It was hours after the concert. Everyone had finally wandered back to their respective dorms, and Rika was passed out in her room. Remus sat down hard on the couch, rubbing his tiered eyes. “She likes him doesn’t she?”
Sirius sighed, already knowing who the ‘he’ in question was. Aubrey. “I don’t know Moons..maybe it was just the song?”
“We both know it wasn’t the song.”
Sirius did not like Aubrey. He did not like that punk one little bit. Who cares if he was smart, generally well-behaved, stood up for his beliefs, wasn’t a pureblood fanatic, and occasionally told decent jokes? The prat was after his honorary niece and nothing could justify that. But Remus didn’t need to hear about how deplorable Aubrey was at the moment. “The kid’s not so bad..”
“I know.”
“….So..um..You’re not going to let her date, are you?” he cringed, really hoping the answer was ‘no.’
Remus sighed. “I don’t have to worry about that. She’s already said she’s not going to date anybody.”
And army of cheerleaders went off in Sirius’s head. “Brilliant!! But wait…then why are you all mopey?”
“I want her to be happy Pads. I mean I don’t want her to date a guy, but if she wants to and can’t….”
“She’ll be unhappy,” Sirius finished quietly.
The two men sat up for a while, pondering what was worse: there precious girl dating a guy, or their precious girl never being able to date a guy.
Oh the dilemmas of parent/uncle-hood.
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“Hey Hermione?” Harry asked the day after the concert.
“Yes?”
“Well…you’re a girl right?” He blushed at Hermione’s incredulous look. “Err, sorry that didn’t come out right…”
“You want a girl’s point of view?”
He nodded. “Um, do you think that..maybe Rika likes Aubrey?”
Hermione tapped her quill to her chin. “Hmmm….Maybe. it definitely looked like it when they were onstage together. Would it bother you if they liked each other?”
Harry shrugged. “I guess not..I mean Aubrey’s a nice guys..but..it’s Rika.”
Hermione smiled, thinking Harry’s sibling-esque relationship with Rika was sweet. “Don’t worry Harry. If they ever wanted to date, the poor bloke would have to face down Professor Lupin and Professor Black first.”
Harry nodded, feeling marginally more cheerful.
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Watching yourself dance around half naked on TV isn’t as fun as it sounds. Moons, Pads, Kay, and Dames were all pilled around the couch with popcorn and butterbeer watching my performance.
I groaned, burying my face in my kneecaps. “I’m naked!”
Kayla shook her head. “You are not naked. A little promiscuous maybe, but not naked.”
I sighed, wincing as I looked at the screen again. “I’m sure no one was paying attention to my cleavage…”
“Most people were probably distracted by your hips. Your scar really draws attention to the pelvic region.”
“Thanks Damon. That makes me feel better.”
“Well I think you’re pretty Rika,” Kayla said in an oddly defiant voice. “So what if your hips are a little disproportionate to your boobs? It makes you look curvier!”
“…You guys really suck at compliments.”
Sirius groaned, looking like he was in pain. “Really Rika? Did you have to dance like that?”
“Kayla’s the one who did that part of my choreography. Blame her.”
“Hey! My moves looked waaaaay less sexual when you were wearing a shirt!”
“Don’t most things look less sexual with a shirt on?” Damon asked in a philosophical voice.
“Maybe in the future,” Remus grunted out in a tight voice, “Rika will remember to stay dressed in public.”
“Hey! It’s not like I wanted to strip!”
“Didn’t stop you,” Sirius glared.
I threw my hands up in the air. “Well what was I supposed to do!? I mean dang! This was a manner of honor and pride!!”
“Don’t most women consider it a manner of honor and pride not to take their clothes off to get what they want?”
“You’re not helping Damon,” I groaned.
Kayla snickered. “You’re a bad role model.”
“I’m a friggin werewolf! Who models themselves after an illegal species! Besides, it was a bloody swimsuit top!! You can go to any beach on any given day and find people dressed more revealing than that.”
“Not in the winter.”
“Once again, thank you Damon.”
I had to admit though, it was kind of funny to watch my guardians huff and pout like little kids. While both men assured me several times how proud they were of me, they didn’t bother to hide their distaste over the shirtless issue—Sirius had even bought me a new purple bikini top that covered marginally more skin (the thing almost went up to my neck). I still couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that I was actually allowed to continue singing. There was no way my talent alone had swayed those judges, but I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth as they say.
