A/N: Thank you for the reviews Rumbleroar's Army! They are greatly appreciated!

Okay, to answer your question….yes, Peter will be here, it's just he's late to Hogwarts (I explain in Chapter 4). Even though I didn't like Peter in the real HP books, I just couldn't leave him out. He has a big part in this story of mine…..

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the stuff J.K. Rowling created.

Chapter Three

The Torture Begins

I woke up to the rising sun. The only thing that was missing was the sounds of the animals starting their day. That's odd, I thought. Where is everyone? What's…? And then I remembered and the last eight years, and yesterday came flying back to me. I remembered where I was, and I knew my life was never going to be the same ever again. It was going to change, it had changed, and the change was going to keep on coming.

Just then an owl flew in front of our window and stopped in midair, staring inside. It waited a minute, and then pecked at the glass. I waited for it to fly away, but after it continued to peck at the glass, I decided it needed something, and I was a sucker for animals, obviously. I went to the window and opened it. It flew in and landed on the coat rack, looking at me intently. I walked over to it and saw it had parchment tied around its foot with a red string.

"What is it?" I asked.

It cocked its head to the left. "Your class schedules of course!" it said.

"Why didn't they just bring them here themselves?"

It cocked its head to the right. "You are new here, are you not? You are not like the others, and to state the obvious, you are talking to me."

"Why wouldn't they talk to you? It seems pretty shallow of them. I'm Nike, and you are…"

"They cannot talk to us; they cannot even understand us. I am Lark." His eyes got bigger as realization of what I said sunk in. "The Nike? I have delivered many messages about you. My family and friends have told me about you too. And may I say, your kind has a very different opinion of you then my kind does."

I smiled wryly. "Thanks. Glad I'm oh-so famous these days."

He cleared his throat. "If you do not mind…" Lark looked at his feet.

"Oh! Right, sorry." I untied the string and unwrapped the three pieces of parchment from around his leg. "Thanks."

"Uh-hmm. Nice meeting you Nike. It is nice having someone new to talk to around here." And with that he flew out the window. I went over and closed it, then looked at the pieces of parchment that had our names on them. First day of school. Great.

Someone coughed. I turned around and saw Lily and Tonks sitting up wide-eyed.

"Where you just talking to a bird?" Tonks demanded.

"No. An owl." Tonks rolled her eyes.

"How? It's an animal and you sounded just like it. Unless…are you an Animagus?" Lily asked.

"What's an Animagus?"

"Never mind, you're obviously not. How'd you do it?"

"I was raised by animals, remember?" I held up our schedules. "Lark brought these." They got up and took their schedules and read them. I opened mine to see if I'd be able to understand any of it.

6-8 am—Breakfast/Mail

8:15-9 am—Potions

9:15-10 am—Transfiguration

10:15-11 am—Herbology

11:15-12 pm—Flying Lessons

12:15-1 pm—Lunch

1:15-2 pm—Charms

2:15-3 pm—Defense Against the Dark Arts

3:15-4 pm—Divination

4:25-6:30 pm—Study/Free Time & Extra Circular Activities

6:45-7:05 pm—Supper/Announcements

7:20-8:55 pm—Free Time

9:30 pm—Lights Out

Midnight on Monday s, Wednesday s, and Friday s—Astrology {unless stated otherwise}

Saturdays once a month starting in October—Hogsmeade {unless stated otherwise}

Tonks peeked over my shoulder. "At least we've got Herbology together." She turned to her friend. "What about you Lily?"

Lily compared ours to hers than she told me, "I've only got Herbology with you, too." Then to Tonks she said, "I've got everything but flying lessons with you; that's when I've got Advanced Potions. So I'll be able to keep you out of trouble, or at least try to, about 95% of the time."

"What's Hogsmeade?" I asked.

"It's a town that's within walking distance from here. Once you're in your third year, you're allowed to go unless you get in trouble, you're sick, and then there are many other reasons," Lily explained.

"I'm hungry," Tonks said. "And you must be starving Nike. I don't think you'd gotten to eat last night."

"Nope," I agreed.

"Let's go to breakfast then," she said. They each got their uniforms out of their dressers and Lily sighed when she looked over at me.

