General Disclaimer: Hey guys, I know it's been a REALLY long time. But we have been working, and here is ONE of the fruits of our labors. Enjoy, and as always neither Jet and I are Jo Rowling, so...We own nothing except our own brain children.

Pointed Disclaimer: There is a tiny bit of language stronger than we usually use, so watch for it.

Chapter 17: Draw the Line

"If you haven't forgive yourself something, how can you forgive others?" –Dolores Huerta

Breakfast had become something of a habit for the seventh year Gryffindors. Whether all of the eight students were there or not, a majority of them could be seen sitting at the Gryffindor table from the Great Hall's opening. Even Sirius—notorious for putting off the meal to the very last minute or skipping it entirely—had been dragged down there before the majority of the school was even awake on most days.

In fact, that very morning a maliciously cheerful Bridget had hauled him out of bed and downstairs, chattering incessantly the entire time as she practically skipped next to him, pulling him firmly by the hand. Not that he'd really minded, to be honest; he wasn't going to argue when her smile was the first thing he saw in the morning. It was much better than Prongs or Moony, at any rate.

Having been abandoned by her in favor of talking to Lily and Kamal, Sirius sighed and scanned the growing crowd. He pulled the bacon towards him, piled it on his plate next to the scrambled eggs, and settled in to wait.

James yawned widely enough that Sirius was momentarily tempted to try to throw some bacon into the wide-open mouth. Unfortunately, the other boy brought himself out of his half-asleep state long enough to grab a goblet and the jug of orange juice. However, he didn't stay awake long enough to actually pour the juice, nearly spilling it all over himself while Remus observed the scene over his Herbology text, snickering to himself.

It was Peter, though, newly arrived, who voiced the question that had been crossing the three boys' minds (James wasn't even entirely aware of where he was). "Where's Gumi?"

James blinked, looked up and down the table. "Probably off with Snape, the little –" He was cut off when the mail was delivered, particularly by one tawny, extremely ruffled looking bird that dropped a twine-tied roll of newspaper into James's outstretched hand before flying off.

James was instantly awake, but both he and Sirius were so focused on the luck of having the paper fall into his hand that they barely noticed Remus put down his piece of bacon—although, truthfully, it might be more accurate to say that gravity removed it from his grasp— as his eyes narrowed and his gaze slid past James and Sirius towards the incoming students, hoping for the sight of a long black braid.

"Dueling? Again?" Remus muttered angrily to himself, completely ignoring the shocked expressions of guilt on his friends' faces, and he stiffly pushed himself to his feet; with a worried glance, Peter (the only Marauder not occupied by whatever was in the morning paper) realized just how close it was to full moon. "This much dueling is simply not health –" The irritated rant faded as he limped out the door.

James and Sirius didn't notice, their partially awake minds still preoccupied by the owl's talents in Prophet delivery. Simultaneously, the two black haired boys looked at each other, shrugged, and opened the paper.

And promptly froze.

"We forgot about it," Sirius muttered accusingly, his large breakfast forgotten; now they looked rather nauseous.

Both boys were staring at the paper with something like horror, mouths hanging open and faces frozen in identically shocked expressions. Bridget, having returned from the other side of the table, sat down across from them and absently buttered her toast, regarding the both of them only with mild curiosity.

"Something wrong, boys?" she asked, now a little concerned. She was already halfway done with her toast and they still hadn't moved so much as an inch.

Sirius gave her a bright smile, quickly mimicked by James, and she frowned suspiciously at them. She may still be new, but she'd known the two Gryffindors long enough to recognize when they were hiding something.

"Nothing," he said.

Bridget studied him carefully, scrutinized James, and stuck out her hand for the Prophet. "Gimme the paper," she demanded.

"What paper?"

She arched an eyebrow. "The one in your hand, James."

"You don't want to— I mean, it's really not all that—"

"No." Sirius glared at the quickly caving James and snatched the paper away. He stuffed it in his back pocket. "You can see it after class."

Bridget wrinkled her nose at him. "It's Sunday, love. We don't have class."

Now visibly worried, Sirius crossed his arms over his chest. "Then you can see it later."

She frowned. "Fine," she snapped back, responding to the tension in his voice. She looked down the table. "Kamal? Can I borrow your Prophet for a sec?"

"Sure." He quickly gave her his copy before retreating back to the formidable protection Lily provided. The glares that Sirius and James were giving him had him worried for his safety.

Bridget, however, didn't care what they were trying to hide from her; she was ticked off. She snapped the paper open irritably and read the first headline, her face draining of all color.

"Oh, my."

"Again."

The two shady figures were frozen, it seemed, in the shadowy gloom. Without warning, they flew at each other, the female raising her arm to deflect a spell her opponent cast at the same moment. Suddenly, they were frozen again.

"Good," the boy's voice was ice cold, and belied the knowing glint in his eyes.

"Not bad for a Gryffindor, eh, Severus?"

Kagumi Pheonix tossed back her green-streaked hair and cast a slant-eyed glance at her dueling partner. The boy smirked and raised his wand again, she tensed and raised her own; again they both seemed as lifeless as statues.

