Warning/Disclaimer: Alright guys, hold onto your hats, socks and other clothing parphenelia. I strongly suggest setting aside any beverages or foodstuffs, and using the loo before reading this. It's highly amusing, and we can't be held responsible for any liabilities.

Oh, and we don't own anything but the usual.

Chapter 14:

Just That Good

"We got it!"

Bridget blinked up at James, frowning at him. He was waving several parchments in the air, and had a wide smile on his face. She wondered idly where his glasses were and why he wasn't wearing trousers. Then she glanced at the clock and realized that it was already four in the morning. She'd pulled an all-nighter. Bugger.

"Isn't that what you were wearing yesterday?" James asked.

"Perhaps," she allowed. Luckily, he only seemed to be half-awake and it was easy enough to distract him. "What, exactly, do we have?"

He blinked, his eyes somehow looking bigger without his glasses. "Huh?"

"Your, um," she gestured at the papers, "your stuff."

"Oh, right." He handed the papers to her, and she quickly read them as he spoke. "We got the responses for our interview requests. Five yeses, as long as we maintain their anonymity."

"Really?" Bridget finished reading the last letter and smiled up at James, who was looking quite proud of himself. "This is so awesome. Their requests for times don't even interfere with each other. We can actually do this."

"Well..." James sat on the arm of her chair, somehow taking up most of the space from his perch. "The first interview is when we're supposed to meet with Mr. Longbottom, but I can do that on my own, say something about protecting your identity, and we should be fine. Sirius can go with you. Have you figured out what your super secret spy name will be?"

Bridget tried not to giggle, managing to suppress it to a mere smile. She regretted ever explaining James Bond to the boys; she should have known that it could only have bad results. "First of all, I'm not a spy; I'm a journalist." James made a vaguely negative sounding noise that she ignored. "Secondly, yes, I did. J. Gryphons. Nickname initial and a different spelling of my last name. Since everyone will already be under the impression I'm of-age, I'm pretty well protected." She gave James a bright smile. "If anything, they'll assume that I'm you."

"Me?" He looked quite befuddled.

"Yup. You see, your father set it up, there's that "J" bit and you are the quintessential Gryffindor, so "Gryphons" isn't completely out of the question. Of course, then they'll read it and know it couldn't possibly be from you."

"That bad, huh?"

"In your dreams," she muttered with a smile.

He grinned, pulling her out of the chair with one move. "C'mon, let's wake up Sirius."

"All right." Bridget let the boy guide her out of her room. "Wait, one question first. Why aren't you wearing trousers?"

"I'm wear--" There was a pause as James frowned down at himself. "Huh. I knew I was forgetting something. We should probably stop off and let me put something on."

"Good idea," she responded, nodding decisively. "We don't want Sirius to kill you because you weren't attired correctly."

Sirius was going to have to thank James. Bridget had effectively avoided him for days, but she wasn't even being jumpy around him now. Of course, that might be because she was too busy being nervous about interviewing this Corriana Sadia person. He watched as she tugged at the hem of her shirt, smiling up at him when Sirius took her hand and held it as he knocked on the door. She moved closer to him, half hiding behind him with her small hand on his bicep.

Things were starting to look up.

The door opened, revealing a young woman with a nice smile. She couldn't be much older than they were, with short, black hair (aside from the one silver lock that lay against her forehead) and amused hazel eyes. She kinda reminded him of what a Potter girl would look like. With neater hair. Her eyes focused on Sirius and he felt his stomach drop. He recognized the look on her face, and it didn't bode well for him.

"Mr. Potter?" she asked. He tried not to laugh from surprise. It was the first time he'd ever been mistaken for a Potter.

"No. I'm Sirius Black. James is arranging the final details with the Prophet." And it was so nice to have her not recognize his name and give him that expectant look, like he was going to hex her for existing. He pulled Bridget further forward. "And this is Jet Griffins, she'll be writing the piece."

"I'm Corrie," she introduced. Her accent was similar to his girl's, and Sirius wondered if they were from the same area. "Why don't you come in?"

Bridget did not like this woman, and, even worse, she didn't like why she didn't like the woman. Corrie Sadia was a bloody flirt, and it irked Bridget that she'd probably like the older woman if she wasn't making eyes at Sirius. She watched as the woman responded to her question with an unfair amount of charm and ended up with her hand on Sirius's knee, and tried not to glare at the offending limb.

