REVISED.
In no time at all Defense Against the Dark Arts became Kirsten's favorite subject without a doubt. After studying about boggarts, the third year Gryffindors studied Red Caps, nasty little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever there has been bloodshed. And after Red Caps they moved on to kappas, creepy water-dwellers that look like scaly monkeys. From the constant buzz of students around her, she quickly came to realize it also became the favorite subject for the majority of students save the third year Slytherins.
Care of Magical Creatures became extremely dull, after the action-packed first class. Kirsten really did prefer the more dangerous creatures. Especially when all they were learning now was how to care for flobberworms.
Kirsten somewhat paid attention during her extra lessons, considering a certain professor – who in all honesty didn't have that much grease in his hair as Ron depicted once she got a closer look – would endlessly make her repeat certain potions. She had to admit it was actually fun purposefully doing awful in that particular subject. The man would be absolutely livid with her, and he made it clear he couldn't stand her. So what better than have him stuck in a classroom forced to teach her alone.
But what Kirsten really did look forward to were her extra lessons with Lupin. She found the man interesting. Every time she stepped foot in his office, she was met with a steaming mug of hot chocolate – something he figured out was a favorite beverage of hers after their first extra lesson together. He seemed to be genuinely interested in her as well, like a father figure of sorts. He would ask her questions about herself and she was surprised to find herself telling him. Lupin would continue with a small lecture then proceed with casting spells. Afterwards, Kirsten would tend to stay behind where they would chat further. They weren't torturous and awkward lessons; something Kirsten appreciated.
There was one evening though that she was slightly thrown off guard with the man when she caught him staring. She guessed he didn't want her to catch him since he was flustered when she questioned him. The wistful look in his eyes made her curious though. It was like he was remembering a time long ago. She had remembered his sigh and his words as he said, "You remind me of someone. An old friend, actually."
When she asked him who, he changed the subject and Kirsten knew at that point he wouldn't budge.
Over the last month, Kirsten had also taken notice how often Hermione would disappear only to reappear after a second or two on a daily basis. It was starting to annoy her, seeing as Hermione wouldn't tell her anything even after Kirsten pointed it out to the bushy haired witch.
October strolled in soon enough, bringing along the enormous amount of additional coursework McGonagall, Binns, and Snape assigned her. Kirsten decided that the only way she would be able to finish all this amount of work would be in the library, away from Harry and Ron who were tempting her to do anything other than study.
Upon entering the library, Kirsten noticed Madam Pince staring her down. Avoiding the woman's gaze, she found an empty table and chair away from the woman's eyes while wondering what got shoved up the woman's ass.
It was several hours when Kirsten got around with finishing most of her assignments. While packing up her belongings, Kirsten's eyes wandered around the shelves to see that most of the topics revolved around a specific creature. A werewolf.
Her interest piqued considerably as she looked at the word on a book thoughtfully. She remembered the horrid smelling potion Snape was brewing a couple of weeks ago during their extra lessens, even going as far as having her assist him when she would finally finish her assignment of the evening. A nasty smile graced his lips when he told her that the potion was Wolfsbane.
Kirsten figured it made sense if the man was a werewolf. That would explain his vicious behavior.
Making sure the strap of her bag was secure on her shoulder, Kirsten went across the shelf and pulled out a thick volume. Werewolf: The Life of Old Bartimius Wood.
This would do for a good bit of reading.
Kirsten was a lot happier when she left the library after checking out the book, away from Madam Pince's scrutinizing gaze. She didn't have any extra lessons with any of the professors this evening. Leaving her free to do whatever she wanted.
Her legs led her through the entrance hall and her eyes immediately caught sight of something near the lake. She stopped in her steps to focus on the sight and realized that it was a large black dog, that strongly resembled the one she saw before she hopped on the Knight Bus. She couldn't help her curiosity and she walked out of the castle and onto the grounds, heading right towards the animal.
The closer Kirsten got to the dog, the more and more she got this feeling that it was the dog from that night.
