Kirra, Theodore and Mattheo were all walking towards the transfiguration classroom and joined the queue outside the classroom, trying to get through everyone. However, there was a disturbance at the front of the line.
Lavender Brown seemed to be crying. Parvati had her arm around her and was explaining something to Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who was looking very serious.
'What's the matter, Lavender?' said Kirra anxiously, as she, Harry, Ron and Hermione went to join the group. Mattheo and Theodore let out small sighs before moving to the side and waiting for the Hufflepuff
'She got a letter from home this morning,' Parvati whispered. 'It's her rabbit, Binky. He's been killed by a fox.'
'Oh,' said Kirra sadly. 'I'm so sorry, Lavender.'
'I should have known!' said Lavender tragically. 'You know what day it is?'
Hermione suddenly spoke up, 'Er –'
'The sixteenth of October! That thing you're dreading, it will happen on the sixteenth of October!' Lavender exclaimed, "Remember? She was right, she was right!'
The whole class was gathered around Lavender now, Theodore and Mattheo were smirking off to the side at the dramatics in front of them, they just wanted to get out of there but they had to wait for the Potter girl.
Seamus shook his head seriously. Hermione hesitated; then she said, 'You – you were dreading Binky being killed by a fox?'
'Well, not necessarily by a fox,' said Lavender, looking up at Hermione with streaming eyes, 'but I was obviously dreading him dying, wasn't I?'
'Oh,' said Hermione. She paused again. Then –'Was Binky an old rabbit?'
'N-no!' sobbed Lavender. 'H-he was only a baby!'
Parvati tightened her arm around Lavender's shoulders. 'But then, why would you dread him dying?' said Hermione. Parvati glared at her. 'Well, look at it logically,' said Hermione, turning to the rest of the group.
'I mean, Binky didn't even die today, did he, Lavender just got the news today –' Lavender wailed loudly '– and she can't have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock –'
"Herm-" Kirra went to ask her to stop being insensitive but Ron cut her off
'Don't mind Hermione, Lavender,' said Ron loudly, 'she doesn't think other people's pets matter very much.' Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door at that moment, which was perhaps lucky; Hermione and Ron were looking daggers at each other, and they all walked into the classroom
"well that was interesting" Mattheo whispered as they made their way to the back of the classroom
"Okay why is McGonnagal looking at you as if she saw a ghost" Theodore suddenly cut in and they turned to see the professor looking right at Kirra, her face pale and her eyes wide but as soon as the woman noticed the looks she was receiving from the three students, she quickly looked away
"that's odd" Kirra commented, but she was mentally scolding herself, as soon as she had called her Minnie, she knew that she had messed up, but she doubted that McGonnogal was going to say anything to her.
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A week passed and Mcgonnogal hadn't said anything to anyone about the encounter, yet she hadn't stopped thinking about it since the incident occurred. She had been keeping a close eye on the girl since it happened, and she hadn't failed to notice her stashing her invisibility cloak and then running off into the forest at night.
Kirra was sitting in between the Weasley twins, munching on a large chicken leg and sipping on her drink, laughing along with the identical brothers. The Hallowe'en feast was always good, but it would taste a lot better if she was coming to it after a day in Hogsmeade with everyone else, the twins had taken to telling her all about honeydukes, unaware of the fact that she had infact been to honeydukes, multiple times - in her other lives.
Nothing anyone said made her feel any better about being left behind, but she figured it would give her time to catch up with her brother who also wasn't able to go. She had been tempted to just sneak out throught the secret passsage behind the one-eyed witch but she knew the teachers were keeping an eye on her and her brother.
Dean Thomas, who was good with a quill, had offered to forge Uncle Vernon's signature on the Potter twin's forms, but as Harry had already told Professor McGonagall he hadn't had it signed, that was no good.
Ron half-heartedly suggested the Invisibility Cloaks to both of the twins, but Hermione stamped on that one, Theodore and Mattheo told the girl that they didn't want her going out there while she was at risk of getting caught and killed by Sirius. Kirra also reminded herself and her brother that Dumbledore had told them about the dementors being able to see through invisibility cloaks.
