I haven't been doing anything other than writing this week because I'm too excited about this story, so I'm updating again! I'll still be posting my usual chapter on Sunday as well. I'd expected the angst to make it hard for me to write, but apparently I'm living for the drama. Although, I miss writing George a great deal. *sigh*

readerfaye: Aren't the girls just so sweet? I love the two of them. The bathroom scene was one of my favorites to write. Again, apparently I'm living for the drama at the moment LOL.

Bookcozy: No, please, keep the reviews coming! I appreciate hearing from you guys and it makes writing so much more exciting. George is going to be a bit dense for a while longer still, but I do miss writing about their bond for sure. They just work so well together. It does leave room for Fred and Tori to step up a little, though, and writing about their bonds with her is fun too. The running scene with Fred was the most fun I've had in awhile.

Chapter Seven

The next few weeks passed extremely slowly for her. There wasn't much going right for her at the moment and she was unable to tell if that sentiment was just her being dramatic or if it were really the case.

There wasn't anything particularly wrong with her or her life, but she just felt…empty. It was a feeling she hadn't felt since her second year. Last year had been a mixture of chaos, concern, confusion, and a little bit of relief at the fact that she finally had friends and a purpose other than worrying about Harry. She'd hardly had any time last year to feel anything close to empty, even when she had holed herself in the library for the last several months of the year.

And, really, it wasn't as if this year were all that different so far. Chaos? Well, she'd run out of DADA on the first day of class because of a Bogart. She would count that, even if it hardly compared to the chaos of last year. Concern? Her brother was being hunted by a madman and the grounds of the castle felt much more gloomy given the presence of Dementers stationed near the school. She'd never seen them, but it was certainly concerning that their presence had such a profound effect on the environment, even from a distance. Confusion? About her feelings for George at minimum, although she was sure if she sat down and considered everything she had to be confused about the list would be far longer.

All of that aside, she even had the same friends she'd had the year before. She didn't spend quite as much time with Ginny as she had the previous year, but they met occasionally in the library. It was much more enjoyable considering the constant concern was not present during these meetings now. Tori was as constant in her life as she had always been. The twins were…well, they were the twins, but she suspected that some of her emptiness was due to them.

Not both of them, really. Fred was still forcing her to go on runs with him in the morning and she'd helped him on several occasions with some of their product theory when George was off with Alicia. He was still as crass and annoying as always, but she found that she quite enjoyed being in his presence. He distracted her from her morose thoughts and he was a bit more abrupt perhaps, but, while that had been one of the reasons she was anxious around him before, it was sort of a relief to never have to be wondering what someone else was thinking. If she had said something wrong or done something wrong or if she was overthinking the sudden change of tone in someone's voice. Fred told her exactly what he was feeling and had the odd ability to do so without being insensitive about it. Something with which she expected was intentional on his part because she'd not witnessed this when he spoke with Ron or Percy, and she could not quite describe those interactions in any other way other than occasionally insensitive.

No, surprisingly, her issues were not caused by the oldest, more insensitive, more chaotic of the Weasley twins, but instead by the twin that had provided her so much comfort the year before. Not that he was doing anything wrong, really. Overall, he wasn't much different at all, except for the fact that they saw each other less often than they had the previous year. Seeing him with Alicia now, after several weeks of having gotten used to it, was now more like a dull ache rather than anxiety or jealousy-inducing. But even so, those moments when he wasn't with her, Fred, and Tori felt more upsetting than they really should have. She'd gotten so used to him being such a constant in her life that it was odd when he wasn't around.

Which felt stupid. Because he wasn't gone. He just had other things to busy himself with and that was…life, wasn't it? Maybe she was just uncomfortable with change. Although she suspected that was the case for a lot of people, it was no less irritating to her to be feeling.

Instead of wallowing in these feelings, she tried to throw herself into literally anything else. She'd gone to the library as she'd told Harry she would in search of information on the Grim he was so convinced he had seen. She'd found some information on the subject, but nothing concrete that she felt comfortable to share with her brother. Most of the information on the subject was either loosely based in fact or else no indication of fact being present at all. She had a hard time believing in anything she couldn't see or explain to herself logically. Some people found that to be a character flaw. Personally, she felt it made her realistic.