And if it was that dog, then that means she was walking right toward Sirius Black. Mr. Weasley's warning rang in her ears about being careful, but she brushed it off. Mr. Weasley also told her that he knew her mum. And the way that the man looked at her in desperation before the Knight Bus pulled up...
She needed answers. Maybe he would be able to give them to her.
"Carlisle!"
Kirsten's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her name, grabbing her attention immediately. She swung her head around to see Professor McGonagall walking briskly towards her. "What are you doing out here? It's past six!"
"Is it really?" she asked, feigning an apologetic face. "I was studying out here…finishing up my extra work…guess I lost track of time."
This seemed to calm McGonagall, if only slightly. Kirsten looked passed the professor to see that the dog was no longer there. "Well, next time you are out here studying, mind the time would you, Carlisle?"
"Anything for you, Professor," she replied, smiling at the woman. The older witch shook her head at the younger one, and made sure to walk with Kirsten inside the school. "By the way…did you happen to see that dog?"
"No, Carlisle," Professor McGonagall told her. Kirsten frowned at the teacher's straight answer. She could tell McGonagall was being honest, but the woman was old. Her eyes could be failing her after all.
But she does have cat-like sight.
"It was right beside the lake," Kirsten told her. "How could you've missed it? I thought you were like cat-woman."
"You're vision must be failing you then, Carlisle," Professor McGonagall said. "I recommend you get your sight checked with Madam Pomfrey."
Kirsten blinked back in surprise at the professor's response.
"Professor, did you just…crack a joke?" she said, grinning at the woman. Professor McGonagall gave her a look but even the corner of her lips twitched slightly.
Several seconds passed before a sudden thought hit Kirsten.
"Professor, I was wondering whether or not you can sign my permission form for Hogsmeade?"
There was a beat of silence that passed between them until McGonagall spoke. "Carlisle, I'm afraid I cannot. No form, no visiting the village."
"That's not exactly fair. I never had a proper guardian in the first place," she replied, causing the woman's expression to soften just a bit.
"I'm sorry, Carlisle, but you can't go without a form," she said as they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
She knew that conversation was closed.
With that said, Kirsten climbed into the revealed portrait hole after saying the password. She was met with familiar voices shouting at one another in the common room.
"How long have they been at it this time?" she asked the wizard, who was settled on the sofa.
"Just started," Harry replied.
"CATCH THAT CAT!" Ron yelled. One of the redheaded twins went forward and dived after the orange blur, but he fell flat on his face at the attempt. Kirsten nearly laughed at Fred's attempt of capture. The cat instead turned around and jumped in the direction of the shabby looking rat. Before Crookshanks could trample Scabbers, Ron got a hold of his pet.
"Look at him," Ron stated, holding a shaking Scabbers in his hand.
"Crookshanks doesn't understand its wrong! All cats chase rats, Ron!" Hermione said her voice shaking.
"There's something funny about that animal! It heard me say Scabbers was in my bag!" Ron said, while trying to put Scabbers back in his pocket. Kirsten caught the sight of the traumatized rat, which was shaking horribly and struggling to get out of his owner's hold.
"Oh, what rubbish! Crookshanks could smell him, Ron, how else do you think —"
"That cat has it in for Scabbers! And Scabbers was here first and now he's ill!" Ron yelled, marching up to the boys' dormitories.
Kirsten stared up at the stairs to the boys' dormitories long after Ron had gone up. Thinking about the rat cradled in the boy's hands, she frowned slightly.
Wasn't Scabbers ill before Hermione bought Crookshanks?
Herbology proved to Kirsten what an ass Ron really was, to Hermione that is.
"How's Scabbers?" Hermione asked timidly as they performed a task with one another.
"He's hiding at the bottom of my bed, shaking," Ron replied angrily, scattering the beans all over the floor.
Transfigurations was next. All four of them were waiting outside the classroom with the rest of the students, when they were distracted by one of their classmates. Kirsten had never talked much with Lavender Brown or Parvati Patil for several reasons. One of them being that they were rather judgmental in a way. And there was no way she wanted to be with them as much as she does with Harry, Ron, or Hermione, seeing as the two girls were also obsessed with divinations. It's not to say that they disliked each other. It was more of a mutual understanding. They were roommates after all.