I hadn’t seen Umbridge since I performed two days ago; she rarely left her room outside of class. I’d decided not to mess with the little Ravenclaw girl that set me up with the whole outfit thing, but judging by the slimly green shade of her hair, I’d say Kayla teamed up with the twins to get some revenge on my behalf.
“OOo!!! Here’s my favorite part!” Kayla squealed at the TV as Aubrey joined me on the stage. I looked away from the screen, focusing on the wall. For some reason the thought of watching us sing together made my stomach squirm. I knew I’d put a lot of emotion into that song, and I was kind of afraid exactly which emotions were perceivable to everyone else…
Little did I know, nearly all of my friends had already discussed my little duet…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Rika!” Remus called, knocking on the door to my room. “Aubrey is here for you!”
Weird. Aubrey didn’t usually come over unannounced. I guess it was a good thing Kayla and Damon had just left because he probably wanted to talk about something importanish.
I opened my door and waved Aubrey in. He sat on the edge of my bed. “Still getting daily congrats from people?”
“You know it,” I said, sitting next to him. “So, what’s up?”
He sighed, running a hand through his hair, jaw muscle tightening. Not good. Whatever he had come to tell me, he didn’t actually want to say. “Look,” he began, “you’re probably going to be mad when I tell you this, and I would have told you before I did it, but I thought it would put more pressure on you, and I didn’t want to risk giving you false hope or anything, and I know it’s kind of late to tell you now, I mean it’s been a couple of days, but I know you’d want to know, so I’m going to tell you.”
“….That was a really long sentence.”
He gave me a dry look. “Yes Rika. Thank you for pointing that out.”
“Just sayin. Most people insert some periods in their paragraphs.”
“Do you want to know or not?”
“Sorry. No need to be moody.”
He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry… I guess anticipating your wrath put me in a bad mood.”
“As it should. Now what’d ya do?”
He grimaced. “You know how the judges were pretty much split into thirds: against you, bribed to be against you, and for or undecided?”
“Yeeaaaahhh.”
“Well..I kind of convinced my mother that we should bribe the bribed…You know, even the odds so you were only dealing with the ones whose opinions could actually be swayed..”
“..How the heck did you manage that?”
“I’m a Slytherin; we’re good at manipulating people.”
“Oh…well then…”
He fidgeted awkwardly. “So how much trouble am I in?”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure… He was right, he really should have come and talked to me before he did that.. But I could see his point.. If I had known there was a chance I could keep my voice but ended up losing it, I would have blamed myself instead of the Ministry (though I would have been pissed at them too). As far as the actual bribe went, I didn’t feel bad about that. The Ministry didn’t play fair so why should we? Granted there were some lines I wouldn’t be willing to cross. If this had been an actual competition instead of a ‘let’s give the werewolf one brief moment of happiness before we crush her dreams’ then I definitely would have been against bribery.
I bit my lip, thinking. “Weeeelll.. I’m not happy you waited this long to tell me…but at least you told me..And given the situation, I’m not mad about the bribe, but if you ever did that in an actual competition or something without dire consequences, I’d kick your ass.”
“Duly noted. Trust me, if this had been anything else I wouldn’t have done it.”
“So you just bribed enough to cancel out the prejudiced people? So I had a fifty-fifty chance of not winning?”
He shrugged. “I guess…Though to be honest, in this particular instance, I would have bribed them all if I could.”
“I repeat: any other instance besides this one and I’d be furious over the bribe. Right now I’m just annoyed you didn’t tell me. Since you did help me keep my singing voice, I’ll give you a choice: I can ignore you for a good two or three days till I’m not mad that you kept this from me, or you can answer a question for me, and I’ll go ahead and fully forgive you.”
“What’s the question?”
“Tell me about your past.”
He looked at me for a moment then nodded. “Most of my family did not support he who must not be named, but if the war had continued any further, they probably would have. Even now they’re waiting for one side to gain a superior edge before choosing a side. They taught me that anyone who wasn’t a pureblood was inferior. I used to believe what they said. They were my parents, why would they lie? My father passed away the year before I was supposed to come to Hogwarts. My mother was so distraught that she allowed me to do whatever I wanted, including wander around the towns surrounding our house; that was how I learned about muggles. The more I learned, the more I began to struggle with my beliefs. When I came to Hogwarts and couldn’t tell the purebloods from the muggle-borns, I knew that my family had been wrong.”