"Stupefy!"

His arm lanced forward suddenly and, just as suddenly, her arm gave a squiggly move to the right.

"Protego!"

The jet of red light hit her glowing shield less than a meter from her body and the resulting rebound sent the deflected spell sailing off into the wall. Finally, Severus lowered his arm and Summoned a towel, tossing it to her. With a twitch, she misted the towel with cold water and wiped down her face with it.

"You know, it's amusing to me, in a very ironic sort of way," Severus said. He stopped speaking, as if his statement made perfect sense without explanation, and continued his preparations to leave. She sighed, knowing his game: he wasn't going to elaborate until she asked for more.

"What is?" she asked. She slipped her school vest back on and Vanished the towels, not noticing the almost pensive look her tutor was giving her.

"Had you told me a week ago I would actually enjoy working with a female, I would have laughed myself silly." He paused, frowning. "Then, under the impression that you were sent by Potter and his gang, hexed you. Not that it matters now."

Wisely, Kagumi decided not to comment on the slight against her friends. Besides, she wasn't speaking to Potter and Remus could barely look at her without scowling—which, sadly, was an improvement from him not looking at her at all. Instead, she decided to take it as intended.

"The Gryffindor bit doesn't bother you?" she asked, a knowing smile on her face.

"I have already told you. You are no Gryffindor."

She sighed in exasperation; arguing with Severus, something she'd gotten much practice at over the last week and a half, was like arguing with a brick wall. "Severus, I'm terribly sorry about having to break this to you, but I. Am. A. Gryffindor."

"No," he said, opening the doorway and exiting from the magical room. "I simply refuse to believe it."

She regarded him wryly, trying not to smile too much. "I have a lion on my chest and I was Sorted into Gryffindor. I'm afraid that makes me a Gryffindor, love."

"No, the Hat was mistaken. It was tricked by your ridiculous comrades. You belong in Slytherin."

"I do not belong in Snake City," she chided, shoving his shoulder very gently.

"Snake City?" he barked a laugh, and turned the corner of fifth floor, heading down the stairs. She jumped the last few stairs before he did, giving a smug smirk as he tried to mimic her and wound up stumbling. She outright snickered when he turned to glare at her, tugging her braid as she passed him.

"Oi. The hair does not get touched," she warned, with a flicker of amusement in her eyes.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Pheonix. Have you taken any food or beverage from Black? He can't be trusted."

Kagumi poked him in the arm. "Don't make me hex you."

"Defending Black's honor?" he drawled. "Perhaps you do have some Gryffindor tendencies. Slytherins aren't known for saving females in distress."

"Well, someone has to do it. So, leave my Siri alone."

"Or what?" he asked, a slight curvature of his lips belying the flat tone of his voice.

"Or… I'll take photos of you with that sixth year Slytherin with the unibrow and spread them all over the school," she finished with a smile; as she crossed her arms over her chest, he slowed his gait and then wiped a hand across his mouth. It didn't erase the smile completely.

"I don't know how you'd take those photos. It's never happened."

"I never said it had to actually happen."

"See? Lies, threats, manipulation, even blackmail."

"Blackmail?" she widened her eyes. "Blackmail? That's such a dirty word." Kagumi's lips stretched to form a purely predatory smirk. "But I won't deny it."

"Told you," the pair reached the Great Hall doors and flung them open, her smiling broadly and him looking… not so "swoopy," as Sirius liked to refer to him. She had to admit, the billowing black robes that had probably made him look so formidable as a teacher simply made him look… small and waifish as a student. She'd have to correct that. As they walked through the hall, the two clasped hands and shook, departing.

"Oi, Pheonix!" she turned back around to look at him. "Slytherin!"

Rolling her eyes, Kagumi plopped down next to Sirius, cheerfully ruffled his hair (looking for the glare she usually received in turn) and grabbed the nearest jug of juice.

"So, what's on the agenda for today? I think we should prank the fourth floor corrid– Siri? Sirius?" She snapped her fingers in front of his eyes, which were slightly glazed, and finally all but clambered into his lap. The hissing of several females in the Hall, which had begun when she'd first touched him, intensified to a loud enough state that would imply an air leak to anyone paying attention. "Sirius love, what's wrong?"

"What?" Sirius shook his head and glanced up from the paper, which he'd apparently stolen from James and begun absent-mindedly shredding the edges while he read it with an unusual amount of concentration. "Gumi, when did you come down?"

"A few minutes ago. What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know either, but he hasn't stopped reading, and Jet's pretty much catatonic too," Peter chirped, nibbling delicately at his toast. He didn't seem too concerned with situation, or he was just waiting until after his meal to deal with it.

Kagumi looked at Jet and noticed worriedly that her knuckles were white and her eyes seemed unusually large and solemn in her stark white face. "Bridget?" The witch whirled on James. "Potter, what the hell did you do to her?"

