Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling nor could I ever dream to be. I regrettably am not clever enough to develop the Harry Potter, or any other element of her stories. I do hope you enjoy my adaptation of her characters anyway.
It had been a month since V had been thrown into the tornado that was Hogwarts life. Fortunately for her, Lily had been a saint in keeping her alive thus far. She'd already stumbled across the wrong people a couple of times, leading her to believe Sirius' continuous warnings of what she had recently deemed "stranger danger," might hold some truth.
Her own existence within Hogwarts had been verified and publicized, when she made good on her promise of reciprocation. It was the third day of classes, and V had finally gotten the hang of the moving staircases after a rather embarrassing first encounter.
"Virginia!" sang Sirius from across the vast stairwell. She cringed inwardly at the sound of her name.
"Yes, Sirius?" she crossed her arms across her crest laden chest, tapping her bare feet. She was already going to be late for Muggle Studies as it was.
"Virginia?" he called again, putting a hand to his ear feigning deafness. "Was that you?"
"Sirius Black, I'm late!" she yelled, rolling her eyes. A slew of giggles and whispers began behind her. Her shoulders drooped as she realized what she had said. Schoolgirls were such a plague. She blushed, flustered at the thought of what was crossing their small minds.
"But, darling, we've never even kissed!" he called, changing his game from embarrassing her by exploiting her fear of loud noises and public speaking to more private matters. She sighed. She had learned that the best way to deal with the tiresome boy was to indulge him. And although she might be reluctant to admit it, it did make her feel special when he took the time to embarrass her.
"Then how?" she cried, placing the back of her hand against her forehead. She looked to the giggling girls behind her and gasped loudly. "Osmosis!"
"Oatmeal, indeed!" he yelled back. The staircases shifted, and V found herself at the next landing and walked onward with a giggle. Being mindful of her toes she stepped onto the cold stone floor. She considered correcting him, but decided against it.
"Wait for me, Virginia! Breakfast will come again!" V glanced behind her and welcomed the sight of Sirius leaning over the banister much like a wayward Romeo. She already had a soft spot for the loping boy. She was enchanted by the simplest things he did, like the way the corner of his eyes crinkled when he smiled or how his feet always pointed further out than they should have when he stood. Seeing him bent over the rail with his thick black hair covering his gray eyes caused her heart to flutter. V shook her head. She had no time for boys especially boys who had the power to make her feel this way after such a short time. She had much bigger things on her plate, and she would do well to remember it.
Sirius watched V as she walked down the corridor above him, the waves of her hair ended just above her best feature, giving him ample reason to appreciate it. When she was out sight, he continued on his way to the Great Hall. Practically running down the stairs, he jumped over the last three landing awkwardly with his arms outstretched. He was off his game today apparently. The truth was Sirius had had a bit of a clouded mind lately. Trying to balance school while also attempting to avoid his family was proving to be more difficult than he'd thought. He'd already ran into Regulus twice, and if that was any sign of things to come, he had a dim year ahead of him. And on top of that Virginia Langston kept dancing through his brain giving him beaming looks between gasps of laughter. He struggled to clear her from thought at night, only to be greeted by a more seductive version in his dreams.
" Sirius!" A shapely blonde girl called. She was seated on the sill of a tall window facing the clock tower. Sirius couldn't help but notice the glimpse of pale leg between the seams of her robes. Her short blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail, revealing her long unmarred neck.
"Callie." He greeting, shooting her a prize winning smile. He approached her and was immediately pulled against her soft body. His body reacted to the warmth, and he wrapped his long arms around her small waist.
"I've missed you." She whispered, twirling the hair at the base of his neck around her slender fingers. "Why didn't you owl?"
