A/N: Sorry about the delay in posting! Thank you as always to all of my readers and to my amazing Beta! This may feel as some kind of a filler and on one hand it is but on the other it isn't if that makes any sense lol. A little bit more is revealed about Rose's past and about her talents, this is probably the last chapter that I'll do of the first day. Enjoy and I'll meet you at the bottom!

Chapter 7 – All I Feel Is Strange

It wasn't long until Professor Cox had arrived and let the students in. Rose hadn't got a good look at the teacher as she had been thinking as she stared off into space and it wasn't until Remus had tugged on her gloved hand that she had realized that the class was filling into the room. It wasn't until she was in her seat besides Remus that she finally got a good look of her teacher. He was young, his aquamarine eyes sparkled in the bright light of the room and his mahogany brown hair fell in his eyes. He had stubble and he was muscular but besides his good looks Rose could not deny that her Professor was extremely familiar.

"Good Morning class, I am Professor Cox. As I'm new here I thought I would let you duel other students in this class to test where you are in your education. I want you to use non-verbal magic as you duel each other. And I only want you to use stinging hexes and expelliarmus, anything else and you will be eliminated. The last two people standing will duel each other and the winner will get 50 points for their house. Now begin!" Professor Cox said to his students his southern drawl evident to Rose who instantly knew who he was and not just as "Professor Cox"; He was Ethan Cox. He had graduated at the end of her third year but he had been like a big brother to her, he told countless boys – whom had been pursuing her – to get lost. He had been one of her closest friends and she had missed him as she did her fourth and fifth year. She held back her laughter of joy as the realization struck her.

"Be my partner?" Remus asked besides her as he watched James and Sirius partner up. Rose turned her attention to Remus who was watching her now and she smiled devilishly at him as she said "As long as you don't take it easy on me," before she got up and put her bag in the corner with the rest of the other student's bags.

Rose watched Remus as they bowed towards each other; she stood, face forward, ready to duel. It was over in a blink of an eye with a nicely placed hex from Rose to Remus's wand hand which made him dropped his wand. It had been over in five seconds and Rose could see the surprised look in Remus's eyes. She could tell that she had moved faster, acted faster than he had expected and it had cost him the duel. Rose moved from person to person, stinging their wand hand or using the expelliarmus spell to disarm her opponent. Each time the duel went for longer, but Rose was focused and ready for each opponent and it seemed to those watching her that she duelled effortlessly. She could feel herself flowing as she duelled one opponent after another, almost as if she was dancing rather than duelling and Rose loved the feeling of how in control she was over her own magic.

Rose wasn't surprised that she had gotten this far. She gave a hand to the Slytherin boy she had just been duelling to help him up but he knocked her hand aside. She could hear the Marauders cheers for another of her outstanding performance and she gave a little mock curtsy. She felt a tap on her shoulder as she rose back up and smiled softly as she saw Severus standing next to her.

Don't hold back, I'll be fine Sev, Rose thought letting the boy next to her that she was prepared to take him on in this duel. Severus gave her a soft smile and he walked away without saying another word. He turned around when he was far enough away from the girl and Rose had put up her mental wall as she watched him walk away.

They bowed formally and then the dance between them began. They swirled and twirled ducking and avoiding the hexes being fired in all directions. They were running out of time and they seemed to be an even match, it was as the bell rang that Rose got in the last stinging hex and it caught Severus's wand hand making him drop his wand with a yelp. The Gryffindor cheers flooded into the room as the Marauders ran up to give Rose a massive group hug.

"Alright settle down everyone, Congratulations Miss Ashmore and Mister Snape that was a very intense and very entertaining duel. As promised, 50 points for Gryffindor and 30 for Slytherin as you both did exceptionally well. Now everyone best be off to your next class except for you Miss Ashmore, I would like to have a word - if I may?" Rose heard Professor Cox say, Rose gave the boys a hug back and then wiggled out of their arms. Their earlier fight lost in Rose's victory over the whole class. Remus promised her that he'd save her a seat in Ancient Runes. She agreed quietly giving him a soft smile and waited until the rest of the class had filed out of the room before she ran over to Ethan and wrapped her arms around his waist. They were both smiling when Rose stepped out of her "big brother's" embrace.

