Chapter 7: Not Always as Things Seem

Hey guys!

Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed. Opposites Attract reached 1500 views today! I'm ridiculously proud of that. It wouldn't have been possible without all of you, so thank you. Cookies for everyone!

I don't own Harry freaking Potter.

Dear Alyssa,

I heard about Sirius Black's attempt to break into Hogwarts on Halloween. According to Dumbledore, no one was hurt, but I thought I would write, just to make sure. I'm sure everyone was a bit shaken up. Are you and Elena all right?

I was called in for questioning at the Ministry. Before you start to worry, I promise everything went fine. They just asked a few questions about Sirius, whether I'd heard anything from him or if I knew where he might be hiding. I still can't believe it, Alyssa. He was the last person I thought would ever become a Death Eater. Even as a child, he was so different from the rest of the family. I suppose he, Andy, and I bonded a bit over that. He was always my favorite cousin. Then he was Sorted into Gryffindor, and I had real hope for him, that he would turn out right. I was so sure that he would be okay. But something must've gone wrong along the way.

Honestly, I'm a bit worried about him. His betrayal...it just wasn't like him. He was always so fiercely loyal to the people he cared about. Joining He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was something he never even considered. I just don't know what happened to him.

I'm sure Sirius will be back in Azkaban soon, but until then, please be careful, Alyssa. Keep out of trouble. We'll see you at Christmas. I love you.

Love,

Mum

I sighed, looking over my mother's letter for the third time. She hadn't given herself a moment's second to rest since Black escaped Azkaban. I was more worried about her than I was about the mass murderer on the loose.

"What's that, 'Lyssa?" Megan asked, peering over my shoulder. I quickly folded the letter up and shoved it into my bag.

"Just a letter from Mum," I shrugged, hoping I sounded nonchalant. "She's just checking in."

"I love your mum," she grinned. "She's so nice!"

"That's the only reason you come to my house, isn't it?" I teased. "You like my mum more than you like me."

"Definitely," she agreed.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on, then. We shouldn't be late. Professor Lupin said he was going to teach us about hinkypunks today."

Professor Lupin wasn't in the classroom when we arrived. In his place was none other than Professor Snape, his eyes glinting as though he was pleased with something. It was a bit disturbing. Megan and I exchanged confused looks as we took our seats. Across from me, Elena had her hand in the air. Snape sighed as though being forced to do something unpleasant and nodded to her.

"Yes, Miss Michaels?" he said reluctantly.

Elena's cheeks went faintly pink.

"I was only wondering where Professor Lupin is," she said.

Snape's mouth twisted into an unpleasant smile.

"Professor Lupin is too ill to teach today, I'm afraid. In the meantime, I'll be teaching this class. He hasn't left any record of what the class has been doing-"

"We were starting hinkypunks today," Jenna piped up, although she quickly closed her mouth when Snape turned his gaze on her.

"Five points from Ravenclaw for speaking out of turn, Miss Ripley," he said coldly. "Turn to page 394, all of you."

I flipped through the textbook until I found the right page. I frowned at the chapter title.

Werewolves.

I'd read through the book before term started, but I hadn't expected to be studying werewolves anytime soon. What was Snape playing at?

He had us read the chapter and take notes, alternately walking among us and looking at the work we'd done with Professor Lupin, making snide comments just loud enough for us to hear. He ended the class by telling us we were to write two rolls of parchment on how one would recognize and kill a werewolf.

"That...complete...git," I growled under my breath as we left class. "As if I didn't have enough to do already!"

"Talking to yourself, Princess?" came a voice from behind me. I turned around to glare at Fred.

"Don't you have someone else to annoy?" I snapped.

"Not at the moment, no," he shrugged, falling into step beside me. "Where're you headed?"

"Away from you," I said.

"Ooh, cold!" he said, looking pleased. "That was a good one."

"Oh, sod off," I sighed impatiently, quickening my pace. Thankfully, he didn't follow.

The next morning arrived, bringing a torrential downpour with it. Megan woke me up with her singing as she fixed her hair.

"Why're you even bothering?" I grumbled, remembering the first Quidditch match of the season was today. "You'll be soaking wet before you get to the Quidditch pitch."

"Nothing wrong with looking your best!" she sang loudly, making Kathy sit bolt upright.

I rolled my eyes. "Megan, before I met you, I was a morning person."

"You were a morning person until this school year started," she corrected. "You're overworked now. How many classes are you taking again?"

"Ten," I groaned, reluctantly swinging my legs out of bed. "Ten O.W.L.s to take this year. Ten."

Megan patted me sympathetically on the shoulder as I dug through my trunk for a jumper.

Twenty minutes later, we were heading down to the Great Hall. I glanced over at the Gryffindor table, happy to see that Elena was already there.

"I'll see you at the match," I told Megan.

"I'm going to ask Dumbledore if you can switch Houses, since you love sitting over there so much!" she called as I walked away. I didn't need to look at her to know that she was grinning.