“Did it ever weird you out that I was a werewolf?” I asked softly. “I mean you’re taught so many negative things about most magical creatures, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had a bad impression of what I am before you got to know me.”
He shook his head. “Once you begin questioning your family, questioning society comes next. If the people I trusted most were wrong, why should I expect strangers to be right? It was actually Professor Snape who helped me. Once I knew muggle-borns were my equals, I began to wonder about what else was. I told him I was doing some research and wanted to know if he knew any good books on magical creatures. He pointed out what was probably the only un-biased set in the library. Even then I was still a little unsure, so I basically decided just to quit judging things I knew nothing about. Not as easy as it sounds but doable for the most part. Plus,” he added with a slight smile, “at, what was it, four in the morning, it’s kind of hard to judge anything except how badly you want to sleep.”
I laughed, remembering the first time we met. “Okay, okay, you’re forgiven. But next time consult me before doing stuff on my behalf.”
He nodded, looking relieved. “So I’m allowed to talk with you tomorrow?”
“Yup.”
He gave me a smile that made my eyes reluctant to leave his soft looking lips. I was really getting ready for this whole crush thing to pass. It’s hard to have a conversation with someone while trying not to think about how cute they are.
Remus rapped lightly on the wall outside my room before popping his head through the open doorway. “It’s almost curfew. You two should wrap it up.”
I nodded. “Bye Studs. See ya later.”
He said his goodbyes and left. I glanced at Remus and frowned, noticing he was giving me a calculating look. “….What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
………Parents were weird.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“And just where are you leading me?” Snape asked in a bored voice.
“You’ll see,” I grinned mischievously.
He huffed, but allowed me to lead him to the Room of Requirement. “Kay, close your eyes.” He stared at me. “…Okay then, don’t close your eyes, just spoil the dramatic effect.”
I pulled him in the room behind me, spinning eagerly to see his face. He actually looked shocked: wide-eyed, mouth open, and everything. I don’t think I’d ever been so proud of myself.
“That’s..that’s..”
“Potion ingredients!!”
I’d finally done it; Professor Snape now had a full new stock of ingredients.
He shook his head. “I guess you won’t be scrubbing caldrons for me any longer.”
“Nope. But I’ll still drop by and amuse you. After all, we all know how you delight in my presence.”
“Oh, joy,” he said sarcastically, but his eyes were soft. Yup. Snape totally loved me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Full moons at Hogwarts weren’t all that different from full moons anywhere else. I spent the day outside or in the Room of Requirement where I could expend energy away from the students. Most of them had gotten used to me, but the day of the full moon they seemed to remember exactly what I was. A half hour before dusk, Sirius, Remus, and I went down to the Shrieking Shack (theWolfsbane potion Remus took made him safe to be around, but for some reason the potion didn’t work near as well on me, so I was still dangerous. Otherwise we just would’ve chilled in our quarters).
Since Remus was mentally control, he teamed up with Padfoot to keep me out of trouble. We still played, but the worst injuries any of us got were minor scratches and bruising. Normally the next day was spent lounging around in bed, catching up on sleep, but when we got to our quarters (Sirius’s arms around both Remus and me, supporting our weight), Harry was standing outside the door, looking almost ghostly in the pale dawn light.
The words ‘what’s wrong’ were barely out of Sirius’s mouth when he said one sentence I never thought I’d hear:
“Dumbledore is gone.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several cups of coffee and long explanations later, I was still numb with shock. Umbridge had found out about the D.A., and Dumbledore had fled to protect Harry.
Sirius and Remus didn’t lecture us for lying to them about the D.A. The Toad-bitches rein had begun; that was punishment enough.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life at Hogwarts was steadily going downhill. Without DA to keep their spirits up, the students were more mopey than ever. I especially felt bad for the ones not involved in Quidditch; the poor dears didn’t have any clubs left to participate in. Because of this, the upcoming Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match was experiencing more hype than any match before. When the big day came, the stands were crammed packed, and the betting had yet to cease.
I really wasn’t a big Quidditch fan, but I liked seeing everyone so happy. Even quiet Remus would start yelling at a Quidditch match. Everything was going well until the singing began.