"How did you know it was me?" Ethan asked smiling from ear to ear. Rose smiled back and gave a slight laugh. "No one could forget that sweet drawl of yours Coxly," Rose said Ethan sat down on one of the students' desks and Rose sat down as well.

"We have to organize a time when you're free next so we can chat," Ethan said to his "little sister".

"We do because right now I have a class to get to. Do you want to write me up a slip," Rose asked, Ethan gave a slight nod of his head as he made his way over to the teacher's desk.

"You always drew attention from my kind," Ethan said as way of conversation to the girl in the room with him. He had noticed the woodsy scent that Mister Lupin carried and he knew instantly from his wolf senses that the poor kid suffered from lycanthropy as well.

"What do you mean?" Rose said confused by her "big brother's" out-of-context comment. He met her eyes as he walked over to her and he held her hand as he gave the piece of paper that he was holding.

"You know what I am Rose, don't play games and I have a feeling that Mister Lupin has a secret that he doesn't want many people to know. Don't go snooping around in his business though, if he tells you, he tells you. If not, just… just be careful, okay?" Ethan said. Rose could sense his distress and told him that she would be careful as he handed her the slip to excuse her for being late to her next class. Rose ran until she had gotten to her next class grateful that she at least had Coxly back if not his whole pack.

Rose made her way outside, she was alone now and she couldn't believe that she had just snapped at James. The others were all still in the Great Hall enjoying their lunch, Rose ran to a weeping willow in the distance and sat down under its shade as she thought back to her fight with James.

Rose made her way down the hall. She had just had her first transfiguration class at Hogwarts and the others were far ahead of her as Professor McGonagall had wanted to have a word with her. It was as Rose made her way to the great hall that she heard a commotion coming down from a dim corridor.

"I didn't do anything to her. I didn't confund her or put her under a love potion. She speaks to me because she wants to, Potter." She heard Severus sneer and it was his voice that drew her towards the group of boys. Severus was the first to see her as he was the only one facing her, all four of the Marauders had their backs to her and it pained her to see that Remus was amongst them as well in James's torment towards Severus.

"You filthy liar. I don't believe you. Rose doesn't associate herself with slimy gits like you, Snivellus." James sneered and Rose couldn't believe her ears or her eyes, this simply was not happening; but it was and they still hadn't noticed her yet.

"Believe what you like Potter but it's the truth, heck why don't you ask her why she's actually talking to me?" Severus sneered again, nodding his head in my direction. That was what had made the Marauder's turn around surprised that they now had an audience.

"I can't believe you James. I thought I told you last night that I won't stand for this bullying. I've told you since the day you started bullying people that I won't stand for it and the fact that you thought you'd be able to do this without me finding out is ridiculous and you know why it's ridiculous! Merlin James did you really think me that stupid?" Rose said with a deadly calm. She could feel her cheeks burning again, her blood boiling inside of her and she knew that her other "freak" ability was coming into use. She couldn't take her eyes off of the boys as they stared at her in horror and she knew that her eyes instead of being a dark forest green like her deceased father's they were blood red like the monster from her dream.

"Rose, your eyes," Remus whispered and she shut her eyes and flinched from the horror and terror that filled his voice.

"I suggest you let him down and then get out of here before I lose it. James you know what happens when I lose it. Please, for the sake of Merlin, don't let that happen," Rose begged. James knew all of her secrets. He knew how her anger could overcome her as it consumed her. He knew the horrible things that happened when she lost control and so she was begging him not to let her get so mad that it would happen. She heard the drop of a body and knew that they had let Severus down and she felt the four Marauders run away from her, James lingering just a moment later. Rose didn't wait around for Severus. She left before he could catch up to her, before he could question her on what had just happened or before he ran away from her, never wanting to speak to her again.

