The Monster Velvela (A Marauders Love Story)

Chapter Two

This is dedicated to @WhovianMe because about ten million bazillion years ago, I promised her a new chapter for Alive for You, and never delivered. So, here is a dedication and a new chapter! Yay! I shall be sure to add in some Doctor Who somewhere in here... I would die without the Doctor... and sorry for the long delay, lets hope this one works as well as the other story, because I fear that I may discontinue AFY... or I may just delete the last few chapters, edit the whole thing, and revamp it. I think that's what I'll do. Okay. Here you go.

"Hey, everybody, we'll be at Hogwarts in about ten minutes, so get prepared for getting off, get your bags-" Remus began, but looked at my tear stained face. He did a double take, noticed my sadness, and looked at Sirius immediately. "What the hell, Padfoot? I leave you alone for five minutes with this girl that we've just met, and you find some way to hurt her! How do you always manage to do this? I'm sure that you had something to do with this also, Prongs! With the way that you treat Severus, you guys have to- god, I can't even-" Remus ranted almost incoherently. I looked up to him. He was speaking the truth, from what I understood. I didn't know who Severus was, but it sounded like James and Sirius were mean to him. And Sirius had hurt me- badly- but James had nothing to do with it, at least not intentionally. He had made me feel bad about my condition, but he was trying to help. I couldn't let Sirius and James take the blame, so I stood up for them. I lied.

"Remus, please. No. I was falling asleep... and I was having a nightmare. James and Sirius tried to help, James was trying to make me talk about it so that he could help. It was bad. I'm sorry, Remus." I lied badly. Sure, I fell asleep in five minutes, had a terrible nightmare, woke up, and talked about my feelings with strangers. Remus saw through it like a translucent glass. He eyed me, and then James and Sirius. He took his seat next to me and pulled out his book. I decided to change the subject quickly. 

"What are you reading?" I asked, looking over Remus's shoulder. I almost saw him smirk a bit, barely looking up from his pages, his eyes just barely flickering to where I could see the caramel brownish color to his eyes. He looked up a bit and smiled with pursed lips, looking at me, trying to avoid the looks of James and Sirius, even though I tried to convince him that they were not part of it. 

"I'm reading a Muggle book. You wouldn't know it." he sighed, no longer smiling. I frowned. Why was he so depressed? I had the right to be all sad and tired, as I had the full moon to deal with in a matter of five days, but he was just kind of sad. Just like me. 

"I know a lot of Muggle authors, thank you very much." I said quietly. I could have an attitude sometimes, but when I did, I tried my hardest to hide it. Remus heard, though, and looked up quickly and apologetically. His caramel eyes were careful and fragile, matching my delicate stance. 

"I'm reading a book called 'The Strange Case of Dr-" Remus began, but I animatedly interrupted him, quietly, as I was almost incapable of speaking above a whisper. 

"Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson? Also the author of Treasure Island, both published in the mid 1800s?" I smiled. He tilted his head and smiled. Remus ruffled his hair, making it a bit more messy than it already was. But, he didn't do it intentionally, as James so often did to make girls more attracted to him. Remus did it in a natural way, subconsciously, almost nervously. It was cute. 

"Yes, actually, it is. I find myself relating to him... his theories, I mean." Remus started, and seemed to save. What exactly he seemed to be saving himself from was unknown to me. I looked over to James and Sirius, who were watching intently. They were waiting for something to happen.  And they knew something right now that I didn't. I wasn't about to press it, though.

"I do as well. His theories, I mean. What about the Hobbit by J.R.R Tolkein?" I asked with a smile. Remus looked up and grinned.

"That is one of the best books ever. I've read it over a hundred times." Remus sighed. I was about to  continue the conversation on books and literature when the train halted to a stop. The sky had suddenly turned dark; I could see the faint outline of a large castle, on the glimmer of a large lake. It was beautiful; a giant forest, a sports stadium of some sort, the ebony black sky... and then there was the bright white moon standing out on the night sky. Remus seemed to be a bit bothered as well. I wanted to get under his skin, pick through his brain, but that would be sickly hypocritical on my side, as nobody could get through to me if they really wanted to. A sudden rage of fear and nervousness set through me. Sorting? What house was I to be sorted into? Would I be okay with it?  Why was I so nervous? I was meant to be in Slytherin, wasn't I? The evil inside me was going to burn out rapidly, a witch fire at the stake to flesh, and it would burn like hell. "Are you okay, Ashlyn?" Remus asked. 