A mouthful of orange juice, which wound up soaking the back of the borrowed Prophet ("Everybody is abusing my paper," Kamal remarked irritably. "Well if they want to abuse it, they can pay me the five Knuts!" Lily hid a smile behind her goblet and wisely said nothing.), and James turned to her, only to find her wand already drawn. Several students tensed, either to get a better look at what was sure to be a good fight, or to dodge any tricky area spell effects.

"I didn't do anything to her!" he said, loudly.

"Yeah, right. Why should I believe that? You don't think about other people; how would you even know if you'd done something?"

James froze. Pointing one shaking finger at the Prophet, which had not moved in Bridget's white-knuckled hand, he ground out, "That is what has her so wonky and you'd know it if you bothered to ask her or even just look!"

The crease between Gumi's eyebrows deepened as she gently tugged the Daily Prophet out of her friend's hand and scanned the front page. Sirius had abandoned his seat to slide in next to Bridget, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and speaking in a soft, soothing voice to the girl while Kagumi read. Suddenly, the Irish witch gasped loudly, and pulled the Daily Prophet closer to her face, as if seeing whether the words would change.

Tired of being accused by the witch, who was now mouthing words as she read to herself, and tired from not sleeping well since the argument a week and a half ago, James gave up on breakfast. He briefly made sure Sirius seemed to have Bridget in hand before he turned around, tossed a half-signed comment over his shoulder towards Sirius and strode out the door.

"Where did Prongs go?" Peter asked.

"Where does Prongs always go when he's angry?" Sirius asked wryly.

"Quidditch Pitch," they answered in unison.

"What?" she muttered in disbelief, not quite believing the article that had been printed. She whirled on Peter, who seemed to be the only one capable of speech. "Where's Remus?"

"Uh, he said something about dueling not being healthy, and stalked out of the hall," the poor frightened boy squeaked.

Excited, Kagumi thrust her hand into Sirius's bag and pulled out the same grubby parchment from summer. She waved it almost violently in Peter's face, demanding that he activate it. He did so with a shaking hand, sighing in relief when she turned away from him, her green eyes swirling with different shades as she scanned the map looking for one particular name.

"Be back later, he's gotta see this!" And she was gone, in a whirlwind as quickly as she'd come.

Severus's eyes followed her, ruefully wondering when the Gryffindor girl had wormed her way into his good graces. Even if she did hang around with Potter's friends a bit much for his liking, she seemed to have things under control. He wouldn't insult her by invading unless she was threatened. However, he thought as he rubbed his left shoulder where a well-placed jinx had struck earlier that morning, not much seemed to break through her defenses.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Sirius asked for the fifth time since they'd arrived at the pitch.

Bridget gave him a small smile. She still felt out of sorts from that morning—not that she was going to admit that to him – but was slowly getting better. She shifted uncomfortably; she could already feel the glares from the girls who were inevitably staring at her being fussed over by Sirius and James when they were obviously there to fly and she'd rather not draw it out.

"I'll be fine." As long as angry fangirls didn't kill her while she waited.

James frowned down at her; even he seemed concerned about something other than the broom in his hand, which was bound to have rumors flying. "Just call if you want to go inside or something. This isn't that important."

"Really now, James, are you feeling alright?" Bridget drawled, arching an eyebrow with a sardonic quirk of a smile. "You do realize you just put someone above your precious Quidditch?"

"Yes," he replied in a defensive voice as Sirius laughed, feeling much better now that she was joking around. "I do know what's more important than Quidditch." He shrugged. "Not much, of course, but you are on that list."

"I'm honored, but I have some homework to do, so I'm squared away. I like doing my work outside anyways, although it is a bit colder than—" Bridget stopped speaking and blinked in surprise. That was fast. And a bit unexpected. "Sirius, I didn't mean that—"

Sirius pushed his hair out of his face, the strands falling back into place after being so unceremoniously ruffled.

"No," he said. "Take it."

His gray eyes glanced up at her before darting back down and, if she hadn't known better, Bridget would've thought he was blushing. He seemed almost embarrassed by his actions, but Sirius Black didn't get embarrassed and he definitely did not blush.

She pulled the dark blue jumper over her head. It was too big, almost long enough to qualify as a rather short dress with the arms extending several inches pass her fingertips, but it was warm from his own body heat and, overall, a sweet gesture.

"Thanks."

Abruptly, Bridget threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself close. Sirius barely had time to register the feel of her body against his before she let go, tugging—in his opinion—rather adorably at the sleeves of her—his—jumper as she settled on the grass with her school things. There was something about seeing her in his clothes that was—

"Sirius," James called sharply. Sirius started and turned towards the voice. He sighed; his friend was giving him a much too knowing look, arms crossed smugly over his chest. "Ready?" he asked.

Sirius didn't respond, instead stalking pass him in what he hoped was a dignified fashion. He wasn't running away at all. Nope. Still, that didn't stop James from chuckling as he followed.

Sadly, Bridget was having fun with her homework. She'd never really enjoyed schoolwork before— only doing it because it was required and usually finding it painfully easy— but the assignments at Hogwarts were… fun. Interesting. Magical theory, and all the possibilities they held in conjunction with Muggle science, was a challenge.