She also tried to throw herself into her classes. Transfiguration was so far her worst nightmare, as usual. She'd stopped asking George for help because Alicia had thrown a huge fit about that apparently. She hadn't been around, but according to Fred and Tori, it had been a painful experience to witness. Nessa didn't ask for details because she was sure that, whatever Alicia had said about her, was likely not kind nor true, and she didn't want to insert herself into a situation that was clearly made worse by her mere existence. She wondered, even, if George's missing presence within the group was really more an attempt for him to avoid arguing with Alicia, but she wasn't totally able to tell.

In any case, stressing about Transfiguration took up a large majority of her time these days, and that was incredibly exhausting and irritating. She'd half a mind to chuck her textbook at McGonagall except she wasn't sure she'd live to see the next morning if she did.

Care of Magical Creatures was not much better. Hagrid had taken a huge hit in confidence after the Malfoy ordeal and had taken to having them care for Horklumps. They were pretty useless creatures in her opinion and horribly boring. At first glance, she had thought they were just mushrooms — they were a fleshy pink color, scattered with coarse black bristles, and they were the exact size and shape of any mushroom she could have found in a forest. They weren't mushrooms at all, however, and were apparently a brand of animal that infested areas all through Scandinavia, England, and Scotland. Feeding them was certainly an experience. They had fleshy tentacles that reached within the earth and fed on earthworms. Something she tried not to think about as she was shoving worms into the soil for them to eat. For some reason, the thought of the tentacles made her want to shiver. Or scream. She wasn't totally certain which. At any rate, they were horribly boring, but considering the third-years were being subjected to feeding flobberworms, she tried not to complain too much.

Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts were really her only real form of excitement these days. Professor Snape was in a particularly foul mood — Neville Longbottom's Bogart had been of Professor Snape and he'd dressed him in his grandmother's clothes with the banishing spell — but she ignored his irritation and liked to distract herself with the sort of peace that came with being near a cauldron — the added humidity, the smells, the sounds of bubbling potions. It provided her with a clarity and empty-mindedness that she could not find anywhere else. The silence in her head during Potions was a reprieve.

Defense Against the Dark Arts did not provide her with that sort of clarity, but Professor Lupin was, without a doubt, the best Professor the subject had ever had. He was patient, calm, and was equal parts encouraging and firm. Nessa liked him. He was also competent, which helped.

Despite the fact that the majority of his classes were behind from the previous year's insanity, he was not easily flustered about this. It helped that by this stage in their Hogwarts career, Defense was now a double class. The first half of the class he typically went over something they had missed the previous year when Lockhart had been teaching. The second half of class tended to be something more along the lines of what they should be learning within their fourth-year. They moved from Bogarts to Red Caps to Kappas, all of whom the third-years were learning as well, but the second portion of class was always her favorite.

They were currently learning hex deflection, something she found particularly exciting. Lockhart had attempted to teach them in the dueling club the year prior to absolutely no avail, and she found the process equal parts challenging and rewarding. Of course, not being hexed with bat bogeys was rewarding on its own, but she found that she quite liked dueling. She had always had a certain knack for Defense, something with which her brother also shared, but being able to use the spells in a more realistic way — that didn't involve being hexed by a Slytherin in the hallway, that is — was intriguing.

It made her feel capable, worthwhile, powerful. It was not a feeling she was altogether familiar with. Between her anxiety, soft-spoken nature, and being bullied by not just her relatives, but also by previous schoolmates in primary school and occasionally even within the walls of Hogwarts, she often felt invisible and sometimes weak. Seeing the magic she was capable of producing and being able to defend herself against the magic of others felt more like a reassurance that she was neither invisible nor weak.

Despite this interest and excitement surrounding the subject, she still dreaded going to the class. Not because she didn't enjoy it, but because Professor Lupin seemed interested in speaking with her and she was trying to avoid the conversation at all costs. Not because she didn't like him, but because she was sure it had something to do with her first class and Bogart, and she was not much a fan of any conversation that made her vulnerable to someone else. As it stood, she raced out of the class at the end of every period before he could suggest she stay, something with which annoyed Tori a great deal because she had to run after her to catch up.

Aside from Potions and Defense, the only real pleasure she got from most of her days was her early morning runs with Fred. This alone was surprising to her because she truly hated running — still did, mostly — but she enjoyed getting up earlier in the day and starting the day off with a run made her feel more productive. Whether it was helping with her anxiety was another issue altogether, but it was still nice. After the fact, anyway. During the run, she still felt like Fred was trying to kill her and she wasn't entirely sure it was getting any easier. It didn't help either, that he had started to push her more now that they had been maintaining the routine for three weeks.

