"So," began Professor Pavor. Sirius and I had run into class late, and were now facing a months' worth of detention together. However, the way Pavor was talking to Remus made me think that we were about to be joined. "If you are so adamant on werewolf rights, what's say your assignment for the end of the term is different. Rather than coming up with ways to kill a werewolf, your assignment must be to rebuff the reasoning against killing them. You must prove to the entire school that werewolves are not as bad as we think they are."

"Not as bad as you think they are," Remus pointed out. The Slytherins kissed their teeth and the other three houses whistled.

Pavor's eyes darkened, "one month's detention Mr. Lupin. I might be taking up all your spare time but that shouldn't prevent you from completing the assignment."

"That's a load of bull. You going to keep on giving him detention to the point where he can't find time to write the first line of the assignment," said Demi.

"Another week's worth of detention. Might I remind you that your last name holds no value in my class Miss Dumbledore."

"Might I remind you that I'm not related to Dumbledore by blood, but I am still smarter than you by a longshot," she mumbled.

"You now have detention with me every Saturday from 5 to 7 in the evening for the rest of the year," Pavor said. "Care to make some appointments for the next?"

"I wouldn't be so confident if I were you. You're a defence teacher. You'll barely last this term, professor" she replied icily.

Sirius nudged her, "pushing your luck love" he whispered.

"I don't care," she replied in the same tone.

Pavor stared at the clock for a moment. The bell suddenly ran and the class was in a frenzy to leave the room. "Mr Black, Mr Lupin, and Miss Dumbledore, your detentions are every Friday from three to six. Dismissed."

The Gryffindors hurried out of the classroom. Lily had already gone to join Severus. Alice and Kiaria, ran right past Demi, not even looking back. Demi and all the other boys slowly sloped to Potions.

"Why aren't they talking to you? The girls, I mean?" asked Frank. Overall, he seemed like the only male Gryffindor that the girls would actually talk to, besides Remus occasionally. Frank was rather close with Alice and Kiaria, so it didn't surprise Demi that he had a feeling something was wrong.

"They're being girls, as usual" Demi replied.

The five boys laughed, "so are you not female?" Remus laughed.

"I think we've already had this discussion," said Demi, smiling.

"But really, don't you think you ought to apologize?" asked Peter.

Demi turned around and faced the blonde, "I don't need to. They were all meddling in things they ought not to have meddled in. Personally, I think things will just go back to normal. Oh, and never try to make me apologize. I'll do so when I know it is my mistake. Understood?" she said.

Peter nodded his head and gulped.

"Good. Now, let's get going before Ol' Sluggy tries to give us detention as well. Lord knows we don't have the time."

An entire month had gone by and soon the students of Pavor's third year defence class had a daunting task in front of them. "You've had a few weeks of notice, and I hope you all choose your groups wisely for this assignment. Remember the maximum number is three." He turned and left the rest of the students in the library to choose their partners and get started on the research portion of the project.

Demi, who was already seated next to Remus, turned to face him, "what do you think we should do?"

Remus looked at her, thoroughly confused. "Wait- you're going to join me in my failure? I know he'll fail me no matter what. I'm not letting your marks drop either. I'll work on my own."

"Oh, come on. He's got the three of us in detention together for the next month and a half. We've practically got a set time to meet one another to work on this stuff. And besides, he sends us off to clean the castle with Filch, who never monitors us. We can just clean the same stuff together, and it'll look like we're doing our time, when in actuality were doing our project."

Remus and Demi turned to look at Sirius, who was smiling at his own brilliance. "When did you get so brainy?" asked Remus, as Demi smiled.

"When I became friends with the smartest in our year," he replied.

"Yeah, I've always wondered how you lot get the highest marks in the year if you never do any work," stated Peter, who sat across from Demi. "James and I will work together. It shouldn't take us too long, just ask us if you need help with yours."

"Should Pavor give you lot a hard time," clarified James.

"My, my, James Potter offering to do something for someone else. It really is a strange day, isn't it?" Severus said, scathingly. Lily was standing behind him, holding a piece of parchment and her quill.

