James and Lily didn't move for a minute or so, they were just standing in silence while their minds tried to make sense of what had just happened. It was unfathomable. Why would the cabinet glass suddenly smash itself into a thousand pieces? James' mind flickered back to other end of the corridor… Bella. He instinctively ran over to where she had collapsed on the floor. Lily tentatively followed him. He knelt down next to her and gently shook her. Nothing. She wasn't dead, he knew that much.

He looked up at Lily. 'What do we do with her?'

'Why are you saying that like it's our fault?' She asked him innocently. His eyes were dark and stormy, and didn't change when she said; 'Is it?' Her voice shook a little then. James forced himself to put on another expression.

'No, no, how could it be?' He re-assured her. However, James knew that it couldn't have been a coincidence that they were here when this happened. And he felt partly responsible. He assumed that he'd upset her a lot by just ditching her the way that he had, but he had never anticipated that he might have actually hurt her. He thought she was too strong to be so easily hurt.

'We'll have to call someone,' Lily suggested. 'I'll go and get Madam Pomfrey.'

'No –' James grabbed her hand to stop her going. He couldn't be left alone with her. What if she woke up? She'd kill him! 'I'll go, too.'

'James, we can't just leave her in the corridor!' Lily told him strongly. Why did she have to be so nice? James pleaded that for once she'd just pay attention to house rivalry, and accept that Bella was Slytherin and they'd leave. End of. But no, Lily had to be all good about it, and believing that everyone had a good side.

'You go and get Madam Pomfrey then,' Lily told him, gracefully dropping to the floor to sit beside Bella's unconscious body. 'I'll stay here with her.'

'No.' James told her. More than told, he ordered her.

'Well one of us is staying.'

'If she wakes up while I'm gone, what's she going to do?' James asked her. Lily's brow furrowed a bit. 'Exactly.' James added.

'I don't care.' Lily fought back. 'If she doesn't appreciate my help, then that's fine. At least I'll know that I did the right thing.'

James growled to himself. If there was one moment he wished he had his invisibility cloak, it was now.

'Fine.' He agreed. 'I won't be long. And for Merlin's sake – if she tries to pull anything, use your wand.'

'I'm not stupid, James.'

'I know, I know,' James took a deep breath. He was about to say something else, but decided against it, and jogged down the corridor, slowly edging out of sight.

Lily leant back against the wall. She studied Bella, while she had the chance. She knew she wasn't a nice person, or at least wasn't supposed to be. But Lily always said that no one was entirely bad. No one could be pure evil. And she truly believed it. Bella looked so helpless, just lying there, that Lily was certain she wouldn't push away help if it was offered. She was pretty, Lily observed. She'd never noticed before. She had a strong jaw line and cheek bones, and her hair was to die for. Lily supposed that you never see the beauty of people you suppose to be evil, it clouds what you see. Or what you think you see. She touched her hair, letting the small curled ringlets flow through her fingers. She sat stroking her hair for a while, she thought it might help. When Lily was little, her mum used to do that whenever she was sick. It made her feel better, even if it was only in her mind.

Bella's eyes opened suddenly, and even though it was silent, Lily felt a ringing in her ears as she whipped her hand back in surprise. Her eyes were so dark, almost like a black hole into her mind. Bella stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to work out where she was. Her eyes drifted sideways, where she could feel someone else near her. Her hand instinctively tried to reach for her wand when she saw who it was. Lily's sparkling green eyes were staring back at her, and a nervous smile embedded itself onto her lips. Bella had to look around on the floor when she couldn't find her wand.

Lily held something out to her. When Bella threw her eyes back to Lily, she realised it was her wand. As if Lily Evans was actually giving her wand back? Why? Bella slowly took it, as if she was worried it was some kind of trick.

'Thanks,' She said in a whisper, pulling herself up to sit opposite Lily.