However, when Kirsten caught sight of Lavender crying with Parvati comforting her, she was concerned for the girl. Parvati took to explaining to the class the entire ordeal with Lavender's bunny, including Trelawney's "prediction."
To cut it short, Binky was killed by a fox and Lavender somehow knew that a fox was going to kill him.
"You — you were dreading Binky being killed by a fox?" Hermione asked.
"Well, not necessarily by a fox," Lavender replied, looking up at Hermione with streaming eyes, "but I was obviously dreading him dying, wasn't I?"
"Oh," Hermione said. She paused as her thoughts were reeling. Then —
"Was Binky an old rabbit?"
"N — no!" Lavender sobbed loudly. "H — he was only a baby!"
Kirsten gave her roommate a dry look.
"Then why the hell did you dread him dying?" Kirsten asked unsympathetically. "Seriously, I thought this was something important…"
Parvati glared at the black haired witch, who in return put her hands in front of her mocking horror.
"Well, look at it logically," Hermione said, turning to the rest of the group. "I mean, Binky didn't even die today, did he? Lavender just got the news today —" Lavender wailed loudly and Kirsten cringed at the sound. "— and she can't have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock —"
Thank you, Hermione, for making sense.
"Don't mind Hermione, Lavender," Ron told her loudly, "she doesn't think other people's pets matter very much."
Fortunately enough for Harry and Kirsten, at that moment, before another word could be exchanged, Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door.
"Good timing, eh?" Harry muttered into Kirsten's ear. She nodded in agreement and grabbed Hermione's arm to sit with her in class. Ron seated himself on the other side of Harry, who was seated next to Kirsten.
"Can you believe him?" Hermione whispered furiously to Kirsten.
"He's being an ass, Hermione," Kirsten told her. She wasn't as surprised to find Hermione nodding her head. However, she was slightly taken aback when she thought Kirsten heard her mumble "an absolute ass."
Kirsten stared at Hermione, who was no longer looking at her. The black haired witch couldn't trust her ears and instead shook her head. She was sure there was no way Hermione would actually say that. The bushy haired witch would scold her on a daily basis because of her constant swearing.
The bell rang at the end of the lesson signaling the end of Transfiguration class. Kirsten packed up her things when she heard Professor McGonagall.
"One moment, please!" she called out as the class made to leave. "As you're all in my House, you should hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting the village, so don't forget!"
Neville's hand shot up in the air in an instant.
"Please, Professor, I — I think I've lost —"
"Your grandmother sent yours to me directly, Longbottom," Professor McGonagall interrupted before Neville could say another word. Kirsten smiled slightly at Neville. She found his gullible and innocent nature endearing. "She seemed to think it was safer. Well, that's all, you may leave."
"Ask her now," Ron hissed to Harry. Harry looked to Kirsten uncertainly.
"Give it a try, Harry," she said, nudging him in the direction of McGonagall.
"She denied yours."
"I don't have any known guardians," Kirsten told him pointedly.
"Oh, but —" Hermione began.
"Go for it, Harry," Ron said stubbornly, cutting her off. Kirsten rolled her eyes at the redhead, knowing he was pushing Harry only to anger Hermione. Those four words worked on Harry and he waited for the rest of the class to disappear. From what Kirsten could see of Harry and McGonagall's discussion, it was an unsuccessful mission as Harry came back looking dejected.
Kirsten woke up to a brightly lit room, sunlight shining through the windows and spotted Hermione pulling on a scarf. She buried her head back into her warm pillow but no longer felt the lull of sleep, and groaned. She lifted her head to see Hermione smiling at her.
"I was just about to wake you up."
"What's the day today?"
"Saturday," Hermione replied. Kirsten seemed to reply to this new information quite happily as she got right out of bed. As long as she didn't have to go to classes or back to Snape's room for extra lessons.
"Oh, now you get up."
Kirsten got ready in a matter of minutes, pulling on a worn sweater after her daily morning routine.