"They didn't get you anything you needed, did they?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I'd offer you one of mine, but you're probably a foot taller than me." She looked at Tonks.

Tonks frowned at me. "And I thought I was tall. You're about three inches taller than me."

"Do we have to be in uniform? What's the difference between the clothes I'm wearing and those? They're both black." Lily laid hers out on her bed. A nice white long sleeved shirt with a collar was under a black sweater-type-thing that had maroon and gold stripes around the cuffs and v-neck. Above where her heart would be was a golden lion reared up on its hind legs in a fighting-stance. A satin maroon and gold striped tie lay next to the shirt. The skirt was nice looking and black and her shoes were shiny black dress shoes. There was also a long black robe. It was nice, I had to admit. But not to them.

"We have to wear skirts? Are you kidding me? How are supposed to move around? What happens if we need to fight?" I demanded.

"Who knows? Dress code. You have to wear it," Tonks said, smiling.

"That's their problem, not mine," I told them.

"You don't get it," Tonks said, the smile gone. "You get detention for not being in proper uniform, among other things."

"So what am I going to do?"

"Let us get dressed and we'll ask the older girls if they'll lend you one of theirs," Lily said.

"If you say so."

Two minutes later I was following Lily and Tonks down the hall. We stopped at the second to last door down our hall and Lily knocked on the door.

A few seconds after, a lofty pretty girl with light blonde hair and golden brown eyes opened the door. She smiled as soon as she saw us.

"Mornin you three!" she exclaimed. "Nice show last night. Just what the first years need to get comfortable."

"Glad you enjoyed it Lenna," Tonks said.

"Can we ask you a favor?"

"Sure Lily, what is it?" Lenna asked kindly.

"Our friend here was dropped off here with nothing, including a uniform. I figured you were close to her size…"

Lenna's eyes met mine. She smiled and offered her hand out. I shook it.

"Lenna Shards."

"Nike."

"Oh yes, us Prefects were warned about you. Hold on just a sec and I'll get you a uniform." She disappeared and returned a few moments later with neatly folded clothes and a robe in her hands. She gave it to me.

"Thanks," Lily, Tonks, and I said.

"No problem. Just return it when you can get yours. No rush though."

"You truly are amazing," Lily said.

"Don't us Prefects have to be?" Lenna joked. "With the way you are, you'll be too, Lil. I've gotta run. See ya around!" We walked back to our room and I got dressed.

"Umm…guys?" I said. They looked up from the books they were reading.

"Yeah?" they said.

I held up the tie. "How does this thing work?"

Tonks laughed while Lily clucked her tongue. "Here," she said. "Let me do it." Lily took the tie from me and tied it under my collar and around my neck. "There," she said.

"Thanks. But are we supposed to breath?"

She grinned. "I don't think so."

"You'll get used to it," Tonks assured me. "Hey Nike?"

"Hmm?" I said as I slipped the black robe on.

"I never noticed before, but you don't have any shoes on." Lily and I both looked down at my bare feet.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," I said stupidly. "I've never worn shoes before."

Tonks reached under her bed and grabbed a pair of white tennis shoes. "Unless the professor's a total freak or a complete jackass they won't notice." She tossed me a pair of socks.

After I had them on (and it was very awkward. Who knew shoes were supposed to be so tight on your feet?) Tonks said, "Can we go now? I'm starving and I don't think I can wait much longer." To prove her point, her stomach growled loudly.

We made our way down the stairs in companionable silence. It was when we walked out of the portrait/door thing that I remembered the password.

"Why is there a password?"

"Simple. So no one that's not meant to won't get in. Safety precautions too," Lily answered.

Tonks snorted. "Yeah? In the past it's done them no good. If they really want to get in, they will. A prisoner from Azkaban has broken into Gryffindor before, about one hundred years or so ago."

"True, but it's tradition. The password changes every month, just in case you didn't know."

"What's Azkaban?" I asked, feeling very uneducated.