"Greyback's known for turning people for a reason," Bridget continued, still trying to ignore the situation. "Was there a reason why he turned you instead of just killing you?" She winced, smiling apologetically. "I apologize for being so blunt."

"It's all right. I'm, um, a sociology and psych major, and I was doing a paper on the effect discrimination has on the discriminated group, including possible degeneration of the group to the stereotypes. One of your..." she trailed off, frowning, "those people who do your police work."

"Aurors."

Corrie shot her a grateful smile and Bridget felt herself unwillingly warming up to her. Then the woman's eyes drifted back over to Sirius again and the chill descended. "Yes, one of your Aurors was using it to prove that werewolves really are dangerous all the time rather than just at the full moon, which is not what my paper supported, but... you know... the devil can quote scripture for his purposes."

The tension between the two of them began to lessen as the day wore on. Kagumi actually felt well enough to get up, and she walked around the room a bit before getting too tired and Remus had to help back to the bed; he stoically ignored the way she snarled at him for fussing over her, but she'd seen the slight upturn at the corner of his lips. It was almost enough to make her warm up to him.

Two days passed in this manner, before Kagumi woke up and realized that she'd finally awoken alone and without any pain from her ribs. I should be healed by now, right? Cautiously, she put her feet on the floorboards and grabbed her wand from the bedside table. An evil grin stretched her lips as she padded through the hall towards the guest room, where Remus was sure to be sleeping. As she mentally ran through a previously prepared list of spells in her head, she waved her wand and muttered a few charms, setting up for one of the funniest mornings of her life...

"What are you doing?"

Bridget jumped, her pen drawing a heavy line across the pages of her composition book. Well, at least she could still read what she had written. She closed the book and smiled at the two boys.

"I'm writing outlines for the article."

James and Sirius exchanged amused glances. It was odd, but not outside the realm of possibility with her. "In the closet?" Sirius asked.

"Um," she felt her face heat up, "yeah. I didn't want Gumi to find me and it's quiet here." Sirius sat down next to her. After sighing heavily, James joined him, closing the closet door before he sat. "What are you guys doing?"

"We were looking for you," James replied, leaning against the door and stretching out with his feet propped on Sirius's knee until Sirius pushed them off. "Wanted to see how you were getting on with the writing."

"It's going well enough," she said. She clipped the pen to the notebook. "I finished the intro and outlining Corrie's piece, although I have to owl her with a couple of questions. I'm about halfway through outlining Ms. Bulle's piece, but with the extra notes she gave me I won't have to owl her."

"Can we read it?"

Bridget snapped the notebook shut, holding it tight to her chest with both hands as she gave Sirius a scandalized look. "No! I'm not done."

"Come on," Sirius reached for the book and she jerked away from him, glaring. "I won't laugh."

"No."

"Bridget," he whinged. He tried to reach behind her to get at the book.

"Sirius!" she yelped when his fingers brushed her side and tried to suppress a giggle. Bridget had been pretty diligent so far and they hadn't found out just how ticklish she was, but she could tell from the look in his eyes that the ruse was up. Uh oh. "Don't you dare," she warned. She could feel the dread settle in her stomach, only getting worse when his grin widened.

"Don't I dare what?"

Bridget backed away, but it was still a closet and she didn't really have anywhere to go when he pulled her closer. Lighting his own wand, James grabbed the notebook from where she had discarded it in her attempts to ward Sirius off, and opened to the first page, ignoring the laughter from the couple. The page was a little messy and strewn with corrections in bright red ink, but he could make it out easily enough. Bridget hadn't been exaggerating; she really was good. Even the first draft (except for the parts that had such heavy lines drawn through them he couldn't read them) was better than anything he could have done in a couple of days.

James looked up, over the book and sighed. "If you two want some privacy I can leave." He waved the notebook. "It's good, Jet."

"Really?" She really sounded nervous as she absent-mindedly pushed past Sirius and sat next to James, flipping the book open to one of the pages. She leaned closer, pointing to one of the heavily edited passages. "I wasn't too sure about that; it seemed a little too pathos. Bathos, even."

"No, not at all. Just the right amount of emotional appeal."