The two witches both set course down the stairs to meet with Ron and Harry. A gloomy aura surrounded the two boys and Kirsten knew why. It was the first Hogsmeade trip of the year. In all honesty, she didn't mind not going into Hogsmeade. It was already a treat enough that she got into Hogwarts. And she would need the extra time to catch up with her year. She wasn't one for doing much classwork on the weekends, but those additional lessons to catch up with her year were starting to get the best of her.
Especially Potions.
She didn't think Snape would pile her with more work, since he already assigned three papers from her for next week. But low and behold, he held back on her until the very last minute.
"We'll bring you two loads of sweets from Honeydukes," Hermione said sympathetically as the four reached the Great Hall. Both Hermione and Ron departed with the lined up excited Hogwarts students leaving both Kirsten and Harry behind.
"Staying Potter?" Kirsten heard a familiar Slytherin voice shout from the line. "Are you afraid of passing the dementors?"
"You too, Carlisle?" Pansy Parkinson yelled from beside Malfoy. Kirsten had fallen into an all too familiar routine with the pug faced girl. It was amazing the amount of restraint she had when being around Parkinson. Especially in Potions. The girl had taken the liberty of throwing insults to Kirsten. Just waiting for her to snap and having Snape dock off more points from Gryffindor.
Not paying any mind to the Slytherins, Kirsten dragged Harry out of the Great Hall.
"They really don't want to see me angry," Kirsten muttered, looking back at the Slytherins who were all laughing. Pale grey eyes were watching her and she narrowed her eyes at the blonde as a smirk formed on his lips. Kirsten turned around and they made their way quietly up to the common room. She really didn't know who was worse. Malfoy or Parkinson.
"Harry! Harry! Hi, Harry!"
The little blond haired boy known as Colin Creevey rushed over to the two enthusiastically. A little too much in Kirsten's opinion; however, she found the boy's enthusiasm entertaining at times. The second year glanced at Kirsten, and shot her a smile. "Hi, Kirsten!" he added.
"Aren't you two going to Hogsmeade? Why not? Hey —" he looked around eagerly at his friends. "You can come sit with us, if you like!"
Kirsten didn't know about Harry, but she wasn't exactly looking forward to having Colin and crew for company at the moment.
"Actually, we're going to the library," she told the overly energetic kid. Once again, she grabbed Harry and led him out of the portrait hole.
"Thanks," Harry said gratefully. She threw him a grin and waved it off. After a while of mindless walking towards the library, Kirsten stopped and stared at her friend.
"Ughh…Harry, why're you so boring!" she complained.
"Hey! I'm not the one who suggested the library," Harry replied, watching her with amusement. "Do you really want to go there?"
"Not exactly."
The pair turned around and Kirsten nearly pissed herself as she came face to face with the Filch.
"Holy shi —"
"What are you doing?" the caretaker snarled suspiciously.
"Nothing," Harry replied.
"Nothing! A likely story. Why aren't you in Hogsmeade buying stink pellets and Belch Powder and Whizzing Worms like the rest of your nasty little friends?"
Harry shrugged and Kirsten just stared at the man like he was mad.
"Well get back to your common room where you belong!" he snapped, stalking away from the two Gryffindors.
"You should've seen your face…" Harry said, laughing at his friend. Kirsten's jaw dropped at her friend's remark in a mocking manner.
"It was not funny," she retorted, resuming her walk down the hall. Her eyes cast a glance down the corridor to check if the odd caretaker was still skulking around. "The man's a complete loon."
"Owlery?"
"Did you have to ask?"
And with that the two friends walked down the long corridor.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
Kirsten groaned aloud at the sound pounding in her head. She knew what was coming next and tried to prepare herself. But she knew that wouldn't help at all as she felt the pounding fill her head. Then as soon as it came, it went. She breathed out in relief that it passed quickly – leaving a dull pain instead – and it wasn't just for the pain. She realized that the longer the sounds stayed the angrier she would find herself.
Kirsten breathed a sigh of relief that the sensation disappeared and the pain dulled. The black haired witch glanced in Harry's direction to see him watching her with concern.