"It's the prison for our kind," Tonks said. I was about to ask more questions when she said, "This is the Great Hall." We walked into the place that I had been kicked out of last night. "The farthest table over there is for the Slytherins, who are a bad bunch, so stay away from them. The one next to theirs is Hufflepuff's table, and they're not bad people, so you don't have to worry about them. Next one is for the Ravenclaws, who are tricky ones. You never know which side they're on until they announce it. And this one is ours, and we are the best group you'll ever meet," she joked. "We always sit at our House Table. It's a rule." We went over to our table and sat at the end where it was empty. Tonks went for the food right away. Lily and I smiled.

"What?" Tonks asked. "I'm going through another growth spurt."

"She has a lot of those," Lily giggled. "and after she's grown a few inches, a week later she'll be back down to 5'3"." Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Where are all the teachers?" I asked, looking around. I only saw one older guy, and he was creepy. He had short greasy dark hair, black eyes, a gaunt face, and was all skin and bones. His nose looked as if it had been broken a time or two, and his clothes were completely obscured by his midnight black robes.

"They take turns sweetheart." I felt someone against my shoulder. I looked over and locked eyes with Sirius. "And that one right there," he continued, nodding his head in the direction of the creepy guy. "is Professor Damant, the potions teacher. He's also Slytherin's Head of House, and he hates all except for a select few."

"What do you want Black?" Tonks demanded.

"That's just what we were wondering," James said, coming up behind Sirius and I with Remus.

"Just trying to help out," Sirius said.

"It seems like you're trying to pull a James, mate," Remus said quietly. James elbowed him good naturedly.

Sirius stood up and looked down at me. "Word of advice, stick with his favorites and be a kiss-ass." They walked down farther and sat with another group.

"Don't listen to him," Lily said. "Professor Damant isn't that bad."

"But of course Lily'd say that 'cause she's his all-time favorite," Tonks said.

"That would explain why you are taking two potions classes," I said, not taking any sides.

We ate in silence. The two were every now and then either rolling their eyes, muttering insults, or glaring in the direction of James, Remus, and Sirius, who were surrounded by a whole bunch of girls and some guys. When we finished eating Lily said,

"Want me to show you where potions is? He wouldn't mind seeing me and it might give you a good start."

I thought about it, and I almost agreed, but then decided against it because it wouldn't be me.

"No thanks. I don't want you to be late."

"Are you sure?" Lily asked. "Because it wouldn't be a problem."

"I'm sure. Besides, the only way I'm gonna learn my way around this school is if I learn by myself."

"If you say so," she agreed. Her and Tonks told me good luck and walked off.

I walked to the doors and decided to take a left. I walked for a little while and realized I had to be going the wrong way because I hadn't seen any students or adults.

I was just about to turn around when I saw something giving off this black glow. I walked over to the wall and saw the glow was coming from inside the wall. I knelt down so I was eye level with the glow and placed my hands on it. I took a deep breath and cleared my mind. Then I focused on the wall and what could be inside, willing the wall to move so I could see it. The wall shifted underneath my hands and the glow became brighter as the wall opened up. I reached inside and—

"Ouch!" I hissed, yanking my hand back. Something had both shocked and bit me at the same time. Determined to find out what it was, I stuck my hand back inside and grabbed something that felt ice cold. I picked it up and brought it out. It was a black necklace that had a beautifully carved wolf surrounded by an equally pretty silver crescent moon that had stars of the same color placed on it. A howl filled the room, and after a split second of confusion I realized it was the wolf. Its mouth was open and I could see sharp pointed teeth. The howling got louder and louder and I knew I had to get it to shut-up before someone came to see what the hell was going on. I hooked the necklace around my neck and the howling stopped. Weird, I thought. I looked down and saw that the wolf's mouth had frozen in mid-howl, the moon and stars had stopped sparkling, and everything had stopped moving. I touched it and felt that it was still ice cold.

This was all confusing me, but I knew I had to get to my class and fast. Already I would probably be late. Close, I thought to the wall. I heard the wall closing as I ran back down the hall.

"Aww…wittle witchy's gonna be verwy wate! Hehe! Wittle witchy's gonna be in twou-ble!" came a slightly annoying voice that was speaking like a baby. Not faltering my steps I looked up and saw a ghost was following me. The smile froze on his face. "Ooohhh! You not jwust any witchy! You bad witchy! You the one Peevesie's been wanting to meet!"