"She's awake!" George cried as I reached the table. He moved up the bench to make room for me. I rolled my eyes.

"Good morning."

"Will you be supporting us today?" he asked, filling my plate with eggs and bacon.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "Ravenclaw's not playing today, so I don't really have a preference."

"I didn't hear a no!" he beamed, handing me a fork. I raised an eyebrow.

"What're you doing?"

"You need to eat," he stated, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice. "Otherwise, you're just going to drop."

I snorted. "What are you, my mother?"

He pointed at my plate and looked at me expectantly. With a sigh, I began to eat.

"It's mental, playing in conditions like these!" Elena shouted over the roar of the crowd.

"Quidditch matches aren't called off for thunderstorms, 'Lena!" I replied, equally as loud. "I wish one of them would catch the Snitch soon, though!"

Gryffindor was fifty points up and the match felt like it had been going on for ages. There had been no sign of the Snitch, as far as I could tell, anyway. The wind was blowing the rain sideways, right into our faces. Even with umbrellas, we were soaked to the bone.

"What're they doing?" Megan asked suddenly, pointing to the field.

I squinted. Both teams were flying back to the ground, huddling under large tents at the edge of the pitch.

"One of them must've called for a time-out," I figured. "Holy Rowena, I wish they'd hurry up. It's freezing!"

"Well, imagine how they feel," Megan said. "Out in the storm like that."

Elena and I both turned to look at her incredulously. She was so optimistic and sympathetic. It didn't seem possible.

"Megan," Elena said after a moment. "Are you even human?"

"Erm...I think so," she chuckled, looking back a the field. "They're back in the air!"

Elena and I shared exasperated looks and turned our attention back to the match. They hadn't been playing long when Cedric soared across the field with Harry close behind. I leaned forward and could just make out a glint of gold. I leaned out even further to watch.

"Come on, come on..."

It came on suddenly. A horrible, cold feeling. I couldn't hear clearly. Everything seemed to slow down. And then I saw them. Dark, hooded figures gliding onto the field. I could feel Elena shaking like mad beside me. I tried to reach for her, but my arm refused to work. Those memories, the ones I hated so much, began surfacing in my mind again.

In my dazed state, I only vaguely saw it when Harry Potter tumbled out of the sky.

I found Cedric Diggory standing under one of the tents at the edge of the field. He was covered in mud, but I could see that he had gone pale.

"Hi," I offered.

"Hey."

"You won fairly," I said. May as well jump right in. "It's not your fault Harry fell, and it's no use beating yourself up about it."

"But if I'd known that he'd fallen-"

"I know. I wouldn't have caught the Snitch either. But you didn't know."

He stared at me for a moment, then grinned slightly.

"Has anyone ever told you that when you talk, it feels like a ton of bricks hitting the other person in the chest?"

"Hmm...not that I can recall," I said, chuckling.

"Thanks, Alyssa," he said. "I appreciate your bluntness."

"Good," I smiled. "Come on, I'll walk with you to the changing rooms."

We took our time, dodging puddles and chatting. I liked to talk to Cedric. It'd always been easy, I'd known him since first year, when we'd sat in the same boat the night of our Sorting. But I hadn't gotten much of a chance to talk with him so far this year, as we both had O.W.L.s coming whether we liked it or not. It was nice to catch up.

"Hey," he said as we reached the Hufflepuff changing rooms. "If you see the Gryffindor team, tell them I'm sorry. I did tell Wood I wanted a rematch, but he said-"

"-You won fair and square," I finished. "He's right."

"Right," he grinned. "See you, Alyssa."

"See you."

I continued on toward the castle, trying to jump over the smaller puddles. It eventually turned into some sort of dance that mostly consisted of skipping and twirling and not caring that it was still raining. I sighed and pushed my soaking hair back from my face. It was good to be alone. I'd hardly had a moment to myself since school started. First my friends, and then all the classes, and the Weasley twins.

"Alyssa!" I groaned internally as I saw Fred and George running across the grounds toward me. Speak of the devils...

"Hi," I greeted them.

"What're you doing?" George asked, grinning.

"What do you mean?" I frowned.

"You look like someone drowned you," Fred pointed out.

I grimaced. "Thanks. Why're you two out here?"

"Looking for you," George explained. "I think...could you go talk to Elena?"

"Why?" I said quickly. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's still pretty shaken up over the dementors and what happened to Harry. Scared the living daylights out of her. I think she needs to talk to you. I tried, but I think you'll have better luck."

"Where is she?" I asked.

"In the library, I think. You'll go talk to her, won't you?"

He watched me anxiously, waiting for my answer. I couldn't help smiling at his concern.

"Of course I will," I assured him. "I'll go now."

George sighed in relief.

"Thanks."

I nodded and made to walk past them.

"Princess!" Fred called after me.

I rolled my eyes, but turned around.

"What?"

"Why were you out here, anyway?" he asked.

I didn't see the point in lying.

"I wanted to talk to Cedric."