It was because she was so enthralled with her History assignment that she barely realized that two hours had already passed and she didn't notice at all when someone sat down next to her.

Regulus regarded the girl with curiosity. There hadn't been anyone before who'd been able to capture his brother's interest and there was something about her—as well as the other American Sirius had been connected to—that was different. Intriguing.

"Is that History?"

She startled, looking up at him with wide, brown eyes that had Regulus understanding what had his brother so captivated. She really was beautiful in all the proper ways; if Sirius could get her, he might be able to revive his status within the family. Legally, he was still the Heir (his mother hadn't been able to take that away without his father's permission), but he wasn't recognized by anyone, not until he begged for forgiveness—and no Black ever begged.

On her part, Bridget was breathing heavily after nearly jumping out of her skin at the voice and tried not to groan when she realized what was going on. Oh, bother. This was going to be fun if Sirius or James ever bothered to check on her.

They'd tended to their own injured pride after the fourth or fifth time that James flew across and asked if she was alright, and whether she would reconsider a position as Beater. Mysteriously, the moment he asked that final time, the Quidditch case – which had so far remained closed – chose that moment to release both Bludgers into the air, and she had a moment of peace.

Until now.

"Um, yes, it is."

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, slowly letting herself relax. She could work with this. Of course she could. He wasn't doing anything to harm her, after all, and she only had to shout to get the boys' attention.

"I apologize." God, he sounded like Sirius. "I didn't mean to startle you."

He even looked like his older brother, especially with the concerned look he was currently giving her. At least he didn't exude the quiet sensuality his brother did. Bridget tried to give the Slytherin a small, reassuring smile, although she wasn't sure how she did. "It's fine. I was just a little caught up in the research."

"Really? Not many people are too interested in our past," he replied. "Most wizards and witches are entirely too focused on the present and future, regarding our history with little respect."

She was starting to be able to pick out the differences. Regulus spoke with a much more refined, aristocratic edge that Sirius had probably worked hard to cut out of his speech. He was also more distanced, calculated in his actions and words. Sirius seemed proud to look, as Kagumi had put it one day, "sextacularly scruffy", while Regulus took pains to look well-groomed and high-bred. It amused, and reassured the Gryffindor to see the differences.

"That," Bridget started nervously, "that's rather unfortunate. History gives clues to how the future can play out. If one does not know one's history, than one does not know one's roots and cannot learn from previous mistakes."

Regulus smiled at her and suddenly looked like his own man rather than a more faded copy of his brother. "I couldn't agree more, Miss Griffins."

She was so going to regret this later.

"Please, call me Bridget."

She was regretting it. Sirius and Regulus were less than a foot apart, throwing barbs at each other with such force and speed that it almost seemed rehearsed. Bridget sighed and rubbed her forehead where her headache was building. It would probably be easier if she just didn't talk to anyone. She could do that for the remainder of the year: keep her head down and finish her schooling.

"Are you okay?" Of course, she hadn't taken into account the Marauders' (or Kagumi's) stubborn attitudes. She wouldn't last a day with them hounding her.

"I'm fine, James." She looked up at him pleadingly, trying to block out the sounds of the argument in the background; it wasn't working well. "Do they do this often?"

James grinned apologetically. "Pretty much whenever they speak to each other. It's a bit of a brotherly ritual."

"Ah," she said, voice lined with despair. "Wouldn't want to get in the way of fraternal bonding."

There was a particularly loud explosion from the arguing Blacks, right next to her and James, that had Bridget spin around. "HEY!" she shouted at the pair. "Cut it out!"

Graced with their full attention, she stepped between the pair, although it wouldn't do much if they decided to keep fighting as both boys were several inches taller than her…. Not that it stopped her in the least, of course.

"Now," she continued in what she believed was a perfectly calm voice, but was rather frightening for all the males around her, "what is it you two are arguing about? I'm afraid I stopped listening when you began shouting at each other in French. My limited skills, unfortunately, don't extend to swearing." No one said anything and Bridget crossed her arms over her chest. "Go on."

"My prat of a brother," Sirius started through gritted teeth, "seems to think— given the small possibility that he actually can think--"

"Ta gueule!"

"Je m'en fou—"

"What did I say about French cursing!" Bridget interrupted loudly. She snapped her fingers and pointed at Regulus. "You. State the disagreement in one sentence with no commentary."

"Sirius thinks that American magic is based on natural, elemental magic whereas I know it to be almost exactly like our own in England."

Bridget stared between the two boys, who were—not that they'd ever accept it—standing it exactly the same position with exactly the same looks on their faces while James, wisely, stayed out of it. She began to laugh.

"Oh, God, you're both such idiots. It's amazing. First of all, technically we're in Scotland, but that's inconsequential. Secondly, did no one think to ask the American present? Whatever. It doesn't matter, now. You're both wrong," she let that sink in before grinning, "and you're both right. Native magic is very elemental, and still taught in schools, but their educational system is based off of the one you have here for obvious colonial reasons."