"Yes, yes it is," Lily said. "Oh and good luck Demi. You'll need it. With all those detentions under your belt, I highly doubt you'll have time to do very well."

Demi stood up and looked Lily in the eyes, "I wouldn't be so confident. You've seen how elaborate and perfect our pranks are. A project is no different. The only change is that, for once, we're getting graded for our creativity and imagination. Something you can't find in books." Demi turned around and walked into the shelves.

"Evans, she didn't mean any of it. She's just a little high spirited," he said, trying to minimize the damage Demi had done.

Lily shook her head and walked away. Severus walked up to James and said, "keep the cannon locked down, Potter."

"Furnunculus!"Suddenly a burst of purple shot by James' shoulder and hit Severus directly in the face. He fell backwards and covered his face, which didn't help the situation.

Within seconds, the third year's face was covered in pus-filled boils. The students began to laugh, and Lily walked back to where Severus was laying, and helped him up. She turned back to Demi and said, "Honestly, I thought you were better than them."

"I wouldn't speak if I were you. You hang around with this Slytherin scum day and night, but are oblivious to the fact that all the rest of his friends are mini-Death Eaters. I'm not an amazing judge of character but believe me, I am glad I am nothing like him." Demi turned away and pointed her and at Severus, "Finite Incantatem," she muttered, and the boils disappeared. "I'm not a loose cannon, Severus. I just don't like dealing with your shit." Demi turned and walked away, while the rest of the class began to talk again.

Lily and Severus walked away to the back of the library, far from where the Gryffindors were. James, Peter, Remus, and Sirius walked to where Demi was standing, pulling books off the shelves. "Blimey, what's up with your attitude?" asked Peter, who was looking at Demi in amazement.

"Well, they were right. We need to work on this, otherwise we might not get as good a grade on it. Pavor might hate us, but believe me, when he sees our assignment, he's going to want to kill himself, rather than give us an 'O'," she said, determined.

Sirius and Remus exchanged looks and took the seats on either side of Demi, while Peter and James went off in search of books for their assignment. "What's an 'O'?" Remus asked.

"It's a level of measurement, like a grade. They're used to mark your OWLS," explained Sirius.

Remus shook his head, "OWLS?"

"Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations. Everyone has to do them in fifth year. You have to go to a meeting with the head of your house and talk about potential career paths. Then, you decide what classes you need to take for that career, and the OWLs are tests to see if you have enough knowledge of the course to take a more advanced class," Demi said while looking through a dusty old book.

"And the random letters?" Remus asked.

"'O' is for 'Outstanding,' 'E' is for 'Exceeds Expectations,' 'A' is for 'Acceptable' and that's the last pass grade," Demi explained.

"Then you get 'P' for 'Poor,' 'D' for 'Dreadful,' and –er-" Sirius rambled off before exchanging a smirk with Demi.

"Come on, what could be worse than 'Dreadful'?" Remus asked, laughing.

"'T' for 'Troll'," Demi and Sirius said simultainously.

Remus let out a nervous laugh and looked at the pair, "your joking, right?"

They shook their heads no. Which quickly sobered Remus up. "We ought to get working." They trio spent the rest of the afternoon in the library, not noticing that class was over and they were free to leave. It was only after Sirius' stomatch rumbled loudly that he realized he'd missed a meal.

"Guys, my wiatband feels a little loose," he said, panicked.

Remus and Demi laughed, "you could miss a few meals, mate" Remus said.

"Hey, I miss a large sum at home, I don't need to start losing here either. The feast is probably over" he said, looking at his stomach sadly. He hugged it and mumbled, "It'll be okay. Don't worry."

Demi and Remus looked at one another and back at Sirius. "I have an idea, grab the books and follow me."

Sirius, knowing that food must be involved somehow, threw the books into his bag and looked at Demi eagerly, "let's go!"

Remus picked up his rucksack and they headed out of the library, down the hall, down a few flights of stairs until they were in a long corridor, with a picture of a fruit basket at the end.

Sirius, who was annoyed by the long walk turned to face Demi, "are you trying to hint that I'm getting fat, and I need to lose weight?"