Percy had what were possibly the least helpful words of comfort. 'They make a fuss about Hogsmeade, but I assure you, Harry and Kirra, it's not all it's cracked up to be,' he said seriously. 'All right, the sweetshop's rather good, but Zonko's Joke Shop's frankly dangerous, and yes, the Shrieking Shack's always worth a visit, but really, Harry and Kirra, apart from that, you're not missing anything.'
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On Hallowe'en morning, Kirra awoke with the rest and went down to breakfast feeling thoroughly depressed, though doing her best to act normally. 'We'll bring you lots of sweets back from Honeydukes,' said Mattheo, looking at her with a sad smile.
"Yeah and I'll buy a shit ton of stuff from Zonko's and we can prank all the idiots that you want" Theodore explained to her as he wrapped his arm around her neck and pulled her into his side, "is there anything else that you want"
"No, that will be enough guys, you don't have to get me anything," she told them with a small smile, a soft huff escaping her lips. 'Don't you guys worry about me,' said Kirra, in what she hoped was an offhand voice. 'I'll see you guys at the feast. Have a good time.'
She accompanied them to the Entrance Hall, where Filch, the caretaker, was standing inside the front doors, checking off names against a long list, peering suspiciously into every face, and making sure that no one was sneaking out who shouldn't be going.
'Staying here, Potter?' shouted Malfoy, who was standing in line with Crabbe and Goyle.
Theodore walked over to Malfoy with a scowl on his face, "Shove off Malfoy before I fetch your 'fancy' broom and shove it up your ass" Theodore growled and Malfoy snickered as he looked at Crabbe and Goyle, the two of them joining in on the laughter
"Oh I'm so scared Nott" Draco taunted
"You should be," Theodore scowled and stepped closer threateningly, "Because if you don't stop bugging her, we are going to have a real problem"
Draco rolled his eyes at Theodore and Kirra stepped forwards, reaching out for Theodore but Jasper came up from behind her and held her back
"Just let it go, Malfoy deserves what's about to happen to him," Jasper said, a smirk tugging at his lips, his eyes not leaving the two Slytherin boys ahead of them who were death-glaring at each other.
"I'm not scared of you Nott," Draco said with a smirk on his face as he stared at Theodore
"Theo come on, lets just go please" Kirra softly begged the boy. Mattheo didn't say anything as he watched what was going on in front of them, though he did pull Kirra away from Jasper and pull her body into his side.
"No! I'm sick of him treating you like crap" Theodore scowled, sending her a small look before turning back to Malfoy
"Just face the music Nott, shes just not that into you, she's in love with Riddle, and there is nothing that you can do about it" Draco sneered and then the next moment, Theodore's fist went straight into Dracos face.
"My father will hear about this!" Draco exclaimed as he stumbled back, griping his bloody nose.
"Oh I'm shaking" Theodore replied sarcastically and then Draco dug his want from his pocket quickly and pointed it towards Theodore, "Furnun-"
Kirras hand shot up towards Draco, no wand in her hand and she chanted the words, "Levicorpus" and Draco was suddenly hung upside down by his ankle, dangling in the air and flashbacks of her years back when she was a marauder rumbled through her mind.
'Nice one Stripes'
She heard the voice of Sirius echo through her head as she stared at the struggling boy in front of them. "P-Put be down this instant" Draco called while the Slytherins all stared, all of them looking surprised and proud besides Crabbe and Goyle who were jumping up and down trying to get him down.
Kirra sighed and turned away from him, Draco fell to the floor with a loud grunt, "you guys had better get going, I'll see you later" she told her boys Jasper grinned at her giving her a soft nod before walking off.
"Thanks princess, I guess I better buy you extra now," Theodore told her with a grin and pulled her in for a hug, "and just so you know, that was pretty badass," he told her and pulled away
"Well you gotta watch out for us badgers, we are greatly underestimated," She told him with a smirk, and then Mattheo came up to her, a smirk on his lips.
