[ t w o ]
"Wait, no. Let's watch the sunrise."
"Christina!" James whisper-shouted. It was currently 3:45am. They'd arrived at Hogwarts earlier that evening and indulged in the grand welcome feast, that seemed to get more and more delicious as the years went by.
"Christy!" he shook her sleeping form, earning a groan. Slowly, she sat up, rubbing her eyes, blinking away the sleep.
"James?" she questioned, fumbling on her bedside table for her wand, "Lumos." she whispered, the tip of her wand illuminated, revealing the smug face that belonged to the one and only, Mr James Potter.
"Are you coming then?" he grasped her wrist and dragged her down from the girls dorms and into the Gryffindor common room.
"What on earth is going on here?" she exclaimed. She had entered the familiar room, but it's usual roaring fire was dim and the embers were barely aglow. Instead, a few tea lights were emitting a flickering light on the coffee table. As she let her gaze drift around the room, her glance came to a stop when her eyes met three equally mischievous looking marauders.
"Black, Potter, Pettigrew, i don't put it past you to be up at this ungodly hour, but Lupin, i expected better." she said, clutching her chest in mock heart-ache.
"Don't act so innocent Taylor, I know for a fact that your a bit of a rule-breaker yourself." Remus retorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Which is why we need your help to pull off this super-awesome-epic-extravagant back to Hogwarts prank!" Peter cried.
"Bit louder Peter, I don't think that the Ravenclaws heard you!" everyone jumped in surprise, turning to see Lily Evans, a knowing smirk gracing her features.
"Evans?" James questioned.
"Yes Potter, that is my name." she sighed, obviously exasperated with his antics already, descending the rest of the stairs until she stood beside Christy.
"I want in." she stated, folding her arms.
"Wait, what?" Remus asked, clearly shocked to find she wasn't already on her way to rat them out to Mcgonagall.
"I said-"
"I heard what you said, i'm just shocked, that's all."
"Right. Well Then. I suppose it's us six then." Christy said, rocking on her heels.
"I suppose it is." Sirius replied.
The six Gryffindors crept along the winding corridors of the castle, descending stairs every so often, or cutting through secret passageways before finding themselves face to face with the Slytherin common room entrance.
"Merlin, I forgot to get the password!" James whisper-shouted.
"You had one job." Remus sighed.
"Oh, move over!" Christina barged through the two of them so that she stood directly in front of the portrait of a slithering snake, writhing and squirming in coils around the branch of a dark forest tree.
"Haath Eshtaa Seethasss." she whispered, and as expected, the portrait swung open. Just as she went to step inside, somebody grabbed her arm.
When she turned around, she was a little taken aback at the sight. James and Peters jaws may as well be trailing on the floor, whilst Remus and Lily looked down-right scared. Sirius, furrowed his brow as he pulled his arm away, having gotten her attention.
"What are you lot gaping at, let's go before we get caught!" she whispered, but before she could turn around again, Remus managed to stutter,
"Y-your a p-parslemouth?"
"What are you rambling on about now Lupin?" Christy sighed, folding her arms across her chest.
"You can talk to snakes?" Lily uttered, her voice barely above a whisper.
"What are you talking about?!" Christina was getting impatient.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Sirius asked, stepping towards Christy.
"Tell you what?" she pressed, backing away from the group, they were seriously starting to freak her out now.
"O-oh my Merlin. That's dark magic! Your Dark!" Peter squeaked, scrambling to hide behind James.
Christina looked down at herself, as if expecting to see some sort of sign to prove Peters theory. Was she really dark? She was praying that someone would jump up and shout, 'pranked you!' but by the looks on her friends faces, that was out of the question.
Everyone stared at her. Some dumbfounded, others frightened, all shocked.
Suddenly, every ounce of rationality melted away so she did what seemed her only option; turn and run.
To where exactly? She was unsure, but this couldn't be happening, not to her. She was a good person, part of the light! Right...? All of a sudden it felt as if her entire life had come crashing down on her, everything she ever loved, was a lie. Peter was right, she was a monster, a dark wizard, a terrible, awful, person. But it seemed there was no escape. This feeling of self-loathing followed her through the twists and turns of the endless hallways, through the great entrance, down the hill, even as she sat beside the lake, gasping for breath, it was there. An invisible part of her, slowly breaking free, piece by piece, destroying every ounce of good left in her heart. Until she was left with nothing, a hollow shell of her former self.
[ ✦ ]
"Are you okay?" Christy turned around, jumping slightly at the sudden voice. Wordlessly, she dipped her head, twiddling her thumbs anxiously.
Remus Lupin came and sat down beside her, leaves crunching under his feet a little.
Impulsively, Christy shuffled away, but Remus only moved closer.
