. Breakfast. It really WAS the most important meal of the day. What would we do without it? Not only would we be so hungry we could hardly stand it, But breakfast was where you went before you went anywhere else. It was how you calmed yourself down. The wings of a stage. The place you stood before the curtain opened. But no amount of mental preparation and time would cure her stage fright. Taking a seat, she slowly forced food into her mouth, repressing the urge to vomit from worry.

She was once again, unaware of a completely different danger than a terrible test. The Marauders thirst for Justice had not yet been quenched. Not by a long shot.

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Sirius took a deep breath. It was going to be his first try at torturing Adell, and he was looking forward to it. He realized that forward confrontation hadn't worked, neither had embarrassment. He was going to try something all together different. James patted him on the back.

"You can do it Padfoot!" He whispered into his best friends ear. Sirius looked thankfully into his best friends eyes. Sometimes he still couldn't believe he had such good friends. Without James, Sirius would be completely lost. They always understood and helped each other. Even if they knew that what they were doing was wrong. (And knowing the two of them, it usually was.) Sirius wasn't quite sure if he wanted to do this, but what was one puny Slytherin's pride in comparison to his best friend's? Sirius took another breath and slipped on The invisibility cloak.

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Adell felt a hand on tap her shoulder. She turned with her fork still held between her plate and her mouth. Samantha Stevens, the tall blonde ravenclaw prefect, was standing there expectantly. Adell looked her up an down. Why was one of the most idolized girls in Hogwarts talking to her? And on the eve of Adell's demise, no less! And Why, Why did everything happen to her at breakfast?! Adell put her fork down and turned to the attractive girl.

"Um... I'm sorry. Did you want something?" she asked politely. Stevens didn't smile, but she spoke.

"Adell Sanctamonia. Can I speak with you for a moment?" she asked curtly. Adell nodded and got up; completely stunned. She followed the prefect and felt her stomach drop. They came to a stop in the opening hall. Samantha was practically a head taller than Adell and it looked completely ridicules. Samantha gave her a sad face.

"I'm worried about you." she finally. Said. Adell's eyes widoned.

"You're worried...about...me?" she asked.

"Yes, It seems that you've stirred up quite a bit of trouble."

"I, I have?"

"Yes, teasing the Marauders like that!"

"I wasn't-"

"You might as well hold a red flag in front of a bull!"

"Actually, bulls are color blind." She said. Samantha gave her a look.

"I know that, It was a metaphor. The point is, that your not being very smart."

"I'm not trying to-"

"Be careful."

"Um...Okay?"

"We prefects have our eyes on you."

"Oh." was all she could say.

"You can go back to your breakfast now Adell."

"Thank you?" Adell was flabbergasted. (A/N I love that word!) No one had ever had they're eyes on Adell. Ever. She was completely terrified, but rather proud. People were noticing her! Maybe not in the way she wanted, but that was fine! And it was completely unfair that she was being persicuted while the Marauders go
t off scot-free, But it didn't matter! Adell was slightly happy as she reclaimed her seat. She tool a big swig of her pumpkin juice. It tasted a little odd...Oh well. She happily ate the rest of her meal... until she remembered her first class.

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The Fourth year Ravenclaws and slytherins filed solemnly into the Transfiguration classroom. McGonagall watched them impassively, but when she caught the eyes of Adell, Adell saw something she didn't like; pity. When you receive pity from your teacher. It's a bad, bad, bad, bad sign. In most cases Professor McGonagall would feel something close to anger, but she had seen Adell. She was, and had been studying hard all year. The girl was just hopeless in transfiguration. Adell took a panicky seat.

Calm down. She told herself. You can get by the written part by memory. Memory. That has nothing to do with how well you can turn a porcupine into a pincushion!

McGonagall was going over the rules, but Adell didn't hear her. She was focusing on breathing and keeping her pumpkin juice down. Finally the test was placed in front of her. It took all her strength to lift her quill and place it on her paper.

question 1: what is the correct wrist movement and proper incantation if one wished to change the texture of an object, while still maintaining the same shape?