"Are — are you okay?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, yeah, of course," she told him, giving him a shaky smile. However, she knew Harry could see right through her lie. Even if they haven't been with one another in two years, he's been around her for too long before. And so she decided to tell him. "I don't know what it is," she admitted, "I hear these sounds. Heartbeats, actually. And they're pounding in my head. It hurts too…like hell."
"That's not normal," he stated, slightly recoiling from Kirsten's glare. Of course it's not normal. "How often does this happen?"
Kirsten thought back to the multiple times she would find her head pounding, and nodded her head. "Too often."
Before another word could be said from the two, they heard a voice call for them from inside one of the rooms they passed. Kirsten turned around to see Professor Lupin standing there.
"Where are Ron and Hermione?" the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher asked.
"Hogsmeade," Kirsten replied in unison with Harry. Lupin looked from Harry to Kirsten with a small smile on his face before letting out a chuckle. For a brief second, Kirsten caught that wistful look in his eyes once again.
"Ah," Lupin said. "Why don't you two come in? I've just taken delivery of a grindylow for our next lesson."
"A what?" Harry asked. The two friends exchanged a look of confusion and followed Lupin into his office. In the corner of his room, Kirsten spotted a large water tank and inside was a sickly green creature.
"Water demon," Lupin answered, surveying the grindylow thoughtfully. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the kappas. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, but very brittle."
The grindylow buried itself in a tangle of weeds, and Kirsten moved her eyes to the professor.
"Cup of tea or hot chocolate?" Lupin asked, looking around for his kettle. "I was just thinking of making one."
"A cup of tea," Harry said awkwardly, shifting his eyes to Kirsten. Lupin's eyes traveled over to the black haired witch as well. She couldn't help but notice that his eyes would land on her every once in a while, the corners of his mouth twitching up slightly.
"Tea sounds good."
And with that the man tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam suddenly issued from the spout.
"Sit down," Lupin said, removing the lid from a dusty tin. Kirsten sat down in a chair while Harry slid into a chair next to her. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid — but I daresay you've had enough of tea leaves?" he added, his eyes twinkling. Kirsten grinned at the man's comment.
"How did you know that?" Harry asked.
"Professor McGonagall told me," Lupin said, passing Kirsten a mug of tea. "You're not worried, are you?" he added as he handed Harry a mug.
"No," Harry said. She took a sip of her tea and watched her friend mulling over something.
"Anything worrying you, Harry?"
"No," Harry replied quickly. A little bit too quickly. She raised an eyebrow in Harry's direction and he looked away from her. "Yes," he said suddenly, and put his cup down on Lupin's desk. "You know that day we fought the boggart?"
"Yes," Lupin said slowly. Kirsten decided to keep her mouth shut on this conversation and drank her tea.
"Why didn't you let me fight it?" Harry said abruptly. Kirsten remembered the first day of class with the boggart. Now that she thought about it, Harry never did have a go at it.
"I would have thought that was obvious, Harry," Lupin replied, sounding surprised.
"Why?"
"Well," Lupin said, frowning slightly, "I assumed that if the boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort." Kirsten stared at the professor with wide eyes. Harry and Hagrid pretty much summed it up that many people feared even saying Voldemort's name. And here was this sandy haired man saying it without hesitating.
"Clearly, I was wrong," Lupin continued, still frowning at Harry. "But I didn't think it a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staff room. I imagined that people would panic."
"I didn't think of Voldemort," Harry confessed. "I — I remembered those dementors."
"I see," Lupin said thoughtfully. "Well, well…I'm impressed." He smiled slightly and Kirsten caught a look of surprise on Harry's face. "That suggests that what you fear most of all is — fear. Very wise, Harry."
"So you've been thinking that I believe you incapable of fighting the boggart?" Lupin asked shrewdly.
"Well…yeah," Harry admitted. "Professor Lupin, you know the dementors — "
Knocking on the door interrupted Harry and Kirsten looked over at the closed door.
"Come in," Lupin called. The door opened at the admittance of the professor and in walked the last person Kirsten wanted to see on the weekend. A greasy cape of hair covered the potions master's face as he strode in, carrying a goblet, and Kirsten mentally black haired witch slunk down in her chair and turned her face the other way in a desperate attempt for the man not to notice her.