"Nott is right, that was badass... and hot" he told the girl, surprising her with his use of vocabulary as her cheeks turned a deep shade of red and her mouth dropped open, small stuttering noises falling out of her mouth. Mattheo didn't say another word, he turned around and then he and Nott walked out of the castle, on their way to Hogsmead.
The girl stood there for a few minutes, stunned at the boy's words, different expressions crossed her face before she let out a loud huff and went for a walk, trying to find her brother. She walked down the empty halls of the school towards the library, where her brother had told her that he would wait for her.
She made it to the large doors of the library and pushed them open, just in time to see Harry standing at the other side, getting ready to leave, "there you are, I have been waiting for you for 15 minutes"
"sorry I got caught up" she muttered out, her cheeks flushing once more, receiving an eye roll from her brother.
"come on, let's go find something to do, I can't be bothered to study right now," he told her and she nodded her head softly, the two of them leaving the library and making their way down the halls, talking and catching up on things.
They turned around a corner and came face to face with Filch, who had obviously just seen off the last of the Hogsmeade visitors. 'What are you two doing?' Filch snarled suspiciously.
'Nothing,' said Harry and Kirra truthfully, but it wouldn't matter, because the man hated them both anyway, and the fact that they answered at the same time only seemed to make them more suspicious
'Nothing!' spat Filch, his jowls quivering unpleasantly. 'A likely story! Sneaking around on your own, why aren't you in Hogsmeade buying Stink Pellets and belch Powder and Whizzing Worms like the rest of your nasty little friends?'
"Especially you Miss Potter, I would have expected you to be down throwing away all of your money away in that stupid joke shop" Filch snarled, receiving a glare from the girl.
Harry looked at the girl with raised eyebrows but when she looked at her brother she just shrugged. 'Well, get back to your common rooms where you belong!' snapped Filch, and he stood glaring until Harry and Kirra had passed out of sight.
But Harry and Kirra didn't go back to their common rooms; they climbed a staircase, talking about how it could be a good idea to visit the Owlery to see Hedwig and were walking along another corridor when a voice from inside one of the rooms said, 'Harry? Kirra?'
Kirra and Harry doubled back to see who had spoken and met Professor Lupin, looking around his office door. 'What are you doing?' said Lupin, in a very different voice from Filch. 'Where are Ron and Hermione?' he asked Harry and then turned to the girl, "Where are Riddle, Nott and Rowle?"
'Hogsmeade,' said Harry and Kirra, in a would-be casual voice.
'Ah,' said Lupin. He looked at the two of them and pondered inviting them in for a moment.
'Why don't you come in? I've just taken delivery of a Grindylow for our next lesson.'
'A what?' said Harry.
The two of them followed Lupin into his office. In the corner stood a very large tank of water. A sickly-green creature with sharp little horns had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly fingers.
'Water demon,' said Lupin, surveying the Grindylow thoughtfully. 'We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the Kappas. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, but very brittle.'
The Grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weed in a corner.
'Cup of tea Harry?' Lupin said, looking around for his kettle, he knew that the girl didn't like tea. 'I was just thinking of making one.'
'All right,' said Harry awkwardly.
Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout. 'Sit down, both of you,' said Lupin, taking the lid off a dusty tin. 'I've only got teabags, I'm afraid – but I daresay you've had enough of tea leaves?'
Harry looked at him. Lupin's eyes were twinkling. 'How did you know about that?' Harry asked.
'Professor McGonagall told me,' said Lupin, passing Harry a chipped mug of tea. 'You're not worried, are you? Either of you'
'No,' said Kirra positively, though Harry said nothing.
'Anything worrying you, Harry?'
'No,' Harry lied. Harry drank a bit of tea and the twins watched the Grindylow brandishing a fist at them. 'Yes,' Harry said suddenly, putting his tea down on Lupin's desk. 'You know that day we fought the Boggart?'