Adell took a few more deep breaths, and began. She focused on the present question and slowly worked her way through. It wasn't so bad. Adell's studying had paid off! She knew that it would be harder in the field work exam, but for the present, she didn't care. Off course. She probably still got into the bottom ten of her year... easily. But she was doing well. She didn't falter. She skipped questions she didn't know the answer to, and kept going. She finally finished, and put down her quill. The walk to McGonagall's desk seemed endless. She felt the faces of her fellow students and felt her cheeks flush. They almost seemed to say "You don't deserve to take this test! You're not worthy!" But Adell knew it was all in her head and continued her slow trudge to the Professor's desk. She placed her test on top of the growing stack of paper. Most of the paper's were finished by Ravenclaw, but no matter. Professor McGonagall seemed shocked.

"Are you finished?" Asked her teacher. Adell opened her mouth to say 'yes I am finished.' but all that came out was.

"Glugle flinck iva digobe." the mush was far from the original message. Adell tried again. "Bulunvkalflink argen garsh!" People were starring at her now. "Abble dooben flibber harden!" The class started to laugh at her pathetic attempt to form words. What was happening? Why couldn't she speak? She knew what she was trying to say, but she couldn't form the words. It was almost as if her mouth wasn't obeying her anymore. McGonagall got over her initial shock and pulled herself together.

"Silence!" she said sharply to the class. Everyone shut up, but you could see the laughter all over they're faces. Mcgonagall turned to Adell. "It seems as though you've accidentally taken a heavy dose of babbling beverage. Go to The infirmary. Now!" Adell tried to say 'yes ma'am'' but to no avail.

"able deb." She turned to go, but the snickers followed her outside. Damn. What was wrong with her? Babbling Beverage. So someone had spiked her drink this morning... it explained the weird taste. Huh. Someone was out to get her. Three guess's who...

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Sirius and James finished their OWL's early and got the rest of the period free. In most cases that would never be the case... but it was evident that bored marauders can be disastrous. So they ran free. Sirius basked in his glory. It had all been simple enough. The Babbling beverage was a brilliant idea, but the problem was how to get her to drink it. Finally he had it. A few sweet words, and he had Samantha Stevens playing in the palm of his hand. They had already flirted quite a lot, so it came as no shock to her when he asked her for his help. Mmmmm. Pretty prefects were SO useful. He just got her to take Adell aside, while he, once again, used James cloak to slip Adell the concoction. All easy. It was good to be a genius. Suddenly he felt James hit him in the shoulder, and point.

Well, well. Adell Sanctamonia, blushing and covering her mouth with one hand. They rushed over to greet the poor girl.

"Adell! You should be ashamed! Your cheeks are so scarlet, we would think you to be gryffindor!" called James. Adell, much to their amusement blushed harder. She quickened her pace, but the Boy's legs were longer, and they caught up to her quickly. Adell just decided to ignore them.

"Awwwww. The Transgigureidiot doesn't know what to say."

"Yeah Adell, Hinkypink got your tongue?" Adell violently shook her head. I just need to make it to the infirmary. I just need to make it to the infirmary. She chanted it inside her head like a prayer.

"We are worried about you. If you're not going to make conversation like a normal git, we might have to go find Snivillus, won't we Prongs?" Said Sirius with a sly smile in his direction. Adell stopped suddenly and turned with her face showing a mix of embarrassment, contempt, and worry.

"Bibphrip Wrongth!" She said darkly. There was a beat of silence, and then James and Sirius collapsed into a fit of laughter. James was leaning on a nearby suite of armor for support, and Sirius was clutching his side. James had known what Sirius had done, but nothing was so funny as Adell Sanctamonia threatening them in Gibberish. Adell's face dropped as she remembered that she couldn't speak, and she ran to the infirmary at top speed. She was mortified.

But, maybe it wasn't so bad after all. They were convinced that they won, she was about to be cured, her Transfiguration exam wasn't so bad after all, and her current condition allowed her to skip the dreaded "after test" experience. To her own disbelief, a small smile started to grow on her face. She reached up to her neck, and felt her pin.

A little good luck went a long way.