Yes, I know, you hate me!! but I haven't updated because some of my delightful teachers decided to get me to take my GCSE's a year early so I've been kind of busy!
Oh, and I don't own anything!!!!!!
xXAMBERXx
The next morning dawned bright and cold for the Gryffindor's as they rose quietly. None would admit it but the previous nights events had shaken them all, that is until…
"HEY!" shouted Harry, turning to glare at the bemused Lupin twins, "you never told Sasha and me about your past!"
"Crap" muttered Ember, "I was hoping you'd forgotten about that!" Elliott nodded, his eyes glittering with regret and, oddly, longing. Sasha just stared at them, obviously not put off in her quest for knowledge. The siblings glanced at each other then sat cross legged on the floor, turning to gaze at the raven haired pair in unison. "Well…" they said softly, "what do you want to know?" Sasha rolled her eyes as she shared a glance with Harry,
"Obviously, we want to know about your past!" she pointed out, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips. Ember's eyes seemed to grow and darken in colour as she prepared herself for what was about to come. "we… we…" she stuttered, for the first time sounding less than certain of herself, "we are the children of werewolf, Remus Lupin and the vampire Harlequin, though she was known as Quizzle. They met in Hogwarts and fell in love, because they are both outlaws from the law there was nothing to stop them from marrying and having us. Remus was best friends with James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew." Here she stopped and Elliott continued for her.
"He stayed friends with them for years, and joined the order of the phoenix with them. He truly believed they were his best friends and would always trust him. Then came the time when Lily and James Potter had to go into hiding…" Ember spoke again as the pain and anger in Elliott's eyes shone through.
"It was a time when hardly anyone trusted anyone else and there was proof of a traitor in the group. James and Sirius began to suspect our dad of being that traitor as the werewolf restrictions from the ministry were harsh and Voldemort offered protection for his kind and our mums. When Remus heard about this he left, his rage was so bad he left without another word to any of them. He and our mother left to Italy where they stayed under the protection of our mother's family and the royal court. We moved back to Scotland six months ago when we received our letters."
Harry and Sasha stared at the two brunettes, utterly amazed by their story. Harry couldn't help but wonder if there was something else that the twins hadn't let on about but realised they would tell him and Sasha in good time.
"Come on!" said Sasha suddenly, "we've got to get down to breakfast!" the others nodded and headed down to the great hall. As they entered the gigantic room, they were stopped by Ron and Hermione who looked relieved to have someone else to talk to. It was obvious the pair had a difficult time getting on with each other. Elliott decided to take pity on the studious girl and sat down besides her, indicating that Sasha should do the same, he didn't think Hermione would be able to take both the Lupin twins together for a while and had a feeling Ron wanted to get to know Harry more than anyone else.
Ember caught sight of a timid boy sitting on his own a few feet away from the rest of the first years and decided no one would miss her if she went to talk to him. "Hi" she said softly, guessing he would be a little startled by her sudden appearance, "I'm Ember Lupin, do you mind if I sit here?" the tall boy stared at her then nodded, replying shyly, "I'm Neville Longbottom, but I prefer t be called Nev, if that's ok." Ember smiled brightly; pleased he was talking to someone for a change. "Ok Nev, how are you doing at Hogwarts so far? Do you like it here?" he shrugged helplessly and said "I think I will like it here but I still get lost and everyone else seems to have such good friends… it can be a bit lonely sometimes." The brunette girl nodded sympathetically. It was terrible that no one took any notice of Nev, but everyone had their own group of friends, the half vampire was determined to find someone for Nev to be close to. She knew that her group would really appreciate his quiet nature and sense of humour but the question was how to give him the confidence to open up to them?
Later that day, the twins sat together a little apart from the others who gave them curious looks but went to sit with Ron and Hermione. The Lupin's needed the privacy to discuss their main problem at the moment, Neville. Elliott agreed completely that Nev would fit in with their quartet but thought he would enjoy the company of some Hufflepuffs as well; Susan Bones and Ernie Macmillan were genuinely nice people that were quiet enough for Nev to feel comfortable around. He convinced Ember to introduce the Gryffindor to the Hufflepuffs in Herbology, as it was Nev's favourite class.