As October approached, the mornings were turning out to be quite chilly, but this did not seem to deter Fred in any way.

"I thought you said this would get easier," she griped early that Tuesday morning, as she collapsed on the castle steps after they'd stopped their mile run. Collapsing had been a ritual for her and seemed to amuse Fred every time.

She was in a particularly foul mood because Tuesdays were her least favorite days to run. She had Astronomy at midnight on Mondays, so being up so early after a late night always made her wish she felt comfortable telling Fred to shove it.

"It does," he said, taking a seat next to her, and stretching his legs out in front of him. "Stretch, Vanessa." She rolled her eyes, but did as he asked. She'd refused once just to be petty and prove a point that she didn't have to listen to him. It had only backfired on her, however, because hours later, and for days afterward, she felt like she would have to transplant new legs on her body to survive the aches. "You're doing much better than before. Now you're as fast as a Glow Bug instead of a Flobberworm."

"Is this the kind of encouragement you give all your running partners or am I just special?"

He grinned at her and winked exaggeratedly.

"You've always been special, munchkin," he said charmingly. The flush that colored her cheeks was lighter because she'd gotten used to his mock-flirting in the past few weeks, but it amused him all the same. "Besides, you'd have passed out three weeks ago if I'd told you we were adding on a quarter mile."

She refused to acknowledge this with any further comment because it was the truth and she had no interest in admitting so.

"Harry said you start Quidditch practice soon."

"Wood is calling a meeting for tactics on Thursday evening," he acknowledged, but grinned at her with a raised brow. "It won't affect our running schedule if that's what you're thinking."

Nessa rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't," she lied. He snorted in disbelief. "But I don't see how you can be so sure of that. It's Wood's last year isn't it? I'd be surprised if he didn't have you practicing from dawn to dusk."

Fred grimaced.

"You've got a real knack for bringing the mood down," he griped and she laughed in delight. "If we lose the Cup again, though, he'll probably drown himself in the lake."

Nessa enjoyed watching Quidditch and tended to be competitive by nature, but she truly did not understand the level of lunacy that Oliver Wood — well, the entire team, really, but worst of all, him — placed in winning the game. She'd say maybe it was the testosterone, but she'd heard Tori, Alicia, and Angelina speaking after a game and it had been as ridiculous as listening to the twins and Harry.

She mentioned none of this to Fred, however.

"We have the best team in the school," she said nonchalantly. "As long as no one is being petrified this year —"

"And Harry isn't risking his life."

"-then I'm sure we'll be able to win the Cup this year." she finished, ignoring his remark completely.

"Well, we did learn one thing from last year, at least."

"What's that?"

"Never let Harry deal with a rogue Bludger on his own."

She rolled her eyes at his cheeky grin and imagined what it might have felt like to chuck her shoe at his head.

"Don't even think about it, munchkin," he said knowingly.

She startled.

"Think about what?"

"Throwing something at me," he said with an eye roll. "You've got that murderous look in your eye. You know, the one you got with Malfoy. And Murton. And when you threatened to break my arm. Or even with Harry when he —"

"Alright, alright, I get it," she interrupted with a huff. "I have issues with controlling my anger."

"Not entirely true. You looked pretty calm at least half of those times. I think that adds to the effect."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"What effect?"

"You know, slightly sweet, slightly sociopathic."

She glared at him.

"I really should have chosen to run with George. He's much less insulting."

Fred snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, Alicia would just love that. The two of you…off alone in the middle of the night. She'd probably burn the entire school down in a rage." Nessa blushed at the implication. At this point, she should have been able to control her reaction to George and it frustrated her to no end that she couldn't. "Speaking of George, I've got to go. We're meeting to go over our Headless Hats again."

She furrowed her brow, as he stood, dusting off his sweatpants and hands.

"Why would you be meeting this early?"

Fred rolled his eyes again.

"Because if we don't, Alicia will drag him off in the middle and I'll end up getting pissed off again. This is the second best option." He raised an eyebrow expectantly when she didn't stand. "You coming?"

She hesitated.

"Er, no, I'm just going to sit out here for a bit. I'll see you at breakfast."

Fred stared at her a moment and then sighed.

"You can't avoid each other forever, you know."

She said nothing as he left her out in the chilly air and disappeared back into the castle. Sighing heavily, she forced herself to a stand, ignoring the shaking in her legs, and decided to walk off her morose thoughts.