I saw my way of not getting into too much trouble.

"Peeves is it?" I asked, coming to a walk.

"That's me! Peevesie at your service witchy Nike. Hehe! That rhymes!" he said, bowing.

I tried not to roll my eyes at him. This ghost was so childish.

"Peeves." I stopped to make sure he was listening. He was. "I need you to take me to the potions classroom. Please."

"Come on Witchy Nike, wet's gwo! Peevesie'll show you the way to Pwofessor Damnit!" I chuckled. Was this what the students called the potions master?

Peeves kept on talking and talking the whole time, but I wasn't paying attention to him or where we were going. My mind was focused on the necklace. Obviously it had magic; the whole episode that had just happened proved that fact. And the fact that it was magic must mean it had been or still is special, and that it must mean something. But what?

"Now it's wyour twurn Witchy Nike!" Peeves said, stopping in front of a huge heavy looking door that radiated something unpleasant.

"What would that be?"

"Make wots of twouble for Pwofessor Damnit!" he said, floating on down the hall.

"Oh I probably will Peeves," I muttered as I opened the door. Professor Damant was lecturing when I stepped inside. He didn't even look away from what he was doing and he didn't stop talking. A few people turned around to look.

"PEEVESIE'S MET THE FAMOUS BAAAAADDDD WWWWIIITCH! WITCHY NIKEEEEE IS HEEEERRRE! WITCHY NIKEEEEE IS HEEEERRRE! SHE'S GONNA MAKE US PAAAAAYY! WITCHY NIKE IS GONNA GIVE PROFESSOR DAMMMMNNNIT HELL FIRST! ALL OF YOU THAT CAN ARE GONNA DDDDIIIIIIEEEEEE!" Peeves sang at the top of his lunges from somewhere down the hall, dropping his baby-voice.

Everyone covered their ears or heads. His song stopped the potions master who looked at me and out into the hall with a ferocious expression. I winced and cringed. Peeves had the most terrible voice in history and he kept singing the same words over and over. He needed to be taught how to sing. Maybe I'd teach him sometime, starting with a song that's about if he ever tried to get me into trouble again he's gonna wish he wasn't here and this school was going to be hell for him as long as I was here. Some kids laughed while others shook their heads, moaned over the horror of this, or muttered to their partner.

Professor Damant was fuming. He stalked over to me and shoved me out of the way as he walked out into the hall. I regained my balance just as the professor screamed,

"SHUT-UP PEEVES! YOU STUPID IDIOTIC ANNOYING USELESS PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR A GHOST!" If nothing, that just made Peeves sing louder and more terrible.

His face bright red, Professor Damant stormed back in his classroom and slammed the doors shut behind him. He stood, towering above me, glaring with hatred.

"That ghost has got a pair of lunges on him, hasn't he? And quite the imagination, if I may say so," I said, looking him in the eye.

A couple kids coughed, covering their laughs. Someone muttered, "That's an understatement."

That did it for him. He blew his top. "SIT!" he bellowed. "AND NOT ANOTHER WORD FROM YOU FOR THE REST OF MY CLASS!"

"Yes, sir."

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY?" he yelled.

"I was just answering you!" I snapped.

"SHUT-UP! WATCH YOUR ATTITUDE GIRL!"

"Seems to me I'm not the one screaming my head off here," I said, placing my hands on my hips.

"ENOUGH! DETENTION—"

"Oh come on Professor," said a voice that was becoming way too familiar. I looked over at Sirius and saw him sitting in front of James and Remus. "It's her first day, and you know how Peeves is. He probably never even talked to her. He hates low-lives."

"Excuse m—" He cut me off with a look.

The professor's eyes narrowed. "You want to share her detention Mr. Black?"

"No, I'm just saying give her a break. She didn't do anything—"

"Yet," James muttered.

Sirius glared at him and continued, "Except be late, and if you have forgotten, she's like a first year, she doesn't know her way around this place."