"Ah, Severus," Lupin said. "Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?"
Kirsten heard Snape set down the goblet with a clank.
"I'm not blind, Carlisle," she heard Snape's voice drawl. She huffed out a breath and sidled herself up the seat, making sure her cup of tea didn't spill.
"Of course you're not, professor," she said, trying her hardest not to roll her eyes or add sarcasm. Instead she gave the man a little grin and was surprised not to see Snape's eyes glaring at her. His eyes went from her, to Harry, to Lupin, and back again to her.
"I was just showing Kirsten and Harry my grindylow," Lupin said pleasantly, pointing at the tank.
"Fascinating," Snape said, not even glancing in the direction of the tank. "You should drink that directly, Lupin."
"Yes, yes, I will," Lupin agreed. This got Kirsten curious as to what exactly it is that Lupin would readily accept a potion brewed by a man, who looked as if he would gladly kill him if given the chance. Her eyes landed on the goblet Snape walked in with. From what she could see of it, in her uncomfortable position, was that it was smoking faintly. She decided to sit upright in her chair and lean over slightly to get a better look.
Kirsten's jaw dropped. And it didn't go unnoticed.
All three pairs of eyes darted straight towards Kirsten as her tea cup fell from her hands onto her lap. The scalding hot tea splattered against her jeans and sweater, and she jumped from her seat in pain; the cup was lying on the soft rug unharmed. However, the hot liquid that seeped through her clothes disappeared. Her eyes flickered up and she saw the reason why. Both professors had their wands out and pointed towards her. She noticed the nasty smirk on Snape's face. That broke Kirsten from her shock.
Her eyes landed on Lupin, who watched her warily.
"Sorry, just a lost my grip," she said, settling herself down on her seat once again. The smirk on Snape's face was still there as he looked back at Lupin. It took a great deal of restraint to not slap the look off of the potions professor's face.
"I made an entire cauldronful," he continued. "If you need anymore."
"I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus."
Snape's eyes reverted back to Kirsten, a glitter of malice in his eyes.
"Remember, Carlisle, you have detention with me today."
"Don't tell me those god awful first years are joining us," she asked. It was an odd moment indeed when Snape looked back at her with a smirk and an eyebrow raised in a what-do-you-think expression.
"Come by my office in ten minutes, Carlisle."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, professor," she replied. And with that, the potions master left the room, not even bothering to dock off points. "Damn it."
She could feel Harry staring at her and she shrugged her shoulders as she caught him looking. He didn't remember Snape assigning her detention in class.
"Caught me trying to stuff Mrs. Norris inside an empty classroom," Kirsten muttered, glowering at Harry as he let out a laugh.
"It seems you made a reputation for yourself," Lupin said, watching her with a smile; however, she could see the worry in his eyes. "Your name's rather popular in the staff room."
Kirsten smiled at that, but it slipped away as she saw the goblet in Lupin's hand.
"Professor Snape has very kindly concocted a potion for me," he said, his eyes once again on Kirsten. "I have never been much of a potion-brewer and this one is particularly complex." Picking up the goblet, Lupin sniffed it. "Pity sugar makes it useless," he added, taking a sip and shuddering.
"Why —?" Harry began.
"I've been feeling a bit off-color," he interrupted. "This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren't many wizards who are up to making it."
Of course there aren't.
Professor Lupin took another sip.
"Professor Snape's very interested in the Dark Arts," Harry blurted out. Kirsten couldn't help the grin slipping onto her face. Does he really think Snape's trying to poison him? She remembered the look on Snape's face as he looked at Lupin and dismissed the former thought.
"Really?" Lupin said, only looking mildly interested and took another gulp of potion.
"Some people reckon —" Harry hesitated, "some people reckon he'd do anything to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts job."
With that, Lupin drained the goblet down with a disgusted look on his face.
"Disgusting," he concluded. "Well, Kirsten, Harry, I'd better get back to work. I'll see you both at the feast later."
"Right," Harry said, putting down his empty teacup. He got up from his seat and glanced at Kirsten, who was standing by the professor's desk.