"See!" Sirius said triumphantly.

"I was right, too."

He rolled his eyes. "If that's what you want to believe. I said American magic is elemental. Native Americans are obviously what I was talking about, the others emigrated from here anyways."

"They're a majority of the populace!"

"But it's not really American magic."

"Ne fait pas le con."

Bridget did not look happy, and James was wise (and experienced) enough to see it. He was also the only one paying any attention to her, as both Sirius and Regulus were too busy hurling whatever insults they could think of at each other over her head.

"I HAVE HAD ENOUGH WITH YOU SELF-OBSESSED JACKASSES!" she yelled, loud enough to startle the Black brothers into shutting the hell up. Bridget rarely, if ever, shouted or swore. She took a deep breath, continuing in a quieter voice that was just as frightening as the yelling had been. "Now, you two can do whatever the hell you want to, but I'm leaving. You're both being complete and utter idiots and I'm done with it. Stay here and shout yourselves hoarse with your ridiculous, childish argument.

"I'm going to find the others. Probably in the library."

With that she turned and walked off. James gave Sirius an apologetic look. "She just started not being upset over the thing with Gumi." He smiled in a distinctly dreamy fashion causing Regulus to snort derisively; by now, every single person in the entire school knew what that look meant. "And Lily might be in the library."

Sirius resisted the urge to copy his brother and scoff at his besotted best friend as he scurried after Bridget's quickly retreating form. It was a little disgusting the way he mooned after her all the time.

"Just go after her, Sirius," Regulus said suddenly. He sounded a bit pained. When Sirius turned towards him, his brother scowled. "The school may think Potter's loony over her—which he might be, if he's over that strange Muggleborn fascination—and that you're with that Pheonix girl, but I know better. If you don't chase after her now, she may never forgive you."

Sirius stared skeptically at his younger brother. "What about you? You seem awfully smitten."

"Oh, please." He rolled his eyes. "It's not my jumper she ran off in."

"Finally!" Kagumi's voice rang out, exasperated and a tad worried; it was a combination Remus was quickly getting used to. He sighed, pushing away from the now-blank stretch of wall, glad that the Room of Requirement melted back into solid stone whenever someone exited it.

"Yes," he replied mildly. "What's wrong?"

"I have been waiting out here forever," she had her hands on her hips and Remus's lips twitched; anyone else seeing this scene could get the wrong sort of idea about their connections. "I had Peter activate the Map so I could find you. Then I waited out here for nearly two hours! What were you doing?"

"Why were you waiting for me in the first place?" Remus asked, crossing his arms. The girl might be growing on him, but he wasn't going to tolerate nagging. "I was looking for you and Snape, then got caught up in something."

"Well, I wanted to ask you," he felt slightly worried about the triumphant gleam in her hazy green eyes, and with apprehension, he noticed the hands clasped behind her back. "Remember that discussion we had a couple of nights ago?"

Remus thought back and snatches of heated words, heated but not angry, came to mind. He nodded slowly, reflecting.

"You can be so damned dense sometimes!" Kagumi threw herself into the chair in front of Remus. "I heard one of the Ravenclaws tried to ask you out to Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, so?" Remus really didn't feel like arguing the point with her; he'd already spent the day trying to ignore dirty glares from Sirius and James both. And there was something about dating a Ravenclaw, not that he was prejudiced, especially such a blonde innocent like the one who had asked him out, that simply rubbed him the wrong way. If he did date anyone, he wanted an equal, someone who could and would meet him on any grounds, someone who could challenge him, and keep life interesting, not someone who just wanted a brave Gryffindor boy to keep her safe.

"Why didn't you accept?" she asked, sinking back further into the comfy-ness of the squishy chair. "I mean, from what I heard she was really into you."

"I just… I don't date," he said shortly He had a sinking suspicion, nebulous and vaguely terrifying, that he already knew what standards anyone would be held up to.

"Let me guess," she drawled, sounding far too much like a Slytherin for his tastes. "Something to with your furry little problem?"

Remus said nothing, simply pulled out his latest homework assignment, which wasn't due for two weeks, and began to pull out textbooks. She nodded, satisfied with his answer, or apparent lack of one.

"Remus, you don't think anyone can accept you as you are, do you?" she asked softly, sipping daintily on one of the leftover Butterbeers from their first night at school. "Why?"

"Because I am a monster," he answered sharply, throwing a dagger glance at her over the book. Who was this strange girl to question him so, to dig and dig and dig until she found that one little scab that had never been healed? Who was she to dare?

Uncrossing her legs, Kagumi sat up suddenly, and Remus almost expected her to throw herself at him. When she did nothing but sit there, he flushed, wondering why that image wasn't quite as repellent as it might have been months ago. He found himself staring as her skirt revealed a bit of leg, and licked at his suddenly dry lips. "Remus, are you listening to me?" she asked calmly.

"Of course." Like I have a choice, he thought distantly.

"You. Are. Not. A monster."

The words took a moment to hit his brain. "What?"