Thoughts of his miserable summer at home meshed with the thoughts of his spring with Callie, most of which had been spent dodging inside broom closets. She was a tempting distraction, but he honestly hadn't thought of her once he returned to Grimmauld Place. His mother had been at his throat the second he entered the door, going on about the disgrace of being friends with James and Remus, and the importance of maintaining blood purity by his choice of witch. According to her, he'd already soiled the family's name beyond repair. Regulus was the only one bringing any sense of respect to the Black name. Sirius had spent the majority of his summer in his small bedroom, drumming his fingers on his desk, and reading up on motorcycles via smuggled muggle magazines. He had received Callie's owls, but the letters remained unopened in a small pile on his bedroom floor.
"Is romance dead?" he asked, cradling her face with his hand, "Distance makes the heart grow fonder."
Callie visibly swooned, and Sirius chanced seating her back on the windowsill. Pulling her gently toward the seat and running his hand lightly down her arm, he backed away slowly. Callie sighed, watching the boy's back as he strode away. His arse was definitely worth remembering.
Sirius entered the Great Hall, grateful to be free from Callie, and also for the ego boost he'd been given. Girls were so easy. If you picked up a postcard every once in a while, you could make them believe anything with little to no effort. Luckily for him, he always chose girls who weren't bright enough to figure that one out. Distance makes the heart grow fonder was etched onto the postcard he'd seen when visiting Italy with his family that June. He'd snorted at the corniness then. It did come in handy every now and again though.
The sight of James and Frank Longbottom surrounded by books brought him back to reality. Free periods were unfortunately to be filled with essays he'd been assigned in Potions already. He was just happy to be meeting James, sure that there would be entertainment to come from his best mate.
"Ah, there he is! The man of the hour!" James greeted him.
"The man of the millennium!" He retorted, dumping his bag onto the table. A third year boy gave him a look of disdain as balls of paper rolled across the table. Ignoring it, he pulled out a pack of Sugar Quills offering one to the Quidditch Captain.
"Where d'you get those?" James asked, sucking on the candy. He hadn't chosen the sweet life, but the sweet life had chosen him. The candy fizzled in his mouth, and he puckered his face in response. He hadn't remember the candy being so...active.
"Langston. It was an offering of good will she said." Sirius explained, scratching his freshly itching scalp. "I have to admit, she's beginning to grow on me now that she's gifting me sweets."
"Ah. Such a quick learner." James appreciated, rifling through his wayward papers. The Potions essay wasn't necessarily a lost cause. James was quite good at it actually. It was just the exhaustion of actually writing the essay that thwarted his efforts. He leaned back, scratching the back of his head and leaving his hair sticking up in a way that much resembled a peacock.
"I am surprised she gave up so easily though. I'd fancy a row with her I think. It'd be nice to have a clever nemesis for once, make it a bit more challenging."
"I say let her relax. She has just arrived after all. Next week, that's when we'll strike again." James plotted, scratching a bit more viciously at the back of his head. "Blimey. Did you drop Finxley's Flea Fairies on me, Padfoot?" An agitated look crossed James' face. The boy beside him was scratching just as relentlessly, and his suspicion switched focus.
"Langston." Sirius growled. He pulled his hand away from his head to see what could only be described as a murder scene. "No, no no." He grabbed at his head to find the hair falling out on all hemispheres of his cranium. Not only was it abandoning him, but it was blonde.
"I'll murder her." James cried, attempting to sweep the tufts of light hair into a pile on the table. He gathered it, and pulled out his wand. Muttering a permanent sticking charm, he paused. A fleeting look of deep thought passed his face before he decided against using his hands to apply the hair. It was probably V's plan – to have him walking around with hairy palms. One for wit and cunning, James rolled his head across the table back and forth like a rolling pin. Sirius on the other hand had snatched James' Potions book and was thumbing through it determined to find the proper remedy.
"Oi, what happened to you lot?" Peter approached with caution, carefully remaining outside arms' reach. He stayed standing, as if on the verge of fleeing. He'd seen situations escalate fast in his time with the Marauders, and he was not going to become the scapegoat.