"I'll be right there, Harry," she said. The bespectacled boy left the room to wait outside for the black haired witch. She watched Lupin as he shifted uncomfortably.
"Kir —"
"Don't worry, professor," she said, winking at him mischievously. "I have absolutely no idea what's going on. And if you want to talk about it, I'm absolutely free for conversation.
"I do have a question though…" she said abruptly, looking at him. She had thought about this the moment she entered the room. Maybe he would know what was wrong with her. Lupin nodded his head for her to continue. "What does it mean when someone hears heartbeats?"
The look of unease vanished from the man's face.
"You're already hearing those sounds?" Lupin asked, eyes watching her in alarm.
"Yeah, but how did…" — she shook her head and realized that didn't really matter at the moment — "it comes and goes at times…been like that since I turned thirteen last year."
Lupin looked at her for a moment before taking a deep breath.
"What you're experiencing is a gift rare to a witch or wizard. And if you want, I can help you…of course, we'll still have to do your extra lessons on top of that —"
"That'll be great," she said, relieved. Kirsten threw the man a smile. "Thank you so much, professor."
And before he could stop her, she left his room to go serve her detention with Snape.
"There you go," Ron said. A shower of brilliantly colored sweets fell onto both Harry's and Kirsten's laps. "We got as much as we could carry."
Kirsten eyed her two friends to see their faces still pink from the cold wind. Though that didn't seem to bother them as she noticed that they looked as if they had the time of their lives.
Okay…maybe she did want to go now…
"Thanks," both Harry and Kirsten said to the other two Gryffindors. She picked up a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and tore it open.
"So what's Hogsmeade like?" Harry asked.
"And where did you go?" Kirsten added. Both Hermione and Ron exploded into a detailed account of each shop they went in and passed by. And by the sound of it — they went everywhere. They went to Dervish and Banges, the wizarding equipment shop, Zonko's Joke Shop, and then into the Three Broomsticks for foaming mugs of hot butterbeer. Kirsten could hardly keep up with Hermione and Ron as they went on.
"The post office! About two hundred owls, all sitting on shelves, all color-coded depending on how fast you want your letter to get there!"
"Honeydukes has got a new kind of fudge; they were giving out free samples, there's a bit in Harry's pile, Ki, look —"
"What did you two do? Did you get any work done?" Hermione asked, looking anxious. Hermione's eyes were trained on Kirsten, who looked at her with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.
"Nope," she replied nonchalantly. "Lupin made us a cup of tea in his office."
"And Snape came in…" Harry added, trailing off. That got Ron talking and Harry told them about the goblet. Kirsten was grateful that Harry left out the detail with the tea cup dropping. Ron's mouth dropped open.
"Lupin drank it?" he gasped. "Is he mad?"
Kirsten's eyes fell onto Hermione, who was checking her watch.
"We'd better go down, you know, the feast'll be starting in five minutes…."
The four Gryffindors tried hurrying through the portrait hole. However, they were a tad slow when Kirsten demanded that she needed to put her sweets in a safe place; claiming that the first years might try and devour them like the barbaric baboons they are. When they finally got out of the common room, they followed the crowd of students heading toward the Great Hall.
"But if he — you know" — Hermione dropped her voice, and glanced nervously around — "if he was trying to — to poison Lupin — he wouldn't have done it in front of Kirsten and Harry."
All three pairs of eyes fell on her. Apparently, they wanted her to voice her opinion. She considered telling them what it exactly was that Lupin drank, but decided against it. It wasn't her secret to divulge.
"Well, I agree with Hermione," she said. Both Ron and Harry raised an eyebrow as if to question her why. "Not like you two get perfect marks. She's the genius."
Kirsten winked at Ron and Harry, who were glaring at her. Her eyes traveled to Hermione to see a small smile playing on her lips. They crossed the entrance hall and went into the Great Hall. Kirsten looked all around to see it decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, and many flaming orange streamers that were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling. The four of them sat down at the Gryffindor table.
"See if I let you copy off my history essay," Ron retorted, grabbing a turkey leg from a platter.