She could feel her tears falling down her cheeks; she could feel her body shaking violently from her sobs. No, she hadn't lost it, but on the other hand she almost had and it was just as bad because they had all seen the worse of her abilities. It was the fact that her mental wall was down from her loss of control that she realized that someone was behind her.

"I just want to be alone Severus, please just go," Rose asked the boy that she knew was Severus. It wasn't until said boy sat down next to her and said, "No Rose I won't go away," did she realize that it was not Severus, but Remus. Rose could tell that she looked a mess but she looked at Remus anyhow, wanting to see him.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that Remus. I didn't want all of my secrets to be revealed in the first day but I just hate it when James thinks he has the right to bully other people." Rose looked at Remus and felt her lips tugging into a sad smile. "Can I trust you Remus? You saw the worst of my abilities; let me show you the better part of them." Remus gave her a small smile and Rose took that as his confirmation. She slowly pulled off one glove and then the other and held her hands out for Remus's whom simply put his hands in hers without anything being said. Rose recreated the image of the first time she met all four of the boys and she inserted her emotions into the image so that he could feel what she felt on that day. The memory ended as she watched the boys walk out of Madam Malkin's and she found herself looking into Remus's topaz eyes. She went on to explain what she had told Severus earlier on that morning after she had sent a message to James saying Come and meet me at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, I want to talk, bring the other Marauders and Lily with you.

"Everything that I can do, Remus, is a curse. I don't want it, but I can't get rid of it. It's a part of me. I'm sorry that you saw me lose control before, everything's worse when I lose control. I can't even control my own mind. It consumes me, the dark magic that all of this was born from. It consumes me and it terrifies me." Rose confessed. Remus only squeezed her hands trying to comfort the girl before him, the more he got to know her, the more he understood that even though she wasn't what he had been expecting, she was still a girl that could keep his secret and love him all the same for it. Rose let out a soft laugh feeling the presences and hearing the thoughts of the others.

"And here come the rest of our small group," Rose said her eyes searching behind her for the rest of the group. Remus let out a slight chuckle as he saw their friends making their way towards them.

"You sent a message to James didn't you?" Remus asked his eyes finding Rose's again and she smiled softly towards the boy.

"Yes, yes I did." Rose replied and then she felt them standing around them. "Take a seat guys there's a lot that I need to explain." She shifted slightly so that she could sit next to Remus while she explained to the others. James, Sirius, Peter and Lily sat down and the group of six made a small circle.

"First things first, I should probably explain to you James why I've been so bitchy today and well yesterday as well. But first, did you hear about what my mother did the night that I ran away?" Rose asked her eyes trained on James her eyes pleading him not to say too much out loud.

"Yea we heard about what happened. We heard about how she killed your muggle father in cold blood and we saw her set the dark mark above the house." James spat, Rose physically flinched from his cold tone and she braced herself for what she was about to tell him. She was trying to ignore all the horror and sympathetic looks on her friends' faces but the looks were still there no matter how much she tried to ignore it.

"Well she visited me on the night before we caught the train. She acted as if nothing happened and then she demanded that I visit her and Prothorow during the winter or Easter holidays. I wanted to kill her, James, but I didn't," Rose said her hatred seething through her words. "I'm sorry that I've been bitchy last night and today and I'm sorry that I almost lost it when I found you guys before lunch," Rose said apologizing for her horrible behaviour, even though she felt that bullying was wrong she had no reason to take it out on her friends.

"It's alright, just next time tell me if your mum comes around or owls you okay?" James said. Rose met his hazel eyes and she agreed.

"Alright. Now that James has forgiven me I called the rest of you to show you what I just showed Remus. You guys saw the worst of my abilities and I wanted to show you the better part of a curse that's haunted me since my birth. So close your eyes, relax your minds." Rose said and waited as they relaxed their minds; it was easy to share thoughts with one person even if their minds weren't relaxed but it was hard to do that with multiple people. "Okay everyone, hold hands," Rose said and they all complied except for Remus whose hand hadn't left hers.