'You're welcome.' Lily smiled back. Bella wasn't quite sure what expression she gave her back, probably somewhere between mild panic and utter confusion.

'What? I mean, why did…' Bella shook her head. She couldn't even try to pose a question when she had so many she wanted to ask all at once.

'You passed out.' Lily told her calmly. 'James has gone to get Madam Pomfrey.'

James. Bella's eyes must have changed then, because Lily shuffled backwards a bit, her whole body language changing. Bella blinked and looked away for a moment.

'I'm fine.' She said eventually.

'Well… just in case,' Lily said nervously. 'just to make sure.'

Bella shrugged. 'I guess.' Bella's eyes fell upon the glass cabinet, the shards of glass lying scattered around the floor. 'What happened?'

'I don't know,' Lily answered honestly. 'it just exploded. There was no reason for it, or anything.'

'Sometimes there isn't,' Bella muttered. 'with magic, and all.'

Lily looked momentarily hurt, as Bella seemed to make an obvious reference to her blood status.

'No, not like that.' Bella told her quickly. 'Just… in general. Didn't mean it like… well, you know.'

Lily smiled at her again. 'It's okay. Nice of you to add that though, most people don't.'

'I know.' Bella agreed. It was mostly people she knew who didn't bother. Bella wouldn't usually, but she genuinely hadn't meant it in that way. And after all, Lily had opted to stay with her, and she wasn't being hostile in the slightest.

They sat there in silence for a while, not really knowing what else was to be said. Bella was trying to convince herself that she could still hate Lily, if she really tried. But it was becoming difficult. She seemed like such a nice person, and that was the only thing Bella could find to hate about her.

'Listen,' Bella said finally. 'there's something you should know. I don't know if he told you this or not, but James-'

She was cut short by the sound of footsteps returning to the corridor. She wanted to kick herself. If she'd have started speaking a few minutes ago, rather than sitting there thinking about it, then she would have already said it by now! She couldn't carry on, not now James was back. She sighed and sat back against the wall, defeated.

Lily was still looking at her like she expected her to continue, but when James appeared and Bella shook her head, Lily unexpectedly wiped any trace of that unfinished sentence off her face. Bella was shocked that she'd do that, but played along with it all the same. Madam Pomfrey knelt down beside her, and roughly pulled Bella's face into a position where she could see her eyes.

'I'm fine,' Bella told her through gritted teeth, shaking her head and forcefully standing up.

'You can come with me, just to make sure, Miss Black.' Madam Pomfrey told her, although it didn't sound at all polite.

'How about I come find you if I'm not alright?'

'I'd rather not have to fill in the paper work,' she grabbed Bella's wrist. 'come along, now.'

'God's sake.' Bella muttered, as she allowed herself to be dragged along the corridor. 'Thanks Lily.' She called back, mainly to spite James. The stunned look on his face was priceless.

'You're welcome!' Lily shouted back, a smooth told-you-so grin slinking onto her lips. She raised her eyebrows at James, who was still staring at her like he couldn't believe what he'd just seen. 'What?' Lily smiled sweetly.

'She just… I mean… you did… Bloody hell.' James concluded. Lily smirked and walked off from him. It took him a minute, but he jogged after her once his senses had returned.

Bella sat on the bed she'd been allocated, and refused to use it. She was now waiting for Madam Pomfrey to go to bed so that she could sneak back to the dorms. She glanced at the clock. It was one in the morning and she still hadn't left! Bella sighed.

'You might as well go to sleep!' Madam Pomfrey shouted to her. 'I know what you Slytherin girls are like, won't do as you're told! I'm not falling for it again!' Bella knew she was referring to Lucy.

All of a sudden, Madam Pomfrey stood up from her seat. She had a blank expression on her face, and all the traces of anger had completely vanished. Bella stared, too stunned to move. She walked steadily across the hospital wing, and entered her own quarters. The door shut behind her, leaving Bella wondering what on earth had just happened. She had literally just said she wasn't leaving! Maybe it was a trick… maybe she was only doing it so she could catch Bella making a run for it. But what would be the point?