'Yes,' said Lupin slowly, sending a small look towards the girl and then looking back at Harry as he continued talking
'Why didn't you let me fight it?' said Harry abruptly. Lupin raised his eyebrows.
'I would have thought that was obvious, Harry,' he said, sounding surprised. Harry, who had expected Lupin to deny that he'd done any such thing, was taken aback.
'Why?' he said again.
'Well,' said Lupin, frowning slightly, 'I assumed that if the Boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort... or something else' Once again, Lupin sent a look to the girl before looking back at Harry.
Harry stared. Not only was this the last answer he'd expected, but Lupin had said Voldemort's name. The only person Harry had ever heard say the name aloud (apart from himself and his sister) was Professor Dumbledore.
'Clearly, I was wrong,' said Lupin, still frowning at Harry. 'But I didn't think it a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in the staff room. I imagined that people would panic.'
'I did think of Voldemort first,' said Harry honestly and Kirra reached over, grabbing her brother's hand In her own, comforting him. 'But then I – I remembered those Dementors.'
'I see,' said Lupin thoughtfully. 'Well, well ... I'm impressed.' He smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry's face. 'That suggests that what you fear most of all is – fear. Very wise, Harry.'
'So you've been thinking that I didn't believe you capable of fighting the boggart?' said Lupin shrewdly.
'Well ... yeah,' said Harry, sending a smile to his sister. He was suddenly feeling a lot happier. 'Professor Lupin, you know the Dementors –' He was interrupted by a knock on the door. 'Come in,' called Lupin.
The door opened, and in came Snape. He was carrying a goblet, which was smoking faintly, and stopped at the sight of Harry and Kirra, his black eyes narrowing.
'Ah, Severus,' said Lupin, smiling. 'Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?' Snape set the smoking goblet down, his eyes wandering between Harry, Kirra and Lupin.
'I was just showing Harry and Em-Kirra my Grindylow,' said Lupin pleasantly, pointing at the tank, covering up his mistake with a smile. 'Fascinating,' said Snape, without looking at it. 'You should drink that directly, Lupin.'
'Yes, yes, I will,' said Lupin.
'I made an entire cauldronful,' Snape continued. 'If you need more.'
'I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus.'
'Not at all,' said Snape, but there was a look in his eye Kirra didn't like. He backed out of the room, unsmiling and watchful. Harry looked curiously at the goblet while Kirra already knew what the potion was.
Lupin smiled. 'Professor Snape has very kindly concocted a potion for me,' he said and caught the small smile that Kirra was giving him. 'I have never been much of a potion-brewer and this one is particularly complex.'
Kirra let out a small snort of laughter at that but covered it up with a cough as she remembered how she had to help him with potions back in the day. Lupin picked up the goblet and sniffed it.
'Pity sugar makes it useless,' he added, taking a sip and shuddering
'Why –?' Harry began. Lupin looked at him and answered the unfinished question. 'I've been feeling a bit off-color,' he said. 'This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren't many wizards who are up to making it.'
"Snivellus doesn't want to help you" Kirra commented with a scoff, Lupin looked at her and raised his eyebrow
"Miss Potter, you should refrain from calling teachers names," Remus commented softly
"Come on Rem, you know he is just waiting for the perfect moment" Kirra scowled and Harry looked confused as he looked between the two, not understanding what the hell they were talking about, and why she had called him Rem.
Professor Lupin took another sip and Harry had a mad urge to knock the goblet out of his hands. 'Professor Snape's very interested in the Dark Arts,' he blurted out.
'Really?' said Lupin, looking only mildly interested as he took another gulp of potion. 'Some people reckon –' Harry hesitated, then plunged recklessly on, 'some people reckon he'd do anything to get the Defence Against the Dark Arts job.'
Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face. 'Disgusting,' he said. 'Well, Harry, Kirra, I'd better get back to work. I'll see you at the feast later.'
'Right,' said Harry and Kirra, Harry put his empty teacup down and Kirra gave the man one last look before the two of them stood up and left the room.