"Yeah, just worried. What if I'm in Slytherin?" I asked quietly. Remus looked at me and rolled his eyes. 

"You're too sweet, too quiet, too innocent to be put into Slytherin. You're too smart to not be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. You're okay, Ashlyn. I'll lead you up to Dumbledore's office after we get done with the carriages, which we'll be getting on in a minute. Okay?" Remus solaced me. I knew that I was going to be okay. "You have as much of a chance of not being in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor as Aifric has of being placed in Hufflepuff."

"Aifric?" I asked. He nodded. 

"Irish?" 

"Uh, yes, just like yours. Are you from Ireland?" Remus asked curiously.

"Yes, born and raised. Aifric Dohery?"

"Yes." He answered. I dropped the subject. This was my best friend, here at Hogwarts. Now all I had to do was cure lycanthropy and find something better than Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans (and find out what this chocolate that I saw on the trolley was-- it sounded like some sort of solidified coffee. Note to self: ask Aifric, I think she's mentioned it before.)

We got off the train and led toward the carriages. I saw several large, black, skeleton-like horses, like the horses of Death itself. They looked as if they fed off of souls and loved the scene of a dying man. It sent a chill down my spine. I stared at them for a long while, apparently. 

"Ashlyn? Whatcha looking at?" Sirius asked. I hadn't heard his voice in a while. My peace was interrupted, or my fears were interrupted. Either way, I was interrupted, and I didn't like to be interrupted. 

"The horses. Don't you see them?" I replied emotionlessly. "They're pretty scary. Do you just get used to them after five years?"

"Ashlyn, there's nothing there. None of us know what you're talking about." James said slowly, as if I was a child looking at an invisible friend. I looked at them. The horses were right there. The horse was carrying the carriage that we were in, the one that wasa about to move . Why wren't they admitting what they saw?

"James, Sirius, I know what she's talking about, but I just can't see them." Remus replied, looking up from his book. I was surprised that I wasn't reading, but I was interested as to what the hell was going on here. Horses that others couldn't see? Was I delusional? Surely the woods had ruined me. 

"What is it? Am I insane? I'm insane, I should not have come, I should leave, I need to go back to the woods, nobody needs me-" I ranted, as I usually did. The woods really had turned me insane. 

"No, Ashlyn. I have so many questions about that little rant of yours right there, so I'm not even going to ask. Yet. Later. But I shall rather address the original question. The horses are called thershals. They can only be seen by those who have seen death. Because of that, they are commonly known as death omens, even though they are merely reflectors of death. Since none of us have ever experienced a human's death, we cannot see it, but you apparently have, so you can see them. I've heard that they are beautiful creatures- are they?"

"About as beautiful as werewolves." I laughed. Remus looked down. All of us in the carriage shook violently at the last pothole that brought to our attention that we were at the castle. It was even more beautiful close up. Every brick was elegantly laid, as if it was laid over a million years ago, in the very beginning of time. The grass was perfect, and the flowers were perfect, and the whole thing was perfect. Was this really to be my home? It couldn't be. 

No way. 

"Ashlyn, I just remembered, I have to get up there early as I am a prefect. See you guys around. Sirius, don't break her."

"I won't." he smiled, and I saw an eerily mischievous look in his eyes that meant trouble- but, for some reason, I was absolutely ready for it, as a martyr welcomed death. 

Hey- quick note for my nonexistent readers :D

My biffle @LaughingItOffIrish and I are combining our stories! Ashlyn Velvela stars among Aifric and the others. Its hard keeping up with each other's facts, so my sincere apologies if something wrong happens (like, I'm usually tired when we plan this crap out, so my answers are completely unreliable, so in her story, Ashlyn has been at Hogwarts since third year, when she's actually starting her fifth year for her first year). Just deal with it, okay? (I swear, sometimes I try to hard to be a bad arse street when I'm not even sidewalk)

Anyway, go check out "The Irish are at Hogwarts (Havin' the Craic)", and meet another side to Ashlyn.