CHAPTER 3

THE TRUTH COMES OUT

Breakfast was something that most people look forward to, right? Well, not me, because it meant that I would have to spend more time listening to Parker and her constant gabbing. After I had taken the charm off of her and Sirius the night before, and quickly found that I had made a large mistake by doing so. I had found this out no less than five minutes later, when loud whoops of laughter could be heard from the boy's dormitory, followed by Jason yelling at them for being too loud at three o'clock in the morning. And shortly after that, Malinda had come down to our room and told Parker to be quiet. But for the next two hours (by now it was around five in the morning) she had come down every ten minutes to say the same thing. After about the five thousandth time, I got sick of it, and went down to the common room, and slept on a scarlet couch.

Potions was my first class of my first day, and I wasn't looking forward to it, because we shared it with the Hufflepuffs. They weren't the worst people to be around, but there are some Hufflepuffs that I just can't stand for four reasons; 1. They are way too happy and cheerful for me (I'm kind of goth) 2. most of them are people that I don't like to begin with. (Yeah, that's right! I'm talking to you Amos Diggory!) 3. I absolutely hate the color yellow, and 4. I don't like things being strict, and from what I hear, you have to be dead precise to get a potion right. And from what I hear, Professor Slughorn is more than a bit off his rocker. But first, I would have to get through breakfast.

I woke up at six the next morning to find Parker and Remus staring at me from a couch facing mine.

"Gah!" I yelped.

"Good, you're awake! We've been waiting here for half an hour. Why did it take you so long to wake up? Why did you sleep down here on a lumpy old couch? And why did you scream?" She asked me in rapid fire. I swear that girl could talk faster than four people put together.

"Well as strange as it seems, I like to get at least a little sleep, and you hadn't shut up at five in the morning, and that was only an hour ago. I slept on the couch because I was tired, and I wanted to sleep. And I screamed because it's a little freaky to wake up and immediately see two people staring at you." I said, trying my best not to sound cranky, but knew that I was failing miserably.

"So what do you want, Parker?" I asked irritably. For once, Parker seemed to be at a loss for words, so Remus stepped in and said,

"James and Sirius were driving me crazy so I came down here to try to get some sleep, I saw you and I went to go find something else to do. Parker came down and saw you as well, saw me, and decided to wait for you to wake up, so we could all do something together. I tried to go down to get breakfast, but she judo flipped me, and put a full body bind curse on me. The only thing that I can move is my mouth," Remus explained. I looked at Parker and my expression must have been somewhere between exasperated and shocked.

"What? I just didn't want any of us to be alone today. Nobody has been real friendly, and I got the impression that neither of you are especially great at making friends." I looked at her, and I could feel my face burning with blush.

"What? For your information, I happen to be terrific at making friend! You don't know me, and you have no right to go around judo flipping people just because you don't feel like being alone!" I said sternly. Then, I got up off of the couch, turned on my heel, and stormed up the stairs to my dorm. This day was not going as I had hoped...

I quickly changed into my uniform and brushed my teeth and waist length caramel colored hair. I went out the door onto the staircase and slung my rucksack over my shoulder, and started fiddling with my tie, trying to tie it correctly as I made my way down the stairs, heading for the common room. I kept my eyes focused straight ahead, and made a quick escape via the portrait hole. I almost had time to sigh in relief before I heard Parker yelling after me.

"Hey Asana, wait up!" Foolishly, I stopped and turned toward her, only to get bowled over by Parker, dragging Remus behind her. I landed with a muffled "Umph!" from underneath the two of them.

I made an exasperated growling sound int the back of my throat, and the two of them got off of me quickly. I stood up and dusted off my skirt and straightened my robes.

"Is there a reason why you saw it so fit to knock me over?" I asked, my annoyance making my Irish/Scottish accent become more pronounced.

"We were just wondering where you were going," Parker said.

"I'm going to breakfast, where did you think that I was going? Now, if you'll excuse me-" I said, but I was interrupted by Parker.

"What did we ever do to make you so cross with us? All we've been trying to do is just be friendly toward you, and all you keep doing is yell at us. What is your problem?"