Professor Damant took a deep breath. "Sit down. You better watch yourself," he told me. "Next time you'll get what you deserve when your boyfriend isn't here to look out for you." He walked back to the front of the classroom muttering something about how trouble attracts each other and creates mayhem. He flopped down at his desk and started flipping through his book angrily.

I went over to Sirius. "What was that for?" I whispered angrily.

He smirked. "Well you're welcome. Glad I could help."

"Sit down Nike. Trust me, you don't want to mess with him anymore today," Remus said. None of the guys looked at me with hatred, so I wondered if they had forgotten about last night's episode. Reluctantly I sat at the table next to Sirius and in front of Remus.

"I told you," Sirius said, leaning back in his chair. "stick with his favorites."

"You?" I scoffed. "One of his favorites? Yeah, sure. I'll believe that when I save the world." Remus and James laughed quietly.

Sirius' eyes sparkled. "Okay, I'll remember to ask you after you're through with that."

"You'll be on a long wait then. 'Cause it's not goin to happen," I said, dropping my eyes. What was with him?

"Let me tell you our secret," he said. "We got the top grades in this class, right?"

I started to make a smart-ass comment but James cut me off. "Of course we do. Well, your new friend Lily is above us, but we're right below her."

Sirius rolled his eyes and Remus said, "Someone is loooovesick."

"Shut-up man," James snapped.

"Anyways… We're nuisances to everyone, right?"

This time they let me answer. "Now that I can believe."

"He hates us, as do most all professors, yes. But he's not too bad when we're in his class because we're some of the best they've got."

"I see how that works," I said. "Pretty clever of you. But I still don't believe you never get into trouble."

"We never said that," Remus said, smiling. "We get in more trouble than anyone else here."

"Except now we might have a run for our money," James said. "Our team is going to have the second spot in this category too."

"So sorry. As soon as I figure out how to be a good little witch you can have your spot back."

"Thank you. We'd appreciate it," Sirius said.

"Silence!" the professor said, looking up to glare at us. Sirius, Remus, and James smiled.

"Now for the next thirty minutes you can do whatever you want and he won't notice. Not when he's in one of these moods," Remus said.

"Why?"

"He…has issues, to say the least," James said.

"Anger issues?"

Remus snorted. "That and many others."

I smiled to myself. It'd be easy for me to become friends with them. I had told Lily and Tonks I was more like them then any of us would like to admit.

"What class have you got next?" Remus asked thirty minutes later. James, Remus, Sirius, and I were walking down the hall together. All the kids stayed clear of us; whether it was the guys' fault or mine or both, I didn't know.

"Transfiguration."

"We've got that one with you then," James said. "You gonna stick with us or do you have others in mind?"

"Maybe she flies solo," Remus told James.

"Does this teacher hate you too?" I asked jokingly.

"Not as much as the rest," Sirius said seriously. "She's the Head of House for Gryffindor, and her family has been for years. And, between us and you," He looked around and lowered his voice. "she gives us a lot of chances. She has too much faith in us sometimes."

"Although you might have already made it on her bad-not-ever-coming-back-to-the-good-side list," James cut in.

"There's such a thing?" They nodded. "Who is it?" I asked. I couldn't think of any females that I had ticked off yet.

"You'll see."

As it turned out, they were right. I probably had made it on the bad-not-ever-coming-back-to-the-good-side list with her. It was the old lady with the clipboard.

We were the first ones in the class (which was an unusual thing from what I was able to gather) and she looked up as we came in.

"Good morning Remus. Good morning Sirius. Good morning James," she said. "Nike," she said in a dismissive tone.

"Good morning Professor McGonagall," Sirius said, politer then I had ever heard him before.

"Ma'am?"

"What is it Nike?" she said curtly.

"I'd like to apologize for the way I acted last night. I was… Well, what I'm trying to say is that I now know what I did was wrong and—"

She smiled, which made her look twenty years younger. "I understand Nike. We weren't very civil either, and we all, including the Ministry, owe you an apology also. Please, forgive us." She looked over us as more students piled in. "I can now tell you are going to be an excellent addition to Gryffindor." To the rest of the class she said, "Have a seat so we may get started!"

"Ha! You're a kiss-ass after all," Sirius muttered.