"You're not a monster, Remus." Kagumi bit her upper lip, and Remus found himself fascinated by the flash of teeth in the dim Common Room. "Just because you are forced to change shape does not make you a monster."

"Oh really?" his tone was sarcastic, and biting, more like the attitude he'd had when she first arrived in the Marauders' lives. "Do go on." He was pleased to see the fire flash in her smoky eyes. She sat up with a viciousness that belied her delicate features, and pointed one thin finger at him.

"Let me ask you this, Lupin," the use of his last name wasn't lost on the Gryffindor; they'd been on a terse first name basis for a while now, and though it stung, he refused to let her see. "Did you have a choice in the matter?"

He stared at her. "Say what?"

"Listen very plainly, m'dear, so that I don't have to repeat myself in order to get through your rather thick skull: did you have a choice in being bitten?"

He shook his head, wondering where in the world she was going with this.

"And did you march your tiny little feet right up to Fenrir shab'la Greyback and ask him to bite you?"

Mutely, Remus shook his head again. She was just building up steam, and as she leaned forward, he shrank back into his chair. Something about this conversation bugged him, but with her finger approaching his eyes at a dangerous vector, he wasn't too pushed to contemplate it until he felt safe again.

"So let me ask, since I'm so sure that my pretty little brain simply couldn't make any connections," Kagumi's tone could have melted through eight cauldrons and kept going, so acidic was it. "If you had no choice, and you didn't ask for this, how on EARTH can you keep blaming yourself?"

"Because! I just…" Chest heaving, Remus looked forlornly at the girl. She'd backed him into a mental corner, and he knew it. It gave him a sort of perverse joy to know that she really could match him in wits. Not saying anything, not trusting himself to speak, he lowered his gaze.

"I can't put someone through that," he said softly. "I just… I can't."

"You think no one will accept you, right?" came her voice from above him. He said nothing.

Gently, oh so tenderly, he felt a sharp-pointed nail underneath his chin, reminding him of the girl's formidable strength; this strange softness unnerved him. He slowly raised his eyes to look at her, with her hand under his chin and her warm, soothing scent so very close. She was so close… Just a little further, he thought wildly, heart pounding against his ribs.

"Listen to me, Remus Lupin. Are you listening?" He nodded carefully, aware that her sharp nails were close to his jugular; for some reason, it excited him. "You are not a monster. You are not alone anymore." When he saw her leaning towards him, saw her eyes close, his heart jumped.

And shivered when he felt her soft lips caress his forehead. She whispered against his skin, coming down to look him in the eye; for one fierce moment, he imagined grabbing her and sinking deep into the softness of the…

It took a minute for his overheating brain to realize that she was speaking. "What?"

With a tender, warmly inscrutable expression, she stroked his cheek with her thumb, sending shivers down his spine. "I said, I accept you."

"Yes, I remember it," he replied cautiously, refusing to remember the sorts of dreams he'd rather not acknowledge that he had. "What of it?"

"Remember how I said I accept you?"

This is it, he thought sadly. This is where she tells me that –

"You were wrong."

"I know. Listen, I'm sure that if you ask Professor Dumbledore, he could remove the knowledge from your memor – What?"

"I said," she repeated, striving for patience; she couldn't wait to see his face. "You. Were. Wrong."

"How so?" Remus asked.

"You said no one could accept you, and in turn, that no one could accept werewolves in general. But I found this." She thrust the slightly damp Daily Prophet at him.

Pride and Prejudice

"Sometimes, when there's nothing else, pride is all that is left."

Hope is a powerful thing. As long as one has hope, one has a future and a life. However, there are times when hope is scarce. This is especially harmful to those who should have the most hope: children new to the world and it's wonders or young adults with their entire lives in front of them and several paths to choose from.

It only takes one moment for those paths to, abruptly and unexpectedly, close to them. That hope can be cruelly snatched in one, single second on a cold, cloudless night. Sometimes, the intention is spiteful and vindictive, planned to the smallest detail. But, it can also be a sad twist of fate, a loose board or unlocked door that condemns a soul.

"My God," Remus said. He wondered when someone, almost certainly Kagumi, had tugged him to sit against the wall with her; he was quite positive that he might have fallen over from shock otherwise.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Her petite face was glowing, and Remus realized just how close she was to him; he could feel the body heat radiating off of her through his clothing.

"What is?" he asked, slightly dazed; her scent was much stronger today, augmented by something delicious smelling. Lotion, or perfume of a sort. It smelled heavenly.

"Remus? Lupin? Rem?" she snapped her fingers in front of his face, recalling his attention from the pleasantly drowsy daydreams he'd been indulging in. "Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"I said, it's amazing, isn't it?"

"Of course," he replied absently, taking in her scent again by shifting just slightly closer, under the pretense of looking at the article again. "What is, again?"

She spared him a disgusted glance. "Someone— this Gryphons person— is taking lycanthropes and making them human again. They're taking the prejudices and exposing them to light, showing them as falsehoods and lies and…" She trailed off, looking into his eyes. When she unexpectedly laid her hand on his knee, he swallowed with some difficulty. "Remus, this could change all of the laws and rights relating to Lycanthropy and its victims."