"No, not at all my dear munchkin," she said, pinching his cheek. She walked up to the painting and tickled the green pear. Remus and Sirius exchanged looks behind her back.

"Think she's gone mad?" Sirius asked, rubbing his cheek.

"Without a doubt," he replied.

They watched as the pear laughed and turned into a handle. Demi pulled it open, "wait till you see this" she said, excitedly. She swung the door open to it's fullest. Remus and Sirius were both shocked at what they saw.

Inside, was the largest army of house elves either of the boys had ever seen. They were haling dirty plates away to be washed, preparing salads, and other foods, and putting cooking tools away. The closest elf turned to Demi and smiled, "Miss Dumbledore, so long it's been!" he squealed. He wrapped his arms around her midsection. The two boys looked at each other in disbelief.

"Wait, do you know all the elves?" asked Sirius.

"Well yeah, who do you think I would talk to when I was living here? The teachers were all gone on vacation, the ghosts were, being ghosts, and well, Dumbledore couldn't be here all the time, so I would stay with the elves," she explained.

A few wooden chairs were set around a little wooden table, and one of the elves stood there, waiting for the three to sit down. "What would you like to eat, Miss Dumbledore?" she asked.

"Er, whatever's left from the feast, I guess" she said. They looked at the table, which became laiden with food. A few empty plates, cups,a nd clean utensils were placed on the table as well. "Please enjoy you meal," the elf said.

"Why, thank you Minks" said Demi, before pouring some pumpkin juice out for the others.

"Tis a house elf's pleasure," Minks replied, before disappearing into the crowd of elves.

"So, your main source of socialization was a bunch of house elves?" asked Remus, who was pouring himself some mashed potatoes. Sirius was already digging into his overflowing plate.

"Well, yes to an extent. Why?" she asked.

"Well, it's just weird. I mean, we've all grown up around actual people. You grew up around, well," he faltered off.

"I grew up surrounded by poverty and homelessness in London, and was raised in an empty castle around beings that are supposed myths, and was often carted off to live with my uncle for ten months at a time," Demi filled in.

"Well, it just makes me wonder how you can be so good with people," he finished.

"Well, when I was with Voldemort, I saw the stuff he would do to people, talk to them like they were below his for some reason, treating anyone who wasn't human like an animal, and killing anyone who disagreed with him. I went through it all and promised myself that I wouldn't do that to anyone." Sirius and Remus looked at her, and she instantly regretted telling them that. "Don't even start with all that 'I'm so sorry' bullshit. It was a long time ago and I'm over it. And don't tell the others either. I mean Lily, James, Peter, they all pity me enough as it is."

They ate in silence, the only noise coming from their eating utensils hitting the plates, and the soft thud from their cups being placed back on the table. Eventually, the clock chimed 11 and the trio got up, said their goodbyes, and snuck through the empty halls and back up to the Gryffindor Common room.

Slowly they crept through the little hole behind the portrait and into an empty common room. They looked at one another, deciding whether they ought to keep working on their project , or head up to bed. Remus, made the call. "I ought to go to sleep. Full moon tomorrow," he headed up the stairs and looked back at Sirius, "you coming mate?"

"Yeah, I'll be up in a moment," he said, and Remus kept climbing up the spiral staircase. Sirius held his breath until he'd heard the dormitory door shut. He turned back to Demi, who trying to sneak up the Girl's Staircase, "we've got to talk about-" he began.

"No," she said. "We decided we were going to pretend it never happened, and we've been doing a pretty bang up job until now. So let's try not to ruin it." With that she turned around and headed up the staircase, not looking back.

Sirius turned away and went up the boy's staircase and closed the door gently, trying not to wake any of the other guys up. He got changed and clambered into bed, trying to ignore the numbness in his hands. He tossed and turned for hours and slowly began to realize he was not the only one lying awake. If he listened closely, and made no noise, he could hear the faint tune of The Who's 'Baba O'Riley.' Before he fell asleep he remembered it was he who gave Demi Whose Next? Album for her last birthday.