Bridget made a vague noise and James let her take the book from his hands, closing his tired eyes for a few seconds. "And if I..." she muttered. He opened his eyes and jerked violently awake; Sirius was glaring at him so hard he looked like he was trying to kill James with his mind. James didn't understand why, though. It's not like Sirius had really been doing anything with Bridget. He'd just been... oh. He'd been straddling her while she tried to wiggle away, and now she was practically hanging off of James's shoulder. Bugger.

Bridget made another soft sound and stood up, head buried in the book and pen in her mouth. She patted him on the head (which in and of itself should have clued Sirius into the fact that she was not interested in James) and left the closet. She was obviously already in her own world as she closed the door behind her, immersing the boys in darkness.

Simultaneously, Sirius grinned and James turned white; this was the perfect environment for revenge.

Bridget had gone missing again. Kagumi wasn't sure where she'd disappeared to, but she knew that she would prefer for her friend to see the results of her spellwork; and she hadn't even had a disaster. She was halfway down the hall when she realized that there were strange sounds coming from the closet a little further up. Hesitating only a moment, Gumi took a deep breath (you never knew what was going to happen in the Potter household) and opened the door.

Sirius and James tumbled out, wrestling for at least a minute before Kagumi decided that enough was enough. She cleared her throat and the boys froze. At least they looked good, with their rumpled clothing and mussed hair. Actually-- Kagumi swallowed harder than normal, and fixed her mind elsewhere-- they looked a little too good, which was weird in its own way. She thought of Sirius as a brother and playmate and James as a friend, nothing – she pointedly ignored the grunts as James tried to throw Sirius off – more.

She wondered briefly how Jet would react, and decided to ignore the situation all together. It was only when she raised one eyebrow that her old fan-girl mind kicked in, and she briefly thought of all the strange slash she'd read as a Muggle. Sirius (who had James's hands pinned over his head and was straddling him in a manner that most would see as much more than friendly) grinned up at her, thankfully distracting her; she could feel her face getting red.

"Hey, Gumi. Is there something--" He was interrupted as James tried to throw him off again and almost succeeded; Sirius's bigger frame seemed to be helping him. "Is there something we can help you with?" Kagumi decided it was best not to mention their... predicament.

"Have you seen Jet?" she asked instead, voice carefully calm.

"Yeah," James said. "We were just with her."

It took exactly 12.2 seconds for Kagumi to process that. "In the closet? All of you? Doing wha-- nevermind." She probably didn't want to know.

James flipped Sirius over, switching their positions. "Do you want us to help you look for her?"

"Um... no. I think I'll check the room." Quickly, Kagumi fled the little hallway, listening to James and Sirius grunt as they presumably flipped positions again. Once far enough, she leaned against the wall and dissolved into helpless giggles.

Kagumi slid back into bed, motioning Jet to get in the corner. Confused but willing to try nearly anything once, Jet did as she was bade and watched Kagumi prepare herself to call on long-rusty acting skills. The girl took a deep breath. "Oy, Lupin!" she yelled down the hallway. A startled yell, and she heard three pairs of feet thundering down the hall. Sirius was first into the room, with Remus following closely. James came at a more leisurely pace, still yawning.

Sure enough, the spells had taken effect and he'd never noticed. In what had become known as Marauder Sign Language, Kagumi told Sirius and James to look at Remus. Both boys turned around to look at their friend and did a double take. Remus had put his feet on the floor, setting off charms which basically changed his coloring from pale tan to Gryffindor Tartan. Red covered his entire body, with differently sized golden stripes running throughout that matched his eyes perfectly. James's eyes went wide; he seemed abruptly awake.

Jet clasped her hands over her mouth, and looked at her friends. Kagumi kept a carefully straight face, and Sirius was the first to blow it. He let out a gasping burst of air, followed by his distinctive barklike-laugh. James tried not to snigger, and lost spectacularly. Later, Kagumi couldn't decide which bit of the day was funnier, whether it was Mrs Potter dropping her knitting when the five of them walked through the halls, or whether it was the enchanted mirror on the second floor landing, which had screamed shrilly when Remus passed it.

Then there had been the small House elf riot when they'd detoured through the kitchen, avoiding the clouds of purple gas spilling from Mr. Potter's workroom. ("Dad, you okay?" "Fine, fine. Just a little stained.") When they'd passed through, three of the Elves had screamed out, "Gryffindor!" and latched onto Remus's legs with surprising strength and determination.

And he never caught on. Amazing...