Fred's words, while nonchalant, were confirmation that she was not succeeding in trying to avoid conversation with George and Alicia. Though it did also confirm that, at least somewhat, George was avoiding her as well.

She'd suspected it, but hadn't tried to think about it too much. For one thing, the idea that George would be choosing a relatively new relationship over their friendship hurt a great deal. It seemed out of character for him, although she couldn't completely blame him. Alicia was clearly insecure about their relationship — whether justified or not — and maybe it was simply his way of trying to comfort her, to confirm there was nothing more going on between them. For another, they hadn't been friends for very long, even if he had easily become her best friend within the short span of a year.

The rationalizations did not help much. She hated the idea that she was taking a toll on his relationships. Fred and George were still nearly inseparable during the day, but she felt horrible knowing that once classes ended and they had the freedom to be together and plan products for the shop, they were unable to do so because Alicia didn't like her presence within the group. Even if she and George weren't alone, it didn't seem to quell the older girl's concerns. The relationship between Fred and George was one that seemed entirely impenetrable and the thought of them arguing over something so trivial made her heart hurt. They didn't make it obvious if they were arguing, but Fred's open irritation when he'd spoken seemed pretty clear that he was quickly losing patience with this new development.

Tori hadn't said much — it seemed her best effort was to distract Nessa from the issue altogether, but Nessa had caught her little eye rolls and brief eye contact with Fred on the rare occasions that the five of them were within proximity to each other. Tori had also been friends with both George and Alicia prior to them dating and she was clearly trying to keep the peace, despite having an annoyance of her own.

This, Nessa thought, was precisely the reason why you should never date your friends. It should have been a clear enough indication that her feelings for George were dangerous. With or without Alicia being a part of the picture.

She huffed at herself in annoyance and turned to head back to the castle. She needed a shower before class and then she could have these depressing thoughts later. She clearly wasn't coming any closer to a conclusion on how to solve the issue any time soon.

-o0o-

Tuesdays were, by far, her least favorite day of the week. Not only because she barely got any sleep with her and Fred's current running schedule, but also because of her class schedule. She started the morning with History of Magic, which was as dull as it had always been. The entire year was dedicated to the Goblin Rebellions throughout Wizard history. This may have been an interesting topic — possibly — if not for the fact that Binns could put even a historian to sleep. She spent the majority of the class wondering if Binns even realized he was dead. He ignored other students' snoring and spells throughout the entirety of the lesson, she wouldn't have been all that surprised.

After History of Magic, she had Transfiguration. She hardly had to complain about her feelings about Transfiguration by this point. It seemed clear as day how she felt about the class by now. They were working on turning hedgehogs into pincushions. She'd made some progress in the last few weeks, but her pincushion still had spikes in it. McGonagall gave her additional practice as homework, which irritated her beyond belief. Adelaide, who had been particularly horrible to her in the last month after their altercation in the corridors, had found this particularly amusing. She'd whispered something to her friend and they'd both started sniggering. Nessa tried to ignore the anxiety that came with knowing other people were talking about her, and shoved her books roughly into her book bag.

Personally, she didn't see what the big deal was. A pincushion was going to have pins in it anyway. What difference did it make if it had spikes? It was close enough.

At any rate, she'd skipped lunch in an attempt to practice more in the courtyard — she'd been avoiding the library because Cedric Diggory was taking up residence in there again and Tori's assurances that he fancied her gave her a bout of nerves she couldn't quite explain.

By the time Potions rolled around on Tuesdays, she was already in such a poor mood, that even her favorite subject did nothing to ease her irritation. Snape was still in a particularly foul mood as well, so he hardly spoke to her as they worked on their Wit-Sharpening Potions. Nessa's was perfect as usual, but she didn't much care. She needed to take a moment to herself before she lost her head and had to see Alicia and George again at dinner. She'd have skipped again to avoid the issue, but she was starving from having missed lunch and not eating would likely end the already horrible day on a painful migraine.

Tori muttered her excuses as they left the dungeons and Nessa rolled her eyes at her retreating back. Her mood was clearly sour enough to affect even Tori's good mood and she didn't quite blame her for wanting the space. It likely would help to have the silence of the dormitory at this point to bring her back down to normal.

Rounding the corner, she paused at the scene before her. A group of Ravenclaw second-years had surrounded another of their classmates, who was huddled into the wall and looking painfully sad. She clutched her bag to her chest as they sniggered at her and passed what appeared to be a photo between themselves.