"Oh."

He looked as though there was a bad taste in his mouth. I waited another second, but he didn't say anything, so I set off toward the castle again.

I found Elena at a table in the back of the library, hunched over a book. Her dark hair was still damp. I sat down across from her cautiously, not surprised when she gave a little jump.

"Didn't hear you come in," she said, trying for a smile.

"Mm. Are you okay?" I asked.

She was silent for a moment, and then she shook her head.

"Not really, no."

I reached across the table and squeezed her hand.

"What do you think about when dementors are near, 'Lena?"

She sighed heavily. "I think about...my parents telling me that if I left home, that was it. I think about those years before Hogwarts, when all my pictures from Will went into the trash as soon as I'd looked at them. Stuff like that."

I didn't say anything. What was there to say? 'I'm sorry?' That wouldn't help. So I just gave her hand another squeeze and let go.

"What do you think about?" she asked suddenly. "When the dementors are close by."

I didn't want to talk about it. But she'd answered when I asked. She deserved my answer.

"I think about Muggle school, when I would accidentally do magic in front of the other kids. How they would call me a freak and wouldn't let me play with them. That time Jonathan Fisher threw a rock at me. How alone I felt." I felt my mouth twist into a bitter smile. "Fun stuff."

We were both quiet for a long time. Like before, there was nothing more to say.

Some parents are prejudiced.

Fact.

Some kids are cruel.

Fact.

They say that we get experience from things that hurt us. That we learn from them and grow stronger because of them. Maybe they're right. But that doesn't make it any easier. It doesn't make it any fun. Elena and I knew that firsthand.

I grabbed one of her books and started reading. She went back to her own book. We didn't say anything else.

We didn't need to.

I rapped my knuckles against Professor Lupin's office door, bouncing on the balls of my feet while I waited for it to open. Just as I was about to give up and walk away, the door swung open.

"Hello, Alyssa."

I didn't doubt that he'd been ill. There were dark shadows under his eyes and he looked even shabbier than usual.

"Am I bothering you?" I asked. "I can come back later if-"

"No, no," he assured me. "You're fine. Please, come in. What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay," I admitted, taking the chair across from his. "You weren't at the Quidditch match yesterday. Or at dinner tonight."

Lupin smiled slightly. He really did look tired.

"Thank you for your concern, Alyssa. I'm feeling a bit better."

"Are you going to be able to teach this week?" I asked before I could stop myself. "Professor Snape is having us write two rolls of parchment on werewolves."

He raised an eyebrow, frowning.

"Didn't anyone tell him that we hadn't covered them yet?"

"He didn't listen, the loathsome, evil-"

Professor Lupin coughed and shook his head subtly.

"Sorry," I grimaced.

"It's fine," he said, and I was sure he looked amused. "Yes, I should be teaching this week. And you don't have to do the werewolf essay."

"Oh. Well, actually, I've already finished it," I admitted.

He looked a bit startled at that.

"Oh yes?" he said lightly, picking up an essay that rested on his desk and glancing over it. "Do you think you could identify a werewolf if you met one?"

"I could," I nodded. "And I have."

He froze, looking up at me slowly. The sheet of parchment fluttered back to the desktop.

"I'm not going to tell anyone," I reassured him. "That's your secret to tell, not mine."

He gave an audible sigh of relief, rubbing his eyes briefly.

"Thank you, Alyssa. I appreciate that."

"You're welcome," I smiled. "And...just so you know, I don't care about that. You could be...I dunno, a unicorn or something, and I'd still think you were the best Defense teacher we've ever had."

He actually laughed at that, a proper laugh. It was a nice, rich-sounding laugh that made my grin widen.

"Careful, Alyssa. Don't want me getting a big head."

I chuckled and caught sight of my watch.

"I should go, Professor. It's nearly curfew, and I have to somehow do my homework and do prefect rounds at the same time. I've got an essay to write on human Transfiguration and Animagi."

He smiled. "I think I've got something to help with that essay."' He disappeared into a room off of the office, returning with an ancient-looking tome.

I took it from him hesitantly. The cover was so worn that I couldn't even make out the title. I opened the cover gently to see the first yellowed page covered with four signatures

"'Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs,'" I read aloud, looking up at Professor Lupin curiously. "Who are they?"

"Four boys who were best friends, once," he said nostalgically. "They didn't write the book, just studied it. It's about Animagi, so it should help you."

"Thank you," I grinned, flipping through the pages carefully. "I'll get it back to you as soon as the essay's done."

Much to my surprise, he shook his head.

"It's yours. Just take good care of it, will you? It's quite old."

I nodded. "I promise. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he smiled. "Now, you had better be off."

I bid him goodnight and left. Maybe if I hadn't been in such a good mood, I might've noticed that I didn't close my bag all the way when I stuffed the book into it.

If I hadn't been in such a good mood, I might've seen my mum's crumpled letter from three days ago, which I hadn't put away yet, slip out of my bag and land on the ground.