Remus trudged into the bathroom, preparing to brush his teeth. Running through the day in his head, he noticed a slight peculiarity to his friends' behavior, but ignored as the giddiness which generally accompanied the end of summer. He rinsed, and went to spit into his sink when his eyes widened. Why, that sneaky little witch... he thought, half amused and half horrified.

I'll get her for this...

Kagumi awoke rather abruptly the next morning, as if disturbed by something. As soon as she went to sit up, a little hatch came open in the ceiling over her bed. A sign came flying at her face, and only when it had bounced back on it's bungee cord was she able to read it, trying to catch her breath: Messer Moony would remind Miss Pheonix that unless she wants to start a prank war, she should keep her charms to herself. Kagumi smiled dryly; apparently, he didn't know the double meaning there. She tugged a little on the sign, noting that her fingers couldn't quite touch the wood the sign seemed to be made of.

"Cushioning Charms? That's the best you can do, Lupin?" she muttered, turning the sign over and yanking it from the bungee with one violent jerk. "Oh, it's on now..." she said fiercely, relishing the challenge. After all, it was she who'd taught her brothers the art of pranking. And a prank war seemed to be the best way to celebrate her newly recovered health. Smiling, she crept down the hall and began laying another trap.

Peter ducked to the side as Kagumi hurried past him, followed at a much slower pace by a cautious Bridget and Sirius. Bridget gave him a blinding smile. "Ready to go, Pete?" she asked. She stowed a book away in a knapsack and stuck a pencil in her ponytail, before taking out her shoes with her free hand.

"James isn't coming?"

"Nope," Sirius responded. "Neither am I." And he wasn't happy about it, either, but Mrs. P needed his help and they couldn't reschedule. He watched as Bridget started hopping away, attempting to put her shoes on without sitting down. When she was far enough away, he pulled Peter slightly further away. "Keep her safe, Wormtail."

Peter jerked away from Sirius. He'd seen what she was capable of; she was much more powerful than he was. "What?" he squeaked. "Jet can take care of herself better than anything I could manage." They both looked over at Bridget, who was pulling herself out of a box she'd stumbled into. Sirius gave Peter a pointed look, and Peter swallowed. "Okay. I'll make sure she gets back."

Sirius clapped him on the shoulder. "That's a good man, Pete."

Bridget made her way back to them, still smiling, although her hair was slightly mussed now. "Okay, I'm good. Let's go."

"Um..." Peter glanced at Sirius, who nodded, gray eyes dark. The three of them walked away from the Potter property. "Yes. Yeah. Sure. Do you know how to Apparate?"

"Nope."

She held out her hand cheerfully, and, after a second Peter took it in his. The last thing he saw before he Apparated was Sirius's frown. He hoped he wouldn't splinch them.

"Mr. Peter! Mr. Peter!" A little girl with blond pigtails crashed into Peter, hugging him around his knees. She looked up, blue eyes wide and a huge smile on her face. "Hi." She beamed up at him, and Bridget could practically see his heart melt.

"Hi, Amiah." He gestured at Bridget. "This is my friend, Jet. Do you think you can answer her questions?"

Amiah nodded shyly, shifting her grip from Peter's knees to his hand as she led them past her mother and into the cozy living room.

Remus sat on the side of his bed, still getting used to the information that Sirius had given him.

"Remus, you really need to be nicer to her," Sirius said in a low, urgent voice.

"Are we going to go over this again, Padfoot?"

"Until it either sinks in or I have to pound it in, then yes, we will go over it as much as needed." His cheerful manner was completely at odds with the threat.

"Sirius, I..." Remus faltered, unsure of how he felt about the surprising girl.

"Well, let me put it to you this way: Not only does she accept you for who and what you are--"

"I know that!" Remus snapped, tired of hearing about it.

"But that girl actually stayed by your bedside for two days. Two days, Rem. She cared for you, sat by you, and did everything she knew of to try and make you better." Sirius finished, his eyes entirely too somber.

"She what?" Remus whispered, mortified. He hadn't done anything to deserve such treatment from her. Sirius has to be wrong, he thought wildly. There's no way...

"She cried over you, Remus. She was the one first out the door to hunt for you, after telling off the Headmaster. Then she went against her morals and nearly killed someone for you. So think about that before you decide whether or not she's worth trusting." Without another look, Sirius turned back to the girl's bedside table.