"Who is this? Your boyfriend?" one of the girls said snarkily. The other girls snickered as if the idea of this were absurd.

"Can't be," said one of them through their laughter. "Who would want to go out with her?"

"Yeah, who?" said another. "Her nose is as big as the moon and she has greasy hair."

The cowering girl turned her head away, but Nessa saw the tears in her eyes anyway. This only seemed to cause the other girls to laugh harder, as if the misery of another were simply their reason for breathing.

"Are you crying? Maybe that's why you can't make any friends," said the first girl again. She was very pretty for her age. Tall, well-dressed, with thick, brown hair. Nessa suspected that she was the ringleader. "Because you're such a crybaby."

The irritation of her day felt like nothing compared to the roiling anger she felt in her chest now. She hated bullies. She'd made that abundantly clear to her friends and she had little patience for this manner of cruelty when she saw it in the corridors. Bullying was the highest form of cowardice — an action others took to hurt others because they were unable to find happiness within themselves, without any idea of the repercussions that followed for the person they hurt.

Nessa had been bullied her whole life by people who didn't understand. Her aunt had told her on numerous occasions how ugly she was. Her uncle had encouraged Dudley to hit her when they were younger until he left bruises. Kids in primary school had teased her for her red hair or her freckles or the clothes she wore. They had told her that her parents weren't dead, but had left her with her aunt and uncle because they didn't love her. Students at Hogwarts were quick to turn on her — and her brother — the moment something in the school went downhill. Last year being proof of this alone.

The cruelty of other human beings was something she had grown all too familiar with. She'd learned very quickly to ignore the bullying and pretend it didn't hurt her. Silence had solved nothing because a lot of people took silence to mean weakness, but it had been better than stooping to their level herself.

This had always been the route she'd taken in protecting herself. But never the one she took when she was faced with someone bullying another. Not a Slytherin of any age, not her brother, not Tori, not her next-door neighbor. She had very little capacity to ignore a bully when they were bullying someone else, no matter who they were.

"Give her the picture back," she said, her voice firm but harsh.

The cowering girl refused to look over at her, but the three girls standing over her whirled around. Most students were sufficiently afraid of older students. In most of them, this demand would have been met with agreement immediately once they noticed she was older than they were. Two of the girls hesitated and looked at the brown-haired ringleader cautiously, as if waiting for her direction.

Maybe the girl was stupid, but she didn't seem to mind that Nessa was older than her. Not that she should — Nessa tried not to scare younger students if she could help it — but she had hoped that this would have worked in this case. If only so she didn't have to hex younger students. She didn't like the idea of picking on someone smaller than her.

"You aren't a professor," said the brown-haired girl with an eye roll. "We don't have to listen to you."

Nessa rolled her eyes. They didn't, but it still seemed stupid to make things worse.

"Don't be stupid," she replied, trying to withhold her smirk when the younger girl bristled. "Give her the picture back and leave her alone. I've had a bad day and I don't want to waste energy on someone who clearly needs to hurt others to feel worthwhile."

This remark caused her two friends to look at their shoes uncomfortably, but still, the brown-haired bitch didn't seem to know when to back down.

"You're Vanessa Potter, aren't you?" she said with a smirk. The girl who was still cowering on the floor looked up at this and stared at her in surprise. "My cousin, Addie, has told me about you. She said you always act like you're better than everyone even though you spend all your time alone in the library."

Nessa rolled her eyes. Great. A Murton cousin — the absolute last thing she needed right now.

"Yes, clearly, I'm the one with that issue," she said dryly and looking the younger girl up and down in disgust. "You shouldn't believe everything Addie tells you. Now, give her back the picture or I'll take it back from you myself."

She knew based on the smirk she received in return, and the condescending eyebrow raise, that she wasn't going to do it. Nessa really did not understand the thought process of bullies.

"I'll give it back when we're done talking with her. Why don't you —"

"Flipendo!"

It was the nicest jinx she could think of. Despite her obvious character flaws, she was still much younger than her, and it didn't seem fair to use a curse that would have caused her a terrible amount of harm. As long as her point was made.

The younger girl shot backwards and fell back onto her bottom with a thud. Her two friends shrank back in surprise. There was a flicker of shock across the younger girl's face as she stared up at her from the ground.

"Maybe you didn't hear me," Nessa said in a dangerously low voice that gave zero room for argument. "I said give it back."

She and the second-year stared at each other for a moment, trying to decide which of them would break first. Murton's cousin broke first, looking away and pulling herself back up to a stand. She glared at Nessa a moment before speaking.