That day in the greenhouses, Ember sidled up to her new friend while Elliott – the slightly less intimidating one of the pair- edged towards the Hufflepuffs. He smiled at Susan, guessing she would be the easiest to convince. "Hi" he said cheerfully, "Susan, right?" the pig-tailed girl smiled and nodded happily. "Yeah, that's right" she replied "and you're Elliott Lupin, twin to the infamous Ember Lupin. There's not anyone in this school who doesn't know you!" The boy blushed slightly and grinned; "Yep, that's me." he said and settled back to his work, pruning his hufflepidge tree. The girl also looked towards her tree and frowned slightly. "Hey, Elliott?" the 11 year old turned enquiringly towards his peer, "can you explain this method to me?" the boy smiled and replied eagerly "actually, I reckon you should ask Nev – I mean Neville, he's amazing at Herbology!" the girl smiled and nodded, walking over to where Ember, Nev and Sasha were working, speaking to the shy boy gently. Harry caught Elliott's eye and grinned, somehow the raven haired boy had caught on to what the twins were planning. Ron was standing next to him glaring slightly at the boy, while simultaneously trying to figure out what was happening. Elliott chuckled slightly, turning to give a smile to a bemused Ernie Macmillan and returning to his plant.
After dinner that night the four first years made their way resignedly to the dungeons for their detention with the Potions master. As they passed the doors o the great hall Blaise dropped into place beside them.
"Good evening" the tall dark boy muttered, "am I to understand it was your fault I have been given this detention?" Sasha blushed and bit her lip; causing the other three Gryffindor's to stare at her, utterly confused. "I'm sorry," she said calmly, ignoring her blush and looking straight into Blaize's eyes, "it was an experiment to see how proficient Professor Snape was in the art of Legilimency. Unfortunately he is adept at this art, we must tread carefully." The Slytherin smirked, giving the merest suggestion of a shrug to show the girl she was forgiven, at least for now.
Together the unlikely group made their way down to their potion's master's office, pausing outside the intimidating black wood door. Blaise raised an eyebrow at the others and knocked lightly, immediately the door swung open to reveal the Professor Snape, looking down on them with contempt and, Elliott noted, the slightest hint of fear. He had, of course heard about Severus Snape from his mother and father, and respected the man's talent for potion making. However, this didn't mean he forgave him for what he had said about his father, and Elliott knew the man would soon quail under his sister's temper. The twins were incredibly close to both of their parents, you had to be when you were hated by most others, but Ember had always shared her personality with her father, the generally calm, easy persona that could be ripped apart by a mind blowing temper. He himself was incredibly like his mother with a way of reasoning around potential arguments that left his oppose utterly bemused.
They were given the task of cleaning some old cauldrons for their detention and were, of course, subjected to Snape's snide comments about their parents. Blaise was ignored in comparison, although Elliott could tell the boy was storing any stray bits of information away for further use, he was indeed a slytherin. However the male twin was pulled away from his musings about the extraordinary slytherin by a wave of anger that burst from his sister as she wheeled around to face her potions master. "What did you just say?" she hissed furiously, and Elliott saw Snape shrink back slightly, "What exactly did you say to me?" the sallow man cleared his throat and replied with distain (and a hint of fear) "I merely asked whether or not your father had found any work. I fail to see how such a general question could cause any offense. And I would remind you to address me as sir." The pre-teen's eyes burned with an odd luminosity as she smiled horribly – her teeth appearing to grow as she zeroed in on her prey. "I think." She said in an aura of awful serenity, "I think you would do well to forget this incident ever happened, after all, the vampiric royal court doesn't take kindly to the youngest heir to the throne being threatened. And we hold on to grudges for a long time, I can assure you." Her form seemed to shrink back to normal size and she tilted her head to one side "well? Have we finished our detention?"She asked sweetly, not waiting for an answer before turning to the door and gesturing for the others to follow her out. Once two floors up the brunette stopped and looked enquiringly at the wary expressions on her friend's faces. When Sasha dared to ask if she was feeling ok, she laughed out loud. "Of course I am silly! I just decided you and Harry had had enough of being bullied, I promise you he won't try anything for a while now." The others gaped at her in amazement before Harry pulled her into an impromptu hug and continuing on to the Gryffindor common room, closely followed by his god –sister. Blaise said goodbye, turning to the Slytherin dungeons, but not before hearing Elliott whisper to his twin "good acting Emz, but you can't fool me. Would you really have invoked the royal court of justice? I thought you had renounced your ascension to the throne." Hanging back the quiet Slytherin just caught the murmured response by the female Lupin "we'll talk later Elliott, for now we must ensure Blaise's silence it would seem." Wheeling the dark boy turned to see both twins less than a foot away, staring at him with raised eyebrows, he gulped and smiled at them nervously
"I guess we need to talk then."