Several things were clicking into place in Remus's mind. He vaguely remembered his wild dreams in what he called The Abyss. He remembered following a pair of grey-green eyes and a woman's sorrowful voice calling him along the twisted, hidden paths in that madness. And it wasn't until Sirius told him what she'd done that he'd realized that those Eyes and that Voice all belonged to Kagumi. And as he'd woken up this morning, he'd remembered the first time he woken up, to her sleeping on his chest, one hand curled protectively on his cheek.

And Remus Lupin had realized how very wrong he'd been.

When Richard Lionel talked he sounded like a pompous fool. Of course, he wasn't, having been the only person (until James and Sirius) to best Minerva McGonagall in Transfiguration O.W.L. numerical scores, but he was wealthy and old-fashioned and he sounded idiotic. Sirius grinned to think of what Kagumi and Remus, with their razor-sharp wits, would make of him, and then decided that the guy couldn't be all that bad. At least he cared about his wife, who had been there for a few moments when they first arrived, then disappeared into the library adjacent to Lionel's study. He looked fondly after her, before returning to the group waiting for him.

"I'm sorry," Lionel blinked at them. Bridget stopped tapping her pen against the closed notebook. "I don't believe I've gotten your names."

James-- their fearless leader-- took over. "This is Bridget Griffins and Sirius Black, and I'm James Potter."

"Really? Are you the same Potter and Black who transfigured that dragon replica in Minnie's class two years ago?"

James and Sirius exchanged looks. 'Minnie?' Sirius mouthed.

"Um, yes, that was us."

"Splendid! I wanted to ask you a few questions about that."

Fifteen minutes later, Bridget stood and wandered into the library. The conversation Lionel was having with her boys didn't seem like it would end any time soon, and the interview itself could wait; exploring the house seemed much more interesting at that point. She ran her fingers along the books, most of which seemed to be in Latin, at least in that section. There was a loud bang from the study and she cautiously looked towards the room; there didn't seem to be any screaming or signs of distress.

"Miss Griffins?"

Bridget spun around, flushing red when she realized she'd walked in on the room Mrs. Lionel was using. She was a small, older woman with a kind face and soft-spoken nature. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

"No, you're not intruding." Mrs. Lionel gave her a sympathetic smile. "Which one is yours?"

"The boys? Um... neither. We're just friends."

"Ah. I understand. It can be hard sometimes... being with a lycanthrope."

"What?" Bridget turned away from the room. "James and Sirius aren't-- It's our other..." She trailed off. "You're right; it is hard. Would you mind answering a few questions?"

Kagumi crept back a few inches to study her handiwork when she heard footsteps and realized that Remus must've woken up early. Oh, bollocks, she thought, trying to decide which way to go. Before she could turn, the door had swung open and triggered her first charm.

"Ah!" both victims yelped, icy water cascading down both of their necks.

"Dammit, Lupin, you weren't supposed to wake up yet!" she stomped angrily, wringing out a braid that looked to be the width of Remus's arm. He shivered, feeling the water still trickling from his hair. He resisted the urge to shake his head like a dog, as he'd seen Sirius do so many times, and settled for wiping his eyes clear of the freezing water.

"T-T-That's cold," he stammered.

"Nah, I thought it was a nice, warm temperature," she said acidly, turning to walk away, trying to remember where she'd set the other two charms. He followed, triggering both charms in succession, grunting in disgust. When she'd finally fled to her room, she tried to shut the door, but found his foot in the way. CRUNCH.

"Ow," he said softly, eyes watering. "Can you just wait for one bloody minute? Or do I have to break my other foot in order to get you to talk to me?"

"What do you want now?" she shot back, still clearly irritated that her pranks had been ruined. He slipped his hand through the gap in the door and caught her arm. She spun around, intending to rip her arm out of his tight grip when he startled her by asking one of the questions she didn't want him knowing the answer to. Anger, she decided, was the best reaction; it was the one they all expected. Well, more like irritation. Fond irritation. Ah, dammit...Knee deep, and sinking fast...

"Did you really almost kill someone?"

Kagumi went stock still, breathing stopping for a moment. He could smell fear in her scent, but it wasn't what he expected. She thinks I'm going to hate for her answer...Why?

"You really want to know?" she asked softly, shoulders squared.

"Yes," he answered, worried about what could be scaring her.