"Fine. She can have it back," she said before ripping the picture in half and dropping it on the ground next to her, causing her victim to gasp in horror and rush to pick it up.

Nessa raised her wand again — to retaliate or threaten her to leave again, she still wasn't entirely sure — but a voice from behind her stopped her before she could decide which option was best to take.

"What's going on here?"

The three Ravenclaw girls shared a smirk, but Nessa ignored it and turned slowly to face a stern Professor Lupin. His eyes darted from Nessa's wand to the three girls in the middle of the corridor and the one who was staring at the broken remnants of her ruined photo with tears in her eyes.

"Explain, Vanessa," he said firmly, his eyes coming back to lock onto hers. "I would like to know what's happening before I make the assumption that you are going around dueling students much younger than you."

Nessa's jaw clenched at the implication, but she jerked her head over to the three bullies she'd interrupted.

"Ask them. I'm sure they're happy to explain."

"Professor, we were just talking and she – she just threw me across the room."

Nessa whirled around to glare at her. Clearly the entire Murton family had serious issues with human decency.

"Tell him the truth," she said angrily. "You were down here bullying another student and stole something that didn't belong to you."

"She started it!"

Nessa growled and made to step forward again, but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Sophia, Elizabeth, Grace," said Lupin firmly. "Head to class. I'll see the three of you in detention this evening."

Nessa was surprised by Lupin's easy acceptance of her story, but she supposed there wasn't a ton of room to argue. Students didn't just cry in corridors for no reason and Nessa's attention was hardly directed at the upset second-year at all.

The three girls glared at her as they passed, but she ignored them, instead walking toward the younger girl still in the corridor and crouching down beside her. She felt a pang in her chest when the younger girl stared at her suspiciously.

"I can fix that, if you'd like," she said gently. The younger girl clutched the photo closer to her chest and looked like she was going to refuse. "I'll give it right back. I promise."

After a moment's hesitation, she handed the pieces over to her gently. With a tap of her wand and a muttered "Reparo!", the pieces sealed themselves together as if they had never been separated. Nessa looked at the picture for a moment with a small smile. It was a Muggle photo so it didn't move, but it was of an older boy kissing her on the cheek as she grinned into the camera. They had similar features and Nessa wondered if they were related.

"It's my brother," the younger girl said to her quietly. "He's not a wizard. He wanted me to keep the picture with me while I was gone. If I missed him."

Nessa handed the picture back to her with a gentle smile.

"It must be very hard to be away from him," she said quietly. "I'm sorry that people can be so cruel."

"It's okay," she said, hugging the photo to her chest again. "Thank you for fixing it."

Nessa nodded and made to stand, except there was something so innocent about the younger girl that she hesitated a moment.

"Don't let them convince you that you're weaker than you are," she said softly. "You're so much stronger than they are, even if they try to tell you otherwise, okay?"

She stood before the younger girl could answer.

"Off to class, Scarlet," said Professor Lupin, much more gently than he had spoken to the rest of them.

He was looking at Nessa in a strange way as the younger girl disappeared. It was mostly thoughtful, but Nessa thought there was something like wistfulness in his gaze that she didn't totally understand. And guilt, maybe?

"A word, if you don't mind, Vanessa," he said before she could think of a reason to disappear.

She hesitated in following after him because she was still avoiding him after classes and she wasn't sure she wanted to talk with him about the Bogart, but she also wasn't entirely sure if he planned on punishing her for jinxing a younger student or not. Not to mention, she had nowhere else to be and she'd always drawn the line at total insubordination.

Sighing, she followed after him and caught up to him at the end of the corridor. He didn't say anything as he led her down the corridor and into the Defense classroom. He led them up the stairs at the front of the classroom and into his office.

"Have a seat," he said, kindly. "Tea?"

"No thanks," she said, softly. "I'm not a big fan of tea."

He busied himself with making his own cup, so she looked around the room to distract herself from the anxiety pooling low in her stomach. It was the kind of office she'd have liked under any other circumstances. He had bookshelves lined with an assortment of books — some for the particular subject he taught, but others on various other subjects such as healing, history, and charms. There were also a few Muggle novels stacked on one of the shelves closest to was a line of tanks on one wall filled with creatures she'd seen before when he'd been teaching them weeks prior.

"That was a very nice thing you did back there," he said finally as he took a seat behind his desk.