Rose closed her eyes and felt for all the blank minds around her. She drew them in as she found each one and held a connection between each mind. Rose had never shared a connection between six minds at once but she tried to send them a picture of what she felt when she had seen all their concern for her this morning. The image vanished from her mind and she collapsed against Remus still conscious but weak none the less.

"Hey Rose are you okay?" She heard Remus ask as he slightly shook her.

"I'm fine, just tired. I've… I've never done that before," Rose whispered, feeling extremely tired.

"Fuck," James swore but Rose could barely hear him. "I've never seen her so exhausted before. We better take her up to Madam Pompfry." James said, he instructed Remus to carry her to the infirmary because he was the strongest out of them and Rose in her half-awake state felt comfortable and safe in his arms. She buried her head in his chest and breathed in the woodsy scent mixed in with fresh parchment and spearmint.

Remus watched over the girl. He couldn't leave her side. He was worried about her and he didn't know what had happened apart from the obvious. He could sense someone approaching and he whipped out his wand as he spun around to find that Professor Cox had entered into the almost empty room.

"What are you doing here?" Remus asked and he cursed himself for sounding scared. There was no reason for him to be afraid of his teacher, was there?

"I've come to check up on Miss Ashmore, Mister Lupin. How is she?" Ethan asked eyeing the younger boy he still had the wand pointing towards him.

"She hasn't woken up since she fainted. Madam Pompfry says that she'll be fine but I'm worried." Remus replied sorrowfully, turning his head to watch the sleeping girl. He sat down on the bed again as Professor Cox took the empty seat.

"How do you know her?" Remus asked curiously. His eyes never leaving Roses face.

"We went to school together I graduated when she was still in her third year," Ethan replied, he could sense the younger boy stiffening up under his gaze and he sighed. "You don't need to be so frightened Mister Lupin. I know of your secret and I do not hate you for it. Professor Dumbledore told me but even so I sniffed it out the moment you entered into my classroom." Remus's eyes shot towards the Professor who now was staring at Rose but he met Remus's eyes as he continued "Yes, I am a Lycanthrope as well Mister Lupin. Rose knows, she used to be like a sister to me when we were both at school. She knew all of my pack of course and she didn't hate us. She told you of her secret, didn't she?" Ethan said. His eyes had drifted to watch Rose as he spoke of her almost as if he thought that she had heard him.

Remus choked out a 'yes' surprised that his teacher of all people was a werewolf.

"She's not going to hate you Mister Lupin, she trusted you enough with her secret and thus she will be loyal to you. She was always loyal to those that she trusted her secret with, me and my pack included. We were probably the only blokes in that school that treated her as if she was a human being and not a play thing," Ethan chuckled, his eyes roaming back to Rose. He picked up her left hand and rubbed circles into the back of it with his thumb. The man and boy sat in silence both watching over the girl that Remus was now friends with. He used his wand and cast a time spell and saw that it was getting closer to curfew.

"Go Mister Lupin, before you run into another teacher and get caught. I'll watch over her," Ethan said, his eyes not leaving the girl's face. Rose let out a whimper and Ethan could sense that she was in some way aware of both of their presences.

Remus wanted to leave a kiss on her head but decided against it as he left the room, along with the sleeping girl who had occupied a lot of his thoughts since the day that he met her. He hoped that by the morning she was awake and ready for the next day because he didn't know if he would be able to concentrate in class if his every thought kept floating back towards her while she was gone.

A/N: Last week's chapter was "Lion" by Rebecca St. James and it was off of the album "Music Inspired by" The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe CD (though secretly that was not where I first heard the song lol). This chapter's title was again lyrics from a song on the playlist, if you can guess what the song is called, who it's by and where it's from then you get a little bit extra on the preview (of course you have to review to submit your guesses), if you just review then you still get a preview. What did you think of this chapter? Can't wait to hear your thoughts!