"I am a werewolf, and I'm not even sure I know all of them," he muttered, trying to gather his wits.

A mischievous smile lit her eyes from within and Remus felt as though he'd swallowed a Flutterby Bush. Or three. And suddenly, he didn't care overly much just how much trouble she got him into, so long as she was in it too. He smiled at her, really smiled at her for the first time, and Kagumi took a breath. His eyes… she thought with desperation. She found herself drawing nearer, and then suddenly she pulled away. He couldn't help but feel a little betrayed when she stood.

And then she grabbed his hand.

"Come on, we've got to get to the library!"

What? The library? Sirius had always said good things about the privacy of book stacks. And at the moment, privacy was something on the forefront of Remus Lupin's mind.

Raminus snickered as he surfaced from the depth of Remus Lupin's cerebral cortex, and looked towards his best friend. Cordan raised one eyebrow, observing Bridget in one of the Mirrors, and signed a question.

"Yes, I look very happy with myself, Cor."

"And why?"

Raminus sighed blissfully, confident that nothing could go wrong. "Playing with the male psyche can be so amusing."

Remus was finding the way she sat so close to him, pointing out things in the books she'd pulled, very distracting. He hadn't gotten anything done so far and it was because Kagumi was practically touching him the entire time, brushing his hip every time she turned to get another book. With a grunt, she heaved a heavy one and let it thud on the table. A familiar brown head looked up, as well as two other equally familiar heads, at the sound.

"Gumi?" Bridget asked.

"Heya, Gums," Sirius waved. James grunted, and pushed away from the table they were all sitting at. Kagumi also stood up, and Remus could practically feel the tension beginning to build. Seeing a flash of red hair behind Kagumi – their table was closest to the aisle – James began to attempt going around her.

"Let me through, Pheonix."

"What for?" she spat irritably. "Lily is studying with Kamal. You will not ruin it. We have a big History of Magic test next week."

"Oh, is that why you have all those books down?" Sirius asked, before glancing at one of the titles; Kagumi deftly slid the title away from prying eyes. Eyebrows raised, Sirius began to reassess the way his two friends were standing.

Remus was half out of his seat, one hand reached out and resting on Kagumi's back. Kagumi's spine was stiff, shoulders squared, and her eyes defiant enough that even a Death Eater might think twice about taking her on at the moment. Her fist was loosely curled, and Sirius knew just how fast she could draw her wand. Remus's golden eyes were focused on Kagumi in a way Sirius had never seen, and the sometimes-canine decided that it would be a good time to do a sniff check.

Subtly, he inhaled the scents in the room, catching parchment, ink, sweat, chocolate (Remus, of course; it was a rare day when Remus Lupin did not have some form of chocolate on his person), a nice-smelling lotion, and anger. But underneath that was…the scent of fading –

Sirius coughed to hide his shock.

It had finally happened. Remus had finally found that spark with someone, and the scent of fading lust was slow to dissipate. It was very faint, cancelled out by the anger, but still lingering oh so slightly. Emotions warring within his chest, Sirius relooked at the seemingly casual way Remus's touch graced that sensitive spot on her back, the one she didn't even let him touch.

And everything clicked.

"Pheonix, either I can go around you, or I can go through you," James warned.

"You think so, Potter? Draw the line, then."

Oh right. James and Kagumi were fighting. Again.

"Much as we adore hearing yet another of your fights, some of us are trying to study!" one of the fourth years, a Ravenclaw by the look of the precise notes on the table, shouted irritably.

"Oh, bugger off!" Peter yelled, shocking everyone in the vicinity; Peter never raised his voice. He might not agree with what his friends were doing, but he figured it was their problem, and no one who didn't know the backstory behind it shouldn't interfere.

Lily heard the grumbling, angry voices and looked up; actually it would be more accurate to say that every single student in the immediate vicinity looked up. A few nervous looking first years, two third years, and a mixture of older students watched as Kagumi tensed again. It was only a matter of time. Lily whispered something to Kamal, who winced, and she stood up, intent on snarling her way into the conversation; one Gryffindor fighting over her had been enough, and now things were just getting ridiculous. She heard James -- dammit, Potter -- growl angrily.

"Let me through," he growled.

"Prove your mettle, Jamsie boy. You made the threat. Either carry it through, or back down." Kagumi's right arm tensed as James made to push past her. There was a sickening thwack as her painfully strong right hook lashed out nearly quicker than the eye. Remus winced, smelling the blood from James's nose where it was either broken or bloodied. Those duels did pay off, I suppose, he thought ironically as Kagumi nursed her scraped knuckles. It wasn't until a loud slam resounded through the Library and their heads turned to Bridget, who was standing much too calmly at the head of the table, leaning heavily on a large, leather-bound book. They suddenly remembered what she'd said about the next time they fought.

She let out a shaky breath and rubbed her forehead with one hand. "I'm getting flashbacks to junior year," she muttered to herself.