I just stared at her and gaped, nobody had ever talked to me like that before. She had just earned my permanent respect. I grinned and said,

"Look, I'm just nervous about starting here, and I tend to yell when I'm nervous. I'm sorry that I've snapped at you, and there's no excuse for the way that I have been treating you."

"Why are you smiling? I'm mad at you!" Parker said, yelling at me.

"Because I'm impressed that you had the guts to yell at me," I said, still smiling.

"Why would she have to have guts to yell at you?" Remus asked.

"Wait, neither of you guys recognized my last name? I thought that you two were purebloods. You should have been warned about me." I asked.

"Why would we- wait, aren't you a Russet? Aren't they famous for being pureblood vam-" Remus asked before I put my hand over his mouth, grabbed Parker's wrist, and pulled them into an open and obviously unused classroom.

"Would you be quiet! I don't need the whole school finding out what I am!" I yelled at him.

"Wait, what's going on?" Parker asked.

"The Russet family are pureblood vampires. They've been around longer than any other family, magical or otherwise. I can't believe that Professor Dumbledore was stupid enough to let you in!" Remus yelled.

"Stupid enough to let me in? What about you? How could he let a werewolf into this school? At least I'm always in control of my actions and my brain! You lose yourself once a month and go on a killing spree!" I yelled at him. I wasn't even sure where all of this anger was coming from, probably from his racist comments.

"Wait, you knew, Asana?" Remus asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I could literally smell it on you," I said softly.

"Okay wait a minute. What is going on here?" Parker asked. I had forgotten that she was even there. Remus rounded on her, and I guess we either looked scary, or very angry, or a combination of the two. Either way, she stayed silent.

"Parks, you cannot tell anyone about this, not your parents, not anybody. This is the kind of thing where, if anybody complains about this, we could get kicked out of here faster than you can say 'Quidditch'." I said to her quietly. She nodded in understanding and said,

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody. I wouldn't want to lose my first two friends over something as small as this. Your secrets are safe with me." Then, we walked out of the classroom, knowing that we all had just made our fist true life long friends.

When we got down to breakfast, I was surprised to see just how many students were there. That is until I looked at my watch and saw that it was 7:30. I sat next to Remus and opposite Parker, and sat my bag at my feet. I couldn't believe how much food there was, every breakfast food that I could possibly think of sat on the table. I had just piled my plate high with food, when I realized that Remus and Parker were watching me.

"What?" I asked.

"I didn't know that vampires could eat anything." Remus said in a whisper.

"I can eat anything as long as I have enough blood in my system. I fed yesterday morning, and I shouldn't have to feed again until around the full moon. But I can actually drink as much blood as I want," I explained.

"Oh," Parker said quietly. I was surprised at how well she was handling this. Finding out that two of your friends were monsters couldn't be easy. I still found it difficult to accept that Remus was a werewolf. I looked up when I heard the flutter of wings, and was surprised to see my mother's owl; Dracula, flying toward me with a letter. I read it, not sure what to expect, and then wished that I hadn't.

Dear Asana,

Congratulations on making Gryffindor! I'm so proud of you for following in your brother's footsteps. You had better get good grades, and don't drain anybody important. See you at Christmas!

Best wishes,

Queen Angelica

I rolled my eyes and scowled at the letter. Of course she would compare me to my brothers. Remus saw me scowling and looked concerned.

"What's wrong Asana?" he asked.

"Nothing, my dear mother just knows how to get under my skin. It's totally normal. I'll get over it in a little while." I said, knowing that I sounded annoyed.

"Okay, well if you need us, we're right here." Parker said, looking from Remus to me and back. I grinned and said nothing. I was just happy that my friends were already there for me, even after I had treated them so badly. I smiled and shook my head, crumpling up the letter and stuffing it into my bag. We sat there and ate until we were sure that we were going to burst.

Suddenly, Parker looked at me and asked,

"Hey, Asana, what class do you have first?"

"Transfiguration, you?" I asked Remus.

"The same, what about you, Parker?" Remus asked.

"Transfiguration. We should get going, class starts in twenty minutes." Parker said, looking at her watch. We all checked our bags, making sure that we had all of the stuff that we would need until we got a break at lunch. We stood and went off to the classroom.