"I know how to play," I muttered back. Not to mention I kinda sorta meant it.

"So do we." We sat down, me next to Remus, Sirius behind me with James next to him.

"Before I tick her off like the last one, what's Transfiguration?"

"It's some type of magic. You can change object into different things," Remus answered.

"Today you are going to transfigure your partner into whichever animal you want, and then you'll change them back to themselves. Both of you will get a chance to do it today, and you'll hopefully do it right. But don't blame me if when you return to your normal selves you're not really normal. For example…if you are missing something, or if something isn't right. Blame your partner. Now good luck and get started." Students started to move to find a partner. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention…the person you are sitting next to is your partner for today. So next time you set foot in my class, sit beside someone you trust with your life because you never know what we will be doing." People groaned and Professor McGonagall smiled. She was enjoying herself. "Carry on now."

I looked at Remus who was looking at me.

"At least I'm not paired with Sirius. This would be the time for him to get me back," I said, not entirely sure what Remus was going to do.

He laughed heartily. "So you heard about Padfoot–uh Sirius– and his revenge, eh? Usually revenge is something we all take part of; it's something we all like to do together." I felt the color leave my face; I was screwed. James and Sirius grinned.

"But," Remus continued. "I like you, and you're one of us, or I hope you will be, so…I won't purposely mess you up. If Sirius and James want their revenge, they can do it. I won't stop them, but I won't help them either." That made me feel a little bit better.

"Thanks. I think."

James rolled his eyes and turned to Sirius. "You're getting transfigured first." And not waiting for Sirius to reply, James said something and flicked his wand and Sirius turned into a cute orange cat with black jagged stripes.

Remus got a mischievous look in his eyes. He saw where this was going. "Don't worry," he told me. "This won't happen to you…yet."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

James smiled evilly. "Watch." He flicked his wand again and Sirius appeared, and I choked back a laugh.

"What'dya turn me into?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head, his eyes shining. "Oh, nothing too awfully bad."

Sirius looked at me and Remus, and his eyes narrowed. I tried not to smile. He stalked off to a wall that had glass hanging on it and whirled around when he saw what James did. He still had some cat features. He had tiny pointed orange ears with black stripes running up and down on the top of his head, whiskers around a human nose, bright green slitted eyes (which I had to say was the freakiest part because his eyes were normally so dark), and you could see a long tail dragging at his feet.

"JAMES! I hate cats!" His yell kind of sounded like a "meow". We started to laugh. Sirius took out his wand, growled something, and flicked his wand furiously at James, who turned into a bright blue bird.

Remus laughed harder. "You wouldn't…"

"Oh but I would, Moony my friend, and I am," Sirius said, cracking a cat-like smile. When he smiled I noticed he had cat teeth, so I had to lean on a desk to keep from falling over. I hadn't laughed this much or this hard in years. Not since I'd been on the run…

Sirius shook his head, probably guessing what I had seen. He flicked his wand and James arose, and I fell against Remus, who was keeping me from falling and I was doing the same for him. James had a dull orange beak, tiny blue eyes, bird feet and legs, and huge enormous blue feathered wings.

Sirius nodded at his handy-work. James walked/hopped unsteadily over to the glass and it was his turn to glare at his friend. They just stood there while me and Remus laughed our heads off. Seconds later they joined in. I guess you could tell who the definite best friends here were. What had Tonks said? They were like brothers.

"Good heavens!" Professor McGonagall gasped, coming over to see what the racket was about. "Mr. Potter! Mr. Black! What have you done?"

"Just messing around ma'm," James answered in a chirpy bird-like voice.

"You do know that it will take a few hours to wear off?" she asked, smiling at their deformed figures.

"Yes ma'm, we're very aware of that fact," Sirius answered brightly.

"Idiots," I muttered."

"I agree," she whispered to me. Louder she said, "Very well then." She turned to face me and Remus. "Let us see what you can do. Mr. Lupin?"