"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN, HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN. WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN."
I groaned, shaking my head. Stupid bloody fun-killing berks, trying to ruin everything. The least they could do was actually sing in tune for Merlin’s sake. When the match ended—Gryffie victory! Whoot! In yo face crappy Slytha-singers!—I squirmed my way through the crowd down to the players. Sirius and Remus had been behind me, but must have gotten caught in the swarm of people.
Immediately I could tell something was wrong. Harry and the twins were glaring at Malfoy in a way that said he was about to snap.
"Leave it!" said Angelina at once, taking Fred by the arm. "Leave it, Fred, let him yell, he's just sore he lost, the jumped-up little -"
I took a place on Fred’s other side, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"- but you like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?" said Malfoy, sneering. "Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasleys' hovel smells okay -"
I growled quietly. Disgusting little weasel. I left Fred to the rest of the Quidditch team and helped Harry hold George back. “It’s not worth it,” I murmured. “He doesn’t even know how to smell, he’s got his nose shoved so far up his father’s arse.”
"Or perhaps," said Malfoy, leering as he backed away, "you can remember what your mother's house stank like, Potter, and Weasleys pigsty reminds you of it. Is that why you spend time with your mutt of a godfather, that filthy Lupin, and the bloody werewolf? All that dog stink remind you of your filthy mudblood mother—"
My grip on George slacked. That little— Before I could blink, George and Harry launched themselves at Malfoy. Madam Hooch began blowing her whistle, yelling. I ran forward and hulled the two off the weasel (which is much easier said than done. Thank goodness I had were-strength). “Dammit guys! Do you want Bloody-Toad detention?!”
Giving up on Malfoy, they both spun on their heels and stomped away. “Rika!” I turned to see Sirius and Remus running towards me. “What happened!?” Remus yelled.
“Malfoy was being a prat, insulting the Weasleys and Harry, so they got in a fight. You should probably go talk to him Siri.”
Sirius nodded, looking worried and took off towards the changing rooms. Remus rested a hand on my shoulder, giving me a sad smile and leading me back towards the castel.
Why couldn’t Harry had just enjoyed today? It just wasn’t fair. And speaking of unfair… Umbridge was quickly approaching us. “Mr. Lupin,” she said calmly, “I’m afraid I have to confiscate your pet.”
We both stared at her in confusion for a few moments before cold reality struck.
Oh shit. I was legally a pet…
Remus’s arms shot around me, pulling me back hard against his chest. “What do you mean?” His voice was calm, but I could hear the underlying panic.
She smiled sweetly. Oh how I hated that smile.. “As headmistress, I cannot allow violent animals in my school. Draco tells me that she attacked him, and I myself saw her involved in the fight.”
No way! “I pulled the guys fighting off of him! I was breaking up the fight!”
It was useless though. It didn’t matter if I’d been in a different universe than the fight, I’d still be blamed for it.
“What do you want with her?” Remus hissed out.
“Simply to discipline her. You may have her back when I feel she is properly trained.”
Chills swept up my spine at her words. I didn’t want to even think about her training methods.
“Allow me the duty headmistress,” a low voice cut in. “It is hardly befitting for you to be training a lowly animal.”
Turning my head to the side, I saw Snape and relaxed. Whatever he’d do wouldn’t be so bad. Umbridge nodded. “Why thank you Severus.”
She agreed. Remus’s arms relaxed around me. He may not like this, but he must know that this would be the best option. Regardless, we now had a role to play; Umbridge couldn’t know that Snape was my homeboy (despite the seriousness of this situation, it was very hard not to crack up at that last thought).
“No! I won’t go with that slimy bat!”
“Please,” Remus whispered in a desperate voice that I thing he was only half faking. “I’ll take full responsibility for her.”
“I don’t have all day Mr. Lupin. Have her in Severus’s custody by supper tonight.
“And don’t be late,” Snape smirked, walking off with Umbitch.
Remus’s head dropped to my shoulder. “What do you want to do? Arthur and Molly would be willing to take you in in a heartbeat. I suppose you could live alone at my house if you’d prefer..”
I shook my head. “I like Snape. I’ll be fine living with him, no worries.”
Remus didn’t look so convinced.
(Author's note: Most of Draco's lines were direct quotes from hp. LIIIKE AND COOOOOMEEEENT!!!)