"Peter feels awful, about what he said, I mean. If it counts for anything, James and Sirius were furious with him." Remus muttered, after a moment of comfortable silence.
"I don't blame you, any of you. I'm scared of me too." Christina whispered.
"I'm not scared. I'm confused, shocked. But not scared." Remus put his hand atop hers and squeezed it comfortingly.
"You're not?" she questioned, finally turning her gaze to meet his eyes. Out of everyone's, Remus' eyes held the most secrets, the most sadness, but the most comfort and warmth.
"Are you scared of me?" he cocked his head slightly, sporting a smirk.
"Course not Remmy, I became a bloody animagus for you, you prat." he hit him lightly upside the head.
"Well then, i'm not afraid of you either."
"I just realised something..." she whispered.
"Hm?"
"My animagus-" she started before remus interjected.
"-is a snake, I know." he smiled warmly.
The two sat in silence for a while, the only sound the be heard was the rustling of the branches over-head and the faint hooting from the owls in the owlery. The light breeze rippled the inky lake, lapping softly at the bank. But as it was 4:30 in the morning, it was, as expected, cold. Really, bloody, cold.
Trying to stifle her shivers, Christy rubbed her upper arms, creating little warmth, that soon faded into nothingness.
"Are you- merlin Christina! You're freezing!" Remus cried, as he lay a hand on Christy's bare arm. "Come on, let's get you back to the castle." he said, making to stand up before the other gryffindor grasped his wrist.
"Wait, no. Let's watch the sunrise."
Over the edge of the murky forest, crimson was already beginning to leak into the blemish-free sky, as oil spills onto a stark canvas.
Hesitantly, Lupin retook his place on the ground beside her, but first, draping his cloak over her arms, smiling softly.
"Cant have you catching hypothermia on my watch now, can we?"
[ ✦ ]
"What time do you call this?" Dorcas cried as Christy shuffled into Potions, ten minutes late. Her hair was scraped back into a messy bun, tie untied, slung around her shoulders, a quill between her teeth and her satchel lazily packed, with sheets of parchment spilling from the top.
"Thank you Ms Meadowes, but i'm quite accustomed to reprimand Ms Taylor without your assistance." Slughorn raised an eyebrow glaring at Dorcas before shifting his gaze to Christina. "See me after class please Ms Taylor."
It was a wildly boring class, mainly copying the 5th year syllabus, when the bell finally rang, and the rest of her classmates began making there ways to who knows where to enjoy there free period, Christy ambled up to the teachers desk to undoubtedly receive a detention. On the first day no-less.
"Now, i'm not going to give you a detention, providing you have a reasonable explanation of course."
Christina internally gasped, this, was not what she was expecting.
"I... I didn't get much sleep last night Professor." she admitted sheepishly. Technically, she wasn't lying, she just wasn't exactly telling the whole truth.
"I see. Am I correct in presuming that you are not willing to tell me why exactly you didn't get much sleep?"
"I just had a lot on my mind, that's all, it won't happen again professor." she promised, trying to look as sincere as possible.
"Very well then, please note that I may not be so forgiving should this happen again Ms Taylor." Christy swore she saw her professor smirk as she left the room, making her way back to the dorms.
In hind-sight, perhaps this wasn't the best decision, seen as she was trying to avoid her classmates. But only did she realise her mistake as the opened the portrait, revealing the four marauders, lounging lazily on the plush couches along with dorcas and marlene indulging in a heated game of chess, and Alice braiding Lily's hair, occasionally in twining delicate daisies into the tail.
Just as she began to back out, praying that no-one had seen her, someone shouted her name, "Teeny! Hey Christina! Where are you going?" of course, sirius black.
"I...um..." she mumbled, begrudgingly restepping into the common room. The undeniable warmth that the gryffindor common room seemed to possess lifted her mood ever so slightly, and she reluctantly headed in the direction of the dorms. Secretly hoping to just slip away discreetly and read her book for the remainder of the free period. But alas, no such luck.
"Hey hey hey! Why you ignoring me?" Sirius leapt up from the couch and made his way over to Christy.
"What? No, no.... i'm not ignoring you. Just.... homework." she lied, unbelievably.
"Yeah right Teeny. Look, if this is about last night then-" he began before Christina clapped a hand over his mouth, furiously shushing him.
"Shut it you idiot! I don't want the whole school knowing alright!"
"What are you talking about?! This is wicked, I mean, you can-"
"SHHH!"
"sorry." he shifted from foot to foot sheepishly.
"Look, I know this all seems pretty cool, but trust me, it's not. Maybe it would just be best if you stayed away from me. I'm sorry Siri. I've got to go." And without a second glance, she hurried up the stairs leading to the girls dorms, the one place that he couldn't follow. Leaving behind, a very perplexed Sirius.
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