Remus stepped away from me, still smiling from ear to ear, and took out his wand. "Don't worry," he said. "I won't mess around just yet." Then he said something softly and pointed his wand at me and flicked it. I felt myself changing. I shrunk a little bit and fell on all fours; I felt my body changing, shifting into something else and I felt hair sprouting everywhere. My teeth lengthened and my fingernails grew sharper, harder, and longer. My ears felt like they were flattened, and I could've sworn I'd just made them move. I could smell and see much better. Then the changing stopped. I looked down and saw I had huge black paws and strong black hind and front legs.

I walked over to the glass and saw I was a huge black wolf/dog/bear with pitch black eyes and short yet flexible ears. I wagged my tail, which was pretty long. I opened my mouth and barked joyously and I saw sharp white teeth that looked deadly.

"Remind you of anyone mate?" Remus asked Sirius in a low voice so no one could hear. They must've forgotten I was a wolf/dog/bear now; I had supersonic hearing.

"Thanks Moony," Sirius said sarcastically. James tried to smile but he couldn't because of his beak.

"Alright, let's change you back Nike," Remus muttered, and he flicked his wand again. I felt myself turning back into a human. I looked at the glass and saw…me. I checked myself to make sure Remus wasn't playing any tricks on me. He wasn't.

"Told you I'd be nice. My turn!" Remus said. "Come on, change me," he said after I hesitated.

"I don't know how," I muttered.

"It's simple," Professor McGonagall said, not at all criticizing me. "Point your wand at whatever you want to transfigure, think of what you're going to transfigure it into, and then say 'fera verto'."

"Got it," I said. They all looked at me, waiting.

"Well…" James said.

"I haven't got a wand."

Professor McGonagall frowned. "I see…I'll talk to Professor Vera about this. We all figured you had one because of the things you'd done to the Aurors. After all, it seemed like seventh year magic." James, Remus, and Sirius all stared at me in shock and wonder.

"All I used was concentration, thoughts, and a will to escape and survive. At least, I think that's all I used, but now I can't remember. Magic just flows whenever I want it to now."

She smiled. "Well if you're that powerful and still getting even more so without a wand, there's no telling how powerful you'll be with one. After this class I'll talk to the headmaster and we'll talk about taking you to Ollivanders. Now, let's see you try it." She turned to Sirius and held out her hand. "Hand it over." He grumbled to himself while he took his wand out of his pocket and gave it to her. She turned back to me. "Now I don't know if your magic will work properly with Mr. Black's wand, seeing as it chose him. You'll still be able to channel magic through it, but it might not work the same as you doing magic without one, or how you'll do magic with yours. So if everything doesn't turn out right, don't be hard on yourself. You'll know why. Now, since that's all taken care of…" Professor McGonagall turned to Remus, who looked like he was about to lose it. "Are you ready Mr. Lupin?"

He shook his head furiously. "No!"

"Good." She handed me Sirius' wand. It was made of some dark wood and it had beautiful designs on it. It looked about eleven inches long and it felt firm and sturdy. I pointed the wand at Remus, who was trembling, thought of an animal, and gently flicked the wand to the right. Remus started to transform. In seconds he looked exactly what I had pictured: a phoenix.

People gasped and crowded around.

"No way!" someone said.

"So this is what a phoenix looks like," another said.

"Your wand worked for her!" James gaped. Sirius shook his head, astonished.

"Very good my dear," Professor McGonagall said enthusiastically. "What a beautiful phoenix… Brilliant creatures they are… They only go around those they think special…" She blinked, snapping out of whatever trance she had been in. "Bring him back, which is one of the trickiest parts. It'll be even more trickier if he sets himself on fire before you bring him back."

I pictured Remus in my head, pointed Sirius' wand at the phoenix, and flicked. Up came a surprised Remus.

He stared at me in disbelief for a second, and then smiled. "I didn't think you'd turn me back into me, or turn me into a phoenix."

"I always repay a good deed with a good deed," I replied, smiling back.

"Have you ever met one before? You'd have to have seen one to transfigure me into it." He looked interested in what I had to say.

"Yep. I've met many of them before. Their songs are beautiful; they'll break even the hardest soul, and light up the darkest one. They're that powerful. Especially when they are singing together." I walked over to Sirius and gave him his wand back.

"Thanks," he mumbled. He opened a book and buried his whiskers in it.