"Virginia." Sirius said, burying his nose deeper into the text. He continued searching fervidly, stopping abruptly finally realizing that Peter had appeared. "Wormtail! Where's Moony?"
The small blonde shook a bit in the mist of Sirius' roar. He'd always been a bit frightened of the bloke. After all he was a Black, even if he was in Gryffindor.
"I-" Peter started, sweating a bit under the sudden pressure to answer.
"Nevermind." Sirius stood, pushing the bench back loudly. "I'll find him."
XX
"I hope someone's managed to catch a picture." Lily attempted to hide an innocent giggle. V had just finished informing her of the grand master scheme she had hatched to make both James and Sirius lose their luscious locks. Bleach and Bald was the name she had coined.
"Me, too." V grinned, flipping through the pages of Herbology Biweekly. The article on page fifteen had her interest piqued. It wasn't every day one saw an article on the healing powers of sage when incinerated with Unicorn hair just past the point of ash.
Wanda Comesly of the Witches Against Warts Federation recently came clean to Herbology Biweekly with her secret to flawless skin.
"The answer is precisely where you'd think it not be." The experienced witch told this reporter. In a less elusive answer, the secret lies within the healing powers of atypical roots of sage, a plant not usually noted for its magical properties. Unfortunately for those of you rushing out now to purchase this treatment, the root must be fresh and mutated. A normal variety simply won't be potent enough.
"Potency is the key to any strong remedial potion." Comesly explained. "When mixed with the right substances, this particular mutant is able to reach near historic heights in the realm of maximum potential to heal. And it's not just for skin either."
The picture featured in the center of the article was of a gray haired witch with wiry glasses. Her eyes twinkled above a small button nose, winking conspiratorially at the reader. She glanced both ways before dashing to the foreground. Her mouth turned up in a tight smile, and just as she began to open her mouth to speak the picture reset. V found herself pondering what exactly Comesly had meant about the powers of the mutant sage root. Skimming the rest of the article, V only found redirection to other plants that gave witches more supple looking skin. She sighed, and rubbed the back of her clammy neck. It was about that time, actually, and she stood making a move to head toward the dungeons. As she turned toward the portrait, she was met with a most peculiar vision.
Sirius and James stomped angrily through the passageway followed closely by a frazzled looking Remus.
"I can't let you harm her, mates. It's against school rules." He said loudly, turning red when he saw the full Common Room watching him. Lily snorted at the sight of the premature balding taking place before her eyes, catching the attention of James and Sirius. Shrinking into her seat, she hid her smile behind her sleeved hands, leaving only her twinkling eyes visible. V on the other hand did not hide her laughter. She seemed to grow two inches at her visage come true.
"Don't look so proud, Langston!" James pouted, "You've nearly ruined my good looks! If it weren't for my physique, I'd be doomed." From the looks of it, James had attempted to re-glue his hair to his head without much success. There were bright blonde patches of fluff stuck to his earlobes, and a smidgen between his eyes.
"I'm quite fond of the uni-brow, James. I'm not sure how the rest of the girls will feel about it though. Perhaps Sirius can help you wax it." Her eyes sparkled, as she flung her arm across his deflated shoulders.
"How did you manage to make it irreversible?" Remus piped in. He was reluctant to admit he had been unable to make the boys' hair grow back.
"A witch never reveals her secrets." V winked, "But perhaps with the right appeals, an exception could be made. I do miss your rats' nest, Potter." She ruffled his hair playfully. Her mouth fell open as more blonde locks floated gracefully to the ground. James sniffed at her, picking up the hairs one by one and stuffing them into the pockets of his slacks.
"I'm going to bed." He huffed, exiting the common room in a particularly pathetic attempt to look angry.
"It is reversible, right, V?" Sirius asked softly. She looked at the boy. She hadn't been expecting to see such a look of pain. Honestly? Over a bit of hair. V hadn't meant to be cruel, only to make them laugh. She wondered if maybe she'd been too hard on them. After all they'd only just met, she didn't necessarily know them well enough to actually hurt their feelings. A sadness entered her for a moment. Maybe she didn't fit in as well as she'd thought. In attempt to remedy the situation, she dug into her pockets.