"I — what?" she said in shock. Surely he wasn't implying jinxing a second-year was a good thing?

He grinned at her as if sensing the reason for her shock.

"Consoling Scarlet," he said as an explanation. "The jinxing is something entirely different altogether."

Nessa shifted uncomfortably. She hadn't done it for the praise. It had seemed the right thing to do in the moment. Of course, she also hadn't been expecting to be caught by a teacher.

"Are you going to give me detention?" she asked to change the subject.

He eyed her a moment as if sensing the reason for the subject change, but he sighed and sat back anyway. He had been looking much healthier as of late, as compared to the pale and exhausted way he had looked on the train.

"I should, I think," he said calmly, eyeing her for her response. "There are other ways to solve the issue of bullying without violence."

Nessa supposed this was true, although she refrained from mentioning that it hadn't been her first resort. Murton had merely not taken to listening to her before she'd jinxed her. It was a behavior Vanessa had become accustomed to when she spoke to people at first. She was typically quiet and reserved, small, and kind the majority of the time. She sometimes felt that these were characteristics people often found were easily taken advantage of.

"But no, I don't think I will," he continued. "Very few people would have had the bravery to step up and defend someone like that. It's an admirable trait."

"It doesn't have anything to do with bravery, I don't think," said Nessa in confusion.

"You don't?" he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the desk as he looked at her. "I've met a lot of wizards, and not many of them would have taken the time to do what you did."

"No offense, sir, but if that's the case you should get better friends," she said firmly.

He laughed lightly.

"Yes, perhaps," he said. He stared at her a moment in silence and she tried not to shift restlessly under the scrutiny. He looked as if he were considering saying something, but was unsure about whether he should. Eventually, he spoke. "You remind me a great deal of your mother."

Nessa did not know what she had expected him to say, but it certainly wasn't that.

"You knew her?" she said in surprise.

"Briefly, yes," he said, softly. "Too briefly, I'm afraid. She did not take kindly to bullying either."

Nessa felt her chest warm at the thought of having something in common with her mother. Most of the people she met weren't able to tell her much about her parents, so she was subjected to being told how much she looked like her instead.

"I thought you were going to say because I look like her," she said because she didn't know what else to say in her moment of surprise.

"You do," he said with a smile. "Strikingly similar, in fact. I'm not sure I could tell the difference had the two of you been standing next to each other."

"Yeah, so I've heard."

He cocked his head at her, clearly sensing some of the resentment in her tone.

"Does that bother you?"

She hesitated.

"I…well, no, not really, it's just," she chewed on her bottom lip in an attempt to explain the complicated feelings she had about the sentiment. "It's stupid, probably, but I don't have anything of my father's. Harry looks like him, but has our mother's eyes. Sometimes I just wish…I mean to say that, it would be nice to look like him a little bit too, y'know?"

He looked at her a moment before nodding slowly.

"Yes, I suppose that makes sense," he said. "You may look remarkably like her, but I see your father in you as well. He was always adept at Defense Against the Dark Arts. Had a very dry sense of humor. Surrounded himself with people who were prone to…shall we say, a certain disregard for the rules?"

Nessa tried unsuccessfully to hide her grin.

"Did you know them well?"

"Well enough," he said vaguely. "I'm sorry you had so little time with them. They were truly the best people I've ever known." Nessa smiled sadly, but said nothing. It was typically at this point in the conversation of her parents that she tended to take a step back. Talking about them was painful and she had a hard time expressing the sorrow she felt when she thought of them.

Thankfully, Lupin changed the subject. "I've been meaning to speak to you about our first class, but you seem to be very busy after all of them."

Maybe not so thankfully. She was unsure which of the conversations she'd have preferred.

"Er — right, sorry about that." she said awkwardly. "I didn't mean to ruin the class."

Lupin waved his hand dismissively and poured himself another cup of tea.

"You didn't," he said firmly. "I only wanted to make sure you were alright. It's not every day you see something of that magnitude."

"I'm fine," she said, wringing her hands in her lap. "I…well, I would have handled it better except I didn't put much thought into what scared me most."

He smiled kindly at her sheepish admission.

"What did you think it would be?"

"A spider," she admitted embarrassedly. "Sounds stupid considering what it was in comparison, but I've always hated them." She hesitated a moment before asking, "Tori said it frightened you a bit. Was it because you knew my parents?"

He busied himself longer than he had been previously with the sugar and milk. She wasn't even entirely sure he'd used milk in the first cup, actually.