"I won't sugar it up, and say that I did it for noble reasons. I can't. I can't pretend that I did it for that little girl, or the rest of those people," she warned. At his cautious nod, she continued. "When I saw what they'd done to you, when I saw the extent of your injuries and the way I could barely find a pulse beneath my fingertips, I... I lost control. I carried you out into the hallway, just like a sack of potatoes, and then the next thing I remember was having Sirius bodycheck me to the floor, wrestling my dagger out of my hand." She finally met his eye, and he saw the mirror of his own struggle each month. She's afraid of her dark side, he thought absently as she eased the door open to free his foot.

"I expect that you know a bit more than I do about having a part of you that you're terrified of, but it's something that scared me. I haven't lost control like that, ever," she muttered, sitting on the bed. He opted to lean against the doorframe, thumbs in his pockets. She snorted mirthlessly. "You know, that really only works for Sirius, and sometimes James."

"What?" She had a way of jumping from topic to topic that was astounding, when he recalled the few conversations they'd had. Of course, he'd noticed that Bridget tended to do the same thing; maybe it was an American thing. Or there was always the likely prospect that it was a defense mechanism; after all, if you distracted an enemy before they had a chance to properly evaluate your fortifications, then the longer you'd last in a siege. When did this turn into a siege? he wondered. And then as he took stock of her defensive stance, one he easily recognized from all of their vicious arguments, and wondered to himself. And when did I become the enemy?

"The I'm-concerned-but-I-don't-want-to-ruin-my-heart-of-stone-tough-guy-image." He smiled, really smiled, for the first time since she'd met him and Kagumi found herself drawn in by his eyes. The little lines at the corners crinkled most attractively, she thought, as she chewed on her lower lip. Then his eyebrows shot a little higher, eyes beginning to lose that strange mesmerizing hold they had over her, and she recalled all of their fights with a vengeance. He doesn't want much to do with me. Even in the Twister game, he didn't want to be near me. Remembering his look of wide-eyed fear as he got up was the only reality check she needed.

"Any more questions in your interrogation?" She smiled a little in his direction, carefully gathering her shields around her again. He looked taken aback by her now-cold nature.

"Oh, if it were an interrogation, you'd know it. But as a matter of fact, yes." Remus hesitated, his eyes slowly losing their dazzling glow. "Why?"

"Why...What?" She looked down, unable or unwilling to meet his eyes, he wasn't sure.

"Why everything." he shrugged, gesturing around himself. "Why did you sit by my bed, why take care of me, even after I've been admittedly horrible to you? Why care at all?" He was genuinely puzzled at this strange behavior.

She blushed. "Because...I don't know. The idea of you dying terrified me. The idea of not having you to bicker with...To fight with, to play pranks on..." she sniffled, but thankfully didn't cry. "I wanted to do anything in my power to save you, even from yourself."

"What does that mean?" he asked warily.

"Oh, please!" She looked at him, skepticism etched in every feature on her heart-shaped face. "I know your type, Lupin. You were probably thinking to yourself, as you sat in that cell and slowly gave up, that no one was going to come looking for you, that no one really cared and that behind your back we all think we'd be better off without you, right?" His eyes widened and that was all the confirmation she needed. "Let me tell you something, Mr. Lupin: You. Are. Wrong. And I don't really want to talk about it anymore. I want to forget that night, if at all possible."

Remus didn't say anything for a while, and Kagumi began picking at the laces on her battered sneakers when he finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "You know, maybe Sirius was right. You surprised me. I can't say as I've ever had anyone try to kill for me. And while it doesn't make me happy, I am a very little bit flattered, if totally bemused. And I think I owe you an apology. I... I'm sorry, Kagumi." He bowed slightly in her direction, before exiting the room. Not even the large wet smear on the white paint could make Kagumi angry as she tried to process what had just happened.

They were running late. James wrapped an arm around Bridget's shoulders and Apparated a little closer than he normally would, but they were really running late. He straightened his shirt before striding up to the front door and knocking. It was opened a second later by a tall, thin man with black hair.

"Bonjour. Puis-je vous aider?" [Hello. Can I help you?]

Bridget frowned. Wonderful, he was French. This was going to be fun. She'd only done a semester of French. Maybe James--

"Oui," James replied. "Je cherche Jordan LeKauf. Je m'apelle James Potter." [Yes. I'm looking for Jordan LeKauf. My name is James Potter.]

"Ah!" Jordan's face lit up. "Oui, oui. Et mademoiselle?" [Yes, yes. And the girl?]