"Here it is." She successfully pulled a small wooden box from her pocket, the silver bangles on her arm clanged joyfully. Sirius eyed the box warily.
"It's not going to make my eyebrows fall out, is it?" V thought she heard a pang of hurt in his attempt at humor.
"Of course not. They're pastries." She opened the box, revealing two small golden cupcakes inside. They smelled acrid like gasoline and burnt bread, but they worked like a charm. "Just eat one."
She shoved a smelly pastry toward him. In defeat, he picked it up with two fingers holding it at arms' length. V rolled her eyes.
"If you don't want to eat it, fine, but don't come crying to me in the morning when the rest of your hair's fallen out." V felt disarmed by the distrust. Remus commandeered the small cupcake, examining it closely. Sirius glared harshly, waiting to hear whether it was safe for consumption. V straightened her robes, annoyed.
"I'll be back in a half hour." she declared, shoving past a group of studying first years. "Move." They parted, stumbling into each other in an attempt to avoid the odd girl.
V headed to the dungeons shivering. She wished she had thought to bring something warmer with her. This was the one time she couldn't afford to turn back and end up being late. If she wandered into Slughorn's office after nine, she wasn't sure he would still help her even per Dumbledore's request. This was her first meeting with the Potions' Master. Dumbledore had suggested he might have the ingredients necessary for the ale she required. V had been optimistic, but after her encounter with Sirius she found herself questioning Dumbledore's decision to send her to Slughorn.
From what she'd heard, he was not the most trustworthy man nor was he the wisest. As long as he kept his mouth shut about her condition, she wouldn't have to worry, she decided. Shaking her hair out of her face, V tried to reinstate her prior feelings of hopefulness. She hummed mindlessly, trailing her hand along the corridor walls. As her fingers ran over the painting frames, she was met with a mumbled voicing of annoyance from a dark haired knight in a suit of heavy armor.
"Sorry." she muttered, dropping her hand.
XX
By the time V returned to the dorms, it was much later than she'd anticipated. She dragged her feet dejectedly, reflecting on what had happened. Slughorn had given her a serum with a mahogany syrup base, and skrewt flavored undertones. She was still unused to needing any medication at all, let alone one that tasted so awful. It hadn't even seemed to help. Her head swam, as she climbed into bed. If getting well meant taking that potion, she might just prefer to stay sick. The thought depressed her. She knew that wasn't an option. It was either heal, or perish. There was no in between.
V's forehead wrinkled, and she sniffed. She would just have to manage.
The next morning, she was the talk of Gryffindor. When she entered the common room, she was surprised to see all eyes on her. That didn't stop her from covering her bubbling fear with showboating. She threw her arms up, and shook her hands at the crowd vibrantly adding in some hair shaking.
"I'm here! We can all go about our business now." The students returned to their mumbled conversations, and V found the Marauders sitting near a small portrait of a giraffe in dress robes. "What was all that about?" she asked, absentmindedly straightening the back of Remus' robe.
"It seems the whole House has heard about your tryst with Black and Potter." Lily explained, clearly amused at the situation. V noticed that James and Sirius were both present along with their hair. A small smile formed on her lips.
"I'm glad to see you boys back in full swing." V announced, watching as they huddled closely together obviously hiding something. She quirked a thin eyebrow at them. She was sure whatever they were planning was for her. V thought it might be wise for her to be afraid, but she was relieved. Strangely enough, knowing that they still cared enough to attempt to pull one over on her made her feel as though she hadn't stepped on as many toes as she'd originally thought.
"You won't be for long." James whispered eerily. Even though it was obviously meant to be comical, a shiver ran down V's spine. Or maybe she was not so safe from the boys' tendency for revenge.