She scanned the room for a second. There was no one there. Everything was absolutely still, just like before. She smiled to herself. Well, there was no point in wasting time. She quickly got up and sped out of the hospital wing, being careful not to make any noise, and took the first flight of stairs she could find.

Once she was on the first floor, and nothing untoward had happened, Bella knew she was safe. That was it now, she'd done it. Thankfully. Now she just had to avoid teachers who were out of bed for some reason, and she was good to go. However, something caught her eye. There was a light on in the furthest classroom on the first floor corridor. She tried to stop herself being intrigued by it, but it was impossible. She silently took her shoes off and slipped them into her school bag, so she could creep down the corridor without making a sound. She ducked under the window at the top of the door and dropped to the floor to stare through the crack under the door.

James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and her cousin, Sirius Black, were all sitting around a table in the classroom, just having a pleasant little chat by the looks of it. She applied herself a little more to hear what they were saying.

'I don't know what happened,' James told them. 'she just collapsed! I assume she saw me and Lily, then the cabinet smashed, and she was on the floor. It's really strange.' Bella had a very bad feeling they were talking about her little episode earlier.

'That's odd,' Lupin replied. 'really weird. She was alright though, I take it?'

'Yeah, she was fine,' James answered him, although a confused expression was still present on his face. 'I left her and Lily so I could go and get Madam Pomfrey, and when I came back she was sitting up and talking to her.'

'Talking to Lily?'

'Yeah!' James exclaimed. 'Actually talking to her! And afterwards, right, she called back to say thanks to her!'

'Bloody hell,' Sirius muttered. 'that's even stranger than her passing out. She was probably drunk or something.'

Bella inwardly growled at him.

James shrugged. 'Probably.'

'Er, guys…' Peter Pettigrew spoke in his little, frightened voice. 'Look…' The all peered closer at whatever was in the table between them, and then slowly they all turned to stare at the door. Bella swallowed. They couldn't possibly know she was there! She sprung up from the floor, still careful to avoid the window, and pressed herself against the wall behind the door. Should she stay and confront them? Quickly, she made the decision to spring into the next classroom along and duck behind the door, out of sight. She heard them all leave the room next door, all whispering to each other about where she could have gone.

'It said she was here…' Pettigrew mumbled, now sounded slightly embarrassed.

'I know,' James told him. 'we all saw it. She can't have vanished!'

'She'll have made a run for it,' Lupin said. 'we best check near the dungeons, it'll be the first place she'd go.' Bella smirked. How wrong he was. She heard their footsteps trail off into nothingness, before she slowly opened the door. They were definitely gone. She crept along the corridor again and entered the room where she'd previously been spying on them. She saw what they had all been looking at. It was a map. Bella walked closer, so she could see what was written on it. Her eyes widened and stopped herself gasping. It had everyone's names on it she could think of. All the students, teachers, you name it. It was a map of Hogwarts and everyone in it. She saw her own name in the centre of the map, standing right in the classroom she was in. James and his friends' names were all on the dungeon corridor, exactly where they said they would go. She swallowed. This was amazing. It showed all the passageways, too! Like the one Bella had used to go the astronomy tower… where James had followed her. So this was how he'd known she was there. He'd used this map. This was a powerful thing to have in your possession… and devastating if it should fall into the wrong hands. She smiled to herself. She wanted this map. It seemed to have every single passageway Hogwarts had, and with this she could find a way to meet Tom Riddle in Hogsmeade, even when they didn't have visits scheduled. She glanced back down at the map and bit her lip. She'd spent too long in her thoughts. James Potter's little black nametag was now hovering in the doorway of the classroom she was standing in. He was alone. She shook her hair over her shoulder and spun around to face him.

'I see you found our map.' James said flatly.

'Yes.'

