"Who the fuck are you?" said the boy.
"Who the fuck are you?" countered Faith.
"I asked first."
"And I asked second."
There was a tense silence. And thenㅡ "James! There's a girl in your living room!"
***
When Faith Potter gets expelled from Beauxbat...
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The air was thick with the smell of ozone when the four made it out of the castle, thankfully without notice from any of the Professors on patrol. They were huddled up close and Faith could feel the held in breaths of everyone beside her as the sky roared and flashed through a tempestuous storm. The school grounds were empty and bare save for a few scattered flyers that were immediately ripped apart by the wind; Peter and James had to hold on tight to the cloak to keep them all covered. A few paces later the the Whomping Willow came into view, its thick branches orchestrating the weather with violent swings of its bare arms.
Just as Faith was about to speak there was movement at the base of the shack; there was a head, then a leg, then an arm flicking a wand to hurl a palm sized rock into one of the knots in the trunk ㅡ and suddenly the Willow ceased in its movements as the branches slowed to a complete halt. Madam Pomfrey crawled out of an opening in the base of the tree, brushed down her matronly robes and hurried back to the castle, pulling her robes tight to her shivering figure to protect her from the biting cold. She didn't look back once, though that didn't stop the thunderous roar of Faith's heartbeat at the fear of getting caught. Once she was out of sight she let out a breath she didn't even realise she was holding.
"Merlin's beard, I almost pissed myself," muttered Sirius, and Faith could only nod in agreement.
"Come on, let's go before the tree moves again," whispered James, though it was a wonder they could hear him at all over the roar of the wind, even if they were close enough to be sharing a womb.
Immediately slipping out of the cloak, they hurried to the Whomping Willow. Peter slipped in first, followed by James and Sirius, with Faith taking up the rear.
Except that was when the tree decided to come to life.
Faith's eyes widened when a crooked branch as long as the Gryffindor table came hurtling in her direction and for a terrifying second it was like her muscles had been frozen by the chill in the air, and her heart stopped and her lungs seizedㅡ
"Faith, you idiot, move!" And then there was an urgent tug at her arm and she stumbled over a root, but hands caught had her before her knees could hit the ground and then she was being dragged both waysㅡ
"Ow, fuck!" Faith's hand went up to grab at her head which had somehow been tangled up with one of the Willow's branches, but whoever had grabbed her acted quickly.
"Diffindo!" A light green spark flew out and cut Faith's hair, and before she could even realise what had happened she was dragged into the Shack and went tumbling down the few short stairs, limbs tangled with her saviour in an unsightly manner.
Faith groaned as soon as she landed heavily on her back, wheezing as a sharp limb jabbed into her stomach.
"Faith, what the hell were you thinking?!" hissed Sirius, removing his elbow from her stomach as James cast a silencio charm on the entrance to the Shack.