Professor McGonagall turned to the rest of the class. "Show's over. Get back to work!" The students went back to their desks and their spells. "Good job," she told us. She walked off to go supervise the rest of the class.

Remus pulled out my chair for me, bowing.

"Thank you. You're not at all how Tonks described you. Maybe a little bit weirder than she thinks, but I like that," I said, sitting.

He sat down next to me, frowning. "What exactly did Nymphadora say about me?" James leaned forward, and I could have sworn if birds could smirk, he did. Sirius looked up from his book.

I felt uncomfortable. "Nothing really, except that you're a total jerk who thinks he's better than everyone else and can break all the rules he wants to."

James patted Remus' back with his wing, which made Remus smile a little bit. "Tough luck man," he chirped. Sirius nodded sympathetically.

"Why? What am I missing here?" I looked at each of them, who all avoided my questioning gaze.

"Nothing," Sirius said, not looking up from his book. "Although you can do Prongs here a favor and tell him what his dream girl thinks of him."

Remus cracked another sullen smile while James blanched. He composed himself and said,

"We all know what she thinks of me."

"But you yet to hear all of it from an inside source," Sirius protested. He never took his eyes off that book of his. Was it just me, or was he trying to make a point to his friends? "Come on," he said to me. "Let's hear it."

"Who do you mean?" I asked, stalling for time. Now I saw where this was going. I did not want to get into this with them. I didn't know if all guys talked about girls with other girls, but I sure as hell didn't want to, especially because I didn't even know if we were friends. It might have been another story if we all were. But probably not.

"Lily."

I sighed. "She thinks he's ridiculous and that he's a git and he thinks everyone should treat him like he's a god. She also thinks he's a snob and is way too full of himself…" I looked at James and stopped. "…among other things. But I'll tell you one thing. If she thinks you look ridiculous when you mess up your hair and play with that Snitch or whatever it's called, she won't know what to call you when she sees you now."

Remus and James laughed. "Yep, can't wait to hear what they think of my new look," James said merrily. I sighed inwardly. I guess I had lightened the mood some.

"We all knew what they thought anyways. And besides…it's not like it's that big of a deal. It doesn't matter that much," Remus said. I nodded. Sure. When you change, you might have a chance with them, I thought. Although I wasn't sure they needed to change anymore. I couldn't see anything wrong with them. I just think that Lily and Tonks didn't know them that well, or what lay beneath the surface. But that was just me.

"True," Sirius said airily.

I turned to him and snatched his book away. "Oh you don't want to hear what they have to say about you. Yours might just be the worst."

"I don't really care what they have to say about me. There's a big difference between my feelings for them and their feelings for them."

"Oh that's right because you can't settle with just one girl. You've got to have them all, right?" I said coolly. Remus choked and James turned away and coughed.

"Says who?" he asked.

"I'm an 'inside source' right? Well that's one thing that I will tell you."

"Seems to me they have no idea what they're talking about. They don't know me. That's not how things are." He took his book back, grabbed his backpack, and walked out the door. Remus and James watched him go.

"I think you hit a sore spot there," James said.

"Well what else was I supposed to do?" I asked angrily. "You two were getting insulted, so why the hell not him too? You take things together don't you?"

"I guess."

"You know what? The truth always hurts."

A/N: Ah Peeves…we all love him don't we? He's the Marauders' favorite ally. And mean old Professor Damant…he'll be a fun character to work with, I can assure you that. Professor McGonagall…her first name is Minerva…but no, she's not the same Professor McGonagall from the Harry Potter books, she's her great-niece. The old McGonagall is dead. If you haven't understood when this takes place…well you will later and everything will make perfect sense. Kinda. Poor James and Remus…the truth of Lily and Tonks' feelings for them come out…or do they? I think they took it pretty well, don't you? And don't you worry, Sirius will live up to his reputation of being a player, as I implied, it'll just…happen…differently. Also I hope I didn't disappoint you with the Transfiguration bit, it took me forever to figure out what James and Sirius were going to turn each other into.

Okay, I'm shutting up now. If you hadn't noticed, I like to talk.

Heads up! Next chapter is about learning how to fly.

PLEASE REVIEW!

Nike :)