After another unsteady breath, Bridget looked coolly up at the pair. "You two do realize how ridiculous you're being, right?" She arched an eyebrow and James, as if he felt compelled to answer, shook his head. She let out a bitter laugh that had everyone around the table flinching.

"You're not even arguing about anything substantial! You've let a freaking minor annoyance that resulted from too much alcohol consumption blow up into this huge battle that you… you expect us to take sides in. I mean, it's…" She shook her head, sounding close to tears. "I can't do this." When she looked up at them, they could see that she actually was almost in tears. "I just don't have the energy to deal with this utterly absurd situation! Not again."

Without another word, she spun around and stalked out.

Sirius sighed. Crap.

"Now look wud you dud!" James said thickly, hauling himself to his feet. He sat down, ironically enough at the same table, and looked with horror at his bloody hand. "God that HURDS!"

"Your own fault," Kagumi muttered, conjuring a large stack of gauze pads for him to wipe his nose on. She looked at Remus apologetically. "They say never to hit someone with a closed fist, but it can, on occasion, be hilarious." Remus cracked a grin.

"I'd bet James's face feels slightly differently." The two of them chuckled softly, still feeling out this new tension between them. Unfortunately, James didn't hear the comments, only the laughter.

"Is not fuddy!" James wiped his nose irritably, wincing when they all heard the grinding of cartilage. Kagumi looked guilty, and for the first time since the fight, actually started thinking about exactly what Bridget had said.

"I'm sorry, James."

"No, dur dot!" he said incredulously.

"Well, I sorta am," she said sheepishly. Remus grabbed one of the gauze pads and Kagumi's right hand. Ignoring James, who was still whining about his nose, Remus focused on the rapidly swelling knuckles in front of him. James looked incredulously over at the two, Remus who seemed absorbed in the girl, and the girl, who seemed intent on not looking Remus in the eyes, blushing in a way that none of them had seen since the Twister incident at her birthday.

"You could have hurt yourself," the golden-eyed Marauder said softly as he siphoned James's blood off her knuckles, brushing them tenderly as he bandaged them up with a roll of gauze.

"What does it matter?" James asked sourly, having begged Sirius to fix his nose. "Not like you really care about her, Moony." He flashed a grin at Remus, when Kagumi's eyes went coldly blank. That grin lacked anything that made grins pleasant, and was full of something neither Remus, Sirius, nor Lily Evans – who was making her cautious way over to the bristling Gryffindors – had ever expected to see on James Potter's face: malice.

With careful precision, lest she hurt him, Kagumi tugged her half-bandaged hand away from Remus's grasp and stood violently. Just as she was about to go over the table at James, again, Remus grabbed her waist and Sirius smacked James in the back of the head.

"You idiot -- "

"Rem, let me GO!"

"Gumi, hon, just --"

"James -- " Lily tried to get her voice in.

As the students collided, there was a loud bang and acrid smoke billowed through the Library, engulfing the fighting Gryffindors. Remus slumped down, coughing heavily. He felt two thuds near him, and closed his eyes. I feel so strange, he thought dizzily. He heard the others coughing, heard them trying to breathe, and felt slightly better. But I don't think any of us were injured.

Relieved with that, Remus was able to lean against the bookshelf he'd fallen against, and let his dazed mind and stinging eyes recover from whatever had happened this time. A short time later, he was not sure how very long, he rubbed at his eyes, using the other hand to try and clear the thick, stinging smoke from their area; unable to find his wand, he called out, "Use your hands to try and fan the smoke out." His voice sounded odd, higher pitched and a bit more…something. He pegged it to an aftereffect of the spell, or charm, or whatever had exploded.

He felt a little odd about waving his hands around like a buffoon at first. The feeling of uneasiness grew manifold when he caught sight of his hands. While Remus's hands had never been bulky, having what his mother preferred to call musician's hands, they had not been exactly what one might call "delicate" either. But now, that had changed.

Previously, his knuckles were swelling from being so close to the full moon, and his fingers over all had looked inflamed. Now… His nails extended beyond the tip of his finger, ending in a slightly curved tip. More shocking, however, was the bright pink tint of the nail, and the slenderness of the fingers. Frightened, and morbidly curious, his eyes traced the line of a shapely arm that simply could not belong to him. Remus's line of sight traveled to his shoulder and then…down.

Dear. God.

He was absolutely positive that he'd never had those before.

He would have noticed that. Right?

And then Sirius's voice rang out. "What the… fuck?"

Author's Notes: Alright, so there it is. I'm so sorry it took so long to get it out, such hectic things have been happening, in both of your slaving authors' lives. But there it is, and we're working a very special treat for you readers. See, on the side of DIN, Jet and I have been working on other stories, one of which turned into a Raminus and Cordan mess up again thing. It was meant to be a plot bunny, I think, but it turned serious. Well, as serious as those two ever get. So we were going to wait originally until after the completion of the first book of DIN, but we decided that it should be safe enough to go ahead and post it.

Look for it soon!

~Kagumi