"Oh shut up," Kirsten said, grinning and taking a sip of her pumpkin juice. "I was the one that found you in the corner of the common room copying my essay."
"Yeah, well, it looked a lot like Hermione's," he grumbled.
The amusement on Hermione's face slid off as she looked back and forth at Ron and Kirsten. Kirsten downed the rest of her goblet, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Hermione and I were working on ours together," Kirsten told him before tearing a piece of steak with her mouth.
"Ron. How many times have I told you that —"
Kirsten smiled as Hermione went on Ron about how wrong it was to copy off of someone else's work. Not wanting to bear witness to Hermione going off on Ron, Kirsten's eyes roamed the Great Hall and found dark grey eyes watching her. She smiled at the Hufflepuff and mouthed "hi" with a little wave. Cedric Diggory grinned at her from his seat and waved back.
Ugh…why do the goblets have to magically refill?
Kirsten Carlisle was walking back towards the Great Hall after using the bathroom. She didn't want to get up at first but when she nearly pissed her pants after a joke Fred and George made, Kirsten had to go. And unfortunately for her the bathroom wasn't as close to the Great Hall as she thought.
CLANK!
She whirled around, but saw nothing. Though an odd feeling told her she wasn't alone. She turned back around to see the mischievous face of Peeves.
"I'd run if I were you!" Peeves taunted her. "You don't know what's lurking in the dark!"
"Oh shut up," she snapped at the poltergeist, who cackled away and towards the Great Hall. Probably trying to get into the feast. A rustling sound was looming closer in her direction and she turned around to see a shadow slumping towards her. She backed away from where the shadow stood and ran down the corridor, hoping that was just Peeves playing a joke on her.
The feast ended minutes after Kirsten came back from the lavatory, and the four got up to leave with the crowd.
"The dementors send their love, Potter!" Malfoy yelled through the crowd. Harry ignored him and they followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to Gryffindor Tower. But the group came to a stop as they reached the end of the corridor of the portrait, which was packed with students.
"Why isn't anyone going in?" Ron asked curiously. Kirsten stood on the tip of her toes, reaching Ron's tall height, yet couldn't see anything beyond the crowd.
"Let me through, please," she heard Percy's voice demand. The redhead came bustling importantly through the crowd. "What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password — excuse me, I'm Head Boy —"
However, he broke off on his little spiel and the crowd suddenly grew silent. Kirsten hoped dearly that this had nothing to do with what she saw in the corridor moments before the feast ended.
"Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick," Percy said urgently.
"What's going on?" Ginny asked, coming over to Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Kirsten. The black haired witch glanced at Ron and got an idea.
"Give me a boost, would you," she told him. Wrapping an arm around his neck, Kirsten balanced herself on Ron's hands to see what was causing the hold up. Her grey eyes widened at the sight. "Oh shit."
The portrait was slashed.
"What's going on, Kirsten?" Hermione asked. Others around her gave her rather curious gazes as well. Before she could answer, Professor Dumbledore swept towards the portrait, causing all the other Gryffindors to squeeze together. Kirsten took this as an opportune moment and grabbed Hermione's arm and moved her closer to the portrait.
"Oh, my—" Hermione gasped at the sight of the slashed canvas. Kirsten didn't miss the pieces of it littering the floor. Her grey eyes flitted towards Dumbledore to see him looking at Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying over to him.
"We need to find her," the headmaster said. "Professor McGonagall, please go tell Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."
"You'll be lucky!" Kirsten heard the same cackling voice she heard earlier. Peeves came floating over them looking rather delighted at the sight.
"What do you mean Peeves?" Dumbledore asked him calmly. The grin on Peeves's face faded just a bit.
"Ashamed, Your Headship, sir. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said, adopting an oily voice that was no better than his cackle. He sounds rather happy. "Poor thing."
"Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"Oh yes, Professorhead," Peeves said. "He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in you see. Carlisle over there," he said nodding in Kirsten's direction, "was walking from the bathroom during the feast and must've seen him too, with the way she was running down the corridor. She heard the noises herself and he could have gotten to her too, if she hadn't thought it was me. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."