"Je m'apelle Brigitte," she responded, ignoring both James's shocked look and the pleased one from Jordan. [My name is Bridget.]

He grinned at her and bent down, kissing her knuckles. "Enchante. Parlez-vous Francais, ma belle?" [Enchanted. Do you speak French, beautiful?]

"Juste un petit peu." [Just a little.]

"A shame. Your accent is parfaite. Viens avec moi!" [Perfect. Follow me.]

The man turned around, walking back into the house without a glance backwards. Bridget exchanged a look with James. He shrugged and gestured for her to go first. Eh, whatever. At least he was interesting.

It was impossible, wasn't it? Could it really be August 31? It seemed like only yesterday, the girls were waking up to go to the beach; now, this big house felt like home. This time felt like home. Kagumi was afraid to leave it; she had a bad feeling that it would be the last time she'd see it for a long while.

But since the Hogwarts Express was leaving in two days, the group decided that perhaps it was time to begin gathering their scattered belongings. Kagumi simply could not believe how things had a tendency to wander off. It seemed, that in the two and a half months that they'd been in Potter Mansion, their belonging had suffered a displacement curse. Sirius and James ran back and forth, running from room to room looking for their things; Remus and Peter found other things to do, since they were already packed. Mostly they were helping the girls Summon things that couldn't be found manually.

Kagumi's trunk was open in her borrowed room, and she was throwing things into it haphazardly, when she noticed something slightly amiss. There was no sounds coming from her trunk. Hand still clutching the CD player that Cordan had been crazy enough to send her for her birthday, she turned around and gave a dismayed sigh: her trunk was completely empty.

Jet came whirling into the bedroom just as Kagumi slammed the trunk lid down. "Is your trunk--" they asked at the same time, then both girls nodded. "Mine's empty," Kagumi said.

"Mine too," Bridget said. "Do you think maybe our stuff didn't transfer?"

"No way. I've been throwing stuff into it all day. But there are no sounds coming from it."

"Maybe Raminus or Cordan did something weird to the trunks?" Jet asked, nibbling on her lower lip.

Kagumi thought long and hard about the two men who claimed to be their family, and where exactly they'd put them. "I think I... I have a theory. If I fall in, go running for help." Kagumi opened her trunk, took a deep breath and plunged her hand into the shadowed bottom, feeling nothing but air. Concentrating, she imagined what she needed.

"I told you so," Raminus held his hand out for his money, which Cordan grumpily handed over. (Never you mind that dead people weren't supposed to have money. What else would they bet with? After all, they'd already tried popcorn, kippers, packets of cocoa and socks. None of it had the same symbolism as actual money.)

"What's going on, boys?" Rowena asked, passing by their little 'office.' Today, seeing as everyone knew what they'd done, they just took to leaving the door open. It saved on a lot of broken doors, when the two of them got into an argument.

"Oh, Cor's mad because I conned him out of five Galleons." Raminus gave her a blinding smile, and Rowena's heart clenched for just a moment; he looked so very much like Salazar.

"And how did you do that?" Rowena's tone was that of someone who wanted to know the answer, but at the same time, was afraid to find out the answer.

"I bet him that Kagumi would be the first to find out the secret of the trunks, and he said it would be Brainy Bridget. And it was Kagumi." Raminus smiled smugly, knowing full well that Cordan was likely to instigate violence soon.

"And what secret are you speaking of?"

"Well, we were inspired by the Room of Requirement. So we tied a similar Calling Spell between the Trunks and anything the girls had ever truly owned. So Kagumi's sticking her hand into her trunk, wanting to find her favorite pair of shoes, and she'll pull them out." Cordan pointed to the Mirror, which Godric had grudgingly given them only a little while ago. 'To keep them from running out the Sieve,' he'd said.

"Oh," was all Rowena could think of. She bade them good day and turned to find Maura coming down the hall from the Mirror Walk. (Which is where all of the failed universes were kept. The ones in progress are either still observed or else kept in each person or group's place of work.) With a quick gesture, Rowena told Maura to come talk to her.

"What did he do now?" Maura asked, with the air of a put upon mother.

"Have you ever listened to their ideas?" Rowena asked.

"Of course. Why?"

"Well..." Rowena Ravenclaw hesitated, biting her lip. "They're actually quite brilliant."