"It was a shock, yes," he said without answering her completely. She didn't push. "I stopped Harry from facing his Bogart because I was worried it would turn into Lord Voldemort. He did not appear to have taken kindly to my response, so I didn't want to repeat the process with you, even though I had similar concerns."

Nessa was so shocked by his use of Voldemort's name that it took her a moment before she could think of a response.

"I, uh, I didn't even think about Voldemort," she said sheepishly. "I guess I really should have put more thought into the whole thing beforehand, shouldn't I have? I listen to directions far better than this usually, I swear."

He laughed again, but waved the remark away.

"A consideration for next time," he said in amusement. "Though I think it says a lot about your character that the thing that frightens you most is not the man who took so much from you, but at the thought of losing someone you love."

"You think more highly of me than I do, Professor," she said honestly. She did not know how to accept compliments. "I don't think the two fears are too far off. Voldemort would love to kill Harry."

"You speak of Lord Voldemort as if you believe he is still a threat," said Lupin sagely.

Nessa hesitated in speaking. So many people were afraid of him and who he was. What he represented. And for good reason, considering. But she'd never voiced aloud her thoughts on Voldemort's "death". It was not something typically discussed in casual conversation and she wasn't a fan of people looking at her as though she were crazy.

But Professor Lupin wasn't looking at her as if she were crazy. He didn't look frightened as most people would have when they posed the question. He wasn't too afraid to utter the name. Against her better judgment, she chose to be honest.

"Harry has fought him off twice in the last two years," she said, slowly, trying to convey her thoughts on the subject adequately enough. "I don't see how that's possible if he were truly dead. And if that's true — I mean, it would stand to reason that he's still a threat, wouldn't it? He doesn't strike me as the type to stop until he gets what he wants."

Lupin said nothing to her for a moment as he contemplated her words. He didn't seem to be thinking she'd lost her marbles, which was a relief, but she wished he would say something so that she could be entirely sure.

"It's a frightening thought," he said finally. "But I agree with you. He was, unfortunately, known for his perseverance. And there is too much we don't know about his disappearance, I'm afraid."

"Harry's Bogart. It wasn't Voldemort either, you know," she said softly. He raised an eyebrow at her. "He thought it would be. At first. But then he…well, I don't know if he'd really appreciate me telling you this, but then he thought of the dementors on the train."

"Interesting," Lupin said thoughtfully. "That suggests that what he fears the most is fear itself. The two of you are certainly full of surprises. I expect I'll have to make my apologies to your brother as well."

"Professor, I —" she hesitated again as he looked at her expectantly. "How do I make what I saw…well, how do I make that funny? I mean, how do I fight off a Bogart when that's all I can see?"

He looked at her seriously for a moment and she felt a little better that he wasn't entirely sure how to answer any more than she was. A knock at the door made her jump. She looked behind her to see Snape standing in the doorway. He was looking between them with a look of annoyance on his face, his lip nearly curling back from his mouth in disgust.

"Severus, thank you. Vanessa —"

"Nessa," she said suddenly. He raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, I — I would have said sooner, but I'm not quite as — er — outspoken as Tori."

A hint of amusement entered his eyes at this remark.

"No, you aren't," he agreed. "She's a character. She reminds me of someone I used to know," his face darkened as he said this and he cleared his throat. "Thank you for having tea with me, Nessa. My door is always open to you, should you need it."

"Thank you, Professor. I'll see you in class."

She hesitated a moment as she looked between Snape, who looked positively murderous at their friendly exchange, and Lupin, who looked quite relaxed. She'd no idea what Snape had to dislike him for, but whatever it was, she had a horribly bad feeling about how the feelings would progress as the year went on.

-o0o-

The Lupin/Nessa relationship will develop as the story goes on, but I have taken a stab at starting that here. Since she won't be getting Patronus lessons from him, her run-ins with him will tend to be a bit more sporadic. I mentioned Lupin's immediate reaction to seeing her on the train only briefly, but chose to mention it a little more here. Given his very nonchalant response to Harry, I don't expect he'd be totally obvious about it as a whole.

As a weird side note, Grace was actually my childhood bully through elementary school and high school, so she was, of course, the name I chose to go with when writing the bullying scene. As another weird fun fact, I was also listening to Invisible by Hunter Hayes during that scene. It makes me cry every time, so if that's your jam, I suggest a listen.

Up next: A Nessa/George confrontation and SB's first break in