'I'll be taking it back now, thanks.' He walked over to her and slowly reached across her to take the map. He took out his wand. Bella's hand hovered over the pocket where she kept hers, should she need to use it. However, James held his wand up to the map, not her.

'Mischief managed.' He knew there was no way to say it quietly so she wouldn't hear, but if she didn't know how to open it, it was irrelevant. Bella continued to simply stare at him, still in awe of the map.

'Where did you get that?' She asked finally, unable to hold it off any longer.

'We didn't.' James shrugged.

'What?'

'We made it.'

'Made it?'

'Something wrong with your hearing? Yes, we made it.' James snapped, stuffing the map into his back. He threw it to the side of the room suddenly, almost startling Bella. He still had his wand though, and he kept it by his side like he was planning to use it. She didn't touch hers, but kept her hand close to the pocket it was kept in.

'Bellatrix,' James addressed her, taking a few paces closer. Bella got the sudden feeling that she should be backing off, but didn't. Inwardly she was disappointed that he wasn't calling her Bella anymore. 'why were so nice to Lily yesterday?' She didn't reply. 'Don't think I don't know. You're just going to lull her into a false friendship and humiliate her, preying on her kind nature. I won't have it, you know. I'll stop you if you even so much as stand near her.'

Bella laughed, she couldn't help it. All that tension there'd been had completely evaporated into one evil cackle. He was just so funny when he tried to act all tough!

'Don't bother, James,' Bella drew breath once she'd managed to stop herself laughing. 'I was actually just being nice. Because, unlike you, your girlfriend seems like a really nice person. Genuine.'

'She's not my girlfriend.' James retorted quickly, almost fiercely.

'Oh? You could have fooled me.'

'Seems it's not difficult to do.'

Bella didn't even bother trying to calm herself down from that low comment. She drew her wand with the light speed that came from nothing but practice, and aimed it squarely at James, non-verbally disarming him. She caught his wand without even moving. He swallowed, realising he'd taken it one step too far.

'You want it to be that way, James? Have it your way, then.' Bella told him, filling the gap between them. She knew what was happening then, and she almost thought she was controlling it. The windows imploded. Just like she expected them too. She was starting to use this to her advantage. James cowered to the floor and pulled himself into a corner. The second set of windows smashed, letting the night sky flood into the room, the full moon directly behind Bella made her hair look even blacker as it whirled around her in the wind.

'Oh shit, oh shit,' James' face was so scared now, Bella could scarcely believe it. He was grabbing for his bag now, which was odd to say the least. Bella turned round, all she could see was the full moon, what could possibly have spooked James so badly? He was pulling the cloak out of his bag now, and Bella now knew there was somewhere he was meant to be. She wasn't having this, there'd been too many secrets. She flicked her wand at the open door of the classroom and it slammed shut.

'You're not leaving until you tell me what's going on!' She shouted it, but all the rage James had unleashed was now gone, scared away by whatever was eating at James.

'I have to go,' He muttered, swinging the cloak over himself.

'No, you don't. Tell me!'

The door opened as James unlocked it from under the cloak. And he was gone, indefinitely lost in the space of the school. Or grounds. Grounds? She slowly walked to the spaces where the windows had been, wondering silently whether anyone had heard the racket they'd made. She peered over the ledge, being careful not to touch the shards of broken glass that were still spiking up from the window. She could make out the outlines of three people way out near the forest… and then a fourth, running to catch them up. She glanced at the sky, just to see a cloud pulling away from the moon, allowing it to throw the full force of its shine upon the castle. There was an almighty howl, and Bella found herself gasping. She couldn't help it, it scared her, and she'd admit that. But not as much was what she saw that followed. The four boys on the ground were no longer there, but in their place was a huge, shaggy black dog, a graceful, muscular deer, something small on the grass… and a werewolf. An unmistakably monstrous and howling werewolf. Bella didn't hesitate, and it was the first time she'd admit she was scared.