"Always the tone of surprise," Raminus grumbled, handing the five coins back over to Cordan. "Always."

Kagumi's hand came back clutched around the strings of her favorite shoes, which she'd thrown in yesterday. "I was right," she said breathlessly.

"What?"

"When you stick your hand into your trunk, it works a little like the Room of Requirement. It'll give you what you need. Apparently." Kagumi held up the shoes as proof.

"Nifty." Bridget was about to go try out her own trunk, when an infuriated yell came up the stairs.

"SIRIUS VALENTINE BLACK!"

Sirius came dashing up the stairs, dodging James's hex on the way. His cheeks were flushed, and eyes sparkling as James ascended the stairs in his normal angry-dragon impression. Sirius ran down and James chased after him, covered in pink sequins. Very nearly unfazed, the two girls watched the spectacle unfolding on the landing.

"He's oddly..." Bridget gestured vaguely at James with one hand, "sparkly." She looked at Kagumi, who shrugged.

"I've stopped asking."

"I suspect it has something to do with the Niffler that Sirius threatened James with once," Bridget said. Kagumi sighed, stashing her wand in her right pocket, and started to walk out the door.

"Yes, I suppose we should go see if we can help. Or at least get a better view." The two girls shared a grin as Sirius dashed past them again, almost knocking Bridget over. James gave a half-strangled yell, and charged, only to have Sirius cast a Shield Charm right in his way; the cross-eyed look was enough to make Bridget burst into helpless laughter.

Once outside, they found Peter laughing so hard he was crying. Remus was trying not to laugh as Sirius was chased by James, who was in turn chased by a large, furry, dog-like animal. Kagumi slapped one hand over her mouth to try to keep the giggles in as James was pounced on by the Niffler.

"Help!"

"I can't," Peter gasped. "I'm laughing too hard."

Bridget stared at the parchment, nervously tapping her quill against the desk. It was done. She'd already gotten the edits back from Mr. Longbottom (who was, surprisingly, taking a personal interest in the pieces) and this was the final version. Well, it was the final version of the introduction and Corrie's piece-- Bridget still had to do the edits for Ms. Bulle's part and write the other three (four if they could convince Remus after the first release) and the conclusion-- but the finality of it all still made her nervous.

What if it wasn't good enough? What if the whole thing backfired and she made everything worse? What if she sucked? She'd never really written anything of this magnitude for a nationally run paper, after all. Shouldn't a more experienced, better writer be doing it?

"Bridget? You okay, love?" She nodded shortly, almost completely ignoring Sirius as he sat across from her. "You're, um, you're fidgeting. Are you sure?"

Here goes nothing. Bridget took a deep breath, pushed the parchments towards him and continued twirling the quill between her fingers, deciding that deep breathing was the best way to deal with the oncoming anxiety attack she could feel coming. Sirius's lips turned down into an even more concerned frown (she was normally not this quiet-- ever) and he picked it up. His eyes shot up to her face when he realized what he was reading. James, after all, had been the only one who'd helped her with any writing, and she claimed that was because he'd already read a second draft, so why not help with the rest? Sirius had been banned from reading anything in a very forceful tone with only an apologetic shrug from his best friend; he was pretty sure she wasn't joking about that hex she'd learned from Lily and wasn't going to risk it. But now...

Bugger it all. This was better than he had imagined (they really should learn to take her for her word), and it could work. He'd been skeptical at first, but this was good enough to sway some of the fence-straddlers and, possibly, push others over the fence completely. If the rest was as good as this was then Longbottom's da probably already had a place set aside for Bridget when she finished Hogwarts.

"How bad is it?" she asked in a strained whisper.

"Um." She was looking at him so earnestly-- big brown eyes wide and worried-- that he was finding it hard to say something, the right thing. "Wow."

Bridget winced as if he had physically hit her. "That bad?"

"No. It's that good."

Author's Notes: Alright, so there it is, the newest installment of our pride and joy. We love our Marauders and our fans, and all the rest. Show us how you love us by reviewing.

Also, if you guys have any ideas, we'll be glad to listen to them.

Gumi's Shameless Plug: Oh, guys. Um...I don't know if I've ever mentioned, but I'm a poet as well as an actual writer. First off, I'm working on an original series. Like, out of the blue, truly original book series. If you know of any publishing sites that are free feel free to tell me. Also, I write poetry, and would like some nonbiased opinions. Anyone game?